Chapter 43: Short Are These Bitter Days
An eighteen-year-old genius sword cultivator.
Yin Buran looked down from above and deliberately slowed her speech. “I said, your medical skills are nothing special.”
“…”
Although it was a very arrogant posture, Ning Ruoque just felt that Yin Buran was very beautiful like this.
It made her inexplicably think of a white cat walking proudly under the sun, even the tip of its tail was sparkling.
Very cute.
After being distracted for less than a breath, Ning Ruoque began to deeply reflect on her rudeness again.
How could she have such thoughts about her savior!
He Zhen stared at Yin Buran, suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood, and her whole body was stained red.
She grinned, her smile terrifying. “Then may I… ask the Divine Pivot Lord for some guidance?”
Seeing that He Zhen’s mental state was not quite normal, Ning Ruoque pressed on the hilt of her sword, ready to guard against her going mad at any time.
However, for some unknown reason, Yin Buran was silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
“Bringing the dead back to life is not as simple as putting a soul into a body.” She raised her hand, and a gentle breeze lifted her wide sleeves and white hair. A white lotus flower condensed at her fingertips.
The lotus flower flew into the air, and a sweet fragrance spread like a mist.
It slowly passed through the solid ice, its petals touching the corpses.
More and more lotus flowers bloomed, swaying and flowing gently with the wind, like an untouchable River of Forgetfulness.
At this point, those who had died with their eyes open finally closed them peacefully.
Yin Buran withdrew the lotus flower and said faintly, “Humans and demons are completely different. Forcibly stuffing a human soul into a demon’s body is no different from trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”
“Your talent and cultivation are not bad, but they are not enough to comprehend the mysteries of life and death. Who taught you to use such a demonic art?”
He Zhen suddenly stopped talking. She closed her eyes wearily and let the blood flow all over the floor.
Seeing that she was unwilling to speak, Yin Buran slowly walked to the table in the middle and casually picked up a few notebooks to read. Then she looked at the three bodies of the Forging Fire Sect disciples.
Compared to those sealed in the solid ice, these three had died a more tragic death. Their flesh was torn, and there was not a single piece of good flesh on their bodies.
Yin Buran studied them for a moment, and a cold voice suddenly sounded by Ning Ruoque’s ear.
“They were not eaten by the Shirou. This was man-made.” A barrier to prevent eavesdropping was cast, so He Zhen could not hear this sentence.
Ning Ruoque nodded without a sound, indicating that she knew.
A violent explosion suddenly came from a distance, and even the basement trembled and shook, shaking off countless fine dust.
Although she knew that this was Chu Xuan’s doing, Ning Ruoque was still a little anxious, as if she had heard the hum of the Sudden Rain sword asking for a battle.
She hated this passive feeling of being led by others.
Yin Buran looked at the silent He Zhen and also frowned.
Her tone became a few degrees colder. “He Peng’s soul and body are not compatible. Her mind has already degenerated to that of a child. Before long, her soul will completely dissipate, and she won’t even be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation.”
“But she still picked up those foolish people and took care of them. Isn’t she trying to atone for your sins?”
Perhaps this sentence successfully stimulated He Zhen. She looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with crimson bloodshot.
In an instant, the trapped Shirou became restless and let out a piercing cry.
Ning Ruoque quickly pulled Yin Buran behind her to protect her and wanted to cover Yin Buran’s ears.
“What do you know!”
He Zhen screamed hysterically. The bandages could not stop the bleeding, and every inch of her body seemed to be about to split open.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be separated from your loved ones by death!”
Ning Ruoque’s fingers trembled inexplicably, and she subconsciously looked at Yin Buran. But the latter was just silent, her expression so indifferent that it was a little distant.
He Zhen’s emotions had clearly collapsed. Her whole body was trembling violently, and it was hard to tell if the liquid on her face was tears or blood.
She gritted her teeth and grabbed the ground, her pale fingers digging deep into the soil, clearly hating to the extreme.
“Every minute and every second that I’m separated from my sister is like being tortured by a thousand cuts. If I didn’t miss her so much, how could I have touched the taboo, and how could I have raised an ugly monster!”
Her voice was so hoarse and distorted that it was hard to hear clearly. She just kept screaming, “I want her to live! I want her to live! I also want her to be immortal, and never leave me again!”
The change happened in an instant.
Bang!
The stone door of the basement fell without any warning. As a stream of blood-red light rushed towards Yin Buran, Ning Ruoque had already blocked in front of her.
The blade of the sword cut through something soft. Half of it fell to the ground, and the other half climbed up Ning Ruoque’s hand along the spine of the sword at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Ning Ruoque frowned in pain. She only felt that the meridians in her right hand were as if they had been corroded by something, and it was difficult to use her strength.
When she looked closely, she found that what was biting her hand was a bloody Shirou.
She reacted extremely quickly and shook the Shirou off with her spiritual energy, but a wound deep enough to see the bone was still left on her hand.
What was even more difficult to deal with was that a strange black thread was wrapped around her palm. Every time she used her strength, the black thread would go deeper.
He Zhen struggled to stand up, the madness in her eyes not yet diminished. “This is a Xuan-tier artifact. If you don’t want your hand to be crippled, don’t use your strength. I know you’re a sword cultivator.”
For a sword cultivator, the hand that wielded the sword was just as important as the life-bound sword.
As soon as her voice fell, the Sudden Rain sword left her hand, spun around Ning Ruoque half a circle, and was caught by her left hand.
Yin Buran wanted to treat Ning Ruoque.
But before she could move, she saw her not hesitating much and directly cutting at the black thread wrapped around her with her sword.
