Chapter 317: Grace and Grudge (Second update, seeking monthly votes)

"You're asleep, but what am I supposed to do? Just leave you here like this? You'll be stinking by tomorrow."

After thinking in silence for a moment, Ren Yidao just carried her like that and walked toward the shore.

"I'll spare your life; consider it as having been swindled by someone."

"Even a wild dog lying on the side of the road shouldn't be left to die."

Hmm.

"I'm still too kind-hearted as a person, sigh."

Ren Yidao was deeply reflecting on himself, completely failing to notice a black shadow in the distant forest staring at his back.

"……"

At this moment, Ren Yidao turned his head back as if he had sensed something.

He looked around for a long time but discovered nothing at all.

"Oh ho?"

This island...

It doesn't seem as simple as it appears on the surface?

……

……

"……Cough, cough."

Hu Wanwan's body jolted, he suddenly opened his eyes, turned his head, and coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

I'm still alive?

Even though there was nowhere on his body that didn't hurt, with over twenty bone fractures and not a single patch of intact skin.

But Hu Wanwan was still extremely excited.

Alive.

I'm still alive!

As long as I'm alive, there is still hope for everything!

"Cough, cough……"

Hu Wanwan struggled, wanting to get up, but his arms had no reaction at all, not moving a single bit.

Hmm?

"This is broken too? No way... What!?"

Hu Wanwan looked at his arm, his pupils suddenly trembling!

His right arm was indeed not broken, but the current situation was far, far more serious than a fracture.

A pitch-black wooden nail as thick as an infant's arm had pierced through his collarbone, pinning his entire body to the rock wall behind him.

Hu Wanwan's heart shook violently.

He was no stranger to this wooden nail.

Wuji Soul Nail.

In the past, Hu Wanwan had seen this wooden nail stuck in other people's bodies dozens of times, devouring their souls and flesh until nothing remained!

And seeing this soul nail, Hu Wanwan also understood who had pinned him here.

"……Brother Jiang, there is no deep hatred between you and me, is there?"

His facial muscles twitching, Hu Wanwan suppressed the panic in his heart and feigned an expression of anger and confusion.

"You actually used a Wuji Soul Nail on me; do you really want to kill me?"

Hu Wanwan did not see Jiang Mingzhi's figure, but he knew he must be nearby and could definitely hear his words clearly.

But he waited for a long time, yet there was still no movement in the darkness.

"……Heh, hahaha!"

Hu Wanwan laughed in grief and indignation, roaring:

"We have been friends for twenty years! Does that only earn me this kind of treatment from you? Has the friendship of these years been fed to the dogs?"

"Jiang Mingzhi! I really misjudged you!"

It seemed this sentence triggered something, and a reaction came from the darkness.

"Pfft!"

It was a sneer of disdain.

Jiang Mingzhi walked out from the darkness, the corners of his mouth hooked into a cold arc, his eyes looking coldly at the disheveled Prince of the Hu Family.

"……Brother Jiang, you still couldn't hold back, could you."

Hu Wanwan let out a sigh of relief.

What he feared most was Jiang Mingzhi having no reaction at all; that would mean not giving him a single chance.

As long as the other party was still willing to communicate, there was still a chance for everything!

"Haha, this bad joke has gone on long enough, right?"

Hu Wanwan feigned indignation and unhappily gestured with his mouth toward the wooden nail on his right arm.

"Hurry and help me remove the nail; I can still pretend nothing happened right now."

Jiang Mingzhi might have guessed some things, but Hu Wanwan believed he did not have absolute evidence.

Hu Wanwan was gambling.

Gambling that Jiang Mingzhi was just trying to scare him, waiting for him to reveal a flaw; this cautious guy would definitely not dare to actually take action against him.

Therefore, he was still acting.

"It's a good thing the trial is finished now; once you help me remove this soul nail, we can leave here quickly, and I can pay you the reward."

"The things you want are all very precious; I have stored them in a secret chamber, and I must go retrieve them myself."

Hu Wanwan repeatedly emphasized the importance of his own survival.

The reward!

Don't you want it anymore?

"Hey!"

But after he had performed a one-man show for a long time, the man standing before him still did not respond.

