Xuan Weizi's Turmoil

The icy concrete embankment loomed like a massive tombstone, radiating the chill of deathly silence. Lanling King leaned against it, his body sliding downward beyond his control. Xiang Yi used all his strength to brace him, but the arms of a twelve-year-old were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot before the weight of an adult warrior. He could only watch helplessly as Lanling King slipped onto the gravel. Every weak breath rasped like a broken bellows. The bluish-black discoloration around the wound in his left shoulder had spread like a web beneath his collarbone, and the black diamond-shaped dart protruding from it was embedded deep in his flesh like the seal of death. Thick blood, glowing with an eerie dim light, had soaked half of his black clothes and pooled beneath him in a small, heart-stopping stain.

Xiang Yi knelt beside him, his small body shaking like a fallen leaf in a gale. The heavy stench of blood clung to his nostrils. The sticky warmth hallucinated on his fingertips—the brain matter of another life whose head had been blown apart—intertwined with the sickly sweet scent of poison wafting from Lanling King's wound, forming a suffocating vortex that savagely twisted his stomach and nerves. He bit down hard on his lower lip, letting the taste of rust spread through his mouth as he tried to use that real pain to suppress the nausea churning inside him. Yet darkness still pulsed at the edges of his vision, and sweat mixed with the nosebleed from before, streaking his cheeks in a wretched mess.

"Master..." Lanling King's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. With great effort, he lifted his heavy eyelids, his unfocused gaze struggling to settle on Xiang Yi's pale little face and catch the bottomless terror and emptiness in those black eyes. He wanted to move, wanted to comfort him, but numbness had already coiled toward his heart like an icy venomous snake. His right hand, resting on the back of Xiang Yi's cold hand, weakly curled its fingertips. That nearly imperceptible touch carried a silent, guilty reassurance—and, deeper still, unwillingness and a weighty entrustment.

The shriek of distant sirens ripped through the night sky, drawing closer like notes heralding death. Yet the sound stirred not the slightest ripple in Xiang Yi's chaotic mind. Only Lanling King's rapidly graying face hammered against his heart again and again.

"Hang on... You have to hang on!" Xiang Yi violently shook his head, trying to throw off the bloody hallucinations and dizziness. He drew in a breath of frigid air tinged with seawater and rust, forcibly suppressing the heaving in his throat. His mental power had long since run dry. His brain felt as if countless steel needles were piercing it over and over, every thought bringing tearing agony—but he had to think!

[System! Antidote! Now!] Xiang Yi silently roared within the depths of his consciousness.

The cold mechanical voice immediately responded with detached indifference:

[Warning: The contracted hero 'Lanling King' has been detected with rapidly declining vital signs.]

[Toxin analysis in progress...]

[Toxin composition: Compound biological neurotoxin (specially made by The Hand), accompanied by powerful paralysis and tissue necrosis effects.]

[Standard antidote options:]

[Option One: Exchange for an [Intermediate Universal Antidote] in the System Store.]

[Required Energy Points ×300.]

[Option Two: The host expends mental power to perform emergency purification (low efficiency, extremely high risk).]

[Recommendation: Seek immediate external medical intervention (success rate <5%; note: this probability is based on the toxin being correctly identified and the appropriate serum being available. The actual chance is close to zero).]

"Three hundred points... two hundred and fifteen..." Xiang Yi stared at the glaring red numbers on the system interface, and a freezing despair shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Not enough! He was nowhere close! Outside medical treatment? The chance was practically zero!

"Damn it!" Xiang Yi snarled, his teeth grinding audibly. His nails dug deep into his palms, the sharp pain granting his chaotic thoughts a fleeting moment of clarity. Outside help wouldn't work. The system wouldn't work... Then he could only rely on himself! Rely on...

"Mr. Guiguzi!" Xiang Yi suddenly raised his head, calling out to the empty space that only he and Lanling King could "see." His voice was hoarse with desperation and an unprecedented plea. "I need you! Lanling King needs you! Please... Think of something!"

The instant his words fell, the air before Xiang Yi silently warped. There was no dazzling flash, no tearing of space. It was as if the light had simply refracted into an illusion by accident. The next moment, a figure in a broad blue-gray Daoist robe, holding an ancient wooden staff, quietly solidified into being.