The sharp blade cut through the black thread, and at the same time, it also broke through the flesh and bone.
Blood splattered on the floor, blooming into dazzling flowers.
Yin Buran’s face instantly became even darker than the Sudden Rain sword.
Ning Ruoque did not notice at all. She just flexed her wrist and then charged at He Zhen with her sword.
The other clearly did not expect her to use her left hand to wield the sword. Her pupils shrank, and when she came back to her senses, her shoulder had already been pierced by Ning Ruoque’s sword.
He Zhen coughed up a mouthful of blood and locked onto Ning Ruoque with resentment.
Immediately after, the containers in the basement exploded one after another, and more and more Shirou gushed out, but they all pounced on Yin Buran.
As Ning Ruoque spun around to defend, she stuck Chu Xuan’s talisman on Yin Buran’s body.
A dazzling golden light flashed, and countless flames weaved into a fine net, firmly protecting her, but it also prevented her from reaching out.
This thing that Chu Xuan had made was specially used to protect people. Monsters at the Heart Fasting realm would have to go around it, and only those at the Sitting Forgetfulness realm could barely break it.
The only drawback was that it did not distinguish between friend and foe. Whoever touched it would be burned, and even the lotus flowers that Yin Buran had released were burned along with it.
Yin Buran’s eyes grew darker and darker, but she could only clench her fists and watch as Ning Ruoque’s sword light fell like rain.
Every move of the sword cultivator was precise to the millimeter, cutting most of the Shirou into pieces, and with another sword strike, she knocked out He Zhen, who was trying to escape.
As a medical cultivator, He Zhen did not know how to use poison and was no match for her.
After doing all this, Ning Ruoque turned and left.
The dark Sudden Rain sword pierced into the stone door. With a fierce push, sparks flew, and the formation collapsed.
A crack appeared in the stone door, and Ning Ruoque dragged He Zhen and quickly slipped in.
She knew what was wrong.
He Zhen wanted He Peng to be resurrected, and even to be immortal. How could she be willing to let them take He Peng away?
As early as when He Zhen had obtained the bodies of the Forging Fire Sect disciples, she had wanted to use cultivators to practice her demonic arts.
Showing weakness was just a pretense. Her initial goal was to divert Chu Xuan, find a way to trap Yin Buran and herself, and then—
Seize the bodies of Qieyu and Qingtong!
The main body of the Shirou was very likely hidden on Pengpeng!
Ning Ruoque walked out of the basement and happened to see a raging fire in the distance. The originally dark night was brightly lit.
She did not stop and rushed in the opposite direction of the fire.
*
In the small courtyard, Qingtong held the crying Pengpeng tightly in her arms, her green luo skirt already stained red with blood.
A completely black Shirou, only the size of a lamb, was moving towards them.
It looked very inconspicuous, but its speed was extremely fast, and its regenerative ability was extremely strong.
At first, it had drilled out of Pengpeng’s ear. Qingtong thought it was some small bug and pressed it with her hand.
But then a sharp pain came from her body, and only then did she realize that this thing could directly bite a cultivator’s spiritual soul!
After finally shaking it off, she didn’t expect this Shirou to bite Qieyu again.
In a short period of time, it had expanded to this size.
Qieyu attacked with all her might, but could only delay it for a little while. The artifacts were more like tickling it.
Her forehead was covered in fine sweat, and her mind was stretched to the limit, but she did not dare to be careless in the slightest.
“Senior Sister, you run with Pengpeng first.”
Qingtong shook her head. Although her eyes were red with fear, she still insisted, “No, we’ll go together.”
The Shirou paused, then suddenly jumped up.
Its angle of attack was extremely tricky, and Qieyu’s folding fan only managed to scratch its body surface.
Seeing that the Shirou was about to bite Qieyu’s neck, Qingtong, with a strength that came from nowhere, suddenly pushed Qieyu away.
A nauseating fishy wind rushed to her face, and she heard Qieyu’s cry.
“Senior Sister!”
At this moment, Qingtong regretted it terribly. If she had known, she would have worked harder.
Fortunately, although she couldn’t protect Little Senior Sister, she could still block for her junior sister.
“Hum—”
A sharp sword hum sounded by her ear, and the expected pain did not come.
Qingtong opened her eyes a crack and saw a familiar black back.
It was Ning Ruoque.
She just stood there, her sword as silent as her.
As if an invisible barrier had descended, no demon could cross it.
Qingtong almost cried with joy, but after a brief moment of surprise, only a deep worry remained. “You… what happened to your hand?! Where are Sect Master Chu and Senior Sister?”
It was no wonder she was like this. Ning Ruoque’s right hand injury was really too gruesome. If she were to treat it, she would have to close her eyes.
Ning Ruoque did not turn her head. “Yin Buran is very safe.”
In a flash, she raised her sword to block the Shirou’s attack, and in the blink of an eye, she was entangled with it.
Although there was a gap of two major realms between them, she seemed to be at ease, her defense watertight. Occasionally, when she was bitten, her expression did not change, and her hand did not even tremble.
But this was not a solution. Qingtong anxiously helped Qieyu with her treatment and also wanted to go up and help.
Just then, He Zhen woke up from not far away.
She staggered to her feet, covered in blood, her eyes even more sinister than a monster’s, almost wanting to swallow Ning Ruoque whole.
Countless black threads drilled out from her sleeves, and Qingtong shivered in fright.
Just as she was about to remind Ning Ruoque, a cluster of flames suddenly appeared and burned the black threads to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Chu Xuan patted He Zhen’s shoulder, her smile indescribably sarcastic.
“What, you’ve never seen an eighteen-year-old genius sword cultivator, so you’re so jealous?”
