Previously, Mao You San had not mentioned that there would be such dangers in restoring the lifespan.
"Are you afraid?" Mao You San suddenly asked me.
I was silent, and then nodded.
"If you want to back out, it's not impossible," Mao You San continued. "I'll take your destiny. One life for one life; I'll save that widowed woman from the eight failures for you."
My gaze on Mao You San changed increasingly.
"Reluctant to give up your destiny, right?"
"Old Mao will teach you a bit more; there's nothing..." Mao You San resumed.
However, before he could finish, I cut him off.
"None of it comes for free, it's all arbitrary. Even if it was mine, and was taken from me once, that left me with another thing. Though it may appear unfair, there are no truly fair things in this world. I understand many things. Old Qin taught me many things."
I hadn't finished speaking when I continued, "It seems that you, Old Mao, may still want to tell me that I'm reluctant to give up myself, reluctant to let go of Old Qin, and reluctant to let the destiny that terrifies me go. What are we talking about? Both want and not want? Of course, I have no ability to compel you. You're a businessman. I crossed the line."
"I will bear the risks myself. I will fulfill my promise to you perfectly, Yu Xiu. I will take responsibility for myself."
"I believe there's a way out for everyone. Besides, if I were truly afraid, I would have already hidden my name and identity long ago."
My words were especially decisive. I sat down directly in the middle of the copper coin.
Mao You San looked at me with a hint of satisfaction in his gaze.
This made my heart slightly uneasy.
Is he not angry?
Even as a businessman, our conversations carry some edge and passion, yet he remains unangry and unperturbed?
What does this satisfaction mean?
A soft creak as Mao You San pulled down the curtains.
The next moment, he withdrew a few more items from his hand.
There were grayish-purple wooden talismans, a withered hand, and even a few teeth.
He placed those items beneath the curtain, and the room fell into an eerie silence, a coldness...
It was still daytime, but that coldness felt like it had entered the night.
Then, Mao You San pulled out another item, a small wooden doll with two fingers, which he threw towards me. The wooden doll fell steadily in front of me.
As I got closer, I noticed that the wooden doll was covered in intricate talismanic inscriptions. Especially noteworthy were the carved eyes, which were bright and yet oddly hollow!
"Press the tip of your index finger on the top of the wooden doll," Mao You San suddenly said.
Without hesitation, I extended my index finger and pressed it on the top of the wooden doll.
The next second, it seemed I heard a loud muffled sound in my ear, as if someone had struck my head with a heavy blow!
And then, a tearing sensation spread through my entire body, as if something was being forcibly removed from me!
Soon, that sense of detachment became a sensation of withdrawal, as if something was draining out of my marrow...
The pain overlapped with the pain I felt when my lifespan was forcibly taken away years ago.
I couldn't help but let out a wail...
The unrelenting pain made me unable to sit still, and I was about to faint and fall to the ground.
Suddenly, all the copper coins stood up upright!
A strange warmth nourished my body, but the sensation of pain was extremely clear in my consciousness.
It's different from before. Back then, the pain was so severe that I passed out, and upon waking up, it was still just pain.
Now I feel like my head is about to split open...
My intuition tells me that if my head really splits open, it would be my consciousness bursting, which is what Mao You San told me about - death!
My eyes wide open, I made a tremendous effort to endure the pain, not letting myself pass out or collapse!
Time ticked by, until I thought I had held on.
Suddenly, Mao You San stepped into the copper coin and walked behind me.
He held a thin vine in his hand, which he didn't know when he had taken.
The vine was wrapped in talismanic cloth.
A crackle, and the vine struck my back, a pain that seemed to strike the bones.
I gritted my teeth and felt as if my bones were about to break!
At this moment, an abrupt change occurred.
The wooden doll I was pressing suddenly exerted an even stronger suction!
A gray mist, mixed with a trace of blood, kept escaping from me.
"This is not simply a Yin Life. It's an extremely Yin fate. But your yang spirit body can be used, but cannot be used to the extreme. You have to push it all out, which is not easy. If you can't bear it, give up. Give up, that's reincarnation!"
I originally thought that Mao You San might have something else to say.
In the end, hearing his words was equivalent to not hearing anything.
Of course, the first part was useful, as it made me know that Yu Kan's Yin Life is not so simple.
In the crackling sound, Mao You San struck me three times, making my consciousness almost dissipate. But I still endured it.
The wooden doll had undergone a strange transformation, seeming to embody a spirit or even a human being...
A familiar sensation washed over me.
That sense of similarity... It was Yu Kan!
I was gasping heavily, but a smile curved up the corners of my mouth.
Drawing out the Yin Life completely and giving it back to Yu Kan wholeheartedly.
Returning Yu Xiu to him as well, I would owe him nothing.
If Old Qin had done something to them, then it would be like I had repaid a debt!
Another crackle, and this time it felt like it was hitting my bones.
I opened my mouth fiercely, but no blood spewed out. It felt like I had expelled a breath.
The sensation of my consciousness bursting couldn't be sustained...
I was still struggling to maintain myself, but a sigh came from behind me.
"You're done."
"Of course..."
My consciousness trembled again.
Disabled?
What was disabled?
What was it that was expected?
Yet, I could no longer speak. I could only feel that I was dispersing continuously, and my thoughts were becoming hollow.
"This Qin Wei, is he to die so?" Mao You San murmured behind me.
"This Qin Wei, is he to die so?" Mao You San murmured behind me. "It's no wonder he had to use Miao Xuan Yu Mìng... His body was already broken into a sieve. Epidemic plague command blocked it. After pulling it out, Yin Life could still plug in, but after pulling out Yin Life, the sieve is leaked. This vitality... cannot be replenished..."
The hollow sensation grew stronger.
Sieve?
It seems so. Back then, when Sun Da Hai treated me like a dead dog and threw me into the snow, I felt that I was like a sieve with countless holes, constantly flowing blood and something I didn't know...
"Kid... You're going to die. I don't want you to die. Heh, the key is that they were too harsh back then..."
"The lifespan, just a little more to pull out, once completely pulled out, you would instantly lose all vitality, unable to withstand the infusion of the yang spirit's life force."
"Do you have any final words? Try hard to think of them, and I can hear them."
"Within reason, I'll help you accomplish it."
Mao You San's words were filled with regret and helplessness.
My consciousness trembled again. Was it really as if I had no power to reverse the situation?
Regret, it's too late?
I didn't know what kind of emotion I was experiencing at the moment.
Regret?
It seems there's no regret.
Emptiness, it seems very empty.
Discontent... That discontent seemed to become a floating duckweed without roots.
This is how I die, unable to become even a ghost, just a wandering soul.
The feeling of consciousness fragmenting and disintegrating is even stronger.
But just as this happened, I heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching.
The footsteps themselves were ordinary, but they instilled a yearning in me, like a person on the brink of death hearing the sound of running water, or someone about to starve smelling the aroma of bread.
"Come... Come quick..." My lips trembled slightly.
