Chapter 125: Engaging in a Bizarre Bloody Battle (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: Engaging in a Bizarre Bloody Battle (2)
Thud!
"Ugh!"
After striking my acupoints, the Blood Witch tossed me aside next to Mok Seon-hwa like a sack of grain.
With my acupoints sealed, I couldn't even wiggle a finger.
I should have just used the Ghost Heaven Soul Formation from the start.
Regret was useless now.
"Urgh!"
Suddenly, the Blood Witch ground her foot into my chest.
"I’m going to make you pay for what you did to my hand. I’ll use the Yang-Stealing Yin-Supplementing Art to drain every last drop of internal energy from your body."
She had already wrapped a cloth around her hand to stop the bleeding. Now, she was taking her pain out on me.
"A man of your caliber should have a decent amount of internal energy. I’m actually looking forward to this."
Watching her laugh with such bone-chilling malice, I felt a sense of resignation. Even if Jeok Yeong or Do Yeon showed up now, they wouldn't be a match for this witch. There was no one left to save me.
The Blood Witch laid me flat on my back.
She’s about to start the Yang-Stealing Yin-Supplementing Art.
Suddenly, a passage I had read in a martial arts manual flashed through my mind. Usually, there were two ways to absorb an opponent's internal energy through these types of arts. One was through sexual intercourse, and the other was through a kiss. Of the two, intercourse was the most effective way to drain energy.
As I thought about this, a brilliant idea struck me.
Maybe I can actually survive this. But I don't know if it'll work.
I was grasping at straws, so there was no time to second-guess myself. The Blood Witch began stripping off my lower garments before proceeding to remove her own.
If she goes through with the act, it’s all over. I have to force her to use the kissing method.
I racked my brain for a way to make her choose the kiss, and the perfect—albeit revolting—solution came to mind.
It’s disgusting, but I have to do it. Who cares about being gross when it’s a matter of life and death?
The Blood Witch’s skin was so pale it was almost translucent. Looking at her thighs, it was impossible to believe she was a grandmother over sixty. In fact, they looked firmer than Chun Mi’s.
My mind was spinning as her lower body moved before my eyes. If she initiated the act now, I was a dead man.
The moment Chu Bong-hwa attempted to join our bodies, I let it rip. I urinated with everything I had.
The stream shot upward, splashing everywhere. Chu Bong-hwa’s lower body was instantly drenched.
"What! You little—! You filthy bastard! I’ve performed this art on dozens of men, but I’ve never met a freak like you!"
She raised her foot to smash my face in but then slowly lowered it. Thanks to that, I got a very vivid view of her naked lower half.
"I’ll spare you only because I can't have your lips getting cut. Do you think this will stop me? There are other ways."
The Blood Witch’s lips crashed onto mine.
Perfect. So far, everything is going according to plan.
I felt a brief moment of triumph, but it was quickly replaced by the sensation of the internal energy in my dantian being violently sucked out. Then, a massive surge of foreign energy began to spread through my acupoints via my mouth.
She was absorbing my energy by first injecting her own into my body, then pulling it back out along with mine—using her own energy like a hook. It was a technique that utilized the principle of how different internal energies react to one another.
I finally understood the mechanics of how the Yang-Stealing Yin-Supplementing Art worked.
I hope this doesn't just end with me dying.
As time passed, my anxiety grew. My plan was sound in theory, but things rarely went exactly as I intended. Every time she sucked out my energy, I felt a hollow emptiness, followed by the agonizing sensation of my body nearly exploding when her massive energy surged back in.
The pain is worse than I thought.
Burning heat continuously poured out of my throat. Soon, the energy in my dantian was depleted, and even the residual energy lingering in my various acupoints began to stir.
Wait! What? The Gu parasite should be moving first. If she just keeps draining my energy, I’m screwed.
If I lost the energy in my upper dantian as well, I would be nothing more than an empty shell.
It was then.
The Gu parasite that had been nesting in my dantian twitched and began to crawl upward. It was reacting to the Blood Witch sucking out my energy through the kiss.
That’s it. It’s working, but I hope the little bugger does its job.
Since the Gu parasite had completely adapted to the frequency of my internal energy, it was pulled along as she drained me. Before I knew it, the parasite had cleared my throat and slid right into the Blood Witch’s mouth.
"Gah!"
