Immortality Is No Easy Task

Chapter 6

“Wait.”

His voice was ragged, shaky and weak, devoid of any of his previous confidence, rather, it was dyed in a shade of uncertainty and fear.

“What now?”

“Give me some time.”

His breath was deep and slow, he was clearly calming his nerves, standing right beside him, she could hear his frantic heartbeat.

“...”

Her silence was somehow loud at that moment.

Taking a deep breath once again and closing his eyes, an unconfident ‘Do it’ left his mouth.

“You don't have to say twice.”

The moment the words left her mouth, a wave of regret has once again filled his heart.

Unfortunately, parting with the ability to walk is far from an easy task, he could already imagine himself in a wheelchair, serving as a furnace until the long awaited day of his eternal departure and finally entering the cycle of reincarnation, free from this mortal torture.

Alas, life has no takesies backsies, what is done has been done.

The only thing he could do as of now was to let her taste even a hint of joy from his suffering.

The scalpel cleanly sliced into his flesh.

It wasn't a clean sharp pain he had expected from a deep cut.

Instead of a rough piercing pain, it was rather more of a dull hollow thud, a feeling reminiscent of being struck hard by a blunt object, it was more so uncomfortable rather than painful, a somewhat bearable feeling.

If only it could continue as so.

At that moment he had merely tasted an inch of the true capabilities of her cut, it was merely a short calm before the storm caused by his body’s inability to register it in time.

But he could sense it.

It was a mere feeling.

A mere thought.

Or maybe a cry of help from the body from the now absence of what should be there, it felt as if a rope within him had been severed, carrying an uncannily unpleasant feeling of dread and unease.

His heartbeat has slowed, yet was louder than ever, as if reminding him that something has gone wrong, the searing pain from both of his forearms felt almost non-existent in front of this towering pillar, with the only ones in his current plane of his awareness being solely his heartbeat and him.

“Ba-thump!”

The heartbeat felt as if a bell chime, signalling him of his demise, a delayed symphony of what should have come earlier slapped him in his face at full force.

A deep burning pain flared upwards his calves, feeling as if it had caught on fire, a raging, boiling and cruel wildfire.

Searing, unbearable and…

Pain.

Too painful.

His face further paled, his eyes dulled into a murky shade of gray.

Not even a shout or cry of pain could leave his mouth as his face contorted into a mask of pain.

It wasn’t stopping.

It wasn’t ceasing.

It felt like an uncontrollable monster, continuing its surge into the bright blue sky, charging like a wild bull without even a sign of stopping.

The pain only seemed to climb further up his nerves as the sensation of pain spread throughout his calves and ankle.

His body involuntarily spasmed, jerking mid air, convulsing and shaking as if a fire in front of a heartless typhoon, his pupils were dilating and his consciousness was blurring in real-time.

Would death feel something like this?

Losing an important piece of you and cursed with the knowledge that never, never again in even your wildest dreams would you ever be able to chase a flicker of it, accompanied with a helplessness in front of a pain worthy of despair.

That is…

Quite exciting.

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“You look like you are in rough shape.”

Her voice was lively, yet to Qi Chen who was drowning in pain, it felt more mocking than anything else.

Her words were soft, giving the false sense to an unknowing spectator that she was concerned.

Yet to him, it couldn’t be clearer that she was having the time of her life at his reactions.

Braving the pain, he gently opened his eyes, trying his best to focus, hoping to get even a small fleeting glimpse of his surroundings.

Unfortunately, perhaps because of the pain, he could not make out his surroundings properly, the only view to enter his eyes was a blurred image of a lady’s face.

Despite that, he was not going to let her have this time.

”Am I supposed to be in good shape then?”

His words were barely audible, squeezed out of his throat, yet to his target, even the attempt to speak was enough to convey his meaning.

”Nope, you are supposed to faint in pain. While you are indeed not losing any blood due to my amazing skills, your body is in a phantom state, believing that you are losing a lot of blood from the pain transmitted to your brain and in a desperate attempt at self preservation, it is trying its best to forcefully shut you down.”

”Still, I must admit that you are holding up quite well, for a mortal at least. You can proudly tell the world of your more than amazing feat.”

His mind was muddied, yet he mustered his all to perk his ears up, after all she was often quite generous with her information, and as long as it was knowledge, he wanted to hear it.

However the only things that she had been spouting up till now were completely useless bullshit.

”Still holding up?”

”Shall I get started with the other leg?”

He could not reply even if he wanted to.

But if he could, it would probably be along the lines of ‘Stop it you crazy woman!’.

However the only sounds that were coming out of his throat were badly suppressed cries of pain.

”Hmm?”

”No answer?”

She tapped the scalpel on his calves, lightly tracing a pattern, as if drawing on a canvas.

