Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 257 - 250 Second Time - Part 2

Chapter 257: Chapter 250 Second Time - Part 2

"So cold... so cold..."

Suddenly, a feeble woman’s voice emerged slowly from the darkness nearby.

She was wearing thick, black clothes similar to a raincoat, her head covered with a hood that concealed her face, only revealing that she was not very tall and seemed to be shivering.

In her hand, she was leading a few small figures, all standing outside of the firelight in the shadows, seemingly her children.

"So cold... please, have mercy... let me and my children come warm ourselves by the fire..." the woman begged weakly, with her head lowered.

Lin Xin looked at her pulling her children in the dark, her hood over her head lowered. Her children were also looking down, their faces not visible, and they were silent... so silent they almost seemed not alive!

He didn’t know why this thought suddenly occurred to his mind, but involuntarily, that’s the word that came to him.

"Please... have mercy..." The woman stood on the edge of the firelight, pleading incessantly as if she truly were about to freeze to death.

Lin Xin thought for a moment.

"Where are you from?"

He planned to extract some information from this woman.

"Please... have mercy..." However, the woman seemed not to hear his question at all, repeating the same phrase over and over.

For some reason, seeing her like this, Lin Xin couldn’t help but feel a twinge of compassion and pity, and was about to say,

"If that’s the case, then come..."

He was cut off mid-sentence, feeling a tingling sensation on his scalp, something wasn’t right, as he immediately saw the woman raise her head abruptly, revealing a pale, bloodless face with protruding eyeballs staring straight at him. The look in her eyes was chilling, with a hint of eerie delight.

His hand immediately grasped the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a flare of fire burst up, his vision blurred for a moment, and when Lin Xin’s vision cleared, he saw the woman and her children had vanished.

"You need to be careful." The voice of the Red Leaf Sword Master suddenly transmitted from the darkness.

His figure quickly appeared at the edge of the firelight.

"Careful of what?" Lin Xin retorted.

"This fire represents your life, your soul, the essence of all your roots," the Red Leaf Sword Master said calmly. "Those things just now, they all wanted to extinguish and devour your origins."

"Origins?" Lin Xin didn’t understand the word at first.

"From the moment you entered, the range of light from the fire you stand in represents the realm illuminated by your Life Fire. If you leave this place, or the campfire is extinguished, you will die as well," the Red Leaf Sword Master explained.

Lin Xin’s heart stirred, and he held the Red Flower Sword, slowly infusing it with Spiritual Energy, trying to activate Yin Mantuo and summon her.

But there was no response from the blade, the summoning failed!

"Summoning creatures is useless here; this isn’t reality, nor is it the Two-Faced Kingdom... By the way, do you have anything that can resist decay on you?" the Red Leaf Sword Master asked.

"Yes." Lin Xin nodded.

"If kept on its own, its effectiveness will be very weak. It would be better to place it in the campfire. That is the fire of your life, the fire of all your origins. Using this treasure to comprehensively strengthen your origins could maybe play the treasure’s role to a greater extent from the essence." The Red Leaf Sword Master elaborated carefully.

Lin Xin nodded slightly, finding the reasoning sound. He took out the Qiushui lantern from his chest, held it in his hand, and walked towards the campfire.

"What should I do?" He still had a good deal of trust in the Red Leaf Sword Master. After all, the man’s strength was much greater than his own. There seemed to be no reason for him to deliberately plot to harm him.

"Throw that treasure into the campfire, that should do it," the Red Leaf Sword Master said in a low voice.

Lin Xin, holding the Qiushui lantern, was about to throw it into the campfire when a strange discomfort surged in his heart.

His hand hung at the edge of the campfire, and he paused.

"The Red Leaf Sword Master has never said so much before; he’s always been neurotic, speaking in a halting way. How come he’s so talkative today?"

He turned his head back to where the other man was supposed to be.

But to his surprise, there was no one there, just a vast emptiness and darkness.

Feeling a chill in his heart, Lin Xin set the Qiushui lantern down and tucked it back into his chest.

"Why aren’t you throwing it? Why have you stopped?"

Once again, the voice of the Red Leaf Sword Master came, seemingly becoming a bit more hurried.

Lin Xin looked around but could not see any sign of him.

Determined, he simply sat down by the fire, ignoring all sounds.

Time slowly passed, Lin Xin didn’t know how much time had elapsed, he only knew that he was becoming more and more hungry and more and more thirsty, but he dared not leave the fire’s side.

Every time he thought of leaving to find some water, a strong sense of impending crisis in his heart would urge him to sit back down.

After repeating this several times, his sense of hunger grew stronger and more intense.

The food in his Storage Bag was quickly consumed, but the sky remained dark, without a hint of light.

He had no idea how long this would last. The campfire showed no sign of diminishing or burning out. But his instinct told him it was best to maintain the status quo.

*************************

In the woods by the waterfall,

The Red Leaf Sword Master was walking aimlessly, neither fast nor slow, as if on a leisurely stroll. Around him, Exotic Beasts that were incredibly dangerous steered clear of him, hastily fleeing upon seeing or smelling him.