Guiguzi's beard and hair were white, his features lean, countless Xuan Weizi particles too faint for the naked eye drifting around him with a dim shimmer. The moment he appeared, his eyes—seemingly containing the turning of galaxies—locked onto the dying Lanling King. His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"Baleful energy has entered the body. The poison has reached the heart meridians." Guiguzi's voice was low and calm, yet it carried a force that pierced straight to the essence. He stepped forward, his broad sleeves stirring without wind. At the tip of his seemingly ordinary staff, a cloudy crystal suddenly lit with a faint yellow glow.

Without another word, Guiguzi raised his withered right hand, pressed his fingers together like a sword, and pointed through the air at Lanling King's chest.

Bzzzt—!

In an instant, countless faintly gleaming Xuan Weizi particles emerged from around Guiguzi, from the empty air, even from the ground beneath their feet, like summoned Fireflies. They gathered into a visible stream of pale golden light carrying a gentle breath of life. Like a living spirit serpent, the light flowed precisely into Lanling King's chest.

"Urgh!" Lanling King, who had endured the pain in silence until now, suddenly arched his body and let out an agonized groan choked to its limit. The wound at his shoulder blade abruptly blazed with a piercing blue-black radiance, as if something inside were struggling madly, resisting! The blue-black veins beneath his skin twisted and bulged like living things. Xiang Yi could almost hear the faint hiss of venom boring frantically through the walls of blood vessels beside his ear! The toxin was desperately drilling deeper toward the heart!

"Hmph. Stubborn to the end!" Guiguzi snorted, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. The pale golden stream flowing into the heart meridians instantly thickened and solidified, becoming an indestructible dam that sealed off the final route through which the toxin could spread into the heart! At the same time, more Xuan Weizi particles transformed into countless tiny golden needles, stabbing into Lanling King's shoulder wound from every direction!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!

A faint but scalp-crawling sound of burning arose. Wisps of foul-smelling blue-black smoke rose from the wound, carrying the barest trace of scorched flesh being purified. The black poisoned dart trembled violently, as though clamped by an invisible force and refined!

Lanling King's entire body convulsed violently. Beads of cold sweat instantly soaked him through, blood seeping from where his teeth clenched together. The nails of his uninjured right hand gouged deep furrows into the gravel beneath him. Yet he clenched his jaw and refused to make another sound. Only his heavy breathing and uncontrollable spasms revealed the horrifying pain he was enduring.

Xiang Yi's heart leaped into his throat. Watching Lanling King's suffering, the hallucination on his fingertips seemed to grow clearer again, and his stomach churned once more. He clenched his fists so hard his nails nearly sank into his flesh, forcing himself to watch—to watch the golden streams representing life and the blue-black poisonous radiance representing death wage a silent but brutal tug-of-war within Lanling King's body. It was the only thing he could do.

Time crawled by amid dead silence and suppressed agony. Every second felt as long as a century.

At last, when the yellow light in the crystal atop Guiguzi's staff dimmed slightly, Lanling King's violent convulsions gradually subsided, and his labored breathing eased considerably. His face was still ashen and his lips bloodless, but the deathly air hanging over his brow had noticeably faded. The blue-black smoke rising from the shoulder wound had thinned, and even the poisoned dart seemed several shades duller.

Guiguzi slowly withdrew his hand, and the Xuan Weizi particles circling him also drew in their glow. He gently exhaled a breath of turbid air. A fine sheen of sweat had appeared on his temples; clearly, the effort had cost him greatly.

"I've sealed it for now." Guiguzi's voice carried a trace of barely detectable fatigue. He looked toward Xiang Yi, whose face was white as paper. "The Xuan Weizi are protecting his heart meridians and have slowed the poison's erosion. But this poison is tyrannical beyond measure, not something ordinary. I can only stop its spread for a time. If we cannot find the proper antidote or a stronger force to remove it within twelve double-hours, then once the heart meridians are fully corroded, even immortals will be unable to save him."

Twelve double-hours! Twenty-four hours!

