Perhaps it was due to extreme grief and indignation that I made this cut with exceptional decisiveness, without the slightest hesitation.
Pfft!
The Hundred Defiance Blade plunged directly into my chest. Honestly, it didn't hurt at all. If the blade is swift and the hand is deft, you only feel a chill at the site of the wound, and then there's no other sensation. It's nothing like the screaming you see on TV dramas when someone is stabbed. Just like Fatty told me that day, he had a friend who went into an ancient tomb near Dunhuang in the northwest. They miscalculated the location of the tomb's entrance and hit a trapped area with a guillotine blade. His friend was crawling forward when the blade fell and cut him in half at the waist. He didn't realize it until he felt he couldn't exert strength in his legs, looked back, and saw his intestines had been dragged out for more than ten meters. Only then did he scream out in agony and died shortly after.
In fact, if the cut is swift, the pain nerves don't have time to react. That's how it was for me; at least for now, I felt no pain. In the blink of an eye, the tip of the blade had pierced six or seven centimeters into my chest. At that moment, Qing Yi suddenly reached out and, in a flash, grabbed my hand holding the knife. He seemed frail, but his grip was anything but weak. He grabbed my wrist so firmly that I couldn't move at all, and I couldn't help but look up at him in confusion.
"Don't be impulsive."
A hint of a smile actually appeared on Qing Yi's usually wooden and cold face as he softly said, "You are too passionate and emotional, which is both good and bad. The good is that you can always make some friends, like me, like Fatty Wu, like Rosa; the bad is that you're too emotional and easily impulsive. Do you know that the human heart is only about the size of a fist? You've already cut open the tip of your own heart. If you had gone a bit further, you would have pierced through the heart, completely destroying its function, and that would have been the end of you."
Hearing Qing Yi say this, I couldn't help but give a wry smile. My wife was nearly gone; how could I be rational? I'm not a precise computer that can operate meticulously at all times. I'm a person, with my own joys and sorrows, all of which can influence my actions.
"I say, Qing Yi, stop lecturing him. In my opinion, this kid's character is set for life; he's not going to mature!" Fatty Wu said with a mouth askew, somewhat speechlessly, "I really don't know how old Ge, who never says a wrong word in his life, ended up with such a rash son. But then again, I actually like this kid's character!"
Qing Yi ignored Fatty, looking at me with a serious expression: "Are you ready? If you are, I'm going to pull out the knife. Once I do, the blood will gush out immediately. You just need to feed the blood mixed with your heart's blood to your wife, and leave the rest to me."
I trusted Qing Yi completely, so I nodded at once. Qing Yi immediately pulled the knife from my chest, and a surge of dark blood spurted out, gushing continuously, leaving me somewhat stunned. No wonder it's often said in books that if you're stabbed or shot with an arrow, you shouldn't rashly pull it out without adequate medical conditions, because while the blade or arrow is still in the body, it can at least block some blood. But once it's pulled out, if you can't stop the bleeding in time, it can be fatal!
I didn't dare delay too long. To feed the blood flowing from the wound to Hua Mulan successfully, I had to kneel beside her head, supporting myself with my hands on the ground, lying prone like a dog. This way, my wound could be directly above Hua Mulan's mouth, and the droplets of blood rained down like a shower.
What angered me, though, was that she simply refused to open her mouth, just shaking her head continuously, her eyes that had once captivated me now misty with tears.
Seeing her like this, my heart ached, and I couldn't help but plead, "Can you open your mouth, please? I'm begging you, let me do something for you, or I'll never be at peace for the rest of my life. Remember, I'm a man. Leave me a little dignity. Dying while being protected by a woman is very painful for me."
