âDoes it still hurt?â Mu He asked with a grin.
Bai Jianzhuâs eyes widened in rage. âYou deserve a miserable death!â His pupils were blood-red, his dry face covered in veins like a gruesome fiend. The harsh words from his lips sounded creepier as a result.
But Mu He acted as if he didnât hear, smiling purely as he took out something from his sleeve. âWhat do you think this is?â
Is it some poison to put that surnamed Bai out of his misery? Xie Zhiwei thought. No way, right?
Bai Jianzhu thought the same and sneered, âWhatâŚgood could it be, youâŚare so viciousâŚâ
âWrong,â Mu Heâs fingers lightly caressed the bottle in his hands, leaving eerie smears of blood on the celadon. âThis is the Hundred Flowers Honey from the imperial gardens of the emperor. How many people have passed their entire lives without being blessed to use it?â
âYouâŚwhat do you want?â
âAutumn brings chills and the ants on the ground have nowhere to feed, how sad.â Mu He gently uncorked the stopper. âLetting them taste some meat at this time can also count as a good deed.â
Xie Zhiwei felt goosebumps. Although this was also part of the original novel, it was strange seeing this occur side-by-side with digging up Xie Zhiweiâs grave. Did this all happen because he capriciously added more lines before his death and told the hero to get revenge?
ThatâŚwhen I get into acting, Iâm too addicted to stop. Now he was feeling desperate too, okay?!
As the honey was poured into Bai Jianzhuâs wounds, he began to curse. Although he could only manage intermittent bursts, each line was fouler than the last. Mu He didnât react at first, but seem to realize something and creased his brows.
âSomeone come, dig out his tongue. No one should disturb shizunâs sleep.â
Xie Zhiweiâs mouth twitched. âŚyou still remember not to disturb other peopleâs rest, but look at you raising a ruckus digging up his grave.
Bai Jianzhu was still rambling on when a grave-digging soldier obeyed the summons, walked to the man, and stuck his dirt-covered shovel into his mouth.
With a wrench, the mouth became a mess of blood and flesh. Most likely, both the tongue and throat had been ruined.
Bai Jianzhu could no longer speak. Rapid breathing noises came from his throat as blood and broken teeth gushed out from his lips. It was much quieter now, but his agony seemed amplified. He used the last of his strength to roll and thrash about the ground while the bloody holes on his chest gradually turned black.
Xie Zhiweiâs scalp turned numb at the sight.
The source of the black came from hundreds and thousands ants that surrounded him from all sides. They piled up in layers, competing against each other to lick the blood and gnaw on flesh.
Gallant Outlaw, this sick deviant! What was he thinking when he wrote this?! His tastes are too heavy, all right?!
Mu He stretched out his bloodstained hands until white light emitted from his palms. Gradually they formed into a lotus flower shape, whose petals unfurled until it vanished all the blood on him. Even his white robes were restored to be as good as new.
The grave had been dug out and a few soldiers were already uncovering the visible corner of a coffin. Mu He stepped towards it with a slight smile. âDisciple can finally see shizun again.â
His expression was incomparably gentle, as if a warm breeze had finally rose from his heart to ripple the stagnant pools in his eyes. The coffin corner beneath the yellow earth seemed to be a long-lost existence heâd been yearning for for years.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhiwei was chilled from the bottom of his feet straight to the sky.
Motherf**king hell!
Three curses burst into his mind at once.
Iâm not wrong, right? The hero just smiled! When he smiled he tortured Bai Jianzhu worse than death, but whoâs he smiling at now? And why does it look soâŚindescribableâŚ
There were only two options: either he was smiling for Xie Zhiwei or âChi Yan.â Neither one could escape! The hero was now a psychopath who couldnât be reasoned with normally. The coffin was almost uncovered. If there was nothing insideâŚ
Xie Zhiwei prepared for the worst eventuality of dying fish or broken nets, but resolved to flee if he could. Unless he had no other choice, he didnât want the fish to die or the net to break. As he made his calculations, he heard Mu He speak like a voice from Hell.
