Chapter 161 - Afterwards

Chapter 161: Afterwards

The Gold Giant stood in the middle of Senluo Woods, and even the tallest tree in the forest was barely able to reach the giant’s waist.

Ridden with craters, the area was a complete mess and a terrible sight to behold.

Xu Xiaoshou had ceased his frenzied attacks because the target of his attacks, the grey mist, had disappeared, and only Mo Mo’s face remained in his line of sight.

His golden hands held onto the young woman as a flicker of humanity gradually returned to his fierce crimson eyes.

“What is…”

Xu Xiaoshou slowly came to his senses as he stared at the bloodied person in his arms.

He had no idea what had just happened. Something had changed after communicating with that insane being of consciousness.

Destruction, devastation, utter violence…

These primal and violent urges that had taken over his mind had taken control over his actions as well.

Xu Xiaoshou struggled to connect what he was seeing with the battle that had occurred, and came to the easy conclusion that he’d sustained a life-threatening injury from the grey mist figure, and that that had awakened the Raging Giant.

He’d entered a berserk rage state and had somehow pummeled the grey mist figure into sheer nothingness.

“… …”

This Awakened Effect seemed quite violent and quite a hazard!

And it made him temporarily lose all sense of reason too.

Xu Xiaoshou was slightly displeased. This Passive Skill was hardly useful if he couldn’t remain in control of his mind and lost all reason. What if he were to hurt the wrong person…?

Well, but it wasn’t completely useless…

He stared at a crater and fell into deep contemplation.

Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou was seized by a wave of exhaustion, and he felt his body tremble. The golden light enveloping him shattered, and he regained his ordinary human form once again and, with Mo Mo in his arms, began to plummet from the sky.

The two collapsed into a heap on the ground—Xu Xiaoshou from sheer exhaustion, and Mo Mo because she was unconscious… Hold on. Was she still alive?

He remembered the frenzied attacks he’d unleashed…

A that moment, the terrifying rejuvenating quality of Master Level Eternal Vitality made itself known. Theoretically speaking, Xu Xiaoshou should’ve experienced a prolonged state of exhaustion after that violent rage, but with the Passive Skill working in the background, he regained mobility within moments, and seconds after, felt like he was ready for another fight.

Without thinking, Xu Xiaoshou stuck his finger out in front of Mo Mo’s nose to check if she was still breathing. Sure enough, she was beyond his help…

Hold on a second.

He thought he heard the sound of a faint heartbeat.

He leaned in. Mo Mo’s chest appeared to be rising and falling ever so slightly, and he waited for a long while before he finally sensed the near-indiscernible thud of a heartbeat.

“She shouldn’t have survived those attacks…”

Now that Xu Xiaoshou had shrunk back to his former size and was now sitting in the crater he’d created with his punch, he was struck by how terrifying his blows must have been while he was a giant.

With the effects of Raging Giant coupled with his Master Physique, he could kill a man with just a punch!

The smallest crater on the ground looked like the aftermath of a meteorite crash. Xu Xiaoshou stared at one of the craters, which spanned the length of a dozen feet and the height of a few meters…

He couldn’t imagine what the grey mist figure had had to suffer during his momentary loss of reason.

Maybe it’d tried to beg for its life…

It didn’t matter. Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t remember anything.

Having regained more of his strength back, he hurriedly activated his spiritual source and took a look at Mo Mo’s condition.

There was nothing he could do if she were dead.

Even though Mo Mo’s body had only been a vessel for the grey mist figure, when it came down to a fight, you didn’t care whom you were hitting as long as it was your enemy. Honestly, Xu Xiaoshou believed that he’d held back during his initial round of blows.

He didn’t blame himself for what he’d done.

But he still had to try and save Mo Mo. He didn’t mind extending a helping hand if he could.

The grey mist figure’s array of strange spiritual techniques had truly broadened his horizons. These weren’t just your every-day spiritual techniques, which meant the grey mist figure must be someone incredibly important.

Was it… dead?

Xu Xiaoshou highly doubted it.

Mo Mo wasn’t dead, which meant the grey mist figure couldn’t have died that easily. Perhaps the thrashing that it’d gotten had pummeled it into its original form and sent it back into hiding.

From the looks of Mo Mo’s condition, she wasn’t alive because she’d survived the final onslaught of attacks. She was alive because her sealing power had seemingly seized what little vitality she had left and bound it to her body so that she might await rescue.

