Immortalis

Corpse Demon Part 2

Yang Wujian naturally knew that speaking like this could easily expose his identity.

Yang Wujian sighed: "There's no helping it. Who told me I still have too much conscience? At White Rainbow Tower, I didn't want to watch the young master remain depressed and unable to recover. Now, I don't want to watch the young master become a detestable person. I can only risk being discovered."

"Have you always been such a conscientious person?"

Shen Qingshi looked at him, her expression somehow carrying a hint of teasing: "Including when you let me escape back then?"

Although the veil between them had already been lifted, they hadn't had the chance to speak about past events in front of Zhou Huai until now.

Yang Wujian was momentarily stunned, then quickly smiled: "Yes, there are times when I can't stand by and watch. All these years, I've truly never regretted letting you escape, even though the consequences were really severe."

"Severe?"

"Mm, you were the most important one. After the Old Palace Master discovered I had let you escape, he nearly killed me... I only survived thanks to the intervention of two other elders."

Yang Wujian recalled that day's events as if they had happened yesterday.

He smiled bitterly: "Though you might not believe me when I say this, not everyone in Longevity Palace agreed with the Old Palace Master's methods. It's just that none of us expected him to become so deranged. If I had known earlier that everyone who entered the Alchemy Room would end up like that, I should have gone sooner. Perhaps I could have saved more people."

The campfire flickered before their eyes. Yang Wujian suddenly found it ironic - he and Shen Qingshi had met because of a furnace fire, and now they could sit together before a fire discussing these matters.

After some thought, he suddenly asked: "Did what happened back then not make you afraid of these things?"

"Afraid?Being heat intolerant, Shen Qingshi always sat farther from the campfire. At this moment, the firelight reflected in her eyes could even be described as soft, giving Yang Wujian the illusion that she was just an ordinary woman.

He said softly: "Afraid of darkness, afraid of fire, afraid of dead people?"

Hearing this, Shen Qingshi shook her head: "Since childhood, I've never known what fear is. Perhaps it's because of those medicines I took in Longevity Palace. For a long time, I couldn't feel anything, or rather, only very faintly. I enjoyed sparring with people because only that could excite me, and only then did I feel more like a person rather than a piece of stone."

Her voice remained calm as she spoke these words, as if discussing someone else's affairs.

Shen Qingshi said calmly: "I think it's precisely because I couldn't feel anything that Brother Cao wanted me, and I was able to enter Zhaoming Division.""

Yang Wujian frowned, thinking of that Bi An Envoy with the cold smile: "Brother Cao? You mean Cao Zhao, the one who uses the Tiger Head Saber? Is he the one who taught you many martial arts and showed you kindness?"

Shen Qingshi nodded: "Although I can't be considered a complete woman, I do indeed have a woman's body. It was very difficult to establish myself in Zhaoming Division. It was Brother Cao who overcame all opposition to raise me. I know he's your enemy now, but to me, if not for Brother Cao, I would have died long ago."A brief silence fell between the two. After a long pause, Shen Qingshi asked softly, "Is that One-Eyed Daoist also someone who showed you kindness? I could tell you were deeply distressed during that time."

"Kindness?"

Yang Wujian smiled bitterly, unsure how to describe the relationships among the people in Longevity Palace.

They weren't blood relatives, just a group of desperate souls driven to utter hopelessness. Only those who had fallen into such despair in this world would practice martial arts that traded life for power.

He looked at his palm, where his lifelines crisscrossed chaotically, not knowing where they would ultimately break.

Yang Wujian suddenly asked, "Do you know why the Old Palace Master wanted to capture you?"

"Wasn't it for the Cicada Molt?"

"Exactly. Those who practice the Longevity Heart Sutra must constantly replenish their vital energy and blood, otherwise they'll suffer from Blood Deficiency Syndrome. But what medicine in this world isn't poisonous? To use the Longevity Heart Sutra, members of Longevity Palace must pay a price - they have to keep taking medicine until the toxins accumulate in their Five Viscera and Six Bowels, becoming impossible to remove. Eventually, this leads to shortened lifespans."

