Chapter 544: Hanga Yoran (4)

Inside the lower dantian, the true qi huddled together—little inner-powers shaped like their master.

They broke into “your side, my side,” whisper-whisper; one bunch romped in a noisy swarm, the other scuffled and bickered.

The orthodox qi of Dao and Buddha sat squarely where the sun fell and held a strict, solemn, serious debate.

In a shady spot near the dantian wall, the suspicious ones kept glancing around with watchful eyes—checking where the Rapture qi was, whether it would chase them down and bully them again.

Another peaceful day in Qing’s dantian nation.

Lately Qing’s qi could finally breathe a little easier.

By now even the orthodox qi had picked up some savvy.

As for sub-human beasts—let their killing intent run wild as it pleased.

Recently, they even egged it on.

The qi of Dao and Buddha had its roots in arts that harm human bodies anyway, so if malice would well up and overflow no matter how you dammed it, better to loose it on bad people.

After one proper bloodletting, there was nothing to worry about for a while.

They handled whatever vague Baleful Star residue remained by turning it into lust-thought and cycling it off; there was no longer any reason to empty the entire dantian, go all-hands to the upper dantian, and run around like a fire brigade the way they used to.

Thanks to that, the demonic qi were having a hell of a time.

With the orthodox qi planted smack in the dantian’s center, the demonic qi held their breath and watched for cues.

It was, imperfect though it was, a moment when Ideation could surface—perfect for whispering demon-nature to the master—but they even held that in out of caution.

Strictly speaking, they were watching the Moon Maiden qi.

If not for the protection of the tiny, blank-faced Moon Maiden qi in blue dress, the demonic qi would already have melted into the fusion of the Maiden’s Rapture Art and vanished.

Yet the Moon Maiden qi, while making no effort to hide her displeasure at the demonic qi, still enforced a strict ban on the Maiden’s Rapture Art absorbing and integrating them.

Which didn’t mean they could sneak demon-nature in.

If they got caught, the Moon Maiden qi didn’t seem likely to keep up her status-quo policy.

Thus the demonic qi sulked.

Their master was thoroughly hopeless.

Born a martial person, shouldn’t she, by her natural strength, make all kneel and stride the hegemon’s path to challenge the world?

What of dyeing the earth in blood, what of the world drowning in grief and lament—so what?

A peaceful world that isn’t mine? Better that the human realm burn like hell and be mine!

Dressed up nicely: I might throw away the world, but I won’t let the world throw me away!

Exactly the mindset of the Evil Path and Blood Sect scum—subhuman dregs who can’t see people as people, only as tools.

Which was why they were demonic qi in the first place.

Anyway, the demonic qi were truly miserable.

So they had one hope.

If only some legendary demonic art would kick the door open and storm in to reset the dantian’s hierarchy.

So the demonic qi, shoved into the damp, chilly shade, stared all day at the dantian gate.

Then—at last!—bang!

The demonic qi sprang to their feet.

Oooh! Did a superpowered legendary demonic art arrive!?

The orthodox qi jumped up too!

A friend come to lighten the workload!?

Thus a new friend made her entrance.

She wore a skirt dotted all over with cutesy little heart emblems—

The orthodox qi slumped their shoulders.

A proper Dao-and-Buddha divine art wouldn’t use such妖ish, wicked patterns.

The demonic qi were already in festival mode.

Hearts! One look and she’s clearly on our side, no?

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi, so boldly stepping in, suddenly halted.

The huge bundle strapped across her back jammed tight in the dantian doorway.

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi wriggled and huffed and tugged with all her might.

The bundle stretched and stretched, twitch-twitch, squirm-squirm—so suspicious you’d think she’d kidnapped someone in the night for a carry-off.

And then—pop!!

The massive bundle, wedged hard, came free, and the Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi tumbled head over heels.

She whipped her head around, scanning—and then her eyes flashed!

In the Heart-Plucking Art, eating hearts was merely a means; the essence was to rob and forcibly appropriate qi of other natures.

New house—and what’s this? Delicious qi everywhere, crawling in heaps. What is it, my birthday?

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi dropped her jaw.

Her small, round mouth gaped wide; sharp, pointy shark teeth ringed it in a circle.

