Xiaobai's Opportunity

"Ughhhh~~~ Puke!"

Lin Xiao's body trembled, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. This time, it was purple blood. Mixed within the blood plasma were small, dark blood clots, resembling fragments of internal organs.

Shen Xiaobai had never witnessed such a gruesome scene. Trembling with fear, she supported Lin Xiao as they ventured deeper into the mountains. Lin Xiao had fallen into a semi-conscious state, only able to struggle forward on instinct. Shen Xiaobai, young and frail, lacked the strength to truly help him move. She could only pull at his sleeve, dragging him along.

With a gulp, Lin Xiao, his eyes as red as fire, stumbled on a round stone and fell face-first onto the ground.

Shen Xiaobai cried out in terror. She grabbed Lin Xiao's hair and desperately pulled at it. "Brother Lin, sob, Brother Lin! Don't scare me, get up, quickly, get up!"

Lin Xiao's face and lips had turned a purplish-black. His body shivered slightly. Through the torn clothing on his back, three long, purplish-black marks could be seen. Thin trickles of thick, dark red blood slowly oozed from these three marks. Shen Xiaobai accidentally touched one of the purple marks with her finger, only to feel a sharp pain. The purple mark felt like a burning coal, causing a blister to form on Shen Xiaobai's tender little hand. Shen Xiaobai was stunned. If touching it with her finger caused this, how much pain must Lin Xiao be enduring internally?

Large tears streamed down her dirty little face. Shen Xiaobai sat down beside Lin Xiao, cradled his head, and wailed.

"Daddy~~~ Mommy~~~ Sob, Xiaobai is scared~~~ Brother Lin, don't die~~~ If you die, Xiaobai won't have any family left." Shen Xiaobai cried to the heavens. In her heart, Lin Xiao had become as important a family member as her deceased parents. Especially now, Lin Xiao was her everything.

A heart-wrenching pain caused Shen Xiaobai to cough violently. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and also spat out a mouthful of blood.

Earlier, when Lin Xiao and Ling Batian exchanged blows mid-air, Lin Xiao had risked his life to transfer all his Blade Intent into his own body and forcefully channeled it into the warhorse beneath him. However, a few wisps of Blade Qi had still injured his body. And Shen Xiaobai, who had been held tightly in his arms at the time, had suffered collateral damage, also being wounded internally by an extremely fine strand of Blade Qi. Now, with her grief and fear, the five "thieves" attacking from within had touched her heart meridians, fully triggering her internal injuries.

How could her physique possibly compare to Lin Xiao's? The moment that strand of Blade Qi erupted, it had plunged Shen Xiaobai into a near-death state.

Limping, she collapsed onto Lin Xiao. Shen Xiaobai blankly opened her eyes. She stared at Lin Xiao's face, so close, and whispered to herself, "Brother Lin~~~ With you here, Xiaobai isn't afraid, not afraid!"

"Xia~~~obai~~~" Lin Xiao, whose internal injuries had fully flared up from Ling Batian's fierce attack, groaned in his semi-conscious state. With a surge of strength from somewhere unknown, Lin Xiao suddenly opened his eyes. Perhaps it was instinct, but he nimbly grabbed and squeezed Shen Xiaobai's wrist pulse with one hand, while the other gently swept over her body, pressing a few acupoints. Then, he took out three pills—one red, one white, and one yellow—from a hidden compartment in his belt, stuffed them into Shen Xiaobai's mouth, and collapsed again, looking up at the sky.

As the three pills entered her body, Shen Xiaobai felt the intense pain in her heart meridians suddenly ease. She spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood, and her internal injuries were greatly alleviated.

Shen Xiaobai let out a surprised shriek of joy. Laughing and crying, she threw herself onto Lin Xiao, patting his face forcefully. "Brother Lin, Brother Lin, hurry and treat yourself!"

