Chapter 96, Ninety-Six
Chapter Summary: [With each meridian severed, the circulating spiritual energy diminishes, forcing Wen Qing to add her own spiritual energy...]
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Each time a meridian is severed, the amount of spiritual energy circulating decreases, forcing Wen Qing to add her own spiritual energy to protect the golden core.
As a day and a night passed, Wei Wuxian's consciousness gradually began to dissipate, and the range of his struggles decreased.
"Wen Ning, talk to him! Don't let him fall asleep!"
With a loud shout, Wen Ning quickly climbed off Wei Wuxian.
Aside from instinctively gripping the table beneath him in pain and his body twitching slightly, Wei Wuxian's eyes began to gradually close.
"Young Master Wei! Young Master Wei, wake up! Don't sleep!"
In his haste, Wen Ning leaned close to Wei Wuxian's ear and shouted, shaking his shoulders as he did so.
Wei Wuxian snapped out of his daze, opened his eyes wide, and whispered, "Wen Ning, will you chat with me?"
chat?
Wen Ning paused, but he was bad at conversation.
Wen Ning looked at Wei Wuxian's blood-soaked abdomen and subconsciously asked a question.
"Young Master Wei, are you doing well at the Jiang family?"
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Wen Ning wanted to slap himself. What kind of question was that? Wasn't he just rubbing salt into someone's wounds?
Unexpectedly, this question opened up a floodgate of conversation for Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian smiled weakly: "Of course."
"I lost my parents when I was young... Uncle Jiang took me in, fed me, clothed me, and taught me... taught me swordsmanship. My senior sister is also great... she cooks me different delicious meals every day, and she even covers for me when I make mistakes... Ouch! Wen Qing, can you be a little gentler? It's not like I'm slaughtering a pig!"
Wen Qing rolled her eyes, but subconsciously softened her movements.
"And Madam Yu, don't let her fierce appearance fool you... her whipping people. Actually, every time she beats me, she'll subtly ask... her senior sister to bring me the medicine she concocted. If she really treated me badly, how could she have let me run rampant in Lotus Pier for so long, right?"
"And what about Young Master Jiang?"
"Jiang Cheng... that brat, his only flaw is his stubbornness... he just can't speak properly, he's so awkward. If he becomes the head of the family, he'll definitely offend a lot of people, but with me and my senior sister here... it shouldn't be a big problem... I promised to be his subordinate, I wonder if he'll look down on a subordinate without spiritual power... If he does, I... I'll go... go grow lotus roots, make soup with them, add a jar of chili peppers, and burn him to death with the spiciness..."
Having said so much, Wei Wuxian had exhausted a lot of energy, but his mind was becoming clearer and clearer.
"I miss Lotus Pier..."
Seeing that Wei Wuxian's mood had dropped, Wen Ning quickly changed the subject.
"Besides Lotus Pier, what about Suzhou?"
“Gusu…” Wei Wuxian slightly curled the corners of his lips, as if he had remembered something interesting. “Gusu has a little old-fashioned guy… Lan Zhan. If it weren’t for him in the library where I could play with him… how could I have finished copying all three thousand rules of the clan?”
Wen Ning: "...Playing with Young Master Lan?"
"That old-fashioned guy always has a serious face, but he gets all worked up when I tease him... It's so funny."
"I wonder how his leg is. He ran off without saying a word. Next time I must... um!"
With a gentle touch, he severed the final connection between the golden core and his meridians.
Wei Wuxian suddenly felt a sharp pain and his upper body jerked up, almost causing Wen Ning to lose his balance.
Wei Wuxian let out a painful cry that sounded out of tune.
It hurts! It really hurts!
He couldn't think of any other adjective besides this word.
The pain was so intense that he could no longer feel his stomach.
The last and thickest meridian was severed by Wen Qing, and Wei Wuxian gradually felt the spiritual energy being drained from his body.
This feeling is different from every time before.
Previously, even when each meridian was severed, other meridians could still send the tiny amount of spiritual energy back to the body, but this time…
He felt the spiritual energy completely disappear from his body.
The unique fluctuations of spiritual energy within the dantian gradually subsided and dissipated.
He tried to mobilize his spiritual energy again, but it was no use. The spiritual energy was like a naughty child; it had run away and wouldn't listen to him anymore.
"It's a success!"
Wen Qing raised the golden core in her hand, which was enveloped in her spiritual power and emitted a soft, faint golden light.
Wei Wuxian only had time for one last look at that golden hue before he was completely engulfed in darkness.
It was a success.
That's good.
From the moment the dissection began, everyone was hoping it would end soon.
But time seemed to pass so slowly, like a month, a year, or even a lifetime.
Looking around, I noticed that a portion of the people in the space were gone.
As the spiritual energy dissipated, this soul-deprivation-like dissipation seemed to be magnified dozens or hundreds of times, and everyone could clearly feel that every corner of their body no longer possessed spiritual energy.
