Chapter 10

"Surely you have to let me know what I need to do," Buli said helplessly. This old ghost wouldn’t reveal anything, definitely hiding some unspeakable intentions. In Buli’s mind, the image of the lab mice from his university days appeared, each one lively and jumping as they were dissected.

Hu Wu cackled and said, "The vines, after being processed by my unique method, will enter your body, and of course, you will suffer. First, you must endure the pain, and then you must not lose your mind, or else the vines will take over your body and turn you into a plant."

Uh... this is what a true vegetable would look like. Buli, in a daze, saw a version of himself standing there, with green leaves sprouting from his seven orifices, motionless, eventually spreading across the entire Western Mountain. He involuntarily shivered. Being a vegetable... it would be better to die outright.

Hu Wu was not in a hurry. He found a tree stump to sit on, fiddling with the yellow bamboo bottle in his hand, showing no signs of impatience.

"I choose the first option," Buli said firmly.

Hu Wu didn’t even glance at Buli, threw the yellow bamboo bottle to him, and turned to leave without any hesitation. He didn’t even want to say another word to Buli, as if their connection was already severed and there was no need for further words.

Buli was taken aback. This time, he was truly helpless. How was he supposed to know how to send his soul into his body? This damn old ghost didn’t give him any choice. Watching Hu Wu’s resolute back, Buli held the yellow bamboo bottle, feeling utterly helpless. Without Hu Wu’s guidance, even if he absorbed the soul of the vines, what use would it be? This wasn’t giving him a choice; it was clearly a forced transaction. Lab mice must have the awareness of being lab mice. Buli made a quick decision.

"Alright, come back, I choose the second option," Buli said.

"Exactly, young man, if you don’t have a bit of impulsiveness and bravery, what’s the point of living? Besides, with him, what do you have to fear?" Hu Wu, hearing Buli’s words, turned back, just like a customer at a market stall who returns when the vendor lowers the price, smiling. When he mentioned "him," his voice was a bit muffled, and Buli didn’t hear it.

"But..." Buli pondered, trying to persuade Hu Wu to use a more stable method.

"There’s no ‘but.’ With me, nothing will go wrong. Even if something happens, I will kill the vine immediately to avenge you, and I won’t let you become a vegetable," Hu Wu said resolutely.

Killing the vine, the vine taking over... Buli immediately understood the implications of Hu Wu’s words. Clenching his teeth, he nodded.

Hearing the murderous intent in the words, Cai Xiaoxian quietly took a few steps back, distancing herself from the old man in black. The closer she was to him, the more she felt a chill, as if the air around her was freezing. Besides the natural suppression of his aura, today’s Hu Wu was different from usual, making Cai Xiaoxian feel an inexplicable aversion to getting closer.

"Back?"

"Yes, the back is the only place you can’t reach. I’ll help you this time, and you can look at the mirage when you get back. In the future, you’ll have to do the tattooing yourself; you can’t always trouble me, can you?" Hu Wu spat out the cigarette butt in his mouth, looking like a thug, and tore off the animal skin from Buli’s body, kicking him in the back of the knee.

Buli staggered and helplessly knelt down, his back facing Hu Wu.

Is this like the mother-in-law’s tattoo? If it were a line of loyal and patriotic words, Buli might fight this old ghost to the death.

Hu Wu took out a black box from his black clothes, moving slowly and solemnly. Every action was fluid and precise, as if he had been a master in this field for countless years.

Cai Xiaoxian stayed far away, watching Hu Wu prepare to tattoo Buli.

She watched Hu Wu calmly take out the black box, slowly open it, and remove a gold-embossed knife. The box seemed to contain hundreds of needles, as fine as hair. From Cai Xiaoxian’s angle, she couldn’t see clearly and wanted to move for a better view, but she thought better of it and restrained herself.

Hu Wu closed his eyes and meditated for a moment. The cold wind in the forest blew fiercely, piercingly cold. Although it was just the beginning of autumn, the forest was already chilly at midnight.

Buli calmed his mind, closed his eyes slightly, and focused. Although Hu Wu hadn’t started the tattooing, Buli was already in the right state, not wanting to miss any detail. The path ahead would be his to walk, and the experiences now would be valuable in the future.

After a moment, Hu Wu suddenly moved. His actions were as swift as lightning, and strangely, his clothes swelled as if he was constantly emitting an aura. The gold-embossed knife traced a vine pattern on Buli’s back, and then his hands moved back and forth, inserting hundreds of fine needles into Buli’s back.

Cai Xiaoxian watched in pain, hiding quietly behind a large tree. In the past, when she saw Buli use the butcher’s knife to tattoo his arm, although it was bloody, it wasn’t as painful as the fine needles piercing his skin.

Buli, like a rock, slightly furrowed his brow, enduring the pain on his back.

Hu Wu’s movements were as swift as the wind, and in a blink, Buli’s back was full of fine needles. Hu Wu’s clothes swelled to the extreme and tore, revealing a bony body. He grabbed the air with his right hand, and a vine, like a dead python, "darted" into the old man’s hand.

However... Cai Xiaoxian suddenly felt her eyes were playing tricks on her. She rubbed her eyes hard, but the scene she saw was still shocking.

A vine that once coiled around the entire mountain, thousands of feet long, was held by Hu Wu, rapidly shrinking as if there was a special magic in his palm, like a tangible and minute world.

Mirage? Or soul technique? Before Cai Xiaoxian could figure it out, the entire vine had shrunk to the size of the tattoo on Buli’s back. The old man’s lips moved slightly, as if reciting something, and he suddenly pressed his hands onto Buli’s back.

Cai Xiaoxian took a step back in fright. So many sharp needles were still in Buli’s back; how could he just press down like that? Gathering her courage, she opened her eyes wide and clenched her small, tender fists.

Buli’s body was covered in a yellow-green glow, the same color as the old vine. His forehead, face, and entire body were drenched in sweat the size of soybeans. His lips trembled, and his facial muscles twisted, looking incredibly grotesque.

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