The parasite must have gone down her throat. The Blood Witch, who had been greedily draining my energy, suddenly broke the kiss and began to cough violently.
"Cough! Hack! Cough!"
She glared at me, her eyes wide with shock.
"What was that?!"
My speech acupoint was still sealed, so I could only stare back at her blankly. Realizing this, she quickly unblocked it.
Seeing how flustered and panicked she was—to the point of forgetting she had silenced me—gave me a sliver of hope that I might actually make it out alive.
"That was a Gu parasite."
"What?"
Startled, the Blood Witch immediately dropped into a lotus position and began energy circulation practice. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
"It really is..."
She had probably tried to kill it with her internal energy. But the Shinmok-hyeolgo from Ancient Wood Valley wasn't just any ordinary parasite. If it were that easy to kill, would I have left it in my own dantian all this time? It was a creature that grew by feeding on internal energy; trying to kill it with more energy was useless.
"Where is the other one?" she demanded.
Usually, Gu parasites come in pairs—male and female.
"There is no other one."
"Don't lie to me! Tell me where the other one is, or I'll break every bone in your body one by one!"
To emphasize her point, she kicked me square in the stomach.
Thwack!
"Agh!" Dammit, the impact was so hard I felt like my internal organs were going to fly out of my mouth.
But strangely, the Blood Witch seemed to be in even more pain than I was.
"Aaaaaagh!"
She suddenly clutched her stomach and began rolling on the ground.
Huh? What’s wrong with her?
Watching her writhe in agony, a realization dawned on me.
Wait, did the Gu parasite react because she hit me?
It made sense. If the parasite had become attuned to my internal energy, such a reaction was possible. This Shinmok-hyeolgo was even more impressive than Gan Cheon-seong had predicted.
Gasping for breath, the Blood Witch scrambled to her feet.
"Do you know why this is happening?"
"I do."
Even though I spoke to her casually, she could only fume. She didn't dare strike me again. If she hit me, she would have to endure the same pain.
"That Gu parasite has already synchronized with me. If I feel pain, it feels pain. If I die, it dies. In a way, I’ve become the 'mate' for that parasite."
"What nonsense! I’ve never heard of such a ridiculous thing!"
"Like I said, it’s no ordinary parasite."
"Then why was it inside you?!"
"Well, I kept it there for a day like today."
I threw out whatever lies came to mind. She was furious but clearly at a loss. However, she soon calmed down and sank into thought. I couldn't give her time to think.
"I’m sorry to say this, but you’re tied to me now. If I die, the parasite dies and floods your dantian with poison. Then you die too."
The Blood Witch gritted her teeth. "There must be a way. Where did you get this parasite?"
Once she asked that, I knew my plan was a success.
I had used the "urination tactic" to force her into a kiss rather than intercourse. This ensured she would be infected by the Gu, which would then lead her to ask about its origin. My original plan was to tell her it came from Ancient Wood Valley, lure her there, and have their masters deal with her. That plan was working out better than I could have hoped.
In fact, the parasite was proving to be even more effective than I imagined, completely neutralizing her. It was a stroke of divine luck. At this rate, I wouldn't even need to go to Ancient Wood Valley.
"That parasite is one of a kind. Why else would I have kept it in my own dantian for so long? It lived off my internal energy until it synchronized with me, becoming one with my body."
"You expect me to believe that?!"
"That’s the only explanation I have, so what do you want me to say?" I barked back.
I had nothing to lose here. She couldn't hit me, and she couldn't kill me. What was there to be afraid of?
"Who put this parasite in you?" she pressed, refusing to give up.
I spun a lie that would work in my favor. "Do you know that I recently visited the Nine Demons Chamber?"
My exploits there had already spread throughout Sichuan, so there was no way she didn't know.
"I know."
"I was targeted while I was there. Do you know the Second Division Leader of the Nine Demons Chamber, the Purple Lightning Sword Ham Jeok?"
The Blood Witch flinched at the name.
"I was targeted by him during my stay."
"Why would he put a Gu parasite in you?"
"I was appointed as the Acting Squad Leader of his Blood Wind Squad. He forced me to swallow the parasite to ensure my loyalty. I had no choice; it was either that or death."
Upon hearing this, she exploded in rage. "You bastard! So you peed on yourself just to force me to use the kissing method so I would ingest that thing?"
"Exactly. You're pretty sharp."
