Chapter 53: Losing One Tail
Yao Realm, Yao Venerable’s Sleeping Palace.
Cough—
Ning Ke spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
His chest hurt so much he couldn’t speak. Sharp, long fingernails clawed at the edge of the bed. There were dark circles under his eyes, fox ears popped out on top of his head, and nine tails at his tailbone propped up his robes, swaying in the air.
Looking closely, one could discover that one of them was slowly dissipating until only a faint phantom remained.
Losing a tail meant losing a life.
How could it not hurt?
And at this time, the system’s prompt tone also sounded.
[Congratulations Host for completing the side mission: Investigate the stone stele and reinforce the seal.]
[Congratulations Host for completing the main mission of the second stage: Playing Junior Brother A-Ke. However, because the final step of self-destruction was not completed, the time regression cannot be ended temporarily. Therefore, in the period before the third stage mission begins, the Host can arrange things freely.]
After giving the prompt, Xiao Yuan asked Ning Ke carefully: [Host, are you okay?]
After all, he witnessed the whole process.
The suffering Ning Ke endured, placed on an ordinary person, might not necessarily be bearable.
It could be said that this Host’s psychological quality was simply ridiculously strong.
Ning Ke spat out the congested blood and finally felt a bit more comfortable.
Hearing the system didn’t make him go through the plot of the second stage again, he felt his breathing became smooth instantly.
Thus rubbing his chest, he turned over, lying sprawled on the five-meter-wide soft bed, and rolled his eyes lazily.
“Good my ass, you spiraling, circling fart!”
Xiao Yuan said aggrievedly: […Host, I said before, I don’t have a mother.]
“…”
Ning Ke ignored him. After lying like this for a while, he felt his tails were poking him uncomfortably, so he moved them from the back to the front and hugged them.
Then, his fox eyes suddenly widened into circles.
So soft!
His tails felt so comfortable to touch!
Thus, Xiao Yuan watched his own Host, who was half-dead just a moment ago, only wilt for two seconds before starting to roll all over the bed hugging his remaining eight big tails…
“Woo woo woo, finally enjoying the benefits of being a fox!”
The tails were extremely large, enough for Ning Ke to nestle his whole person inside, and very warm.
It instantly dispelled the bone-deep cold he felt before dying in the underground palace.
It gradually soothed Ning Ke’s emotions.
Actually, he could get scared too.
After digging out his eyes, it was painful and dark.
Back crushed, heart pierced.
Even the Manchu tortures were nothing more than this.
It was just that if he didn’t say it, nothing would be wrong.
If he didn’t cry, it wasn’t called fear.
At this moment, his whole person sank into the tails, soft and warm.
This was also him healing himself.
Incense was lit inside the gorgeously decorated sleeping palace, bed curtains hanging down.
Ning Ke curled up his body like this, hugging his tails, and fell into a deep sleep before long.
…
Secret Realm, Forest Sea.
Lou Yunxiao took a hemostatic pill and ignored his injuries.
He only focused on helping Ning Ke’s dead body expel that residual demonic energy.
Only stopping when the last trace was pulled out.
Ning Xiaoxiao watched from the side and also breathed a sigh of relief.
She had already heard Lou Yunxiao explain what happened in the underground palace.
She also knew Lou Yunxiao was worried that residual demonic energy in Ning Ke’s body would pose a risk of turning him into a Living Dead in the future.
Removing the demonic energy like this, they could all be at ease.
She raised her red and swollen eyes to look at Lou Yunxiao.
At this time, Lou Yunxiao had regained his vision, so the eye-covering silk ribbon was wrapped a few times around his wrist.
A pair of eyes sank like dead water. Although possessing the ability to reflect all things in the world, at this moment they only gazed at the person beside him who had lost his life.
As if as long as he stared like this, watched like this, that person would wake up and call him Senior Brother.
Ning Xiaoxiao couldn’t bear to watch anymore and stood up saying:
“Senior Brother, the secret realm has no more Demon. In a few days, I plan to go out with the Sword Sect disciples to travel and gain experience.”
“I’ll entrust my brother to your care.”
The injuries Ning Ke suffered were too heavy. Just looking at this corpse, Ning Xiaoxiao felt her eyes turn sour; tears would fall if she wasn’t careful.
She still remembered what Ning Ke said.
Saying something about bringing Senior Brother back intact.
But now Lou Yunxiao was back.
But what about himself?
Eyes gone, heart gone too…
Ning Xiaoxiao couldn’t accept such an ending.
So she could only endure the grief and strive to grow.
If a Demon appeared again in the future.
She would be the first to slay it with her own hands!
“Mm.” Lou Yunxiao didn’t look up, only whispering, “You stay safe.”
After Ning Xiaoxiao left, he sat dully like this for a while longer.
Suddenly thinking of something, he carefully picked up Ning Ke and walked out of the cave toward the riverside.
“Junior Brother, your body is dirty,” he said. “I’ll help you wash it clean.”
A cleaning spell was just a spell after all.
Lou Yunxiao now only wanted to do something for Ning Ke personally, washing away the filth on his body, making him clean.
He lowered his head, carefully and slowly removing Ning Ke’s tattered clothes.
Fingers stroked over the hole in the chest. How many times had it been? Yet he still couldn’t control the slight trembling.
The broken stubble of bone at the wound emerged from the edge, no longer bleeding, but the severed texture and white flesh could be seen.
Couldn’t imagine how much pain A-Ke felt at that time…
Lou Yunxiao bit his lower lip tightly, suppressing a sob.
Supporting Ning Ke’s back and the crook of his legs, he slowly entered the water, took off the osmanthus jade hairpin from the young man’s hair, let the clear water submerge the body, and carefully washed the filth from his hair.
The midday sunlight poured down; Ning Ke’s pale face reflected the warmth of the sunlight.
Water droplets from his hair fell onto his eyelashes, causing them to tremble slightly.
Lou Yunxiao watched this scene, even holding his breath.
In a trance, he seemed to see Ning Ke wake up, raising his eyebrows to tease him: “Senior Brother, why did you strip me naked? This won’t do; you have to take responsibility for me.”
Leaves rustled in the forest; birds chirped.
It took a long time to recall Lou Yunxiao’s thoughts.
In the end, he found that everything was ultimately just his fantasy.
Mood falling back to the deepest valley, Lou Yunxiao gently embraced Ning Ke’s stiff body.
Just like he had done many times before, rubbing against Ning Ke’s no- longer-warm neck and shoulder.
Lightly kissing the pale tooth mark he left before.
Murmuring his pouring heart out.
“A-Ke, did you forget?”
“You still owe me a wish.”
“You promised me, as long as I could cultivate to the peak of Nascent Soul, you would fulfill one of my wishes…”
“Now I am making a wish to you.”
“Will you come back to life, okay?”
Speaking up to here, he hugged Ning Ke tighter, gritting his teeth.
“If I knew it would be like this, I would rather not regain my sight. I would rather never see your face again, just to see you alive…”
“I just want to hear you…”
“Call me Senior Brother one more time.”
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