As for her heroic rescuer…

Realization instantly dawned on Xu Xiaoshou. “That guy definitely knew what he was doing!”

If the grey mist figure had, in fact, survived, then it must’ve known that Xu Xiaoshou wouldn’t kill Mo Mo on account of their knowing each other. It must’ve been confident that he would save her!

Should he save her?

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he would be rewarded for saving someone who was going to be trouble. In fact, he might just earn himself an enemy’s retribution.

But to not save her…

Through Sense, he caught the Spirit Mark of Life lying on the ground. After some thought, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed the artifact and placed it on Mo Mo’s stomach.

He knew his debts and paid them to whom they were owed. Mo Mo was a gentle soul. He believed that she wasn’t in the same faction as that grey mist figure.

Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t bring himself to sacrifice a good person in order to rid the world of an evil one…

Besides…

Xu Xiaoshou pointed at Mo Mo’s right arm and yelled, “If you dare show your face around me again, I’ll beat up you and send you right back!”

He didn’t receive a response.

Xu Xiaoshou burst into laughter.

Since he’d sent that thing back once, he could do it again. Besides, that fellow must be seriously injured and probably wouldn’t be out wreaking havoc anytime soon.

Xu Xiaoshou had no idea if it would be more powerful the next time it emerged, but he was confident that he wouldn’t be at his current level when that happened.

“Losers don’t deserve to be feared!” Xu Xiaoshou muttered to himself, feeling that this line sounded rather cool and imposing.

When Mo Mo regained her consciousness, he could try finding out more from her!

He prayed that she wouldn’t fall into a coma …

Xu Xiaoshou sympathetically shook his head. An old geezer’s harassment might be fate’s golden ticket to greater cultivation heights, but oftentimes it was a disaster waiting to happen.

If the grey mist figure harbored any ill intentions, Mo Mo wouldn’t be able to stop him. In fact, she might remain trapped under his thumb forever.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about the red interface in the recesses of his mind…

The red interface had mercilessly slain the Celestial Dragon when it entered his Origin Court. Perhaps it, too, possessed a mind of its own.

Was his mind currently being controlled by someone else?

Xu Xiaoshou froze at the thought.

He recalled the series of encounters he’d had. At the time, they’d seemed like the result of destiny at work, the natural fruition of some other event and yet also the consequence of nothing in particular.

He laughed at himself. He must’ve been brainwashed by the “infinite cage” conspiracy theory that Elder Sang had shared with him. Unexpected coincidences didn’t happen all the time, and neither did mind control.

He shook his head to clear his mind of these strange thoughts, then downed some red gold liquid that he dug out, healing himself completely.

After some thought, he fed Mo Mo some red gold liquid as well.

“How can you be so weak? Falling to your feet after a battle. You’re hardly powerful at all…” Xu Xiaoshou said teasingly.

He energetically jumped to his feet, then stretched his limbs, his joints letting out a series of cracking sounds.

Then he inspected his energy reserve. He’d regained most of his spiritual source and was steadily progressing to the next cultivation level following his last battle.

Xu Xiaoshou smiled happily. Now that was unlimited battery life for you!

If another grey mist figure appeared, he could take it on no problem, he had so much energy left. He wasn’t afraid at all!

He was truly getting more powerful…

“That’s right. We’re missing another person.”

Xu Xiaoshou remembered Mu Zixi then. He’d forcibly thrown the young woman away when the Celestial Dragon fell.

She was such a fragile little thing. Had she crashed and died upon impact?

His Sense currently had an incredible range. After a brief search, Xu Xiaoshou was surprised to discover Mu Zixi a mere hundred meters away from him.

The trees in the vicinity were bare of leaves, which Xu Xiaoshou was to blame for, and he effortlessly caught sight of the young woman hanging off a branch.

Her legs were straddling a forked tree branch, which had prevented her from falling to the ground.

Her back was bent over backward and her head was hanging down. Her ponytails drooped lifelessly while drool streamed from her parted lips down into her eyes…

Muack. Muack.

She appeared to be asleep and was munching on something in her dreams. Her hand haphazardly swiped across her drooling mouth before limply falling away to sway gently in the breeze…

Xu Xiaoshou froze in disbelief.

He’d been fighting for his life, and here she was, napping on a tree!

What a free spirit!

Look at how she was sleeping…

Was she trying to hang herself?