Su Chenbi had just stepped into the side hall.
Mo Jiuxiao was seen sighing and groaning in front of the medicine cabinet, his brows furrowed into a deep knot.
"Having another nightmare about 'failing to break the deadlock'?"
She asked.
Mo Jiuxiao rubbed his throbbing temples, his voice utterly listless:
"Every time I survive to the ninth incarnation, the Anchor Point Tears are wiped out as soon as they appear!"
"My scalp is practically peeling off from all this grinding! What exactly is the system verifying?"
"If I had the instructions, I would have broken out of the loop long ago!"
"This life is even more amazing, with the setting of a useless person whose meridians are all severed!"
"You can cut your hand even when you're picking at a shard of porcelain; it's as brittle as a potato chip!"
Su Chenbi's eyes held a mischievous glint as she picked up the bandage and touched it to the wound on his chest:
"Next time I'll prepare a wooden spoon for you? At least it'll be rounded and won't cut your hand."
"A spoon won't kill you! You can't exactly hit the enemy with a spoon, can you?"
Mo Jiuxiao grew anxious.
"It's better than you hurting yourself with shards of porcelain, saving me from having to stitch up your wounds every day."
Su Chenbi retorted to him.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps thumped outside the hall!
Guard A's roar shattered the door panel:
"The trail of blood ends here! That good-for-nothing must be hiding inside!"
"Clang!"
The door was smashed open, and the torches illuminated the entire hall in a crimson glow.
Guard B shouted:
"He killed three outer disciples? That good-for-nothing resorted to underhanded tactics!"
Su Chenbi suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice:
"Cooperate, pretend to be unconscious, and don't open your eyes to peek."
She quickly grabbed the medicated oil and sprinkled it on her sleeve; the medicinal smell masked the stench of blood. She knelt down, embracing Mo Jiuxiao, her eyes red and her voice trembling with tears.
"He's lost too much blood and is about to collapse! Anyone who dares to stop him, are you willing to bear the responsibility for violating the valley rules?"
The guards immediately cowered – Su Chenbi was the Valley Master's favored junior sister, and no one dared to provoke her.
"Senior Sister Su, don't panic! We'll help you carry him!"
As Mo Jiuxiao was carried out the door, he secretly glanced at Su Chenbi and mouthed:
"Remember to sign for the spoon upon delivery."
His face turned bright red, and he almost burst out laughing.
In the treatment room, Mo Jiuxiao had just been thrown back onto the bamboo bed when his wrist suddenly felt a heat.
The system's mechanical voice suddenly sounded:
"Host's meridians have been completely shattered, meeting the conditions for reconstruction. Initiate 'Bone Shattering Reconstruction'?"
"Warning: Pain level equal to childbirth x 10! No anesthesia, authentic pain guaranteed!"
"Can I choose to wait to die?"
Mo Jiuxiao's lips twitched.
"The option to wait for death has been activated. You will die in 45 minutes. Our main feature is a considerate and painless service."
The system replied instantly.
Mo Jiuxiao gritted his teeth and spat out two words, cursing the system eight hundred times in his mind:
"...start up!"
The next second, it felt like all the bones in my body were being dismantled and thrown into a raging fire!
The excruciating pain caused his whole body to spasm.
He bit down on the edge of the bamboo bed, snapping the wood with a "crunch," and swallowed back his scream.
At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the medicine boy, Asu, held up a porcelain bottle:
"Senior Brother Mo, Senior Sister Su asked me to deliver painkillers... What are you doing?"
Mo Jiuxiao's forehead veins bulged as he forced himself to speak:
"Practice...yoga."
"Does yoga involve biting wood?"
Ah Ku was dumbfounded.
"New...style...yoga. Put down the medicine, leave, close the door, thank you."
He uttered the words through his teeth.
Ah Ku turned around and then looked back:
"Senior Sister Su said she'll meet you at midnight in three days! Don't be late, make sure you're there!"
"knew!"
After Mo Jiuxiao finished yelling, the door closed, and he curled up in pain.
The constant cracking sound of bones reforming was enough to make your teeth ache.
"The God of War has fallen to such a state! If I knew this in my past life, I'd crawl out of my grave and beat me up! I'd call him a disgrace!"
Two days later, Mo Jiuxiao dragged his still-recovering body toward the dining hall.
The disciples along the way whispered among themselves:
"That good-for-nothing who killed Ding Qi! It must have been a sneak attack!"
"Why should Senior Sister Su change his dressing? He's just a pretty boy!"
Mo Jiuxiao picked at his ear, then turned around with a roguish grin on his face:
"Speaking ill of others behind their backs will earn you two spirit stones per instance. We are fair and honest, and we support credit with interest. You will be responsible for any consequences if you fail to repay on time."
You're robbing me!
Some people disagreed.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd raised their hand:
"The person who called you a pretty boy earlier, remember this. Thanks."
Mo Jiuxiao's eyes lit up:
"Deal! State your name so you don't renege on the deal!"
On a distant rooftop, Su Chenbi watched with his arms crossed, a subtle smile playing on his lips:
"His skin is much thicker than in his previous life, so he has made progress."
At midnight on the third day, the fog in the cold pool behind the mountain was so thick that one could not see their own hand in front of their face.
Mo Jiuxiao squatted on the rock, gnawing on a cold steamed bun.
"That woman Su Chenbi made me go into the water on an empty stomach, that's inhumane!"
Footsteps came from the mist, and Su Chenbi tossed him a black garment:
"Change into it and get in the water."
"Why don't we talk about the five spirit stones first? To ease the tension."
Mo Jiuxiao still wanted to argue.
Then Su Chenbi jumped into the pool with a "plop," only his head showing:
"There are things you buried in your past life at the bottom of the pool. If they get eaten by fish too late, you'll have nowhere to cry."
Mo Jiuxiao gritted his teeth and jumped into the pool. The icy water made him shiver.
Su Chenbi pulled him and swam to the bottom of the pool!
When it's almost at the bottom, press his hand against the rock wall.
"Click!"
Golden light leaked out from the crack in the stone wall—a long sword floated in the crack, the very sword he had used in his previous life!
The longsword hummed as it flew into his palm, a section of red rope missing from the end of the hilt.
Su Chenbi surfaced and shook the red string around her wrist:
"Found the matching set, now everything is complete."
How did you know the sword was buried here?
Mo Jiuxiao's throat was dry.
Su Chenbi tied the red rope to the sword hilt with gentle movements:
"You blacked out from drinking eight plus one in your past life, and you kept rambling on about how 'burying your sword in a cold pool is the safest place, you can't even find any fish there.'"
"Now that we have weapons, let's stop making a fool of ourselves with broken porcelain. It'll only make us a laughingstock."
The two climbed ashore. A night breeze blew, and Mo Jiuxiao shivered. He lay flat on a rock and looked up at the sky.
"Su Chenbi, could you spoil the plot in advance next time? Like 'You'll pick up the sword tomorrow,' so I don't freeze half to death and get a scare."
Su Chenbi sat beside him, her fingertips twirling a wet strand of hair:
"Spoilers ruin the fun; the joy of exploration lies in the unknown."
"Tomorrow I will use silver needles to draw out your soul and help you remember more about your past lives. It's better than guessing blindly every time."
As the rooster crowed, the fog gradually dissipated.
Mo Jiuxiao closed his eyes and clearly felt the newly formed meridians in his body throbbing, filled with long-lost power.
He didn't see that Su Chenbi was looking at his profile, her fingertips gently touching the back of his hand, and her ear tips turning a faint red.
She thought to herself:
When we go to the mortal realm tomorrow, will he remember the debt from that jar of peach blossom wine from back then?