Xiaobai's Opportunity

"Wahhh—blegh!"

Lin Xiao's body trembled, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. This time, it was purple blood. A few black clots were mixed into the gore, looking like fragments of internal organs.

Shen Xiaobai had never seen such a horrific sight. She trembled in terror as she supported Lin Xiao deeper into the mountains. Lin Xiao had already slipped into a half-conscious state, struggling onward by instinct alone. Shen Xiaobai was young and frail—how could she possibly have the strength to help him move? All she could do was clutch his sleeve and drag him forward, tugging and stumbling along the way.

With a thud, Lin Xiao, whose eyes were crimson as fire, suddenly stepped on a round stone and pitched headfirst to the ground.

Shen Xiaobai cried out in fright. She grabbed Lin Xiao's topknot and pulled desperately. "Brother Lin, sob, Brother Lin! Don't scare me! Get up, hurry and get up!"

Lin Xiao's face and lips had turned a dark purplish-blue. His body shuddered faintly, and through the tear in the clothes over his back, three long purple-black streaks could be seen over his heart. Thick black-red blood slowly seeped from those three marks. Shen Xiaobai accidentally touched one of them with a finger, only to feel a sharp pain at her fingertip. The purple mark was like a burning coal, raising blisters on her tender hand. Shen Xiaobai froze in terror. She had become like this from just a touch—how much worse must Lin Xiao be suffering inside?

Great tears fell, streaming endlessly down her dirty little face. Shen Xiaobai plopped down beside Lin Xiao, hugged his head, and burst into loud sobs.

"Father—Mother—sob, Xiaobai is scared—Brother Lin, don't die—if you die, Xiaobai won't have a single family member left." Shen Xiaobai wailed at the sky. In her heart, Lin Xiao had become, like her deceased parents, her most important family. Especially now, Lin Xiao was her entire world.

A heart-rending pain made Shen Xiaobai cough violently. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and spat out blood as well.

When Lin Xiao had exchanged that airborne blow with Ling Batian, he had risked his life by drawing all the Blade Intent into his own body and forcibly pouring it into the warhorse beneath him. Yet a few wisps of Blade Qi had still injured him. Shen Xiaobai, who had been pressed tightly against his chest at the time, had suffered disaster by the fish in the pond and had likewise been injured internally by an extremely faint strand of Blade Qi. Now, grief and terror assailed her together; the five thieves attacked from within, stirring her heart meridian and completely triggering her internal injuries.

How could her frail constitution compare to Lin Xiao's? The instant that wisp of Blade Qi erupted, Shen Xiaobai was plunged into a desperate, near-death situation.

She collapsed limply onto Lin Xiao. Shen Xiaobai blankly opened her eyes and stared stupidly at Lin Xiao's face so close before her, murmuring, "Brother Lin... with you here, Xiaobai isn't afraid. Not afraid!"

"Xiaobai..." Lin Xiao, whose internal injuries had completely erupted after Ling Batian's fierce strike, suddenly groaned in his unconsciousness. No one knew where that burst of strength came from. Lin Xiao abruptly opened his eyes. Perhaps it was instinct—he deftly grabbed and squeezed Shen Xiaobai's wrist pulse with one hand, while the other lightly swept across her body and tapped several acupoints. Then he took out three pills, one red, one white, and one yellow, from a hidden compartment in his belt and stuffed them into Shen Xiaobai's mouth before falling backward again.

As the three pills entered her body, Shen Xiaobai felt the agony in her heart meridian suddenly ease. She spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood, and her internal injuries were unexpectedly relieved greatly.

Shen Xiaobai gave a joyful shriek. Crying and laughing at once, she threw herself onto Lin Xiao and vigorously slapped his face. "Brother Lin, Brother Lin, hurry and treat yourself!"

Lin Xiao's blood-red eyes opened weakly. The final flash of life that only appeared when one stood at death's door emerged in him. Another strange force rose within his body. He abruptly sat upright, seized Shen Xiaobai by the neck, and shouted, "Xiaobai, listen to me! Don't mind me. There are pills here that ward off the miasma and venomous insects in the mountains. Take them and leave in any direction you choose. Don't stay in these mountains—don't, don't stay in these mountains—"

He casually took out several pills and stuffed them into Shen Xiaobai's hands. At last, Lin Xiao exhausted every last shred of strength remaining in his body and collapsed miserably to the ground. His body was hollow, without the slightest strength left; his mind was hollow too. Those few words had drained all of Lin Xiao's spirit. An illusion appeared before his eyes: it seemed that the little white dog he had loved most had merged with Shen Xiaobai, who was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Xiaobai... hehe, I'm coming!" Lin Xiao reached blankly toward the sky and muttered, "Father, your son has been unfilial. Your son is about to die!"

