Born Towards Death, Fierce Tug-of-War

Chapter 22: Born to Die, Fierce Tug-of-War

Snap

A bite on his cheek.

Gulp, gulp.

A strong foreign body sensation traveled down his esophagus.

Snap

His belly split open.

His large and small intestines were all pulled out.

Ning Xuan's physique was powerful; even with his organs ruptured, he wouldn't die that quickly.

He could have continued to gather his remaining strength. Although this strength was insufficient to cause any damage, it was enough to make himself faint, thereby reducing the pain of being eaten.

This Yao Mo was different from the Bear Demon before. It didn't seem to be picky about what it ate, nor did it need food to stay alive.

He should have made himself faint as soon as possible.

But he didn't.

He was still laughing, laughing until tears turned to blood, laughing like a torn sack.

He didn't faint because he was trying to analyze what kind of Yao Mo it was through its gnawing actions.

A Bodhisattva's mouth definitely wasn't that small.

Even a human's wasn't.

The sensation of being nibbled bit by bit felt like some very small wild beast.

His cheek felt a clump of stinging pain, like being scrubbed with a stiff toothbrush. A long tail pierced his eardrum and burrowed into his brain matter.

'A rat! It's a rat!!'

Countless "intimate contacts" gave Ning Xuan a flash of inspiration, and he suddenly made a judgment.

But the next moment, the slender tail stirred slightly, and he felt an unimaginable sharp pain in his mind.

He lost all consciousness.

Veins bulged on his arms like earthworms. His fingers were still trembling, along with his toes, legs, neck, and teeth.

Ning Xuan's teeth chattered "de de de," clenching incessantly. It was an instinctive twitch after his nerves reached the extreme.

Finally, after the last "de" fell, he gasped for air and slowly opened his eyes.

The forest was dense.

He slowly looked up.

A black moon hung in the sky.

The towering mountain looked like a hunched-over strange creature staring directly at him.

The night wind blew, and the strange creature exhaled at him, chilling and bone-piercingly cold.

'A rat! Even if… it's not a rat, it's something similar to a rat.'

'That thing is hidden inside the Bodhisattva's golden body! But it's not the Bodhisattva eating people, it's that thing!'

'The one I need to deal with isn't the Bodhisattva, but the thing inside the Bodhisattva.'

Ning Xuan endured the suffering of being eaten, but he also gained the benefit of information.

He sat for the time it took for half a stick of incense to burn before he recovered. Then he stood up.

[Nine of Two].

He skillfully took out the "Four Generations Together" and slung the "Many Children and Grandchildren" onto his back, then continued the unfinished work—measuring.

He wanted to measure the size of this nightmare area.

Four li.

Five li.

Six li.

As he ran, he became increasingly astonished.

Because even though he had traveled far from the original encampment, he still hadn't been teleported back.

He picked up his speed and sprinted. When he had run nearly fifty li, there was still no "boundary" in sight.

But dawn was approaching.

Ning Xuan was now in Manfeng Mountain, surrounded by peaks.

He scanned his surroundings, quickly climbed a peak, and sat on the cliff, squinting at the distance.

The sky brightened.

The pale sunlight instantly "ignited" the jungle and the peaks, making everything white.

This time, Ning Xuan did not immediately face the Yao and Mo.

It wasn't until a full incense stick's worth of time later that he saw a giant, golden-bodied Bodhisattva walking among the mountains.

The Bodhisattva's eyes were filled with greed, its lips dripped with foul saliva, yet it shone with golden light. Its sacred body and grotesque face created a strong visual impact, making one's skin crawl.

When its gaze met Ning Xuan's from afar, the Bodhisattva opened its mouth and let out a thunderous roar: "Little one, I've finally found you."

Without a word, Ning Xuan, carrying "Many Children and Grandchildren" on his back, turned and ran, running with all his might.

The Bodhisattva gave chase.

However, within these mountains, the Bodhisattva's movements were significantly hindered.

One person and one Yao, one fleeing and one chasing, managed to maintain their distance, neither able to gain an inch.

Ning Xuan's usual training paid off.

He sprinted at full speed for half an hour before feeling fatigue. Just then, he found a mountain crevice with a waterfall cascading down.

He moved swiftly, transforming into a gust of wind and charging into the crevice, hiding within.

He was astonished, as he had continued to run deeper into Manfeng Mountain just moments ago.

He had traveled at least several hundred miles, yet he still hadn't reached the "boundary."

Could it be that this time, the "Nightmare Zone" encompassed the entirety of Manfeng Mountain?

His thoughts drifted as he felt a shadow approaching, as expected.

Bang!

Bang!

Two hands pressed against the sides of the mountain crevice.

The sunlight from outside the waterfall was completely blocked.