The taut string in Xiang Yi's heart did not loosen because Lanling King's condition had stabilized temporarily. Instead, the cruel countdown cinched it tighter. He looked at Lanling King, eyes shut and breathing faintly, then at Guiguzi, who had clearly expended much but still stood as steady as an abyss. A tremendous sense of helplessness and guilt flooded over him like an icy tide.

"It was me... I was too reckless..." Xiang Yi's voice was dry and hoarse, thick with regret. "If I hadn't insisted on going myself, if I hadn't been utterly weakened after losing control of my mental power and held him back during the retreat..."

His gaze dropped to his still-trembling fingers, where the sticky hallucination seemed to linger. The shock of killing someone for the first time seemed so pale and insignificant before the reality of his protector hovering at death's door, yet it clung to his mind like maggots on bone, gnawing at him without cease.

Guiguzi's profound gaze fell on Xiang Yi, as though it could pierce through the young body and look directly upon the soul tangled in chaos, terror, and self-reproach. He was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, his voice like an ancient deep well, carrying a strange power of comfort. "Young friend, your heart is in turmoil."

Those simple words struck like thunder, splitting apart the chaotic fog in Xiang Yi's mind. Guiguzi's gaze enveloped him almost tangibly, pressing the weight of those words deep into his heart.

"When weapons rise and blood is spilled, it is the common way of the world and a trial every fate must endure. To kill and decide is not a sin, but a choice. To raise a blade in protection—such a heart deserves compassion, and such deeds may be judged." Guiguzi's voice was not loud, yet every word was clear, like a spring flowing through Xiang Yi's scorched heart. "But if the heart is stained by killing intent, trapped by fear, and bound by guilt, it becomes a bright pearl covered in dust, its inner altar obscured. Even with power that reaches the heavens, one will struggle to steer one's own course."

He paused. The tip of his staff lightly tapped the waterproof document pouch Xiang Yi gripped in his other hand. It was stained with dust and specks of dark red blood—a mixture of Xiang Yi's nosebleed and Lanling King's poisoned blood. The striking symbol of ten interlocking rings gave off a cold mystery in the dim light. The staff touched the still-wet bloodstain, leaving behind an almost imperceptible mark, visually echoing the opportunity bought with blood.

"The urgent matter is not to drown in past terror, nor to waste your mind on fruitless regret. Your thoughts should be here." Guiguzi's voice pointed the way without room for doubt. "This object is the opportunity we purchased with blood, and it may also be the key to young Lanling's slim chance of survival. Trace its source and uncover its secret. Perhaps we may find a means to cure the poison—and learn what power behind these 'Ten Rings' seeks to lay hands upon this world. That 'Xu' brand may be the key to breaking this deadlock."

Guiguzi's words rang like a great bell, scattering the gloom and confusion lodged in Xiang Yi's heart. Guilt and fear remained, but he forced them down, replacing them with an even colder, firmer resolve. Right. There was no point drowning in the past or fear! Lanling King's time was running out, and the enemy remained a threat! These documents were a key! A clue!

Xiang Yi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the bloody sweetness in his throat and the trembling in his fingertips. The lingering terror in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by an almost cruel focus—each rapid movement of his eyes felt like a grinding wheel wearing down his exhausted nerves. He abruptly lowered his head, his fingers tugging open the pouch's seal with nearly violent urgency, and pulled out the not-too-thick stack of documents within.

The sirens seemed closer now. He could vaguely hear voices and footsteps echoing through the steel skeleton of the abandoned shipyard.

Xiang Yi heard none of it. His gaze became a scanner, sweeping rapidly over the dense text, charts, and photographs on the documents. Most were in English, Japanese, and symbols he could not understand, mixed with shipping terminology and cargo codes. The document-processing skills accumulated during his past life as an office drone and his vague memories as a Marvel fan were being squeezed to their limits.

[Rapid scan! Key information! Ten Rings! East Sea!] Xiang Yi roared in his mind.

[System-assisted scan in progress...] The cold notification surged into his mind alongside the swelling pain of forcibly injected information.

[Keyword identified: Cargo Manifest]

[Keyword identified: Port of departure: Yokohama]

[Keyword identified: Port of destination: East Sea City]

[Keyword identified: Carrier vessel: Sea Serpent]

[Key image identified: Ten interlocking ring symbol (frequently appearing in headers, seals, and special cargo remarks)]

[Key note identified: Special Cargo - Hold No. 7 - Xu's Marking - Handle with EXTREME CAUTION - Ten Rings Oversight]

Lines of information refreshed across Xiang Yi's retina like a waterfall, synchronized with his visual scan. The swelling pain in his brain intensified.

