Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 414 I want to ask you if you dare to be as crazy in love as I am.
Zhou Xiang slowly turned her face to look at him, without saying a word.

Li Wuxiang was taken aback, but continued to act nonchalant, feigning sudden realization and relief: "Oh, I was stupid. They were tricked by you, Senior. You claimed to be a member of the Xuan Sect? They must have sensed something was wrong, right? That's alright, Senior, you're a chivalrous swordsman, we—"

“I am a member of the Xuanjiao Sect.” Zhou Xiang sighed softly, no longer looking at him, and sadly looked up at the sky. “I am a member of the Xuanjiao Sect.”

Li Wuxiang knew his best reaction right now was to stand still and remain silent. But his footsteps had to be unsteady, as if he could either slip away at any moment or start a fight at any time.

The atmosphere seemed quite tense at one point.

Fortunately, Kong Youxin woke up at this moment.

Sleeping drugs are no good. Even those from Li Wuxiang's origins, which induce sleep, have various side effects, let alone those produced in the small workshops of cultivators in this world. Often, sleeping drugs are used simply to make things easier, with the next step being to kill someone. Each family has its own secret formula.

Sun Ji certainly didn't intend to use the sleeping potion to induce sleep or calm the nerves. Therefore, since tonight was the second time Kong Youxin had been drugged in the past few days, when she woke up, she only felt a splitting headache, dizziness, and nausea. With a groan, she barely managed to prop herself up on one side before collapsing back down to dry heave.

Zhou Xiang glanced at Li Wuxiang: "Do you have any medicine to calm your mind?"

“…Yes,” Li Wuxiang said. After a moment’s hesitation, he slowly walked to Kong Youxin’s side. “Junior Sister, take this pill; it will make you feel better.”

As soon as Kong Youxin heard the word "eat," she gagged again.

Li Wuxiang quickly pulled out a small paper packet from his pocket and waved it in front of her, instantly creating a wisp of pale blue mist. Kong Youxin inhaled the powder, and her vomiting stopped immediately.

Zhou Xiang withdrew her gaze: "Li Xiao, if you're going to leave, then leave."

After thinking for a moment, he reached into his robes and tossed it away. Li Wuxiang caught it and found it was a small satin pouch about half the size of his palm, jingling inside, seemingly containing several very smooth stone fragments.

"You can get your own elixirs and the like. Here I have five True Form Jade Talismans, infused with the true power of the Five Sacred Mountains Emperors. They can't move mountains or fill seas, but they can open roads through mountains and build bridges over rivers. Once you find a feng shui treasure land, it will be easy to use it to open a cave. You've also used up some resources these past few days, so take these as compensation."

Li Wuxiang felt a little guilty after what he had just said, and stood there, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Zhou Xiang stared blankly at the firelight for a while before saying, "What, now that you know I'm a member of the Xuan Sect, aren't you going to leave quickly?"

Kong Youxin looked at him, then at Li Wuxiang, her face blank: "Huh?"

"Senior, you...really? I don't think you look like it. You clearly use a flying sword..."

Kong Youxin looked at Zhou Xiang again: "Huh?"

Zhou Xiang shook her head and smiled: "Do you really want to hear this? If you do, I really won't be able to let you go."

Kong Youxin only then realized what had happened and quickly said, "Master! No!"

Zhou Xiang ignored him and looked only at Li Wuxiang.

Li Wuxiang knew the time was almost up. Zhou Xiang's mental age was much younger than he had thought; two blows were enough. If he were to deliver another blow, Zhou Xiang might have a mental breakdown. He thought about it seriously, then slowly walked to the fire and sat down, saying, "Of course I've heard a lot about the Xuanjiao sect, and I've even met members of the Xuanjiao sect before, but they are all different from you."

You are different!
You can use these kinds of words anytime, anywhere, and in any situation. They're neither cheesy nor inappropriate. As for the specific differences, let the listener figure it out for themselves. Anyway, it's a compliment.

Sure enough, Zhou Xiang's expression shifted slightly, revealing a wry smile: "How am I different?"

“You’re no different from us. No, you are different from us. We’re not exactly good people, but you are. You’re not like the Xuan Sect members, you’re not like us, you really are like a swordsman.”

Zhou Xiang didn't ask about swordsmen, but inquired about the Xuan Cult: "What do you think the people of the Xuan Cult are like?"

People who live in an environment where things are taken for granted for a long time won't feel anything is wrong. But once they start to become interested in this "taken for granted" environment and begin to think about "why," that's when something is starting to emerge. He now needs to nurture that emerging trend.

"Very ruthless. Heartless and cruel."

"Is he even more ruthless than Daoshiye, whom we encountered before?"

“That’s different. Dao Shiye and the others are still considered human beings—senior, please don’t be angry, I said you are different—but the Xuanjiao people I’ve met before only consider themselves human beings, but not people outside our parish. They look at us no differently than they look at grass, trees and stones.”

