Trigger Warning: Body horror (Main Villain)
Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu couldn't have guessed that this underground maze was another universe entirely, to the point where beneath this one layer, another one existed.
Within a short amount of time, mishap once again befell over them. The ground collapsed under Cui Buqu's feet and he fell from a high place before finally landing heavily onto the ground.
Suddenly, intense pain engulfed his entire body. He wasn't able to think clearly and couldn't help but let out a low groan, feeling that his shoulder might have snapped.
Compared to his shoulder, his back sustained an even more intense pain. His old injuries brought up his old diseases and he couldn't stop coughing. A raw and salty taste surged up his throat and before he could stop himself, he had spat out two mouthfuls of blood.
The sound of breathing resounded within the darkness. It wasn't only his, but Xiao Lu's as well.
No longer having the effort to look at Xiao Lu, Cui Buqu quietly laid down as he waited for that wave of pain and the spinning in his head to pass.
After a long time, he heard Xiao Lu say, "You are about to die."
Xiao Lu was neither cussing nor mocking him, for his tone was very calm.
He could hear that piece of truth from Cui Buqu's breaths.
When Cui Buqu was inhaling, his breaths had been heavy, just like someone who needed to labouringly inhale a breath into their body, yet they weren't strong enough to do so.
He guessed that Cui Buqu's lungs were burning like scorching fire, but it were not only his internal organs the only things that were burning—even the last moments of Cui Buqu's life were gradually burning away.
This person was born defective and handicapped. He should've originally been someone that shouldn't have lived long, but he had insisted on dragging this broken body of his back from the brink of death for a whole thirty-years. He had forcibly stolen thirty years of life from the hands of God.
It was a pity that all that has been taken must be returned. To defy the mandate of Heavens one must endure these pains that were difficult to describe in words.
Xiao Lu knew that not a single day passed in these thirty years that Cui Buqu didn't have to endure pain from his body. Even if he was in a better condition, it was impossible for him to live the life of ordinary people who are healthy.
What was the faith that Cui Buqu held onto to insist on living such a life?
Xiao Lu was very confused.
If everything Cui Buqu did was for the sake of someone else, then how could he cling onto life until now?
Regardless, he wanted an answer from Cui Buqu.
Because this person was far too similar to himself.
So similar that, even at this present hour, they were in identical situations—death was near.
"I know."
Only after half a beat, did Cui Buqu quietly answer him.
If it weren't for Xiao Lu's sense of hearing being superior compared to others, it was very likely that he would have missed that answer.
After speaking those words, Cui Buqu fell into another series of violent coughs.
Xiao Lu could almost imagine the sight of him bending over as he coughed so violently that his lunges were about to pop out.
Cui Buqu's life was like a flickering flame on a candle. Because it was nearing the end of its life, it would glow brightly from time to time to create a false sense of hope, like the last radiance of a setting sun before its light would disappear forever.
Unless the Heavens deemed him worthy enough to grant him a miracle.
But, could that be possible?
Cui Buqu even needed to use all the strength from his body before he could exhale a breath of air. Then, the pain radiating from his lungs would keep his mind conscious.
As he was enveloped by this darkness filled with boundless dangers, a person comes to his mind.
That person was born from a good family and had all he wanted in life since he was little. He had the most glaringly beautiful face and the most wayward and unbridled attitude.
It was from him that Cui Buqu realized the true meaning of living in the light of the sun.
With each step Cui Buqu took that brought him closer to Feng Xiao, Cui Buqu realized it had also brought him closer to companionship, towards a sense of belonging which made him feel that he was no longer alone.
That person was neither gentle, nor was he kind, he had even annoyed Cui Buqu at all times around the clock.
But it was because of this attitude of his, that Cui Buqu never failed to spend his time on him, to avoid falling into the pits he'd dug for him.
Although he was very annoying, he was also filled with life.
And yet, he would never say these words to that person in question.
