Chương 8: Jiangshi (Part III)

Bai Xiaomeng and Young Master Bai walked to where Lucian had left the goods, one supporting the other. Upon arriving, the plump young man sat on the ground, picked up a bamboo flask, and drank its contents. Meanwhile, the better lighting allowed Bai Xiaomeng to notice the blood on his face. Flustered, she grabbed the cleanest cloth she could find and handed it to him.

"Young Master, your face," she said, kneeling beside him.

"Ahhh." Young Master Bai looked at her, his eyes tired and his lips trembling.

"Little Meng, it's best not to call me that. Brother Wang is fine, right?" Laughing nervously, Bai Xiaomeng was about to respond when she noticed the glint of sadness in his eyes. Standing a short distance away, Lucian observed the scene in silence and heard Young Master Bai ask in a stiff tone, his gaze unfocused,"They are all dead, are they not? Should I call myself Young Master of the dead, then? The ghosts from the underworlds would take my soul if I did so." Bai Xiaomeng's eyes filled with tears.

Forcing a smile, Young Master Bai continued, "Then why not call me Brother Wang? All my life, I dreamed of using my mother's surname. The heavens took pity on me! Hehe" Seeing the pain in Young Master Bai's eyes, Bai Xiaomeng intervened.

"That wouldn't be appropriate. You are Bai Zhurong! The Bai Clan still needs—""Bai Zhurong died with the clan leader," he declared, interrupting her.

"I am called Wang Chen! It's decided." Bai Xiameng had never heard him talk in such a way.

"Don't be hasty, Young Master Bai," she said, feeling a headache forming.

"The Bai Clan still exists on our homeland. They are counting on you to—" Wang Chen waved his hand dismissively.

"My father and uncles died here. The old man shoved me into the damned box without a word. Can you believe it?" Shaking his head and turning away to hide the tears in his eyes, he shouted,"If he didn't want me to accompany him to the netherworld, then there is no need for me to be his son! That damned old man!" As Bai Xiaomeng was about to reprimand him again, Wang Chen coughed up blood.

"Young Master Bai—!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Silence," Lucian said. Both Wang Chen and Bai Xiaomeng trembled, Lucian's strange voice shaking their minds. Because of the intensity of the intent behind his command, they were stunned for a brief moment. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. In ordinary conversation, Lucian's intent was not as strong, but their senseless talking made him slightly annoyed. Fearing the worst, Bai Xiaomeng grabbed her Young Master's arm and pulled him down into a bow.

Wang Chen was young, but he was the son and heir of a merchant clan, being trained from a young age to grasp the situation. The sudden impact of the stranger's voice in his head, the fact that he could not see the four assailants who had raided the camp, meeting someone able to open the sealed box, and Bai Xiaomeng's reaction were enough for him to infer that the person before him was a cultivator. Bowing alongside Bai Xiaomeng, Wang Chen cupped his hands.

"Thank you, Benefactor, for saving this unfilial brat. The words I spoke were said in grief. So many have died that I lost my mind!" He felt compelled to explain himself, fearing that the cultivator before him adhered strictly to customs and that his previous offense might warrant death.

"Do not worry, mortal," Lucian said as he approached them.

"You will die soon as well." Before Wang Chen could beg for his life, he coughed up blood again and felt his head spinning.

"Young Master!" Bai Xiaomeng cried, then turned toward Lucian.

"Grand Cultivator, what happened to him?" Lucian glanced at her and then at the grieving, plump young man.

"He's infected," he said.

"But this Lord can save him."

"Infected? How—" Wang Chen spoke between coughs, feeling as though the trees, the earth and the sky were trembling. Bai Xiaomeng lacked the strength to support him as he collapsed to the ground. Gasping, she quickly turned Wang Chen onto his back, horror filling her eyes as blood leaked from his ears, nose, and mouth.

"Grand Cultivator—" she was about to beg when she saw Lucian beside her, crouching and placing a hand against the young man's face. Sensing the Blood Essence corroding the boy from within, Lucian asked calmly,"Tell me what that box's functions were."

"What?" Bai Xiaomeng wanted to protest and urge him to help, but she wisely remained silent upon seeing Lucian's expression. He did not seem like someone who said pointless sentences. Wang Chen, wheezing, glared at Lucian. He did not know whether the man was toying with him or genuinely seeking information, but he gathered what strength he had to answer.

"I—I don't know… But I was—I was sleeping before—Woke up in crimson fog—In my nose…" I see, Lucian thought, nodding slightly. Normally, Qi would be infused into the sealed box, and the kid would inhale it through specific mechanisms. What exact effect that process had, Lucian did not know. But instead of Qi, it had been Blood Essence that triggered it, and Lucian knew precisely what happened when a mortal consumed the crimson energy.

"In a few seconds, you will die," he said calmly.

"To save you, I must turn you into a kind of monster. You will retain your will and your sense of self, but your life will rest in my hands. Tell me if you agree, and your existence will be bound to mine." Bai Xiaomeng covered her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes as she listened. Wang Chen, however, appeared weirdly calm, as if the dangerous situation forced him to focus.

"Did you kill… All four cultivators?" he asked through labored breaths.

"No."

"Will I… be able… to kill the rest of them?" Lucian smiled faintly.

"If you can find the remaining two, it is possible. With time." Seeing the look in Lucian's eyes, Wang Chen let out a strained laugh, blood splattering across his lips.

"Then save me and allow my revenge!" Without another word, Lucian controlled his Blood Essence. A rune formed on his forehead. It was a circle filled with symbols and a drawing resembling a crown with five sharp spikes. Lucian placed his right hand above Wang Chen's mouth, and the crown pulsed. Next, a slit opened across his palm, and a single drop of blood fell onto Wang Chen's tongue.

Devilish Arts: Boon of Pride – Heavy is The Crown The drop of blood forced itself into Wang Chen's throat, while the rune on Lucian's forehead flickered and vanished.