章 9: Returning home.
Even though only half of Liang Chen's right arm was submerged in the blood, some of the Qi that entered his arm would travel through his veins, spreading to the rest of his body. Like this, while his right arm was the thing that was strengthened the most, the rest of his body was also slowly strengthened. Liang Chen continued to grit his teeth and force his arm to stay within the blood for almost two hours, only pulling his arm out of the bucket when he no longer felt the surrounding Qi automatically move towards him.
His left arm was bloody and his right arm was trembling fiercely, large amounts of pain still coursing through Liang Chen's body and causing him to be somewhat light-headed. But despite all this, there was a wide and bloody smile on his face. He had gotten slightly stronger, he had found a way that he could catch up with Qing Lan Yong, getting revenge was no longer just an impossible dream.
Liang Chen stood up, his legs shaky and unstable, his entire body swaying slightly. Once he managed to stabilize himself, he turned his eyes towards the bucket, checking on the blood within it. The blood was no longer a deep red, turning a fainter color, the smell coming from it less intense than it was before. It seemed like it could not be used continuously to bathe in. Liang Chen turned around, walking down the path he had come, a slight mutter escaping his lips.
"...I'll just leave the bucket here... I can come back tomorrow and try to get more blood... once I have managed to strengthen myself more, I can try to eat a tiny piece of flesh..."
Liang Chen's voice was faint, his movements unsteady as he walked. But Liang Chen was so light-headed that he failed to even notice how unsteady his movements were, or how pale his own face was. As he slowly made his way back to the city, there was a constant low buzz that rang out in his head, dragging at his mind and consciousness.
Liang Chen staggered his way through the city, unaware of the stares that were directed at him. He pushed open the door to his house, not noticing blood slowly dripping from his nose and staining the floor. He took half a step into the house, but before he managed to close the door behind him, his vision went black and he collapsed onto the floor.
Liang Chen's consciousness sank into a deep dream, the execution of his parents replaying in his mind again and again. Each time it replayed, there seemed to be more and more people cheering, the sound getting louder and louder until it felt like they were all shouting directly into his ears. Liang Chen wanted to cover his ears and crouch down, cutting out the sight and sound. But his body would not listen to his commands, his eyes forced open as he time and time again watched the heads of his parents roll.
He slowly felt his blood boil more and more, his vision dyeing red. The scene in front of him was abruptly changed, the scene of him getting beaten by Qing Huo Ling and Qing Youyan appearing in front of him. But this time there was a large crowd surrounding them, cheering on as he was beaten. As he watched the scene, he felt like he could hear the voices of his parents within his mind.
"Look at them, cheering on as we are killed, cheering on as you are beaten. Would they cheer if their own children were beaten, if their own parents were killed? Such monstrous hypocrites, what right do they have to cheer, to celebrate, to live in peace! Look at them, son, remember their faces! That is the true face of people, monsters who only care for themselves. Don't you think the world would be a better place if such things didn't exist?"
Their voices were soft, filled with a gentle and loving tone, but the words they spewed were poisonous, slowly digging into Liang Chen's mind. Liang Chen continued to watch himself get beaten, feeling every blow as if it was a hundred times stronger than it truly was. Every second he watched, every blow he took, the voices of his parents would sound out in his mind, telling him to fight, telling him to kill.
As Liang Chen stood there and watched the scenery change between himself getting beaten and his parents getting executed, his blood slowly started to boil, his teeth gritting in rage. As he once again watched his parents get executed, he felt like stretching out his arm and strangling the closest cheering person he could find. But just as he stretched his hand, he heard a soft sobbing sound, something wet hitting his face in small drops.
The scenery suddenly changed when he heard the sobbing sound, turning into the living-room of his house. He saw himself lying on the floor, Qing Chun straddling him as her tears fell onto his face. The Qing Chun that was straddling him spoke out the same words she had said back then, her voice drowning out the poisonous words that were ringing out within Liang Chen's mind.
"Don't say anything! You dumbo, just look at you... You need to take care of yourself. If anything were to happen to you, there would be no point in the sacrifice Aunty and Uncle made."
Liang Chen stood there as if dumbstruck, Qing Chun's words and sobs continuously sounding out within his mind. Before Liang Chen noticed it, tears started to run down his face. Liang Chen raised his head, staring at the ceiling above him as if he was trying to see through it, a soft mutter escaping his lips.
"Forgive me, Mother, Father. I almost made your sacrifice mean nothing. I wanted to hear your voices again, but never like this."
Liang Chen continued to stare at the scene in front of him, but once it got to the point where he made the promise with Qing Chun, the scenery started to melt away, Liang Chen's vision once again turning completely black. Within the darkness, Liang Chen could hear subdued sobs, wet droplets hitting his face, his entire body wracked with pain.
He struggled to open his eyes, and what greeted him was a dark room. The smell of vomit and sweat stung his nose, causing him to turn his head away. That was when he noticed that his head was lying on something soft, a sweet fragrance tickling his nose as he turned his head. When Liang Chen straightened out his head and looked above him, he could see the tear-stained face of Qing Chun. He quickly realized that his head was lying on her lap and that the stench of vomit was coming from himself. He opened his dry mouth, speaking out in a weak voice.
"Ahhh, Big Sister Chun. I made you worry again."
