Chapter 127: The Leech's Poison

Listening to the sounds behind the door gradually fall silent, Wu Xian relaxed a little.

"So it was a leech…"

The Physician was also a monster—Wu Xian had long been mentally prepared for this kind of thing.

In the Physician's account, monsters all survived by hiding from humans; most humans didn't even know monsters existed, so for a human doctor to become a Physician treating monsters would be far too difficult—he was therefore most likely a monster himself.

Besides, in this blessed land—

There was another very simple way to tell monsters and humans apart.

It was the clothing…

This world was clearly a modern one, with tour buses and magazines—only monsters would still dress like people of antiquity…

Still, although Wu Xian knew the Physician was a monster—

He still had an instinctive, physical revulsion toward the leech-yao. A leech's skin had that tough, segmented feel, and the mere thought of being wrapped in one just now made goosebumps break out all over Wu Xian's body.

"The Evil Dharma, the Candle-Bearer, Lotus Juanren, the Master…"

Lotus Juanren was probably the original name of the Liu Family's Fetus-Bearer.

After she became the 'Fetus-Bearer,' she needed the living and the dead as medicinal primers to seize her descendants' yang-lifespan—which was why there were those dead passengers, and why Wu Xian and the others had gone over the cliff.

But her descendants weren't willing to submit meekly, so they had hired Wu Xian and the others, hoping to use Lotus Spirit's hand to get rid of the Heavenly Grandmother.

The Liu Family Heavenly Grandmother's strength was beyond doubt.

This mass grave was crawling with all manner of evil spirits and monsters, yet the Liu household's steward had only needed a single oil lamp to cow them all.

There was also another important figure.

That was the Master.

Liu Baoyu's lessons were assigned by the Master; the Candle-Shadow Concealment Art he used was taught by the Master; and the Heavenly Grandmother's life-seizing Evil Dharma had been modified by the Master.

What kind of role exactly was the Master playing in this world?

His image, too, sounded very familiar to Wu Xian.

In the previous blessed land, the fellow who had beguiled Xu Ming into making the auxiliary possession device had worn similar makeup—were they the same person, or the same type of person?

That fellow had called himself 'the Sower of Seeds.'

What kind of seeds were they sowing in different worlds?

Then there was the Evil Dharma.

Judging from the Physician's imprisonment and the way he had rushed over the moment he heard there were wounded, Wu Xian was willing to believe that, among demons, the Physician counted as a virtuous elder.

In his words, the Physician held the Evil Dharma in considerable contempt.

But from the Physician's behavior, although he knew the Evil Dharma was no good, he still couldn't suppress the urge to practice it—so much so that he'd nearly wanted to experiment on the living person he'd just met.

Even a kind-hearted elder among demons couldn't resist the Evil Dharma's lure.

Then what about the other demons?

Once they learned the Evil Dharma existed, they would surely go mad for it; the world would then be full of demons wanting to seize lifespans—would there be enough living people left to go around?

Speaking of which—

When the Master modified the Evil Dharma, he had done it right in front of the Physician.

But was there really any need to inform a captive of such a thing?

Could it be that the Master had deliberately wanted to spread this Evil Dharma, or had used the Physician's familiarity with the original method to further refine it?

Wu Xian narrowed his eyes.

He felt that the information he now had already touched on some crucial points.

……

After finishing his thoughts, Wu Xian opened his travel permit to check his gains from the Physician's Tomb.

The first thing Wu Xian found, on the Miscellaneous page, was the information on that pill.

Third-Turn Minor Return Pill: removes dark blemishes, heals bodily injuries, beautifies the complexion, restores a depleted body to peak condition; cannot regrow severed limbs, cannot raise the dead.

"Third-Turn Minor Return Pill—next there'll probably be a Sixth-Turn Mid Return Pill and a Ninth-Turn Great Return Pill…"

Wu Xian gave it a cursory glance, muttered a complaint, and tucked the Minor Return Pill away.

Every human who entered the Wandering Physician's Tomb should be able to obtain one Minor Return Pill; this pill was of great use to Wu Xian—at a critical moment, one extra use of Hard Qi Art could save his life.

But although useful, it wasn't worth too much attention—just a stand-in for the Longevity Peach, not enough to surprise Wu Xian.

Next, Wu Xian began searching for the information on his activated potential.

At the time, Wu Xian had faced three options; although the window had been short, he had still wrestled with the choice.

Born Beautiful was good—it could make a person more handsome or pretty.

But Wu Xian had dismissed Born Beautiful at first glance, because he felt he was already born beautiful.

If Wu Xian were any more handsome, it might instead invite trouble—a lovesick woman throwing herself at him would be one thing, but if it drew the attention of some men, that would be terrible.

Born Swift was also a good option; it might let Wu Xian run faster.

But in this blessed land, most dangers occurred in enclosed spaces—running fast wasn't useless, but it was still less valuable than being better at taking a beating.

So the potential Wu Xian had chosen was 'Born Thick-Skinned.'

This potential might combine with his other god-worship rewards to produce unexpected effects.

But to Wu Xian's surprise, he didn't find 'Born Thick-Skinned' on the Divine Ability or Blessing pages—he found its description on the Curse page instead.

Curse of the Leech Yao: Born Thick-Skinned.

Stimulated by leech venom, a special constitution is activated—skin thickness, hardness, and toughness are all enhanced; five days later the leech venom will take effect, causing the skin to rapidly rot and fester.

The corner of Wu Xian's mouth twitched; he barely held back from cursing out loud.

"This is actually a curse!"

"I spent a year of lifespan—well, I didn't actually spend it, and all I got is a curse?"

"However... five days is enough."

Wu Xian had now been through four rooms, and he estimated that in another three or four days at most, he could leave this blessed land, and then the leech venom would be healed by the pure Qi of Li Hen Tian.

Thinking of this, Wu Xian suddenly felt a bit of relief — fortunately he hadn't obtained the key on the very first day, otherwise the five-day deadline would have forced him to try risking his way through multiple rooms in a single day.

Even for Wu Xian, that would have made his odds of survival feel low.

Wu Xian put away his traveling certificate.

He did not test the Thick Skin effect outside.

Those fellows still loitering at the Clothes Shop Tomb — whether they were enemies or allies was still very much in doubt, and Wu Xian did not want to reveal his abilities in front of them.

The Temple Tomb was the perfect solitary space.

Just as Wu Xian was about to go line up at the Temple Tomb, he suddenly heard Guan Daorong let out an angry curse.

"Get lost, don't try to get chummy with me!"

Auntie He's face changed slightly.

She was standing right beside Guan Daorong, holding some strips of cloth in her hands, along with wine she had brought out from the Banquet Hall.

Last night in the Guest Room Tomb, none of the three of them had any experience treating wounds, so they had only hastily bandaged Guan Daorong. Auntie He had spotted at a glance that this way of handling wounds would cause trouble, and so wanted to re-treat Guan Daorong's wounds before bandaging them again.

"Little Guan, this auntie won't trick you..."

"Get lost!"

Guan Daorong was terse, his attitude somewhat cracked.

Wu Xian could actually understand Guan Daorong's thinking.

A fellow like Guan Daorong probably looked down most on middle-aged women like Auntie He; he felt that accepting the pity of someone like Auntie He would damage his dignity as a cold-blooded killer...

Wu Xian shook his head.

"So childish... but then again, only this kind of childish person would become a killing maniac."

(End of chapter)