Slowly, slowly, Lin Xiao closed his eyes.

Shen Xiaobai erupted into an earth-shaking wail. She desperately grabbed and rubbed Lin Xiao's face, trying to make him wake up. But his body was already an empty tower after the thieves had departed; all vitality had been cut off. Only the foundation of his true qi cultivation was barely hanging onto his life. How could he possibly awaken?

The sky was at that moment before dawn yet not quite dawn. In the barren mountains, upon a slope of withered grass, a blood-soaked girl hugged a blood-soaked boy and wept bitterly. Even a stone man might have shed a few tears at the sight.

Yet in this world, some people's hearts were several degrees harder than stone.

A small squad of black-clad Black Blade Bandits lazily emerged from a narrow ravine below the slope. One of them cursed, "Fuck his mother, which rotten bitch is crying over a corpse here at the crack of dawn? Did your father die, or did we slaughter your lover?"

There were around ten Black Blade Bandits in the group. Their eyes were still heavy with sleep, and their bodies were covered in broad patches of dew. They slowly climbed the slope and saw Shen Xiaobai clutching Lin Xiao as she wailed in agony. Her face was smeared with blood, dust, and tears, her little features long since obscured beyond recognition. Yet in the eyes of these Black Blade Bandits, they could tell at a glance that Shen Xiaobai was a rare budding beauty. The leader even drooled, calling out in a strange voice, "Oh-ho, brothers, luck has come knocking!"

The Black Blade Bandits all laughed. "That's right, Boss. We were sent out to patrol the mountain, but we never expected to run into such a huge bargain."

Another Black Blade Bandit gave a strange laugh. "Still, this little chick is too tender. If Boss goes at her alone, he'll probably squeeze her dead in three or five strokes. Where'll that leave any fun for us?"

The Black Blade Bandit leader cackled. "Fine. This old man will be gentler today. I have to let every brother get a mouthful of soup!"

The piercing, ugly roar of laughter scattered the morning mist from the slope and frightened the birds in the forest into taking flight, fleeing into the distance.

Shen Xiaobai had long since been frightened stiff. The lewd, vile aura emanating from these Black Blade Bandits instinctively made her feel intense unease. Especially as they advanced toward her slowly with lascivious smiles, Shen Xiaobai had only one thought: let her die quickly. By a girl's instinct, Shen Xiaobai knew that something terrible was about to happen.

But she no longer had even the strength to run. The successive upheavals had drained every bit of Shen Xiaobai's strength as well. She held Lin Xiao tightly, sitting blankly on the ground as she watched the Black Blade Bandits slowly gather around, surrounding her and Lin Xiao on all sides.

The Black Blade Bandit leader stretched out a hand with a strange laugh to grab Shen Xiaobai's little face. He giggled, "Brothers, your elder brother won't stand on ceremony, then."

"Of all evils, lust is the foremost. The sea of suffering knows no bounds; there is no need for you to turn back either."

A clear chant drifted from the distant sky. A breeze flickered, darkness flashed before everyone's eyes, and a middle-aged Buddhist nun appeared before them like a ghost. Her skin was dark, and she was gaunt as kindling, yet nearly eight feet tall. Nine ordination scars were burned into her gleaming bald head. She wore a washed-faded monk's robe that had originally been black, went barefoot with a pair of pitch-black feet over a foot long caked in mud, and held a string of prayer beads threaded from human skullcaps. Narrow foxlike eyes half-lidded, she stared gloomily at the Black Blade Bandits.

Shen Xiaobai had not seen how this Buddhist nun had appeared.

The Black Blade Bandit leader, however, shuddered all over. He quickly threw himself to the ground, leading his men to kowtow to the nun. "Senior has honored us with your presence. This junior failed to welcome you from afar—my crime deserves death, deserves death."

The Buddhist nun snorted coldly. She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the dazed Shen Xiaobai. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and a piercing gleam flashed through them. A trace of unconcealable delight even appeared on her gaunt, skull-like face.

