Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 308 Enduring hardship
He fell asleep. When he woke up again, he found it was dark and heard voices, but perhaps they didn't want to wake him, so they kept their voices very low.

Li Wuxiang recognized the voices of the dozen or so swordsmen. Their voices were relaxed, even containing a suppressed chuckle. This meant that nothing was wrong, and Lou He and Zhao Yu should be alright for the time being as well. His chest deflated slightly, and he sprawled out on the ground, falling asleep again.

When I woke up the second time, I saw a canopy above me. The canopy was made of branches that had been gathered, and the leaves were all wilted, some even turning yellow.

He slowly inhaled, trying to lift himself up, but felt like he was about to stick to the ground. He took a few more deep breaths before he finally regained his human form.

The shed was supported by several unpeeled wooden pillars, with large, glassy black stones piled at their base for support. A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the surface of the stones and in their crevices, and even a few tufts of tender yellow grass had sprouted from them.

He sat up and saw that the once smooth and clean ground was now covered with a thick layer of dust and some messy footprints.

A voice said softly, "...I bet three days, no, four days."

That voice belongs to Li Ke.

Another voice said, "I think that's about right."

That voice belongs to Xiao Suo.

Li Ke chuckled softly: "Just you wait and see, he—"

“No need to look, you're going to lose,” Li Wuxiang said. He slowly stood up and walked out of the shed—

The surrounding area was flat. It had been too dark that night; although there were thunderclouds overhead, visibility was still poor. What he saw now was a vast plain blasted out by Mei Qiulu's sword strike, the ground so flat it looked as if it had been artificially smoothed. Beyond the glassy surface of the Great Calamity Mountain crater, lush grass grew on the plain, some of it almost ankle-deep. Only in the far distance could one see the distant forests, like a green border gilded against the horizon.

But the meadow wasn't entirely green. Wildflowers were blooming wildly, their vibrant colors dazzling. The sky was exceptionally clear, the sunlight exceptionally bright, and in that instant, Li Wuxiang felt as if he had entered paradise or some other place not of this earth… because it was simply too beautiful.

There really were Li Ke and Xiao Suo next to the shed, but there were only the two of them.

Li Ke froze when he heard his voice, then a look of ecstatic joy appeared on his face as he strode over—for a moment, Li Wuxiang felt that he was about to give him a tight hug.

But Li Ke stopped in front of him: "Senior brother, you're finally awake!"

Li Wuxiang glanced at the green grass not far away and felt something was amiss: "How long have I been sleeping?"

Xiao Suo walked over: "It's been four and a half days, almost five days."

"Huh? Then what about this grass—where are Senior Sister and the others?"

Xiao Su laughed: "Senior sister left us here to watch over you while they went to chop wood. Senior brother, are you hungry?"

"Is there any need to say more?" Li Ke immediately strode away.

Li Wuxiang saw that they had also built a hut next to his thatched cottage, with a stove made of stones and a thick pot carved from black glass. Li Ke reached into the pot, picked something up, ran back, and handed it to him: "Senior brother, eat something first, I'll go boil some water for you!"

After he finished speaking, he ran back to the stove. Li Wuxiang took the object, only to find that he didn't recognize it.

It was a light brown color, like cooked meat coated with a thin layer of fat. But it lacked the texture of meat; it was very elastic, more like tendon. However, he didn't know what kind of creature would have such large tendons, and besides, there probably weren't any large animals around.

He looked at Xiao Su questioningly. Xiao Su smiled and said, "It's considered meat, good stuff. Senior Brother Li, what do you think—"

He took a few steps forward and stepped onto the grass. Then he frowned slightly and looked into the grass, muttering something to himself, as if trying to lure something into a trap.

After standing there for a short while, he realized he hadn't seen the person he was waiting for, so he moved a few steps away, squatted down, and continued muttering to himself.

He was now a little closer to Li Wuxiang, so Li Wuxiang could hear him more clearly—

"...My parents died when I was three, and my grandparents died when I was seven. I worked like a slave to others until I finally got married, but she died a year later..."

Holy crap, has Xiao Suo gone mad?!

Senior Sister Mei had said that when they first came to the Great Calamity Mountain, Xiao Suo was always by her side, offering advice and strategies; he was a very calm and collected person. But now, squatting here looking at the grass, muttering to himself, his brows slowly furrowing as if he were about to cry—

Li Wuxiang felt a tingling sensation all over his body and abruptly turned his head to look around—he was mesmerized! Had something else descended upon the world as well?!

The next moment, he saw a dark aura gather on Xiao Suo's face... This is bad!
Just as Li Wuxiang was about to pounce, Xiao Suo reached up and touched his face. The black mist seemed to have turned into liquid as he smeared it on his hand. Then he flicked the liquid into the grass—

The ground suddenly trembled slightly, as if something was burrowing underground. Xiao Suo swiftly reached into the soil and pulled out a large, round object covered in pinkish blood vessels. It was just a clump, without a head or tail. Xiao Suo squeezed it hard, and a stream of clear fluid burst out, then it stopped moving.

