Thick blood soaked the stone platform as the cultists' massacre drew to a close.
On the stone platform, only a few solitary children remained, trembling in place, a yellowish liquid continuously dripping down their pant legs. Yet, even in such fear, they were unable to move an inch.
A mysterious power had restrained their actions.
It was only in the face of life and death that Rinren erupted with a terrifying will to survive, allowing him to move slightly.
Rinren's severed head lay on its side on the ground, his eyes unblinking as he stared at these pitiful children.
Am I going to die? Oh, how tragic!
Many thoughts spontaneously arose in his remaining head.
I heard that death is a return to a warm embrace, death is the source of all peace.
Quickly, end my suffering!
Take me to the beautiful fields of spider lilies!
Take me to the vast banks of the Wangchuan River!
Let me taste the delicious Meng Po soup!
Eh? Was Meng Po an old woman or a beauty? How do I remember that in the books I read before, Meng Po was a tsundere blonde loli!
No, no, Meng Po shouldn't be a blonde loli. She should at least be a gentle, busty older sister...
Suddenly, Rinren froze, the corners of his mouth twitching awkwardly on his severed head.
"I... why am I not dead yet? Where are the promised fields of spider lilies? Where is the promised Wangchuan River? Where is the promised beautiful Meng Po? Damn it, I was already mentally prepared to kick the bucket!"
Looking at his headless corpse in front of him, Rinren felt a bit awkward.
So, even with his head separated from his body, he didn't die?
Not only that, but in the ethereal realm, he could even feel his headless corpse; apart from a somewhat disoriented sense of space, he could still control everything about this body.
If he wanted to, he could absolutely make his headless corpse stand up and run a five-hundred-meter sprint while carrying his own head.
Rinren pursed his lips, came back to his senses, and a name suddenly appeared in his mind—Hidan.
This guy seemed to worship some Evil God Cult. Damn it, could it be this very Evil God Cult!
Rinren strongly suspected that the mysterious Evil God Cult Hidan had joined back then was the one right here.
On the stone platform, the killing had stopped, and the sole surviving child had already fainted from fright.
Yet, even so, the child remained in a standing posture, unable to move at all.
Below the platform, a cold voice rang out.
"Take the 'Blessing' away. Chop up everything else and fill the blood pool, preparing for the next time."
"Yes, Divine Envoy!"
On the platform, Rinren couldn't lie still anymore.
Chopped up?
I can still live without a head, but how can I live if I'm ground into meat paste!
Watching Igone Yu about to walk into the aisle with the child, Rinren couldn't stay put!
Damn it, so what if I get caught! Better to live miserably than die well!
He had originally planned to play dead and escape this cursed place, hoping to avoid a disaster, but he never expected this Divine Envoy to be so dishonorable!
Ignoring everything else, Rinren desperately howled.
"Wait!"
His voice echoed, and the entire cave fell silent.
Rinren controlled his headless corpse, swaying like a drunkard as he struggled to his feet, clumsily picked up his own head, and, with an awkward smile, meekly spoke:
"Uh... big brother, take me with you!"
The cultists were also dumbfounded. Even though they were executioners who killed without blinking, seeing this scene made their backs run cold, and chills shot through them.
Seeing these fierce-looking guys look at him timidly, Rinren awkwardly hid his head behind his back, chuckled, and stumbled to follow Igone Yu's footsteps.
Time flew by, and half a year passed in a flash.
Underground, in a sealed room filled with scrolls, Igone Yu sat cross-legged on the ground, a huge scroll laid out before him.
March 24th.
Experiment: Effects of cutting on the immortal body;
Method: Knife cutting;
Conclusion: Body tissues separate, causing no substantial harm to the target. As long as it is sewn back together, the target can still move freely; after deep mincing, the target's tissues will tend to aggregate and regenerate, a very slow process.
Remarks: 1. The target cannot be killed by conventional cutting; 2. There are no signs of strengthening in the target's various body tissues; 3. The target has not lost the sensation of pain and constantly howled and cursed during the experiment.
...
March 26th.
Experiment: Effects of fire on the immortal body;
Method: Fire Release;
Conclusion: The immortal body is the same as ordinary experimental subjects, with no resistance to flames. Body tissues temporarily lose activity after high temperatures; however, even if all tissues are carbonized, the target's tissues will still regain activity and aggregate, making it impossible to kill.
