16. Blessing of the Drowning Ghost

Song Cheng's eyes swept over, and the highest value he saw was "2~2", most were "0~0", while he himself was "8~8".

This gave him a bit more confidence.

"Brother Cheng?"

The Village Chief said coldly, "What are you going to do?"

Song Cheng said, "The third young master of the Ding Family has colluded with bandits, and he has already left the village; the bandits will arrive at any moment.

Such a person, of course, spouts nothing but lies.

He claims that Yune is in cahoots with her lover, embezzling possessions, of course, it's false."

The young man pointed this out, still holding on to the idea that the villagers would aid him in fighting against the bandits.

However, no sooner had his words faded than the Village Chief shouted in anger, "Shut up!"

His face red and neck thick with rage, he hollered, "We all know what those three brats from the Ding Family are like every day! How could he possibly collude with bandits?! You really are Yune's lover, coming here to save her. Admit it! Are you?!"

Another person added.

"Yune is just an outsider. But the third young master of the Ding Family is the root of the village!"

"I remember now, Brother Cheng, you also came from outside. Indeed, none of you outsiders are good!"

The Village Chief swung his hand fiercely, and the two men holding the pig cage threw it into the river.

In front of Song Cheng, the red fog in the dark world grew more concentrated, gathered into streams, and formed a vortex.

At the center of the vortex was the sinking pig cage.

Within the cage, the slender figure clad in white was engulfed in darkness.

And the goodwill above her head stepped into the 90s at that moment.

Yune absolutely didn't expect that, even at this point, the Little Blind Boy would still come to rescue her.

This made her see a glimmer of light in the darkness.

But it had to stop here, right?

Seeing the pig cage hit the water, Song Cheng bellowed, "Yes, I am here to save Yune!" and with a surge of vital energy, he rushed forward rapidly. A few men tried to block his path, but how could their mere "1~1" strength stop Song Cheng?

Bang!!

Bang Bang!!

The men blocking the way were violently knocked aside.

Song Cheng charged like a wild beast, with a blade in his right hand and pushing away with his left, he arrived at the spot where the pig cage had sunk in just a few moves, and then in the stunned gazes of those who had been struck, he leaped down.

Water rushed from all directions as he fell.

To others, this was but an ordinary river.

But to him, the thunderous sounds in his view formed mercury-heavy, ink-dark undercurrents swarming upwards.

Everything in the river was extremely distorted, extremely dark.

The bloody color from the initial formation of the taboo turned into a swirling vortex.

And he was plunging into the center of that twisted vortex.

He kept his eyes fixed on Yune's data.

The world seemed to have pressed the "slow motion" button.

He had learned to swim in his past life, and now his legs kicked rapidly while his left hand reached out, grabbing blindly.

He was getting closer and closer to that data...

Snap.

The blind young man grabbed the bamboo of the pig cage with one hand, his body sharply flipping over, leading the Fine Blade to cut through the thick hemp rope that locked the cage.

With a tug and a pull, the rope broke.

He flung open the door of the cage and reached inside, then grabbed Yune's hand in one swift motion.

In the deep water, Yune only saw a shadow descending, offering her a hand as she was about to die.

But instinctively, she knew who this shadow was.

In Song Cheng's eyes, Yune's data underwent a strange change, half of the characters turned blood-red, with the rest slowly changing, while the "Taboo" on his panel was roaring as if to fully unlock...

He held her tight.

He didn't want the taboo to form.

He didn't want Yune to die, either.

However, he felt a force strike his hand.

Yune had pushed him away?

The blood color was nearly finished concentrating.

The taboo was about to be born completely.

Perhaps Yune, having been through so much, had completely given up hope of surviving.

Perhaps Yune had already become a taboo, but she still retained a sliver of consciousness, so she hurriedly pushed Song Cheng away, not wanting to harm him.

Or maybe Yune had not yet become a taboo, but the taboo, to keep its formation undisturbed, had activated the "Defense System"...

The two of them separated again, like bubbles that burst upon contact.

But in the next instant, Song Cheng gritted his teeth, used all his strength, and like a swimming fish, flipped through the water and sped downwards. This time, he directly hooked onto Yune's waist.

They had never been closer; the young man half-opened his eyes, his turbid pale irises, along with his anxious frown, all silently screaming, "Don't give up! Don't give up!"

Yune's resentful eyes also opened and closed, meeting the eyes of the young man.

That gaze, as if it lasted for a long time.

Yune closed her eyes and held the young man tight, letting him carry her upward.

Gasping for air!!

The sensation of viscosity disappeared, breathing resumed, and the sounds distorted by water became clear.

And from afar came cries of shock.

"They're coming up!"

"Throw stones!"

"Kill them!"

"Get to the other side!"

The villagers had completely lost their minds.

