Seven
Around the ninetieth exchange, Xuan Ye and Zhan Xiao finally determined the victor.
Zhan Xiao was defeated, his long sword severed cleanly in two by Moon Glow. Even the jade hilt shattered under the immense force, cracking from the base and exploding into seven fragments in his palm.
Having gripped the sword too tightly, Zhan Xiao's palm was cut, blood slowly trickling down between his fingers.
Bright red blood—neither blackened nor viscous—unlike that of a corpse demon, it was ordinary human blood.
Xuan Ye's Moon Glow halted, hovering before his chest as if equally perplexed. Staring at him, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you human or a corpse demon? If you're both, which one holds dominance?"
Zhan Xiao lowered his head, still clutching the broken hilt, offering no reply. He merely closed his eyes slightly, sensing Moon Glow's sharp aura gradually closing in.
Where the sword remains, the warrior lives; where the sword perishes, the warrior dies.
At last, someone had defeated him. At last, he wouldn't have to endure this solitude any longer.
"After I'm gone, this purple coffin is yours. The antidote for the corpse poison is on Fengyi Mountain. If you sleep inside this coffin, as long as the poison hasn't reached your heart, there's still hope," he murmured softly after a moment.
"What did you say?"
"I said the corpse poison in your leg can still be cured now. You must act quickly. If the poison seeps into your bones and ruins your joints, even the antidote won't save you."
Xuan Ye steadied himself, his breathing gradually calming as rationality returned. "So, it really wasn't you who captured Ban Xia?"
"I told you it wasn't."
"Your sword—has it only ever taken the heads of corpse demons?"
"If you choose to believe that."
"This purple coffin—can it halt your transformation into a corpse demon? According to what you said, you've already found the antidote. Then why do you still need this coffin?"
"Because by the time I found the antidote, the poison had already reached my heart. Not much, but it's irreversible."
"So, one day, you'll become a corpse demon too."
Zhan Xiao nodded, his deep brown eyes meeting the dawn light, his temples frosted with silver hair swept slightly back, exuding an indescribable tranquility.
Xuan Ye panted, the fingers controlling his blade never feeling so feeble.
Ban Xia was still waiting for him. He had no time to hesitate.
"You won't let yourself become a corpse demon, will you?"
Hearing this, You Huang nearby finally let out a long, relieved sigh.
"You won't let yourself become a corpse demon," Xuan Ye repeated, his index finger tilting sideways as he retracted Moon Glow. "Don't ask me how I know. Without breadth of mind and ambition, one could never cultivate swordsmanship like yours. If your lower body were still fully functional, or if you wielded a slightly better sword, I might not have been your match."
Carrying Ban Xia's feverish body, Chi Xue had only taken a few steps when the pot of Layered Lotus in his arms began to shift direction again.
Countless delicate petals uniformly turned westward, pointing toward the direction from which the sandstorm blew.
Following this direction, Chi Xue walked for a while as the sandstorm grew increasingly fierce. Just as he was about to abandon hope, the sky fully brightened, and he abruptly collided with Xuan Ye.
This pot of Layered Lotus, like a fence-sitter, had guided him to Xuan Ye once more.
Chi Xue was somewhat bewildered, scratching his head and stammering as he explained to Xuan Ye for a long while before managing to outline the situation roughly.
"The one who can turn into smoke is Xia Zhi?" Xuan Ye bent down, shielding Ban Xia from the sandstorm while feeling her forehead. "Ban Xia said she drove him away?"
Chi Xue nodded, glancing cheerfully at Ban Xia. "I always said Sister must be one of our half-divine clan members. There's no doubt about it now!"Xuan Ye remained silent, simply pinching Ban Xia's mouth open to feed her the medicine he had painstakingly obtained.
"One tael of silver per bottle, specifically for treating fever. Did that pockmarked Huang sell it to you in the city?" You Huang, who had been following behind, spoke up at this point. Without looking at Xuan Ye, he turned to intently study the pot of Layered Lotus: "If you're counting on that swindler's medicine to cure your lover, then you're truly a fool." After saying this, he extended a finger to count the melon seed-shaped petals of the Layered Lotus.
"One, two, three, ..., eighteen." When he finished counting, he curled his lip and made a handsome expression of disdain: "I curse your half-deity race's worthless thing—defecating only halfway, aren't you afraid of choking to death? It's already bloomed eighteen layers—would you die if it bloomed one more?"
Hearing this, Chi Xue immediately leaned in: "That's right, if the lotus blooms nineteen layers, what happens after that? Do you know, brother?"
"How come I've heard that you, young sir, are the Seer of the half-deity race?"
Chi Xue looked embarrassed, pursed his lips, and gazed at him pleadingly: "I think my master mentioned this matter to me, but I'm stupid and can't remember."
Whether in expression or movement, he now resembled a little puppy. You Huang was greatly amused, reached out to pat his head, and only then took pity on him, saying: "Don't worry about what happens after nineteen layers for now. As far as I know, just these eighteen layers of petals, plus your Elegant Confinement's blood, will definitely cure your Elegant Confinement's sweetheart's fever."