She was trembling with fury, unable to do anything, when a voice called out from outside.
"Blood Witch!"
"Hm? The Six Blades of Shaanxi? I thought they were dead."
"No. I talked them into leaving," I said.
The Blood Witch glared at me and shook her head. She turned toward the Six Blades as they entered the cave.
"What is it?"
"The Lesser Demonic Cult has been overrun by the Ten Thousand Dragons Fortress. We need to retreat. One of the Divine Light Sect members was defeated by the Yellow Dragon Secret Sword, and the other is severely injured. The Messenger has ordered us to bring Mok Seon-hwa. He wants to kill her for revenge."
"Come in."
As she spoke, she pulled her clothes back on and dressed me as well. The Six Blades of Shaanxi entered the cave. I heard one of them mutter as they approached.
"What’s that smell? Is that... urine?"
Well, yeah. I did pee myself.
The moment they saw me, they drew their sabers.
"Wait! It's you!"
"Did the Blood Witch capture him?"
"When I think about how you made fools of us..."
The one who seemed to be the leader of the Six Blades moved to kick me. But the Blood Witch blocked his path.
"Wait, why?"
She only glared at him in response. She couldn't exactly explain herself; telling the truth would mean revealing her own weakness.
"What are you all doing here? Didn't I tell you to report to the Blood Witch and retreat immediately?"
A chilling voice drifted in from behind the Six Blades. As the newcomer appeared, the Blood Witch’s brow furrowed.
She must be agonizing over this. I’m curious to see what you’ll choose.
The Messenger of the Divine Light Sect looked at me and then at the Six Blades. "Who is this?"
"This is the one they call the New Dragon of Sichuan."
At those words, a murderous aura erupted from the Messenger.
"So you’re Eo Ja-seo, the New Dragon of Sichuan? The one who slaughtered our sect members in the canyon! And you’re the sworn brother of the Yellow Dragon Secret Sword!"
I replied nonchalantly from my position on the ground. "Yeah, that’s me. What are you going to do about it?"
I deliberately provoked him. I needed to push the situation to the extreme.
"How dare you wag your tongue so freely!"
The Messenger drew his sword and swung it toward my neck.
Clang!
Just as I thought.
Since my death meant her death, the Blood Witch had no choice but to protect me.
Clang!
The Messenger’s sword was parried by the Blood Witch’s hand.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Before she could make an excuse, I beat her to it.
"Why else? We grew quite close while she was performing the Yang-Stealing Yin-Supplementing Art. We’ve practically built a 'Great Wall' of affection between us."
As I sneered, the Blood Witch looked like she wanted to murder me herself.
"Is what he says true?"
The Messenger, seemingly losing his reason, actually fell for the absurd claim. I had to keep shaking them.
"You should run while you can. Otherwise, the Blood Witch will kill you all."
Since she was actively protecting me, my words carried weight. The Six Blades, being quick-witted, were already looking for an exit. Seeing her block the Messenger’s lethal strike was enough to convince them I was telling the truth.
My provocations were paying off.
The Blood Witch swept her cold gaze over the Six Blades and the Divine Light Sect master. Terrified, the Six Blades bolted for the cave entrance. But the moment they moved, she moved.
"Gah!"
The Six Blades didn't even have a chance to resist before they collapsed like stalks of wheat.
The Divine Light Sect master shouted and threw a palm strike at me. A blue energy erupted from his hand, flying toward my chest. Since I was still paralyzed, I could only squeeze my eyes shut as the force approached.
Boom!
When I didn't feel any pain, I opened my eyes to see the Messenger staggering backward.
"Are you silencing us to hide your shame?!" he screamed.
"I suppose I am," the Blood Witch replied, her voice heavy with resignation.
The Messenger muttered, "This is why you can never trust a woman."
At those words, a murderous light flared in the Blood Witch’s eyes.
"I was going to give you a quick death, but you just had to say that."
Her body blurred, and in an instant, her hand had pierced through the Messenger’s chest. It was a gruesome sight that made my skin crawl.
Thud.
The Messenger collapsed without having put up a decent fight. The Blood Witch wiped the blood from her hand onto his clothes.
I swallowed hard. My life now depended on how I handled the next few moments.
The Blood Witch, her hands glowing with a translucent light, began walking toward me. When she flashed a faint smile, my heart started pounding against my ribs.