Xingtian Dances with Shield and Axe, His Fierce Resolve Endures

"Oh my, oh my, oh my, it's Chi Yuan. Why are you still awake in the middle of the night? Come, come, have a seat."

Xu Yanwu warmly invited Chi Yuan to sit beside him.

"No need. I came because there was something I wanted to ask you."

After refusing Xu Yanwu's invitation, Chi Yuan hesitated before speaking. "Are you really the Head of the War Gods who had been sleeping all this time?"

"Hm? Didn't Cang Xuan and Danzhu explain it to you?"

Xu Yanwu stroked his chin. "I was indeed being studied by you all in Fire Moth under the name Head of the War Gods, but I really am awake now."

"Cang Xuan and Danzhu already told me about you, but..." Chi Yuan looked hesitant. "But I just can't believe that a wish—the illustrious Head of the War Gods—would appear before me as someone like you..."

"...That was a little hurtful, young lady."

"No, it's just..."

Chi Yuan grew a little flustered before she spoke again.

"My hometown, Canghai City, which had been corrupted by Honkai, was cleansed only by relying on the power of the Head of the War Gods... So..."

Hm?

Xu Yanwu froze.

There had been no such part in the original Honkai world.

Although Xu Yanwu had learned from the Divine Key Secret Chronicles that Chi Yuan's hometown in the Previous Era had indeed been called Canghai City, he had no idea about the specifics.

And judging from Chi Yuan's words, it seemed Canghai City had been destroyed with his power?

Oh damn, was she here to pick a fight with him?

No, no, this had nothing to do with him. He had to make that clear to her...

"...I was asleep at the time, so there's no use telling me this." Xu Yanwu rose from the grass, walked up to Chi Yuan, and met her gaze. "My condolences."

"I..."

For some reason, Chi Yuan felt a faint stir of emotion. This was the second time Xu Yanwu had refused someone's thanks in front of her, wasn't it?

Before, he had helped Ji Lin eliminate the twin calamities of Feng Bo Yu Shi, then selflessly handed Feng Bo Yu Shi over to Ji Lin so she could restore her tribe's strength. Such tremendous help, yet he had not even made the slightest request.

Only just now, after speaking with Cang Xuan, had Chi Yuan learned that even though Xu Yanwu possessed such immense power, he was still so gentle and accommodating when dealing with them.

And he had saved her hometown as well...

"Let's not bring this up again, Chi Yuan. If you ever need help with anything, come find me. I'll definitely help you."

Xu Yanwu placed both hands on Chi Yuan's shoulders, his expression exceptionally serious.

What Xu Yanwu really meant was: I'll help you properly from now on, so please don't come looking for trouble with me...

"Mm..."

After hearing Xu Yanwu's words, Chi Yuan blushed. She slipped free from beneath his hands, then bowed to him. "Thank you..."

"???"

It was not until Chi Yuan had returned to her tent that Xu Yanwu came back to his senses.

She had come looking for him in the dead of night just to say that?

Damn, she scared the hell out of me.

Sleep, sleep... Whatever it was, they could talk about it tomorrow...

Come to think of it, wouldn't sleeping outside give him a cold?

Thinking that, Xu Yanwu rolled over and fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware that a trace of energy within his body had disappeared...

---The next day, noon---

"Ah-choo..."

Xu Yanwu was wrapped up in the blanket he had created, shivering as he sneezed nonstop.

"...Why would someone as powerful as you still catch a cold, Uncle Xu Yanwu?"

Danzhu sat by Xu Yanwu's bed, playing with the dirt in her hands and continuously molding all sorts of little figures.

Xu Yanwu sniffed. "How should I know? I was wondering last night whether I'd catch a cold, and then I caught one today... Looks like I really shouldn't sleep outside anymore..."

"Hmph, serves you right!"

Danzhu muttered softly, "Who told you to bully Chi Yuan last night? Her eyes were all red when she went back..."

Xu Yanwu did not catch what Danzhu had said. "Danzhu? What did you just say?"

"Nothing. Oh, right, Uncle Xu Yanwu, take a look at this!"

Danzhu placed the clay figure she had just finished sculpting before Xu Yanwu. "I based it on the pose you struck when you defeated Feng Bo Yu Shi yesterday!"

At those words, Xu Yanwu immediately perked up and examined the clay sculpture before him.

It was not a sculpture made up of a single figure, but a work composed of several figures together.

A headless giant held a massive axe and shield, trampling a hideous monster beneath his feet. A crimson evil dragon watched covetously from the side, unaware of the pair of dragon claws descending from the sky...

"Well? I thought about it for ages before I made it." Danzhu looked extremely pleased with herself. "In the distant future, all the things you've done will slowly become myths through people's retellings. Uncle Xu Yanwu, doesn't that make you excited?"

"..." Xu Yanwu carefully studied Danzhu's clay sculpture. "A myth? That really does sound alluring..."

"Give me the carving knife. I want to change a few things." Xu Yanwu held out his hand for the carving knife Danzhu was holding. "I'll add a stroke to my myth."

Danzhu hesitated. "Uncle Xu Yanwu, your sense of aesthetics..."

Danzhu's words made Xu Yanwu's face darken. "What's wrong with my taste? My taste is perfectly normal, okay!"

After sniffing, Xu Yanwu reached out from beneath the blanket and snatched Danzhu's carving knife. "I won't ruin the sculpture. Hearing you talk about myths just made me want to add something..."

With my next cut, I'll carve out exactly what I want to carve.

Having made his wish, Xu Yanwu picked up the clay sculpture and took a deep breath. He placed the carving knife against Xingtian's figure in the sculpture, while Danzhu watched nervously from the side, terrified that Xu Yanwu would ruin it.

Xu Yanwu's focus sharpened with rare intensity, and he quietly recited, "Jingwei carries tiny twigs in her beak, intending to fill the vast sea."

The carving knife lightly traced beneath Xingtian's feet, outlining a faint figure that could only barely be made out.

Then Xu Yanwu continued.

"Xingtian dances with shield and axe, his fierce resolve endures still."

Xu Yanwu gripped the carving knife, his hand trembling rapidly as he carved one battle mark after another onto Xingtian's body.

"Now different in kind, once transformed, he never regretted it."

Xu Yanwu took a deep breath. Next, he would add eyes to his own body.

"Though his heart remained as before, could fair days ever wait?"

The carving knife descended. The pair of eyes on Xingtian's chest stared fixedly at the hideous monster below, while the enormous mouth on his abdomen opened in fury, as if releasing roar after roar of battle.

After making the final stroke on the clay sculpture, Xu Yanwu hesitated for a moment, then used the carving knife to engrave the following words on its base.

"Now there was a man named Xingtian. In ancient times, he contended with Heaven. Heaven punished him by severing his head, and he said: 'I shall use my nipples as eyes and my navel as a mouth.' He wielded shield and axe, dancing without cease..."