Chapter 82 Life and death hang in the balance, I will seize the opportunity…
On the other side.
He Mu casually picked up a snake and tied Yi Fang to the gate of Hua Palace.
“Watch closely,” he instructed the little snake, “if he moves, bite his neck and poison him to death.”
The little snake dared not resist and nodded repeatedly. Soon, it summoned a large group of snakes, which surrounded the Yi people.
Yi Fang, a mere mortal, had never seen so many monsters before. Slippery snake scales slithered across the skin of his neck, their cool touch accompanied by a hissing sound that sent chills down his spine.
He screamed, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"You're such a coward," He Mu mocked.
He clapped his hands and looked in the direction where the voices had left.
This kid's lightness skill is getting better and better; in just a few minutes, he's vanished without a trace.
He Mu stepped onto the upturned eaves of the palace, glanced at the direction of Yi Jinxiang's bedroom, and quickly flew after her.
When they arrived at the palace, they saw Wen Rensheng walking out of the palace gate, looking utterly dejected.
He immediately stepped forward and took Wen Rensheng's hand.
"How are you?" He Mu asked with concern. "You look terrible. Is Wenquxing not doing well?"
Hearing the voice, he stood frozen in place. Only when he heard He Mu's voice did he belatedly come to his senses.
He swallowed, and suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth, and his stomach inexplicably cramped.
"Sheng Sheng?" He Mu realized something was wrong and stepped forward to grasp Wen Rensheng's arms. "What's wrong? Tell me slowly, don't be afraid."
Hearing someone's voice, she took two deep breaths, looked up at He Mu, and tears unexpectedly rolled down her cheeks.
"elder brother……"
He let out a sob uncontrollably and buried himself in He Mu's arms.
"what to do……"
He was almost swallowed up by the oppressive atmosphere; he was trembling slightly, and his body was getting cold in waves.
"I don't want to leave... I don't want to lose my master..."
He Mu quickly hugged him tightly and gently patted his back.
"Don't cry, Shengsheng," he comforted her. "You know your master's personality. She likes to take responsibility on her own and won't ask for help unless absolutely necessary. The situation isn't that serious."
The voice choked with sobs, shaking its head frantically: "She gave me the protective magic treasure, and said... she said I had to leave Cangzhou today, or she'd just throw me out... I..."
As he spoke, a heavy, bitter feeling in his throat made it difficult for him to utter a sound.
He swallowed hard, and finally spoke in a hoarse voice, "Brother, this time it's really different. Please help me, I really don't know what to do, brother... what should I do..."
He Mu remained relatively calm. He hugged Wen Rensheng, gently stroking his back, while deducing the current situation based on the child's fragmented words.
Yi Jinxiang's protective treasure is called "Riding the Mist," which is one of the eight divine powers of Qimen Dunjia. It can give people the ability to ride the clouds and mist and hide their tracks.
Over the years, she has used this magical artifact to protect Cangzhou City, preventing Wenrensheng from being exposed to the Heavenly Court.
Now that she has given the Frost-Riding Sword to Wenrensheng, it means she has to abandon the city. Once the magic weapon leaves Cangzhou, the barrier over Cangzhou will completely disappear in less than seven days.
At that time, Cangzhou City will no longer be a castle in the air in the eyes of the Heavenly Court. It will lose its protection and will soon be discovered by the God of Fate. Now that she has connections in both the upper and lower realms, the monsters in the city will not even have a chance to escape and will be destined to perish.
Wen Rensheng has not yet reached the pinnacle of his cultivation, and He Mu cannot abandon him to ascend alone. Without a divine spark, it would be difficult for the few of them to deal with Si Ming.
It is indeed a dilemma.
*
After much deliberation, Mu and I decided to take Wenrensheng to an inn in the city for the night.
However, he developed a low-grade fever the night he went out to stay, and his skin turned pink from the heat. He spent most of the next three days sleeping.
After waking up, he didn't cry or fuss. He just held Mu and didn't say anything, like a well-behaved little silly dog.
Whenever he had free time, He Mu would go out to check on the situation in Cangzhou City.
He sat on the eaves of the inn, wearing a straw hat, gazing indifferently at the bustling street.
A fight is taking place here.
He had been sitting here watching since morning. It seemed that a berserk demon had bitten the eldest son of another family to death. At first, they were just arguing, but eventually someone started fighting, and the two sides quickly got into a brawl.
Not long after, monsters began to die one after another in the street, and the bluestone pavement was soaked with crimson blood, which gushed into the cracks between the bricks.
Several new "disaster flowers" quickly sprouted from the damp soil, like the earth's raw flesh being peeled away.
He and Mu would help out a couple of days ago, but as these kinds of things happened more and more often, and troublesome people started getting involved, he stopped helping.
He Mu has never liked doing things to help the world and save people. All his kindness is based on the premise that it will not threaten Wen Rensheng's safety.
He watched for a while, and when he heard some noises inside the room, his eyes finally lit up with a bit of light.
He jumped off the eaves, entered the inn through a second-floor window, and returned to his room.
Hearing voices, he had already woken up. He sat on the edge of the bed looking at a scroll, his face still flushed from the low fever.
"Sheng Sheng," He Mu took off his straw hat and sat down beside Wen Rensheng's bed, "Are you feeling any better?"
Hearing the voice, she smiled and said to He Mu, "It seems the fever has subsided. Thank you, brother."
Mu's tense emotions finally relaxed a bit, and he pulled Wen Rensheng's hand into his palm.
"What are you looking at?"
"The scroll that Chen Shou gave me last time."
Hearing voices, she moved aside a little, lifted the covers, and patted the spot next to the bed.
"Brother, come and watch with us."
Mu Yiyan sat down next to Wen Rensheng and put her arm around his shoulder.
