Chapter 74: Wu Xian

Wu Xian truly needed food and water right now.

Without further supplies, he would surely die.

Seeing Wu Xian offer no resistance, the young men each took a tray of food and prepared to throw it at him.

But Wu Xian still kept a measure of caution; he pulled out the Eight Trigrams Mirror and aimed it at the young men.

What the mirror revealed instantly darkened Wu Xian’s expression.

Beyond shock, there was more disappointment.

Though Wu Xian had long suspected this would be the case, not being able to eat hot, steaming dishes still left him in a foul mood.

The Blood Meat Corridor fell silent all at once.

Wen Yong had always been a cautious malevolent spirit—he preferred ambushes over direct attacks—so his body began merging into the blood-flesh wall, planning to hide longer until Wu Xian was nearly starved to death before emerging.

He closed his eyes, and his breathing and heartbeat ceased entirely.

At that moment, Wen Yong only needed to merge with Wu Xian to complete the soul usurpation.

After his death, his malice did not dissipate; instead, it swelled further.

Human skin…

These corpses wore tattered clothing, their limbs rotten and stinking, their lower bodies connected to the Blood Meat Corridor by countless muscle fibers.

If their heads were severed, how could they still speak? How could they suddenly launch an attack?

Were they even human?

All these heads stared wide-eyed, grinning wildly, spinning in midair, their braids whipping sharp blades that sliced at high speed—if any of them got close, Wu Xian’s body would be cut to pieces!

By means of this tactic.

Inside the mirror.

But time was too short; Wu Xian had no room for elaborate reactions.

A golden light erupted from the Eight Trigrams Mirror, forming a brilliant golden shockwave that expanded before Wu Xian; the heads caught in its path were instantly flung backward, half of each head disintegrated under the golden radiance.

But it was their heads!

On these five heads were countless tiny wounds, their expressions grotesque and terrifying, each adorned with long braids, the ends tied to razor-sharp blades gleaming with cold light!

Wu Xian immediately refused them.

Until one day, he met a strange man draped in a large cloth, his body and facial features obscured, only his palm visible, cradling a candle.

Ever since choosing the human skin, Wen Yong had felt his brain gradually developing.

But these five ignored Wu Xian’s refusal and hurled their trays directly at him.

The mirror showed no five young men or women.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wu Xian behind them had already risen and raised the Eight Trigrams Mirror toward him.

“Hey, surprise!”

A jet of blood spurted from Wu Xian’s neck; his head rolled to the ground.

Only five headless corpses remained!

Was this Wu Xian the human skin he had chosen?

Just as the starving Wu Xian considered the possibility of consuming malevolent spirits.

Wen Yong need do nothing but divert a portion of his power into the cycle, wait a while, and the Wu Xian with only a single self-awareness left would awaken, dazed and confused, within the Blood Meat Corridor.

“Ha! Finally succeeded!”

He thrust the Eight Trigrams Mirror forward and activated its exorcism and demon-sundering effect!

In the end, Wen Yong became a malevolent spirit.

Wu Xian sighed.

Wen Yong’s eyes widened; his newly formed brain could not process this situation.

It made Wen Yong deeply admire his own decision—this human indeed possessed strange powers; had he attacked directly, he might not have won.

What they held in their hands were not steaming, delicious dishes.

Wu Xian’s earlier behavior.

The blood-flesh wall beside Wu Xian suddenly writhed; a malevolent spirit squeezed out from within.

But he was still ravenously hungry—could he eat these corpses?

He lifted Wu Xian’s head in his hands, drawing it close to his face; when the two faces were only ten centimeters apart, Wu Xian suddenly opened his eyes.

“Are you content to remain a malevolent spirit forever?”

Pfft…

According to the normal process, Wu Xian would gradually kill off his own self-awareness within the cycle until only one fragment remained.

This malevolent spirit stood roughly human height, but his muscles were knotted and bulging, his eyes bulged outward, his tongue hung long, and his right arm was a massive, razor-sharp cleaver.

“Missed… missed one…”

The head of Wu Xian in his hand also tumbled down due to this sudden change.

“So… how about considering wearing a human skin?”

Ten minutes later.

Wen Yong had made a fortune.

For example, when a seemingly honest customer entered the shop, he would urge them to try a free service; once the trial ended, the “free” service magically became a high-priced one, often extracting ten to twenty thousand yuan from a single person.

Then Wu Xian’s fingers flicked rapidly.

But Wu Xian’s situation differed from what the man had described.

Wen Yong froze in shock.

Wen Yong had not anticipated Wu Xian would be so troublesome—he had not only eradicated the portion of power Wen Yong left behind in the cycle, drastically weakening him, but had also remained fully active after escaping the cycle.

Rather than immediately merging with him, he planned to wait until Wu Xian was utterly exhausted before fully fusing with him.

Several flying-blade incantations shot out, slicing the young men into bloody chunks on the ground.

…

Then…

Thus Wen Yong did not immediately attack Wu Xian.

“Wait, I won’t eat it—you keep it.”

But one day, a honest customer, after being scammed, developed murderous intent and slaughtered Wen Yong’s entire family with a butcher’s knife; the utterly wicked Wen Yong did not escape either.

And the other one?

Before becoming a malevolent spirit, this entity’s name was Wen Yong, originally the owner of a large beauty and hair salon.

Wen Yong’s hair salon was highly profitable—not only charging far higher prices than competitors, but also running deceptive side services.

The unsuspecting Wen Yong was instantly blasted backward, slamming hard into the blood-flesh wall; the flesh struck by the golden light turned gray and lifeless.

“Eat quickly, it’s delicious—it’ll make your head fall off from the aroma!”

Wen Yong shook off his thoughts; he must focus on the task at hand.

“Don’t you want to enjoy the splendor of the mortal world?”

For some reason, Wen Yong had no impulse to attack the strange man; instead, he seriously considered the man’s sales pitch.

…

Boom!

Another blinding golden light erupted, sending forth a massive golden shockwave.

Sensing something amiss, Wu Xian suddenly felt icy cold; he turned his head and saw a head spinning in place, its razor blade whirling and slicing.

This crisis had been temporarily averted.

He was the malevolent spirit attempting to usurp Wu Xian’s body.

He suddenly noticed only four malevolent spirit heads before him, yet five had flown toward him moments ago.

As a malevolent spirit, Wen Yong lived in a daze, diligently harming others, his existence no different from that of a beast.

But how could Wu Xian let this opportunity slip?

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Wu Xian’s fingers were nearly cramping from flicking.

Each flick sent forth a sharp air blade; these blades twisted unnaturally, wasting not an ounce of power, all striking Wen Yong’s body—each blade left a crimson line spraying from his flesh…

(End of Chapter)