Assassin's Blade

Chapter 43: The Assassin's Blade

[3 of 9].

Under the black moon, Ning Xuan's eyes opened again. He sat in silence, then suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter without any warning. He laughed maniacally. Though his body was still wracked with pain, he couldn't help but laugh.

Laughter.

He hadn't succeeded in killing himself just then.

Even though he had mustered some strength, the White Bear Demon had been guarding against his suicide. Every time he gathered his strength, the White Bear Demon would shake its body in time, scattering his power. So, after trying countless times, until his legs were completely eaten, he finally managed to kill himself.

However, it wasn't entirely without gain.

He had become extremely familiar with the White Bear Demon's methods of gathering strength and its tells.

Now, he sat listlessly, his hands resting by his sides, his head bowed. He appeared drowsy, but his eyes were ice-cold, flickering with an incredibly wild, dim light. No one knew what he was thinking.

He sat there until the black night passed.

The place was small, spacious, with nowhere to escape or maneuver. Leave? It was better to just sit.

Suddenly, he felt a ray of pale sunlight quietly fall upon him, landing on his thigh along the side of his face.

He looked at his thigh and saw his own white bones in his mind's eye.

He looked at his waist, which had also become entirely bone.

At this moment, he looked into the distance again.

In the distance was a Snow White Bear Demon with kind eyes.

"Where's my weapon? Where did my weapon go?"

The Snow White Bear Demon muttered, then looked at the sitting boy and asked, "Did you see my weapon?"

Ning Xuan stood up, raised the Beast Slaying Saber, and suddenly asked with a smile, "Is this your weapon?"

The Snow White Bear Demon shook its head.

Ning Xuan then pulled out a throwing knife and asked, "What about this one?"

The Snow White Bear Demon shook its head again.

Ning Xuan smiled, "I can't see clearly from far away, let me get closer for you to see."

With that, he moved his fingers, a blue light flashing, and the throwing knife flew towards the Snow White Bear Demon.

The Snow White Bear Demon's small eyes slowly narrowed. Just as the throwing knife was about to touch its forehead, it stopped.

Ning Xuan asked, "Is it?"

The Snow White Bear Demon shook its head but remained vigilant.

Ning Xuan said, "That's right, this is my weapon."

After speaking, he raised his hand and beckoned, recalling the throwing knife. Then he said heartily, "I'll help you look for it."

The Snow White Bear Demon grinned, "You're quite a good person."

The man and the demon began searching for the mysterious weapon.

After searching for a long time, Ning Xuan suddenly said, "Master Bear, could you do me a favor?"

The Snow White Bear Demon chuckled, "You're a good person. You've helped me for so long, I can help you too."

Ning Xuan beckoned again, summoning the throwing knife back into his palm. He handed it over and said, "Master Bear, I find this throwing knife too big. I see you have immense strength and are incredibly brave. Could you help me break this throwing knife?"

The Snow White Bear Demon was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "Okay, okay, okay."

It grabbed the knife and applied force, but the throwing knife remained intact.

It gathered its strength again, its claws growing scales. It gripped the throwing knife tightly, grunted, and the knife shattered, breaking from its palm-sized form into over a dozen fragments the size of fingernails.

The Snow White Bear Demon scratched its head and said, "I broke it too finely."

Ning Xuan took the fragments of the throwing knife and smiled, "It's okay, let's continue looking for your weapon."

The Snow White Bear Demon said, "You really are a good person."

The scorching sun slowly set in the west.

Night gradually descended.

The Snow White Bear Demon's throat suddenly bobbed. It opened its mouth to speak, but the young man beside it suddenly stopped.

Ning Xuan abruptly asked, "Are you hungry?"

The Snow White Bear Demon nodded, then asked back, "Are you hungry?"

Ning Xuan didn't answer. Instead, he extended his left hand and said, "I'm hungry, so eat."

The Snow White Bear Demon froze.

Ning Xuan smiled calmly, "I see you are a cultivator of Buddhism, Master, while I am merely a commoner. If my flesh and blood can nourish you, it would be considered an act of merit."

The Snow White Bear Demon: ...

Ning Xuan said, "Of course, I have some selfish reasons too."

The Snow White Bear Demon said, "What selfish intentions?"

