Chapter 22: Born Facing Death, A Fierce Tug-of-War
Crunch.
His cheek was bitten.
Gulp.
A strong foreign body sensation traveled down his esophagus.
Crunch.
His belly split open.
His large and small intestines were all dragged out.
Ning Xuan’s physique was powerful, and even with his organs ruptured, he wouldn’t die that quickly.
He could actually continue to mobilize his remaining Yi Jin, which, while not enough to cause any damage, was enough to make him faint and thus reduce the pain of being eaten.
This demonic creature was different from the previous Bear Demon. It didn’t seem to be picky and didn’t need food to stay alive.
He should make himself faint as soon as possible.
But he didn’t.
He was still smiling, his tears turning to blood, his laughter like a tattered sack with the wind whistling through it.
He didn’t faint because he was trying to analyze what kind of demonic creature it was through its chewing actions.
A Bodhisattva definitely didn’t have such a small mouth.
Even a human didn’t.
The sensation of being nibbled in small bites felt like some very small wild beast.
His cheek felt a stinging sensation, as if being scrubbed by a hard-bristled toothbrush, and a long tail pierced his eardrum, drilling into his brain marrow.
‘A rat! It’s a rat!!’
Countless “intimate contacts” gave Ning Xuan an epiphany, and he suddenly made a judgment.
But the next moment, as the slender tail stirred slightly, he felt an unimaginably sharp pain in his mind.
He… lost all consciousness.
Veins bulged on his arms like earthworms, and his fingers were still trembling, along with his toes, legs, neck, and teeth…
Ning Xuan’s teeth chattered “de de de” and clacked together. It was an instinctive twitch of his nerves reaching the extreme.
Finally, after the last “de” fell, he took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
The woods were dense.
He slowly looked up.
The Black Moon hung high in the sky.
The towering mountain looked like a hunched-over ghoul staring intently at him.
The night wind blew, and the ghoul exhaled at him, chilling and bone-piercing.
‘A rat! Even if it’s… not a rat, it’s something similar to a rat.’
‘That thing is hidden inside the Bodhisattva’s golden body! But it’s not the Bodhisattva eating people, it’s that thing!’
‘And I’m not dealing with the Bodhisattva, but the thing inside the Bodhisattva!’
Ning Xuan endured the pain of being eaten but also gained valuable information.
He sat for about the time it takes half an incense stick to burn before he recovered and stood up.
【Nine of Two】.
He skillfully took out “Four Generations Living Together,” slung “Many Descendants” onto his back, and then continued his unfinished task—measuring.
He wanted to measure the size of this Nightmare area.
Four li.
Five li.
Six li.
As he ran, he became increasingly surprised.
Because even though he was far from his original encampment, he hadn’t been teleported back.
He quickened his pace, and when he had run nearly fifty li, there was still no “boundary.”
However, the sky was about to dawn.
Ning Xuan was now in Manfeng Mountain, surrounded by peaks.
He scanned his surroundings, quickly climbed a peak, and sat on the cliff, squinting at the distance.
The sky… lit up.
The pale sunlight instantly “ignited” the jungle and peaks, making everything white.
This time, Ning Xuan didn’t immediately encounter the demonic creature.
It wasn’t until about an incense stick’s worth of time had passed that he saw a giant golden Bodhisattva walking among the mountains.
The Bodhisattva’s eyes were greedy, its lips dripped with slimy saliva, yet its golden body radiated brilliance. Its holy form and grotesque face created a powerful visual impact, making one’s hair stand on end.
When its gaze met Ning Xuan’s from afar, the Bodhisattva opened its mouth and let out a thunderous roar: “Little fellow, I’ve finally found you.”
Without a word, Ning Xuan, carrying “Many Descendants,” turned and ran, running with all his might.
The Bodhisattva pursued him.
However, in these mountains, the Bodhisattva’s movements were significantly hindered.
One person and one demon, one fleeing and one chasing, maintained their distance, neither able to close the gap.
Ning Xuan’s daily training paid off.
He ran at full speed for a full half-hour before feeling tired. At that moment, he found a mountain crevice through which a waterfall cascaded.
He moved agilely, transforming into a gust of wind and rushing into the mountain crevice, hiding within.
He was incredibly surprised because he had actually continued to run deeper into Manfeng Mountain.
He had run at least several hundred li but still hadn’t run out of the “boundary.”
Could it be that this “Nightmare area” covered the entire Manfeng Mountain?
As his thoughts raced, he sensed a shadow approaching as expected.
Bang!
Bang!
Two hands pressed against the sides of the mountain crevice.
The sunlight filtering through the waterfall outside was completely blocked.
A large face slowly approached, gradually filling Ning Xuan’s entire vision. A mocking expression appeared on the Bodhisattva’s face.