The Black Blade Bandit leader raised his head. Seeing that the nun's attention was wholly fixed on Shen Xiaobai, he hastily said loudly, "Senior, if you have taken a liking to her—"

The Buddhist nun gave the human-bone prayer beads in her hand a light shake and said coldly, "You know your crime deserves death, yet you still haven't died. What are you waiting for? Waiting for those useless fools from the Jimo Sect to save you?"

Hazy vermilion flames surged from the bodies of every Black Blade Bandit, gently swallowing them and turning them into wisps of green smoke that drifted away. The flames destroyed not only their flesh, but also their souls, already filthy beyond measure.

The Buddhist nun strode to Shen Xiaobai, casually grabbed Lin Xiao from her arms, and tossed him aside. Smiling warmly at Shen Xiaobai, she said, "Little girl, this boy is already dead. Death is a good thing—reincarnate sooner, be reborn sooner. This is a great joy! You and this poor nun are fated. This poor nun wishes to take you as a disciple. Are you willing?"

Shen Xiaobai froze for a moment. She had seen the Black Blade Bandits burned to ashes, yet she felt no fear at all. Instead, she inexplicably felt wave after wave of relief. But upon hearing that Lin Xiao was dead, Shen Xiaobai became hysterical. "Nonsense! Brother Lin isn't dead, he isn't dead, he's not dead!"

"Not dead?" The Buddhist nun opened her eyes wide and glanced at Lin Xiao, frowning. "Really, he still has a breath left! Sigh, why struggle so hard? Wouldn't it be more peaceful to die sooner? It would also save you from disturbing this poor nun's disciple's state of mind! Hm, you'd best die sooner!" The Buddhist nun raised her right palm, about to chop down at Lin Xiao's head.

With a crash, Shen Xiaobai threw herself heavily over Lin Xiao. She hugged him tightly and looked at the Buddhist nun with tear-filled eyes, trembling as she said, "You're a bad person too. You're not allowed to touch a single hair on Brother Lin's head!"

The Buddhist nun looked at Shen Xiaobai in surprise. "Who said this poor nun is a bad person? This poor nun is an incomparably good person! To tell the truth, this boy's injuries are too severe. He is practically already dead. This poor nun is skilled at killing people, but saving them..." Her dark face suddenly flushed faintly, and she gave an awkward laugh. "Anyway, he's about to die. Letting him die faster is also a form of compassion!"

Shen Xiaobai clung tightly to Lin Xiao, repeating over and over, "Brother Lin isn't dead. I don't want him to die. Brother Lin isn't dead. I don't want him to die!"

The Buddhist nun frowned. She glared viciously at Lin Xiao and muttered angrily, "Boy, you're already a dead man, yet you still want to ruin this poor nun's good deed. Hm, if he is to be saved, it can only be at that place. But is it really worthwhile for this poor nun to owe them a favor for nothing?"

She paced a few steps around Lin Xiao and Shen Xiaobai. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared fixedly at Lin Xiao for a long while. Suddenly, her eyes lit up again. Staring at the ring on Lin Xiao's finger and the bracelet on his wrist, she gave a strange laugh. "So that's how it is. Excellent! This time, it won't be this poor nun owing them a favor—it will be them owing this poor nun a favor. Hm, should it be five or six hundred Qi Gathering Pills, or three or five hundred Spirit Nurturing Pills, or perhaps... hm, a few dozen Hundred Herbs Elixir would be nice too. Wonderful! This poor nun has just taken in a disciple and needs a great many spiritual pills to cleanse her meridians!"

After coughing lightly, the Buddhist nun pressed her palms together solemnly and chanted, "Little girl, so be it, so be it. The Buddha cherishes all living things. This poor nun shall expend a little effort and save his life... But this poor nun has one condition. If this poor nun saves him, then from now on, you will be this poor nun's... disciple!"

The Buddhist nun gave a strange laugh. "Before your cultivation reaches fruition, you are not allowed to see this boy again. Can you do that?"

Shen Xiaobai's eyes brightened, and she firmly knocked her head against the ground three times before the Buddhist nun.

"Master..."

At this moment, Shen Xiaobai still had no idea what sort of person this Buddhist nun truly was. Just like that, muddleheadedly, she entered under her tutelage.