Chapter 22 – A lacking soul

“Bian Zhou certain left fast,” Aotian stated, wanting on the place the place he had vanished. “He just about disappeared as quickly because the battle was completed. Is he skipping class and the trainer’s about to name roll?”

Ye Zhou’s in-game identify was Yi Ye Pian Zhou, however that was too lengthy and pronunciations weren’t proven within the sport, so the occasion members determined to name him Bian Zhou[1] for brief.

Dugu Zhuo had beforehand felt splitting ache in his dantian, however now it had been relieved considerably. Truly, when he had forcefully used a twin sword kind, he was appearing with a plan. He actually would throw the non secular essence inside his physique into chaos for a short time, however though the dual swords of creation have been damaged, they weren’t utterly powerless. He may nonetheless suppress his non secular essence by forcefully drawing on their remnant sword qi, and solely should endure some ache for a bit.

It was certainly a bit perilous when he first began shedding hit factors, however after Ye Zhou gave him medication, he had regained sufficient power to suppress the sword qi. But Ye Zhou had achieved one thing he didn’t perceive, after which the ache was gone and the sword qi inside his physique had vanished as nicely.

With Ye Zhou having additionally logged off with none clarification, Dugu Zhuo couldn’t assist however be a bit fearful.

He appeared over the panel for his or her blood bond many times. After Ye Zhou’s “grasp” standing, there was now a small pink heart-shaped image. Dugu Zhuo tapped it, however the system didn’t present any clarification. He had no thought what it meant.

No less than, it doesn’t matter what Ye Zhou had achieved, it ought to keep on his sport character and never have an effect on his bodily physique. Dugu Zhuo tried to reassure himself, suppressing his emotions of concern.

He glanced on the time. It was fifteen minutes earlier than 12. Ye Zhou had logged off sooner than the instances he had stated beforehand, so it was unsure whether or not he would nonetheless go surfing on the identical time this afternoon.

“Since Bian Zhou’s gone, ought to we await him?” Black Cat requested.

Qingyue appeared towards the east wing. “Let’s test on Xiao Bao first. We’ve got to at the least decide up Xiao Bao and produce him again to the washerwoman’s house, after which shield his mom simply in case that group of gamers comes again.”

“After that battle, we’ve zeroed out on spirit stones and consumed a variety of therapeutic medication, but we didn’t get any expertise, gear, supplies, or herbs. There have been solely 5 Righteousness Factors. This battle was a waste of time, huh?” Aotian set free an extended sigh as he glanced over his bag.

“Now I’m a yao with 4 Righteousness Factors,” Black Cat stated. “I had one Sin Level from stealing that NPC’s essence, however now that’s been utterly canceled out.”

The group walked into the east constructing and noticed Widow Yang holding a knife, her face crammed with tear streaks as she watched Xiao Bao lie on the ground. She stored repeating “I’m sorry.”

Xiao Bao was thinner than he ought to be and appeared clearly malnourished. With a big head and a thin physique, he resembled a radish. He had no accidents on him, however he was unconscious, and even when Qingyue went up and shook him, he didn’t wake.

The second the group discovered Xiao Bao, they obtained a system notification.

Every of them had earned 25,000 expertise factors, a set of degree 10-20 gear that matched their stats, fifty low-grade spirit stones, and 100 silver taels.

“We bought a lot!” Aotian stated, delighted. “This a lot expertise is sufficient to convey us to degree 16 or 17. It appears to be like like discovering Xiao Bao was actually an essential step on this process. By the point we full the duty, we’d get to degree 20.”

“What in regards to the reward for Ye Zhou?” Dugu Zhuo requested.

Everybody was calling him Bian Zhou, however Dugu Zhuo staunchly stored calling him Ye Zhou, making him appear a bit inflexible.

“He’ll most likely obtain his reward when he logs on,” Aotian stated, giving Dugu Zhuo an odd look. “Dashen, have you ever ever misplaced a quest reward since you went offline? It’s good to make a name to the sport firm’s service hotline when you did. They will reimburse you it.”

Listening to how flippantly Aotian spoke, Dugu Zhuo realized that he had made a misstep and requested one thing towards widespread sense.

He didn’t know what “making a name” was, however he nonetheless stated unflappably, “I don’t ‘make calls’ a lot. I’ll attempt once I sign off later.”

