Volume 1, Chapter 39 – Slaughter

“Shi Lan” stretched out a hand and grasped at the empty air. A giant palm a thousand zhang across slowly appeared behind the young woman, then closed around her.

The girl, who had already run nearly ten thousand zhang away, flickered, and once again appeared above the herd of demonic beasts.

She glanced at the demonic beasts beneath her feet and at the enormous palm closing in from all around. A flash of horror crossed her eyes as she looked toward “Shi Lan” and rasped, “A world within the palm… Heaven-Man…”

“Bang—”

The giant palm suddenly clenched. The void collapsed, a huge black hole opening up, and the girl inside was instantly crushed into a cloud of blood mist by the immense spatial force!

“Shi Lan”‘s expression shifted. He opened his hand, and a lump of bloody pulp scattered down from the sky. Catching the scent of blood, some of the less intelligent low-level demonic beasts immediately lost all reason, madly scrambling over one another for the falling flesh and blood.

The flesh and blood essence of a Beast King was, without a doubt, a fatal temptation to these low-level demonic beasts.

The other, more intelligent demonic beasts, seeing “Shi Lan” pinch a Beast King to death as casually as reaching into a bag, were scared out of their wits and scattered, fleeing for their lives.

As for those demonic beasts fleeing in all directions, “Shi Lan” paid them no mind. He raised a hand and beckoned, and the long case buried in the huge pit that held the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd, along with a bundle, flew into his grasp.

“Shi Lan” casually flicked two fingers, turning several low-level demonic beasts near Shi Feng into blood mist, then grabbed Shi Feng and turned into a streak of light that vanished into the sky.

…

The streak of light tore across the sky and landed amid a mountain range.

Feeling control of his body return, Shi Lan let out a breath of relief. Just now, it had been as if he were only a bystander, with only his consciousness present and no control over his own body.

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“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. You and I are in the same boat now; saving you is the same as saving myself.”

Shi Lan tore open the bundle, ripped off a piece of clothing, simply wrapped the wound on his left arm, then hoisted Shi Feng onto his back.

After getting his bearings, Shi Lan picked up the long case and continued toward their original destination.

“Lunhui, can you explain to me now just what you actually are?” As he walked, Shi Lan finally voiced the doubt in his heart.

“You can think of me as the system’s overseer. I’m attached to the system, but above the system. But there are some of the system’s mechanisms I can’t change either, such as the choice of host.”

“Why can’t I use any of the All-Heavens Samsara System’s functions?”

“Because of an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

Lunhui fell silent for a moment, then changed the subject. “I’m not too sure either. What matters most for you right now is settling that kid on your back somewhere safe.”

“How is he doing now?” Shi Lan didn’t know medicine. He really had no idea how bad Shi Feng’s injuries were.

“Half his body has already stepped through the Gates of the Underworld. I’m using a strand of energy to hang onto his life.”

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“That serious?!” Shi Lan’s heart lurched.

“His five viscera are all damaged, his meridians severed, his blood and qi flowing in reverse. The fact he isn’t dead yet is already him being lucky.”

Shi Lan couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. After all, Shi Feng had been ordered to come protect him; now he was gravely wounded, on the verge of death, and that had everything to do with him.

“Do you have any way to save him?”

“…No. I can only keep him alive for now,” Lunhui answered after a brief pause. This was, of course, a lie. He did have a way to save Shi Feng, but he had no reason to, and didn’t want to spend the energy.

Shi Feng wasn’t Shi Lan. Whether Shi Feng lived or died meant nothing to him. If Shi Lan died, the All-Heavens Samsara System would simply go and pick a new host.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could raise a powerhouse capable of shattering the barrier between worlds with a system whose functions were almost completely crippled.

And on Shi Lan’s body, there was at least another system whose functions were intact, with a great chance of growing strong.

Shi Lan drew in two deep breaths. “Lunhui, when you were up in the sky just now, I think I saw a city. Do you remember which direction it was in?”

“Southeast, two hundred forty-six li.” Lunhui gave an extremely precise figure.

Shi Lan immediately changed direction, hurrying toward that city. Shi Feng’s injuries were too severe; he had to rest and recover, he couldn’t keep being dragged around.

The mountain paths were hard to walk, and on top of that, he was afraid the jolting would worsen Shi Feng’s injuries, so Shi Lan didn’t dare go too fast.

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By the time night fell, Shi Lan had covered less than sixty li.

Traveling mountain roads at night was too risky. Shi Lan had no choice but to find a cave and stop.

The cave was damp. Shi Lan took all the clothes out of the bundle and spread them out in a layer as padding, settled Shi Feng down, then gathered some dry branches and lit a fire.

After doing all that, Shi Lan, exhausted all over, sat down by the fire, his head bobbing as he dozed off.

“Cough… cough…”

Hearing the faint cough, Shi Lan lifted his head and got up, walking over to Shi Feng.

Shi Feng forced his eyes open with some effort, only to feel a wave of searing pain inside his body, as if he were being burned alive.

Remembering what had happened before he blacked out, Shi Feng struggled to sit up, but the moment he raised his arm a little, it fell limply back down.

“Don’t move around!” Shi Lan chided lightly, squatting down beside him. “How do you feel? Just tell me what you need.”

Seeing Shi Lan beside him, the worry in Shi Feng’s heart eased a little. His voice was hoarse as he asked, “Where… are we?”

“We’re in a cave,” Shi Lan answered. Seeing that Shi Feng looked like he still wanted to speak, he stopped him. “Don’t talk. Just listen to me.”

Shi Lan casually made up a lie, saying that after Shi Feng passed out, a powerful human expert happened to pass by, killed that Beast King, and saved them in passing before leaving.

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After hearing this, Shi Feng glanced at the cloth wrapped around Shi Lan’s left arm and said hoarsely, “I’m… sorry.”

Shi Lan tugged his sleeve down and shook his head. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s just a scratch.”

Shi Lan helped Shi Feng sit up and fed him a few sips of water. Looking at the clothes laid out under him, Shi Feng was taken aback for a moment, then strained to reach out and pinch the hem of a skirt.

Seeing what he did, Shi Lan froze, then felt a little embarrassed. It had been getting dark earlier, so he’d just spread everything out at random, and with everything that had happened one after another, he’d forgotten all about the White Crane Skirt.

“Th-this is…” Shi Lan tried to think of an excuse, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

A man carrying women’s clothing around with him—no matter how you explained it, it sounded wrong…

What surprised Shi Lan was that Shi Feng didn’t press the issue. He simply let go of the skirt. Shi Lan once again helped him lie back down, then went back to sit by the fire.

Looking at Shi Lan’s figure by the fire, Shi Feng felt his heart inexplicably dry and tight. Compared to before, Shi Lan had changed so much; his temperament had grown far more resolute, and the few traces of innocence he’d once had were completely gone.

Facing this change, Shi Feng didn’t know what he should say.

Glancing at the clothes spread out under him, Shi Feng’s feelings were complicated. He had never seen this skirt before, but Shi Lan had taken it with him even when running away from home. It had to be something he treasured deeply…