Remarks: The target's body has a strong tendency for self-regeneration. Any part can regenerate as long as there is sufficient nutrition.
...
April 18th.
Experiment: Effects of freezing on the immortal body;
Method: Ice Release Bloodline Limit;
Conclusion: The target's tissues are no different from ordinary people, showing no special characteristics when subjected to freezing erosion; however, upon removal of freezing, the body self-regenerates.
Remarks: The target seems to be very afraid of cold, cursing particularly fiercely! It is recommended to use an Ice Release Ninja for sealing.
...
June 1st to October 1st.
Experiment: Effects of hunger and desiccation on the immortal body;
Method: Wind Release;
Conclusion: Desiccation is completely ineffective on the immortal body, but hunger will slowly deplete and kill the immortal body, estimated to take one year.
...
October 2nd.
Experiment: Utilization value of immortal body tissues;
Method: Implantation into other experimental subjects;
Conclusion: The experiment failed, all two hundred thirty-one experimental subjects died. The target's tissues are highly corrosive, and there is no method to prevent the target's tissues from killing the experimental subjects.
Remarks: Immortality seems not to be a blessing from the Evil God, but a curse.
...
October 10th.
Experiment: Effects of lightning on the immortal body.
Method: Lightning Release;
Conclusion: Lightning Release not only fails to cause damage but also greatly stimulates the target's body tissues, accelerating the target's tissue regeneration and causing the target to experience extreme hunger.
Remarks: It is recommended not to use Lightning Release;
...
Final conclusion, the immortal body cannot be killed by sealing, fire, lightning, or low temperatures. It can only be slowly eliminated through starvation. Aside from this, the experimental subject has no other special characteristics and Chakra cannot be extracted.
Final Recommendation: Starve to death!
...
Confirming that the scroll had reached its end, Igone Yu frowned deeply and slowly raised his face, covered in hideous scars.
"Besides the immortal body, where is the only surviving 'Blessing'?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an old man in a White Coat emerged from the darkness, stood humbly before Igone Yu, and said, "Divine Envoy, as per custom, the Blessing has been brainwashed and named Yang Ren. As long as we obtain the blood of the Lord of the Land of Fire, we can activate the Curse Technique · Blood Control Death, a life for a life!"
"Very good!" Igone Yu nodded, his expression unchanged.
"Take good care of the 'Blessing'... No! Take good care of Yang Ren, he will be the most lethal 'Knight' in our hands!"
The White Coat Old Man knew that the Divine Envoy in front of him was very fond of shogi, understood Yang Ren's position in the Divine Envoy's heart, and secretly decided to take good care of Yang Ren upon his return.
"What about the immortal body?" the White Coat Old Man asked curiously.
"..."
Igone Yu instantly froze, his slightly relaxed brow furrowing tightly again.
He knew that Rinren's existence had become a burden to the organization. This guy, relying on his immortality, demanded a large bowl of military rations every meal. If he wasn't given food, he would desperately claw at the walls and snatch food from other cells. In less than a year, this guy had already dug through a row of cells.
After a long while, Igone Yu gave his unperceptive subordinate a displeased glance and let out a heavy sigh.
"Has he been brainwashed?"
Upon hearing this, the White Coat Old Man's face instantly turned incredibly bitter, and he dejectedly replied, "He has been brainwashed, but the effect is very strange."
"Hmm?" Igone Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... the immortal body seems to believe he has become the Evil God's Incarnation in the Ninja World, constantly hitting and cursing people!"
At this point, the old man seemed to want to continue complaining, but Igone Yu raised his hand to interrupt him.
"Alright, that's enough. The immortal body will henceforth be used as an experimental subject for Ninjutsu power!"
"Also, are the preparations for the sacrifice three days from now complete?"
Upon hearing this, the old man's expression became stern, and he said, "Everything is ready!"
After speaking, he closed the scroll and turned to leave with hurried steps.
Watching Igone Yu depart, and thinking once more of the monster that was the immortal body, the White Coat Old Man sighed helplessly, turned to leave, and mumbled continuously.
"Sigh~ If you ask me, we should just starve this guy to death. He eats like there's no tomorrow, relying on the fact that he can't die from overeating. Are military rations free? He's cut my experiment budget in half!"