Seeing his imprecise phrases led his occasion members to not suspect something, he secretly set free a breath and turned his gaze to Xiao Bao.

Poor households didn’t personal mirrors, so in his childhood, he had solely hazily seen his personal face within the river water. He had faint recollections that when he was younger, he wasn’t significantly handsome in any respect. He had a giant head and thin neck and appeared like a freak in comparison with the opposite youngsters.

When it got here to the main points of his options, Dugu Zhuo had by no means appeared intently at them.

He remembered what his mom appeared like, although, and he or she was the very same because the washerwoman. In that case, this little boy who was so skinny he appeared deformed have to be his personal youngster self.

Dugu Zhuo gave Xiao Bao a chilly look and slowly stated, “Ugly.”

Kneeling down to provide Xiao Bao medication, Qingyue retorted to him, “He’s clearly skinny from malnutrition. I bear in mind seeing in my textbooks an image of a kid who’d had a harsh upbringing and appeared like just a little radish. I don’t assume this youngster will end up ugly. The washerwoman appears to be like so lovely, so if Xiao Bao was fed nicely and brought care of, he may develop into a fairly little boy.”

“Get up.” Aotian tapped Qingyue on the top. “That is how he’s designed within the sport. He can’t develop into fairly.”

Dugu Zhuo had suffered a variety of humiliation in his youth, and when he first entered Qingtian Sect, many individuals appeared down on him. It was Ye Zhou who seen this and introduced a still-disobedient Dugu Zhuo to the Star Hanging Peak.

Star Hanging Peak was Ye Zhou’s cultivation floor, and the entire mountain peak belonged to him. He had no disciples, so Dugu Zhuo’s days on the height have been peaceable.

By the point he descended the height and made an astonishing debut on the once-per-century Dialogue Convention of the entire cultivation world, he had already develop into the youngest Core Formation cultivator in Qingtian Sect. Nobody dared look down on him once more, and nobody would attempt to speak to him so argumentatively.

In a while, nobody moreover Ye Zhou would dare to look immediately at him, and when chatting with him, would solely bow their heads and reply, “Sure”, or “Perhaps”.

Qingyue’s tone with him wasn’t contempt, nor worry, as a substitute casually putting them on the identical degree.

Silently, Dugu Zhuo watched because the gamers bustled round Xiao Bao, an unfamiliar feeling arising inside his coronary heart.

“Why isn’t Xiao Bao waking up?”

Qingyue pinched the house between Xiao Bao’s nostril and lips, however he nonetheless didn’t stir. She went as much as Widow Yang and yanked the knife away from her, asking, “You recognize that Xiao Bao is the kid of pure yang, don’t you?”

“Sure,” Widow Yang stated, sobbing. She had a chic bearing, so even her crying moved individuals’s hearts.

“It took us a variety of effort to seek out the fortune teller and get him to inform us about Xiao Bao,” Qingyue stated. “You have been promoting tofu all that point, so how did you discover out?”

Widow Yang sobbed, “After you left, individuals from the yamen got here to me and stated they’d caught a number of miscreants poisoning my tofu, and needed me to go determine them.”

Listening to her phrases, everybody had a shock. They by no means thought there can be a follow-up to the enterprise of the yamen. Was the plot able to repairing itself?

Widow Yang continued, “Once I bought there, I noticed that these individuals clearly weren’t human and needed to return and test my tofu instantly, however one of many ghosts possessed me and stated he knew how one can save my son.

“When he stated that, it was like I misplaced all sense of motive. I lied to the yamen’s officers that I had examined my tofu with a silver needle and located no poison. Then I paid for these ghosts and demons’ launch and introduced them again to my home.

“They instructed me that my son wasn’t affected by fever, however from yin power inside his physique. If it was two hours earlier, he could possibly be cured by Xiao Bao’s blood, nevertheless it was too late now they usually may solely channel the yin power into Xiao Bao’s physique.”

“You agreed to that?” Engrossed in listening, Qingyue was so emotionally moved she pounded on a wall.

For the reason that NPC had entered her plot-relaying mode, she paid no consideration to Qingyue’s phrases and continued talking in a melancholic tone, “Later, one thing with its face coated ran off with a plate of tofu, and I used to be sure they meant hurt in the direction of somebody, however nonetheless I blinded my conscience and pretended I by no means noticed something.

