Chapitre 136: Hunter 136: The Death of Lu Huan
"It's time. I'll count on you now, Leader Red."
Ma Xianhong sat cross-legged on the ground.
Lin Jiu took off Aja's red stone necklace and stored it away, then took the Silent Soul Bead. A fine metal chain extended from both sides of the bead, making it wearable. This design likely wasn't part of the original artifact, but it had been registered as a necklace by the Reincarnation Paradise, thus adding the chain.
Lin Jiu put on the Silent Soul Bead and infused it with his magic. With his magic capacity, he could only maintain the Soul Seizing Technique for a minute and a half. He stretched out his hand toward Ma Xianhong's head, and a blue energy hand drifted out from his palm, enveloping Ma Xianhong.
The soul is spread throughout the entire body, which is why the Soul Seizing Technique envelops the entire body. However, consciousness is mainly concentrated in the brain, so Lin Jiu focused his attention there.
With Ma Xianhong relaxed, Lin Jiu easily made contact with his soul.
How should Ma Xianhong's soul be described?
Every person is like a blank sheet of paper at birth, and the experiences of life are written on that paper. Some people press too hard and damage the paper, while others, in their twilight years, experience the aging of the paper.
In Ma Xianhong's case, the paper of his soul was mostly intact, without any damage—except for one area that had been covered with layers of correction fluid.
This kind of erasure has limits. Let's not forget that correction fluid is a chemical product, and overuse is harmful to the body. The same goes for the soul. The modifications made to Ma Xianhong's soul were quite severe.
"How is it?"
Ma Xianhong opened his eyes and saw Lin Jiu, with several blue hands extending from his body.
Even the skilled practitioner Lu Liang could only detect traces of the modifications, but Lin Jiu's Soul Seizing Technique was far superior. He could see which parts were covered by correction fluid, how much was obscured, and even some places where text had been filled in over the fluid, while other areas were left blank.
Lin Jiu quickly assessed the situation, spent half a minute observing, and then stopped the flow of magic.
"The situation is not good. I've identified the part of your memory that's missing—it's been covered up. Moreover, some memories before and after that have also been altered... What's worse is that the situation is quite severe. Your soul has become fragile. If any more artificial interference occurs, it could cause irreversible damage to your soul."
Lin Jiu frowned as well. Ma Xianhong's soul problems couldn't be fixed with the Soul Seizing Technique. It was like trying to scrape correction fluid off paper with a knife—who could guarantee that the paper wouldn't be damaged?
"..."
Ma Xianhong was silent for a few seconds before he said, "So, I need to rely on strengthening my soul to recover on my own?"
"Exactly. That's one way to go about it."
Ma Xianhong's suggestion was one possible solution: if the paper of the soul is easily damaged, you should strengthen it, and make it as tough as iron, so that even scraping away correction fluid with a knife won't cause much harm.
"Let's try again. This isn't that simple."
Lin Jiu said.
He then shifted to infusing spiritual energy into the Silent Soul Bead. A flash of white light and Lin Jiu's consciousness appeared in a white space.
"Huh? You don't seem to be one of our Lu family members?"
A clear voice rang out as points of light gathered in front of Lin Jiu, forming a small figure.
"..."
Lin Jiu immediately knew who this soul was, based on the description he had read.
"How did you die?"
Lin Jiu was curious about how Lu Huan had met her end. Now he had the chance to ask her directly.
"I'm not sure. I only awoke here the first time someone used this artifact. But none of them could sense my presence... except you!"
Lu Huan floated around Lin Jiu's consciousness twice, both surprised and curious.
"Even those of the Lu family who have mastered the Soul Seizing Technique couldn't detect this place, yet you managed to! And how could such a treasure fall into the hands of an outsider? Has it been over a hundred years? Has the Lu family already perished?"
"No, according to Lu Liang, you died only a few years ago."
Lin Jiu studied Lu Huan's soul. She was key to the Silent Soul Bead's transformation, so there had to be a condition related to her for his consciousness to appear here.
"You know Lu Liang and can use our Lü family's treasured artifact! Are you... married into the family?"
Lu Huan guessed, based on the Lü family's situation, that this might be the reason.
"I earned the right to use this by exchanging Lu Ci's life. How's that for value?"
Lin Jiu said flatly.
"Great-grandfather? That's not funny... Alright, you're quite the ruthless one."
Lu Huan controlled this consciousness space, so she could easily tell the truth of Lin Jiu's words.
"How are Great-grandfather, Brother Lu Gong, and Lu Liang now?"
Lu Huan asked with concern. She wasn't surprised by Lin Jiu's strength, as she had been a prodigy—until her untimely death.
Lin Jiu cast a strange look at Lu Huan's soul and explained the events that followed her death.
After hearing his account, Lu Huan's soul flickered, clearly shaken. When she stabilized, she looked at him with hope, pleading, "Could you help me rescue Lu Liang? He's in this situation because of me!"
A notification from the Reincarnation Paradise sounded in Lin Jiu's ear. He checked the mission that had been triggered to see if it was worth accepting. But even without the prompt, he wouldn't have agreed.
[Hunter has triggered a side mission: Lu Huan's Request!]
Difficulty Level: Lv.5
Mission Description: Lu Liang is in danger because of Lu Huan's death, and she cannot bear it. She asks you to help Lu Liang escape his predicament!
Mission Objective: Rescue Lu Liang from the Lu family; help Lu Liang clear his name from murder charges.
Mission Reward: Full ownership of the Silent Soul Bead.
Failure Penalty: Forced execution.
This mission's reward was a rare soul-based artifact of purple quality. However, Lin Jiu declined. The reward was ownership of the Silent Soul Bead, which meant gaining Lu Huan's recognition as its spirit. But Lin Jiu would still have to find a way to take the bead from the Lu family.
Moreover, it wasn't just about rescuing Lu Liang; he'd also have to investigate the truth behind Lu Huan's death. That's three tasks for one reward—not worth it! Lin Jiu wasn't interested.
"I refuse."
Lin Jiu saw Lu Huan's soul dimming and quickly added, "But I've already alerted Lu Liang to send a message to his companions. Someone will come to rescue him."
"Huh? Aren't you two working together?"
Lu Huan had assumed they were on the same side.
"..."
If they had been, with Lin Jiu and Ma Xianhong, the Lu family wouldn't have been able to touch Lu Liang.
"Let's drop that. Lu Liang mentioned your talent in the Soul Seizing Technique. What level had you reached before you died?"
Lin Jiu asked Lu Huan directly.
"You could say it was after death. Life is fate, the soul is nature, how could one achieve both in this world?"
Lu Huan said with a soft laugh.
"As I thought!"
Lin Jiu wasn't surprised that Lu Huan had awakened to the dual-soul mastery level.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone