Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 116: Unsealing the Curse

Bai Shuangying stopped in his tracks.

Fang Xiu had shown many things before, but never this kind of vulnerability.

He knew Fang Xiu was trying to make him stay, and this might very well be a trick. But his feet seemed glued to the ground, and Bai Shuangying found it hard to leave.

…Stay sharp. You’ve already scouted out Fang Xiu’s condition. It’s time to call it.

…The Underworld ghost immortal is watching. Drawing too much attention could raise suspicion.

…Fang Xiu doesn’t seem to like you that much anymore. He might become hostile.

His mind was calmly weighing the situation, but the more he thought, the more annoyed he got. Leaving now felt like a subtle admission of defeat.

He realized his invisibility had no effect on Fang Xiu. That gaze—the way Fang Xiu looked at strangers—was still tracking him. So Bai Shuangying compromised.

He picked up “Fang Xiu’s original head” and silently hid it behind a pile of bones.

At least he was out of Fang Xiu’s line of sight for now.

Fang Xiu stood obediently where he was, making no move to stop him, only continuing his attempt to persuade.

“If you go back now, they might not believe you.”

He spoke sincerely. “If I could end up like this, you might ‘change’ too. Besides, we used to be lovers. Others, especially the Guishan Sect, will be even more wary of you.”

“I will…”

Halfway through, Fang Xiu blinked hard. The words slipped off his tongue. He couldn’t remember what he wanted to say, or who he was even talking to.

A sharp sting came from his arm. He lifted his sleeve and saw the words: “Mine, Bai Shuangying.”

Who was Bai Shuangying again?

He must be important, if he was written here so close to the skin.

…But his main job was to guard this place.

…He could sense the presence of intruders. He had to get rid of those arrogant fools.

Not far off, seeing Fang Xiu fall silent, Bai Shuangying couldn’t help himself and peeked from behind the bone pile. Fang Xiu stood like a statue, smiling faintly at a blank wall.

Bai Shuangying couldn’t take it anymore. He strode out. “Fang Xiu?”

Fang Xiu startled, then blinked in surprise. “Are you Bai Shuangying?”

Bai Shuangying: “…” God damn this Grave-Sealing E. His human was broken again!

Fuck the ghost immortal and the Underworld. He wasn’t going to stand by while Fang Xiu was like this. It hadn’t even been that long, and Fang Xiu had already forgotten him. Taboos or not, he could investigate them here too.

“I’m Bai Shuangying, you’re Fang Xiu.” He repeated with patience. “We are…”

He hesitated. “We are lovers.”

He couldn’t exactly say: I’m the evil spirit bound to you in an Underworld disaster relief ritual; we kiss daily; you like me, I need you. Anyway, our relationship is… complicated.

That would be impossible to explain, and he strongly suspected Fang Xiu wouldn’t remember it anyway.

Fang Xiu opened his mouth, then finally squeezed out a line. “As expected of me. I have such great taste.”

“I don’t remember you at all, so I must have a bit of a memory problem.” He gave Bai Shuangying a slow once-over. “But I let you this close, and you jumped out without hesitation… Your tone doesn’t sound like a liar either.”

Bai Shuangying: “???”

But he was lying. They weren’t lovers… were they?

Then right in front of him, Fang Xiu picked up a piece of bone and added the words “lover” after “Mine, Bai Shuangying.”

The pain and blood seemed to clear his mind. Fang Xiu shut his eyes, then firmly carved two more terms: “Guishan Sect” and “enemy”. His face was twisted. It was obvious remembering was taking effort.

In less than ten seconds, his pained look turned vacant again. The Grave-Sealing E and Fang Xiu’s battered consciousness were locked in a tug-of-war, each clashing without rest.

His forearm was already a mess of flesh and blood. Fang Xiu rolled his sleeve up further.

“I don’t belong here.”

“Memory loss continues.”

“Stay alive.”

Bone shards sliced his skin. Blood dripped down in near-black streaks.

Once his entire left arm was covered in blood-written messages, Fang Xiu finally let out a breath of relief. He hadn’t even flinched once during the whole thing.

“So annoying.” He wiped the blood from his arm. “I need to properly deal with this.”

Only then did he realize Bai Shuangying was still next to him. He smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I’m in a bad state right now.”

“I’ve got this intense urge to destroy things. I’m probably being controlled by something. It’s periodically messing with my memory to keep me acting on instinct… Judging by the environment, it’s probably some curse or magic weapon.”

That was indeed the case. Bai Shuangying didn’t even know what to say.

All he did was show his face and introduce himself and Fang Xiu instantly deduced the situation. If this had been someone less sharp, like Blondie, they’d already have charged out swinging.

