Nine
“I’m looking for your friend. That day, I overheard your conversation. If the creature he brought with him is truly a ghostly domain, I hope he can help me find Xia Zhi.”
“But he’s not here.” Chi Xue’s words now carried emotion.
“He is.” Xuan Ye sighed, took a step back, and crossed his arms. “Handsome Bamboo Brother, it’s lonely at the top. Would you care to come down now?”
Someone on the roof snorted, kicked several tiles loose, and landed gracefully. After descending, he snapped his fingers and, without a word, summoned his ghostly domain.
“I’ve already been to Fengqi Mountain,” the man spoke, deliberately avoiding looking at Xuan Ye. “Unfortunately, it’s not the right season, and there’s no antidote. I think the person behind me might owe you a favor and truly need to borrow your Purple Coffin.”
For some reason, the ghostly domain, which usually located all kinds of spirits as easily as pulling radishes from a field, took nearly a full day to sense Xia Zhi’s whereabouts.
West of the city, close to a crimson lake, in a place exposed to the blazing sun without any shade, Xuan Ye and his companions found Xia Zhi.
Unlike Zhan Xiao, who wore a bamboo hat, Xia Zhi stood there bareheaded, slightly tilting his head upward with an indescribably rapt expression.
A corpse-person unafraid of sunlight—this sight made everyone’s hearts sink.
“Some things are not as we wish,” he finally turned after a moment, looking at Zhan Xiao, his tone still polite yet distant. “I know the Xia family deserves to die, and I thank you for sparing me and my mother. But now, I can no longer turn back.”
“My ambition has always been to be a merchant. So now, I’d like to make a deal with you.” He paused briefly, then placed a finger to his lips and murmured something in a low voice.
Beside him stood another corpse-person, its features twisted from exposure to the scorching sun. It suddenly stepped forward, stretched out its stiff fingers, and took a short blade from Xia Zhi’s hand.
Then, it elongated its neck, as if waiting to have its throat slit like a chicken. When the neck was stretched sufficiently long, it cleanly drew the blade in a circular motion around it.
The head and neck separated instantly, yet the corpse-person managed to take one more step forward, respectfully placing its head beside Xia Zhi’s hand before collapsing to the ground.
The blood of corpse-people was usually black, and this one’s was no exception—thick and viscous. As Xia Zhi held the head in his right hand, the black blood dripped like strands of noodles, taking a long time to finally hit the ground.
“If you fulfill my wish, I will fulfill yours,” Xia Zhi spread his hands. “I will make every corpse-person created by the Xia family end themselves. From then on, there will not be a single corpse-person left in this world.”
Zhan Xiao stood still, clearly tempted. After a long while, he replied, “And what about you? What will you do?”
“I am no longer a corpse-person. From now on, I will be an honest merchant, employing a group of elders and children, providing them with food and shelter.”
“Is your wish for me to die?” Zhan Xiao responded, his expression weary. “If you can keep your word, then nothing could be simpler.”
“Your wish should be achieved by your own hand, without coercion from anyone!”
Xuan Ye spoke up at this moment, flicking his fingers. Moon Glow shot forth like the wind, its blade shimmering with iridescent light as the trapped evil spirits stirred restlessly.
Using the spirits to restrain Xia Zhi, he then drove the blade into his forehead, drawing out his soul.This was originally Xuan Ye's plan, but he soon realized his worries were unnecessary.
Xia Zhi not far away still stood with arms outstretched, making no attempt to resist. The curved blade moved with such speed that before it could even be lifted for an upward strike, it plunged unimpeded into his right chest.
Though Xuan Ye clearly heard the sound of the blade piercing flesh, Xia Zhi remained standing in place, his expression unchanged.
Undying, unkillable, unafraid of sunlight—he had truly become a corpse demon!
"Corpse demons differ from Asuras in one major aspect: I feel no pain." As he spoke these words, he even glanced at You Huang, his lower body swaying before instantly transforming into a pillar of black smoke.
"My wish isn't for you to die, but for you to be sealed within this blade, confined for all eternity." Before withdrawing completely, he added in a calm, clear voice: "Otherwise, I will fill this world with countless corpse beings you can never eliminate!"
Even after becoming a corpse demon, he could still transform into smoke, fear no sunlight, and feel no pain.
After returning from outside the city, Chi Xue became highly motivated, taking a charcoal pencil to write on the back cover of his tattered book.
"It seems he's even more formidable than you." After a moment, he bit the charcoal pencil, staining his mouth black, and spoke to You Huang: "Your Ghost Domain can't sense him either, right?"
You Huang's face darkened as he crossed his arms: "Yes, it appears so. Only when he wants to be found can my Little Blue detect him."
"And he's incredibly fast—even you can't catch up to him."
"That's because your Elegant Confinement stabbed too many holes in me. My agility is far from what it used to be."
"Undying and unkillable, feels no pain, and can't be caught or touched." After summarizing all these traits once more, Chi Xue belatedly tasted despair as he looked at Xuan Ye: "So it seems... we truly have no way to deal with him."
"There is a way." After everyone fell silent, Xuan Ye began to speak, word by word: "I can fulfill his wish."
"My blade only seals evil spirits."
"Sooner or later, I too will become a corpse being."
