Chapter 119: False Divinity

Little Ming Zhuo fell into the embrace of that robe with only his head exposed. He looked almost identical to the figure in the treasure box, except his face was clean, lacking the blood curse—white as an ice sculpture—without a single trace of blood, which was the result of not seeing the light for too long.

Luo Xu picked up little Ming Zhuo. Little Ming Zhuo, with his eyes closed, asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"In the Four Mountains and Six Prefectures—we can go anywhere," Luo Xu said, looking at the robe. He noted that little Ming Zhuo was so thin he was just skin and bones. He used to have such great strength, but now it was all gone. Moving gently, he asked, "Where do you want to go the most?"

"I want to go outside the most," little Ming Zhuo replied.

He had been confined first in the bed chamber and later sealed in the wooden barrel, with no understanding of the outside world. The so-called Four Mountains and Six Prefectures were merely things from his mother’s stories.

"Then we'll go outside," Luo Xu said.

Little Ming Zhuo tilted his head, his sharp chin betraying his thinness. Unlike the puppet little Ming Zhuo, he spoke with a maturity beyond his years, "Why don’t you ask me why I want to go outside?"

Luo Xu wrapped the robe’s sleeves around little Ming Zhuo, fully covering his body, pretending he wasn’t a bandit kidnapping a child. The robe seemed to hold little Ming Zhuo happily, its corners perked up. Only then did Luo Xu speak, "I don’t need to ask."

"If you don’t ask, I’ll tell you anyway," little Ming Zhuo said, a bit irritated and drowsy. "I want to go outside to first kill Ming Han, then kill everyone in the Four Mountains and Six Prefectures. You say I have a soft heart and don’t harm the innocent, but you don’t recognise me at all. My heart is harder than stone!"

"I’m one of 'everyone' too," Luo Xu said. "Are you going to kill me also? Even though I’ve carried you and like you, will you still kill me?"

"What’s so good about being liked? Ming Han liked the Tongshen, so he captured them to feed the leopards. Hui Mang liked my mother, so he ate her, along with her pipa," little Ming Zhuo paused, then added, "I didn’t allow you to carry me, nor did I allow you to like me. And just because you like me, does that mean I can’t kill you? That makes no sense."

There was something inherently sinister in his tone, stemming from never interacting with others and not knowing what normal speech was like. Ming Han never treated him like a child, so he didn’t understand how he was different from adults.

"My heart condition is acting up, I can’t out-talk you," Luo Xu said lazily, pretending to be exhausted. "My chest hurts terribly, could you recite a calming spell for me?"

Little Ming Zhuo started, "You want—"

Before he could finish, Luo Xu stuffed a few small silver pills into his mouth. Unprepared, the pills dissolved into liquid immediately. He spat but couldn’t get anything out, "Are you trying to use me as a medicine furnace? Too late, I’m long past being able to do anything."

"I asked you to recite a calming spell, but you’re making my chest hurt more," Luo Xu said. "I’m not making you a medicine furnace; I’m making you a little gourd."

Little Ming Zhuo was silent for a moment, thinking it was some secret technique, "What’s a little gourd?"

"A little gourd that holds sugar beans," Luo Xu tossed two small silver pills into his mouth, "Whenever my heart ached, I would eat these to pass the time. Now that I’m grown, I can’t rely on candy anymore, but you’re still a child, it’s perfect for you."

Little Ming Zhuo said, "Your heart aches, so you eat these. My heart doesn’t ache, so I don’t need them."

Luo Xu no longer ate candy. These silver pills were for gathering spiritual energy. He used them to tease little Ming Zhuo to make him talk, "If your heart doesn’t ache, does your body? What about the blood curse?"

Little Ming Zhuo said, "It doesn’t hurt, I don’t hurt anywhere. How do you know I have a blood curse?"

Luo Xu said, "Didn’t I say so? I recognise you."

"We’ve never met," little Ming Zhuo lifted his chin as if to distinguish Luo Xu’s scent. "You say you recognise me, could it be that you’re Ming Han in disguise?"

"Of course not, do you have to have met before to recognise someone?" Luo Xu brushed aside the curtain, "I have a supernatural power. I’ve known you for a long time. Your name is Ming Zhuo, you have a little snow leopard, you live in the Divine Palace, and you often feel pain."

Little Ming Zhuo asked, "How do you know I feel pain?"

"That’s how this power works," Luo Xu didn’t mention the contract, "When you’re in pain, I feel it too."

"You’re lying, your chest hurts terribly right now, but I’m not in pain," little Ming Zhuo’s eyelashes trembled, "The things you know, you could have learnt them from Ming Han. As long as I have my mother’s robe, the blood curse doesn’t act up. Since you opened the barrel, I haven’t felt pain, I’ve felt comfortable. Hēng, your power recognised the wrong person!"

Luo Xu raised an eyebrow slightly. Since opening the treasure box, his chest had been hurting continuously. If little Ming Zhuo wasn’t lying, and the robe suppressed the blood curse, what was causing the pain?

Was it because little Ming Zhuo was in pain, or because Ming Zhuo was in pain?(1)

The Author Has Something to Say

The pain of these two... (zips by on a tricycle)

Thanks for reading.

Foot Notes

1. I have added the little here because otherwise, I’m not sure what t97 meant. The sentence reads: “是因为明濯在痛，还是因为明濯在痛?” which is literally “it’s because Ming Zhuo was in pain, or because Ming Zhuo was in pain?”.