Yang Wujian didn't know what came over him, pouring all this out at once. Finally, he even took out the medicine bottle from his robe - the Blood Replenishing Pill that Gu Yun had prepared for him.

Yang Wujian said, "Unless I stop using the Longevity Heart Sutra, I can't stop taking this medicine. I'll depend on it to barely survive for the rest of my life, and ultimately die because of it."

Hearing this, Shen Qingshi finally looked up at him: "So you mean, you'll also have a shortened lifespan?"

"Of course. Although I've been performing Blood Washing to slow the accumulation of toxins, Blood Washing also damages one's Vital Energy... If I can live to see forty, that would already be heaven's mercy."

As Yang Wujian spoke these words, he kept wondering if Shen Qingshi would switch his medicine tonight. Yet, the slight furrow of her brows in the firelight made him vaguely feel that perhaps she wasn't acting - she genuinely didn't want him to die.

After a moment of silence, Shen Qingshi said, "Then just stop using the Longevity Heart Sutra."

"Stop using it?"

Yang Wujian smiled, as if he had expected her to say this.

He said, "But what's wrong with living to forty and then dying? Not everyone in Longevity Palace wants immortality. None of us have even seen the fourth chapter of the Longevity Heart Sutra. When it comes down to it, all this talk of eternal youth is just pleasant-sounding wishful thinking. Many people came to Longevity Palace when they couldn't even get a decent meal. We all just want to live with some dignity. If we can live fully while we're alive, what does a shortened lifespan matter?"

"So that's how it is."

Shen Qingshi suddenly understood.

Yang Wujian had always been someone who acted boldly without restraint. Shen Qingshi had originally thought this was because he wasn't bound by orthodox teachings, but now she realized it was because he knew he wouldn't live long, hence his recklessness.

"Are there many people in Longevity Palace like you?"

Shen Qingshi suddenly felt an inexplicable panic.

Before this, Longevity Palace to her had only meant that small Alchemy Room - the very place that had caused her so much suffering.

Yet Yang Wujian claimed Longevity Palace wasn't like that.Yang Wujian smiled. "Naturally, even fifteen years ago, many people disapproved of the Old Palace Master's methods. However, the Old Palace Master had shown kindness to many of us. Without him, those who came to Longevity Palace would have neither enough to eat nor warm clothes to wear. Therefore, many stayed at Longevity Palace out of gratitude. Although I knew back then that Longevity Palace was indeed a place that aided evildoers, and the Old Palace Master killed so many people—for which we cannot shirk responsibility—but... if only matters in this world could be simply black or white."

During their time traveling the martial world together, everything they had seen and heard confirmed this.

"Zhou Jinglei caused the deaths of countless martial heroes, yet he was a good father to the young master. Cao Zhao harmed the innocent and buried the truth, yet he was the benefactor who raised you. And the Old Palace Master Guanri, though he committed countless evils, was also kind to me..."

Yang Wujian paused, then asked, "Shen Qingshi, in your eyes, am I an enemy or a benefactor?"

Behind the flickering flames, Yang Wujian looked over.

Even though he was still in his female form, Shen Qingshi knew that Yang Wujian's features had hardly changed over the past fifteen years, which was why she had found him so familiar the first time she saw him.

Now, she clearly remembered that day—it was Yang Wujian who lifted her into that rock crevice. The last time she looked back, she saw his face filled with anxiety.

"Don't look back," he had told her.

After that, she did as he said and crawled out without turning back, unaware that in places she couldn't see, Yang Wujian had nearly been beaten to death in order to save her.

Shen Qingshi opened her mouth. She had intended to answer "benefactor," but the words that came out were different.

"I will repay you and ensure you do not die," she declared solemnly. "You can trust me in this matter."

"Such sentimental words coming from you—no matter how many times I hear them, it's hard to get used to," Yang Wujian said bluntly, tossing more firewood into the flames. Seeing that the young master showed no signs of returning, the two continued their discussion about the White-faced Guest.

"Rumors say that the original Longevity Heart Sutra could enable one to ascend directly to immortality. However, due to continuous warfare, the four chapters left in this world are incomplete, yet they are still enough for mortals to cultivate immortal bodies and achieve eternal life."

