A Good-for-Nothing

275. Mutual Abandonment

 

Translator: Dragon Rider

 

In the hospital.

Many women living in South Xinjiang were past masters at Gu. They believed in Chiyou (a mythological warrior engaged in fighting with the Yellow Emperor) and were good at Lusheng Dance. Most of them bore the surname Lan.

The present head Gu-master in South Xinjiang was also a woman surnamed Lan, who was middle-aged and swarthy. She was wearing silver ornaments and attire peculiar to the Miao nationality. If it weren’t for the special totemic markings on her forehead, nobody would connect this plain-looking woman with the renowned head Gu-master in South Xinjiang.

“This kid has indeed had one of his souls taken. Someone used a rag doll as a container and sealed that soul in it. Every time that person hurts the rag doll – even if they merely stick a silver needle into it – this kid feels pain so great as though his body was being cut in half. Such method is extremely cruel. It can kill the victim without causing any ocular wounds.”

Li Zong’s face was calm. He appeared fairly cool-minded. However, the ghost of murderousness glinting in his eyes struck people as horrifying.

“Is there a solution?” asked Li Zong in a deep voice.

The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, Supt. Li, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Zu Zhichong standing on the side with a grave face blurted surprisedly, “Even you can’t lift the enchantment?”

This woman was the head Gu-master of South Xinjiang! If even she was unable to solve this problem, who else could help He Zheng?!

The woman smiled a mirthless smile, looked up at Li Zong and said, “Supt. Li, I think you know very well this is not Gu-craft but a Soul-Binding Spell. If there’s anybody who might know a solution, it would be Sect Leader Zhang of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain.”

“Sect Leader Zhang has not left the sect for decades. If we are to get help from him, we’ll have to travel to Jiangxi … But I’m afraid He Zheng wouldn’t last long enough to get there, given his current physical condition.”

He Zheng lying in bed seemed to be in lancinating pain, his face as pallid as that of an icy dead body.

Li Zong pressed his lips together and, stroking He Zheng’s hand, looked up at the head Gu-master. “I’ll figure out a way to convince Sect Leader Zhang, but may I ask if you can do something to ease He Zheng’s pain?”

The head Gu-master knew that the relations between the victim and Li Zong were probably uncommon, otherwise Li Zong would not have had her travel thousands of miles to this place, but now Li Zong was speaking with an almost imploring tone, which astonished the head Gu-master. Who was this young man lying in bed exactly? Why Li Zong was humbling himself to such an extent?

Zu Zhichong explained in a husky voice, “The one in bed is our chief’s marriage partner.”

A surprised look flashed across the head Gu-master’s eyes and with that comprehension dawned on her face. That figured. A man like Li Zong would never do this for someone insignificant.

She sighed, “Since he’s your significant other … I do have a way, but I cannot guarantee that it’ll work. In addition, Supt. Li … ”

The head Gu-master glanced up at Li Zong, an earnest look on her face. “No matter whether it works or not, you’ll be put in danger, Supt. Li.”

Li Zong answered unhesitatingly, “If it can ease his pain, I’ll take the chances, no matter what kind of danger I might be faced with.”

“Okay, then, let’s give it a try.” A pitying look crossed the head Gu-master’s eyes. “This method was invented by a female in my clan. It’s named ‘Mutual Abandonment’. Previously, one of my female apprentices left our homeland to seek her fortune. Afterward she fell in love with a man, who had a congenital heart disease and suffered pain on a daily basis. My apprentice did not have the heart to watch him suffer, so she made a Conductor by mixing some of their blood and used it to transfer the man’s pain to herself.

The method worked, but the man, after being cured of his disease, found that my apprentice had become an invalid and decided to forsake her.

After being abandoned, she returned to our clan where she before long died of illness. She named this Gu skill ‘Mutual Abandonment’. True love is rare. Many relationships are no more serious than a one-night stand and tend to end with mutual abandonment,” said the Head Gu-master, sighing sentimentally.

“Supt. Li, this Gu … Are you sure the one lying in bed values you as much as you value him? That neither of you will ever abandon the other?”

“Yes,” answered Li Zong without a second thought. At the mention of He Zheng, his lips curved in a faint smile.

The head Gu-master nodded. “You’re the savior of our clan, Supt. Li. I have to remind you that ‘Mutual Abandonment’, once performed, cannot be undone. You’ll be suffering twice the pain meant for him.”

Zu Zhichong had been restraining himself from speaking, but on hearing this, he instantly became anxious. “Chief, twice the pain … No … Let me do it!”

“You can’t. You’re not his marriage partner. It won’t work on you. Supt. Li is the only one who could do it.”

Li Zong smiled, “It’s okay. Please do it as soon as possible.”

He glanced at He Zheng, appearing somewhat resigned. “He fears pain more than anything else. He’ll be yelling again when he wakes up.”

Zu Zhichong vainly opened his mouth and wanted to say something but eventually closed it again.

In SMB.

Zhao Fei was sitting lazily on a sofa. His sitting position was exactly the same as the one he usually adopted when in a hotel room. Zhou Yize looked at him and, surprisingly, felt his eyes stinging somewhat.

But Zhou Yize was concealing his emotions very well. Nobody noticed that there was something unusual with his mood.

Zhao Fei, still playing with his shades, slid Zhou Yize a sidelong glance. “Are you waiting for me to ask you questions?”

Zhou Yize silently shook his head, opened his mouth and began, “Zhou Yihao is indeed a Demon’s Attendant.”