Sensing that cold metallic feeling, his body instinctively retracted, and forced him into a state of consciousness.

”You- You are really a horrible person.”

His voice was weak, yet laced with a burning hatred.

”That is quite the generous compliment Mr. Scholar.”

”Stop calling me that.”

”Disabled guy? It has a nice ring to it.”

”Can you give me a normal nickname?”

“I call you whatever I want to, it is not like you can beat me anyway.”

Despite being on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness, an image of her making an annoying facial expression appeared crisply in his mind.

Worst of all, she was right, and he could not even refute that fact.

Even before his tendons were cut, he still knew that he was no match for a pavilion master.

A normal examiner could already slice off heads like butter, a pavilion master, by the standards of this sect should be no less than an elder.

If even a footman was this strong, could a general not be stronger?

Despite how much he hated to admit it, the Demonic Heaven Sect was indeed one of the top demonic sects in the world, from the tales he had heard, they were one of the major enemies of the righteous path.

To have the status of an elder in a lawless place like this…

She could only be a monster in human flesh.

The only reason he dared even have banter with her was his confidence that she was bored enough to not lay a hand on his life.

However at this moment, he was quite worried that he would die from pain and anger alone.

There were few things that he could be certain about on his current crossroad of life.

Not beating her as of now was one of them, not when he is crippled in both his hands and one of his legs.

Patience, Qi Chen, patience.

Patience is one of the core virtues of a gentleman, hold it in.

Remember the teachings of the Confucian teachers.

Yes, you feel it, don't you?

That is right, release that hate, hate will only curse yourself.

Hate is a burden that only the giver bears, so release it.

Breathe in, breathe out.

You have no chance of beating her, she can kill you any moment you want, moreover you are already a crippled bag of flesh.

Yes, relax.

”Hey, hey. Are you dying?”

I don’t think I have hated someone more than I have hated her.

“Well, I am going to move on.”

”One.”

”Two.”

’Squelch!’

The expected ‘Three’ had failed to arrive, what came was an unexpected mother lode of the previous pain that has yet to subside, stirring his nerves.

His eyes were blank, hopeless, with a resigned feel,

The pain shot into his nerves like an unforgiving confirmation.

The pain was surprising, but at the same time expected from someone like her.

His body once again arched as the crippling pain began to settle into his body, a violent sensation of the same old pain.

There was no room for screams, no room for surprise, only place for a crushing quiet sense of certainty sinking into his mind.

So this was it.

The burn-like sensation once again crept up into his bones like an old friend returning for the holidays.

Except it was the guy you swore you would rather die than meet again.

His mind had already begun its retreat and his body limped.

”It is done.”

Her voice was as if describing the summer breeze, not exactly the tone you would want to hear from someone who has recently cut off your tendons and rendered you immobile as a disabled man for the rest of your life in order to prepare you as a great cultivation furnace to bring maximum value for a goddamn sect you were kidnapped to.

One hell of a ride.

—————

A view has once again entered his eyes, this time however, he wasn’t floating mid air, rather he was lying flat on a decently sized bed.

His first instinct was to help himself up before his arm slipped and he fell back down in an awkward position.

Ah right.

Lightly lifting his hands, he stared at the point of incision.

Surprisingly there were no scars, they felt as smooth as they were before, not even having a trace of what had happened just now.

Despite losing sensation and control in his arm, he couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of cultivators.

Turning his head, a frame of the last person he wanted to meet entered his sight, she was sitting beneath the bed, resting her head and arms on the bed itself, taking up more space than he did.

”You are awake.”

Staring at her, he forcefully helped himself up, not wanting to look as if a pathetic fool.

”Yes.”

”Not even a word of thanks? I gave you my bed and I had to sleep on the floor. You really are cruel to such a beautiful maiden like me.”

She audibly gasped, before she looking as though she gained a sudden revelation.

”Don’t tell me…”

”Do you actually like guys?”

She brought her hand to her face, acting shocked.

Qi Chen attempted to clench his fist, yet they were weakly held together despite exerting all his strength, the second he even let the tiniest bit go, they fell apart to their original positions.

”I don’t think I am supposed to like someone who has just crippled me.”

He sighed, focusing his gaze on his hands and trying his best to move them.

”It’s not like I have a choice.”, she mumbled, before getting up and walking to a tea table nearby to help herself to a cup of tea.

”Is this your room?”

He asked, glancing around at the foreign scene.

”What, embarrassed?”

Her eyes carried a mischievous glint, carrying hints of playfulness.

”Not exactly.”

Closing his eyes, if it was anyone else he might have been flustered, but somehow he felt a strangely close connection to her, almost as if…

”Do you mind retracting the charm arts now?”