Otherwise, it would boost that person's ego for life and from time to time he'd remind him of it.
For the sake of his ears, he'd keep it to himself.
It was unknown how long had passed before Cui Buqu's pain greatly lessened.
He slowly raised his elbow as he laboriously fished out a firestarter and lit it bright.
It only managed to make a small ambit around him visible with its light. Cui Buqu very quickly realized that they were fissures very close to each other on the ground, appearing to be the cause of an earthquake. However, if he were to take a closer look, these fissures looked alive. They stacked on top of one another and repeated the sequences without fail.
He calmed himself down and immediately turned away, refusing to look at it any longer.
Taking his current condition into consideration, these few looks had caused him a massive headache and his world had begun to spin so much that he could not even sit properly.
"This pattern on the ground appears to be an array…. Cough cough, how much do you know about this underground palace?"
Cui Buqu did not wait for Xiao Lu's answer.
He realized just then that the other hadn't spoken for a very long time.
"Xiao Lu?"
"Ugh…."
A voice sounded from nearby.
Cui Buqu frowned, "Are you alright?"
If anything happened to Xiao Lu, then it would be even more difficult for them to leave this place.
"I'm poisoned."
Xiao Lu's sigh reached him, yet he sounded so calm that it would make one suspicious of whether he was lying or not.
Cui Buqu paused for a moment, "How did it happen?"
Xiao Lu, "When we fell just now, there was poison on the wall. If you don't believe me, you can come here and take a look."
Cui Buqu did not speak.
Xiao Lu smiled, "Why? As things have progressed until this disastrous state, are you still afraid that I am lying to you?"
Cui Buqu expressionlessly said, "You too know that I am about to die. All the strength I've left now is used to talk to you."
Xiao Lu sighed again, and after a while, he slowly rose to his feet and walked towards Cui Buqu.
They were quite far apart. He knew that something was wrong with the ground, and so he trod carefully.
All of a sudden, there was a sneer.
Cui Buqu's fire lit the place, and he saw sharp needles rising from the ground beneath Xiao Lu's feet.
Considering Xiao Lu's martial prowess, it was not difficult for him to avert this trap. However, when he leapt into the air, Cui Buqu caught sight of the obvious freeze of his posture in midair, his skills not as smooth as they were before.
Xiao Lu narrowly avoided the trap in just centimetres and spared himself the fate of turning into the flesh on a stake.
Xiao Lu came to Cui Buqu's side and slowly sat down, his breath heavy and rushed.
He reached out with a hand.
Under the firelight, Cui Buqu could clearly see the dark spots on his hand. They were splotches of red and purple, and a part of it had already turned black.
Cui Buqu was taken aback. He recalled that after Xiao Lu pulled him away from the pagoda and both of them fell down, Xiao Lu seemed to have used his palm against the stone walls to give himself a push.
"Why don't you force the poison out?"
Xiao Lu sighed and said, "Because my body had long been poisoned by another kind of poison."
He used his poisoned hand to pull back his other sleeve.
Under his sleeve was an arm that had dried up similar to a tree branch. It was wrinkled like a wilted plant and as thin as a chopstick.
Even if Cui Buqu had seen it before, he remained taken aback by its sight.
This wasn't a hand that should belong to a human, and it shouldn't have belonged to someone like Xiao Lu.
But this wasn't what Xiao Lu wanted Cui Buqu to see.
He continued to roll his sleeve up further.
Cui Buqu could see that further up the arm was ordinary, but it was tainted with an unusual purple.
"What's this?"
"This toxin has been there since I was born. These years, I've only been using martial arts to stop them from acting up. In the last battle I fought with Feng Xiao, after being heavily wounded, I was unable to break through my martial limits and almost went into qi deviation. You should be able to feel that my wounds have not completely healed and my martial arts were only sixty to seventy percent of what it was before. Now, I can no longer control it."