A large face slowly drew closer, gradually filling Ning Xuan's entire vision. A mocking expression appeared on the Bodhisattva's face.

"Little one, continu-"

Boom!

Before the Bodhisattva could finish speaking, a world-shattering explosion was heard. Ning Xuan channeled Swallow's Cry, using all his strength, carrying "Many Children and Grandchildren" on his back, and transformed into a streak of light, charging into the Bodhisattva's mouth at his fastest speed ever.

Ning Xuan's eyes were cold and sharp, a mixture of absolute calm and madness within them.

As soon as he entered the Bodhisattva's gaping maw, he drew his Beast Slaying Saber, channeled Swallow's Cry with both hands, and with a single strike of Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse, he moved down the Bodhisattva's esophagus.

From the previous battle and this chase, he had already roughly gauged the Bodhisattva's strength.

The Bodhisattva's power was unfathomable, but its speed was not very fast; it was even somewhat strangely sluggish.

Coupled with its "talkative" habit...

Phrases like "Little one, are you looking for me?" and "What are you doing?" – what else could that be but talkativeness?

And so, this was the result.

Born to die!

As foreign objects entered the esophagus, the airflow from violent coughing pushed outwards.

But Ning Xuan's blade cut through the airflow.

He continued downward.

"Cough!!"

"Cough, cough, cough!!!"

The Bodhisattva's coughing intensified.

Ning Xuan's hair stood on end, fluttering wildly.

He narrowed his eyes, paused halfway down the esophagus, and changed his attack from a slash to a spin. Intense collapsing force landed on the esophagus, creating sparks and a partial wound.

There was no blood, but there was injury.

In this moment of distraction, Ning Xuan was once again pushed upward by the airflow.

But he had already keenly sensed something: the Bodhisattva's interior was not as hard as its exterior!!

He plunged his Beast Slaying Saber into the wound, stood with all his might against the esophagus, and then, seizing an opportunity during the Bodhisattva's coughing fit, he propelled "Four Generations Together" from his embrace downward.

Clink, clink, clink!!

"Four Generations Together" bounced and split rapidly along the esophagus.

Ning Xuan then pressed the mechanism of "Many Children and Grandchildren," aiming the entire thing downward into the esophagus.

Thousands of hidden weapons shot out, pouring into the depths of the Bodhisattva's body.

Ning Xuan saw these hidden weapons like a downpour, and the Bodhisattva's internal body like mud. Soon, numerous pitted wounds appeared.

He felt the Bodhisattva clearly weakening, even the airflow from its coughs had become much weaker.

He stomped hard on "Many Children and Grandchildren."

Clang!!

The large black box plummeted down like a black meteor.

He fell along with it.

And so did his saber.

The Beast Slaying Saber!

He twisted his body slightly, concentrating all his strength to a single point at the tip of the saber, and charged downwards with all his might.

He intended to seize the Bodhisattva's weakest moment, burrow deep into its body, and then find the Yao and Mo within.

It's relying on the Bodhisattva's body as a disguise, but it has no other Spiritual Power. Its true form should be quite weak!

Just then, Ning Xuan's vision suddenly exploded with light.

A blinding white light.

As the light washed over him, he saw the wounds caused by his saber and projectiles heal almost instantaneously, even better than before. He even felt the Bodhisattva was stronger than it had been before being injured!

How is this possible?!

Ning Xuan couldn't believe it.

Next, he heard a strange exhalation, as if it were building up.

"Hmph~~~"

The next instant, an unimaginable roar erupted in Ning Xuan's ears.

He felt himself bleeding from all seven orifices from the sheer force of the sound, blood flowing from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

Faintly, he heard a sound.

"Ha!!!"

His entire body instantly went limp.

He felt himself being propelled into the air by a terrifying gust of wind, landing on something soft.

The Bodhisattva's palms were facing upwards, resting on its abdomen, the right hand placed over the left, the tips of the thumbs touching. This was the Buddhist Dhyana Mudra.

And Ning Xuan was lying right in the center of this Dhyana Mudra.

The Bodhisattva suddenly changed its hand seal again.

Ning Xuan felt his body being passively rotated along with the palm, and was soon forcefully pressed to the ground.

He fainted.

The Bodhisattva's right hand covered its right knee, fingers touching the ground, crushing the small youth into the earth.

And this was precisely the Buddhist Demon Subduing Seal.

Seeing Ning Xuan had fainted, the Bodhisattva grabbed him, shook him, then dropped him into its palm. It fiddled with him for a moment before lowering its head, slowly approaching like a hungry beast closing in on its prey in its palm.

Once it was completely close, its tongue flicked out, coiling Ning Xuan, who had lost all ability to resist, into its mouth and swallowing him.