Yan Tuo had previously agreed with Yu Rong and Que Cha: the fewer people who knew about the stone cave and the Nüwa flesh, the better. This would prevent the word from spreading and attracting unwanted attention, avoiding disturbances below. So he waited until Sun Li and the others had left before recounting his experience. As for how Yu Rong would later explain this to Sun Li and the others, that wasn’t his concern.
After hearing the whole story, Yu Rong finally understood what Yan Tuo had meant earlier with his cryptic comment about “giving birth.” In her view, the stone cave was similar to Nüwa’s womb, and Yan Tuo had gone there to assist in delivery. Wasn’t it common sense that the mother’s body endures the pain of childbirth? But good heavens, down there, it was the reverse.
If the person assisting the birth had to suffer such torment, who would be willing to do it?
Que Cha was also stunned. She had thought that with a reverent attitude and bare hands touching, sensing they were of the same kind, the membrane would naturally open in response… She had been too naive. After all, more people died at the hands of their kind than at the hands of others. Being of the same kind was not an advantage in this extraction.
Yu Rong scratched her head. “Then, would I be able to extract Sun Zhou?”
She had originally planned that if Yan Tuo’s process went smoothly, she would find an opportunity to follow his example and, while at it, endure the hardship to bring Sun Zhou out. It would give closure to the situation.
Now it seemed that it wasn’t something that could be accomplished with just “a bit of hardship.”
Yan Tuo remained silent; he was also somewhat confused and hadn’t fully sorted things out yet.
Yu Rong changed her question: “Then, could you bring Feng Mi out?”
After some thought, Yan Tuo slowly shook his head.
“First, from a personal standpoint, I don’t want to bring Feng Mi out,” he said.
After all, Feng Mi was a Di Xiao, surviving on blood sacs. As long as she saw daylight, she would seek blood sacs—it was her biological nature. He couldn’t judge whether it was right or wrong.
But rather than allowing innocent people to continue suffering, he would prefer Feng Mi to stay in the stone cave. That was the most appropriate solution.
“Secondly, even if I wanted to, I probably don’t have enough willpower to endure that kind of pain again.”
Yu Rong was curious: “Just how painful is it?”
She looked at Que Cha: “Is giving birth really that painful for women?”
Que Cha responded irritably: “I’ve never given birth. Besides, Yan Tuo hasn’t either—it was just an analogy.”
Both women turned to look at Yan Tuo.
Unable to answer this question, Yan Tuo continued with his previous point: “Third, there’s something you’ve overlooked—A Luo responded to me at that time.”
She had gripped his hand back. At the time, this detail seemed trivial, but now it appeared extremely important.
That was her will.
But Feng Mi would be different. To her, he was just a good friend. Although Feng Mi had shown him goodwill, in her heart, there were people and matters far more important and closer to her than him.
Que Cha felt a chill of fear: “We were lucky that Miss Nie had such a habit. If she hadn’t, do you think you could have brought her out?”
Yan Tuo fell silent.
He truly couldn’t say. Though they were lovers, did love have such great power? Could it make her sense it was him and be willing to follow him just from a touch, after being asleep for eight months?
He answered carefully: “If I couldn’t bring her out, perhaps Pei Ke could try since she and A Luo share a blood relationship. The blood connection might make the sensing more direct.”
Yu Rong understood and made an imprecise summary (precision was impossible with only Yan Tuo’s personal experience to go by). There seemed to be three conditions:
First, a strong desire to bring the person back.
Second, willpower to endure immense pain.
Third, the subject’s response. (Blood relations might make this more direct.)
She felt discouraged: “How much could I want to save Sun Zhou? His parents would have a stronger desire than me, right? And I doubt Sun Zhou would respond to me—we’re not even friends.”
Que Cha found this reasonable: “That’s how it should be. Otherwise, if anyone could easily revive people whenever they wanted, life would be too cheap.”
Isn’t life precious precisely because it’s hard to obtain, hard to maintain, and you only get one chance, with no renewal or do-overs?
She continued: “Then I suppose almost no one in that stone cave can come out now. With no family or friends, who would pay such a high price to bring them out?”
In that cave, there were even soldiers from two thousand years ago. With all their relatives and friends long gone, who would come for them?
It was like an eternally desolate dock where no ships would ever moor again.
After some thought, Yan Tuo suggested to Yu Rong: “If you want to try bringing out Sun Zhou, I recommend waiting a few years. His arm is growing very slowly—after eight months, it’s still just a small segment.”
“For us humans, A Luo’s injury was fatal, while Sun Zhou’s is just a disability. But from Nüwa’s perspective of creating humans, looking only at the amount of missing body parts, A Luo’s was a minor injury, needing only some flesh to grow back. Sun Zhou needs to grow an entire arm. Wait until Sun Zhou is complete before trying.”