This feeling was even more agonizing than the previous pain.
despair
The moment Lan Wangji lowered his eyes, a tear fell onto the corner of the eye of the person in his arms.
Lan Wangji gently wiped away the water stains and lowered his head to place a kiss on Wei Wuxian's forehead.
Thank you for your hard work. I won't do it again.
Wei Wuxian woke up two days later. He sat up abruptly, which aggravated the wound on his abdomen, causing it to bleed again.
"Don't move! Don't move!"
When Wenqing came in, she saw this miserable state.
"Your wound hasn't fully healed yet. Now that you've lost your spiritual power, your healing ability has decreased. You must take good care of yourself."
"Where is Jiang Cheng? Did Jiang Cheng successfully cultivate his golden core?"
Wei Wuxian didn't care about anything else and grabbed Wen Qing's hand, asking hurriedly.
"Don't worry, it's a success. He's just still under anesthesia and is resting in the next room."
"That's good, that's good."
Wei Wuxian was about to get up when Wen Qing pressed him down.
Where are you going?
"Wenqing, how many days have I been asleep?"
Two days.
"Before going up the mountain, Jiang Cheng and I agreed to meet in the town at the foot of the mountain in seven days. I had to make some preparations beforehand, otherwise it would be bad if he found out the truth."
"But your injury..."
"Oh, I'm fine. If they ask, just say I had a fight with Wen and got some minor injuries."
Seeing Wei Wuxian's unyielding expression, Wen Qing sighed, turned and went out to gather some medicine for Wei Wuxian. She then checked his pulse to confirm that he was merely weak before daring to let him down the mountain.
"Idiot! Fool!" Jiang Cheng turned to look at Wei Wuxian, who was still asleep in the space, and cursed in a low voice. As for who he was cursing, no one knew.
The small town where they agreed to meet was nestled among the mountains, extremely remote, with only a few people in total. The streets were narrow and uneven, and there wasn't even a peddler by the roadside.
Wei Wuxian squatted by the roadside, looking in the direction of the mountain, but still couldn't see Jiang Cheng. He propped himself up on his knees, stood up, felt dizzy, swayed, and walked towards the only teahouse in town.
The teahouse was arguably the only building in this small town that wasn't shabby. As soon as he entered, a waiter greeted him with a smile: "What would you like to drink?"
Wei Wuxian's heart skipped a beat.
He had been traveling and working hard these past few days, and had no time to rest; he was practically disheveled. If an ordinary teahouse waiter saw him like this, they would be considered very kind if they didn't immediately shoo him away; to rush over with such enthusiasm would seem rather insincere.
He quickly scanned the shop. The accountant stood behind the counter, as if he wanted to bury his head in the ledger. Seven or eight people were scattered around the ten tables, many of them wearing cloaks and drinking tea with their heads down, as if to cover something up.
Wei Wuxian made a quick decision and turned to retreat. However, he had only taken one step out of the teahouse when a tall, dark figure loomed over him and struck him in the chest with a thunderous palm.
Wei Wuxian crashed into two tables, sending the waiter and accountant scrambling out. The seven or eight people inside lifted their cloaks, revealing blazing robes underneath. Wen Zhuliu stepped across the threshold, standing before Wei Wuxian. He glanced at Wei Wuxian, who was struggling to his feet, then at his own hands, lost in thought. Someone kicked Wei Wuxian in the back of the knee, forcing him to his knees. Wen Chao's face appeared above him, his expression one of cruel excitement: "Down already?! This brat, wasn't he jumping around quite a bit at the bottom of the Xuanwu Cave? One palm strike and he's done for? Hahahaha, jump again, let's see how arrogant you are!"
Wang Lingjiao's impatient voice rang out: "Quick! Young Master Wen, cut off his hand! He still owes us an arm!"
Wen Chao said, "No, no, no, no rush. We finally found this kid. If he bleeds too much from having his hand cut off, it'll be no fun if he dies soon. Let's dissolve his core first. I want to hear him scream like that little bastard Jiang Cheng did last time!"
Wang Lingjiao said, "Then let's refine the core first, and then cut off the hand!"
They were having a lively discussion when Wei Wuxian suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and said, "Fine! Bring on whatever tortures you have!"
Wang Lingjiao laughed and said, "You said it yourself!"
Wen Chao said disdainfully, "You're about to die, what kind of hero are you trying to be!"
Wei Wuxian sneered, "It's precisely because I'm about to die that I'm happy! I'm afraid I won't die. If you dare, torture me to death! The more cruel, the better. After I die, I will surely become a vengeful ghost, haunting the entire Qishan Wen Clan day and night, cursing you all!"
Upon hearing this, Wen Chao paused for a moment. It's important to understand that disciples of prestigious families, such as Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan, are influenced by their families and magical artifacts from birth, and undergo countless soul-soothing rituals during their growth. The possibility of them naturally becoming vengeful ghosts after death is extremely small. However, Wei Wuxian is different. He was the son of a servant and didn't grow up in the Jiang family from a young age, so he didn't have the opportunity to undergo so many soul-soothing rituals. If he truly harbors resentment and lingers in the afterlife, becoming a vengeful ghost that relentlessly haunts the world, that would be quite a headache. Moreover, the more torment one suffers in life, the more fragmented and cruel it is, the more ferocious and difficult to deal with the vengeful ghost one becomes after death.