At this moment, Xiao Suo's unlucky look completely disappeared, and he turned to look at Li Wuxiang and smiled: "Senior Brother Li, look, this is what you have in your hand—Si Ming. It's very nourishing."

"……what?"

Xiao Su threw the Siming on the ground, spread his legs and sat down. He used his fingernails to pinch the pinkish veins on it and slowly tore them off, saying as he did so, "Senior Sister said that this was transformed from the remains of the Siming True Lord left in the mortal world. The Siming True Lord can't die, so this thing will always live—it's all under this patch of grass, and in a few days it should be everywhere."

"This thing doesn't have any consciousness. It usually hides underground, but it's good for you. It helps to grow plants. Look at this patch of grass, it grew like crazy while you were asleep for the past four or five days. Let's eat this now, it's very nourishing."

If Senior Sister Mei says it's nothing, then it really is nothing. Li Wuxiang took a bite—

This stuff seems to have a bit of salt in it, and it's chewier than I expected, with a very bouncy texture and a slightly sweet taste. It's not bland like tendon; you can feel the burst of protein flavor on your tongue. It's hard to describe, but it's like… a more tender and bouncy marbled beef, or very fatty shrimp. In short, it's delicious!
“This thing is usually like a dead, motionless creature, but it can be fished out – it suffers from hardship, so you use hardship to catch it.”

"Suffering?"

"Hmm. Sigh, to be honest, I used to think my background was bad, pretty tragic. But after using suffering as bait for these four or five days, I realized that my past wasn't so bad after all. My suffering is almost gone. Did you hear what I was saying about those senior brothers? I'm sorry you had to laugh at me."

Li Wuxiang took another bite and slowly realized that Xiao Suo's words were a bit off.

"Bitter...you're using bitterness to fish for this stuff? You just smeared it on your face?"

Xiao Suo, who was pinching a meridian on Si Ming's body, stopped and looked at Li Wuxiang with a puzzled expression: "Yes, what's wrong?"

Li Wuxiang was stumped by his question, unsure whether the problem lay with him or him: "Bitter...no, Xiao Suo, bitter..."

For the first time in his life, he didn't know how to express himself, so he could only say, "Is 'bitterness' something you can hold? You mean pain? The kind of pain like emotional memories?" Xiao Suo's brows relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, I remember now. When my senior sister left, she told me that if you woke up and I mentioned using 'bitterness to fish for fate,' your reaction might be a little strange because it involves the taboos of that night, and she told me not to ask too many questions. Senior brother, then my senior sister will tell you when she gets back."

Li Wuxiang paused for a moment, then nodded: "Oh, right, haha, I remember now. It has something to do with the matter of the True Lord of Fate, you know, I can't say more."

Xiao Su laughed: "Then you rest, I'll ask Li Ke to put this in the pot too."

She winked at him again: "Otherwise, he'll keep coming over and talking to you endlessly, and you won't have any peace and quiet."

When he reached the shed where Li Ke was, Li Wuxiang cursed inwardly, "Damn it!"

He knew things weren't that simple—the descent of the True Lord of Fate meant the matter wasn't just over and done with!

He had a pretty good idea of ​​what Xiao Suo meant by "bitterness"—it was the painful emotions and memories he had mentioned!
Just listening to what he said, and seeing what he just scratched off his face... this emotion has become real, it can be visualized!

It must be related to the God of Fate!

Xiao Suo said he's been using all his suffering to seduce Si Ming these past few days? No wonder he seems more lively and cheerful, almost like a miniature version of Li Ke, and he even winks at me!
"It's nothing serious, it's nothing serious, it's nothing serious," he told himself. If this were a big problem, Senior Sister Mei wouldn't have left him and the two of them here. "It's nothing serious, it's nothing serious, it's nothing serious... Damn it!"
He forced himself to finish what he was eating, despite the eerie feeling.

After eating it, I felt full of energy, and even my skin felt a little warm—it felt like my brain was growing inside my head, and my internal organs were growing inside my chest and abdomen. That must be the effect of this stuff... Xiao Suo said that this was the remains of the God of Destiny, containing vigorous vitality, so it must be a great tonic.

The internal organs can grow, and can be used to replace those failing organs from the Ranshan talisman paper. But the brain can't grow! What if it goes insane?!
He went over to find Xiao Suo and Li Ke, chatting with them while they worked. He learned that Mei Qiulu planned to rebuild the Taiyi Sect here—such a large, deep pit was naturally leak-proof, and it could become a large lake, so there would be no shortage of water, and it could also guard the Great Calamity Mountain.