Hooouuup—at that instant, a pull so strong even a superpowered vacuum cleaner wouldn’t dare approach swirled through the dantian to suck it all in—

Thunk!

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi rolled twice and clutched her head.

Big teardrops trembled as question marks—of a sort not found anywhere in the Central Plains—popped over her face. A dusky shadow fell across her.

She looked up.

A tiny thing stood there, legs splayed shamelessly, wearing nothing but a few strings draped over bare skin without a shred of modesty, raising her little fist.

An obscene pose even the legendary seductress Daji wouldn’t strike—yet she held the orthodox immortal breath of Dao, tyrant of the dantian and brutal drill sergeant: the Rapture qi.

“Arrrr.”

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi growled.

The Rapture qi tilted her head.

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi flinched.

The Rapture qi grinned.

The Rapture qi thrust her hand down into the Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi’s bundle.

What she hauled out was unrefined true qi that hadn’t formed the master’s shape—a round soul-flame wriggling and squirming in her grip.

The Rapture qi looked at the soul-flame with a sorrowful face, then drew it into her breast and hugged it tight.

The soul-flame’s squirming eased into a gentle undulation—then melted into the Rapture qi and vanished without a trace.

Sweat beaded and trickled from the Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi.

Even arts with absorptive functions had an order of heaven and earth.

The Heart-Plucking Art took a stolen heart, jammed it in, compressed and “digested” it—ten years at minimum.

The Maiden’s Rapture Art exchanged qi through the pleasures of cloud-and-rain, and by joy, love, and ecstasy achieved a swift and pure union. Was there any need to measure which stood higher?

The Rapture qi jabbed a finger toward the corner—“Go.”

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi whickered, tears pattering.

But the Rapture qi’s face stayed firm.

Head drooping, the Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi trudged to the corner, casting lingering, hungry glances back at the bundle she’d been made to leave.

The demonic qi, disappointed yet soft-hearted, swarmed the sniffling Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi and hugged her tight.

Then murmur-murmur, whisper-whisper.

The Heart-Plucking Demonic Qi wiped her tears in one swipe, stood, and clomped off.

In one corner, a tiny Sky-Rending Demonic Qi sat crouched in a martial robe embroidered all over with little human pupils. Sensing presence—no, sensing qi—the Sky-Rending Demonic Qi lifted his head.

Unprovoked violence descended upon the Sky-Rending Demonic Qi!

Slapped in Jiangnan, venting it on the Tianshan!

Cradling his head and curling up, the Sky-Rending Demonic Qi chuckled—kek—an abject little laugh.

There’d been a brief commotion, but the dantian nation remained peaceful all the same.

Today too, the Sky-Rending Demonic Qi smiled......

****

“Grrk—urrrgh—gghhhh......”

Bestial moans rolled and echoed.

Their source was Heart-Plucking Demon Princess Yu Ryang, sprawled on the bathroom floor in a grotesque posture.

Forehead, both knees, and the tips of her toes alone touched the tiles—neither a bow nor submission, something in-between.

If any part of a cooked wound brushed the ground, agony crashed in; in torment so intense thought was impossible, instinct chose the stance.

The posture with the least possible contact with the floor.

Qing looked down at that sight with a flat gaze, then turned to the boiling boiler tub.

A faint blood-hue eddied across it—ah, hell.

Come to think, this boiler tub wouldn’t be usable anymore.

And it wasn’t exactly easy to fill a boiler either; she felt a little bad for the inn.

“So. What do you plan to do now? Surely you don’t mean to undress her like this. Her flesh has melted into the clothes—if you strip them, the skin will slough clean off with them.”

“No. This is the end of it. If she’s lucky she might live—well, from here on it’s her fate.”

She said it like that, but as a lady physician Qing’s opinion was that the woman was for all intents and purposes already dead.

Still, if you wanted to be generous and call her a master, it was impressive she didn’t just die from the pain—then again, that level had been piled up by eating people’s hearts, so call it self-inflicted cause and effect.

“Oh my, won’t you show mercy?”

“Mercy, my ass. A thing like this—dying easy is a luxury.”

You too, Qing swallowed the rest.

