“Elder Huai, let’s go.” Rat Seventh urged.
Elder Huai glanced at the panic-stricken Zhang Zongnian through the bars and instructed, “I’m leaving. Remember what I told you, learn from this, don’t act on impulse, be patient.”
Zhang Zongnian reached into his clothes and gripped the small, folded piece of paper he had prepared earlier.
On that paper was written the content from the <Changsheng Jue Upper Volume>, covering everything from the seventh layer of Qi Refinement up to Foundation Establishment.
He wanted Elder Huai to deliver this note to Lin Xue for him.
As long as Lin Xue received this cultivation method, there might still be a turning point.
After all, she was so clever. The <Swiftwind Sword Manual> and <Wood Spirit Detoxification Technique> —she could learn and master these techniques just by looking at them.
With this cultivation method and the Foundation-building Pill, maybe she could succeed in establishing her foundation before Shu Er advanced to become a Grand Demon.
With the strength of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, she might no longer be so helpless when facing Shu Da and Shu Er.
Zhang Zongnian was about to pull out the note from his clothes, but he noticed Rat Seventh eyeing him warily from the side.
His actions involuntarily hesitated.
He didn’t dare gamble on whether Rat Seventh was literate, nor risk taking out the note in front of him.
If Rat Seventh recognized what was written, he would surely intercept it and deliver the cultivation method to Shu Da.
Once Shu Da got hold of it, he would be suspicious and keep Zhang Zongnian away from Lin Xue.
If that happened, Zhang Zongnian would probably never get another chance to get the method to Lin Xue.
He couldn’t take that risk.
His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
The note was clutched tightly in his hand, then tucked back into his clothes.
Elder Huai turned and left with Rat Seventh.
Zhang Zongnian watched helplessly as the only person who might be able to help him deliver the method to Lin Xue walked farther and farther away, disappearing from sight.
He slumped to the ground in despair.
Laifu saw Zhang Zongnian hanging his head, his soul seemingly lost, and knew he was worrying that Lin Xue would be forcibly taken by Shu Er.
After all these days, he had figured it out. The feelings Zhang Zongnian had for Lin Xue were probably not just those between siblings.
Now, seeing Lin Xue about to be taken by Shu Er, how could Zhang Zongnian possibly feel at ease?
Laifu could completely understand Zhang Zongnian’s feelings.
In his dog mind, it was just how things were.
After all, Shu Da and Shu Er were stronger, the two brothers.
This is how the Demonic Beast world worked—the weak were prey to the strong, the strong were revered.
If you were weaker, you could only endure, watching as others took the best Yaojing and enjoyed the finest things in the mountain.
That was fate.
He tried to console, “Brother, try to see things more openly. Once your little sister marries Er Mouse Lord and becomes the Future Second Madam, you’ll be able to leave this cell. In a few years, have her find you a Yaojing for a partner, settle down, and things will get better for you. Don’t you think so?”
He stretched out his dog paw, reached through the bars, patted Zhang Zongnian on the shoulder, then went back to manage his own underlings.
Zhang Zongnian leaned against the wall of the cell, his heart feeling as if it were roasting over a fire, tormented and anxious.
He had thought there was still time, still a chance. In these past few days, he’d hoped for a chance to meet Lin Xue and give her the cultivation method.
He hadn’t expected Shu Er to be advancing to Grand Demon so soon.
It was all so rushed— he hadn’t even had time to react.
The cave was now on high alert, and Elder Huai, the only one who could go to the upper cavern, was gone. He couldn’t count on Laifu either.
Right now, he had no way to get the cultivation method to Lin Xue.
Was he supposed to just wait for Shu Er to become a Grand Demon, then go find Lin Xue and force himself on her?
Zhang Zongnian cradled his head, burning with anxiety.
What could he do to stop Lin Xue from being defiled by Shu Er?
Laifu had told him that after Shu Da became a Grand Demon, he couldn’t help but publicly tear off Hong Yanzhi’s clothes and perform an obscene display before all the little demons of the mountain.
He couldn’t bear to imagine such a filthy scene happening to Lin Xue—what would she do then?
He couldn’t bear to let that happen.
He’d rather sacrifice his own life than let that scene unfold.
Zhang Zongnian clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and slammed the wall beside him.
He hated his weakness more than ever, hated his own helplessness.
His left hand was battered and bloody from punching.
“Squeak squeak squeak.”
At that moment, in the surrounding cells, rats crawled out from holes and crevices, their eyes red as they rushed outside the dungeon.
Zhang Zongnian shuddered as he recognized the scene.