The toxin that was there before would only continue to spread, and now that he's poisoned with something else, Xiao Lu almost failed to escape such an easy trap like that one just now.
Cui Buqu, "What's the worst scenario?"
Xiao Lu smiled and said, "There is no worse scenario. I have only one path ahead of me, and it is death."
Cui Buqu coldly said, "You could have originally chosen to remain in seclusion and nurse yourself back to health, instead of creating troubles here."
Xiao Lu, "There's no time for that now. After my secluded mediation failed, I know what state of condition I am here. Since I've failed to surpass my martial limits, and the toxin in me is beyond cure, I no longer have the chance to reach higher. Every path would only lead me to death, and that I could only choose to fight for my right to watch everything I've schemed for all these years fall into place and fulfil my lifelong wish."
Cui Buqu coldly snorted, "Your lifelong wish is something that harms others and not beneficial to yourself!"
Xiao Lu started coughing.
Perhaps it was because his toxin had started acting up. He no longer answered Cui Buqu as he turned around to close his eyes, sit down, and regulate his breathing.
Cui Buqu tossed a porcelain bottle over, and Xiao Lu caught it.
"Bingzhi Pellets. It could prolong your toxin from spreading. If you don't believe it, you can choose not to eat it."
Xiao Lu uncapped it and sniffed at it. He hadn't contemplated for long before he tipped his head back and poured all the Bingzhi Pellets into his mouth.
At this moment, among the two of them, neither of them really have a reasonhave much reason to suspect the other anymore.
Very quickly, Xiao Lu felt better.
"This medicine of yours is very effective."
"Stop talking nonsense. Let us go out first before further discussion."
After Xiao Lu accepted the firestarter from his hand, he fished out an acupuncture needle and pierced the firestarter with it then threw it into the distance.
The acupuncture needle flew over his head and towards the opposite direction, piercing into the stone walls.
The light quickly died out, but it was enough to allow the two of them to see the vague structure of this place.
Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu both were shocked by the sight at the same time.
....
Feng Xiao and Tuan Qinghe had been fighting for nearly an hour.
Neither of them could defeat the other, neither was it easy to wound the other either.
And Tuan Qinghe appeared to have realized that Feng Xiao's martial arts seemed to have improved greatly compared to when he was in the streets of Chang'an yesterday.
That was a very strange occurrence.
Because martial arts involved talk of basics, as well as talents, and more than that, instincts.
Ordinary practitioners of the martial arts would find it incredibly difficult to improve drastically within a few days, and practitioners who have reached their highest level would find it difficult even to improve an inch further. They would have needed the advantages of Heaven's time, advantages of the terrain, as well as the people's harmony.
Yet, Feng Xiao managed to do it.
If he'd held back during the last time, then within this short period of time, what had he managed to achieve?
How could that be possible?
Tuan Qinghe dispelled all irrelevant thoughts from his head.
He believed that his chances of victory with Feng Xiao were fifty-fifty.
Then it shouldn't be a problem to contest him with just their own capabilities.
Someone had walked up close to them.
Both of them realized it, but neither of them cared.
Because that was Yuwen Yihuan, the person who was next to Xiao Lu just a moment ago. She hadn't followed Xiao Lu in search for the bogus Emperor and had remained here instead.
She had been observing their battle although very quickly, she wasn't able to catch up.
All of Yuwen Yihuan's martial arts were taught to her by Xiao Lu. Her talents were only ordinary, so naturally, she could not achieve the same level of martial arts as Xiao Lu. However, it truly makes one different to have a prestigious teacher. Although she wasn't distinctively a first-class martial artist in the Jianghu, she was arguably one.
She was controlling her own breathing, using all of her effort to make them undetectable to avoid Feng Xiao from paying her any attention.
As both of their palms clashed once more, Yuwen Yihuan finally found the chance and lunged forward at Feng Xiao's back!
From her sleeve, the glare of a sword flashed!
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Translator and Editor's Note -
This chapter is brought to you by our tears.