Chapter 809: Midnight Martial Contest: Testing the Edge (64)

"... so this is why you are so eager to crack the secret from me? Can you hear me, Jiao Qiu?"

"I heard you, I heard you very clearly."

Hu Lei, with a teasing tone: "Thirty years ago, in the great battle on the Fanghu Immortal Ship, she saved all of you, but when she was on the brink of death she accidentally discovered a Buli bloodline flowing in her body. Mo Du told me she was a war slave who escaped from the Eclipsed Moon tribe. What a strange causality, she is actually from the same tribe as me."

"So that's why. No wonder that fox person's combat power, decisiveness and cruelty... are so astonishing! It's all thanks to her Buli bloodline. Mixed‑blood... detestable mixed‑blood General."

Hu Lei, hearing this, does not get angry; instead he laughs out loud: "Hahaha, and she used the gift in her own bloodline to destroy the Buli."

""Moon Madness", the wolf's blessing, the fox's curse. For the Buli, being torn apart by Moon Madness in battle, beastifying and transforming... is supreme joy. But for you foxes with limited self‑healing, it is a dead end."

"Accompanied by burning, angry blood rising in their heart, this fox General cannot distinguish friend from foe, fights endlessly, the wounds blooming on their body are not from enemy weapons but from a massive power they cannot bear. One day, they will die as a monster, torn to pieces."

——

Legend of the Immortal Sword Hero.

All done.

In the backyard of Xin'an Hall, Jing Tian, wearing an open‑sleeved shirt, fanned one hand with a palm fan, held a watermelon in the other, shaking his head as he watched: "It seems Moon Madness is the destiny that General Feixiao cannot escape; looks like there's no way to dodge it. Unless she is willing to kill Hu Lei, pull out his heart and eat it herself— but then wouldn't she become a war chief of the Buli herself?"

Long Kui, with a somewhat sorrowful expression: "Someone like General Feixiao... would probably rather die in battle than become the Buli he despises most."

Actually, I think it's not completely impossible.

Xue Jian squinted at him: "You've got another rotten idea?"

Without waiting for Jing Tian to speak, Xue Jian placed the watermelon rind on the table, mimicking his tone, shaking his head: "No need for you to say it, it's definitely—'Why not ask the amazing Genius Club? Go find Ms. Ruan Mei, the geniuses can handle everything for you'—right?"

Jing Tian: "..."

"Then just say I'm right, okay?" The remark hit the mark, Jing Tian's face turned red, "Ms. Ruan Mei can revive an Imperial Envoy who has been dead for an unknown number of years; can't she help modify General Feixiao's body? Or capture Hu Lei and remake his heart— is that any harder than duplicating an Envoy?"

Xue Jian rolled his eyes, grabbed another freshly cut piece of watermelon and gnawed it, vaguely saying: "The Genius Club isn't some deity in the heavens for you to make wishes to. By your logic, if Liuying is ill she can go ask her for help, and if Feixiao is ill he also needs her help— regardless of whether they can do it, even if they can, they aren't obligated to help you."

"Besides, didn't you hear Feixiao chatting with Yu Kong before? Feixiao has clearly already contacted Ruan Mei; what if Feixiao presents his request regarding 'Moon Madness' to her? Maybe."

——

"And to repay her lifesaving grace, you intend to give everything you have to challenge this unsolvable puzzle," Hu Lei voiced Jiao Qiu's inner thought.

Jiao Qiu did not deny, but gritted his teeth and said: "Hu Lei... do you know what's the most tragic thing for a physician?"

"All this time, I've exhausted my lifelong learning, trying to take back those lives destined for death from monsters like you. I collapse exhausted, my hands trembling, thinking that everything I've done is meaningful..."

"But they once again rush to the battlefield. So I heard of their deaths. They died under your minions, in the flames of the Star Chariot's crash, in the light arrows of the Imperial Bow... I am like a futile fool, scooping a fish called Life from the cauldron named Death— watching it struggle, then plunge back into the boiling broth."

"I ask myself, what makes them, after healing, still throw themselves into death without hesitation? Why don't they cherish the hard‑won life? This leaves me bewildered, empty..."

This time, Hu Lei finally smiled contentedly: "Hehe... I smell a bone‑deep despair in you."

"Finally, I understand, departure also has 【Value】. The weight of their leaving presses on the hearts of us living, giving us more strength. They exchange the coin of Death for even more..."

Speaking of that, Jiao Qiu covers his face and smiles gently: "This is all I do now, staying close to you, just to witness with my own eyes a result: your death..."

"Your death also has value. It will bring peace to the Martial Performance Ceremony; and also the Feixiao I healed."

——

Attack on Titan.

"I really want to tell the palace idiots every word of Jiao Qiu's speech," Levi said coldly.

Erwin knew exactly who the "idiots" were. The nobles sitting in the splendid palace, eating steak with delicate silver cutlery, signing "reject", "not approved" on documents with fountain pens. These people have never seen a giant, nor even a corpse, yet wield the greatest power within the three walls.

"They're listening now, but they can't change anything at all," Erwin said, leaning back slowly, the light from behind casting his face into shadow, only his blue eyes glimmering in the dim room.

"Last month they sent a military police unit to take a lot of research data on the giants from Han Ji; looking at those people, it seems they don't intend to return it."

"Giant data? What do they want to do?"

"Probably they want to study the relationship between giants and 【Abundance】, since the one who wields giant power, Eren, can recover after injury, even broken limbs can heal— in their eyes, that's already a blessing of Abundance," Erwin said lightly, though anyone could hear the fatigue in his tone.

"They're insane."

"They're not crazy for the first day."

Erwin looked out the window, toward where the moon set, that was the direction of the royal capital, "They were only missing the step of capturing Eren; I doubt they'll stop until those nobles suffer casualties from their giant research."