Is it starting?
Last time, after he saw this many rats running out with bloodshot eyes, Shu Da successfully advanced to Grand Demon not long after.
Now, the rats were swarming out again, just like before.
Shu Er was about to begin his advancement.
Zhang Zongnian wished he could turn his gaze into ropes to catch each and every rat, preventing them from going forward.
“Squeak!”
A sharp rat cry came from behind him.
Zhang Zongnian turned to see that the familiar little mouse in his cell had also scurried out from its hole.
Like the others, its eyes were red, as if under some control, rushing straight toward the outside of the cell.
Zhang Zongnian reached out and grabbed it.
“Squeak squeak squeak!” The little mouse struggled violently in his hand.
Zhang Zongnian said bitterly, “Are you going to be Shu Er’s accomplice too?”
The little mouse twisted, its tail lashing, even baring its teeth to try to bite him.
Zhang Zongnian sighed in sorrow and resignation.
The little creature had no intelligence—it couldn’t possibly understand him.
If only it could, maybe he could ask it to take the cultivation method hidden in his clothes up to Lin Xue.
As he thought this, Zhang Zongnian suddenly froze.
He’d thought of a way.
He could seize this mouse’s body!
The cave was on high alert; little demons couldn’t move freely or head to the upper cavern, but these mice could.
Right now, mice were running everywhere in the cave.
If he seized this mouse’s body, he could bring the method, blend in with the swarm, make his way to the upper cavern, find Lin Xue, and give her the technique.
This way, Lin Xue might be able to establish her foundation before Shu Er became a Grand Demon.
With that, she would have the power to protect herself and resist being defiled by Shu Er.
Though Shu Da was still a Grand Demon in the cave, as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, her chances of escaping two Grand Demons would still be much higher than those of a minor demon at the Body Forging stage.
But—should he really do this?
Should he really seize the little creature’s body?
Zhang Zongnian gazed at the gray little mouse in his hand, deeply conflicted as he waged a fierce inner battle.
Did this mouse have a Spiritual Vein? If he took over its body, could he become a demon himself? He didn’t know.
But he knew that Spirit Beasts were rare—one in a hundred or even a thousand. They were not easily found.
What luck would he need for a random mouse to possess a Spiritual Vein and be a Spirit Beast?
And a person had only one chance in a lifetime to seize a body.
When Lin Xue had given him the <Heavenly Demon Transformation Art>, she told him: he must seize a Spirit Beast with a Spiritual Vein, so he could use the <Beast Refinement Codex> to absorb Serpent Cores, grow stronger, and eventually take human form to resume the path of cultivation.
If this mouse had no Spiritual Vein, it would be all over.
Ordinary mice couldn’t cultivate—even if they ate Serpent Cores, they couldn’t absorb demonic energy.
He’d be fated to live out his life as an ordinary mouse, running through dark, narrow burrows, squeaking for scraps of moldy food, living for a few years, and dying in the dirt, unknown and unmourned.
Could he accept such a life?
Would he abandon his mother’s vengeance?
Zhang Zongnian’s hand shook as he gripped the mouse.
Would he risk spending the rest of his life as an ordinary rat, seize the little thing’s body, and try to save Lin Xue at all costs?
Or would he endure, let Lin Xue be defiled and ravaged by Shu Er after he became a Grand Demon, and save his only chance for body-seizing until he could find a Spirit Beast with a Spiritual Vein?
Which would he choose?
He thought of his mother’s murder, the Yang Family’s treachery and pursuit, the fifteen bitter years he had spent practicing the sword, how a once-glorious Cultivator had become a rat lurking in a gutter, giving up on revenge for his mother, and letting the Yang Family continue their carefree days in Xichuan.
How could he resign himself to that?
His trembling hand holding the mouse slowly lowered to the ground.
He wanted to let go, to let the little mouse go.
But his fingers seemed not to obey his command; he couldn’t let go.
Lin Xue’s every smile and gesture kept echoing in his mind.
He remembered the first time he saw Lin Xue, how amazed he was.
Back then, he was nailed to a wall by a long arrow. Lin Xue, a Yaojing, could have left him to die, but she had turned back and helped a mere Demon Slaying Division Officer like him.
He remembered that night outside Stone Plate Town, when Lin Xue faced three Heiyi Wei.
She could have escaped alone with the Chuanyin Fashu on her ring, but she had stayed to fight by his side, almost being humiliated by Yang Yuxiang before his very eyes.
He remembered it all clearly.