“Little fellow, con—”
Boom!
Before the Bodhisattva could finish speaking, a world-shattering explosion sounded. Ning Xuan channeled Swallow Chirping Force, using all his strength, carrying “Many Descendants” with him at the fastest speed of his life, and shot into the Bodhisattva’s mouth like a swift beam of light.
Ning Xuan’s eyes were cold and sharp, a mixture of absolute calm and madness within them.
As soon as he entered the Bodhisattva’s mouth, he drew his Beast-slaying Saber, channeled Swallow Chirping Force with both hands, and with one strike of Flying Swallow Collapsing Mountain, he headed down the Bodhisattva’s esophagus.
Based on his previous battles and this chase, he had roughly gauged the Bodhisattva’s strength.
The Bodhisattva’s strength was unfathomable, but its speed was not very fast; it was even strangely sluggish.
Coupled with its “talkative” habit…
“Little fellow, are you looking for me?” “What are you doing?” What else could this be but talkativeness?
Thus came the current situation.
Born facing death!
As the foreign object entered the esophagus, a strong cough brought forth a rush of air.
But Ning Xuan’s saber cut through this airflow.
He continued down.
“Cough!”
“Cough, cough, cough!!!”
The Bodhisattva’s coughing became more intense.
Ning Xuan’s hair stood on end, fluttering in the wind.
He squinted, stopped halfway down the esophagus, changed his strike from a slash to a spin, and the powerful Collapsing Force landed on the esophagus, creating scattered points and a crescent-shaped wound.
There was no blood, but there was a wound.
During this brief pause, Ning Xuan was pushed upwards again by the airflow.
However, he keenly sensed something: the Bodhisattva’s interior was not as tough as its exterior!!
He plunged his Beast-slaying Saber into the wound, exerting all his strength, stood against the esophagus, and then, seizing the gap during the Bodhisattva’s cough, he shot the “Four Generations Living Together” from his chest downwards.
Clink, clink, clink, clink!!
“Four Generations Living Together” bounced and split rapidly along the esophagus.
Ning Xuan then activated the mechanism of “Many Descendants,” aiming the entire thing downwards into the esophagus.
Thousands of hidden weapons shot out, pouring into the depths of the Bodhisattva’s body.
Ning Xuan saw these hidden weapons like a downpour, and the Bodhisattva’s internal body was like muddy ground. Soon, one after another, pockmarked wounds appeared.
He felt the Bodhisattva clearly weakening, even the airflow from its coughing had become much feebler.
He stomped hard on “Many Descendants.”
Clang!!
The large black box plummeted like a black meteor.
He also plummeted with it.
Following him was his saber.
The Beast-slaying Saber!
He twisted his body slightly, concentrating all his strength on the tip of the saber, and with unwavering resolve, dropped towards the lowest point.
He wanted to take advantage of the Bodhisattva’s weakest moment, burrow into the depths of its body, and find the demonic creature within.
Relying on the Bodhisattva’s body to put on a show, without any other divine abilities, its true form should be very weak!
Just then, Ning Xuan’s eyes suddenly exploded with light.
A pale white light.
As the light washed over him, he saw that the wounds caused by the saber and hidden weapons were repaired almost instantly, even better than before. He even felt that the Bodhisattva was stronger than before it was injured!
‘How is this possible?!!’
Ning Xuan couldn’t believe it.
Then, he heard a strange breath, as if gathering.
“Hmph~~~”
The next instant, an unimaginably loud noise sounded in Ning Xuan’s ears.
He felt himself bleeding from all seven orifices from the deafening sound, blood flowing from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.
Faintly, he heard a sound.
“Ha!!!”
His whole body instantly went limp.
He felt himself being propelled into the air by a terrifying airflow and landed on a soft surface.
The Bodhisattva placed its hands palm up on its abdomen, its right hand over its left, with the tips of its thumbs touching—this was the Buddhist meditation mudra.
And Ning Xuan was lying right in the middle of that meditation mudra.
The Bodhisattva suddenly changed its hand seal.
Ning Xuan felt his body being passively rotated with the palms and was soon pressed heavily onto the ground.
He fainted.
The Bodhisattva rested its right hand on its right knee, its fingers touching the ground, crushing the small youth into the earth.
This was precisely the Buddhist demon-subduing mudra.
Seeing Ning Xuan faint, the Bodhisattva picked him up, shook him, then dropped him into its palm, fiddled with him a couple of times, then lowered its head, slowly approaching, like a hungry beast slowly approaching its prey in its palm.
When it was completely close, it curled its tongue, rolled the defenseless Ning Xuan into its mouth, and swallowed him.
(End of this chapter)
