Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 293 Help
Lou He walked calmly to Mei Qiulu and said, "Senior Sister, I'm ready."

Mei Qiulu nodded slightly and looked at him, saying, "Since the founding of our sect, a total of forty-nine people have received this excommunication, and you are the fiftieth."

“Those forty-nine people were all heinous criminals, but now that you have realized it, you only asked the wrong question back then. According to the rules of our sect, we will only destroy your physical body, erase your knowledge and skills in this life, and send your soul to Mount Ling. If you are lucky, you may be able to get the opportunity to start over.”

Lou He released his grip, and his head tilted to the side. But he knelt properly before Mei Qiulu and said in a hoarse voice, "I have harmed my fellow disciples and deserve to be punished. I hope my fellow disciples will take my fate as a warning."

"Alright, Junior Brother Lou." Mei Qiulu addressed him as Junior Brother once again, and raised her hand to tap his forehead. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Lou He sighed and shook his head.

Li Wuxiang's eyes widened at this moment—Mei Qiulu really wanted to kill Lou He!?
Lou He's past mistakes were undeniable, and Helian Ji's death was unjust, but he later seemed to have a change of heart and, compared to others in the world, was indeed a good person. In recent days, especially after Mei Qiulu brought people to Dajie Mountain, Li Wuxiang had initially thought she would let the matter drop, believing that Mei Qiulu's coldness towards him was merely lingering anger. But now…

She really wants to kill Lou He!?
He immediately turned to look at the dozen or so swordsmen, only to see that they were all sitting with their heads down, seemingly unable to bear the sight.

However, no one spoke up to plead for him... Even Li Ke, who was the most soft-hearted, just sat cross-legged, counting on his fingers, and turned his face to the side!
Li Wuxiang wanted to plead for Lou He's life, but he knew in his heart that he shouldn't—the Sword Sect was usually very free, but when it came to this kind of "harming fellow disciples," there seemed to be no reason to defend Lou He.

But... Mei Qiulu said that destroying his physical body and erasing his knowledge and skills in this life is no different from destroying his body and soul - he will remember nothing. Even if he goes to Zhao Qi, even if the Ninth Prince can really take him in, will he still be the Lou He he used to be?
Just then, he heard a voice emanating from within his own skin—

"I thought you understood. If you don't speak up soon, it will be too late."

...Li Guichen's voice!?

How could I hear his voice?
He created another personality of his own. Based on what Li Si taught him in his previous life, the two personalities shouldn't be able to coexist, but now—

"How can you talk?!"

“Before, Li Ye refined me into your earth soul, so I was able to speak, right?”

So, at this moment, Li Guichen can be considered... truly an independent person? An independent soul?
However, Li Wuxiang couldn't think about these things at the moment, and only asked, "What did you mean just now? What do you understand?"

The newly formed skin trembled slightly. He heard Li Guichen seem to chuckle: "Just now, Lou He stood up and told his past shameful deeds so that these dozen or so swordsmen would agree to worship you. Lou He is not that kind of person, nor is he selfless and open-minded, is he? Did you not consider that he was trying to survive by doing this? He was trying to curry favor with you, and also repenting in front of Mei Qiulu and all his fellow disciples."

"Why did Mei Qiulu bring up your departure from the Taiyi Sect just now? You're going to finish what you did at Dajie Mountain before you leave, so why bring it up now and cause people to fall apart? Because if you do that, you won't be considered a member of the Taiyi Sect anymore. She is the sect leader, and it's against the sect's rules and the sect leader's authority for someone from within the sect to plead for Lou He. But it's different for people outside the sect—you should be more careful from now on. Since I left you, you seem to have become more and more innocent. You should have thought these things through before."

The two spoke in their minds, their thoughts racing. Therefore, upon hearing Li Guichen's words, Li Wuxiang even had time to sigh in his mind—

"It's not that I've become more virtuous. I've just developed a filter—I used to think that someone like Senior Sister Mei meant what she said, and if she was going to kill, she really meant it."

Li Guichen seemed to chuckle again: "That's why I said, if you don't speak up now, it will be too late. Mei Qiulu keeps her word, but she still has some humanity left. That humanity is giving you a chance to plead for her. If you don't speak up, she really will kill you. I even think that even if you speak up and can't persuade her, she will still kill you."

Li Wuxiang had always felt that Li Guichen was the embodiment of his most rational, darkest, and most ruthless side, so now he no longer doubted Li Guichen's judgment on what was about to happen.

He immediately called out, "Senior sister, wait a minute!"