In Stone Plate Town, Lin Xue had already learned the Wood Spirit Detoxification Technique, so Senior Brother’s anesthetic had no effect on her.
She could have walked away, but instead she came back for him and helped rescue his mother.
He remembered what he had said to Lin Xue back then:
“Thank you, Miss Lin. I, Zhang Zongnian, will never forget your help for as long as I live. I will never forget your kindness.”
Now it was time to repay Lin Xue’s kindness—how could he falter now?
Later, his mother was murdered, his arm crippled, meridians damaged, unable to cultivate past Qi Refinement Third Layer.
In his darkest hour, it was Lin Xue who gave him the <Heavenly Demon Transformation Art> and <Beast Refinement Codex>, giving him hope like a ray of sunlight piercing through his stormy life, allowing him the courage to go on.
She had always helped him, yet he had done nothing in return.
Last time, when he got the Paper Crane, he could have escaped, but his greed for a Serpent Core caused Lin Xue to be badly injured in the bird demon’s self-destruction, leaving her unconscious and landing her in this predicament.
He had brought this upon her.
If not for his greed, Lin Xue would have escaped this wretched cave long ago.
How could he be so selfish, to let Lin Xue be defiled by Shu Er?
If he let it happen, Zhang Zongnian felt he could never forgive himself!
The mouse in his hand thrashed even more violently.
Zhang Zongnian finally made up his mind.
He gritted his teeth, gripped the mouse with his left hand, and, using his barely functional right hand, pulled out the folded note from his clothes.
His right hand, reattached after being severed, was clumsy. After much trembling effort, he managed to unfold the paper on the ground.
Zhang Zongnian took the brush Laifu had given him from the corner of the cell with his right hand, and tore open a section of bandage from his left arm with his teeth.
The bandage tore with a “sala” sound, exposing a still-unhealed wound.
He dipped the brush in his blood and, on a blank section of the note, scrawled a crooked red character for “Yang,” then drew a deep “X” over it.
Then, he put down the brush and painstakingly folded the note up again.
When it was done, he said to the note, “Miss Lin, if I, Zhang Zongnian, become a mouse without a Spiritual Vein and cannot seek revenge against the Yang Family, I beg you to kill the Yang Family Patriarch and avenge my mother for me. I thank you in advance!”
He bowed deeply to the note.
Then, he knelt and kowtowed three times in the direction of home, saying in grief, “Mother, your unfilial son may not be able to avenge you with his own hands. I owe Miss Lin Xue so much, and now she is in danger—I must repay her! I must now give up this body you gave me to save her, please forgive me!”
Zhang Zongnian pressed his forehead to the ground, remaining there for a long time before sitting up.
He raised his left hand, placing the red-eyed, frenzied little mouse in front of his face, and said apologetically, “Brother Mouse, forgive me. I must save my friend, so I have to take your body. If there is a next life, I, Zhang Zongnian, will repay you.”
After speaking, he looked around, making sure no one would disturb him. He took a deep breath, focused his mind, stared into the little mouse’s red eyes, and began the body-seizing.
He felt his mind buzz, as if he were suddenly being dragged high into the sky.
Opening his eyes, Zhang Zongnian found himself above a sea of clouds, surrounded by white mist.
Not far ahead, a tiny mouse stood, looking around in confusion.
Zhang Zongnian walked toward it.
The mouse saw him approach and grew frightened.
It tried to run, but seemed to be fixed in place, unable to leave.
It could only watch helplessly as Zhang Zongnian drew near, squeaking shrilly.
Zhang Zongnian stood before it.
As the squeaks echoed, the mouse’s figure gradually faded and then disappeared.
Zhang Zongnian felt himself plummeting downwards.
In a flash, he was back in the cell.
Everything around him was suddenly gigantic.
He saw a giant lying beside him.
He knew—that was his original body.
He had succeeded in body-seizing.
He, Zhang Zongnian, was now a tiny mouse.
He tried to speak. Opening his mouth, he only managed a “squeak squeak.”
He moved his four limbs forward.
Still unused to this body, he staggered with every step.
After a while, he slowly grew accustomed to it.
Zhang Zongnian walked to his original body, looking at his own closed eyes and fallen figure, a deep sorrow welling up within him.
From now on, he would bid farewell to the body he had used for over twenty years.
He was reluctant to part with it.
Though the right arm was crippled and his cultivation could not advance, it had been with him for over twenty years—he was deeply attached to it.
He took one last look at his former body, then turned, found the folded note on the ground, bit it with his mouth, and rushed out of the cell without looking back.
He was going to find Lin Xue.