Ahead was a path glistening with a hazy blue light. Many shadowy figures, like stars, gradually took shape and walked into the distance.
I felt an urgent impulse welling up inside me. I too wanted to step onto that path that seemed to lead to a wonderful place.
However, a bottomless chasm lay across my path. Countless pitch - black claws, like gnarled stalagmites, were reaching upwards. If I accidentally fell in, I'd be torn to pieces immediately.
Just as I was in a desperate hurry, a white figure flashed before my eyes. It was Zhu Youjian in his white inner robe.
I didn't know if it was because we were in the netherworld, but his hideous hanged - man appearance was gone. On his gaunt and pale face, a pair of jet - black eyes stared at me coldly.
"Go back!"
Zhu Youjian's sharp rebuke carried a certain air of authority, making me take two or three involuntary steps back.
Just these few steps made me feel unbearable pain shooting through my body. I quickly tried to move closer to the chasm. With each step, the pain lessened a bit.
"Get back!!"
Zhu Youjian reached out his hand again to block me and gave me a hard push on the shoulder.
"No!!"
Although I was a bit afraid of Zhu Youjian's authority, I didn't want to endure that kind of pain again.
So I shook my head and struggled desperately towards the other side of the chasm. It seemed that only over there could I find peace.
"Miss, you can't go there!"
Suddenly, a little girl's voice came from Zhu Youjian. A cute little face peeked out from his thin shoulder. "That's not a place you can go. Your home is over there!"
She stretched out her hand in the direction behind me. "Go back quickly! Since you've let my father go, I'll reluctantly help you!"
Saying that, her delicate and lovely little face peeked in front of me with a smile. Suddenly, her face turned blue - purple. Her open mouth revealed two rows of tiny sharp teeth as she lunged at my face.
"Ah?!!"
I screamed involuntarily and took a step back. Unexpectedly, there was also a chasm behind me. I stepped into thin air and fell. Countless black claws desperately grabbed at my body as if trying to stop me from leaving, but I was constantly forced by the little girl's ghostly face and fell deeper...
"Ugh!!"
"Wake up, she's waking up!"
Before I even opened my eyes, I heard Granny Bai's voice, followed by A Wen's sobbing. "Miss, miss, eat me! If you eat me, you won't get hurt again! You won't be afraid of any spells! You can tear that bastard Du into pieces and make him suffer for all eternity!"
A Wen's curse was extremely vicious. Coupled with his gnashing teeth, it scared me so much that I immediately grabbed his hand.
"Kids shouldn't talk like that."
Finally, I managed to open my eyes.
In these days, A Wen had grown some hair on his once - shaven head. Since he was going to school, he didn't want to be laughed at by his classmates for being bald. He was originally very cute with a baby face and a small dimple when he grinned. But now his face was ashen, obviously severely blood - depleted.
"Miss... Waaaaa!"
When A Wen saw me wake up, he immediately reached out to wipe his tears. I noticed a deep wound on his wrist. No blood was flowing out anymore.
"What happened?"
I reached out and grabbed A Wen's arm. Only then did I discover that my mouth was full of the smell of blood. A bad premonition immediately welled up in my mind.
Could it be... Could it be that I had eaten someone again?
"Miss, I did this voluntarily!!"
A Wen tried to pull his hand back to hide the wound, but my grip was so strong that he couldn't struggle at all. He started crying again. "I'm your medicine. If you eat me up, you won't have to suffer these humiliations! Master said you were born with an in - transformable bone and needed a medicine - person to nourish you. I was bought to be the medicine. I know!"
"Nonsense. You're a person, not a medicine! How could I possibly eat you?"
I sat up on the bed, still holding his hand. A Wen had been with me since I was a child, longer than my own parents. Especially during this time of fleeing, he had done his best to protect me. He was nicer to me than anyone else. He was my only family in this world. Even if I really turned into a ghost, I couldn't hurt him!
"But the Du family came to our door, and you got hurt by them."
A Wen's tears fell like broken beads. "We can't... We can't live like this for the rest of our lives."
Saying that, he gently rolled up my sleeve.
I immediately felt the hair on my back stand on end. The skin on my hand had turned as black and withered as rotten tree bark, starting from the place bitten by Lu Dayong and spreading to my whole arm. I quickly lifted my clothes and found that my body was also covered in the color of withering and decay.
"Ugh..."
I was completely panicked now.
I wasn't afraid of injury or death, but I was afraid of becoming an ugly creature that was neither human nor ghost. If I had to live like a disgusting zombie, I'd rather die!!
"Xiao He, don't be afraid. This is the poison in your body being triggered by external forces. I've temporarily suppressed it..."
Granny Bai sat beside me with a worried look on her face. "But I'm afraid it won't last long."
"Granny Bai, did you use A Wen's blood to suppress the poison?"
I touched my face with my hand. It seemed that there were no changes on my face yet. I was afraid that this was the last bit of dignity that Granny Bai and A Wen had tried their best to preserve for me.
"Yes."
Granny Bai sighed and lowered her voice. "A Wen's flesh and blood were specially prepared for you by the Du family. If you eat him, you won't be bothered by these spells and corpse poisons anymore. You'll become a truly immortal being. Moreover, your flesh and blood will also become a miraculous medicine for prolonging life! Xiao He, you... will become a highly - sought - after commodity."
After hearing Granny Bai's words, a terrifying scene popped into my mind...
An immortal body tied to a rack, being sliced with a knife again and again, but screaming in pain and unable to die!
"Granny Bai, I... I don't want this!!"
I grabbed Granny Bai's hand in panic. "I don't want to be immune to all poisons, nor do I want to live forever. I just want to be a normal person and live an honest life! Granny Bai, if I can't live, please let me die!!"
"Don't talk like that, Xiao He."
Granny Bai sighed again and said softly, "Since God has let you be born into this world, there must be a reason. Just try your best to live! Granny Bai will help you."
"Miss, you'd better eat me!!"
A Wen wiped his tears. "You can't keep going like this for long! You still have to marry the master!"