Chapter 100: Sacrifice of Life (2 / 2)

Outside, the clash of weapons and the roar of war horses intensified, as the clouds above the mist seemed to converge into the shape of a fierce tiger. The sound of war drums grew louder, and Jiang Shiyu cried, "Master Yuan, Zhang Dabo is in critical condition! Master Wang said he's been cursed with a Zhu spell. Right now, the only thing keeping him alive is the Heavenly Master's Order, but if you don't help him soon, he won't last much longer."

When Yi Cheng heard this, Yuan Beitang sighed deeply and turned to me, saying, "I want to save you too, but with the White Tiger's image manifesting at this crucial moment, if I leave, the Yin soldiers will certainly destroy the White Tiger and break the formation. At that point, the suffering of the living would be immeasurable, and I, Yuan Beitang, could never bear such a sin."

He refused Jiang Shiyu's request, and both Yi Cheng and Yuan Beitang discussed how to save me. Yuan Beitang said there was only one way, but it would require Jiang Shiyu to sacrifice herself.

Jiang Shiyu immediately agreed, declaring she would do anything to save me. Yuan Beitang's voice grew serious as he explained, "What you're facing is a Zhu curse, which is a very evil form of magic. It involves using an unmarried woman to trap a Shipan Fuzhu, a type of spirit spider. Once the spider is inside the woman's stomach, she must be killed. The spider grows inside her, consuming her flesh and soul until it is strong enough to lay eggs. The eggs are then harvested and used for ghost rituals. When they hatch, they turn black, and anyone who comes into contact with them can be killed from afar. But the spider has a weakness—it is particularly attracted to the blood of virgins. We can use this to bait it out."

Jiang Shiyu agreed without hesitation, and immediately went to the hospital to prepare. But Yuan Beitang called out to her, warning, "The only danger is that the spider is extremely vicious and will likely retaliate. I'm not going with you, because you might save Dabo, but end up dying by the spider's bite."

Despite the danger, Jiang Shiyu remained resolute, saying, "With Master Yi Cheng's protection, I won't be in danger."

Yuan Beitang didn't reveal Yi Cheng's sacrifice to Jiang Shiyu. After all, he knew that Yi Cheng, who was positioned at the heart of the formation, had repaired the broken spell and couldn't leave. Yi Cheng himself claimed that it was fine, and so they pressed on.

But as they prepared to return, disaster struck—the gates of the Wàn Zàng Kǒu finally opened. The earth shook violently, and the roar of the tigers grew even louder. Yi Cheng explained that they were trapped for three entire days. Yuan Beitang, with the Heavenly Master's Order in hand, led the battle against the Yin soldiers, fending them off.

The sky remained a ghostly gray, especially around White Tiger Hill, where a thick fog seemed to veil everything. From the outside, no one could tell what was happening within. Yi Cheng, however, described it as the most brutal battle he had ever witnessed.

They weren't ordinary people. They could see the massive phantom of the White Tiger, fighting against the army of ten thousand Yin soldiers. Yi Cheng said the battlefield was littered with bones and corpses, the echoes of wailing souls filled the air, and the White Tiger tore through the Yin soldiers, scattering their souls and mangling their bodies.

Yuan Beitang sighed again and said, "The battle raged for three days, until we finally drove those ten thousand Yin soldiers back into the Wàn Zàng Kǒu. The White Tiger was gravely wounded. From then on, that area will be barren of both gold and iron. The White Tiger was gravely weakened. Afterward, Yi Cheng stayed behind to clean up, while Jiang Shiyu and I came back to rescue you—but we were still too late."

I swallowed hard and asked, "Then what happened?"

"Later, Jiang Shiyu offered herself to the centipede, feeding it with her blood. She used a golden thread to lure out the Shipan Fuzhu—a spider the size of a fist. But I made a fatal mistake," Yuan Beitang continued. "I didn't expect that the spider had been infected by the corpse energy. It turned into a highly toxic creature, and once it died, it transformed into a corpse. It was my carelessness that caused the spider to injure Jiang Shiyu."

My anger flared, and I grabbed Yuan Beitang by the collar, shouting, "What were you doing? Master Wang said you're so powerful—how could you let her get hurt? What happened to Shiyu in the end?"

Yuan Beitang didn't fight back. He just looked at me calmly, his eyes filled with sorrow. "I didn't expect her to have the wisdom of the Buddha. It was that wisdom that kept her soul intact. But even with that, she couldn't hold on much longer. When she learned she was dying, I told her that the wisdom she had could save you, so..." Yuan Beitang's voice trailed off.

At this point, my emotions boiled over. I swung my fist, landing a punch square on Yuan Beitang's face. "Why? Why did you sacrifice her life to save mine?" Tears flowed uncontrollably from my eyes as I cried out in agony.

Yuan Beitang stared at me in disbelief. He rubbed his cheek, then shook his head, muttering, "In my life, I've only been hit twice. Once by your grandfather, and now by you. Damn, we sure owe your family everything."

"Why did she have to die? Why didn't you save her?" I wailed.

Yuan Beitang suddenly slapped me hard on the forehead. "You little bastard, when did I say she's dead?"