"If they encountered me, people like Dao Shiye and Sun Ji would only use them as pills or magic weapons. Do you remember what I said about Ranshan? At that time, there was a man named Xu Daosheng from your Xuanjiao sect on Ranshan. In his eyes, wandering cultivators were no more valuable than Huangya Pills."

“Actually, we all feel that this is not the most different thing… There are some people outside the sect who are like Xu Daosheng. What we fear most is your Xuan Sect’s practice of filling coffins with human flesh and making people like…” Li Wuxiang glanced at him, “and breeding them like livestock.”

Zhou Xiang suddenly burst into laughter: "Like livestock mating, hahaha! Yes, you're right! Li Xiao, then how do you think people should live? Like you two, daring to love and hate?"

Li Wuxiang sighed: "We're like this? I don't think it's good either. We're not doing well either. Although no one is forcing us to fill coffins, and we can love and hate freely, we live a life of hardship and killing each other. We'll die even shorter than you who are going to fill coffins. If I had to say what's good, I think the Taiyi Sect is good. They're skilled swordsmen, protected by a righteous sect, and don't need to scheme against each other. They live a very carefree life."

"Actually, the Taiyi Sect wasn't the best. I think it might have been better during the Ye Dynasty. At that time, the world was in harmony, which can be considered as combining the strengths of both the sect and its people. I often want to see what it was like back then."

Zhou Xiang was silent for a moment, then said seriously, "Li Xiao, you are quite different from others."

Li Wuxiang smiled: "Senior, you are quite different too."

Zhou Xiang shook his head: "I am different. But within the Xuan Sect, there aren't many people as different as me. I'll ask you one more question: do you want to hear what I'm about to say? If you do, you'll face a near-death experience. If you don't, just for saying I'm different, I'll give you a few more pills, and then you can leave."

"Things that could lead to near-death experiences must also bring immense wealth. I don't want to live a mediocre life, senior, please tell me." Zhou Xiang nodded, reached into his robes, and with a click, pulled out something that looked like a crossbody bag.

Li Wuxiang had seen this thing when he and Sun Ji were rolling around in the grass. The bag was about the size of a palm, flat, with two straps tied diagonally. He had never taken it off when he was having fun.

Now Li Wuxiang could see clearly that the palm-sized bag didn't look like leather, nor did it look like metal or wood. The surface was very smooth, but it looked quite soft, and it was more like plastic.

Zhou Xiang flicked the edge with his finger, and the lid of the small bag popped open, revealing thirty-seven dark gold immortal remains!

Li Wuxiang gasped sharply—he wasn't faking it; he was genuinely shocked. When Zhou Xiang retrieved the immortal's remains, he suspected it might be related to the Blood God Cult. But he never imagined there would be so much!
How many Dao Integration cultivators does the Xuan Sect actually have?!
Kong Youxin also let out a yelp, leaned back, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand, revealing only a pair of wide-open eyes. She looked to the left at Zhou Xiang and then to the right at Li Wuxiang—Li Wuxiang was really afraid that she would pop her eyeballs out.

“I said before that this was the remains of an immortal, but it’s not actually true.” Zhou Xiang said slowly, “This is the body of a Dao-Merging True Person from the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Sect. They are all Dao-Merging True Persons at the peak of the Dao-Merging stage, just one step away from ascending to the wondrous realm. It is far superior to those ‘immortal remains’ in this world that are formed by the possession of spirits and wild gods in the sacred mountains.”

"The reason I left the diocese this time is to deliver these Dharma bodies to the Blood God Sect's main altar at Bixin Lake. With these things, the Blood God Sect can refine a Yang God Immortal who is even stronger than the current Yang God Mei Qiulu."

Li Wuxiang had already thought of this when he saw it.

The Blood God Sect already possesses more than one method for refining Corpse Immortals. Besides using disciples of the same cultivation level from the Thirty-Six Sects, they now seem to be experimenting with using demons as substitutes. They use the bodies of these Dao-Merging True Immortals to replace the disciples of the Thirty-Six Sects, and then use powerful demons to refine substitutes for the magical treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects—this method is indeed feasible. The only thing missing is a Taiyi Sect cultivator to lead the refining process; that, however, is possible—

“And this is the physical body of my ancestor. Alas, back then, my family members were also able to cultivate to the level of Dao Integration and Yang Spirit.” Zhou Xiang picked one up from among them.

Li Wuxiang was taken aback at first, then his heart pounded wildly—Zhou Xiang cultivated the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, which meant he could be considered a swordsman. His Zhou family ancestor must have cultivated in the same way… This one he was holding was the Yang Spirit cultivated by his Zhou family ancestor!? He left behind this physical body after his death!? And now he's sending it all out together!?

If it were anyone else, Li Wuxiang would be sweating bullets right now. This whole journey, these past few days, has truly been a series of lucky breaks!

