Jiang Luo watched with wide eyes as Teng Bi died.
He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he knew he had died at the bottom of the Dragon Spring. And now he was alive again—but Teng Bi was dead.
Was it Teng Bi… who saved him?
Jiang Luo stared blankly at Teng Bi’s lifeless, ashen face—only to realize he was being held in someone’s arms. He looked up, and a face covered in mangled flesh came into view.
Two bloody holes stared fixedly at Jiang Luo. A sharp pain shot through his chest. “Chi… You.”
Chi You’s former beauty and elegance were completely gone. He looked like a skinless monster, blood still streaming from his body.
He gazed quietly at Jiang Luo, reaching out to gently stroke his face, as if any more pressure would kill him.
This was the deepest part of the dragon vein—how could Chi You be here?!
Teng Bi… Why did Teng Bi die? Where was the Fated One?
Jiang Luo’s face grew darker. He had a stomach full of questions but couldn’t utter a single one. He simply stared blankly at Chi You, then blankly at Teng Bi.
He knew now wasn’t the time to dwell on these things. What he needed to do most was get the heavily injured Chi You out of here, and take Teng Bi’s body and final words with him.
But Jiang Luo still couldn’t believe it. His eyes began to sting.
How could Teng Bi have just died?
After a while, he reached out a trembling hand and gently closed Teng Bi’s eyes. Jiang Luo slowly pulled Chi You’s arm from around him and stood up.
He was still very weak, the pain lingering in waves. But Jiang Luo had a feeling—his body was becoming incredibly powerful.
The power of worship would no longer burden his body. Once fully recovered, his physical strength would be at least ten times that of an ordinary human.
It didn’t feel like becoming a god, or even a false god—Jiang Luo was very clear about that. He felt more like someone like Teng Bi—a living corpse, but one who possessed the power of worship within his body.
That was just fine. Jiang Luo didn’t want to become a false god anyway. He reached out toward the Dragon Spring, and a golden python suddenly burst out, circling the Yin-Yang hoop around its tail as it swam toward Jiang Luo and delivered the ring into his hand.
Jiang Luo closed his eyes for a moment and said, word by word: “Fated One.”
The serpent, infected by its Master’s rage, suddenly began thrashing violently within the cave. Jiang Luo picked up Teng Bi’s great blade, lifted the heavily wounded Chi You, and draped Chi You’s arm over his shoulder.
He looked at Teng Bi lying on the ground, turned his head away with difficulty, and explained hoarsely, “Teng Bi, Chi You’s injuries can’t be delayed any longer. I’ll take him out first and come back for you.”
He paused, then added, “Everything you said—I’ll bring it all with me.”
Jiang Luo quickly took Chi You out of the tomb and placed him in a secluded forest.
Jiang Luo didn’t know whether the Fated One had truly left or whether someone else might come to kill Chi You.
He hid Chi You in a safe place free of human presence and swiftly set up a protective array nearby, worried Chi You might be ambushed.
Chi You watched him silently the entire time, his eyes never leaving Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo felt a pang of softness under his gaze. He steadied his shattered emotions and said gently, “Wait here for me. I’ll bring Teng Bi back—fifteen minutes, no more.”
Chi You’s voice was hoarse. “Go.”
Jiang Luo gave him one last look, took a deep breath, and turned to leave.
***
Lisa was awakened by a drop of water falling on her head.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Teng Bi’s dead body not far away. Startled, she sat up and checked—Teng Bi was truly dead, and it seemed her poison had killed him.
Lisa felt a pang of guilt and sadness, but couldn’t remember what she had done earlier. But she wasn’t human, and that little bit of guilt and sadness was quickly cast aside. She looked around. Not seeing anyone else, she blinked and slipped out of the dark cavern.
Lisa carefully made her way out of the tomb. Along the way, she saw a strange man in a long vest frantically laughing and crying while fiddling with something. She paid him no attention. But just as she reached the Soul-Hanging Steps, she saw a Daoist priest supporting the nearly lifeless Ge Wuchen as they walked out.
Lisa quickly hid herself, peeking out to watch.
The Daoist’s eyes were red and swollen. Ge Wuchen seemed to have fainted. They quickly left the Soul-Hanging Steps.
Once they were gone, Lisa dared to come out. Soon, she reached the river at the entrance to the cave.