The scroll was very long, with the characters densely packed together; from a distance, only a few ink dots could be clearly seen.
Besides the characters, there are also some ambiguous patterns, such as lotus flowers, snakes, scorpions, and poisonous insects, randomly pieced together.
Hearing people's voices, I realized I had been awake for half an hour, and had been looking at this scroll ever since.
"I read half of this scroll and found that it seems to contain notes made by Si Ming when he first studied 'Huo Jin'."
“Sheng Sheng,” He Mu grasped Wen Rensheng’s hand, “Do you have any thoughts after reading it?”
He Mu's palms were warm, and he enveloped both of Wen Rensheng's hands.
Hearing someone's voice, she nestled in his arms and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "I don't quite understand it. I'd like to hear you explain it to me, brother."
He kissed Wenrensheng's hair and said, "Okay, I'll tell you."
Mu has flipped through this scroll many times and knows its contents by heart.
Having said that, he covered Wenren's hand with his own and pointed to a lotus pattern on the right side of the scroll.
"This is the 'Makujin' that grows in the soil of Japan. It is shaped like a bright and beautiful red lotus. Your master should have told you that the poison of the 'Makujin' can temporarily enhance the physical body and magical power of a demon."
He nodded upon hearing a voice.
He Mu held him tightly in her arms, whispering in his ear, and both of them felt warm and cozy.
He Mu pointed downwards with Wen Rensheng in his hand: "The scroll says that the way 'Calamity' strengthens spiritual roots in a short time is by forcibly increasing the speed at which spiritual roots absorb natural energy."
“The spiritual root is a container that can hold the energy of nature. The amount of energy it can withstand is limited. So when those monsters are poisoned, although they will become stronger temporarily, their spirit and consciousness will be compensated, and it will not be long before they become demonic.”
"Si Ming has been playing this game of chess for a long time. What she wants to see is for Cangzhou City to bring about its own destruction and collapse without any attack."
He Mu briefly recounted the contents of the scroll to Wen Rensheng, and then they interlocked their fingers again.
“Sheng Sheng, whatever decision you make, I will support you,” he said. “As long as you don’t hurt yourself, I will be with you.”
Hearing the voice, she slowly grasped He Mu's hand.
He had no doubt about that statement whatsoever.
During the period of low fever, he was rarely awake, but he could vaguely sense that Mu was busy taking care of him, cleaning his body, feeding him medicine, and patting his back to coax him back to sleep when he was awakened by nightmares.
When he was a child, the clan chief would take such good care of him when he was sick. Although Wenrensheng had no clan members, he had family members who were more precious than blood relatives.
It was this love that made him get better little by little.
He wanted to repay the debt of gratitude.
After a moment of silence, Wen Rensheng quietly took a deep breath and said, "Brother just said that spiritual roots are containers that hold the energy of nature."
He Mu hummed in response, a strange unease rising within him, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on Wen Rensheng's hand.
"Sound after sound..."
“Since it’s a container, it will have an upper limit,” Wenrensheng gently interrupted him. “Even my brother’s spiritual root cannot withstand the complete natural energy, which is why those monsters afflicted with ‘calamity’ go mad.”
At this point, Wenren paused, turned slightly to the side, and stared intently at He Mu.
"But there is a different kind of spiritual root in the world."
"…………"
He Mu's heart suddenly sank.
But before he could stop Wen Rensheng, the child continued talking.
"The Heavenly Spiritual Root is not a container, but nature itself."
"As long as I absorb all the natural energy overflowing from the people of Cangzhou into myself, they will not go mad due to the overload of spiritual energy, and the city of Cangzhou will not perish."
"Can't."
He Mu suddenly stood up and said sternly,
"The risk is too great. Your current level of cultivation cannot withstand that much spiritual energy. You will die."
All cultivation cannot be accomplished overnight. Even a person with a Heavenly Spiritual Root who absorbs power beyond their realm will die from the explosion of their sea of consciousness. Doing so would be sacrificing Wen Rensheng's life, which Mu absolutely cannot accept.
He stepped forward and gripped Wen Rensheng's shoulder tightly, saying somewhat forcefully, "I've heard those words before, Sheng Sheng, don't mention them again."
Hearing the voice, she frowned slightly and looked at He Mu with a pitiful expression: "Brother... but I'm too stupid, I can't think of any other way."
"So what are you going to do?" He Mu swallowed hard, his voice hoarse. "Didn't we agree that neither of us would sacrifice ourselves? Are you going to break your promise? Sheng Sheng, Wen Ren Sheng, I beg you, you really won't..."
Hearing voices, she sat up and took He Mu's hand.
"Brother," he whispered, "I won't die, please let me finish."
He Mu wanted to say he didn't want to listen anymore, but the voice sounded too weak. He hadn't eaten for the past few days, and his eyes were listless. His usually clear pupils were covered with a thin layer of mist, and the corners of his eyes were red, making him look like he was sobbing.
He simply couldn't bring himself to say any words of refusal.
"…………"
He Mu fell silent.
Seeing that He Mu was silent, Wen Rensheng slowly spoke and continued, "Next, we will collect all the 'Calamity Essence' in the city, refine them together, and then I will consume it."
"In this way, my Heavenly Spiritual Root will temporarily begin to absorb spiritual energy to the maximum extent, and the monsters in the city that have fallen ill will return to normal."
"at last,"
Hearing voices, she pulled He Mu's hand and pressed it to her chest.
"Please, brother, seal my heart meridian, stop my breathing and heartbeat, leaving me with only a breath."
"I will seize this opportunity to comprehend the sword's intent, and ascend to enlightenment."
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Author's note: [Poor thing][Poor thing][Poor thing] Keep it down!
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