"Ah? Aaaaaah!" The bearded man's scream was astonishingly loud, soaring straight up to a tenor's high C.
Since he was something like a soul, no blood flowed when the sword pierced him. It simply left a gaping hole.
"Now you're dead," Scarlet Heaven Sword said coldly.
Merit Snake Beauty pulled Scarlet Heaven Sword free. The bearded man's entire body collapsed into the hole in his chest, becoming a fist-sized ball of light in the blink of an eye.
Song Shuhang pressed Doudou's paw against the ball of light and successfully activated the Soul-Deliverance Method. Waves of Buddhist chanting rang out, and light filled with great compassion, great merit, and great wisdom enveloped it.
Within moments, the chanting delivered the bearded man's soul.
"Good heavens, that works? Isn't that a little un-Buddhist?" Song Shuhang asked in surprise.
Cut someone down first, then deliver his soul? That hardly seemed to fit the principles of the Soul-Deliverance Method.
But the proof was right there: the bearded man's soul had been delivered.
"Heh, serves him right for running into my blade... Ahem, my sword," Scarlet Heaven Sword said. "Shuhang, find a chance to cut down the other souls too. Souls in their peculiar state are one in ten thousand. You might never encounter another you can cut down and still deliver. Delivering one is worth more than ten thousand of the souls you've delivered before. Your Merit Power is guaranteed to soar!"
"Where did they come from?" Song Shuhang asked.
Did Scarlet Heaven Sword know who these bearded men were?
"Heh, the legendary 'Deity' and the fanatics and saints from his 'Divine Kingdom,'" Scarlet Heaven Sword said. "Don't ask me what a deity, a Divine Kingdom, or fanatics are. I don't know either. I'm me, Scarlet Heaven Sword, the sword that knows Saber Intent.