CH 82

Chapter 82: Why Bother Doing All This?

When the sword completely melted into Bian Zhonghua’s flesh and blood, his whole body began to shine with a silver glow. The Taotie, who had been watching Bian Zhonghua’s self-mutilation with interest, sensed something all of a sudden. At that moment, the Taotie’s face changed, and as it opened its mouth fiercely, it pounced on Bian Zhonghua, who was still holding his shoulder in pain.

But it was already too late.

Bian Zhonghua raised his hand abruptly, and the silver light gathered on his fingertips, then  rushed towards the Taotie like a fierce wind.

At that instant, the Taotie roared as it raised its foot to step on the silver light. However, this time, the silver light wasn’t stepped on, instead, it pierced through the Taotie’s foot.

As the Taotie screamed in pain, its jaw cracked in anger.

Bian Zhonghua took a few deep breaths, stood up straight, and felt a piercing pain in his chest. With a dull cry, he pressed his chest with one hand as he forced himself to recite an incantation. At that moment, the light that pierced through the Taotie’s feet, shot up into the air, and headed for the Taotie’s eyes.

After narrowly dodging the flash of light, the Taotie opened its bloody mouth filled with a foul smell, roared, and ran toward Bian Zhonghua!

However, the next moment, the silver light whirled around the Taotie’s armpit and stabbed it fiercely!

When the eye in the Taotie’s armpit was stabbed, black and dirty blood immediately splashed out, accompanied by a fishy stench. When the blood splattered on the ground, all the flowers and plants that it touched withered in an instant.

A cry of pain tore from the Taotie’s mouth as it struggled to free itself from the silver light. It bit and roared at the air, as the silvery light entangled itself with it. Finally, the Taotie swallowed the silver light in one bite.

But right the next moment, the Taotie rolled painfully on the ground, until finally, it vomited a pool of flesh and blood, followed by the silver light!

The silver light then rose into the air again, aiming at the Taotie just after it vomited up a pool of dirty blood and torn flesh. At that moment, for the first time, the Taotie showed a panicked expression. After grabbing a large rock from the ground, it threw it at Bian Zhonghua, stopped fighting, and fled in a panic.

The silver light rushed back to Bian Zhonghua’s side, smashed the large rock, and finally melted into Bian Zhonghua’s body again.

Bian Zhonghua coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body tilted, and he fell to the ground.

“Bian Zhonghua!”

Someone was calling out to him, but Bian Zhonghua couldn’t really hear him.

An unknown burning heat pulled and collided within his body, in exchange for the crushing pain. In fact, the moment Bian Zhonghua unsealed the seal on his shoulder, he realized that he wasn’t fully able to control his power.

Bian Zhonghua tried to seal his power again, and as he endured the pain within his body, his right hand covered the almost invisible dragon pattern on his left shoulder. The silver light covering his whole body gathered on his shoulder, gradually forming into the hilt of a sword. Bian Zhonghua grasped the hilt with all the strength he had left, pulling it out bit by bit. At the same time, the silver light gathered more and more, until finally, it turned back into a full sword, while the dragon pattern reappeared.

However, the wounds that had already healed slowly began to open up again. Fresh blood overflowed, spilling all over the ground, while every inch of his body seemed to split in half. Finally, Bian Zhonghua couldn’t resist anymore and fell to his knees. Because his throat was severely damaged, Bian Zhonghua could only let out a heavily suppressed cry of pain.

In that instant, the silver light that turned back into a sword seemed to sense something, as it melted into Bian Zhonghua’s flesh and blood again!

Bian Zhonghua panicked, while the hilt in his hand suddenly shattered into sparkles of silvery light that crashed right into his chest.

It was as if the tendons and bones within his body were being crushed by huge and heavy stones, while an unknown force raged within him. However, Bian Zhonghua couldn’t find a way to vent that crushing force.

Bian Zhonghua clenched his fist tightly, while his other hand began to strangle his neck, desperately trying to suffocate himself in order to ease the pain he felt.

Suddenly, someone else’s hand grabbed Bian Zhonghua’s wrist with the intention of preventing him from suffocating himself.

“What’s wrong?! Are you alright?!” When Bian Zhonghua heard the familiar and panicked voice, he looked up reluctantly, meeting Qi Ci’s worried and frightened eyes.

Oddly enough, the crushing force inside Bian Zhonghua began to gradually calm down.

Naturally, Qi Ci wouldn’t let Bian Zhonghua hurt himself like this. After taking Bian Zhonghua’s hand away, he held it firmly in his hands. Then, he helped Bian Zhonghua lean against his body: “Are you alright? What should I do? How can I help? Can you hear me?”

Bian Zhonghua nodded at Qi Ci without knowing what to say, and then, he fainted.

“Bian Zhonghua!” Qi Ci shouted several times, but in the end, he realized that he couldn’t wake him up. Panicked, Qi Ci picked Bian Zhonghua up and tried to find a place where they could rest and Bian Zhonghua could heal.