"Ouch—it hurts!"
"It hurts! It hurts like hell!"
"You Weng dog! I will never let you live under the same sky!"
The Wen family cultivator struck Wei Wuxian in the chest with a palm. Wei Wuxian's injuries were already throbbing, and now, with everyone's empathy, the pain was amplified to an extreme degree.
As for Wei Wuxian's statement that he had not undergone a soul-soothing ritual, the various sects behind him deeply agreed with this statement. After all, whether it was the Yiling Patriarch who died in the Burial Mound or Jin Guangyao who died in the Guanyin Temple, they were both suppressed by this group of people with various suppression methods. What they were afraid of was that they would turn into vengeful ghosts and come back to seek revenge.
Seeing this, Wang Lingjiao hurriedly said, "Young Master Wen, don't listen to his nonsense. Not everyone can become a vengeful ghost after death. It takes the right time, place, and people; if any one of these is missing, it won't happen! Besides, even if it did happen, do you think the Wen family of Qishan can't deal with this wandering ghost? We've been arresting people everywhere for so long just to punish him, are we going to let him go just because he spouted some nonsense?"
Wen Chao said, "Of course not!"
Knowing he was doomed, Wei Wuxian grew increasingly calm, his deep-seated hatred solidifying into a cold, iron-like resolve. Wen Chao, seeing this expression, felt displeased and a chill run down his spine. He kicked Wei Wuxian in the stomach, saying, "Still pretending! Who are you trying to scare! What kind of hero are you acting like!"
A group of disciples followed him and beat him mercilessly. Only after he felt he had beaten him enough did Wen Chao shout, "Enough!"
Wei Wuxian spat out a mouthful of blood, his heart hardening as he thought, "Should I kill him now? Death is no worse than living, and there's even a 30% chance he'll become a vengeful ghost!"
Thinking about it this way, I felt an unparalleled excitement.
Wen Chao said, "Wei Ying, do you always think you're fearless, brave, and great?"
Wei Wuxian exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? The Wen dogs can actually speak human language sometimes?"
Wen Chao slammed his fist down, grinning maliciously, "Go ahead and play games, keep talking. I want to see how long you can keep up this heroic act!"
He ordered his men to seize Wei Wuxian. Wen Zhuliu walked over and lifted him from the ground. Wei Wuxian struggled to lift his head, looking at the man who had killed Jiang Fengmian, Madam Yu, and destroyed Jiang Cheng's golden core, and he firmly memorized his face and his cold expression.
The Wen family members carried him away on their swords, and the town and the deep mountains gradually disappeared into the distance. Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Even if Jiang Cheng comes down, he won't be able to find me... Why are they flying me so high? Are they going to fly me up high and then drop me to my death?"
After flying on the sword for a while, the snow-white clouds were suddenly torn apart by a black mountain.
The mountain exuded an ominous, deathly aura, like a colossal, thousand-year-old corpse; even just looking at it from afar was enough to send chills down one's spine.
Wen Chao stopped atop the mountain. He asked, "Wei Ying, do you know where this is?"
He chuckled and said, "This place is called the Mass Burial Mound."
Upon hearing this name, a chill ran down Wei Wuxian's spine and up to the back of his head.
Wen Chao continued, "This mass grave is in Yiling. You must have heard of its fame in Yunmeng. It's a mountain of corpses, an ancient battlefield. You can dig anywhere on the mountain and find a corpse. And any unidentified corpses are just rolled up in a mat and thrown here."
The sword formation slowly descended, approaching the mountain. Wen Chao said, "Look at this black aura, tsk tsk tsk, heavy with malevolence, isn't it? Thick with resentment, isn't it? Even our Wen family can't do anything about it, we can only surround it and prevent people from entering or leaving. This is still during the day, at night, there really are all sorts of things inside. If a living person enters here, body and soul, there is no return, never to be seen again."
He grabbed Wei Wuxian's hair and said with a sinister grin, word by word, "You will never get out of here!"
After saying that, he threw Wei Wuxian off.
"Aa ...
Everyone was horrified.
What, what is that?
A mass grave?!
"Ah Xian!"
Jiang Yanli looked at Wei Wuxian in fright, while Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Cheng and the others froze in place. Lan Wangji held Wei Wuxian tightly, his eyes dark and inky.
Wei Wuxian thought that the golden core was the most painful moment in his life, but he never expected that this was just the beginning.
Whether it was Wei Wuxian's relatives and friends, or simply the cultivators from various sects who were unwilling to suffer because of empathy.
At this moment, everyone had the same thought—Wei Wuxian must not really end up in the Burial Mound.
Unfortunately, the people who experienced it were still asleep, and no one could answer their questions.
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