Tears blurred my vision. Through the haze, I seemed to see Gu Yuan's pained expression and his figure falling into the bottomless abyss.
I let out a hysterical scream.
"Ah..."
Finally, I summoned up the courage and forcefully plunged the dagger into my chest.
With a "puff", the cold, white blade sank into my chest. The chill seemed to freeze my heartbeat. At this moment, all I could feel was excruciating pain and my body trembling. I couldn't sense my heart beating at all.
This dagger was in the shape of a willow leaf with curled edges on both sides and a curve in the middle. It was an excellent tool for bloodletting.
Warm, fresh blood flowed down the cold blade into the groove of the hilt, which was specifically designed to hold the heart's blood. The blood wouldn't coagulate once it got in there.
It wasn't until the hilt was filled with blood that my heart started to spasm wildly.
Each contraction felt like jagged teeth tearing at my flesh, an unbearable pain.
I cried out in pain. My body twitched weakly. I simply couldn't bring myself to pull out the dagger.
While I was still conscious, I knelt on the ground and lit three incense sticks. Mumbling, I started to chant the incantation for summoning helpers.
Before long, Lihua was summoned by me. She was shocked to see me in such a state.
"Lanlan..."
"Help me... pull it out... It hurts, so much pain..." I gasped weakly. My thick cotton-padded clothes were already soaked with sweat.
There was a pool of blood on the ground. Without a moment's delay, Lihua pressed on my chest and forcefully pulled out the dagger.
"Ah..." I let out a weak scream. My body trembled and curled up into a small ball.
Strangely enough, after the dagger was pulled out, my chest was completely intact, as if it had never been injured.
However, the pain in my heart persisted, so intense that I couldn't even sit up.
"Lihua, help me. Help my soul leave my body..."
"What? You're too weak. You'll die if you do this." Lihua disagreed.
"Please. I must retrieve Gu Yuan's inner core. Hurry..." I shouted with all my might, in a commanding tone.
Lihua couldn't argue with me anymore. Muttering an incantation, she pinched my little finger with one hand and pulled my soul out of my body.
As my soul was separated from my body, I felt dizzy and almost fell headfirst.
I quickly told Lihua the address where Gu Yuan was undergoing the tribulation and urged her to give this heart's blood to Gu Yuan right away.
By now, Gu Yuan should be dead drunk and unconscious. With Lihua's intelligence, she would surely be able to get Gu Yuan to drink it without any suspicion.
"Time is running out. You must get there before eight o'clock..."
"But what about you..." Lihua was so anxious that she paced back and forth seeing me in this state.
"Uh... I'm fine... I'll meet you after retrieving the inner core... Go quickly..."
Lihua held the dagger tightly in her hand, heaved a deep sigh, and then disappeared through the wall, vanishing from the room.
Looking at my breathless body lying on the ground, a sense of loneliness and fear of death welled up in my heart.
In fact, I didn't want to die yet. I wished I could have a few more years. I was only twenty-two.
Thinking of this, I wanted to cry, but how could a soul shed tears?
I couldn't hesitate. The more I hesitated, the more scared I would be. I climbed onto the furnace cauldron and leaped into it.
"Ah..." As soon as I entered the cauldron, my whole body was wrapped in fire snakes. The intense burning sensation was like being skinned alive, so painful that I began to doubt my life.
My mind started to wander, but my will told me that I had to hold on until I found Gu Yuan's inner core.
The flames wrapped around my soul and slowly sank. When I landed, there was what was called a mountain of knives beneath my feet. The densely packed blades were all glowing red from the intense fire, and the flames danced wickedly.
Although I was just a soul, my feet still sizzled when I stepped on them, just like meat being fried.
I walked alone through this sea of fire and mountain of knives. In the end, I had to crawl.
A soul didn't have blood, but the wounds were clearly visible.
After entering here, I realized that when the pain reached a certain level, I really became numb and couldn't feel it anymore.
Stumbling to the end of the soul-refining cauldron, I finally saw hope. Gu Yuan's silver-white inner core was right above my head. All I had to do was reach out and grab it.
Overjoyed, I suddenly felt strength in my feet. Summoning all my strength, I just managed to grab Gu Yuan's inner core.
Suddenly, the flames around me intensified. The scorching heat made my whole body tremble. My body was like dry firewood, crackling and exploding under the flames.
Holes started to appear in my soul, like pieces of paper. The flames spread through the holes bit by bit.
I thought I was surely doomed this time, to die completely. A strong sense of helplessness and fear swept over me.
My mind started to wander. This soul-refining cauldron would surely burn me into a wisp of smoke and make me disappear without a trace.
Protecting the inner core, while my soul hadn't been completely burned, I threw it out through the gap in the cauldron.
The moment the inner core left the soul-refining cauldron, I felt a sense of relief. My soul slowly lay flat, allowing the flames to burn all over my body.
"Great. I've completed my mission. Gu Yuan... Farewell..."
Just as I was mentally prepared to have my soul scattered, a powerful white air wave suddenly burst out from my soul.
"Bang..." With a deafening noise, the soul-refining cauldron exploded into pieces. The fragments, along with the flames, burst out and hit the brick wall, creating countless holes. The flames burned through the holes again.
My soul rolled out of the soul-refining cauldron. I felt so cold. Everywhere my body touched was bone-chilling.
Yes, a soul was cold before it disappeared. At this moment, I still thought about Gu Yuan's inner core.
I quickly picked up his inner core, chanting an incantation, trying to return to my physical body.
But my soul was too weak. I simply couldn't go back. Flames were raging everywhere in the cave. What should I do?
Dan Zhu came upon hearing the noise. Seeing the mess in front of her and that the soul-refining cauldron she had borrowed had been broken by me, she flew into a rage.
She drew out her precious sword and stabbed at me directly.
"Lan Chiyu, you owe me a soul-refining cauldron."
I was already too weak to move. I couldn't dodge this fatal blow at all. I could only watch helplessly as the sword slashed towards me, without the ability to save myself.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." Three ringing sounds. Gu Yuan's moon-gold wheel suddenly fell from the sky.
In front of me, it quickly drew an arc and knocked Dan Zhu's sword out of her hand.
Dan Zhu's eyes widened in anger. She stared at me fixedly, her chest heaving violently.
She knew very well the power of the moon-gold wheel. Gu Yuan's inner core had already been taken out of his body. It should have been Dan Zhu's thing. The inner core summoned the moon-gold wheel, and it should have regarded Dan Zhu as its master.
Unexpectedly, after almost seven days of refining Gu Yuan's inner core, it was all in vain.
This moon-gold wheel still regarded me as the one it should protect.
How could Dan Zhu swallow this humiliation? She was so angry that she was on the verge of losing control. The situation was tense and ready to explode at any moment.