However, Qi Ci was also quite injured and limped when he walked. Thus, it was practically impossible for him to walk with Bian Zhonghua on his back. As he gritted his teeth, Qi Ci staggered towards the town they visited not long ago, ignoring the blood that gushed from his knees.

Qi Ci had just taken a few steps when he suddenly saw a person walking slowly in front of him.

Qi Ci was delighted, thinking that he might be able to seek help. Just when he was about to open his mouth to shout at that person, he froze in place.

After all, the person who came over had a strange smile on his face. His left sleeve was empty, floating with the wind, and his right arm was covered with feathers that looked like sharp blades.

“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the yellow bird behind it1.” Lu Yu smiled triumphantly with his mouth wide open, as his snake-like tongue slid through it. “I followed you all the way here, waiting for the chance to take revenge.”

Qi Ci couldn’t help but curse in his mind as he ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could. After limping several steps away, he found that in front of him were the cliffs made by the Taotie not long ago. 

‘Where can I escape to?’

“Don’t waste your time,” Lu Yu teased. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to take your life. I simply want to cut off the hands of the man lying on your back.”

Qi Ci took several steps back, his eyes fluttered, and his chest heaved violently. Qi Ci turned back to look at the cliff several times, wishing that he could grow wings right this instant.

As he lost his patience, Lu Yu waved his fingertips lightly and plucked three feathers from his arm. Afterwards, Lu Yu threw the sharp feathers at Qi Ci, stabbing his arm and wrist.

Qi Ci was unable to dodge the feathers, and when they stabbed into his flesh, he began to bleed from the wounds. Because of the pain, Qi Ci was no longer able to carry Bian Zhonghua on his back, letting him fall. Even though Bian Zhonghua fell to the ground, he didn’t wake up. However, Qi Ci didn’t care about the sharp pain he was feeling as he hurried to hold Bian Zhonghua again.

Lu Yu sneered: “Why bother doing all this?”

After saying that, he raised his only hand once again, and the black feathers turned into a sharp blade.

But this time, the blade was aimed straight at Bian Zhonghua.

Qi Ci hurried to shield Bian Zhonghua behind him, turning his back to Lu Yu. For a brief moment, it felt as if the whole world had gone silent, spreading despair in every corner. Qi Ci looked at the cliff in front of him, and with his teeth clenched, he made a last minute decision with a strong determination.

‘Anyway….’

‘If I’m going to die anyway!’

‘Maybe….’

Qi Ci moved at the same time as the blade made out of sharp feathers roared through the air fiercely. Qi Ci held Bian Zhonghua as tight as he could, and then rushed towards the edge of the cliff, jumping without a second thought!!!

Lu Yu looked at this with amazed, wide eyes. After taking a few quick steps towards the edge of the cliff, he looked down, but he was no longer able to see the figures of both young men.

“That was unexpected,” Lu Yu muttered. Although his astonishment didn’t fade, he stopped looking at the cliff that seemed to have no end and hurried away, leaving behind a field of dead trees, rubble, and withered plants that laid in complete silence.

…

As the sun set in the west, and the twilight paled, Grandma Yao moved a small wooden stool to sit by the lake to boil medicine. Since the lake was calm, when the light of the setting sun gently touched the water, it glowed warmly.

Given that Granny Yao was already old, she couldn’t help but fall asleep. However, all of a sudden, several people rushed from a distance, desperately screaming for help. Startled, Granny Yao carefully looked behind her, only to see a wooden cart, with a person lying on it, being carried by some of the villagers.

“Granny Yao, save him!” The villagers shouted one after the other.

Granny Yao didn’t dare to delay and hurried forward to ask: “What happened?!”

“We don’t know! It seems that some people have fallen from a cliff! Today, some of the villagers found them when they went to pick medicinal herbs in the mountains!” A villager explained.

Granny Yao hurriedly took out the ornamented needles from her sleeve and approached the wooden cart. However, right when she was about to start, she saw the man’s face and was stunned: “Isn’t this…isn’t…?”

“Yes, yes! He’s one of the people who stayed here a few days ago! Two people fell from the cliff, but only one was still breathing weakly, the other one was already dead, that’s why we didn’t bring him here. The chief of the village found a coffin for him and put him in the ancestral hall. But, let’s not talk about it, what will happen to this man?”

“Hurry and take him inside my house!”

Granny Yao didn’t dare to dilly dally and even had to use almost every bottle and jar of medicine she had stored, together with all her knives and needless. Although it took great effort and a lot of time, Granny Yao managed to save that man’s life.

As she wiped her sweat, Granny Yao suddenly remembered something and asked urgently: “Is the other one really dead?!”

“He is.” The villager replied. “It seems that the one who died used his own body to protect this man.”

Then, the villager pointed at the man lying on the bed: “Although this man was barely able to survive, the other man landed terribly on the ground. All his bones were broken, how could he survive?”