Ning Xuan smiled faintly, "Master must have profound Buddhist teachings. If I can integrate my own flesh and blood into Master's body, I can recite scriptures and bathe in incense with Master from now on. Perhaps I can even ascend to the Western Paradise sooner. It's truly a great bargain."

The Snow White Bear Demon was completely stunned.

It was greatly shocked.

Ning Xuan anxiously offered his hand, saying, "Master, eat quickly, while it's hot."

The Snow White Bear Demon took the arm but then put it down, saying, "I'm still used to starting with the feet."

Ning Xuan lay down directly, took off his boots, and said, "No matter."

The Snow White Bear Demon grabbed his foot, wiped it clean, revealed its hidden fangs, and then took a bite.

Ning Xuan seemed completely numb. A smile appeared on his face, and he began to laugh.

"Hahaha"

"Hahahahaha"

"Hurry, eat faster, hahahaha!"

Not only was he laughing happily, but he also urged it on as he laughed, which made the Snow White Bear Demon's scalp tingle.

The Snow White Bear Demon had eaten countless people, but this was undoubtedly the most unexpected time it had ever eaten a person.

"Hahahaha!"

Ning Xuan roared with laughter.

The Snow White Bear Demon ignored him and ate with its head down, eating quickly.

This person is quite good.

It had to fulfill this person's wish.

It devoured him amidst Ning Xuan's hysterical laughter, smacking its lips, drool flying everywhere, and tough shreds of meat and human skin being torn from between its fangs.

Ning Xuan suddenly forgot the pain in his body. He laughed maniacally while slightly raising his arm, bringing his right hand to his mouth. The more than ten fingernail-sized flying knife fragments he held were cleanly and decisively swallowed.

Flying knives were merely special metals that carried power. They did not possess any inherent function. Even when shattered, they could still carry power.

'Yan He'.

The flying knife fragments thrown into Ning Xuan's mouth were imbued with the power of "Yan He".

A long, humming sound, like swallows returning in spring, chirped happily on the black tile eaves.

The flying knife fragments suddenly accelerated, bursting through Ning Xuan's completely relaxed body, severing his internal organs, and then passing through the flesh of his legs, exploding out of his foot, which had already become bone!

Whoosh!!

The flying knife fragments, following Ning Xuan's body, flew towards the Snow White Bear Demon's throat.

He had actually, in his madness, turned his own body into a channel for launching flying knives!

For this one strike, he had done many things.

He had displayed his strength before the bear demon, letting it feel the threat of this flying knife.

He then had the bear demon break the flying knife. The bear demon felt threatened and naturally broke it into many pieces, but not small enough, as it was helping him.

He laughed heartily, using his voice to mask the sound of the flying knives being launched, lest a sudden strike in the silence cause alarm.

He also urged the bear demon to eat quickly, so that its mouth would be opened wider and its swallowing more rapid.

He had been eaten by the bear demon before, so he was intimately familiar with the bear demon's pre-attack tells, thus he was able to choose a good offensive timing.

All of this was for this one strike.

Facing an opponent too powerful to handle.

Assassination became the only option.

Assassination and direct combat were different.

Those who engage in direct combat consider strength, while assassins consider timing more.

Throughout history, assassins have gone to any lengths to create opportunities for assassination. Ruining families, disfiguring themselves, and offering their heads were common occurrences, often taking months or years. However, an assassin who used their own body, feeding themselves to the opponent while concealing the most vicious and deadly strike within their body, was truly unprecedented.

This strike...

Ning Xuan had already launched it.

He had poured all his strength into it.

The moment it was launched, this strike was no longer under his control.

After passing through his body, the strike, as expected, flew into the bear demon's throat and, with its just-completed swallow, entered its internal organs.

The Snow White Bear Demon's massive body trembled, and it abruptly stopped eating. It clutched its abdomen and stood there blankly, then began to cough violently.

Its flesh was strong, but its internal organs did not have such powerful muscles, nor could they compress their muscles to form scales.

Therefore, its esophagus and internal organs could not withstand this strike.

Its esophagus and internal organs had squarely endured this Yan He!

Ning Xuan laughed heartily, and as he laughed, he began to cough violently, spitting out some shattered internal organs.

The Snow White Bear Demon also hunched over, coughing out large amounts of blood.

Along with the blood, black smoke emerged.

The black smoke detached itself from the Snow White Bear Demon and rolled towards Ning Xuan, pouring into him from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.