Chapter 594: Heartache (6/10, bonus chapter for

"Quiet! Shuimei, quiet!!"

Seeing Shuimei's eyes wide open as she stared at the corpse, completely unable to take anything in, looking utterly terrified, Pangzi chopped her on the neck with a hand blade.

Her eyes rolled back into her head, and Shuimei passed out. The last thing her consciousness saw was that uncanny, reverse-jointed creature that had killed Skinny's companion — its finger was already piercing through the back of Pangzi's skull, blood spraying out — yet she herself had been knocked unconscious by the hand blade.

……

Shuimei didn't know how long she had been unconscious.

She even felt as if she should be dead.

So death feels no different from sleeping?

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

What met her gaze was a bright night sky.

Beside her, a Human Soul Bonfire burned.

"Where am I? Who am I? What am I supposed to do?"

Along with the three soul questions, Shuimei's consciousness gradually cleared.

Instinctively, she sprang upright in horror.

"The anom — the anomaly! The anomaly killed—"

Shuimei blurted out in a panic, only to see sitting beside her a stranger with his back turned to her.

Beside the stranger, Pi Sanzai stood waiting respectfully.

"Senior Brother Pi?"

"Shuimei, you're awake. Come quickly and greet Lord Ye!"

"Lord Ye?"

Shuimei looked on in confusion at the man who turned around, revealing his face.

She immediately felt he looked somewhat familiar, yet for the moment couldn't recall.

Not until she saw the bloodstained handkerchief wrapped around his right hand did she cry out "Ah!"

"It's you! That person who came to ask for directions! Your face, your wounds… they're healed?"

"What 'asking for directions'! Call him Lord Ye, quickly!"

"Oh… oh, Lord Ye…"

Shuimei felt a bit confused, not understanding why Pi Sanzai's attitude had changed so drastically.

But after Pi Sanzai told her everything that had happened after she lost consciousness, Shuimei's eyes gradually widened as she stared at Fang Yue in disbelief.

According to Pi Sanzai's account, after she had passed out, Lord Ye, who had originally walked far away, heard the commotion and rushed back to rescue them.

Lord Ye was like a god descending from the heavens, brave and extraordinary, cutting through the powerful anomalies they absolutely couldn't handle as easily as slicing through melons and vegetables, slaying them one by one.

But regrettably, before Lord Ye could arrive, Junior Brother Gang had already followed the other two senior brothers to their deaths, killed by the anomaly.

So of the five in their group, only he, Pi Sanzai, and Shuimei remained.

"I requested Lord Ye to travel with us to 【Chunuan City】, so that on the road… on the road we'd have someone to look after us."

As he said this, Pi Sanzai's face flushed faintly.

Too embarrassing — before, he had been unwilling to accept a traveling companion, and now he was begging one to come along.

But compared with face, clearly life was more important.

Shuimei, for her part, didn't feel much, only thinking of the three dead senior brothers, secretly wiping away tears.

"Right, I still haven't asked what kind of people you are?"

Fang Yue spoke up at this point to ask.

The current time was already evening.

With the blessing of 【Breath of Night】, his body had already returned to its original state — even the back of his hand, which had been burned by the curse 【Black Rain】, had grown back flesh.

Combined with a change of clothes, his appearance differed greatly from that of daytime.

In the daytime, he had been a mess of blood-filled pits, looking much like an anomaly; now he actually looked like a proper person.

Under the night sky, Fang Yue's long hair fluttered in the wind. Perhaps because his physique had grown stronger after practicing martial arts, his whole bearing exuded a steady, steady charm.

Slightly dazed, Shuimei lowered her head with faintly flushed cheeks: "Reporting to Lord Ye, we are all Outer Sect Disciples of Heilu Sect. This trip to 【Chunuan City】 is to represent Heilu Sect in a martial tournament held by 【Chunuan City】."

"Heilu Sect?"

Fang Yue paused, feeling as if he had heard of it…

Oh! He remembered — wasn't this one of the three pillar sects of Qingsi County?

"You're people of Heilu Sect? Isn't Heilu Sect in Heiqing Shanmai? Did you come out from Heiqing Shanmai?"

Hearing Fang Yue's words, the two were somewhat bewildered.

They exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"Lord Ye, we are native-born people of Heilu Village on Heilu Mountain. Heilu Sect's sect headquarters is on Heilu Mountain, not in Heiqing Shanmai."

Fang Yue was taken aback, then realized that the Heilu Sect in Heiqing Shanmai was simply a branch split off from Heilu Sect, sent to claim territory.

Clearly, Heilu Sect's headquarters was on Heilu Mountain, in the Chaoyang Avenue area, not in the Heiqing Shanmai area.

"Then, do you know Heilu Sect's Hei Zhanglao?"

The two shook their heads. Shuimei added: "We are both Outer Sect Disciples, we haven't even entered the Inner Sect, we don't count as core disciples of the sect… so, so we don't know much about the sect's secrets… Is Lord Ye an old acquaintance of our Heilu Sect?"

Fang Yue shook his head and said nothing more — clearly the two sides weren't on the same wavelength.

Hei Zhanglao of Heilu Sect had died in battle for Qingsi County. If it wasn't troublesome, Fang Yue didn't mind doing Heilu Sect a few small favors.

Clearly, escorting two Outer Sect Disciples to 【Chunuan City】 counted as a small favor.

Thinking through his various plans ahead, Fang Yue told the two to rest first while he kept watch through the night.

Pi Sanwei and Shuimei naturally had no objections.

Watching Fang Yue's back as he kept watch through the night, Shuimei felt her heart brimming with a sense of security, thinking only that Fang Yue was both handsome and capable, simply more charming than any of the senior brothers back at the sect.

Thinking as she went, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

And just then, Fang Yue suddenly waved his hand; the Ningtai Ring instantly condensed a black blade, which split off a piece that transformed into a Flying Feather and pierced straight through the top of Shuimei's head.

Squelch, squelch—in the invisible air, a great splatter of black blood was left behind, falling beside Shuimei; a sticky, semi-transparent substance slumped down and covered Shuimei's face, blocking her breathing.

Fang Yue walked over expressionlessly, picked up the wraith-like entity that only the Analysis Pupil could see and tossed it aside, then took a deep breath and returned to his position.

He was waiting, waiting for that being's arrival.

But after waiting an entire night, the 【Yin Collector】 still did not appear.

Fang Yue felt a trace of doubt in his heart, and he and Shuimei and the others traveled for a day; the next day he continued keeping watch through the night, waiting.

The result was still no sign of the 【Yin Collector】 appearing.

Could it be… not coming?

With no one to discuss things with, and without Lord Han, many things for Fang Yue had to be understood and studied on his own.

Thinking of Lord Han, Fang Yue's eyes reddened slightly, and he clenched his fists.

"The promise made back then… there's no way to fulfill it now…"

"But, Lord Han… Master, I will definitely master your legacy and pass it down!"

"And the Other Shore Flower, and…"

Fang Yue was lost in thought when Shuimei's puzzled voice suddenly rang out: "Lord Ye… are you alright?"

Fang Yue turned his face away: "I'm fine, you all sleep first."

"O… okay."

Shuimei gazed at Fang Yue in a daze, feeling that Fang Yue must have so many, many stories on him—it really tugged at the heart!

And after Fang Yue suppressed his emotions, he glanced at his status panel.

(End of this chapter)