Liang Chen slowly raised his left arm, finding himself forced to use all his strength just to wipe away the tears that were staining Qing Chun's face. Upon hearing his voice and seeing that Liang Chen had woken up, Qing Chun's eyes quickly lit up as she scolded him in a soft voice.
"You dumbo, you forgot to bring back any mushrooms."
His lips and left arm were wounded and bloody, his right arm continuously trembling. His face was pale and sweaty, and he had collapsed and thrown up on himself. Even if Qing Chun was a hundred times dumber, she would still realize that he had not really gone out to gather mushrooms. But she knew Liang Chen. Since he had not told her what he was really going to do, it was clear that he wanted to hide it from her, so even if she said anything, he probably wouldn't tell her anything. Liang Chen also understood Qing Chun's thoughts so he let out a weak laughter.
"Ahh, I did, didn't I? Sorry."
He didn't apologize for not bringing back any mushrooms, he apologized for lying to her as he left the city, apologized for making her worry. The two had been friends all their lives, so even with such few words, their thoughts were transmitted to the other. A slight moment of silence followed, Qing Chun, biting her lips as she spoke out in a low voice.
"Can you tell me what you really did?"
She knew that the chances of Liang Chen telling her were incredibly low, but she still felt the need to ask. After all, seeing her friend like this, how could she not ask? Liang Chen did not respond immediately, quietly looking at Qing Chun's face. In the end, he gave a slight shake of his head.
"... Not yet... But once I have completed what I was doing, are you willing to listen?"
There was no longer a need to lie to her, but he still did not want to tell her what he was doing, at least not yet. He was certain that she would worry more if she knew what he was going to do, so it was better to wait until he had finished cultivating to a certain stage before he told her. Qing Chun's eyes turned a bit moist again, her lips curling into a thin smile as she nodded her head several times.
"Of course, of course, I am. Just please, please, make sure that you don't do anything stupid. As long as you are still alive, there will always be hope."
Liang Chen felt warm when he heard her words. Just like she said, as long as he was alive, there would always be hope for him to finish his revenge. And he felt certain that as long as Qing Chun was around to keep an eye on him, it would be hard for him to be too reckless and lose his mind. His lips curled into a slightly teasing smile as he let out a weak laughter.
"I won't do anything stupid. If I were to do that, a certain someone would end up crying and scolding me after all."
Hearing his words, Qing Chun flared up slightly, repeatedly flicking Liang Chen on the forehead as she gave him a slight glare.
"Damn right I'll scold you! I will even be forced to spank you, a naughty child who refuses to listen to their elders!"
Liang Chen let out a slight laughter, unable to stop Qing Chun from flicking his forehead. Elder? Last time he checked, she was only two years older than him. Another short moment of silence followed before Qing Chun spoke out, her words coming out as a barely audible whisper.
"Are you going out to gather mushrooms again tomorrow?"
Liang Chen looked away from Qing Chun's face after hearing her question, his eyes turning towards the direction of Sky Piercer Forest. After he took a deep breath, he gave a slight nod of his head.
"...Yes. I might stay out for a bit longer this time, at least a few days."
Liang Chen felt Qing Chun's thighs tense up beneath his head, but he was determined. He wanted to gather more Demonic beast blood, strengthening the rest of his body. If possible, he wanted to stay in the forest until he reached at least the early stage of the Mortal Tower realm. His heart went slightly cold when he remembered the visions he had seen after passing out, but he was also confident that he would be able to withstand the visions in the future.
Of course, what Liang Chen didn't know was that the visions weren't just because of the aggressive Demonic beast Qi trying to erode his mind. Even though he had sucked out as much poison as he could, there was still some remaining in the wound on his left arm, as well as some that accidentally entered his body through his mouth.
When he dragged in the surrounding Qi using the Demon beast blood, the poison had mixed together with the Qi as it moved around his body, spreading to his entire body and strengthening the eroding process. That was also the reason he had ended up collapsing and vomiting, the poison spreading through his body and infecting him. Hearing that Liang Chen was planning on staying out for a few days this time, Qing Chun could not help but talk in a worried voice.
"A few days? Mother says that a storm is approaching, so isn't it better to wait a bit longer?"
Liang Chen gave a slight tilt of his head after hearing Qing Chun's words. He gave it a slight amount of thought, but in the end, he felt that the storm would not change anything, so he merely shook his head.
"A storm? It's fine, the storm won't interfere. I must do it as fast as possible."
What Liang Chen wanted to do was gather more Demonic beast blood, much more than he had done this time. His plan was to spend a few days gathering blood and then filling a large container with it, slowly bathing in it. Liang Chen could not see Qing Chun's face, but he could hear her somewhat worried and pouting voice as she poked his cheeks.
"Then what about the time you promised to spend together with me?"
Liang Chen could only let out a sigh after hearing her words. He did not want to break promises, so much that he had to apologize to his deceased parents when he broke his first promise in the forest. He especially did not want to break a promise he had made with Qing Chun, but right now, he had no other choice.
"I'll make sure to make it up to you once I return, I promise."
Liang Chen turned his head so that he could see Qing Chun's face again, reaching out with his left arm and raising his pinky towards her. A pinky promise, the strongest type of promise that the two of them had used ever since they were children. There was a somewhat sad smile on Qing Chun's face as she wrapped her own pinky around Liang Chen's slightly bloody pinky.
"You promised, so you have to make sure you go through with it!"
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