Zhu Bajie watched Deer Strength Immortal's movements.
Deer Strength Immortal gripped the grayish-white dagger.
Its tip pressed against his own abdomen.
Without hesitation.
Without pause.
He plunged the blade down.
His robe split.
His skin split.
His flesh split.
His abdominal cavity opened.
All his internal organs lay in plain sight.
His heart beat.
His heart beat.
His liver churned.
His spleen and stomach worked.
His lungs expanded and contracted.
His kidneys filtered.
Everything lay exposed.
Blood surged out.
It ran down his Daoist robe.
It dripped onto the ground.
Making faint sounds.
Deer Strength Immortal's expression did not change.
As though he were doing something utterly ordinary.
His hand reached into his own abdominal cavity.
His five fingers closed.
He gripped his own heart.
Then.
He took it out.
A bright red heart, still beating, rested in his palm.
Blood dripped from the heart.
Plop.
Plop.
Plop.
He placed the heart on the ground before him.
Then he looked at Zhu Bajie.
His gaze was icy.
As though he were looking at a dead man.
"Your turn."
He said.
Zhu Bajie grinned.
"That's it?"
He patted his belly.
"You think something like this scares old Zhu?"
Without using anything else, he took out his Nine-Toothed Rake and aimed it at himself.
Nine bloody gashes opened across his abdomen.
The same motion.
The same depth.
The same clean, decisive execution.
His abdominal cavity opened.
All his internal organs lay in plain sight.
Zhu Bajie's hand reached into his own abdominal cavity.
His five fingers closed.
He gripped his own heart.
He took it out.
It was a full size larger than Deer Strength Immortal's heart.
He placed the heart on the ground before him.
Two hearts.
One on the left, one on the right.
They lay side by side on