"Yokohama... East Sea City... Sea Serpent... Cabin 7... Xu's Marking... Ten Rings Oversight..." Xiang Yi murmured the keywords, his heart pounding wildly from tension and a premonition that he was approaching the truth.

His gaze finally settled on a somewhat blurry black-and-white photographic attachment. It appeared to show the interior of a dim cargo hold. Several people in workers' uniforms were carefully carrying a heavy, tarp-covered elongated object into a huge metal container. On the side of the container, a clear mark had been spray-painted in vivid red—a symbol of ten tightly interlocking rings! Near the container's door handle was another, smaller but equally clear branded mark: an ancient seal-script character—"Xu"!

"Xu... Ten Rings... East Sea... Cabin 7..." Xiang Yi's pupils abruptly contracted! His heart seemed to be seized hard by that character, "Xu," missing a beat! Fragmented images—an Afghan cave, blurry terrorist footage from news reports—tore through his muddled memories like lightning! Mandarin! The Ten Rings Syndicate! Though the details were vague, those keywords instantly connected, pointing toward an enormous, dangerous, mysterious organization! And that "Xu" brand... Was it a family? Or some specific mark?

At the very instant this flood of information exploded through his mind, the cold system notification abruptly sounded in Xiang Yi's head:

[ Ding! ]

[System mission triggered: Sever the Serpent's Head!]

[Mission objective: Before the cargo ship 'Sea Serpent' arrives at Pier 7 of East Sea Port and unloads its cargo, infiltrate Cabin 7 and seize or destroy the target container marked with 'Xu's Mark' and the 'Ten Rings' symbol (0/1).]

[Mission time limit: 72 hours (estimated arrival time of the Sea Serpent).]

[Mission reward: Energy Points ×500, [Intermediate Universal Antidote] ×1, [Random Hero Skill Fragment] ×1.]

[Failure penalty: Contracted hero 'Lanling King' dies; host's mental power permanently decreases by 20%.]

Seventy-two hours! The antidote!

The mission notification was like a shot to the heart, instantly dispelling the last trace of hesitation and confusion in Xiang Yi. The objective had never been clearer, and the cost allowed no room for failure!

He abruptly raised his head. Beneath the bloodstains and dust on his small face, an uncanny, compelling light burned in his black eyes—within their depths, one side held a blazing fire that would burn everything away, while the other was absolute calm cold enough to freeze marrow! His terror, fear, and guilt had been completely crushed down, leaving only a do-or-die determination and an almost burning composure. He looked at Lanling King, pale-faced but breathing more steadily, then at Guiguzi, who had spent much strength yet remained as unfathomably calm as the abyss.

"Sir," Xiang Yi said hoarsely, but with unquestionable force. He tightly gripped the photograph stamped with the "Xu" brand and Ten Rings symbol, his knuckles whitening. The edges of his nails had split from the force, blood beading and mixing with the grime and dark red stains on the photograph. "We're going home. Then... we steal a ship and seize our lives!"

Those final words fell like a cleaver, carrying a chilling air of slaughter. In that cold corner saturated with rust, sea stench, and the deathly aura not yet fully dispelled, they struck the ground with resounding force.

Guiguzi looked at the boy before him, who had shed all weakness in an instant, as though tempered in fire. A trace of imperceptible approval passed through his eyes. He gave a slight nod, his broad sleeves stirring without wind once more as additional Xuan Weizi particles silently gathered, gently lifting Lanling King's body.

"Good." Guiguzi answered with only one word.

The next moment, the three figures silently vanished within the pale halo formed by the Xuan Weizi particles, like ink dissolving into the night. Only the cold seawater beneath the embankment continued tirelessly striking the reefs. The scent of rust, seawater, and death in the air gradually thinned beneath the sea breeze. In the distance, several seabirds startled by the sirens cried out in panic. The piercing wail of the sirens suddenly intensified, like blood-scenting hounds rapidly closing in on this abandoned corner.