Yu Rong persisted: “Just how painful is it? Can you give a comparison? Is it like getting cut once, or like being beaten until you cough blood?”
After all, it was a life at stake. She was willing to take a chance, provided the pain wasn’t too severe. She figured she could handle something like a small cut or a heavy punch.
Yan Tuo looked down at Nie Jiu Luo, who was sleeping peacefully. He hoped she was having a good dream.
He looked up at Yu Rong: “Thinking about it now, it wasn’t that painful. You should go ahead boldly with the extraction.”
Men are truly dogs—his expression changed faster than turning a page. Now that he had finished his own “delivery,” he could easily dismiss the pain.
Yu Rong erupted in anger: “Like hell, I’ll believe you!”
Yu Rong’s thought was that since the matter had concluded, and she couldn’t possibly retrieve Sun Zhou in the short term, they should quickly pack up and withdraw. This wasn’t exactly a scenic spot, and the further they got away, the safer they’d be. Even camping along the way would be better than staying by the creek.
Yan Tuo had no objections.
Most of their equipment and supplies could be left here; they only needed to take the essentials, traveling light.
Yan Tuo carried Nie Jiu Luo on his back, inevitably worried: “Why hasn’t A Luo woken up yet?”
Yu Rong couldn’t stand his anxious manner: “Inertia, understand? Even planes don’t land in a second. She’s been asleep for eight months—she needs time to transition. It’ll take at least a day or two.”
Yan Tuo smiled. Yu Rong’s way of speaking wasn’t pleasant, like throwing chilies into a hot wok, but once you got used to it, it was quite effective.
As they left, he looked back at the creek, his gaze crossing the water’s surface to linger long on the bottomless darkness of the opposite bank.
During these days, Pei Ke hadn’t appeared, and neither had Xin Xin.
It was understandable. They never liked coming up here, or perhaps they were busy using the Nüwa statue to transform Xing Shen and the others, implementing their plans.
Although the chances of meeting again were slim, as long as they wanted to meet, there would always be an opportunity.
That evening, they passed through the terracotta warrior clusters and set up camp behind a high battlement.
Jiang Bai Chuan accompanied them, partly because he had grown accustomed to being with them these past two days, and partly because following them meant getting meat and bones to eat.
However, with Jiang Bai Chuan present, keeping watch wasn’t an issue—he was far more alert than humans.
Before sleeping, Yu Rong watched Jiang Bai Chuan running circles around the camp like someone with ADHD, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
She suddenly had an idea and asked Que Cha: “What do you think about… sending Uncle Jiang to the stone cave?”
Que Cha was startled: “How would we send him? Push him into the creek to drown and let him float over? That’s murder!”
Yu Rong fell silent.
It did seem inappropriate, almost like murder. But seeing a perfectly normal person, her elder at that, now running around like a dog was really…
Que Cha guessed her thoughts: “You’re not him. I think old Jiang is living more freely now than before. You think he lacks dignity because you’re still judging by human standards.”
Dogs digging for food, pigs rooting in troughs—these are natural behaviors driven by the need to eat. There’s no question of dignity. Only humans have so many rules: don’t drop food, don’t make noise while eating, and don’t poke at others’ dishes with chopsticks. All these restrictions bind us up, and then we look back and judge this as undignified, as improper.
Yu Rong heaved a long sigh: “Maybe so. Human-centrism, right? Some thoughts can’t be changed overnight.”
In the middle of the night, Yan Tuo suddenly woke up.
Since they had entered an area with luminous stones, it wasn’t particularly dark inside the tent. In the dim light, he saw someone sitting up beside him.
They had only brought two simple tents for this journey—Yu Rong and Que Cha had been sharing one, while he used the other. After finding Nie Jiu Luo, she naturally stayed with him.
And now, someone was sitting up beside him…
Yan Tuo’s mind sparked with excitement, instantly becoming wide awake. He bolted upright, both shocked and overjoyed, but trying to keep his voice down to avoid waking others: “A Luo, you’re awake?”
As he spoke, he reached for the flashlight beside him but found a light stick instead, which he quickly activated.
Nie Jiu Luo turned to look at him, her large eyes gleaming. Perhaps due to sleeping for so long, there was a hint of bewilderment on her face. Her long hair, which had dried after being submerged, fell loosely around her face, slightly puffy, with a few strands rebelliously sticking out.
Because she now had someone to “look” at, her scattered gaze began to focus, the dazed expression slowly fading, replaced by something more animated.