With no Teng Bi, no Ge Wuchen, and no Chi You by her side, Lisa’s desire to flee grew stronger. She looked down at the river, hesitated for a few seconds, then happily jumped in. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared.
Not long after she dove into the water, a loud rumble sounded—the entire cave collapsed.
***
When Jiang Luo returned, he saw the collapsed tomb.
The entrance was tightly blocked with rocks and earth. The entire underground had caved in.
Jiang Luo’s heart went cold.
He stood frozen for several minutes before regaining his senses. As the time of his agreement with Chi You approached, he finally stumbled away.
Chi You wasn’t hidden far—still deep within the dragon vein. Jiang Luo hadn’t spent much time going back and forth. Chi You hadn’t recovered much at all. The urgent task now was to get him off the mountain.
Both Jiang Luo and Chi You were wounded. Jiang Luo was faring better—his injuries were healing quickly. But the malicious ghost was in bad shape. His very core had been injured, and now he was surviving on a single breath. Jiang Luo knew that troops from the nation were still hiding within Dawu Mountain. He had to not only dodge possible enemies but also evade the military forces.
Thankfully, their journey was uneventful. Jiang Luo finally brought Chi You to the foot of the mountain. He found a quiet bamboo grove and laid Chi You down to rest. Only then did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But immediately, a heavy weight pressed on his heart again.
Chi You seemed to finally realize how terrifying his appearance had become. He closed his blood-colored eyes and asked hoarsely, “Where is Teng Bi?”
“The tomb collapsed. He was buried at the bottom,” Jiang Luo said darkly. “Chi You, did you see the couplet at the Hall of Yama when you entered the tomb?”
Chi You: “Hm?”
“It said, ‘If the matter is not yet settled as a case of death, then one who enters may yet hope to return alive.’” Jiang Luo said slowly, “The man in that coffin died and revived again and again—if we could work our way through the underworld, pull some strings… could we bring Teng Bi back?”
Chi You didn’t answer.
Jiang Luo’s heart sank. He knew too—this possibility was nearly nonexistent.
That corpse in the mandarin jacket was a shikigami. It could absorb dragon qi and was the Fated One’s shikigami—maybe it had a contract with the Fated One. But Teng Bi was a living corpse.
And a living corpse… is someone who has already died once.
Jiang Luo decided that after he recovered, no matter how difficult it was, he would retrieve Teng Bi’s body.
The cave that housed the Dragon Spring was built with solid stone walls and had only a small opening at the top. Even if the tomb had collapsed, the Dragon Spring cave wouldn’t have, and it wouldn’t have crushed Teng Bi’s body either.
No matter how slim the chance, he still wanted to try. He had acquaintances in the underworld—like Hei Wuchang, after all.
Jiang Luo pursed his lips and suddenly asked, “How are you?”
He couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Chi You now.
Not because Chi You looked terrifying—but because the moment he saw him like this, he would think of how Chi You had saved him. And once that image surfaced, Jiang Luo felt a dull, breathless pain in his chest.
Chi You had ended up like this—it wasn’t hard to guess what he had done.
That was the Dragon Spring. And he was a malicious ghost. And yet he’d charged in anyway.
Jiang Luo’s heart felt sore and bitter. All the arguments they’d had before suddenly seemed meaningless.
Chi You was badly hurt, but at this moment he appeared calm and composed, making the pain almost bearable. “Not bad,” he replied.
Jiang Luo slowly sat down beside him.
It was strange—those emotions he’d been so clear on in the face of life and death, now he couldn’t voice them.
Even though his heart was surging with waves of emotion, even though those feelings were burning hot and ready to spill over, when facing Chi You directly, he just couldn’t speak them aloud.
Jiang Luo suddenly recalled how Chi You had stubbornly refused to admit he liked him before—until Jiang Luo forced him so hard he practically fled in defeat.
In a way, the two of them were really the same kind of person.
After a long silence.
“Thanks… this time,” Jiang Luo said softly. “But don’t do that again.”
Chi You opened his eyes. The skin on his face had recovered halfway—one side was perfectly handsome, the other still twisted like a malicious ghost.
His eyes were pitch black, shrouded in a faint, blood-colored mist. Emotions surged and retreated in those depths. He looked at Jiang Luo’s now-healthy face, at the light in his eyes, and said faintly, “No.”
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