Within the lush, perilous woods, he moved as if he was in a deserted place.

After a long walk, he came to a halt in a spacious clearing in the forest.

In the air above the clearing, there hung an old man with white hair, his robes dirty and wrinkled. The man’s neck was bound with numerous white threads suspending him amidst five trees, with intricate Formation Talismans on the ground below, seemingly forming a binding Formation to trap him there.

"You’re still the same," the old man said, eyes closed and in a somber tone.

"The Ninth Layer, how many more people have entered?" asked the Red Leaf Sword Master slowly.

"Over a hundred. This group that entered within the last fifty years is almost all dead," the old man replied.

"Have you noticed any seedlings?" the Red Leaf Sword Master continued.

"You’ve incarnated into multitudes. Isn’t there one of you presiding over each layer?" the old man countered.

"You know that I’m only lucid for two hours each day," Red Leaf shook his head.

"And it’s only these two hours when I dare to come to see you," said the elder with a wry smile. "Any new entrants in the Lions’ Plain?"

Red Leaf fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Two have entered... both with great potential."

"Just watch them, that’s all; do not intervene," the old man advised.

"One from the Underworld is under my watch. The other is watched by Qiushui," said Red Leaf.

"The Autumn Water Sword Master... She’s not dead yet?"

"Last time, only Huang Tan died," Red Leaf stated, then fell silent again.

The old man let out a sigh.

"What about Bai Que?"

"She didn’t manage to run away when I went mad," Red Leaf paused, "I ate her."

The old man suddenly fell silent.

It was a long time before either of them spoke again, as if struggling to recover from the emotion. He then continued to speak.

"It’s probably for the best. She always loved you; this way, she can be with you forever..." the old man said, revealing a sincere, albeit melancholic, smile of blessing.

"Forever in Ultimate Bliss, freed from the bitter sea."

"Perhaps," said the Red Leaf Sword Master expressionlessly. "I’ve come to you for some Verdant Truefruit."

"What will you trade for it?"

"A drop of my Essential Blood," said Red Leaf indifferently.

"Two drops."

"One drop."

"Two drops!" the old man stressed.

"Half a drop." Red Leaf remained expressionless.

"You’re really... fine, one drop it is," the old man gave in helplessly, sighing. He carefully pulled a white whisker from his chin and lightly tossed it forward.

The whisker floated gently down and landed on the dirt between them.

Hsss...

Upon touching the dirt, the whisker suddenly drilled into the soil. It quickly vanished from sight.

Both waited patiently, looking at the spot where the whisker had disappeared.

Soon, the white whisker poked its tip out of the soil, then rapidly thickened, sprouting branches as it branched out.

The branches grew taller and bigger, and in nearly a dozen breaths’ time, it had grown into a small silver tree, taller than a person.

The small tree quickly filled with lush green leaves, each leaf crystal clear like jade, extraordinarily beautiful.

Soon, the branches bore numerous flower buds, and the silver flowers bloomed slowly like peonies, with stately magnificence. Moments later, the petals withered and drifted down gently, and where the buds had been, silver mice formed, hanging upside down on the trunk.

The silver mice, each with a long tail attached to the trunk, were motionless, gleaming brightly. On closer inspection, they were actually silver fruit shaped like mice.

"Thirteen in total." Red Leaf beckoned, and all the mouse fruits immediately fell off, flying towards the sleeve of his robe and disappearing into it.

Afterward, he extended a finger, erect in front of him.

With a snap, a section of his index finger broke off on its own, flying towards the old man.

The finger dissolved into a semi-transparent pale red blood in mid-air, seemingly wrapping a bit of a glaring red light inside, continuously emanating rays of light.

Red Leaf’s complexion turned slightly pale, and a flicker of fatigue crossed his eyes.

"Is he worth all your investment?" the old man sighed.

"I’ve always been watching him. Among those who entered, he’s the most comfortable and the quickest to understand the Underworld. He’s also the one who can most quickly utilize the local forces to his aid. Until recently, he’s survived a Dao Seeking ordeal, emerging unscathed," explained the Red Leaf Sword Master calmly.

"Unscathed... He hasn’t been here for more than fifty years, has he?"

"That’s correct."

"No wonder..." The old man showed a look of understanding.

"I should be going," Red Leaf said, carrying the mouse fruits as he turned to leave.

The old man was left looking at the floating drop of blood, deep in thought.

*************************

"It must have been five days now."

Lin Xin sat motionless beside the bonfire.

The surroundings were still pitch black, no moon, no stars, only the bright light from the fire burning in front of him.

Intense hunger and thirst constantly stimulated his nerves. He wanted to go to a nearby spot to drink water, but an instinctive sense of threat and crisis kept warning him that once he left, he might never come back.

The food in his Storage Bag seemed to be running out unusually fast, for some reason. Even though with his current realm, going without food or drink for some time shouldn’t be an issue, but now, after just a short while, he felt starved. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)