“I used the approach they confirmed me and channeled the yin power into Xiao Bao’s physique. After that, my son’s fever actually did enhance, however Xiao Bao now received’t get up.

“Additionally they instructed me that my son’s fever had gone on too lengthy and he had misplaced considered one of his Earthly Souls[2]. They needed me to pierce Xiao Bao’s cranium with this knife and steal considered one of his Earthly Souls, so it may be given to my son.”

Aotian instantly grabbed the knife and inspected it, discovering that it wasn’t a knife however extra of a thick triangular spike, and he may additionally see its stats.

He shared its stats within the occasion chat, and a dialogue field appeared earlier than Dugu Zhuo’s eyes—

Weapon Identify: Soul-Stealing Spike

Weapon Stage: 40

Utilization Restriction: Particular weapon for the principle questline, have to be utilized by Widow Yang.

Impact: The one pierced by this weapon will lose an Earthly Soul and be poor in a selected emotion, their character changing into excessive. The final sufferer’s identify just isn’t recognized, however due to the emotion they lacked, they personally murdered their very own household.

Seeing the weapon’s impact, Dugu Zhuo felt a chill inside his coronary heart.

Ye Zhou had usually sighed deeply as he checked out him, saying that he had misplaced considered one of his Earthly Souls and lacked worry, guilt, and ethical restrictions. He didn’t know the place that soul had ended up, and after looking in every single place, Ye Zhou may solely use the Su Sword on Dugu Zhuo, creating an entire new Earthly Soul with its divine energy and putting it inside Dugu Zhuo’s physique.

It was due to this Earthly Soul that Dugu Zhou would later be capable to management each swords.

Sadly, again then he was younger and ignorant and had no thought the place he may have misplaced considered one of his souls. He thought Ye Zhou was attempting a brand new technique to torment him, and infrequently spoke rudely to Ye Zhou.

As much as at this time, he hadn’t recognized who had stolen considered one of his Earthly Souls, and why.

But one way or the other, this mysterious online game was displaying the reality of the previous earlier than Dugu Zhuo’s eyes.

Dugu Zhuo remembered today, the day when every thing in his life had modified.

He was working on the tofu store again then, and will convey house some leftover tofu each day to eat. He hardly ever ever bought to eat nicely, so he had been very completely happy.

At some point, he should’ve been weak from starvation, and fainted whereas he was working. When he awakened, the tofu store’s proprietor didn’t blame him, even kindly giving him a silver piece and telling him to purchase one thing good to eat.

He returned house with the cash and located his mom collapsed on the ground and groaning in ache. The silver piece was not even near sufficient to summon a physician. He knelt crying earlier than the straw pile that served as a mattress.

Listening to his crying, his mom awakened. She spoke of how she hated him and his father, then positioned her arms round Dugu Zhuo’s neck, as if she needed to kill this burdensome youngster along with her personal arms.

Dugu Zhuo was choked unconscious by his mom, and after waking up, discovered a person who appeared like an immortal standing by him. The person instructed him he was from the Qingtian Sect, and needed to convey Dugu Zhuo again to the sect to fulfill his father.

His mom had already handed away from sickness, mendacity on the straw mattress along with her face twisted in agony and her eyes nonetheless gazing him.

Dugu Zhuo cremated his mom’s physique, and along with that man, left the city he had grown up in, heading for the Qingtian Sect.

He by no means may’ve imagined that this previous of his would have a bunch of individuals’s schemes behind it.

Dugu Zhuo stared at Widow Yang. After a lot time had handed, he now not remembered what the proprietor of the tofu store had appeared like, and didn’t know if she was the identical as this Widow Yang earlier than him. He solely knew that the feelings inside him that he may by no means resolve now exploded forth. Expressionless, he grabbed Widow Yang’s neck, lifting her off the bottom with one hand.

Widow Yang’s eyes shortly rolled again in her head, as she cried weakly for assist.

“D—d—dashen! It’s simply the sport’s plot! It’s only a story!” Aotian ran up and grabbed Dugu Zhuo’s arm. “It significantly pisses me off too, however you may’t get so emotional about it. Even when you choke her to demise, she’s simply an NPC, so she’ll most likely come again to life tomorrow and return to promoting tofu.”

