In the blink of an eye, the once lively frog had turned into a puddle of green mush in the bowl.
Ban Xia covered her mouth, struggling to suppress her nausea.
Yet the old man continued, reaching for a pitch-black porcelain jar. As he uncorked it and poured, he grumbled, "I don’t know what’s going on with you all. There are so many dead people these days, yet the Corpse Oil you bring is getting less and less fresh."
What was in the jar must have been Corpse Oil.
Corpse Oil mixed with frog mush—the old man showed no disgust. He extended a finger, devoid of a nail, and stirred the mixture meticulously and intently.
"Have you brought the freshly plucked nails?" he asked after finishing, turning around. His hawk-like eyes were sharp, and his pupils contracted abruptly at the sight of Ban Xia.
Before he could react, Xuan Ye’s blade was already unsheathed, pointing directly at the space between his eyebrows.
The old man narrowed his eyes slowly, resting the finger stained with green mush on the blade’s edge. Suddenly, he smiled. "Are you here for the Blood Demon? Want to ask me where he is?"
This reaction took Xuan Ye by surprise.
"If you’re here for him, I’ll tell you—his name is Chi Wangchuan, and his weakness is right between his eyebrows." The old man’s voice grew increasingly fervent, his eyes burning with desire. "As for his location, you don’t need to ask. I’ll take you there, right now..."
With that, he stood up, his back no longer hunched, and strode away swiftly, as if he had been waiting for this moment for an eternity.
Ban Xia’s suspicion immediately flared. She stepped forward, blocking Xuan Ye, and said, "Don’t you think there’s something fishy about this?"
"Fishy?" The old man turned back, chuckling hoarsely. "Do you think I shouldn’t wish for his destruction? Then try it yourself—being unable to reincarnate after death, trapped in this pear garden for eternity, with nothing to do but mash frogs and green mush. See how that feels!"
The old man wasn’t lying.
They hadn’t walked far when Ban Xia saw Chi Wangchuan—and the pear tree.
A pear tree bearing about a dozen jade-green pears, shrouded in mist.
Chi Wangchuan sat beneath it, cross-legged on the ground, holding a small knife as he peeled a pear.
Pale green peel, streaked with blood vessels, slowly fell to the ground, releasing an eerie fragrance. Xuan Ye and Ban Xia had already approached him, but he didn’t look up, focusing intently on his task until he held a snow-white, crystalline piece of pear flesh in his palm.
"Have a pear. It’s just a pear," he said, his voice as seductive as ever, husky with a hint of weariness.
Xuan Ye stepped forward, shielding Ban Xia, and placed a hand on the hilt of the Moonlight Sheen Blade. "She will not eat this pear."
"Why not?"
"Because you’ve cast a curse on this pear tree."
"What curse?"
"Frog with Eggs, Corpse Oil, and freshly plucked nails—buried beneath this pear tree, I assume. That’s why it bears such demonic fruit."
Chi Wangchuan smiled, setting the pear down in a water dish beside him. The visible half of his face beneath the mask showed a trace of disappointment as he spoke slowly, "Suppose you’re right. You’ve guessed correctly. So, what do you plan to do?"
Xuan Ye remained silent, but the Moonlight Sheen Blade did not. As it left its sheath, its gentle glow instantly tore through the cold, bleak darkness of the grove.
Chi Wangchuan lowered his head, tidying his hair with his fingers, entirely unafraid. He simply raised a hand and drew a talisman in the air.Under the pear tree, an exotic fragrance instantly filled the air. Dozens of pear peels were activated by him, emitting bluish smoke tinged with a hint of crimson, slowly converging toward Xuan Ye.
It wasn't an assault but an encirclement—a gradual closing in. Chi Wangchuan's lips twitched faintly, as if murmuring a spirit incantation.
The moonlight grew clearer. Ban Xia took a step closer and clearly saw Xuan Ye's eyes abruptly turn blood-red.
Moon Glow was still in his hand. He raised the curved blade high, not pointing it at Chi Wangchuan, but slowly aiming it at his own chest.