The biggest fish wasn't Zhou Xiang, but the sword cultivator's Yang God Body he was holding!
If they are really sent to the Blood God Cult together, then the leader will be there, and this Yang God Corpse Immortal will truly become... not like Mei Qiulu who has just become a Yang God, but a peak Yang God, an enhanced version of Jiang Jie!
"Senior, what are you showing me...?"

Zhou Xiang held his ancestor's token in his hand, then stared at the remaining thirty-six tokens for a while: "Once these things are delivered to the Blood God Sect, your good days outside the sect will be over. However, even if I can't deliver these things, there are probably five similar copies of the remaining five, which I can deliver just the same."

“You’re an outsider, this is a catastrophe for you, isn’t it? You also have reason to kill me and take these things.” He raised his hand, indicating that Li Wuxiang didn’t need to argue. But Li Wuxiang didn’t intend to speak.

"As for me, I was born and raised within the parish, and was provided with a life of luxury. I haven't been used to fill a coffin yet. The Five Mountains True Form Sect has done nothing to wrong me. You're right, the people in the sect don't live like human beings, but I have no right to say anything now."

“I don’t want to send these things to the Blood God Cult’s Azure Heart Lake anymore, but I can’t abandon them either. Li Xiao, I’m entrusting these things to you.”

These past few days, Li Wuxiang has been giving Zhou Xiang one surprise after another, and now the retribution has come—within a mere quarter of an hour, he was genuinely shocked for the second time: "...Ah?!"

“You’ve had many opportunities to attack me during the time you’ve been by my side, but not only did you not, you even saved me several times. You say you’re not a good person, but I think in a place like this, you’re a truly good person. I trust your conscience, so I’m giving you these thirty-six coins. Didn’t you say you wanted a better world?”

"Then you can choose for yourself. Choose whether to hand them over to the Blood God Cult or to the Taiyi Cult you mentioned."

“If you’re going to hand it over to the Blood God Sect, then you can go on your own. If you’re going to hand it over to the Taiyi Sect—” Zhou Xiang looked at Kong Youxin, “then you can take her with you. Her name is Kong Youxin.”

He smiled apologetically: "My name isn't Li Wuxiang either. Her name is Kong Youxin. There's a swordsman in the Taiyi Sect named Lou He, who is her great-uncle. I brought her out this time because if the swordsmen of the Taiyi Sect discovered her, I could use this connection to say that I had also come to join the Taiyi Sect. But I don't need her now. If you're going to find them, take her with you. It's better than her being used as a filler in your coffin later."

At this point, he smiled at Kong Youxin again and said, "I'm sorry."

This was the first time Kong Youxin had heard those three words from Zhou Xiang. Although she was already in a state of extreme shock, she was even more shocked and stunned. It took her a long time to say, "Master... I... no... I don't deserve to be called Master— Ah? Master, where are you going?!"

Zhou Xiang looked up at the vast wilderness around him, exhaled, and said, "I'm going to find your master's wife."

Li Wuxiang began to reflect on whether he had gone a bit too far. But upon further thought, it wasn't entirely his fault—he had used methods for dealing with adults on Zhou Xiang. Who could have imagined that Zhou Xiang was actually a teenager? Teenagers are the most difficult to handle; you have no idea where their thought process will take you—the Crown Prince is about to face a wife-chasing ordeal!
Li Wuxiang wanted to persuade him, but after a slight change of heart, he immediately gave up. Zhou Xiang had already handed over the body of a Dao-Merging True Person; this kind of reckless "to hell with it" mentality was something that even ten Mei Qiulus couldn't pull back.

Another method is to use the magic of the Xie Zhi to bewitch him. But this method is too risky. As I said before, you don't know how a teenager will react when he finds out he was bewitched and loses his lover! Zhou Xiang's status and position are really too useful; such a last resort should never be used!

Then...

“Alright,” Li Wuxiang said. “Alright, Senior Zhou, I’ll take Junior Sister Youxin to the Taiyi Sect. After all, we rogue cultivators are, after all, disciples of Taiyi.”

Zhou Xiang stood up and asked Kong Youxin, "Are you going?"

What else could Kong Youxin say? She could only remain silent.

Zhou Xiang smiled and said, "Then I'll be going."

After saying that, he strode away, looking incredibly dashing.

A short while later, only Li Wuxiang and Kong Youxin remained face to face by the fire. Kong Youxin looked helpless, shrinking back, unsure whether it was from the cold or the feeling of being abandoned. After a long while, she finally managed to stammer, "Fellow Daoist... Senior Brother, what do we do now?"

Li Wuxiang stomped out the fire that was about to go out, carefully put away the thirty-six Dao-Merging True Person Dharma Bodies, and slung the bundle over his shoulder: "Go find your master."

"what?"

“Your master neither likes your Five Mountains True Form Sect nor wants to betray it. So he gave the things to me, thinking that by severing ties, he could be clean with the sect. But if someone in your sect wants to kill him, things will get complicated. Let’s go, let’s go save him.”

(End of this chapter)