Chapter 10: Mistaken Purity in a Corrupted World

Chapter 10: Mistaken Purity in a Corrupted World

In a haze, Zhang Sanlu thought he saw a beam of light—no, it was a halo, a luminous orb that shone upon his face like the sun, so dazzling that he could see nothing else.

“Don’t move! Is it internal bleeding?!”

“He’s stopped breathing! No carotid pulse!”

“There’s something in his mouth—clear it out! Clear it out!”

“If it’s blocking his airway, insert a tube through the wound!”

From Zhang Sanlu’s mouth spilled a tangled mass resembling hair, entwined and soaked in foul, black liquid. Yet his body grew ever colder.

“Cardiac arrest! AED!”

A buzzing sound echoed, something had been activated.

“Apply the electrode pads!”

Zhang Sanlu felt something pressed against the right side of his chest.

“Hands off! Three, two, one!”

With another buzz, his entire being convulsed as if struck by lightning; his chest jerked up violently, then slammed back down, his body writhing in spasms.

“Again! Three, two, one!” The voice kept issuing commands.

His body suddenly tensed, a surge of released electricity coursed through him like thunder, striving to realign his chaotic heartbeat.

He convulsed uncontrollably, each electric shock like a bolt of lightning tearing through his insides, tightening his muscles. He could do nothing but endure the wild rampage of pain that tore through him.

“Damn it…” With those words, Zhang Sanlu lost all awareness of his surroundings. He felt weightless, as if his body had shed its mass, the pain evaporating.

He had no idea how much time passed.

Suddenly, Zhang Sanlu opened his eyes. Everything that had happened felt like a dream.

Had he not opened his eyes to see the pitch-black cavern before him, he would have believed it was all a dream.

At least, he was alive.

Zhang Sanlu struggled to rise from the ground. Not far away, a headless corpse lay sprawled, the floor splattered with red, black, and white.

The short sword that had once pierced his chest lay discarded nearby, but the wound itself had vanished.

Yet the Transcendent Master was truly dead.

“But he’s dead now—what am I supposed to do?” Zhang Sanlu sat up, lost. How could he return to that other world?

He had never expected to survive; he had resolved to drag the Transcendent Master, who sought to steal his body, to death with him.

Zhang Sanlu lowered his gaze to his hands. Where his left hand should have been, there was only an empty sleeve.

But he could feel it—clear and strong. He sensed the phantom limb, felt the pressure of cloth, the itch of a non-existent forearm, so real he almost reached to scratch it.

The phantom limb then erupted in pain, as if someone were sawing through the bone, relentless and excruciating. He knew it was phantom pain, his brain deceiving him, telling him the lost limb still remained.

He tried to touch the pain, but found only air, and this brought him an indescribable despair.

“Mas…Master?”

A voice sounded from the wall’s shadow.

Zhang Sanlu scanned the darkness, but saw with unusual clarity. In the cave’s corner, two figures cowered—one was Man Shan, who shared a room with Su Qing, the other must be Qiu Ming.

The two were clearly terrified, collapsed on the ground, muttering pleas. The events had been too bizarre for them to comprehend; they still believed the Transcendent Master had slain the fiercely resisting Brother Zhenfu.

A clear stain marked Man Shan’s trousers.

“Don’t be afraid, I am Zhang… I am Zhenfu. The Transcendent Master tried to seize my body, but I killed him when he least expected it.”

“Zhen…Zhenfu Brother? Are you telling the truth?” The two clung to each other, creeping into the torch’s dim glow.

“There’s no need to lie to you.” Zhang Sanlu managed a bitter smile, but under the torchlight, the bloodstained, one-eyed old priest’s smile was ghastly enough to silence a crying child.

“Oh, mother—!” Man Shan whimpered, tears streaming, terror breaking him.

Qiu Ming, older and braver, swallowed hard, “Brother, what will you do now in this state? Can you change back?”

Zhang Sanlu glanced at his own severed head lying on the ground and shook his head.

“Then…Brother, can we…can we leave the mountain?”

“Yes, of course.” Zhang Sanlu saw their joy and couldn’t help but smile.

“We can go home! Brother, you can go home too!” Man Shan’s delight was irrepressible.

Zhang Sanlu’s smile froze, but he nodded at last, “We can all go home.”

Staring at the tightly shut stone door, none of them knew how to open it. But when Zhang Sanlu pressed his hand to the door’s hollow, a rumbling echoed as it swung open.

“Wait,” Zhang Sanlu looked at his own severed head on the floor, feeling an inexplicable urge to take it with him.

Without hesitation, he tore a piece of robe from the headless corpse, placed the head in the center, wrapped it like a bundle, slung it over his back, wiped the short sword clean on the bundle, and sheathed it at his waist. Then, he nodded to his trembling juniors.

“Let’s go.”

With torches in hand, they walked through the cave’s tunnel for about half a stick of incense’s time, but had not yet reached the end. The deep cavern echoed only with their footsteps; they had to rely on their torches to illuminate the winding path ahead. The air was thick with damp and mold, mingling with earth and other scents, evoking the feeling of a corpse buried deep underground.

They felt as if they were descending ever deeper, the cave walls narrowing as they went.

“Was the tunnel this deep when we came in?” Zhang Sanlu couldn’t help but ask. His voice reverberated, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Man Shan shook his head, pale, unable to speak.

Qiu Ming, tense, replied, “There was only this way in. Maybe we’ve been here too long, we’re tired, and walking slower?”

Zhang Sanlu realized he could get no answers from them, so he suggested, “Let’s mark our place here and walk a bit further.”

He found a hard stone and drew a triangle on the wall. Then they continued down the passage.

After another half stick of incense’s time, exhaustion became apparent. Qiu Ming finally asked, “Brother, did we miss a fork in the tunnel and…” He stopped, suddenly stiffening, face drained, teeth chattering, as if he had seen something terrifying.