Whether she knew Qing’s grim inside or not, Eon Yeonyeong only beamed.

“Mercy is bestowed because we ourselves need it. It’s good for you too, Miss Seo Mun.”

“Enough. That’s enough, right? I’m leaving.”

It truly tore at her chest to leave this monstrous final boss alive, but there was no method at hand.

All she could do was raise her realm as fast as possible.

Damn it, that Flower Realm—forever like it’s within reach and just teasing. Really soon now. Just a little.

“Mm. How heartless. Don’t you have anything you’re curious about? If it’s now, I might gladly answer.”

Qing furrowed her brow.

As plain a ploy as any.

“Oh my. I’m serious. The bath service you gave me was truly a special experience. How to put it—ticklish, but not ticklish? What on earth was that?”

Qing narrowed her eyes.

This bitch—really?

She answered with feigned brusqueness.

“Use your words. Words. How am I supposed to know if you put it like that?”

“Hmmmm...... Somehow heat rose, my breath grew short without my willing it, and for the first time in so long I felt my heart beat. From the perineum, something warm, along the Governor Vessel, mm, something I’ve never felt before, this...... I don’t know. Only, mm. I don’t know.”

For reference, the perineum point sat dead center on the underside of the pelvis; the Governor Vessel was the major channel that ran up the spine.

Uncharacteristically, Eon Yeonyeong rambled—truly a confused face.

Well now. Look at her.

Qing had found a thread for攻略 on the final boss.

She kept her poker face and stayed curt.

“Then we just do it again and find out.”

“My, much as I love the sound of that, I do have my schedule. Sadly, shall we promise next time? You want to hurry back too, don’t you?”

Damn—what a waste. She could have finished the job and sent her straight on her way to the afterlife to boot.

Qing smothered her regret.

Push too hard and raise suspicion, and even a small chance would vanish.

Either way—was that why she looked so unusually cheerful?

“Fine. Then why are you doing this to me in the first place? Is ‘corpse-blood poison person’ really that important?”

“Oh my. That’s against the rules. I can’t answer that.”

“You just said you’d answer.”

“Then—next?”

“What exactly is a ‘corpse-blood poison person’?”

“My, will you ask others about your own business? Not allowed.”

“What the— Then what’s your aim? Why join the Blood Sect and pretend to help?”

“A personal matter. Even for you, my dearest, precisely because it’s you, there are things one wants to hide.”

“Do you have some weakness?”

“Perhaps only my heart for Miss Seo Mun.”

“Did you learn some peerless divine art? Will you teach me a little?”

“All I learned for self-defense are the Eon Clan Fist and the Heart-Begetting Formula. But even as flattery they don’t amount to ‘divine arts.’ I’ve hidden the manual in the Martial Alliance library under the title ‘Anatomical Development Theory by Blade Form Based on Records of the Sui and Tang.’ Feel free to learn it as you like.”

“You even title things like that? ...So what’s your exact realm? Life-and-death gate? Higher?”

“That I can’t answer. Not that I’m hiding it—there truly is no answer to give. The answer doesn’t exist.”

A vein bulged on Qing’s brow.

“You ask me to ask, then don’t answer a single thing. Ha. I knew it. Forget it. I knew it.”

She really had known.

She’d asked on the off chance.

Anyway, aside from refreshing the fact she was an infuriating bitch, she hadn’t lost anything.

“Hehe. Then we’ve had enough.”

And then—flop—Eon Yeonyeong suddenly lay down where she was.

At the same time, women burst into the bath, snapped to her sides—and then a corpse floated up—Yul-no—and settled above them—

Splat—With a weird tearing pop, Yul-no’s body broke apart midair into pieces.

Blood, flesh, and entrails rained over Eon Yeonyeong and the three women beneath.

“Now what fresh bullshit—”

“Kyah!!” “My lady!?” “Mahi!!”

In that instant, a cacophony shook the ninth floor.

Some were inhuman shrieks; the voices raised in a call were clearly searching for Heart-Plucking Demon Princess Yu Ryang.

Qing clicked her tongue—damn.

So that was it. She had never meant to answer anything. She’d only stalled for time until the Blood Sect scum swarmed up.