"Yeah, miss, just accept Xiao Tian's kindness," Fatty consoled from the side. "We froze him and took him away, but we did it with a guilty conscience. Hiding in the ear chamber, every time I saw his eyes, I felt guilty. Although everything we did was for his own good, we should also consider his feelings. If you really refuse to accept his help, I reckon he'll never be at peace in this life. Besides, what's the big deal about losing thirty years of life? Don't forget who Xiao Tian is. He's the sole heir of Fa Qiu Sect. The Fa Qiu Sect cultivates murderous aura, neither revering heaven and earth nor fearing ghosts and gods. As long as he reaches the eighth level of murderous aura in his lifetime, his lifespan will be rewritten. Even the King of Hell won't have control over his life and death. Moreover, I don't think raising a life-bound ghost is a big deal. Although I don't know when you two started flirting, your relationship seems solid. Don't you want to live and die with Xiao Tian? Ah, of course, with a thousand years between your ages, living together is impossible, but dying together is still doable."
Believe it or not, after Fatty's persuasion, Hua Mulan seemed to have a change of heart. After hesitating for a moment, she finally slowly opened her mouth.
Seeing this, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Hua Mulan's body became much more solid after my fresh blood dripped into her mouth. In a short while, she no longer looked transparent. It seemed that the process of her soul scattering had been interrupted by me; I had forcibly pulled her back.
I was overjoyed, and as I relaxed, a piercing pain suddenly shot through my chest, making my whole body shiver.
"It's done!"
At that moment, Qing Yi suddenly uttered a low shout and, from nowhere, produced a plaster covered in black ointment, pressing it firmly onto my chest. He said solemnly, "Leave the rest to me now. You rest for a while. Keep the plaster on the wound, don't let go. It's for stopping the blood. Once it's absorbed, you can let go."
Hearing this, I quickly pressed the plaster onto the wound. I had been worried about being in the middle of nowhere with my chest torn open, just stopping the blood and stitching the wound was a task. But it turned out Qing Yi had such a miraculous thing. I had felt the wonders of Qing Yi's medical skills all along the way; whatever he gave was definitely right.
At this time, Qing Yi also sat down on the ground and began to cast spells. He lit three sticks of incense and continuously formed various Taoist hand seals at a dizzying speed. Just this skill alone must have taken many years to master. He didn't take long to cast his spells, less than ten minutes, before he suddenly shouted, "Now!"
Suddenly, I felt a warmth in my chest. Qing Yi said this was the life-bound connection between me and Hua Mulan being established. He told me not to panic, and I calmed down. After a while, Hua Mulan actually sat up, but her already pale face turned even paler, looking extremely weak, like a patient who had just recovered from a serious illness.
The first thing Hua Mulan did after sitting up was to instruct Xue Ru, "I have now become husband and wife with Xiao Tian, bound by life. From now on, wherever he goes, I must follow, and I'm no longer suitable to be your master. So, let's end our relationship here. Later, you go out and kindly ask this Qing Yi Taoist priest to send you into reincarnation. Life and death, in the end, reincarnation is the final destination and the right path. I'm sure the Taoist priest will arrange a good family for your next life. Go and enjoy life."
After speaking, Hua Mulan didn't care how Xue Ru pleaded. She turned into a black light and dove into my chest. Qing Yi said Hua Mulan was resting in the Guardian Sand in my chest. If I wanted to find her, I just needed to call her silently in my heart.
After that, there was no need for us to stay in the Ten Dire Tombs any longer. As for the thing in the main tomb, although it had been injured by Hua Mulan's self-destruction of her cultivation, we were all wounded, and even Qing Yi, our strongest fighter, was at the end of his strength. We were simply unable to pursue it. So, after discussing it among ourselves, we decided to return. We packed up our things and set off. Because of my injury and difficulty moving, I was embarrassed to have to trouble Fatty to carry me again.
When we left the ancient tomb, everyone was actually in good spirits. Although we had gone through many hardships, it was a stroke of luck that our small team had not lost anyone. Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, I couldn't feel happy at all.
What now... where should I go?
My hatred, from whom should it be avenged?
And who set up the Ten Dire Tombs, and what was their purpose?
These questions lingered in my mind, and I just couldn't be happy no matter what.