Zhao Fei lifted his eyebrows. “Go on.”

“The whole Zhou family, including my father, Zhou Congzhi, and me, we are all Demon’s Attendants.”

Originally Zhao Fei had been listening absently, but after hearing these words of Zhou Yize’s, his face gradually turned cold. “Go on.”

“About twenty years ago, when SMB went all out to destroy the Demon King, my father was still young and not powerful enough, so we failed to protect the Demon King, which was why our master was sealed by SMB for over ten years.”

“‘Master’,” sneered Zhao Fei, curling his lip, trying to suppress his distaste. “I heard that Demon’s Attendants have their own independent families, but over the years, most of them have been eliminated. It surprises me that a fish escaped the net under SMB’s nose.”

“We have always been doing a very good job maintaining our cover. This time around, we wouldn’t have had our cover blown so easily had Zhou Yihao not … done that.”

Zhao Fei’s eyes glinted coldly. “So Zhou Congzhi going abroad on a tour of investigation is just a blind? All members of the Zhou family except for you have left some time ago?”

“It’s … the Demon King. He has regained almost all of his former strength. The time is long gone when the Zhou family … have to hide in the shadows.”

Zhou Yize had been standing while speaking. He walked up to a chair beside the window and sat himself in it. The curtains were closed and that spot was particularly dark – so dark that it was difficult to see what was in there. A big office chair placed there was the only thing discernible. But oddly enough, the chair was in a corner. After Zhou Yize settled himself in it, his face was completely out of view.

However, at this moment Zhao Fei did not care about this. It was what Zhou Yize had just disclosed that concerned him.

“‘The time is long gone when the Zhou family have to hide in the shadows.’ Ha, you’ve got a nerve!”

“Zhao Fei, please hear me out.”

Zhao Fei took a deep breath, casually tossed his shades aside and straightened his back. “All right. I’m all ears. Spit it out.”

“We have been trying to locate the Seals for many years. Actually we’ve already destroyed several of them. SMB believe that the Demon King will not be able to come out as long as the Seals still hold, but you’re wrong, all of you. What’s still sealed in there is the Demon King’s body. A portion of his soul escaped when the first Seal was Demonized.

What matters the most is not the Seals but … (cough) … the Demonic Seed. Now the Demon King has successfully built himself a human-shaped body … The Human Devil and the Dream Eaters were intentionally set free to distract you people’s attention … (cough) … ”

Zhao Fei was listening. Suddenly, he felt that something was wrong, for Zhou Yize’s voice was becoming increasingly lower and weaker. Zhao Fei abruptly sprung to his feet from the sofa, intending to make towards Zhou Yize, staring suspiciously at Zhou Yize. “What’s happening to you?”

“S–Stay back. Just listen to me,” said Zhou Yize, clapping a hand to his mouth. He was coughing badly. “Zhu Ning … My father and I found out only recently that it had been Zhu Ning who had taken away the Demonic Seed in that year. The Demonic Seed should … (cough) … I think the Demonic Seed should be in the Zhu family … The Demonic Seed was directly … sealed in a soul … The Lin family … (cough) … The Lin family’s Extreme Yang Circle cannot detect it.

Everybody related to Zhu Ning is bound to be related to the Demonic Seed.

You guys … must be careful. The Demon King deliberately let you seal his body to hoodwink you into believing that the Seals would hold him at bay, then sent us to destroy the Seals. In fact, he split his soul to get the Demonic Seed and merge with it so as to create a … a new Demon King who is powerful enough but wouldn’t be detected by the Divine Law.”

Another sudden fit of violent coughing seized Zhou Yize.

Zhao Fei was so distracted by the cough that he was unable to focus on Zhou Yize’s words. Clearly Zhou Yize did not have a cold. Why was he coughing so badly?

Zhao Fei’s heart suddenly lurched. He ignored Zhou Yize’s warning and walked up to him.

“Stay back. Stay back … Zhao Fei.” Zhou Yize’s voice sounded faintly beseeching.

“Wh–What the hell is happening to you?” Zhao Fei paused, fixing Zhou Yize with an unblinking gaze. Zhou Yize, covering his mouth with his hand, was still letting out muffled coughs.

“Zhou Congzhi has three sons … Apart from me and Zhou Yihao, he also has a bastard son. His name is Zhou Yiqi … He’s renamed himself Zhou Qi. You need to watch out for him. He’s Zhou Congzhi’s secret weapon.”

“Zhou Yize!” Zhao Fei raised his voice. “What’s happening to you?!”

Zhou Yize lowered his hand. Zhao Fei, heedless of Zhou Yize’s attempt to stop him, strode up to Zhou Yize.

Zhou Yize’s head was hanging. Zhao Fei reached out his hands to raise Zhou Yize’s chin. “Zhou Yize, you … ”

Zhao Fei’s pupils abruptly contracted before he could finish his sentence. He thought that he was hallucinating. Zhao Fei took a deep breath and attempted to draw back the curtains a little, but his hands were trembling so badly his first attempt failed.

He sharply pulled the curtains which then slid back with a harsh noise.

Zhou Yize’s white shirt was blood-soaked. Also, he was spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. Of course, this was not the scariest part. What was the most terrifying was that there was a large hole in Zhou Yize’s chest where the heart was. Though Zhou Yize was wearing a shirt, Zhao Fei could still tell that there was a deep hollow beneath it …