When Wu Gou returned to the surface, there wasn't a single patch of intact skin on his entire body.
Bloody and with muscles exposed, he stood at the mouth of the cave, beads of blood dripping from his ankles onto the ground with soft splats.
Plague Rat, who had been squatting on a rock, gnawing on a blade of medicinal grass, looked up, and the grass promptly fell from its mouth.
“Holy shit!”
It jumped up in a fright and scurried over to Wu Gou, its eyes wide as it scrutinized him from head to toe.
“Baldy, is this how you Buddhist monks roll now? Where’s your skin?”
Wu Gou grinned, his bloodied face revealing a mouthful of white teeth, a truly chilling sight.
“No choice, there’s an enthusiastic female benefactor underground. This poor monk couldn’t leave without leaving something behind.”
Plague Rat circled him twice, clicking its tongue in wonder.
“Alright, don’t move. I’ll go get Su Xue.”
It turned and ran, shouting at the top of its lungs as it went.
“Su Xue! Su Xue! Come quick! The bald ass is dying!”
Wu Gou stood still, watching Plague Rat’s retreating back, a smile still on his bloodied face.
The little demons around him, who were busy transporting things, shrieked and scattered in fright at his appearance, hiding far away and only daring to peek out.
“How… how did that Master become like that?”
“So scary, he’s all bloody…”
“He’s still smiling, did he go crazy from the pain?”
The little demons chattered, both scared and curious. Wu Gou turned to them, waving his hand with a smile: “It’s fine, it’s fine. This poor monk is perfectly alright. You all carry on with your work.”
His smile sent another wave of shrieks through the little demons, who promptly retracted their heads and dared not show themselves again.
Soon, Su Xue rushed over. The moment she saw Wu Gou, her expression changed.
“Master Wu Gou, what happened to you…?”
She quickly stepped forward, reaching out to grasp Wu Gou’s wrist, green light surging from her palm and transforming into gurgling death qi.
Wu Gou dodged her hand: “Don’t worry, this poor monk is fine.”
“Don’t move.” Su Xue frowned, activating her spiritual power.
Death qi seeped into Wu Gou’s body, nourishing his exposed flesh, and the wounds slowly began to heal. New skin sprouted from the edges of the wounds, pink and delicate, thin as paper.
But the growth was agonizingly slow. Just as a little grew out, it would be scorched black and curl up from the lingering heat on his body.
Su Xue frowned: “The fire poison on you hasn’t dissipated. I can’t cleanse it completely.”
Wu Gou smiled: “It’s just a flesh wound, nothing serious. Your vitality is precious; save it for those who need it more.”
“A flesh wound?” Plague Rat folded its arms, staring at the still-smoking wounds on Wu Gou’s body. “You’re like this and it’s a flesh wound? What counts as a serious injury then? Your head falling off?”
Wu Gou didn’t seem to care: “A Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell, one must always leave something behind. Anyway, this poor monk doesn’t rely on his physical body for a living.”
“The Aspect of All Beings lineage sheds skin just like it sheds cassocks. One layer peels off, and another remains.”
“It’s just a pity about that cassock; I wore it for so long, and it fit quite well.”
Plague Rat stared at him for a long time, then suddenly asked: “What exactly is down there? What could force you into such a state?”
Wu Gou briefly described the situation underground.
“Below is a prison, many levels deep. Each level has cells, and the cells are filled with charred skeletons. This poor monk roughly estimated tens of thousands of them, at least.”
“Mingchan clan, plant tribes, beast tribes, all sorts.”
“Around the seventh level, there’s a mad woman, whose strength is unfathomable. This poor monk couldn’t last more than a few moves against her.”
“When I went down, I deliberately concealed my aura, but as soon as I saw something, she discovered me. A stream of fire came, and though this poor monk dodged quickly, I was still grazed a little.”
“Tens of thousands of skeletons?” Plague Rat clicked its tongue. “That’s even more than the little demons in the stone forest.”
Su Xue stood by, her face somewhat pale. As a Heavenly Doctor, saving lives and healing injuries was her instinct. Hearing about so many skeletons made her heart heavy.
“That woman…” she asked softly, “Who is she? Why would she burn so many people to death?”
Wu Gou shook his head: “This poor monk doesn’t know either. I only heard her mention the name ‘Zhu Pan’ while talking to herself. I imagine it’s related to Central Province.”
“Zhu Pan?” Plague Rat narrowed its eyes. “That scoundrel again? Then how did you escape?”
“She reacted to light,” Wu Gou said. “When this poor monk activated my Buddhist light, she froze for a moment. In that instant, this poor monk shed his skin, burrowed into the earth, and ran.”
Plague Rat stood up: “Alright, then I’ll go down there.”
Su Xue was a little worried, as even Wu Gou wasn’t that person’s match.
Plague Rat waved a hand: “What? Looking down on your Brother Rat? I’m at least a seventh-stage practitioner now. When it comes to fighting, I’m surely not much worse than the bald ass, am I?”
It paused, then grinned, revealing two sharp fangs: “Besides, I’m immortal now. What’s there to be afraid of?”
It spoke righteously, but everyone knew that an evil spirit’s immortality was relative; even powerhouses like Purity and Filth, who had reached the Siming stage, could perish. If the opponent truly was a minion of Zhu Pan, wielding divine techniques, who knew if one could revive after dying?
But Plague Rat didn’t care. It had always been this way, grumbling and cursing, but always charging to the front when things got serious.
“We can’t always leave troublesome matters for the Master to handle. Since we know that madwoman fears light, we’ll give her light,” Plague Rat said.
“I remember there’s a kind of glowing mushroom in the Imperial Capital of Tianchi Province that shines brightly when lit. I’ll make a trip, get a hundred eighty catties of it, and come back to burn that mad hag to death.”
Wu Gou shook his head: “No need. I’ll go down with you again.”
Plague Rat frowned: “You just escaped, and now you’re going back to your death?”
Wu Gou raised his head, looking at the hazy sky: “Not to my death, but to save others.”
“This poor monk belongs to the Aspect of All Beings lineage of the Buddhist Sect. After cultivating for a thousand years, what do I seek?”
“I seek the word ‘salvation’.”
“Saving oneself, saving others, saving the world from suffering.”
He lowered his head, looking at his bloodied body.
“It’s just a physical body; one layer peels off, and another remains.”
“If there’s no skin, there’s flesh and blood. If there’s no flesh and blood, there are internal organs. If there are no internal organs, there are bones.”
“If even the bones are burnt to ashes, there’s still a sarira.”
“This poor monk, like you, cannot die.”
A hint of a smile touched his voice: “Besides, this poor monk still has cassocks to shed. The Aspect of All Beings lineage has no shortage of shells.”
“Of course, since this poor monk is exerting so much effort and helping so greatly, after we return, the young benefactor Yu He must properly reward this poor monk.”
Plague Rat thought for a moment, then nodded: “Alright, then it’s just us two brothers going down. You be the lightbulb and shine her to death.”
It then looked at Su Xue: “Su Xue, you wait up here. If we both get trapped down there, you can still figure out a way to save us.”
Su Xue nodded, her eyes a little red.
Rate on N.U.