"Do you know what that blade is? It's the Divine Tool of their demigod race." You Huang interjected at this point: "Do you know the ultimate fate of those sealed by this blade? They're thrown into the Wheel Well of their demigod race, chased by a millstone, forever pushing that wheel through all eternity. Even if your soul is ground to dust by the millstone, you'll remain beneath that well for all eternity, serving as a donkey for their demigod race!"
"I don't care."
"You don't care because you don't yet understand what eternity truly means."
Their argument ended there.
"I know. At the very least, I know what "long" means." Xuan Ye took a deep breath: "With these legs, I've stood for four hundred and eight full days. Each day felt longer than my entire previous life. I know what I'm choosing. I won't regret it, and I can bear the consequences."
On the third day, the Ghost Domain still hadn't detected Xia Zhi, but the inn received a visitor.
A child with a runny nose, no more than eleven or twelve years old, yet carrying himself like a little ruffian, kicked the door open upon entering: "Which one of you is called Xuan Ye?"
Having always been without offspring, Xuan Ye felt particular fondness for children. He managed a rare smile and patted the boy's head: "That would be me. What brings you to find me?"The kid snorted and rolled up his sleeve to show him: "Yesterday, when I went out to find food for the little ones, some damn thing bit me. This weirdo told me if I wanted it treated, I had to come find you and go together. I didn’t pay it much mind, but by today, my arm ended up like this. Damn it!"Every other word was 'old man/I', and he even threw in a national curse at the end." This guy really seemed like a hoodlum, and by the looks of it, probably the leader of a gang.
Xuan Ye held his arm, pinched it with two fingers, and squeezed out a stream of thick, black blood. Watching him grimace and bear the pain, Xuan Ye patted his head: "It’s nothing, just a minor injury. Did the person who bit you say where I should take you?"
"Wind Gap Pass. A damned place—when the wind picks up, it can blow people away."
Xuan Ye then took his hand and turned to look at Xuan Ye.
"I’ve made up my mind. Let’s go," he said softly, slowly raising his eyes to gaze calmly at the orange-yellow sky outside.
"I still think something’s wrong." By the time they reached Wind Gap Pass, Ban Xia, who had stubbornly insisted on coming along, felt another headache coming on. She pressed her hand to her forehead, trying hard to endure it. "Besides, I can’t stand do-gooders. Someone like Xuan Ye shouldn’t be taken in."
Chi Xue, who was following behind, immediately blinked and asked with sincere curiosity what a "do-gooder" was.
Ban Xia ignored him and continued massaging her forehead as she followed Xuan Ye into a narrow, long passage.
The desert was full of strange rocks, and the passage was flanked by weathered stones full of holes. When the wind blew through, it produced a strange, slightly rhythmic humming sound.
"It’s him! He’s the one who bit me!" After walking for a while, the young hoodlum suddenly shouted, jumping back a step.
Chi Xue also recognized the man—he was one of the corpse people who had kidnapped Ban Xia at the ruined temple that day.
Unlike Xia Zhi, this one could speak and had some intelligence, but he lacked true consciousness and could only obey his master. At best, he was a higher-level corpse person.
"The master is ahead," he said, giving Xuan Ye’s group a strangely polite bow, revealing that he had once been a well-mannered person.
"I’ve seen you before." A thought suddenly struck Ban Xia. "You’re from the Xia family. You used to follow Xia Zhi—you were his personal servant."
"The master is ahead."
His answer confirmed he was just a corpse person.
Ban Xia looked at him and suddenly had an idea.
"The wind is strong up ahead. I’m not going," she said, grabbing hold of You Huang. "Handsome Bamboo, I’ll trouble you to protect me."
When they reached the end of the passage, the view suddenly opened up.
The wind, funneled through the narrow path, grew much stronger here. Though it wasn’t particularly windy, there was still a faint howling sound, whipping up yellow sand all around.
Standing alone in the center of the sandstorm was Xia Zhi, surrounded densely by something indiscernible.
Xuan Ye’s eyesight was sharp, and he was the first to see that it was a carefully arranged circle of human heads.
Heads of corpse people with crimson eyes, stacked two layers high—at least a hundred of them.
"One hundred and thirty-nine," Xia Zhi spoke in a tone befitting a businessman. "I’ll pay half upfront. The remaining one hundred and thirty-nine will be delivered as promised once the task is complete.""The Xia family's pills can still cure you even if the venom has reached your heart, as long as it hasn't been more than an hour." After a moment, he tossed over another pill: "This child's joints haven't stiffened yet, there will be no issues in the future."
"I have shown my sincerity." Only after the child swallowed the pill did Xia Zhi speak again, his patience evidently quite remarkable: "What about you? Are you prepared?"
"Must I be imprisoned for all eternity to quell your hatred?" Zhan Xiao finally spoke.
"I do not hate you, but only this can match the price I have paid."
At this point, there was no room left for negotiation.
"I am prepared." Zhan Xiao turned, slowly facing Xuan Ye: "I also trust him, because he is merely a pitiful soul compelled by circumstances."
The yellow sand stretched endlessly, the wind brushing through his hair, swift and desolate.
Xuan Ye drew his blade, hand on the hilt, slowly pointing the tip toward Zhan Xiao's brow.
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