Chapter 88: Mutual Strength and Restraint

Issuing his command, Shen Shi hurriedly checked Xi Hou’s breathing, only to find it faint and fleeting, sometimes present, sometimes gone.

“This is bad.”

What made Shen Shi’s expression turn even graver was the presence of corpse miasma. When that corpse had transformed into a zombie, Xi Hou inadvertently inhaled a mouthful of the noxious vapor.

With corpse miasma lingering within, if one is not a cultivator, it is only a matter of time before they turn into a zombie themselves.

Without further hesitation, Shen Shi pinched her nose and pressed his mouth to hers, drawing her breath out again and again.

He could not allow the corpse miasma to linger in the body for too long. As he inhaled, he pressed down on her chest, forcing the foul air out.

Were it not for Shen Shi’s unique eyes, which allowed him to perceive all manner of qi, no one would have known she was afflicted until her death and the ensuing transformation into a zombie.

After much effort, Shen Shi finally drew the miasma from her mouth. Only then did he breathe fresh qi back into her.

At last, several weak coughs escaped her lips, and Xi Hou’s breathing returned to normal.

Some time later, Xi Hou slowly regained consciousness.

“Shen—Young Master Shen...” she murmured.

Upon seeing him, a trace of joy flickered across her face, but it was quickly replaced by shy embarrassment. “Young Master Shen, you were so intense... you kissed me until I fainted.”

“What?” Shen Shi replied. “I didn’t embrace you at all just now. You were overcome by corpse miasma—a zombie wanted to drain your blood. Fortunately, I discovered it in time and saved you; otherwise, you would be dead by now.”

He gestured at the zombie nailed to the tree.

Shen Shi had no idea what Xi Hou had experienced—after all, she had been at death’s door. In the instant of dying, a person’s entire life can flash before their eyes in a single moment.

From the time Shen Shi saw her fall towards the knife on the ground, coughing blood to save the zombie, he had reacted swiftly. Had he been any slower, she would have died from blood loss.

Looking over, the half-bodied bandit chief was still moving. Xi Hou believed him instantly. She recalled the intimate moments just prior and realized that the one with whom she had shared them was such a creature—her mind went completely blank.

Though she had seen much as a courtesan, this sort of man was something she could not accept.

Then, realizing everyone was present, and she alone remained with Shen Shi, she felt something was terribly wrong. Now, with all the others gathered and the half-corpse still writhing, what doubts could she have? Had everyone just witnessed what she had done?

Unable to contain herself, Xi Hou hung her head and burst into tears.

But as she lowered her gaze, she noticed her loose collar, her chest half exposed, and marks as if she had been groped. She wished she could disappear from the world.

“I can’t go on,” she sobbed.

In front of the man she secretly admired, to have suffered such disgrace in public—how could she face anyone again? She would rather die.

With a cry of despair, she hurled herself toward a broken blade on the ground.

“Are you mad? Why are you seeking death?” Shen Shi exclaimed.

Fortunately, he was nearby and managed to pull her back just in time, but fate seemed to conspire, and though he caught her, the blade still pierced part of her body.

With a dull thud, steel met flesh.

Xi Hou groaned and lost consciousness.

Shen Shi quickly examined her and breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, the wound was superficial—it had not pierced her organs. Still, he dared not channel his true essence into her. A cultivator’s true essence surpasses a martial artist’s internal energy; it accelerates metabolism, heals wounds, and grants superhuman stamina so long as the essence endures. Otherwise, Xi Hou would not have been able to harm herself after what she’d been through.

“This girl is truly resolute,” came a distinctive voice. “Shamed and humiliated, she’d rather die than live with the disgrace.”

It was Shen Shi’s father, accompanied by Lord Bao. Both wore looks of admiration. Shen Shi, though acting alone, had sent word to them.

“Father, Lord Bao, she was merely affected by corpse miasma. Whatever she saw or heard was illusion. Everything Xi Hou just experienced was false—there’s no reason to take her own life over something that never happened.”

As he spoke, Shen Shi gently settled the unconscious Xi Hou to the side.

Suddenly, a frantic shout rose from the bandit chief, nailed to the tree. His torso had been stacked with dry branches by the Shen family retainers.

“Let me go! You can’t kill me! The King of Hell said my allotted time is not yet up—I’m destined to be a great general! I’m not supposed to die yet!”

“Master!” Though the man was only half a body, he could still shout. The others, terrified, raised their torches but dared not burn him.

“Bah! Who cares if you’re a great general? Your body is in two pieces—you should be dead already,” Shen Shi retorted, tossing a torch at him. “Burn the lower half as well.”

“No! I will never die! The King of the Underworld himself said my time is not up. Even if I turn into a zombie, I won’t die!”

The chief bellowed, channeling his luck into a protective aura, shielding himself from the flames.

“Young Master Shen, what is going on?” Lord Bao asked.

A man sliced in half yet still alive, impervious to fire—this was his first such encounter.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Shen Shi replied lightly. “Some people possess extraordinary fate and can live long lives. If they die before their lifespan is up, their spirit may linger in the mortal world.”

“How can this be?”

“There’s nothing strange about it. The Underworld is ruled by the Supreme Exalted One of Taiyi, a Daoist deity. To the Dao, demons, spirits, and even zombies are all forms of life. If their time is not up, the Underworld will not receive them, no matter their nature. Absolute equality.”

Such was the age: the Buddha would offer his flesh to feed an eagle, the Daoist would rule through inaction. Neither would destroy another life form for humanity’s sake alone—it would violate their principles.

“But what of the innocent? If fate alone is judged and not actions, how many innocents will suffer?”

Shen Shi remained silent. He knew well that when Lord Bao eventually became the King of the Underworld, everything would change. But he could not say, “Lord Bao, you must die—then all will be well.”

After a moment, Shen Shi finally said, “No matter how strong one’s fate, there’s always a higher power, a force of mutual restraint—soldiers slay bandits, and so forth. He’s about to meet his end regardless.”

Destiny is not a force its possessor can always control. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Among the Three Teachings, including Buddhism and the Demon Tribe, there are many methods to break fate.

“Suppress! Dispel!”

Shen Shi pointed to his own mind, and an official’s seal of the ninth rank flew out, clashing with the bandit chief’s protective aura.

Bandits meet soldiers—the aura was instantly breached, a hole torn through which flames poured in.

With a scream, the protective fate gone, the corpse was quickly set ablaze.