Song Cheng glanced at the many figures on the riverbank and tightly grasped Yune as they swam to the other side of the river.

Soon, the two of them were ashore.

Song Cheng searched for the spot on Yune's chest and throat, avoiding the pale skin below, and pressed down repeatedly, only stopping when Yune coughed out water.

"Are you all right?" he panted.

Yune looked at him weakly, her eyes filled with complexity; she slowly shook her head, but then suddenly remembered that the person before her was blind and said, "I'm all right."

"The villagers are on their way; we must leave quickly," Song Cheng said, then crouched down, grabbed Yune, and added, "Forgive me."

Having said that, he lifted Yune onto his back and, while clacking the cane sword, made a swift escape.

Thanks to his ability to see through walls and his physical superiority over the average person, after winding about for two hours, he finally lost the villagers. Only then did he ask, "Sister Yune, can you help guide me to the village entrance near the back mountains?"

"Song Cheng, just call me Yune," she said from his back, then started to direct the way.

Song Cheng carried her and continuously glanced at his panel. Seeing that "[Taboo: Unlocked]" remained unbroken, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In a short while, they successfully regrouped with Tong Jia, while back at the village, the sound of horse hooves and war cries erupted.

"Hurry up!" Song Cheng exclaimed.

He understood that bandits had infiltrated the village!

Without another moment's hesitation, the trio sprinted into the mountains.

...

...

After toiling away the entire day...

Deep into the night.

In a cave...

Tong Jia started a bonfire, and the three of them huddled close for warmth.

Luckily Song Cheng was blind, so Yune did not feel embarrassed and began drying her clothes near the fire.

Exhausted, Tong Jia nevertheless took out three hardtack biscuits, lightly toasted them, and distributed them to the others.

The three began to eat.

As he ate, Song Cheng briefly glanced towards Yune and suddenly froze.

Half of Yune's information was blood-red. The redness spread suddenly, merging with Yune's white silhouette, creating a red and white intermixed outline—bizarre, chaotic, twisted, and menacing.

This was the consequence of "the taboo transformation process being abruptly interrupted" leading to an "abrupt halt," like a smoothly running program suddenly causing a computer to blue screen.

Nobody knew what the outcomes of such a situation would be.

Half human, half taboo?

Or what else could it mean?

Yune seemed to sense something, looked up at the Little Blind Boy, but then lowered her head again, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, in the eyes of Song Cheng, Yune's data began to undergo strange changes.

[Strength: ?]

[Favorability: 100]

Among these, the question mark was blood-colored, while the rest were normal black.

Song Cheng couldn't help but ask, "Yune, do you feel anything amiss?"

"No," Yune replied indifferently, concise and to the point.

...

After a while, the three made a simple bed with weeds and luggage in the cave and went to sleep.

Tong Jia clung to Song Cheng's embrace. Perhaps due to her intense fatigue and the changes in her husband's body, the little madam from the east house felt a stir, incessantly caressing him from top to bottom. If it were not for Yune's presence, she might have transformed into a knight galloping wildly on horseback.

Because Yune was there, Song Cheng held back as well.

Having become a martial artist, he discovered he was no longer frail. The vigorous vitality gave rise to certain needs.

The night passed in a blur, amidst the sounds of the mountain winds.

At daybreak Song Cheng yawned.

His eyes opened.

[You spent a harmonious night with Tong Jia, gaining 6 Remaining Points].

He scanned around and suddenly froze.

"Yune?"

There was no response.

"Sister Yune?!"

Still no reply.

Alarmed, Song Cheng was about to get up when he instinctively glanced at his panel.

At some point, the panel's "[Taboo: Unlocked]" had turned blood-red, and the information had changed:

[Taboo]

1. Blessing of the Drowning Ghost.

...

Song Cheng: ...

He remained silent for a long time, a strong sense of powerlessness washing over him. He suddenly laughed, so hard that tears came out.

Indeed,

Can anything really be changed at all?

From the moment the taboo chose Yune, at that moment when Yune's heart died completely, everything was beyond human capacity to change at will.

...

...

Tang River Village.

Dense fog...

Utter chaos.

Inside, shadows ran about as if headless, colliding everywhere, yet seemingly moving in circles.

In contrast to these frantic figures, the river seemed utterly calm.

Above the river, the fog was particularly thick.

And within the fog, a ghostly figure appeared and disappeared.

It was a woman in green.

She did not have a pale face like a dead person.

Her eyes, too, seemed to retain a part of sanity.

In the river beneath her, bodies were sinking—villagers and bandits alike...

The woman tilted her head slightly towards the direction of the back mountains, her eerie eyes showing an inexplicable tenderness. She opened her mouth as if to say something.

The wind carried her words. One could vaguely hear the words "Thank you," but... even these words were imbued with a creepy horror.