Lin Xiao's blood-red eyes weakly fluttered open. A final burst of energy, common in those near death, appeared in him. A strange power surged within him again. He abruptly sat up, grabbed Shen Xiaobai by the neck, and shouted, "Xiaobai, listen to me! Don't mind me. Here are pills to avoid the miasma and poisonous insects in the mountains. Take them and leave in any direction. Don't stay in the mountains~~~ Don't, don't stay in the mountains~~~"

Casually taking out a few pills and giving them to Shen Xiaobai, Lin Xiao finally exhausted all the remaining strength within him and collapsed onto the ground in a sorry state. His body felt empty, devoid of any strength. His mind was also blank. The few words he had just spoken had consumed all his mental energy. An illusion appeared before his eyes, as if his most beloved white dog from the past had merged with the sobbing Shen Xiaobai before him.

"Xiaobai~~~ Hehehe, I'm coming!" Lin Xiao vaguely reached out towards the sky, muttering, "Father, your son is unfilial, your son is about to die!"

Slowly, slowly, Lin Xiao closed his eyes.

Shen Xiaobai erupted into earth-shattering cries. She desperately rubbed Lin Xiao's face, trying to wake him. But his body was now an empty vessel, his life force completely extinguished. Only the foundation of his true qi cultivation was keeping him alive. How could he possibly wake up?

The sky was on the verge of dawn. In the desolate mountains, on a slope of withered grass, a blood-soaked girl held a blood-soaked boy, weeping inconsolably. Even a stone statue would have shed a few tears at such a sight.

However, in this world, some hearts were harder than stone.

A small squad of Black Blade bandits, clad in black, emerged lazily from a small mountain gully below the slope. One of them cursed, "Damn it, what bitch is crying her eyes out here so early in the morning? Is it your father who died, or did we just kill your lover?"

This squad of Black Blade bandits consisted of about ten men, all of them groggy and still covered in large patches of dew. They slowly walked up the slope and happened to see Shen Xiaobai, who was holding Lin Xiao and weeping bitterly. Shen Xiaobai's face was a mess of blood, dust, and tears, her small face completely smeared. However, in the eyes of these Black Blade bandits, they immediately recognized Shen Xiaobai as a rare, beautiful seedling. The bandit leader's saliva dripped. He called out in a strange, singsong voice, "Aiyo, brothers, luck is coming!"

The Black Blade bandits all laughed. They chimed in, "That's right, Captain. We were sent out on patrol, and we didn't expect to stumble upon such a windfall."

Another Black Blade bandit chuckled sinisterly, "It's just that this little chick is too tender. I'm afraid the Captain alone could finish her off in three to five moves. Where's the fun for the rest of us?"

The Black Blade bandit leader chuckled sinisterly, "Right, I'll be gentle today too. We have to let all the brothers have a taste!"

The harsh, unpleasant laughter dispersed the morning mist on the slope, startling the birds in the forest into flight, scattering into the distance.

Shen Xiaobai had already stiffened with fear. The lewd, evil aura emanating from these Black Blade bandits made her instinctively sense extreme unease. Especially as they slowly approached her with lewd smiles, Shen Xiaobai had only one thought: Let me die quickly. Out of a girl's instinct, Shen Xiaobai knew something unpleasant was about to happen.

But she didn't even have the strength to escape. The series of drastic events had also drained Shen Xiaobai of all her strength. She tightly embraced Lin Xiao, sitting blankly on the ground, watching the Black Blade bandits slowly gather, surrounding her and Lin Xiao.

The Black Blade bandit leader grinned sinisterly and reached out to grab Shen Xiaobai's little face. He chuckled, "Brothers, I won't be polite."

"Evil begins with lust~~~ The sea of suffering is boundless; you need not turn back."

A clear chant echoed from the distant sky. With a flash of wind, the scene before everyone darkened. A middle-aged nun, with dark skin, as thin as a skeleton, yet nearly eight feet tall, appeared before them like a ghost. The nun had nine burnt scar marks on her bald head. She wore a faded, plain-colored, originally black monk's robe. Her feet, nearly a foot long, were bare, black, and covered in mud. In her hands, she held a string of prayer beads made from human skull tops. She narrowed her long, fox-like eyes and gazed grimly at the Black Blade bandits.

Shen Xiaobai hadn't seen how the nun had appeared.

The Black Blade bandit leader shivered all over. He quickly threw himself to the ground, along with his brothers, and kowtowed to the nun, saying, "Senior, your presence is an honor. We failed to welcome you properly. Death is deserved, death is deserved."