He just watched his performance quietly.

"You... why aren't you speaking?"

"Do you really want to kill me?"

"Why? Jiang Mingzhi, have you gone mad?"

Yet, facing the Hu Wanwan who was brimming with a desire to live and a desire to perform, Jiang Mingzhi never once uttered a word of rebuttal from beginning to end.

Because...

There was no need.

Those who wrong you know better than you do that you are innocent.

The two stared at each other in the darkness for a long time, until one turned his head away.

Hu Wanwan read the emotions contained within those cold eyes, nodded in resignation, and leaned back powerlessly.

"Hoo..."

He tilted his head back and let out a long breath, as if he wanted to exhale the dark emotions that had been suppressed in the depths of his heart for so long.

After a long while, Hu Wanwan calmed down and asked as naturally as if he were chatting with an old friend in the past:

"How did you find out?"

"I'm not bragging, but I think I hid it quite well."

For this scheme, he had prepared for a very, very long time, and had done almost everything he could.

Hu Wanwan believed there shouldn't have been any points of exposure.

"I cast a divination."

When Hu Wanwan actually admitted it, Jiang Mingzhi felt a moment of melancholy in his heart, not knowing whether to be angry or to laugh.

"Half a month ago, I calculated that I would surely face a calamity in the near future, and only by relying on an outsider could I avoid it."

And upon hearing Jiang Mingzhi's explanation, Hu Wanwan's eyes gradually widened, and then he muttered gloomily:

"Damn! This works too!"

"Witch Sacrifice Art, Witch Sacrifice Art, Witch Sacrifice Art! Damn it!"

Hu Wanwan had calculated everything, yet he had precisely overlooked that Jiang Mingzhi's Witch Sacrifice Art was sufficient to predict his own fortune and misfortune...

Is this the will of Heaven?

"So, you were suspicious of me from the very beginning?"

Jiang Mingzhi shook his head, his eyes lowered as he said:

"From the moment we arrived at Wanshou City; before that, I had never suspected you."

Hu Wanwan's mouth twitched, and he sighed:

"Fine, it's not too early, at least."

After muttering for a long time, Hu Wanwan raised his head and said:

"Alright, the mystery is solved, hurry up and release me."

He looked listless, signaling for Jiang Mingzhi to move to remove the soul nails.

"Do you think I don't dare to kill you?"

"Dare not? No, of course you dare, but you know clearly that you cannot kill me."

Hu Wanwan said it with certainty.

"You possess the Witch Sacrifice Art, but does my Hu Family not?"

"After I became the Prince of this generation of the Hu Family, a Witch Sacrifice curse was placed upon me."

"【He who kills me shall surely suffer the backlash! Ten thousand demons shall devour the body, and a hundred ghosts shall swallow the soul!】"

"If you were in your prime, you might have a way to resist, but in your current state, can you block it? If you kill me, you will surely die!"

And Jiang Mingzhi remained silent and did not answer.

Because he also knew that what Hu Wanwan said was true.

As the only person who remained conscious inside the Gourd, the injuries he sustained were actually no lighter than those of Gongsun and the other, and were perhaps even heavier.

He was able to hold on only by relying on the Soul Seed in his Consciousness Sea, which was constantly emitting spiritual power, to barely maintain his clarity.

"So, even if you want to kill me, you can only wait until later."

Kill me? You will die too!

"Besides, do you want to provoke a war between the Hu Family and the Jiang Family!?"

Hu Wanwan sneered:

"Can you bear this responsibility!!?"

"Are you really prepared?"

Hu Wanwan understood Jiang Mingzhi; he would definitely compromise.

When it came to self-preservation, Jiang Mingzhi had always been an expert.

"Hurry up and release me, I will compensate you later!"

"You can even take me to the Hu Family to trade for resources; although they won't be happy about it, they will definitely agree."

With this, the friendship of over twenty years between the two had completely vanished; it could be said they had completely torn off the mask.

But no matter what, he had at least managed to escape danger.

As long as one is alive, it does not count as losing.

But...

"I am unwilling."

Hu Wanwan was stunned and asked blankly:

"What?"

Huh?

Jiang Mingzhi looked straight into the eyes of his former friend and said calmly:

"I am going to kill you."