Black Cat leapt onto Widow Yang’s head, his deep inexperienced eyes gazing at Dugu Zhuo. He licked a paw, wanting unconcerned. “Mrow. Again once I stole an NPC’s very important essence, didn’t you educate me a lesson and make me cease hurting them?”

Qingyue additionally grabbed Dugu Zhuo’s hand. “Widow Yang hasn’t stabbed Xiao Bao but. They tried to persuade her, however she simply wouldn’t do it. Dashen, I feel we bought right here in time!”

Dugu Zhuo slowly turned to take a look at Qingyue.

Qingyue felt a bone-deep chill from the killing intent that crammed his eyes, however she stood her floor and stated, “If we had adopted the map the sport gave us whereas we have been searching for Xiao Bao, by the point we bought right here, Widow Yang may’ve already stabbed Xiao Bao and stolen considered one of his Earthly Souls. Nevertheless it hasn’t occurred but! Dashen, your fast considering saved the day! You weren’t misled by the map and took us proper to Widow Yang’s home. She didn’t get an opportunity to do something!”

Dugu Zhuo’s hand loosened a bit.

Seeing that her phrases have been working, Qingyue stored saying, “Have a look at Xiao Bao, he’s nonetheless unconscious. We’ve got to discover a approach to eliminate the yin power. The washerwoman remains to be ready to eat roast rooster with him!”

Dugu Zhuo launched Widow Yang and stated coldly, “Convey me a plate of unpolluted tofu.”

“Okay, okay!” Terrified, Widow Yang picked herself off the bottom, her voice nonetheless hoarse, and ran off to the tofu workshop.

Regularly, Dugu Zhuo returned to regular.

That’s proper, this was only a sport, simply an NPC. Even when he killed Widow Yang proper now, he couldn’t change what had occurred previously.

Qingyue, Aotian, and Black Cat gathered collectively and watched Dugu Zhuo fastidiously. Seeing that he now not appeared murderous, Aotian requested in a quiet voice, “Dashen, have been you scaring Widow Yang on goal, so she would make a chunk of tofu for the monk at Tanye Temple?”

“That’s proper,” Qingyue stated. “There’s nonetheless a process to purchase tofu that we haven’t accomplished.”

Dugu Zhuo supplied no clarification. He didn’t need to converse proper now, and leaned towards a wall, quietly awaiting the tofu.

Widow Yang had already bought all her tofu, so now made a recent batch. Trembling, she delivered a steaming piece of tofu to Dugu Zhuo.

“Since now we have the tofu now, ought to we convey it to Tanye Temple?” Aotian requested.

“We’ll ship Widow Yang to the yamen,” Dugu Zhuo stated. “Since she’s an NPC, let’s observe the sport’s laws.”

He didn’t know whether or not there can be any level in doing this, nevertheless it was the one technique out there to him.

The occasion obeyed and introduced Widow Yang to the yamen, the place the bailiff actually did take the case. He even discovered a physician to care for Widow Yang’s son, and took care of all of the follow-up.

The occasion earned 5 thousand expertise factors and two Righteousness Factors, so it appeared their selection was appropriate.

After ending every thing, it was now 1 pm. “Let’s await Ye Zhou to return earlier than persevering with,” Dugu Zhuo stated.

Aotian and the remainder have been hungry anyway, and consuming a rooster within the sport wouldn’t fill their stomachs, so all of them logged off, arranging to fulfill at 3 this afternoon.

After everybody had left, Dugu Zhuo appeared on the Soul-Stealing Spike. With a thought, a blast of extraordinarily pure sword qi struck the spike, immediately decreasing the extent 40 particular merchandise to mud.

This was the divine energy of the Su Sword which changed considered one of Dugu Zhuo’s souls. It had incomparable energy, however he couldn’t use it a lot, as each time he did, his feelings would develop weaker.

1. bian is one other studying of pian 

2. there’s a daoist perception that the human soul is made from three hun and 7 po. the hun are the non secular or psychological elements which go away the physique after demise and enter reincarnation, whereas the po are the fabric elements which every govern a distinct emotion, and return to the earth with the physique