Mei Qiulu's finger stopped on Lou He's forehead. She turned to look at him, her expression solemn: "Li Wuxiang, you don't need to plead for him. He's my disciple, and we have a bond as fellow disciples. This isn't my intention. Since you're a swordsman, you should know—"

"I am no longer a swordsman. At least not a swordsman of the Taiyi Sect anymore, Senior Sister, have you forgotten?" Li Wuxiang said in a deep voice, "The night you came to Dajie Mountain to save me, you told me that after the Dajie Alliance, I would be the sect leader of the Sword Sect. Now the earth fire has passed, the Dajie Alliance is over, and I am now the sect leader of the Sword Sect. Lou He killed people from your Taiyi Sect, but he helped me and saved me several times. I want to ask for a reason for him not to die, is that alright?"

Mei Qiulu's expression changed slightly, and the swordsmen inside the cave all looked up. Some remained composed, while others glared at her. As Li Wuxiang had predicted, Li Keru immediately spoke up, "Yes, Senior Sister, Senior Brother Lou—"

Mei Qiulu's expression hardened, and he immediately shut his mouth.

What is the reason for his immortality? A thought flashed through Li Wuxiang's mind, and he let out a soft sigh: "Senior Brother Helian died unjustly, and it is only right that one life be exchanged for another. But Senior Brother Helian's life is not that of an ordinary person. I have seen his soul at the bottom of the Netherworld Abyss, and one day I will be able to bring him back. But when it comes to exchanging one life for another, Senior Sister, what if Lou He's life could be exchanged for more—the lives of these dozen or so people present?"

Mei Qiulu was taken aback: "The lives of more than a dozen people?"

"Perhaps there are more than a dozen people. We left Youjiuyuan in a hurry. Senior Sister, you are lacking food and clothing here, and I imagine it's similar for Sword Master Xiao in the west. But the sects and dojos of the Thirty-Six Sects should have been preserved. No matter how skilled we swordsmen are, how long can we endure being so hungry that we can only lie on the ground in a daze?"

“But what about the thirty-six sects? If we fail to accomplish the Great Calamity Alliance's mission, and if neither of us becomes the leader of the alliance, how many of us will survive if we fight again? I can see the calamities on their bodies—” Li Wuxiang said, “almost all of them are on the verge of a great calamity.”

Mei Qiulu frowned: "A calamity?"

“I call some things ‘misfortune.’ The dozen or so people in this cave are all plagued by misfortune. In my opinion, they will be extremely unlucky in the future, and their lives will be in danger.”

This wasn't a nice remark. But Li Wuxiang felt that Mei Qiulu seemed slightly relieved by these words.

"This is the position of enlightenment..."

"I suppose so. But I don't think it's any kind of supernatural power. I understand it myself—in our current state, we have neither food nor medicine, and we have to fight one battle after another. Anyone would feel unlucky just looking at us. But Senior Sister, there is a way that will allow us to not worry about food. You know that way, or rather, you knew it even before Senior Brother Lou."

—And it can be considered that you, Senior Sister, gave it to Lou He. Mei Qiulu raised her face slightly: "You mean Guang Chanzi."

"That's Guang Chanzi. Cultivating Guang Chanzi only requires one's own innate Qi, without relying on pills or materials. Further on, all that's needed is willpower—at least until the core is formed, only willpower is needed. As for what comes after that, Senior Sister, you cultivate the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, so you know how to nourish your internal organs. Actually... isn't this just cultivating the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture? It's just a slightly weaker version of the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, but it's still stronger than the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter you're currently using."

Mei Qiulu looked at the swordsmen in the cave: "These can't be considered human anymore."

Li Wuxiang knew that Mei Qiulu wasn't referring to him and Lou He, but rather to the dozen or so swordsmen in the cave. He smiled and said, "Brother Lou and I are no longer considered human, but we don't feel anything is wrong. Senior Sister, besides, once someone cultivates to your current level and achieves Yang Shen, they can't really be considered human anymore. Since we will eventually have to abandon this body, or make this body inhuman, what difference does it make whether it's sooner or later?"

The swordsmen all stared, speechless for a moment. Li Wuxiang could see that some of them opened their mouths, as if they wanted to say something, but then closed them again.

They should realize that what they said, upon careful consideration, actually makes sense. Of those who have cultivated themselves to this level, how many would truly care whether or not a physical body qualifies as human?
What's even more tempting is that there's a way to quickly improve one's cultivation level right in front of them, and given the current state of affairs.