This was a reunion after a long separation, and Yan Tuo’s heart was pounding so hard he didn’t know what to say to her: “Would you like some water or something to eat?”
Nie Jiu Luo looked him up and down, her chin gradually lifting.
Yan Tuo’s heart sank—he had a bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, that contemptuous look she’d had before, the one that treated him like air, appeared again. With that same arrogant, supremely proud demeanor, she gave him a cold snort.
After snorting, she lifted a strand of her hair.
The air-dried hair felt rough and smelled strange. Nie Jiu Luo’s face showed disgust as she asked him: “Where can I take a bath?”
Her tone was harsh, and she made no effort to keep her voice down. Rustling sounds came from next door—Yu Rong and the others had probably been awakened.
Something wasn’t right about her state. Yan Tuo’s temple twitched as he carefully asked, “A Luo, do you remember who I am?”
Nie Jiu Luo glanced at him, clearly impatient, and said, “You look familiar.”
Yan Tuo’s heart sank further. His worst fear had come true.
The powder ground from the Life-and-Death Blade had side effects on the human body. The term “Mad Blade” could be taken literally—it meant exactly what it suggested: madness.
Was Nie Jiu Luo’s current abnormal state just residual momentum from before, or had she truly gone mad—irreversibly so?
Yan Tuo’s lips went dry, momentarily unable to speak.
Nie Jiu Luo found his dullness annoying, her tone growing even more impatient: “I asked you, where can I take a bath?”
Yan Tuo: “Here… we can’t take a bath.”
What did he mean by “can’t take a bath”?
Nie Jiu Luo flew into a rage, yanking open the tent zipper and crawling out. Yan Tuo, worried for her safety, quickly followed.
It wasn’t too bad—she hadn’t disappeared the moment she left the tent. However, Jiang Bai Chuan, who had been keeping watch and lounging around bored, suddenly heard the commotion. Probably thinking there was trouble, he bounded over out of duty, his fur bristling, throat growling, looking fierce.
This was like running straight into the line of fire. Nie Jiu Luo’s eyes turned cold, her fingers instantly forming claws as she sneered: “What thing is this?”
As she spoke, she walked toward Jiang Bai Chuan.
Seeing her ready to kill, Yan Tuo’s scalp tingled with fear. He rushed over to stand between her and Jiang Bai Chuan, finding himself forced to back up step by step: “A Luo, A Luo, listen to me…”
Finally, having no other choice, he shouted sternly: “A Luo!”
This shout proved effective. Nie Jiu Luo stopped, lifting her eyes to give him a cold look.
Not far behind, Yu Rong poked her head out of the tent and shouted urgently: “Yan Tuo, pacify her! Focus on calming her down—no one here can fight her!”
They had fought their way through Di Xiao and Bai Tong’s ghosts without dying, but if they ended up being wiped out by Nie Jiu Luo here, it would be more unjust than Dou E’s case—they wouldn’t even have anywhere to plead their case in death.
Yan Tuo forced a smile, trying his best to show goodwill toward Nie Jiu Luo: “A Luo, Sister Lu has already prepared bath water for you, it’s just very far from here, we need to walk for a long time…”
Clearly, she remembered Sister Lu, perhaps even better than she remembered him since she had known Sister Lu long before him.
“If it’s far, why not drive?”
Yan Tuo pointed at their surroundings: “Look at the terrain here, cars can’t get in.”
“Why not build a road?”
After several rounds of this exchange, Yan Tuo had started to grasp the pattern: mad people had their logic—you had to go along with it. If she said she was an apple, don’t tell her she’s a pear.
He said: “They’re already building it, but the workers are slow and stupid, they haven’t finished yet. A Luo, let’s rest first, and after we’re well-rested, we can take a bath.”
Nie Jiu Luo thought for a moment, probably deciding this explanation made sense and stopped fixating on the bath. However, her gaze moved past Yan Tuo, still focused on Jiang Bai Chuan.
Yan Tuo understood immediately: “I’ll help you chase away…”
“Chase away” didn’t seem to please her, so he quickly corrected himself: “…kill him.”
Nie Jiu Luo couldn’t find fault with him anymore, and looking at their surroundings, she had no choice. After standing for a few seconds, she snorted again and returned to the tent.
Yu Rong and Que Cha, who had been poking their heads out of their tent, quickly withdrew as she approached, afraid she might catch them and find fault with their heads too.
After a while, Yan Tuo came over, lifted their tent flap, and pointed at Jiang Bai Chuan, saying softly: “Better send him away quickly.”
Yu Rong nodded, then pointed to her head: “Is her condition… temporary, or…?”
Yan Tuo shook his head: “I don’t know. We’ll have to take it one step at a time.”