Bai Shuangying had a strange feeling. Fang Xiu seemed oddly adapted to this “mental chaos”.

…But that made no sense.

For human cultivators, cultivating the heart is absolutely critical. Regardless of sect, a disturbed mind halts all progress. No one would deliberately damage their own sanity—that would be like stabbing yourself in the dead of winter just for fun. It’s a surefire way to breed inner demons.

Fang Xiu’s mind was in shambles, yet he still lived. It bordered on a metaphysical miracle. And his composure made no sense at all. The more Bai Shuangying learned, the more unfathomable Fang Xiu became.

Now both of them stood silently, thoughtless in tandem. Bai Shuangying’s mind churned slowly.

“Now that I’ve written it on myself, I won’t hurt you,” Fang Xiu said.

He completely misread Bai Shuangying’s silence and misunderstood the atmosphere.

He added, half-jokingly, “But when I asked about our relationship, you hesitated. Seems we weren’t all that close. That’s a relief. If we have to part ways, you won’t be too heartbroken.”

He said it with a smile. Blood was still dripping from his fingers.

Hearing similar conclusions again, Bai Shuangying felt a bit sour. “I’ll protect you.”

Fang Xiu took it as courtesy. “You already are. Thanks for staying with me. I’m actually kind of afraid of the dark.”

“I’ll protect you, so from now on I’m staying with you,” Bai Shuangying repeated irritably. “Don’t mention parting again.”

Fang Xiu blinked, surprised. Under the dim ghostly glow, he studied Bai Shuangying for a while.

“Were we really that close before?”

Bai Shuangying nodded solemnly.

Fang Xiu laughed. He took a few small steps forward and hugged Bai Shuangying tightly. Like a drowning man clinging to driftwood, his embrace was alarmingly tight.

Bai Shuangying returned the hug with practiced ease, hand gently stroking Fang Xiu’s back. The silky burial clothes felt unpleasantly slippery, but Fang Xiu’s skin had a much better texture.

He wasn’t surprised to notice Fang Xiu was quietly playing with the ends of his hair.

…In the end, he’d been convinced to stay. Who knew if this was just another trick? Bai Shuangying sighed inwardly.

…Still, with his stealth ability, he could go back and forth. Maybe it would help with decoding the taboo.

He was still thinking about how to stabilize Fang Xiu when his expression suddenly froze, his head whipping toward a direction. Fang Xiu loosened his hug and clicked his tongue lightly.

They looked in the same direction. “That thing woke up.”

……

A’Shou didn’t look good.

She had no time to observe Fang Xiu anymore. A wave of murky ghost immortal aura came from deep in the tomb. It made her brain throb.

She actually recognized that cursed thing.

When the mortal realm attacked the Guishan Sect’s holy site, they invited experts from the Underworld. Back then, they found this… whatever it was—not even sure it qualified as a “ghost immortal”.

It had been captured by Zhuang Guiqu and suppressed in a great tomb, living in a half-dead state since the Kui Dynasty. Zhuang Guiqu turned it into a tomb beast, letting it devour yin energy and corpses to generate evil spirits.

But during that investigation, the true Grave-Sealing E was hidden by the Guishan Sect. The Underworld believed this ghost immortal was the only tomb beast, and sealed it away with the mortal realm…

“…They were afraid it might lash out before dying and cause a mountain collapse. That’s why they didn’t kill it.”

By the pool, Cen Ling calmly recounted the ghost immortal’s past.

A massive human head emerged from the pool, only its eyes visible above the surface.

Those eyes were strikingly beautiful and genderless but utterly devoid of spirit. They looked no different from a corpse’s.

Symbols like bloodstains were etched into its skin. Compared to its huge body, the markings looked like tiny bleeding cuts.

It just floated there, silently watching them. The water surface was still as glass.

Compared to the terrifying Grave-Sealing E, this thing made it look like child’s play.

Mei Lan swallowed, voice shaky. “Are you sure letting it out won’t backfire?”

Nothing about it looked like the type to show gratitude.

Cen Ling smiled without answering.

Bai Sui shrugged. “The Grave-Sealing E is more of a threat. It’ll go after that first. Let them fight. We just have to survive.”

Before Guan He had time to speak, Mei Lan leaned in, eager and curious. “So who’s going to clean up the Grave-Sealing E afterward? What if it gets damaged during the fight?”

“This is a ritual. There’s no perfect, foolproof plan,” Cen Ling finally spoke. “At least it’s huge. We won’t have to waste time finding it.”

Behind him, the giant head still stared.

Cen Ling smiled soothingly, bowed slightly, and began chanting obscure incantations. His voice was beautiful, but the spell made everyone dizzy and nauseous.

The enormous eyes slowly turned toward him.