Sure enough, taking one petal each from the inner and outer eighteen layers of the Layered Lotus, along with some blood from Xuan Ye's palm, Chi Xue scratched his head and fumbled for a long time before finally concocting a rather unsightly pill. After giving it to Ban Xia, it proved effective.
Although the fever persisted, at least after one hour, Ban Xia's breathing had smoothed considerably.
"I... I'll make some more pills. If we had some heavenly water, the pills would work even better," Chi Xue chirped excitedly.
"This is a desert. There won't be any heavenly water, at least not in the short term," Xuan Ye explained with rare patience.
Chi Xue uttered an "oh" and turned back to continue his concocting.
After making about two or three pills, while he was pondering how often one should be taken, a thought suddenly struck him.
"Just now... just now, Sister Ban Xia seemed to tell me that Xia Zhi... it seems he only needs to eat one more human heart to... to become a corpse demon!"
After saying this, he froze, seemingly realizing the gravity of these words, his heart skipping a beat.
The taste of the final human heart was exceptionally poor.
Xia Zhi sighed, lingering in the abdominal cavity of a dehydrated, dying man, plucked out the heart, and swallowed it in one gulp.
Hearts of the dying taste bitter, carrying a foul, decaying stench.
He had already consumed seventy-six such stale human hearts.
Out of seventy-seven human hearts, seventy-six had carried this putrid, blackened flavor.
The only fresh one came from his adoptive mother—that seemingly frail woman who always wore two strings of Buddhist beads on her wrist.
That day was the third day of the third month, the legendary birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva. He had gone to the shop, finished tending to business for the last time, and on his return, his legs felt too heavy to move. After struggling home and taking a sip of tea, his adoptive mother rushed out from the prayer room and barged headlong into his chamber."Zhi'er, you once said your life was given by the Xia family, so whatever the Xia family asks of you, you would comply. Does that statement still hold true now?" She spoke immediately upon entering, clutching her chest as if weighed down by the words.
Xia Zhi looked somewhat surprised, gazing at her as if comprehending something. After a long pause, he softly replied, "Yes."
"What if I demand you become a corpse demon to exact revenge?!" Her voice trembled as she spoke, her emaciated hand gripping the prayer beads tightly.
"Mother, I feel that Master Xuan we previously sought seems to possess some cultivation... perhaps we..."
"What Master? Every one of those who came before patted their chests boasting themselves as peerless when taking our silver, but in the end, which of them brought back Zhan Xiao's head?!"
Xia Zhi fell silent, feeling dizzy and powerless, and could only grip his teacup tightly.
"Don't worry, when I infect you with corpse poison, you won't become one of those mindless corpse demons. As long as you maintain consciousness during the transformation and then consume my heart, you'll retain your awareness forever, becoming this world's most unique and powerful corpse demon!"
"Moreover... if you can nourish yourself by consuming seventy-seven living human hearts within the time limit, you'll evolve, able to transform into smoke, and ultimately become a Corpse Asura."
"Do you know what a Corpse Asura is? Immortal and indestructible, able to walk in sunlight, just like an Asura!"
......
Her subsequent words grew increasingly deranged, completely devoid of logic.
In short, she wanted Xia Zhi to repay his debt by abandoning his humanity to become what sounded like an exceptionally advanced corpse demon.
Xia Zhi felt powerless, his complexion growing increasingly pale. He remained silent, simply lowering his head to examine a newly formed red spot on his hand.
"Besides, your health is poor. The physician once said you'd be lucky to live past twenty!" Seeing his lack of response, his adoptive mother finally approached, gripping his wrist tightly as she desperately uttered these words.
What followed became much simpler.
After nodding agreement, the entire process—including how to maintain that damned consciousness during corpse transformation, how to dig out his adoptive mother's bloody heart while she still lived, how his body gradually stiffened day by day, and finally how he transformed into smoke to enter the filthy, viscous cavities of human bodies—all of it was merely the process of a decaying life ultimately descending into corruption.
Since he was destined to die anyway, there was nothing particularly regrettable.
Perhaps this was why his adoptive mother showed not a trace of pity or hesitation when infecting him with corpse poison.
"Nobody pities me, therefore I have no value."
Recalling this, Xia Zhi repeated the words once more, slowly resuming human form—he'd lost count of how many times he'd evaluated himself this way.
Outside, complete silence reigned. Though the sky was clear and bright, this isolated city was shrouded in deathly stillness.
Xia Zhi remained seated where he was, waiting patiently for a long time until finally someone knocked at the door.
"Old Cai, are you there? Stop playing dead! Time to pay what you owe me."
Only after these words were completely shouted did Xia Zhi rise, walk to the door, and place a silver ingot in the visitor's palm.
"Ten taels. I'm buying his heart—that should settle your debt." Having said this, he withdrew, transforming into a plume of black smoke under the blazing sun before swaggering away under the man's astonished gaze.
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