Chapter Thirty-Eight: Wei Mingyuan

After seeing Dong Muming collapse, Su Bai was still uncertain whether he was truly dead or not, so he watched cautiously from the side. Suddenly, Dong Muming, who had long appeared “dead,” abruptly lifted his head, his venomous gaze locking onto Su Bai. The sense of oppression crashed over Su Bai like a raging flood, rendering him immobile.

Dong Muming then flicked a dart from his right hand, aiming straight for Su Bai’s forehead, its tip coated with deadly poison. If Su Bai were struck, he would die instantly. This dart, however, was Dong Muming’s final act—his last breath spent. The moment the dart left his hand, his fate was sealed; he passed into death.

Fortunately, Su Bai had prepared himself, keeping his mind tightly guarded. In that instant, he regained his composure, and with a quick tilt of his head to the left, narrowly avoided the dart.

He tumbled to the ground in fright, breathing heavily. Had he not grown up under the tutelage of Li Siguo, learning all manner of martial secrets, he might have met his end from Dong Muming’s dying strike.

“An extraordinary realm master is far beyond those who merely possess nascent psychic power. I was careless; I should have waited longer before scavenging the corpse. I nearly lost my life this time,” Su Bai muttered, chastising himself.

Yet, thinking further, he found it almost amusing: “If Dong Muming hadn’t waited so long and attacked as soon as I appeared, I would have been caught off guard despite my preparations. He was too cautious, treating me as a peer of his own rank.”

Dong Muming had lingered, waiting for Su Bai to approach, exhausting too much time and vitality. The marrow-extracting pill had consumed his life force, leaving him unable to truly suppress Su Bai. Had he acted immediately, Su Bai would never have dodged the dart, no matter how vigilant.

Now, Su Bai began the ritual of “grievingly looting the body,” recalling how he had managed to kill Dong Muming. Of the two pills he carried, one had been ground into powder beforehand and smeared on his hand during their conversation. By positioning himself with his back to the sun, Dong Muming could not see his subtle movements. Severely wounded, Dong Muming would not waste precious psychic power on a seemingly powerless child.

To dispel suspicion, Su Bai first gave Dong Muming an ordinary pill—also tainted with poison powder. As expected, Dong Muming did not trust him. But, burdened by his wounds, Dong Muming was forced to retrieve the medicine himself, making Su Bai’s next steps easy.

“I really lucked out. Otherwise, with his strength, no amount of courage would have saved me.”

Having disposed of the body, Su Bai found only a strange, broken, hard fragment and Dong Muming’s silk pouch. Aside from cultivation pills, there was little else of value. Su Bai left traces on the corpse to obscure his involvement in Dong Muming’s death.

When he finished, he studied the iron fragment but found nothing remarkable. Still, he tore a piece of Dong Muming’s cloth, wrapped the fragment, and tucked it away.

“Though I don’t know what this thing is, anything kept by someone of extraordinary realm must be special.”

After tidying up, Su Bai did not hurry away. Instead, he found a hidden cave and slipped inside.

“Dong Muming’s body is here; if Xi Menghe sends disciples to track me, they certainly won’t look here. The most dangerous place is the safest. He’ll return soon to clean up the scene. This cave is so narrow, he’ll never notice me. After he leaves, I’ll stay one more night; tomorrow night I should be able to depart.”

Suddenly, Su Bai shivered.

“Ah, damn it! I should’ve stripped Dong Muming’s clothes. Who would’ve thought my body would be so frail—frozen in the height of summer! But I’m barely recovered from illness, truly weak.”

“My poor senior brother, your junior has come to see you.”

Xi Menghe’s voice made Su Bai, crouched in the rock crevice, curl up tightly and remain motionless.

Though he had planned well, meeting a real master face-to-face was an entirely different experience. The tension and oppressive atmosphere instantly drained his resolve, leaving only the urge to flee.

After all, what courage does an ant have to challenge an elephant?

