Chapter 739: Extra Chapter 2: Wanwan, Hold Me Tight

As I wished, Zhao Zixun's gaze quickly became clear.

Immediately after, a point of golden light appeared at his brow, growing from a sesame‑sized speck, becoming larger and brighter.

I was overjoyed—this was Zhao Zixun's battle soul condensing!

Indeed, my essence blood could help Zhao Zixun re‑condense his shattered battle soul!

But before I could rejoice for a moment, a black energy crawled onto Zhao Zixun's brow, thick enough to almost completely block that point of Golden Light; at the same time, an invisible force struck my wrist, leaving me unable to exert strength, and it drooped.

I could only support the injured wrist with my other hand, and then I discovered my wrist bone had been knocked out of alignment.

Just as I was about to exert force with my hand, intending to set the displaced wrist bone back, my waist was seized by a hand and forcefully pulled into an embrace.

It was Zhao Zixun!

The moment Zhao Zixun encircled me in his embrace, a strong gust swept past the spot where I had just been standing.

If that gust had hit me just then, I would certainly have vomited blood.

Zhao Zixun's hand was large and strong, holding me firmly in his embrace; I lifted my head and saw his eyes warily fixed ahead. The next second he raised his long blade and slashed sideways—I only heard a terrifying howl, and a bloody wind swept over my back.

I instinctively tried to turn my head to look, but Zhao Zixun turned my waist around in a circle, still keeping me pressed tightly in his embrace, and then I heard the sound of the blade cutting into flesh—a noise that makes the scalp tingle.

Something thudded to the ground; this time, even the final howl didn't have a chance to be uttered.

I lay sprawled in Zhao Zixun's embrace, well protected.

His chest was hard and cold; I could not even hear his heartbeat, and his body lacked any trace of a living person's aura.

My uninjured hand pressed against his chest where the blade had pierced, my heart feeling as if it were being twisted by a knife.

Even though a hundred ghosts had invaded his body, he had never been completely enslaved in mind.

He always remembered me and never once thought of harming me.

I am not sure whether he plunged the long blade into his own chest to end himself completely, or to use pain to stimulate his nerves and stay conscious.

But whatever his original intention, he was desperately using his actions to protect me.

I was immersed in my heartache for Zhao Zixun until a large hand grasped my dislocated wrist, at which point I snapped back to awareness.

Zhao Zixun held my wrist, gently kneading and rotating it, then suddenly pushed—I gasped in a breath of cold air.

But the next moment my wrist could move, and the pain vanished.

While I rotated my wrist to speed its recovery, I stared at Zhao Zixun's eyes, shining brightly.

I had thousands of words I wanted to say to him, but in this situation I could not utter a single one.

Zhao Zixun looked at my still‑bleeding fingers, his brows knitting as he seemed to struggle inwardly, then he raised his hand and pinched my bleeding fingers, saying, "Wanwan, lend me a bit more of your essence blood."

I was more than happy to do so, and nodded straight away.

Zhao Zixun pinched my fingers and drew a deep breath.

He then quickly staunched the bleeding, flipped open the lower hem of my outer garment, tore a strip from the inner garment's hem, and swiftly bound my fingers.

His technique was very skilled— the bandage was fast and neat— then he held me in his embrace again and said, "Wanwan, hold tight to me; no matter what happens later, don't let go, don't be afraid, trust me, okay?"

I immediately stretched out both arms, clasping his waist tightly and pressing myself against his chest: "Zhao Zixun, I have always trusted you! Whether we climb blades' mountains or descend into seas of fire, I will stay with you to the very end."

Zhao Zixun paused slightly.

Immediately afterward, I felt a faint coolness on my forehead.

Zhao Zixun placed a kiss on my forehead.

It was light and quick.

At that very moment, the back of my right hand suffered a sudden sharp pain.

A pair of sharp teeth had sunk into the back of my hand, greedily sucking my essence blood.

I did not dodge, nor did I make a sound, for I understood that these were the ghosts within Zhao Zixun's flesh seizing the opportunity to attack me.

And Zhao Zixun's borrowing of that mouthful of my essence blood was surely meant to deal with these filthy things.

He asked me to trust him, and I did.

I believed that, when he held me in his embrace and when he told me to cling to him, he had already figured out how to save himself.

All I needed to do was cooperate with him and wait patiently.

Rather than disturb him at this critical moment.

Sure enough, Zhao Zixun moved.

I heard him continuously chanting a spell, forming hand seals with one hand while gripping his long blade with the other, fiercely stabbing it into the ground, and pressing a seal toward his brow with the free hand.

He stood like a pine growing on a cliff, unmoved by wind and rain, head high and chest out, unshakable.

The long blade trembled violently, issuing a clanking sound accompanied by a chorus of ghostly wails and wolf howls.

Pair after pair of cold hands reached out from Zhao Zixun's flesh, incessantly scratching my body, while countless sharp teeth sank into my flesh.

These intruders had long been entrenched in Zhao Zixun's flesh; they sought to take root there, not only to control his body but to utterly enslave his soul, mind, and even memory.

Yet they had not succeeded— now Zhao Zixun was forcing them out of his flesh by main force, and how unwilling they were!

Perhaps they never imagined that I would so recklessly feed Zhao Zixun my essence blood of my own accord.

Or perhaps… even Zhao Zixun himself had never imagined it?

But once I took that action, his fighting spirit ignited instantly.

He did not borrow that mouthful of my essence blood for himself; he did it to protect me completely, to help me break out of this Ninefold Abyss, and thus had to push himself to the limit.

Thinking of this, I clung to Zhao Zixun even more tightly.

Each time he mobilized the essence blood of the Seven-Leaf Spirit Mushroom, each time he performed his method, each time he struggled against the hundred ghosts within his body, I could clearly feel it.

Bang… clang…

The long blade, lacking the ghostly yin‑sha energy to sustain it, shattered again, emitting a sound.

Yet I did not feel it a pity.

This long blade had already been broken over a hundred years ago.

Being able to re-condense was merely being sustained by the malevolent yin energy of those dirty things.

At the moment those dirty things were completely wiped out by Zhao Zixun, the long blade lost its support and finally shattered.

A streak of Golden Light burst from Zhao Zixun's brow, enveloping our whole bodies.

At the same moment, desperate cries rose and fell one after another.

The dirty things that scratched me, bit me, and sucked my blood essence vanished in an instant.

Zhao Zixun's chanting had not ceased; he was still forming hand seals, indicating that the dirty things within his flesh had not been fully expelled or killed, so I could not let my guard down—not even for a second—and dared not loosen my grip on him.

However, at that very moment, I heard bird calls coming from the southwest, accompanied by footsteps drawing nearer……