Chapter 22: Living Toward Death, A Fierce Tug-of-War

Chapter 22: Living Through Death, A Fierce Tug-of-War

*Crunch.*

A bite was taken out of his cheek.

*Gurgle, gurgle...*

A powerful sensation of a foreign object entered his esophagus.

*Crunch.*

His belly was torn open.

His large and small intestines were all dragged out.

Ning Xuan possessed a powerful physique; even with ruptured organs, he would not die so quickly.

In fact, he could continuously mobilize his remaining internal energy. Though this energy was insufficient to cause any real damage, it was enough to make him lose consciousness, thereby reducing the agony of being eaten.

This demon was different from the previous bear demon; it didn't seem to be picky about its food, nor did it need to eat constantly to stay alive.

He should make himself pass out as soon as possible.

But he didn't.

He was still laughing—laughing until his tears turned to blood, laughing like a tattered sack caught in a gale.

He refused to pass out because he was working hard to analyze exactly what this demon was through the very act of it gnawing on him.

A Bodhisattva definitely wouldn't have such a small mouth.

Even a human wouldn't.

That sensation of being nibbled bit by bit felt like some kind of very small beast.

His cheek felt a cluster of stinging pains, as if a stiff-bristled brush were scraping against it; a long tail punctured his eardrum and burrowed into his brain matter.

'A rat! It's a rat!!'

Countless instances of "intimate contact" allowed a flash of inspiration to strike Ning Xuan, giving him a sudden realization.

But in the next instant, as that slender tail gave a slight stir, he felt an unimaginable, sharp pain pierce his mind.

He... lost all consciousness.

Veins bulged from his arms like writhing earthworms. His fingers were still twitching, followed by his toes, legs, neck, and even his teeth.

Ning Xuan's teeth chattered rhythmically, biting incessantly—an instinctive convulsion resulting from extreme nerve pain.

Finally, after the last "clatter" subsided, he gasped for air and slowly opened his eyes.

The forest was silent and somber.

He slowly raised his head.

A black moon hung in the sky.

The towering mountains looked like a hunched, grotesque entity staring straight at him.

As the night wind blew, the entity exhaled a breath toward him—chilly, piercing, and bone-deep.

'A rat! Even if... it's not a rat, it's something very much like one.'

'That thing is hiding inside the Bodhisattva's golden body! But the one eating people isn't the Bodhisattva, it's that thing!'

'The one I must deal with isn't the Bodhisattva, but the thing inside it.'

Ning Xuan had endured the agony of being consumed, but he had gained information in return.

He sat for nearly the duration of a small stick of incense before he regained his senses and stood up.

[Nine of Two]...

With practiced ease, he took out "Four Generations Under One Roof," strapped "Many Children and Grandchildren" to his back, and began his unfinished task—measuring.

He intended to measure the size of this Nightmare Zone.

Four miles.

Five miles.

Six miles.

As he ran, his astonishment grew.

Even though he had moved far away from his original camp, he had not been teleported back.

He pushed his speed to the limit, sprinting wildly. Even after running nearly fifty miles, no "boundary" appeared.

But dawn was approaching.

Ning Xuan was now deep within the Manfeng Mountains, surrounded by peaks.

He scanned his surroundings, quickly scaled a mountain peak, sat on the edge of a cliff, and squinted into the distance.

The sky... was brightening.

A pale, sickly sunlight instantly "ignited" the jungle and the mountains, turning everything white.

This time, the demon did not arrive immediately.

It wasn't until a full stick of incense had passed that he saw a massive, walking golden Bodhisattva appearing among the mountains.

The Bodhisattva's eyes were filled with greed, and saliva dripped from its lips, yet it glowed with golden light. The contrast between its holy body and its grotesque face created a powerful visual shock that made one's skin crawl.

Upon making distant eye contact with Ning Xuan, the Bodhisattva opened its mouth and let out a booming, thunderous voice: "Little fellow, I have finally found you."

Without a word, Ning Xuan turned and ran, carrying "Many Children and Grandchildren," sprinting with every ounce of his strength.

The Bodhisattva gave chase.

However, amidst these mountains, the Bodhisattva's movements were surprisingly hindered.

One man and one demon, one fleeing and one pursuing, managed to maintain a distance, neither able to close the gap.

Ning Xuan's daily training paid off.

He sprinted at full strength for half an hour before feeling fatigue. At that moment, he found a mountain crevice where a waterfall was cascading down.

His body moved sharply, turning into a gust of wind as he plunged into the crevice to hide.

He was incredibly surprised; he had been running deeper into the Manfeng Mountains.

He had run at least several hundred miles, yet he had not reached a "boundary."

Could it be that this "Nightmare Zone" covered the entire Manfeng Mountain range?

As his thoughts drifted, he felt a shadow approaching, as expected.

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

Two hands pressed against both sides of the crevice.

