Chapter 137 - 99: Bai Xiang’s Kill

Chapter 137: Chapter 99: Bai Xiang’s Kill

This was the most severe injury Jiang Mu had sustained since he first stepped onto the path of cultivation.

It also served as his first real glimpse into the terrifying power of a top-tier expert.

Although he had managed to turn the tables on his opponent, forcing him to suffer a loss he couldn’t complain about, Beitang Batian’s ability to escape so calmly from such a desperate situation revealed just how deep his foundations ran.

Moreover, Jiang Mu had a strong premonition.

They would meet again.

He just didn’t know what this former Heroic Ruler would look like, or to what extent his Cultivation Level would have recovered, the next time they met.

His clothes were torn beyond repair.

Chu Lingzhu had asked Lan Rou’Er to go to a tailor on the street and buy a new set of clothes in his size.

Jiang Mu sat before the bamboo hut, basking in the sparse sunlight as he began to sort through the recent chain of events.

First, Madam Han had killed her husband and sealed his body in a wall. She even planned to refine him into a Corpse Puppet to keep him by her side forever.

But her husband’s resentment was overwhelming, and he had turned into a zombie halfway through the process.

And at the critical moment of this transformation, Beitang Batian’s remnant soul hijacked the process, using the zombifying body to nourish his own spirit.

Originally, everything had been going smoothly.

According to Beitang Batian’s script, he would have laid low in the Han Mansion to nourish his soul. Once it was stable, he would have sought out a cultivator of exceptional talent to possess, then cultivate the Grand Dao of Yin and Yang to return to his peak.

But unfortunately, he had run into Jiang Mu, his "bane."

Beitang Batian coveted Jiang Mu’s orthodox Star Position, but instead had most of his pure Demonic Qi drained away, causing him to lose control of the zombie body’s backlash.

In his desperation, he had no choice but to begrudgingly possess Madam Han.

From then on, their roles were reversed.

A Heroic Ruler of his generation was now forced to inhabit the body of a still-graceful woman, embarking on a defensive path of cultivation.

’That old bastard must hate my guts right now. Once his Cultivation Level stabilizes, he’ll definitely come for my life.’

Jiang Mu sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Who would have thought that investigating an infidelity case would unearth such a deep-sea leviathan?

Such rotten luck.

However, it wasn’t a total loss.

He slowly opened his palm.

With a flicker of thought, the air above his palm distorted, and a miniature projection of an island appeared.

The island floated three inches above his palm, translucent and crystalline, as if forged from glazed glass.

Its mountains, rivers, pavilions, and towers were all rendered in minute detail. You could even see swirling mist and crashing waves... like a miniature, three-dimensional model of an island.

It was so vivid it looked real.

’This must be the projection of Glazed Island?’

Jiang Mu guessed to himself.

He hadn’t noticed it before. It was only accidentally summoned when he was circulating his energy to heal.

Thinking it over, he figured that when Beitang Batian had reached into his Dantian, not only was the Demonic Qi sucked away, but this Magical Treasure had been "sucked" over as well.

He didn’t know what it was for.

Jiang Mu tried to inject Demonic Qi into it, but there was no reaction at all.

But it was definitely a Magical Treasure, no doubt about it.

Most likely, his own Cultivation Level was too low to activate this Magical Treasure.

’Whatever. I’ll just hold onto it for now and study it later when my Cultivation Level is higher.’

Jiang Mu clenched his fist, and the projection of light vanished.

He picked up the medicinal soup Chu Lingzhu had brewed, took a sip, and his gaze fell upon Lan Rou’Er in the distance.

The young woman was sitting dazedly on a bamboo chair, her eyes vacant as she stared at the sea of green bamboo swaying in the wind before her.

A gentle breeze rustled her plain white skirt, giving her an air of fragile delicacy.

Losing all her relatives had been too great a blow for the girl.

For some reason, every time he saw the girl looking like such a soft, downtrodden punching bag, a malicious impulse he could only call "the urge to bully" stirred within Jiang Mu’s heart.

’I really want to punch her, just to see her beautiful, tear-streaked face as she cries.’

’I am depraved.’

Jiang Mu shook his head, forcibly suppressing the twisted, evil thought.

"Here, eat this."

A small, delicate white hand reached out in front of him, a section of sugarcane resting in its palm.

Jiang Mu glanced at it and shook his head. "I don’t need it. I’m not a three-year-old. Do I need to be coaxed with candy just to drink medicine?"

"Idiot, this is medicine too."

Without waiting for an argument, Chu Lingzhu shoved the piece of sugarcane directly into Jiang Mu’s mouth.

"This is Red-Blood Cane! It replenishes blood and qi. It’s specifically for pale ghosts like you who’ve lost too much blood!"

Jiang Mu chewed a couple of times. It wasn’t sweet; instead, it had a medicinal taste.

He held it up to take a closer look. The core was bright red; it was clearly not an ordinary piece of sugarcane.

By now, Chu Lingzhu had placed his discarded, blood-soaked clothes into a wooden basin and rolled up her sleeves, preparing to wash them.

"They’re ruined. Just throw them away," Jiang Mu said.

"It’s fine. We have Rou’Er."

Chu Lingzhu rolled up her sleeves, revealing a pair of fair, smooth arms. "Her needlework is excellent. Once they’re clean, she can mend them and they’ll still be wearable. This fabric is quite expensive; it’d be a shame to throw it out."

’Ah, another one of the little medic’s virtues has emerged.’

’Frugal and a good homemaker.’

He pulled over a chair, moved it next to Chu Lingzhu, and sat down. Gazing at the fine hairs on her profile, he suddenly said with a sincere expression:

"Lingzhu, I’m sorry."

"Hmm?"

Chu Lingzhu paused, turning her head in confusion. Her large, sparkling eyes blinked. "Why are you suddenly apologizing to me?"

"Just accept the apology, that’s all."

Jiang Mu couldn’t explain.

’I can’t exactly tell her that when she was treating my wounds earlier, I accidentally caught a glimpse of her pink little rosebuds, can I?’

"You’re being weird."

Chu Lingzhu ignored him and went back to scrubbing the clothes.

Just then, Lan Rou’Er seemed to snap out of her daze and silently came over to help with the washing.

Jiang Mu saw that her eyes were slightly red, a clear sign she had been crying. He asked, "Are you really going to miss your aunt and the others?"

Lan Rou’Er was silent for a moment, then gently shook her head.

"I didn’t like my aunt, and I didn’t like my cousin either... But as long as they were here, at least I still had family in this world. Now... I have no one left."