Forge a path to success.

Chapter 193 Are you saying I have schizophrenia?

In the dim darkness, pain struck irregularly. She dreamt of evil spirits wielding sharp needles, torturing sinners by piercing out their nerves with long needles. The legend of Shura Island said that after their nerves were pierced, sinners would turn into a lump of lifeless, rotting flesh, watching helplessly as their bodies decayed and turned into withered bones.

Then the evil spirits put the chopped nerves back into the corpse, and all the suffering experienced after death erupts in an instant, causing the sinner to let out a long, lingering wail. At that time, the demons sit on mountains of corpses, drinking wine and taking pleasure in the sinners' cries; that place is called hell.

Qingye knew these were all just idle rumors. Nothing remains after death. But right now, she was in a desolate wilderness of despair, where the nightmares would become reality. So, was she perhaps in her own imagined hell, destined to tumble down with the blackened bones, falling into the depths of a desolate wasteland—

"Qingye, wake up."

"!"

Qingye was awakened. She was lying on a strong, cold shoulder, silver arms bent behind her, securing her waist like ropes. Not far ahead, bloody needles vanished in shadow, and the man lifted her up slightly.

"Mr. Chu..."

"Hurry up once you're awake," Chu Hengkong said. "It's hard to walk with only one hand."

She wanted to wrap her arms around Chu Hengkong's neck, but her hands hung limply at her sides; too weak to even support herself. "Never mind," Chu Hengkong said. He continued walking awkwardly, and Qingye lowered her head and rested her head on his shoulder, wanting to find a place to bury herself.

It was obvious that Mr. Chu wouldn't have just happened to leave the settlement and then stumble upon her, who was seriously injured. He must have been following her these past few days, which explained the faint sound of his footsteps... There are no free lunches in the Misty Forest. The fact that she had been able to repeatedly obtain food after her injury was, of course, because Chu Hengkong had used a chain of misfortunes...

So even though I had nightmares, I didn't see any monsters...

"...I'm so sorry! I've caused you trouble!" Qingye said loudly.

"No apology allowed!" the assassin snapped, his stern expression startling even her.

"It is never wrong for people to risk their lives to become stronger!"

Qingye reflexively pulled her neck back, a movement that caused a sharp pain in her wound. She said weakly, "But I've put you at risk too..."

“This is my own decision, and it has nothing to do with you,” Chu Hengkong said. “Don’t be bound by concepts like ‘collective.’ You risked your own strength and fought for your own dreams. Since your actions did not harm anyone else, you don’t need to apologize to others.”

"Ok."

Qingye wanted to express her gratitude, but felt that words would be useless to this man, so she lowered her head silently, keeping this kindness hidden in her heart. They walked in silence for a while, entering the now deserted arena. The dilapidated murals came into Qingye's eyes, reminding her of their encounter depicted in the paintings.

"Waaaaah!" the girl groaned.

"What are you up to now?" Chu Hengkong said helplessly.

"Um, I unconsciously thought of a few days ago, when I was feeling shy."

"..." Chu Hengkong was speechless for a moment, "Do you really have to torture yourself when you're seriously injured?"

"I didn't mean to! Whenever I'm feeling down, I can't help but think of those embarrassing memories..."

"Look on the bright side, at least you have a good figure."

"Wow, Mr. Chu, you, you, you actually made a dirty joke at me! I misjudged you!" Qingye shouted.

"Then what should I say? Should I lie through my teeth and say that it was too dark and I couldn't see anything, and that my skin temporarily lost its sensation so I didn't feel anything when we were squeezed together?" Chu Hengkong laughed. "Take it easy. Embarrassment comes from self-imposed limitations, which is unnecessary for you."

"You're talking nonsense! How could any woman not feel embarrassed about this!"

“Your sister Huaisu will exaggerate it into a glorious past, saying that when I killed the Fearbringer, I wasn’t even wearing armor, I was just wearing a knife, and I was so sexy that even the assassins in the team were secretly watching me,” Chu Hengkong said. “Of course, that’s just a metaphor, I wasn’t secretly watching you.”

Qingye pouted: "You're making yourself sound guilty by emphasizing it like that..."

"Really do not have."

"There's no need to emphasize it a second time!"