The sunlight streaming in from outside the waterfall was completely blocked.

A massive face slowly leaned in, gradually occupying Ning Xuan's entire field of vision, a mocking expression appearing on the Bodhisattva's face.

"Little fellow, have—"

*BOOM!*

Before the Bodhisattva could finish, a world-shaking explosion erupted. Ning Xuan activated his Swallow-Cry Force, exerting his full strength, and with "Many Children and Grandchildren" on his back, he transformed into a streak of light, charging straight into the Bodhisattva's mouth.

Ning Xuan's eyes were cold and sharp, a mixture of absolute calm and madness.

The moment he entered the Bodhisattva's maw, he drew his Beast-Slaying Blade. Using Swallow-Cry Force in both hands, he unleashed a "Flying Swallow Crushing the Mountain" strike, slicing downward along the Bodhisattva's esophagus.

Through his previous battles and this chase, he had roughly gauged the Bodhisattva's strength.

The Bodhisattva's power was unfathomable, but its speed was not particularly fast; it was even somewhat strangely sluggish.

Coupled with its habit of "talking too much"...

"Little fellow, are you looking for me?", "What are you doing?"—if that wasn't talking too much, what was?

And so, the current scene unfolded.

Living through death!

As a foreign object entered the esophagus, the airflow from intense coughing rushed outward.

But Ning Xuan's blade sliced through that airflow.

He continued downward.

"Cough!!"

"Cough, cough, cough!!!"

The Bodhisattva's coughing grew increasingly violent.

Ning Xuan's hair was blown straight up, fluttering wildly.

His eyes narrowed as he paused halfway down the esophagus, changing his slash to a spinning strike. The intense bursting force struck the esophagus, carving out flecks and a jagged wound.

There was no blood, but there was damage.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Ning Xuan was pushed upward again by the airflow.

But he had keenly noticed one thing: the interior of the Bodhisattva was not as hard as its exterior!!

He thrust the Beast-Slaying Blade into the wound, using all his strength to brace himself against the esophagus, and then, taking advantage of the Bodhisattva's coughing fit, he launched "Four Generations Under One Roof" downward.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang!!*

"Four Generations Under One Roof" bounced rapidly along the esophagus, splitting apart.

Ning Xuan then triggered the mechanism of "Many Children and Grandchildren," aiming the entire device toward the bottom of the esophagus.

Thousands of hidden weapons erupted, flooding into the depths of the Bodhisattva's body all at once.

Ning Xuan saw the hidden weapons acting like a sudden downpour; the interior of the Bodhisattva was like mud, and soon, pit after pit of wounds appeared.

He felt the Bodhisattva clearly becoming weaker; even the airflow from its coughing had diminished significantly.

He kicked "Many Children and Grandchildren" hard.

*Clatter!!*

The large black box fell heavily like a black meteor.

He fell along with it.

Following him was his blade.

The Beast-Slaying Blade!

He twisted his body slightly, concentrating all his power into the very tip of the blade, plunging forward relentlessly toward the lowest point.

He intended to take advantage of the Bodhisattva's weakest moment to burrow into the depths of its body and find the demon within.

Relying on the Bodhisattva's body as a facade without any other divine abilities, its true form should be quite weak!

Just then, a burst of light exploded before Ning Xuan's eyes.

A pale, sickly light.

As the light washed over him, he saw that the wounds caused by the blade and the hidden weapons were repaired almost instantaneously—repaired even better than before. He even felt that the Bodhisattva had become stronger than it was before being injured!

'How is this possible?!!'

Ning Xuan was incredulous.

Then, he heard a strange breath, as if something was brewing.

"Hum~~~"

In the next instant, an unimaginable roar erupted in Ning Xuan's ears.

He felt the roar shake him so violently that his seven orifices bled; streams of blood flowed from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

Vaguely, he heard a single sound.

"HA!!!"

His entire body went limp.

He felt himself being blasted into mid-air by a terrifying gust of wind, landing on something soft.

The Bodhisattva had its palms facing upward against its abdomen, right hand placed over the left, with the tips of the thumbs touching—this was the Buddhist Dhyana Mudra.

And Ning Xuan was lying right in the center of that mudra.

The Bodhisattva suddenly changed its hand seal.

Ning Xuan felt his body being passively rotated by the palms, and he was soon pressed heavily against the ground.

He lost consciousness.

The Bodhisattva placed its right hand over its right knee, fingers touching the ground, crushing the small youth into the earth.

This was the Demon-Subduing Mudra of Buddhism.

Seeing that Ning Xuan had fainted, the Bodhisattva picked him up, shook him, and tossed him into its palm. After fiddling with him a few times, it lowered its head and slowly approached, like a hungry beast creeping toward the prey in its palm.

Once it was close enough, its tongue curled, sweeping the defenseless Ning Xuan into its mouth and swallowing him whole.

(End of Chapter)