He said:

"Right here."

"Right now."

After speaking, Jiang Mingzhi gripped his palm tightly.

Crack!

The previously quiet wooden nail suddenly began to move, starting to greedily devour Hu Wanwan's body and soul.

!!!

Hu Wanwan could hear the sound of his own body being chewed!

The suppressed fear erupted, making him unable to maintain his composure any longer, and he screamed in terror:

"Jiang Mingzhi!!!"

"Are you crazy?"

"If you kill me, you will die too!"

"Do you not want your life anymore!?"

Hu Wanwan wanted to struggle, but his body began to weaken rapidly; soon he could not exert any strength at all and could only watch helplessly as the soul nail devoured him.

After only a few breaths, even making a sound became difficult for him, and he could only emit wheezing gasps from his throat.

"I..."

"Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!"

He cursed!

As Hu Wanwan grew weaker, Jiang Mingzhi did not fare well either; pitch-black blood also flowed from the corners of his mouth.

"Heh."

He did not use his hand to wipe it, just glared at Hu Wanwan with satisfaction.

"Under the Wuji Soul Nail, you still want to keep your soul for reincarnation? What kind of dream are you having?"

Jiang Mingzhi looked at the man he had known since childhood, whom he had once regarded as his closest friend, and with whom he had shared hardships in Chu City for many years.

Yet he found it difficult to reconcile this twisted face before him with the face in his memories.

"Hu Wanwan!"

Black blood flowed from the corners of Jiang Mingzhi's mouth, but he gritted his teeth, grabbed Hu Wanwan by the collar, and scolded him with a face as ferocious as a vengeful ghost:

"Stop acting in such a disgraceful way!"

"Be a man!"

A man?

Hu Wanwan was intimidated by Jiang Mingzhi; his lips moved, and the madness on his face dissipated for the most part.

He raised his head and smiled bitterly:

"That is truly asking the impossible... cough, cough."

Deathly aura covered his entire body; the once tall and sturdy man was now reduced to a hunched figure of skin and bones.

Yet at this moment, Hu Wanwan had instead regained his calm and could no longer feel any pain.

A final flash of clarity.

He smiled apologetically and whispered:

"Brother, I am sorry."

Does he regret it?

To strike at someone who trusted him so much, betraying that trust.

Is it worth it?

Hu Wanwan did not know.

Things having reached this point, there was nothing left to say about right or wrong.

He had made his move, and Jiang Mingzhi had not let him off.

That is fine.

Perhaps because one's words are kind when death is near, Hu Wanwan remembered something and said hurriedly:

"Be careful, cough, you must be careful of the demon..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Hu Wanwan's head drooped, and he breathed his last.

He was dead.

He died at the hands of his only close friend, died at the hands of the person he had plotted against.

Did he die as he deserved?

It could probably only be considered as getting what he deserved.

The corpse of Hu Wanwan underwent rapid changes, and ancient characters surfaced on the surface of his body.

【He who kills me shall surely suffer the backlash! Ten thousand demons devour the body, a hundred Ghost Stars swallow the soul!】

Those characters broke out of the body, gathered in the air, and transformed into a ferocious, malevolent ghost that lunged toward Jiang Mingzhi.

But before it could get close to Jiang Mingzhi, it collided with an invisible barrier halfway there and ignited with green flames.

Roar—

The malevolent ghost roared, most of it dissolved by the barrier, with only a small portion struggling through and sinking into Jiang Mingzhi's body.

Jiang Mingzhi's expression shifted slightly, and then he let out a cold sneer.

"Heh, only this much."

After the sneer, Jiang Mingzhi fell straight backward.

Thud.

If he were in his prime, Jiang Mingzhi would not fear a curse of this level.

But he was already at the end of his rope at this moment.

He had risked everything to use the Witch Sacrifice Art for interrogation, just to get an answer from Hu Wanwan.

But until the very end, he did not ask Hu Wanwan why he had done that.

It was simply: repay kindness with kindness, repay hatred with hatred, and repay grievances with grievances.

Nothing more than that.

The kindness and hatred with Hu Wanwan over these twenty years, from this point on...

Are all settled.