This nonsensical chatter gradually put Qingye at ease. She knew Chu Hengkong didn't usually talk like this; it was, in a way, a killer's consolation, a senior's care for a defeated junior. But this roundabout concern made her feel at ease.

"I won't lose again," Qingye mumbled groggily. "Next time... I'll definitely... win."

With Qingye unconscious on his back, Chu Hengkong became more alert, preparing to face the impending nightmare. His gaze pierced through the mist, looking towards the forest beyond the river.

At the edge of the forest, a horned demon was manifesting fear. Its muscles were bulging, its face ferocious, and it roared as it held an iron club.

But suddenly, the running demon lost its balance, fell backward comically, and plunged into the fog. Then it mysteriously disappeared, as if swallowed by the mist.

A few seconds later, three small, puppy-sized creatures emerged from the mist. They were tiny, pink things with long, claw-like nails. They peered at Chu Hengkong with curiosity, yet dared not approach due to the man's menacing aura.

Chu Hengkong transformed his left hand into a long sword.

The little pink creatures darted back into the forest, startled by him. Chu Hengkong remained motionless until all sound vanished from the mist.

He tightened the straps of the Nightfall suitcase on his back and turned to walk on. His keen senses told him that the pink creatures were still silently watching him from the forest.

There must be people in the settlement. Chu Heng thought to himself, he must never set foot in the jungle again.

·
An hour later, at the settlement.

Chu Hengkong placed Qingye on the bed, gulped down a large mouthful of water, draped his coat over the stool, and the hastily wrapped bandages, soaked with blood several times, had long since turned dark red.

He hadn't had time to take care of himself during his few days away from home. Considering the risk of nightmares materializing, he dared not sleep, as he still had to help Qingye slay nightmares at night. On the way back with this girl alone, he fought three groups of strange and powerful evil spirits, their strength and variety of methods leaving him in awe.

Ji Huaisu stood by the door with his hands on his hips, a forced smile on his face. Chu Hengkong raised one hand.

"Let me finish speaking before you get angry." Chu Hengkong raised a hand. "The jungle is dangerous. Starting today, we'll take turns finding food. You and Qingxia will take turns guarding the settlement; someone must guard the stone seeds." "Okay." Ji Huaisu nodded. "And then?"

"Qingye is making good progress. She has learned a very powerful technique. We can send her to assassinate people later." Chu Hengkong put down his hand. "I'm done."

"Oh, you're done?" Ji Huaisu began to grind his teeth. "Then, Mr. Chu, can you explain the ridiculous logic behind your past three-day absences without saying goodbye? If you two were serious about this, you would both be dead by now!"

“Night Walker won’t,” Chu Hengkong said. “If a martial artist like him wanted to kill me, he would issue a challenge to me face to face. Besides, Qingye has passed his test, so he won’t make a move again.”

Ji Huaisu's eyes twitched: "Then, what if Xiaoye doesn't pass?"

“If she fails, she dies.” Chu Hengkong said calmly. “I’ll be responsible for bringing her body back and asking Bernhard to give her a proper burial.”

Ji Huaisu poked his forehead hard with her middle finger: "That's why I'm talking about you martial arts fanatics!!"

"You have to take responsibility for your own choices." Chu Hengkong said nonchalantly. "Captain, you should understand me. I was all set to collect the body, but carrying a living person back like this is exhausting..."

"Go away, you heartless bastard!" Ji Huaisu made a face. "I need to treat Xiao Ye, go rest over there. I'm warning you, Detective Chu, from now on, don't take any more risks without my orders!"

"I'll do whatever you say, officer."

Chu Hengkong waved his hand, went back to his room, lay down, and covered his eyes with a cloth. A few seconds later, the cloth was pulled back, revealing Vande beside his pillow, his eyes filled with resentment.

"You went out to play without me."

"I'm afraid other envoys will come smelling the scent if I bring you along." Chu Hengkong grabbed it, "How much stuff have you sorted out?"

These past few days, Vande has been busy helping Ji Huaisu record knightly knowledge, and his handwritten notes alone have piled up into two large stacks. Its tentacles twitched, brimming with pride: "A mountain of knowledge! Let me tell you, we've hit the jackpot this time! We've got the cultivation methods for Discipline Knight's Path 1-4! Low- to mid-quality Discipline Seal - Holy Judgment, all covered! And we've figured out most of the key principles of the array, the core mechanism of the Holy Pillar!"