This mountain was ravaged all night; I wonder how the subterranean fire is doing. If anything unusual happens, we can be alerted in time to see if there's any way to quell it.

Furthermore, this great lake was created by a terrestrial deity who transformed his body into a sword, making it a miracle to the mortals. It would be most appropriate to build a temple here, guarding such a miracle.

After chatting for an afternoon, he gradually felt more at ease.

Aside from the fact that they assume "bitterness" is something natural and can be visualized, both Xiao Suo and Li Ke are quite normal.

When discussing the remnants of the Blood God Cult, he also told him that they had killed many more corpse demons in the vicinity in recent days—many of these corpse demons had escaped before the two killed the True Lord of Fate, so perhaps they couldn't be considered "remnants" anymore. Not all the high-ranking members of the thirty-six sects who were bewitched by the Blood God were at Mount Dajie; for the next thirty years, fighting the Blood God Cult would likely be the main task of the Taiyi Sect.

As darkness fell, Mei Qiulu and some other swordsmen finally returned.

A dozen or so people were pushing wheelbarrows. Because they were practitioners and had great strength, their wheelbarrows were large, piled high with wood, looking from a distance like ants carrying food several times their own size.

When they saw Li Wuxiang from afar, they forgot to push their carts and stopped them on the grass, running towards him, shouting with joy as they ran, and some of them even waved their hands.

This scene immediately reminded Li Wuxiang of a picture—sunset, grass, wildflowers, a group of sunny and innocent high school boys happily frolicking...

Without a doubt, they also used their "suffering" to lure out many fate-hunters!

If Li Si knew this thing existed, he'd probably laugh himself silly... or he might worry about losing his job!
Li Wuxiang received several hugs, almost dazzled by their smiling faces, and for the first time felt both introverted and socially awkward—then he finally saw Mei Qiulu.

She was dressed in a short, coarse cloth shirt that she had somehow acquired, with her sleeves rolled up and her hair tied up. She looked like an ordinary, unremarkable country woman, and no one would have guessed that she was Mei Qiulu, the god who had killed Si Ming with her sword a few days ago.

Her face showed joy, but she still maintained a certain composure. She waved away the person who was about to hug Li Wuxiang: "Go away, don't bother him. I want to say a few words to him—Xiao Suo, Xiao Suo!"

"Hey! Senior sister! I'm here~"

"Take them to unload the goods. They're all piled up. I think it's going to rain tomorrow morning!"

"okay!"

Mei Qiulu grabbed Li Wuxiang's arm: "Come on, let's talk over there."

Li Wuxiang was led away by her at a distance. Mei Qiulu was still smiling when they took the first few steps, but after about ten steps, she stopped smiling and gave him a faint glance.

Li Wuxiang breathed a sigh of relief: "Senior sister, that was tough—"

"You've noticed something's wrong?"

"Hmm." But he still wanted to confirm, "Bitter, painful—"

“It shouldn’t be able to be taken out,” Mei Qiulu said.

"You scared me to death! I thought you were mesmerized too."

Mei Qiulu smiled. By this time, the two had walked several dozen steps away, so Mei Qiulu stopped and thought for a moment.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal. I used to refine pills, so I have some skill. I tried this stuff myself before letting them eat it, and it does replenish vital energy. In the end, it’s just the physical body of the Fate Master, so it’s bound to have some miraculous effects. When you used Zhao Kui’s immortal remains to ward off the calamity on Coffin Mountain, that was also a magic weapon.”

"...Senior sister, you're eating too?"

“They tried it once, but didn’t eat it again. Don’t worry, they’re like this now not because they ate the Life-Giving Beast, but because their suffering is gone.” Mei Qiulu turned to look at the swordsman in the distance and shook her head. “The suffering is gone, but you don’t need to worry. It will come back. Who in this world doesn’t suffer? It’s not about having less, it’s about having more. Besides, the divine power remaining in the Life-Giving Beast’s body is limited, and it will gradually fade away. Once it’s completely shed, it’ll just be something similar to the Flesh-like Tai Sui—you know the Flesh-like Tai Sui, right?”

"know."

He had encountered the Flesh Tai Sui in his area, but it had been proven to be nothing special, rather a slime mold complex. He had also seen records of Flesh Tai Sui in ancient texts; it was considered a rare item, classified as a rare and precious material, but it was similar to other rare and precious materials.

"It's the same thing as the God of Fate. Don't forget, this isn't the first time the True Lord of Fate has died."

"Ah!?" Li Wuxiang was stunned. "Oh... the Flesh Tai Sui... is it the remains left behind by the True Lord of Fate more than three thousand years ago when he died?"

"Yes. That's why I said the Divine Fate is nothing special. Even as its divine power fades, it will still be able to consume it."

"But suffering, Senior Sister—"

"The rules of fortune in this world have changed."

(End of this chapter)