Possessed

In fact, not long after Xu Qingtong shook off the bandit chief, the man gave up the chase. For one thing, the brat was far too slippery. Several times, he had almost caught him, only for the boy to deftly dodge and slip away. For another, his manhood had been severed, leaving him bleeding heavily and in unbearable pain. If he kept chasing, he might drop dead before he caught the boy.

The more the bandit chief thought about it, the angrier he became. This outing had been a damned disaster! Although he had stolen a hundred-odd taels of silver, his losses were far greater. Never mind that two of his three men were dead and the third wounded-he had lost his own manhood as well. It seemed his fighting skills were still too weak, and his robbery techniques were hardly professional!

Let us leave the bandit chief aside and turn to our protagonist, Xu Qingtong.

After fleeing all night, Xu Qingtong was on the verge of physical and mental collapse. In less than ten days, his parents had left him one after the other, a burden almost impossible for a ten-year-old child to bear. His mother's horrific death, in particular, had left him utterly grief-stricken. He kept telling himself that he had to survive, had to grow strong. He had to avenge his mother!

Sustained by that single obsession, Xu Qingtong trudged through the fields until he spotted a haystack and hurriedly burrowed into it. The danger had passed for now. He needed rest.

Once he relaxed, Xu Qingtong fell into an exhausted sleep the moment he entered the haystack.

In his dreams, he returned to the hazy gray space he had visited before, that space wrapped in clouds. Xu Qingtong looked around, feeling that the mist had grown considerably thicker and the space much larger than last time.

"What exactly is this place? How did I end up here again?" Xu Qingtong muttered to himself.

"Hahaha, foolish boy! This is your Niwang Palace!" A voice rang out from the mist.

Niwang Palace? What was a Niwang Palace? Suddenly, Xu Qingtong recalled a passage from one of his father's ancient books: "The Niwang is the gathering place of a hundred spirits, where the Dao joins the Supreme Mystery, and the dwelling of the primordial spirit."

So this is inside my head! Xu Qingtong thought.

Then he sensed something was wrong. What on earth was that voice he had just heard? "Who are you? Why are you in my Niwang Palace?"

"Hahahaha! Who am I? I am Lu Mo, an inner disciple of the Biluozong. Come to think of it, I should thank you for burying my body!" the voice replied.

"What do you mean? When did I ever bury your body?" Suddenly, Xu Qingtong thought of someone. "You're the man who died of poison at my house?"

"Indeed! You're not such a fool after all!" the voice answered.

"Didn't you die? How did you get into my Niwang Palace?"

"I am an immortal cultivator. A few days ago, I went to Azure Cloud Mountain to gather a spiritual herb, only to encounter a second-tier Pit Viper Python. The beast not only had thick skin and tough flesh, but was also extremely venomous. I fought it for two days and two nights, but in the end, my spiritual power ran low, and I was poisoned by that wretch," the voice continued.

"I dared not keep fighting. Barely suppressing the deadly poison in my body, I fled Azure Cloud Mountain. By the time I reached your doorstep, I could no longer hold the poison back and collapsed outside your house."

"I was certain to die, but when I saw you, a glimmer of hope stirred in my heart. Your Niwang Palace was unlike an ordinary person's-more than twice the usual size. Perhaps it could withstand possession by my primordial spirit. So, just before dying, I used a secret technique to send my primordial spirit out of my body and into yours," the voice said leisurely.

"You can't just stay here forever! You need to find a way out!" Sensing that the voice meant him harm, Xu Qingtong hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Out? Why would I leave? From today onward, I will be the master here. Thank you for providing me with this skin. Although it is only a body with four spiritual roots, having one is better than having none!"

"I've waited all these days without daring to possess you because your soul is powerful. Moreover, a mysterious force within that Peach Talisman on your chest has been protecting you. I feared that if I failed, I wouldn't even have a chance at reincarnation. Today, your soul finally weakened, giving me an opportunity to break through that protection. Come, let me devour you, and you can be free!"

Xu Qingtong saw a murky gray shadow lunge at him and turned to flee. But he had barely gone any distance before the gray shadow caught him.

The gray shadow transformed into a huge mouth and viciously bit a chunk from his furry body. Xu Qingtong let out a strange cry of pain, broke free of the shadow's grip, and fled into the distance.

The gray shadow followed him like his own shadow, relentlessly pursuing him. Although his Niwang Palace was much larger than on his previous visit, its space was still limited, and there were no obstacles. Before long, several more chunks had been bitten from Xu Qingtong's furry body, leaving the furball a whole size smaller.

Damn it! If you can bite me, why can't I bite you? I'll fight you to the death! With that thought, Xu Qingtong turned and bit at the gray shadow.

Thus, the two traded attacks, tearing at each other with their teeth. Although Xu Qingtong was the master of this place and held the advantage of familiar terrain, the gray shadow formed by Lu Mo was, after all, stronger than his furball. Clearly, Xu Qingtong was no match for Lu Mo.

After about a quarter of an hour, the furball had shrunk considerably again. At this rate, Xu Qingtong would probably be finished in less than an hour!

What do I do? What should I do? While fighting the gray shadow, Xu Qingtong racked his brains for a solution. Suddenly, he remembered that there should be two of him in this Niwang Palace. Where had the other one gone? Hurry and help me!

As he thought this, the clouds and mist churned, and another furball emerged. Seeing a second furball appear, Lu Mo's primordial spirit was struck with horror. "How can you possibly have two primordial spirits?"

This utterly illogical situation left Lu Mo bewildered for a moment. Xu Qingtong's unusual Niwang Palace had already astonished him, and now another primordial spirit had appeared. Lu Mo's mind all but short-circuited. How the hell was anyone supposed to survive this?

With the new furball joining the battle, the tide turned at once. The gray shadow formed by Lu Mo shrank before their eyes. Fear seized him, and he turned to flee. But the Niwang Palace was only so big. Where could he hide?

Before long, the two furballs cornered Lu Mo's primordial spirit. After devouring most of the gray shadow, both furballs were noticeably larger than before.

Seeing the furballs about to pounce again, Lu Mo hurriedly called out, "Little brother, wait! I have something to say."

"If you've got something to say, spit it out! If you've got a fart, let it rip! I'm still hungry. You don't taste particularly good, but you'll do to fill my belly," Xu Qingtong said.

"I am an inner disciple of the Biluozong, and I know the arts of immortal cultivation. If you spare me, little brother, and help me find a body with a single spiritual root or dual spiritual roots to possess, I can teach you my cultivation arts and help you cultivate the Dao and become an immortal. There's also my Storage Bag. Everything inside it will be yours."

Xu Qingtong seemed somewhat tempted by this. He asked, "Where is the Biluozong? And what is a Spirit Root? If you're an immortal cultivator, how did you nearly lose your life? As for that bag you mentioned, I examined it carefully before. It's so small and soft—what could possibly be inside? Besides, I tried so hard and still couldn't open it. You're not lying to me, are you?"