At the same time, the little black dog in Cheng Songyun’s arms began barking madly. Cen Ling ignored it, chanting low and fast. The water churned with countless whirlpools, chains clinking nonstop.

All the slow-moving skinless beings froze, their eyes gathering toward Cen Ling.

Guan He shuddered and crept closer to Cheng Songyun. He watched Cen Ling’s back, trying to find the best angle to strike.

“Should we stop him?” he asked under the dog’s barking. “This thing feels wrong…”

Cheng Songyun’s brows furrowed hard.

She knew it was wrong, but Bai Sui was watching, and they didn’t have the strength to instantly kill Cen Ling. If they started a conflict here, they’d likely die first. Fighting cultists on their home turf most likely wouldn’t end well for them.

But if they let this thing loose, Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying would be in trouble…

“I’ll raise a shield over you,” she murmured. “We’ll try interrupting it. Buy some time…”

They had barely spoken when Mei Lan casually stepped between them and Cen Ling, fixing him with a twisted smile.

Guan He tried to shift position, but Mei Lan “just happened” to wander back into his way. He stared at her back, shocked. Bai Sui was now eyeing them suspiciously.

Within those few minutes, the pool surface trembled like an earthquake. The monster began rising and finally revealed its full form.

Its head wasn’t half-submerged out of modesty; it only had half a head.

To be precise, its “head” was six upper halves of human faces fused together. Perfectly stacked, they looked like a fat segmented worm. The six pairs of eyes resembled markings on its body.

The lowest face wasn’t connected to a neck, but a mass of deformed, slick flesh, like diseased internal organs.

Surrounding the “organs” were countless limbs and tendrils. One of them was used for laying eggs. In its center yawned a huge mouth like a bloody pit, ringed with countless sharp teeth.

Its body didn’t resemble a human but more like a fat, mutated mollusk.

Chains hung from its tendrils, squeezing the flesh into bulging lumps. As Cen Ling chanted, the chains quivered dangerously, glowing with ominous green cracks.

Its six pairs of eyes looked down at Cen Ling. Water splashed everywhere, nearly soaking Guan He. The sickly-sweet scent grew overpowering.

“What the hell is that?” Cheng Songyun grabbed Mei Lan’s sleeve.

“A pitiful thing.” Mei Lan stood rooted like a nail, staring up at the writhing creature.

As she spoke, the chains on one side of the monster snapped free.

The eyes spun wildly, locking onto targets. A boneless tendril snatched up a few skinless beings and shoved them into the central mouth.

Cen Ling gazed at it almost lovingly, incantation never pausing. One eye of the beast remained fixed on them.

Bai Sui laughed. “Wow, that thing’s nasty.”

Tugging at her pants, the black dog urged Cheng Songyun to run. She grabbed Guan He with one hand, Mei Lan with the other, and bolted after it.

The dog tore ahead on all fours, leading them into the dark.

They hadn’t gotten far when the last chain snapped.

The creature surged out of the pool, dragging what seemed like an endless body. It devoured the nearby skinless humans, then slithered straight past Cen Ling toward the fleeing trio.

“Why’d you stop me?” Guan He huffed, glaring at Mei Lan.

He would’ve rather confronted Cen Ling, but that chance was gone.

Mei Lan didn’t even turn. “It’s useless to delay things. It’s better if things escalate. The Underworld is watching.”

“God, it’s chasing us!” Guan He was furious. “What escalation?! We’ll be dead before that matters!”

Luckily, the black dog had picked a route through collapsed buildings. The creature’s massive body kept getting stuck, buying them time.

It made vile swallowing sounds, exhaling fragrant gusts that Cheng Songyun’s spirit shield barely blocked. Even so, they ran like cornered rats.

In the distance, A’Shou frowned.

Technically, Cen Ling’s actions were outrageous, but not against the rules. He was simply using the environment well and was within the bounds so the Underworld wouldn’t intervene… but this thing had been sealed by Zhuang Guiqu. How could Cen Ling released it so easily?

If he’d used the Heaven-Breaking Technique, she could understand, but this was a legitimate unsealing spell.

That meant Zhuang Guiqu had not only studied the unsealing spell but deliberately passed it on.

And to her knowledge, that was strictly forbidden. Seals like these contained catastrophic evil. Having the unsealing spell was like leaving a key to a crypt—it made no sense.

If the Underworld hadn’t sent observers, they’d have assumed it was some forced magic.

What exactly was the Guishan Sect trying to do?

A’Shou stared at the monster tearing after the trio and gripped her soft sword. If things got worse, she wouldn’t hesitate…

Boom!

Amid the sounds of stone collapsing, a heavy stone door silently slid open.

“They really let it out.”

Fang Xiu walked into the tomb leisurely with a head full of dead hands.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>