Just as Su Bai suspected, Xi Menghe did not notice him. The clothes beneath Dong Muming’s body had long since been reclaimed by Su Bai; he dared not make such a rookie mistake.

Xi Menghe examined Dong Muming’s corpse, finding it odd. “Was that old man only feigning death? Who killed him now?”

Su Bai could not hear Xi Menghe’s muttering, but he guessed Dong Muming’s death was not caused by blood loss.

Both inside and outside the scene, the two men frowned simultaneously, as if in a drama.

“Could it have been that sly brat?”

“Could he have figured it out?”

Both wondered in unison.

But immediately, each dismissed the idea.

“Impossible. If Dong Muming were feigning death, that boy would have had no chance of survival.”

“Impossible. If Dong Muming were feigning death, with my clumsy skills, I would certainly be doomed. He couldn’t possibly have guessed.”

Xi Menghe shook his head and said to Dong Muming, “He probably took a potent healing pill to treat his wounds. Wild beasts often roam these woods; these scars must have been caused then.”

He glanced at the barely visible claw marks on Dong Muming’s waist and made his conclusion.

“He must have seen me imitate feline claw marks with my hook during the earlier encounter,” Su Bai thought, relieved to see Xi Menghe finally clearing up the scene.

As Xi Menghe cleaned up the corpse remnants and the lingering mechanisms of the formation, he sighed, “Senior brother, though we had our differences in life, you helped me much when we were fellow disciples.”

He smiled wryly. “Ha, I must be getting old—rambling so much before killing someone.”

He gazed at the warm sun and unconsciously closed his eyes. “Cultivating to our level is fighting against fate. To live three or five centuries—how could we resign ourselves to aging like ordinary folk? I’ve killed many; perhaps the Buddha will not save me after death. But if I could start anew, I would still kill you as I did today.”

He suddenly opened his eyes, cold light flashing, his entire bearing transformed.

Xi Menghe looked up to the heavens and whispered, “If only I had your talent, I would never have chosen this path.”

But he quickly composed himself. “As long as I capture Ming Li, I will gain extraordinary talent and surely reach realms you could not even imagine.”

Xi Menghe was too far and spoke too softly for Su Bai to hear, despite straining his ears.

An hour passed. Xi Menghe silently watched the burning corpse.

After two more sticks of incense, when everything was settled, Xi Menghe turned and left.

Watching Xi Menghe’s departing figure, Su Bai finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.

“The air feels unbelievably fresh after this! Damn!”

“Now to find some dry grass for bedding tonight. Just need to get through tomorrow—hopefully nothing goes wrong.”

As dusk crept over the mountains, Su Bai prepared to tidy up the cave.

But just then, a figure appeared outside, causing Su Bai to shrink back into the crevice.

The small figure was Wei Mingyuan, who had been trailing Xi Menghe.

He hadn’t eaten all day, and at his age, hunger gnawed at him. Following Xi Menghe for so long left him no time to search for food.

Luckily, he found a spot that perfectly avoided Xi Menghe’s patrol.

Yes, he too planned to spend the night here.

Inside the crevice, Su Bai grew anxious watching this brother linger, itching to leap out and smack Wei Mingyuan.

Half an hour passed. Outside, Wei Mingyuan started a fire, while Su Bai endured a long wait.

The cold became unbearable for Su Bai, prompting him to consider acting first.

“I have no weapon, and I’ve used up my poison powder, only a few poison pills remain. What should I do?” As Su Bai pondered, he sensed danger approaching.

Wei Mingyuan had spotted other disciples of the Grand Evolution Sect nearby. Worried his fire might be discovered, he sought a cave to hide in—or failing that, planned to carve out a space for himself.

Su Bai watched as the grass in front of him was slowly parted, unable to devise a better plan.

Meanwhile, Wei Mingyuan searched for a “dwelling,” but after much effort, found nothing and kept looking.

During his search, he noticed something unusual.