As the director of this base, the White Coat Old Man was well aware of Rinren's appetite;
To put it bluntly, all the experimental subjects in the entire base only consumed about one or two hundred military rations a day.
But Rinren, this guy, ate three meals a day, each a large bowl. His daily food intake was equivalent to the total food intake of all the other experimental subjects combined!
Moreover, Rinren, this guy, liked to visit other cells. The originally quiet and peaceful dungeon was completely turned into a bustling marketplace by him.
The crucial thing was that, from various surveillance results, this guy was a thorough fanatic; within the base, quite a few cultists were already expressing dissatisfaction with the act of imprisoning Rinren.
Simply put, this guy not only got along well with the guards but also became a huge burden on the entire organization.
Thinking of this, the White Coat Old Man's eye twitched incessantly, feeling utterly exhausted.
"Damn it, after this sacrifice, we'll Seal this monster away!"
In the cell, our protagonist, Rinren, leaned casually against the iron bars, grinning as he chatted with the guard outside the cage.
"Ren-kun, I haven't seen you in months. Were you out on assignment?"
Upon hearing this, the guard outside the cage smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said, "It's all because of you, you glutton. I heard that most of the brothers in the base have been sent out to earn money!"
Hearing the guard named Ren say that he ate a lot, Rinren unreservedly rolled his eyes, looking at the guard with a disgusted expression.
"It's not me saying this, Ren-kun, but you're just too narrow-minded.
If an organization can't even guarantee basic sustenance, how can it win people's hearts? Hmm?
Take our Evil God Cult, for example. It's even difficult to feed me, the Evil God's Incarnation, so how can we convince everyone!"
"Oh, give it a rest! It's clearly a curse. The Evil God is annoyed by your chatter!" The guard immediately retorted.
Rinren had said countless times that he was the Evil God's Incarnation. At first, the guards, seeing him insult their faith, all moved to discipline this prisoner.
After countless methods of torture, the exhausted and racked-brained guards came to a desperate conclusion: this guy was unkillable. Thus, a small portion of fanatics began to believe Rinren's words.
In their not-so-bright minds, only the Incarnation of the Evil God could possess such power!
And the Ren-kun in Rinren's words belonged to the group whose faith wasn't so firm.
"Clang, clang!" Ren-kun lazily tapped the cage, preparing to end their chat and continue his patrol.
"Wait." Rinren reached out through the cage's gap, grabbed Ren-kun's sleeve, and narrowed his eyes with a grin.
"Ren-kun, let's chat a bit more!
Why is everyone back this time? I saw Captain Kawada yesterday, wasn't he always out earning funds?"
Ren-kun pulled his sleeve back, then swung his hand to hit Rinren's tightly clenched fist with a stick, grumbling, "I don't know, don't ask me."
After speaking, he walked into the dark passage without looking back.
"Tch, cheapskate!"
Rinren retracted his arm, which now had a red welt, the corner of his mouth slightly curved, and in his palm, a golden-orange key was tightly clutched, a cold sneer in his heart.
Just a moment ago, Rinren had plucked this key from the guard's waist. He didn't know which cell it belonged to, but that didn't matter.
The Ren-kun Rinren referred to had just returned from outside a while ago, taking on the task of guarding this row of cells, and the string of keys on his waist were for these cells.
It didn't matter whether this key was for his own cell or not.
He had already used the excuse of snatching food to eat to dig through the dirt walls of this row of cells; at first, the guards tried to repair the large holes between the cells, but every time they filled them, Rinren would dig through them again within two days. The guards grew tired, and since no trouble arose, they simply gave up on repairing the large holes in the walls.
At first, many reclusive prisoners were very disgusted by Rinren's habit of visiting other cells.
But ever since an adult prisoner who bullied Rinren had his neck bitten off one night, no prisoner dared to bully this monster who looked only seven years old but was actually unkillable.
After all, monsters don't die and don't need to sleep; they do.
This led to one result: Rinren could freely visit any cell in this row;
As long as he had one key, he could try it on each cell door until he found a match.
In the corner, Rinren gritted his teeth, his small face contorted, as he forcefully tore open his abdomen and inserted the brass key.
Then, he endured the discomfort of having a foreign object inside his body and pressed on the wound.
In a short while, the wound healed, and Rinren slowly raised his head, strange white light shining in his dark eyes.
"Freedom!"