Even as a elder of Longevity Palace himself, Yang Wujian couldn't help but laugh as he spoke of these matters. He truly didn't believe in such things, and by the end, his tone turned cold with derision. "Many in Longevity Palace, like me, never sought immortality. But the Old Palace Master was different. He desired eternal life, so he needed to prepare two things: the Cicada Molt and the final chapter of the Longevity Heart Sutra."

"But isn't it said that no one has ever seen the fourth chapter?" Shen Qingshi frowned.

Yang Wujian nodded. "Correct. I have never seen the fourth chapter of the Longevity Heart Sutra. It seems that before Qingzhu Daoist Priest embarked on his distant travels, he took the fourth chapter with him. The three chapters left behind are extremely obscure and difficult to practice, and the higher one goes, the greater the consumption of internal energy. In other words, one must prepare the Cicada Molt before beginning to cultivate the fourth chapter. Otherwise, if one's vitality cannot keep up, it's possible that the training alone could drain a person completely."

At this point, Shen Qingshi recalled the bizarre and terrifying martial arts the White-faced Guest had displayed earlier at White Rainbow Tower.She murmured, "He has only completed the first three chapters so far?"

Yang Wujian smiled faintly. "Indeed. The reason White-faced Guest's complexion is deathly pale, I believe, is because he has long suffered from deficiencies in both qi and blood. No matter how excellent a Flesh Conduit he finds, as long as he hasn't cultivated the fourth chapter, this condition will persist. Logically speaking, if Guanri had been using the Longevity Heart Sutra all these years, he should have died long ago. However, it seems his alchemy skills have reached great heights during his time on Medicine King Mountain. Thus, even without obtaining the Cicada Molt, the elixirs he consumes have been able to preserve his life."

"All those martial arts he obtained from Zhou Jinglei and Yang Ye over the years—was he trying to learn them to avoid using the Longevity Heart Sutra?"

"Perhaps. But since Guanri is still searching for better Flesh Conduits, it means he has never given up on longevity. He might even be seeking the fourth chapter of the Longevity Heart Sutra."

Shen Qingshi was slightly taken aback.

"You mean he's looking for Longevity Palace? Because the Longevity Heart Sutra is inside Longevity Palace?"

"No, his goal is far more malicious than that."

Yang Wujian sneered. For days, he had been unable to understand why Guanri had appeared before everyone that day. It wasn't until certain changes emerged in the young master that he finally comprehended.

They had expended great effort to prove that those old Jianghu cases had nothing to do with Longevity Palace. Yet, Guanri only needed to show his face, and all their work was undone—Longevity Palace was once again burdened with an indelible stain.

Given Guanri's abilities, even after being expelled from the palace, returning wouldn't have been difficult. Instead, he chose a far more insidious method to exact revenge on Longevity Palace.

Yang Wujian gritted his teeth. "He is extremely patient. All these years, he has continuously caused trouble for Longevity Palace—whether killing Chang Xiuyun or causing Yin Quer's death—committing all sorts of evils as if it were a game, all to plant hidden dangers for Longevity Palace. When he is ready someday, he only needs to find an opportunity to appear before the entire martial world and announce that he is the Old Palace Master of Longevity Palace. Then the entire martial world will rise against Longevity Palace."

Shen Qingshi gradually understood his meaning. "So everything he has done is to retaliate for Longevity Palace expelling him back then?"

"His goal is easily achieved. Because of Zhou Jinglei alone, the young master has already begun conflating White-faced Guest's actions with Longevity Palace. If this continues, Longevity Palace won't be able to survive and will have no choice but to compromise and reconcile with Guanri..."

Yang Wujian took a deep breath. He had a vague feeling that he actually knew what Guanri intended to do.

"The fourth chapter of the Longevity Heart Sutra might not be inside Longevity Palace, but Longevity Palace must hold clues to the fourth chapter. Guess what the Old Palace Master—whose alchemy has reached great heights—will demand from Longevity Palace when the day comes that Longevity Palace is forced to bow its head?"