âChi Yan, itâs your turn.â
Xie Zhiwei sucked in a cold breath. There was no time to react before the White Lotus light wrapped around his hands suddenly became bright enough to blind him. Immediately after, it lifted him upright like a snake and dragged him in front of Mu He. The seven-hued ladybug outfit he was wearing had long been made unsightly by the mud, but the colorful starry cloak seemed less outrageous after being dyed in dust. Perhaps he was too nervous, but the first thought Xie Zhiwei had when looking up to meet Mu Heâs eyes was that he was luckily wearing other robes underneath.
But now was no time to think about his wardrobe. Xie Zhiwei realized he had reached the moment of life and death.
Was he really going to fight for his life against the protagonist?
Mu Heâs smile had disappeared without a trace along with his spring-like eyes, replaced with a bone-chilling frigidity. He looked askance at Xie Zhiwei from above. âDid you look closely at Bai Jianzhuâs ending?â
By now Bai Jianzhu had stopped breathing, his eyes wide. The ants swarmed up and greedily drank every drop of blood from his body, penetrating through the holes in his chest to expose the white ribs inside. They drilled relentlessly through his corpse, even turning the space around his eyes black. Xie Zhiwei swallowed hard and nodded messily.
âBai Jianzhu was a thoroughly petty villain,â Mu He said lightly. âAt least youâre open and honest, so in the end youâre different from him.â
Xie Zhiwei nodded again. Of course Iâm different. Unfilial disciple, why donât you see whoâs under the mask!
UhâŚactually, better not.
âSo you should be satisfied.â
Xie Zhiwei looked suspiciously at Mu He, who bent down and took out the newly cleaned dagger before his eyes. âAre you less afraid now that Iâve let you witness your own death in advance?â
Haha, more like more afraid. Iâd rather die cluelessly like Bai Jianzhu, thank you very much. Xie Zhiwei silently prepared to seize the chance to run. Qingping Sword couldnât do anything against him anyways, and he could struggle free of the paltry light from White Lotus. But this would likely expose his identity.
No, it definitely would.
He wanted to cry but had no tears as he looked at his âgrave.â A few demonic soldiers had already retreated wordlessly, leaving one to brush away the last shovelful of yellow earth on the coffin. Mu He seemed to feel something and dropped the dagger in his hand. He turned back wildly and said, âGet out of the way.â
The soldiers shuddered before half crawling, half stumbling to the side. Xie Zhiwei looked at Mu He as if he was watching a psychopath. With his back to him, Mu He took step after step towards the coffin. He couldnât see the youthâs expression, but his steps were heavy and hasty, as if the coffin contained a great treasure.
Xie Zhiwei realized that he had been so rushed to âcheat deathâ that he didnât even look at the place where heâd been buried for the last four years.
Well, I see it now.
The daoist sect treated him generously. Although they didnât bury him in the rosewood or golden silk nan of the rich, he still had an upper-tier red pine wood coffin.
âThings are going so smoothly, does shizun want to see disciple as well?â Mu Heâs voice was quavering, but Xie Zhiwei couldnât help slandering him mentally.
Your imaginationâs too rich, youngster. Itâs just easier to dig in autumn soil because itâs dry and soft.
âHuh?â Abruptly, Mu He stopped in his tracks. âWhatâs going on?â Though his voice was unhurried, it was a little low and obviously filled with some anger. The soldiers all fell to their knees.
âShizi, when we dug up the coffin, the rivets were no longer in place.â
âMay Shizi examine clearly! Without your orders, we humble ones wouldnât dare to touch them, ah.â
âBe quiet,â Mu He muttered.
Xie Zhiwei recalled how he emerged from his coffin. Can those two grave robbers be any lazier? They replaced the soil, but didnât bother replacing the nails?
âWho had the gall? They actually daredâŚâ Veins popped out in Mu Heâs hands as he suddenly raised his hand. The 100 jin heavy coffin lid flew into the air with a boom and landed three zhang away from Xie Zhiwei.
Without exception, the inside of the coffin was empty.
âHow can this beâŚâ Mu He muttered to himself as he stumbled to the coffin in a panic. His helpless look gave Xie Zhiwei the impression that they were back to the past of four years ago.
No, strictly speaking, it reminded him of Mu Heâs memory fragments when he was being bullied in his past life.
