Chapter 990: This Is My Own Choice

The so-called blessed lands are places nourished by Spiritual Qi that can help cultivators swiftly achieve success; they are 'holy grounds'.

Such a place must be suitable for all living beings to survive.

But now inside Hu Shan it is so cold that one's body stiffens; with every breath it feels as if ice shards are drilling into the lungs.

Looking closely, one can see that both Seven Halls Yama and Tang Xun are covered with a thin layer of frost, but that frost is not white; its color is dark, making it easy to overlook at a glance.

Although Tang Xun appears awake, her consciousness is no longer clear.

Xiao Jiu dared not move her, merely walked over, crouched beside Tang Xun, and softly called again and again: "Aunt, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

Tang Xun opened her eyes, her gaze toward Xiao Jiu was hazy.

After a moment, her pupils focused, her chapped lips moved: "Xiao Jiu, how did you get in here?"

Before Xiao Jiu could answer, Tang Xun said again: "Silly child, this path is my own choice; I want to walk it with him. If I still wanted to live, I would have spoken to you long ago—why wait until now?"

"But I don't want you to die," Xiao Jiu choked out. "Aunt, what exactly happened? Tell me, and we'll figure it out together—there must be a way."

Tang Xun shook her head: "Actually, even now I don't clearly know what happened back then, but I can infer that he surely sacrificed his most precious possession to save me, making a deal with someone; after his memory was tampered with, that memory became blurred, and he himself forgot it."

As she spoke, two streams of clear tears flowed from Tang Xun's eyes.

But before they could flow long, the tears turned to frost, sticking tightly to Tang Xun's cheeks.

"Xiao Jiu, I deeply regret it; I always felt we had plenty of time, so I wasn't in a hurry to accept his repeated proposals. I never imagined this day would come. If I could turn back time, I would say yes to him at once."

Tang Xun said this, then turned her face toward Seven Halls Yama.

She slowly raised her hand, the movement somewhat stiff.

When her finger touched Seven Halls Yama, Xiao Jiu saw Tang Xun's fingertip instantly freeze and frost over; immediately after, a Ghost King Butterfly mark swiftly crawled along Tang Xun's finger onto her body…

As each Ghost King Butterfly mark entered Tang Xun's body, Seven Halls Yama's condition seemed to improve slightly.

Watching the scene, Xiao Jiu finally understood why Seven Halls Yama had encountered trouble and Tang Xun's condition was worsening: she had been using this method to continually share Seven Halls Yama's burden.

If it weren't for Tang Xun, Seven Halls Yama might have already…

And Tang Xun fully knew what the outcome of doing this would be, yet she did it without hesitation.

As she said, even if it meant death, she would stay with Seven Halls Yama together.

"Xiao Jiu, go back," Tang Xun murmured as her consciousness began to blur again, "Don't worry about me; this is my own choice—I want to be with him…"

Xiao Jiu shook her head, shaking it desperately.

She wanted to say no, she would not allow it.

But what right did she have to refuse Tang Xun's own decision?

Liu Junyan reached out and embraced Xiao Jiu, soothing her emotions: "Xiao Jiu, don't be like this; we came to find a solution to the problem—we must first hold firm."

Xiao Jiu instantly calmed down.

Yes, the fact that they could get in here and see Tang Xun and Seven Halls Yama is already a major breakthrough.

Xiao Jiu recalled the previous dream; she immediately summoned the Soul-guiding Lamp, had it hover above Tang Xun's head, formed hand seals, and chanted.

Soon, the Ghost King Butterfly marks on Tang Xun's body gathered toward her head and were sucked into the Soul-guiding Lamp.

Inside the lamp chamber, the Merit Light flickered; those Ghost King Butterflies were ignited the moment they entered the chamber, instantly turning to nothing.

Thus it is clear that these Ghost King Butterfly marks on Tang Xun are not actual Ghost King Butterflies, but merely manifestations of ghostly qi.

As the Ghost King Butterfly marks on her body continually decreased, Tang Xun regained consciousness.

Just as she tried to stop Xiao Jiu from continuing, Liu Junyan said: "Aunt, Xiao Jiu is in the middle of casting a spell; if you forcibly interrupt her, she will suffer backlash."

Tang Xun had to relent, merely staring at Xiao Jiu, whose forehead was soaked in cold sweat, with a face full of heartache and self-reproach.

She did not want to involve Xiao Jiu in this, but in the end she could not avoid it.

Xiao Jiu heard Liu Junyan's words, but she did not stop her hand movements; after Tang Xun's condition clearly improved, she again formed seals and directed the Soul-guiding Lamp to move above Seven Halls Yama's head.

The Soul-guiding Lamp, originally full of Merit Light, had one-third of it consumed here for Tang Xun.

Xiao Jiu did the same, using the Soul-guiding Lamp to draw the Ghost King Butterfly marks from Seven Halls Yama's body; when the Merit Light inside the lamp chamber was basically exhausted, leaving only a trace, Xiao Jiu's body began to tremble.

Doing this consumed not only the Merit Light in the Soul-guiding Lamp, but also Xiao Jiu's internal energy and stamina.

Liu Junyan promptly transmitted a bit of true qi to Xiao Jiu, after which Xiao Jiu felt slightly relieved.

When Xiao Jiu withdrew the Soul-guiding Lamp, the Ghost King Butterfly marks on Seven Halls Yama's body surface had decreased by at least half, and even his complexion improved somewhat.

Unfortunately, he still had not awakened.

His brows were tightly knit, his forehead twitching uncontrollably, as if he were having a nightmare; he looked extremely anguished.

Liu Junyan supported Xiao Jiu, asking with concern: "Are you alright?"

Xiao Jiu caught her breath and said: "I'm fine, but the Merit Light in the Soul-guiding Lamp is almost used up, still insufficient; however, as long as we can keep Seven Halls Yama's condition under control, it's worth it. When I go back…"

Xiao Jiu wanted to say, after returning she would borrow some Merit from the siblings of Jiǔyàn qū, try several more times, and perhaps she could save Seven Halls Yama.

But before she could finish speaking, Xiao Jiu noticed that the throbbing of Seven Halls Yama's forehead was growing stronger, a black qi coiling there and continually spreading outward.

Immediately after, Ghost King Butterfly marks surged out one after another at such speed that Xiao Jiu was genuinely startled.

Tang Xun also saw it, and she dared not interject: "How could this be? Clearly, when I helped him draw it out before, it wasn't like this!"

"Backlash," Liu Junyan said, frowning. "It seems Seven Halls Yama's body has long been planted with a hidden disaster; as long as the root cause isn't resolved, the harsher the means, the more it will provoke his body's backlash—perhaps the situation will become even worse."

No one had anticipated that such a thing would happen.

Xiao Jiu had laboriously used the Soul-guiding Lamp to eliminate so many Ghost King Butterfly marks from Seven Halls Yama, yet inadvertently triggered a stronger backlash.

Xiao Jiu wondered whether it was her imagination, but she felt that the Ghost King Butterfly marks on Seven Halls Yama's body seemed even more numerous than before…