"Don't try to bluff, you've bluffed about the most important part..."

"There's also some extremely useful intelligence, crucial to our survival," Vande said mysteriously. "Once I've sorted it out, there's a good chance we can survive this time!"

"Then it all depends on you, archaeology master." Chu Hengkong yawned. Seeing how listless he was, Fan De couldn't help but ask curiously, "What happened to you? You haven't slept for days, have you?"

"I've also been practicing the Heartbreak Secret Technique these past two days..." Chu Hengkong's voice was muffled.

"The results of it?"

"A pile of shit."

With a rhythmic breathing sound, Chu Hengkong closed his eyes. His thoughts sank into his abyssal body as the secret technique circulated, causing the body to shrink and fade, like a transparent soul flowing towards his heart.

His heart contracted and relaxed, and after an exceptionally strong thud, his ego, like a drop of ink falling into water, returned from the outside world to himself, surging into the ocean of his own being.

The 48th "One Heart Ceremony" has begun.

·
There was something that Sillar hadn't told him, or rather, the old warrior captain hadn't considered. That was, when the external forces within the body became too numerous and varied, the "Remnant Heart Secret Technique" was no longer a controllable practice, but an uncontrollable crisis. The practitioner would challenge the external forces within their heart, and the external forces would also have the opportunity to rebel against the "main body."

Therefore, if the first "One Heart Ritual" fails, the heretics will take over and launch a rebellious challenge against the main body.

Chu Hengkong opened his eyes, and the world in his mind was the familiar manor. Behind him were the green plants carefully maintained by the gardeners, and in front of the fountain, the villa's gate was wide open, and four twisted figures walked out from the dark hall.

The unbroken longsword, still hanging at his waist in his imagination, was drawn by Chu Hengkong. He focused intently and said, "This is my last time—"

"You heartless and ungrateful hypocrite!"

Amidst screams, the diminutive humanoid hurtled towards him like a cannonball, its headbutt striking Chu Hengkong squarely in the abdomen. Chu Hengkong was sent flying halfway across the manor. He endured the pain and swung his sword, cleaving the humanoid in two. However, the diminutive humanoid's body dissolved like mud, the melted half forming a foul-smelling black blood that pinned Chu Hengkong to the ground.

The short figure's upper body rapidly regenerated, revealing a dirty black robe, a cute bob haircut, and a tearful little face through the blood. This thing was actually a "woman," a little girl of about ten years old. She straddled Chu Hengkong, pounding her fists as she cried, "I helped you through so many difficulties! Without me, you couldn't even use the Calamity Wrist! Instead of being grateful, you tried to kill me! How could you do this?!"

Chu Hengkong roared, "Are you ever going to stop?! You're a piece of rotten meat!"

"I am Chu Hengkong!" the fallen girl cried, "Waaah... You've already pushed me to your side and you still want to kill me, you're not even human... I'm going to beat you to death, beat you to death!"

"Get out of here!"

Chu Hengkong tried to lift his hand, but couldn't. He turned his head to the right and glared angrily. There, on his right, stood a slender woman with a bare foot, pressing down on his arm. The woman had red hair and a captivating smile.

"Don't be like that, General Chu," the red-haired woman teasingly stepped on him. "We haven't even enjoyed a few nights together yet, how can we part so sadly?"

What disgusting stuff...!
Chu Hengkong struggled to suppress the urge to vomit. He raised his left hand to throw a punch, but it was entangled by several tentacles halfway through. A girl in a silver sailor uniform looked down at him, her silver-white bangs obscuring half her face, revealing only one twilight-colored eye.

“Seriously, buddy,” the silver-haired girl said, “not to mention my usual grudges against you. This time, really, you’ve gone a bit too far.”

She released Chu Hengkong's arm and drifted away like a ghost. The next instant, a crimson beam of light roared in, evaporating the lower bodies of the red-haired woman, the black mud girl, and Chu Hengkong in less than 0.5 seconds.

A humanoid figure dressed in a full-body metal combat suit walked over, its palm cannons open, flashing with a fading red light.

"Now, let's begin the 48th self-purification experiment."

The matter-disintegrating rays were emitted at full power, and Chu Hengkong was annihilated in the light.

Total time: 7.8 seconds.

The 48th "One Heart Ritual" was a complete failure.

(End of this chapter)