Helpless, bewildered, and alone.
Mu He searched through the coffin. Aside from two sets of crow-gray daoist robes that were buried with the deceased, there was nothing. He cradled the robes in his hands and let out a howl of grief. At the same time, a tide of spiritual energy welled up in his body like a wave, mixing the auras of the three lotuses and Qingping Sword to scatter soil all over the sky. The soldiers were so frightened that they all backed away. Xie Zhiwei was spooked as well. He actually heard the sound of heartbreak in those cries.
Did heâŚget angry from humiliation because he didnât find a worthy inheritance?
But your Master really is poor, ah. Those two sets of crow-gray robes were newly made. Thatâs already good enough.
In any case, it was rare for Mu He to lose so much control. His souls were in complete disarray.
Leaving Xie Zhiwei with the perfect chance.
He struggled to his feet and used his full strength he had to break free of the White Lotus bonds. Forget about suppressing spiritual energy. He simply ran straight at the border of the boundary field.
Immediately, a soldier shouted, âShizi! The saint sovereignâŚno, Chi Yan has escaped!â
Mu He didnât seem to hear him. When he consciously calmed himself down, he gripped the robes even tighter, his voice as serene as usual. âWas it the daoist sect, or someone else⌠Shizun, what do you say I kill them all, okay?â
His eyes were unfocused as he spoke, but Qingping Sword flew into the air and stabbed precisely towards the direction where Xie Zhiwei had fled!
â
Using spiritual power was great.
Since encountering the hero, Xie Zhiwei had been using nothing but his legs to run. Now he had reached the other side of Summit City in one shot without panting or losing his breath. It was so easy it was refreshing.
A breeze came from the thorny bamboo grove, its fragrance like something from a lifetime ago. He stood in place and laughed three times. This time, his resourcefulness allowed him to escape danger on a razorâs edge. Even if the hero discovered an empty coffin, that couldnât prove Xie Zhiwei was still alive. The skies were high and the seas were wide. Goodbye, protagonist, letâs never meet again. Nya nya bye bye.
And then his laughter stopped.
A tall figure of a man flashed out of the bamboo grove in fluttering blue daoist robes. This was none other than Chu Zhishi, who looked to be in a bad mood. When he ran into Xie Zhiwei, he froze, but then the fury on his face intensified.
âChi Yan!â Without a thought, Chu Zhishi took out Thunderstrike. âAs expected, that brat Mu He is useless! He actually let you escape!â
Dammit Cheese you bastard, why can I run into you wherever I go?! Xie Zhiwei took a step back and prepared to run off in another direction, but Chu Zhishi wouldnât give him the chance. He chased after him on Thunderstrike at the same time a white light streaked towards Xie Zhiweiâs front, who waved his hand on instinct before recognizing the object as Chu Zhishiâs daoist whisk Lingkong. His fingers only brushed aside its tail, but the handle smacked him solidly in the face.
Or rather, his mask.
Which cracked into pieces.
Xie Zhiweiâs heart thumped, but it was too late to cover his face. He looked up to see Chu Zhishi already standing in front of him with jaw dropped. Chu Zhishi blinked a few times before stammering, âY..youâŚwhy are youâŚâ
It was indescribably awkward. Xie Zhiwei almost felt humiliated from the sheer embarrassment.
Suddenly, a cold wind came streaking towards him from behind. Xie Zhiweiâs expression shifted before he turned to grab at the speeding object. Qingping Sword ended up firmly gripped in his hands, its light dimming like bamboo calming in the aftermath of a storm.
Crap. Xie Zhiweiâs heart beat frantically in his chest.
Opposite him, Mu He had already floated out from the shadows of the bamboo grove in his white robes. His eyes locked on Xie Zhiwei, looking particularly shaken in the twilight. There were still traces of red in his pupils from his recent rage, but the color of his lips quickly faded until they turned white.
He asked in a numb voice, âWhoâŚare you?â
â
Translatorâs Note: Ahhhh we did it we made it heâs finally shown his face ahhhhhh!
Double releases tomorrow and Sunday because weâve suffered enough cliffhangers this week đ