Mei Qiulu waited silently for a while before the dozen or so swordsmen in the cave remained silent before saying, "Then you should know that Xiu Guangchanzi faces many calamities and is extremely dangerous."

"So I wanted to use this danger to save Brother Lou's life."

“I have a way that might help people avoid calamities while practicing Guang Chan Zi… Actually, it’s not really about avoiding them. There are many calamities in practicing Guang Chan Zi, but I don’t think that’s the most troublesome thing. The troublesome thing is not knowing when they will come—when something happens, you often have to be on tenterhooks, not knowing what situation will lead to your misfortune, or that you might fall into a deadly trap just by opening a door.”

“But if we could know in advance when we would be in trouble, just like knowing in advance when we would be going through a tribulation, and then prepare in advance and help each other, it might not be so troublesome.” Li Wuxiang looked at Lou He. “My method is to let people enter the tribulation and let them roughly know when they will enter the tribulation. I just don’t know whether this will bring more tribulations to this person out of thin air, or trigger the tribulation luck on this person.”

"Senior Sister, if you insist on killing Senior Brother Lou, then lend me his life—he has already cultivated the Guang Chan Zi and reached the Golden Cloud Realm. I'll try this method on him. If it succeeds, he will have atoned for his sins; if it fails… Senior Brother Lou, will you have any complaints?"

Lou He looked up at Mei Qiulu, then at the swordsmen: "I didn't."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Senior sister, everyone, what do you think?"

Mei Qiulu sighed, "Very well. Lou He—"

"...Yes, senior sister."

"From now on, please don't call me Senior Sister anymore. I've never liked the idea of ​​offsetting merits and demerits or atonement for sins. From today onwards, you are no longer a member of the Taiyi Sect. Let's address each other as fellow Daoist."

Lou He stood there, speechless for a long time, looking shocked, disappointed, and perhaps even relieved to have survived.

Li Guichen is right. Lou He is not the kind of person who makes selfless contributions. He has his own considerations and thoughts in almost everything he does. His previous act of stepping forward to expose his own shortcomings may have been to curry favor with me, and now, standing in front of Mei Qiulu, may also be just an act.

But Li Wuxiang also felt that five or six parts of this act were genuine. A person who had been in the Taiyi Sect for decades and was actually expelled... even someone with a heart of iron would genuinely feel sad.

At this moment, Mei Qiulu waved her hand: "Alright, today's business is finished, everyone should rest first. None of you need to take the night watch tonight, Li Wuxiang, Fellow Daoist Lou and I will keep watch. Let's conserve our energy and discuss the matter of the Alliance Leader position tomorrow."

In her Nascent Soul stage, Mei Qiulu was like a doormat in Youjiuyuan, but in her Yang God stage, she spoke with the true authority of the Taiyi Sect Leader. The swordsmen seemed to want to say something to Lou He and also ask Li Wuxiang about the "calamity," but after hearing her instructions, they immediately responded in unison, exchanged a few quiet words with each other, and then lay down again.

Mei Qiulu walked to the cave entrance, glanced outside briefly, and then turned to Li Wuxiang, saying, "There's no one within fifty miles of here right now. You and Lou He don't need to eat or drink. Go out and find some food tonight for them when they wake up tomorrow morning. I'll take care of things here."

When she spoke, her gaze swept across the two men's faces, no longer ignoring Lou He as before.

Li Wuxiang said "okay," and Lou He looked at Mei Qiulu, moved his lips, and finally just sighed and said, "Okay. Fellow Daoist Mei...."

Mei Qiulu turned and walked back into the cave. Li Wuxiang patted Lou He on the shoulder: "Let's go."

After the two left the cave, they walked silently through the woods for a while. Lou He hissed, "Thank you for saving my life."

"Didn't you save my life before?"

Lou He sighed and fell silent. After walking a while longer, he suddenly spoke up: "You've taken Zhao Yu as your disciple, so she's practically the founding senior sister of your Sword Sect, right?"

"Yes. I just don't know how she is now."

"Isn't your Sword Sect still missing a founding senior brother? Li Wuxiang, how about I become your disciple?"

Li Wuxiang paused, looked at him, and then laughed: "You can still joke? Looks like you've come to terms with things. But what I just said wasn't a lie. I'll plant something called a 'Seed of Calamity' in you. I really don't know if it will force you to undergo another tribulation, or just trigger the tribulation energy within you—"

Lou He suddenly grabbed his hand, and Li Wuxiang could feel that his skin seemed to be trembling slightly.

"I'm serious, how about I become your disciple? How about I become your... Sword Sect disciple?"

(End of this chapter)