“This patch of grass looks disturbed. I remember the old man didn’t come this way while cleaning up. Besides, it’s summer—the plants quickly recover after being touched. Unless…”

Wei Mingyuan narrowed his eyes, carefully advancing and picking up a spiked branch. From joining the sect’s preparatory ranks to becoming the top entrant, Wei Mingyuan had fought his way forward; he was no ordinary ten-year-old.

Facing this situation, he felt no panic, only a single thought: kill the one ahead; he must not escape.

Su Bai, meanwhile, quietly picked up a branch beside him, crawling slowly from the crevice, crouching and staring at the grass, waiting for Wei Mingyuan to part it so he could strike.

But as he waited, a branch whipped through the air, breaking his focus.

Su Bai spun to defend himself, but his opponent was stronger and attacked while Su Bai was distracted.

With a low shout, Wei Mingyuan stabbed Su Bai in the abdomen with the branch.

Wei Mingyuan pressed his attack, increasing his force. He sensed his opponent was a paper tiger; just a little more effort would send him to hell.

He gripped the branch with both hands, determined to kill Su Bai.

Su Bai dropped his own branch, now clutching the branch stuck in his abdomen with both hands, his face contorted in agony, teeth clenched tight.

The two boys, upon their first meeting, sought each other’s death. Their faces were no longer childlike but snarling and fierce, more beast than innocent.

Time slipped by, and Su Bai gradually felt his strength ebbing. Blood poured out, and he could no longer withstand the dark-skinned youth before him.

A look of resolve appeared on his face; suddenly, he let go.

Wei Mingyuan, carried forward by momentum, lunged at Su Bai.

Su Bai shouted, rubbing his right hand across Wei Mingyuan’s tongue, then struck his left hand to break Wei Mingyuan’s grip.

Staggering back several steps, Su Bai leaned on a rock, laughing bitterly. “You… you lose.”

Wei Mingyuan realized too late; a faint bitterness filled his mouth. In his haste to kill, he had forgotten to guard against a counterattack.

He never expected Su Bai to risk everything, ready to die just to poison him.

Su Bai, cold sweat and blood streaming, face pale as snow, clothes soaked red, dared not relax under the gaze of this little fiend.

Wei Mingyuan’s dangerous eyes warned Su Bai: this boy was no naïve novice.

After half a stick of incense, Wei Mingyuan finally yielded: “I’ll spare you; give me the antidote.”

“Ha! You… you think I… would trust you?” Su Bai managed to force out the words through gritted teeth.

“Then what do you suggest?”

Su Bai chuckled, but the pain in his abdomen made him grimace.

“I do have the antidote, and if I don’t give it to you, you’ll die from the poison by tomorrow at dawn.”

Wei Mingyuan stepped forward, apparently to force Su Bai’s hand: “You’d better hand over the antidote now, or I’ll kill you and take it myself.”

“Oh? Is that so?” A strange smile appeared on Su Bai’s weak face. He pulled out a pill from his pocket.

Wei Mingyuan prepared to snatch it.

Su Bai shouted, “If you take one more step, I’ll crush this pill right now!”

Hearing this, Wei Mingyuan dared not move. The two fell into another stalemate.

This time, Su Bai broke the deadlock: “We're only trying to evade Xi Menghe’s pursuit—isn’t that right?”

Seeing Wei Mingyuan nod, Su Bai’s suspicions were confirmed.

From Wei Mingyuan’s cautious behavior, and especially from what Dong Muming had revealed before dying, Su Bai was certain this was Wei Mingyuan.

He proposed, “Let’s compromise. I’ll give you enough antidote for half a month, and you must promise not to harm me. As for cooking and chores, you’ll handle those. When we part ways tomorrow night, I’ll give you the rest of the antidote.”

Wei Mingyuan thought briefly before agreeing: “Fine, give me the antidote then.”

“Catch!” Su Bai tossed the pill to Wei Mingyuan, which pulled at his wound and made him gasp in pain.

But he persisted, watching as Wei Mingyuan swallowed the deep blue pill…