The bluish-red smoke continued to swirl, and Xuan Ye's clarity of mind gradually faded. The curved blade cut through his clothing, already carving a bloody mark on his chest.
Ban Xia was horrified and quickly stepped forward, striking his back with her iron sword while shouting loudly, "Xuan Ye!"
She remembered what the Qi mage from the 21st century had told her: at the moment a person loses their soul, shouting their name might help the soul return to its place.
This move seemed to work. The blood-red in Xuan Ye's eyes temporarily receded. He glanced down at Moon Glow, immediately understood the situation, and mustered all his strength to send the blade flying—its momentum fierce as it slashed toward Chi Wangchuan.
Killing the curse-caster before being fully controlled by the Blood Demon curse was the only way to undo the curse—his only way out now.
Moon Glow cut through the wind, meeting the increasingly dense bluish-red smoke in the night sky, momentarily locked in a stalemate.
Chi Wangchuan laughed arrogantly, "You actually drew that woman's Blood Demon curse onto yourself and then came to my territory to cause trouble. You truly are as foolish as an ox."
Xuan Ye panted, his fingers aching and itching unbearably, almost unable to channel his energy. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Even if I'm as foolish as an ox, I won't let a woman suffer danger because of me!"
These words seemed to strike a chord in Chi Wangchuan.
More smoke rose under the pear tree, but he stopped chanting incantations, adopting a defensive stance. "In my territory, you'd need at least a hundred moves to defeat me. But within those hundred moves, I can definitely trigger the Blood Demon curse. You have no chance of winning."
Xuan Ye panted, silent, but inwardly acknowledged the truth in his words.
"I respect you as a man and am willing to gamble with you. If you win, I will undo the curse and fight you fairly."
Chi Wangchuan's next words held an extraordinary allure.
"Using blood from the forehead to summon the Blood Demon is already a gamble in itself."
Chi Wangchuan added, with a surprisingly chivalrous tone, as he withdrew his stance and dissipated all the smoke.
After sitting down under the pear tree, Chi Wangchuan spoke slowly, "Every woman who summons me has only one goal: to regain her youth and win back her lover's heart. And my requirement is just one."
"Sincerity toward the one they love," Xuan Ye said calmly, those five words carrying weight.
Chi Wangchuan smiled, his expression filled with venom.
"Everyone swears they are sincere," his venomous tone expanded, "but in the end, only one person passed the test."
"Those who failed, you drove the Blood Demon to control their minds, making them kill themselves?"
"Those who break their vows deserve death—it's only natural," Chi Wangchuan spread his hands.
"Then what are we gambling on?" Xuan Ye's eyes burned intensely. "That lady summoned you at my request, not because she had a plea of her own."
"But her illusion told me she has loved too."
"You want to gamble on whether she is sincere?"
"Yes."
"She is absolutely sincere," Xuan Ye said softly, but those words immediately stirred a storm in Ban Xia's heart.Chi Wangchuan smiled once more: "Whether it's sincere or not, we'll only know after we've made a bet."
"How do we bet?"
"It's very simple. I have ten questions, extremely straightforward ones. If you answer 'yes', you win. If you answer 'no', I'll take one of your fingernails. Nothing in this world can be perfect, so as long as you can keep seven fingernails, you win."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Ye fell silent, not even glancing back at Ban Xia, and simply extended both hands, palms facing down, presenting his ten fingernails before Chi Wangchuan's knees.
Chi Wangchuan narrowed his eyes: "You mean, you'll bear the consequences for her questions?"
"Yes."
"Very well." Chi Wangchuan said softly: "Then please have this young lady sit down."
Ban Xia, being straightforward by nature, immediately complied and sat down.
Chi Wangchuan reached out, his index fingernail sharp, and drew a blood mark on her forehead, murmuring: "You cannot lie. I have an eye that now resides within your soul..."
Ban Xia shuddered from head to toe.
From the other side, Chi Wangchuan's voice began to sound like a nightmare.
"Will you love him, regardless of beauty or ugliness, regardless of appearance..."
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