The nun snorted coldly, narrowed her eyes, and glanced at the stunned Shen Xiaobai. Suddenly, her eyes widened considerably, and a piercing glint flashed within them. A hint of unconcealed joy appeared on her extremely emaciated, skull-like face.

The Black Blade bandit leader looked up. Seeing that the nun's attention was entirely focused on Shen Xiaobai, he quickly said loudly, "Senior, if you fancy~~~"

The nun lightly shook the human bone prayer beads in her hand and said coldly, "You know it's a capital offense. Why aren't you dying yet? Waiting for those useless fools from the Jimo Sect to save you?"

Wisps of hazy crimson flames emerged from within each Black Blade bandit, gently engulfing them and turning them into wisps of smoke that drifted away. The flames not only burned their physical bodies but also destroyed their utterly defiled souls.

The nun strode up to Shen Xiaobai, casually tossed aside the Lin Xiao in her arms, and said to Shen Xiaobai with a gentle smile, "Little girl, this boy is already dead. Death is a good thing. Reincarnating early, being reborn early, this is a great joy! You and this humble monk have a karmic connection. This monk wants to take you as a disciple. Are you willing?"

Shen Xiaobai blinked in surprise. She had seen the Black Blade bandits burn to ashes, but she felt no fear at all. Instead, she felt an inexplicable sense 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 isn't dead!"

"Not dead?" The nun's eyes widened. She glanced at Lin Xiao and frowned, "Really, there's still a breath left! Sigh, why are you struggling so hard? Wouldn't it be more peaceful if you died sooner? It would also save disturbing my disciple's state of mind! Hmm, you should just die sooner!" The nun raised her right palm, about to strike down at Lin Xiao's head.

With a whoosh, Shen Xiaobai threw herself onto Lin Xiao. She tightly embraced Lin Xiao, her tear-filled eyes staring at the nun, and stammered, "You're a bad person too! You're not allowed to touch a single hair of Brother Lin!"

The nun looked at Shen Xiaobai in surprise. "Who says this humble monk is a bad person? This humble monk is a first-class good person! To be honest, this boy's injuries are too severe; he's already a dead man. This humble monk is skilled at killing people, but saving people~~~" Her dark, sallow face suddenly flushed slightly. The nun chuckled dryly, "He's dying anyway, so letting him die quickly is also a form of compassion!"

Shen Xiaobai tightly embraced Lin Xiao, repeatedly saying, "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 nun's brow furrowed. She glared fiercely at Lin Xiao and said in a low, angry voice, "You boy, you're already dead, and you're still ruining this humble monk's good deeds. Hmm, to save him, it can only be done in that place. But to have this humble monk gratuitously owe them a favor, isn't that a bit disadvantageous?"

Walking a few steps around Lin Xiao and Shen Xiaobai, the nun narrowed her eyes into slits, staring intently at Lin Xiao for a long time. Suddenly, her eyes lit up again. She stared fixedly at the ring on Lin Xiao's finger and the bracelet on his wrist, chuckling sinisterly, "So that's how it is. Excellent! This time, it's not this humble monk owing them a favor, but they will owe this humble monk a favor. Hmm, should it be five to six hundred Qi Gathering Pills, or three to five hundred Spirit Nurturing Pills, or~~~ hmm, getting a few dozen 'Hundred Herbs Elixirs' wouldn't be bad either. Wonderful! It's perfect timing, as this humble monk has taken a disciple and needs a large quantity of elixirs to help her with Meridian Cleansing!"

Clearing her throat lightly, the nun solemnly clasped her hands together and chanted, "Little girl, forget it, forget it. The Buddha has compassion for all living beings. This humble monk will expend a little effort to save his life~~~ However, this humble monk has a condition. If this humble monk saves him, then you will be this humble monk's~~~ disciple!"

The nun chuckled sinisterly, "Before you achieve cultivation, you are not allowed to see this boy again. Can you do that?"

Shen Xiaobai's eyes lit up. She firmly kowtowed three times to the nun.

"Master~~~"

At this moment, Shen Xiaobai had no idea what kind of person this nun truly was, yet she had bewilderingly become her disciple. (To be continued)