Free Web NovelChapter 1657: Chapter 999: The Bitter Face of a Mortal
Chen Xiaolan was born as a village girl, her sewing skills were top-notch. Even pieces of meat torn like that could be neatly sewn back by her, and the seams were perfect and tidy.
Meng Zifei stared blankly, momentarily lost in thought.
Such a strange person.
In the past, teaching Chen Xiaolan, he only thought she was the daughter of an ordinary family.
Now it seems that even cultivators with strong determination wouldn’t dare to do such dirty and bloody deeds.
Yet she could grit her teeth and toughen her scalp to do it slowly, which was truly remarkable.
Outside, the wind and snow howled; the natural snow cave lacked a top to block the wind and snow. Occasionally, tiny snowflakes passed through the sparse branches and leaves, blending with the cold moonlight, silently falling down.
Meng Zifei found himself placed in a light-shunning area, although his body was throbbing with unbearable pain.
But after enduring the hardest period, the decaying and decomposing flesh was sewn back in place and did not continue to fall off.
He suddenly let out a light cough.
On the other side, Chen Xiaolan was clearly startled by the noise; her shoulders shrank harshly, turning slowly with a small face showing clear signs of her pupils trembling violently.
Meng Zifei watched her frightened expression with interest.
This demeanor was fitting for a normal person. Despite being scared to such an extent, she didn’t abandon him and leave on her own.
Though naive, she possessed some cleverness.
Meng Zifei glanced at the right leg in her arms, couldn’t help but smile and said:
"You are quite clever to know to leave this leg of mine intact and sew my arms into the body first.
This way, even if I wake up, should I wish to kill you, it wouldn’t be that convenient."
Chen Xiaolan fearfully hid the right leg behind her, her gaze wary of Meng Zifei.
Meng Zifei moved his body with difficulty, discovering that the originally dropped flesh had mostly returned, his body full of sewn wounds.
He gazed at her deeply and calmly, eyes hiding a contemplative emotion:
"So many starving wolves on the mountain ate the flesh off me; if not for slaughtering each wolf, uncovering their bellies to retrieve meat, I would likely be just a broken body now."
Chen Xiaolan pressed her lips tightly, remaining silent.
Meng Zifei sighed, saying again: "You wouldn’t even dare kill a chicken normally; today, how come you’ve gone so mad?
How is it, faced with these scraps of flesh, you are not scared at all?"
How could she not be scared, seeing Chen Xiaolan’s appearance of about to faint at any moment.
Meng Zifei could imagine the overwhelming emotions she must have experienced tonight from killing wolves, gutting, taking meat, picking bones, sewing...
It would likely become a nightmare she could never forget in her lifetime.
In normal times, the girl always chatted away by his ear, yet today, confronted with his questions, she couldn’t utter a single word.
Though she didn’t flee, she seemed as if half of her soul was lost.
For some reason, seeing such a Chen Xiaolan didn’t make him dislike her, but he felt inexplicably trapped and despondent inside.
For the first time, Meng Zifei gave birth to such peculiar and confusing emotions.
"Alright, alright..." Meng Zifei finally compromised.
His shoulders shook slightly, and a ’crack-crack’ sound was heard as spiritual power surged forth.
He actually broke his arms, letting them hang limply down.
He smiled brightly and warmly, and his voice was clear and devoid of any sign of pain:
"Alright, now I have no ability to harm you. Xiaolan, no need to be afraid, come talk to me?"
Chen Xiaolan was dumbfounded by his sudden self-harming actions. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Seeing his smiling face unchanged from the past, yet feeling the scalp tingling uncontrollably.
She had been deceived by his kind and gentle gentlemanly appearance, ended up apprenticing herself to such a person.
In her heart, she regretted too late. Looking at Meng Zifei’s friendly and familiar face, Chen Xiaolan seemed sad and finally couldn’t help but ask:
"What exactly... are you?"
Meng Zifei seemed to have expected her to ask such a question, smiled faintly, and said: "I am human, this is beyond doubt, and I am just like you—born a mortal without any spirit root qualification."
Chen Xiaolan was shocked by his words, widened her eyes incredulously:
"You say you are mortal like me?! But you clearly..."
"Able to cultivate, am I right?"
Meng Zifei interrupted her, wearing a warm smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his dark eyes hard to distinguish from the night.
He stared fixedly at Chen Xiaolan, his voice hoarse, his half face in shadow in the flickering campfire light:
"I was initially unable to cultivate; born as a mortal, despite being knowledgeable, exceptionally talented, gaining fame at a young age.
But from the day of my birth, it was destined that my life would last at most a century.
I have a cousin who knew and became familiar with me as a child, named Shang Ying.
The Shang Family had extraordinary fortune, birthing a pair of siblings possessing spirit roots, who joined the Lihe Sect, pursuing cultivation in realizing the Dao, which made me quite envious.
Unwilling to be ordinary, I was tempted, secretly colluding with the Ghost Sect’s Young Master Zheng Siyan, plotting against the Young Master Baili Cangjian of the Tianxi Sword Sect.
I even resorted to using bitter schemes to deceive my cousin, exploiting her crush on me, to trick her into gifting me her spirit root, thus pursuing the path of the Great Dao."
Saying this, Meng Zifei’s tone was particularly calm, his shimmering eyes carrying a veil of mist:
"Though I’ve extended my lifespan, maintained my youth, achieved sword control flying, talisman drawing, capturing demons, fulfilling the life I anticipated.
