Liubai Camp: Remnants of the army attack northward

A person was standing in the middle of the road.

He was in his early thirties, thin, with a scar on his face. He wore an old military uniform, and a knife hung at his waist. The scabbard was polished to a gleaming shine.

Iron Shield's hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

Shen Bai walked over.

The man looked up at the knife in Shen Bai's hand. His gaze shifted—first he recognized him, then it changed.

"Young Master Shen's knife."

He said.

"It's your father's knife."

Shen Bai stopped.

"You know him?"

"know."

The man stood up.

"I served under your father for three years. Then we were discharged."

He took two things out of his pocket.

A stone. About the size of a thumb, grayish-brown, like a piece of burnt charcoal.

A knife. Seven inches long, with a narrow blade and a handle wrapped in black cloth. The blade is engraved with patterns.

"This was left by your father."

He stuffed two things into Shen Bai's hands.

"Stones can be pressed down. Knives can be sheathed. Your father used it for twenty years."

"Who told you to deliver it?"

"Your father's old men. Some scattered, some died. Only a few of us are left."

The man turned around and walked towards the roadside.

"etc."

Shen Bai called out to him.

"Who sold my father?"

The man stopped. He didn't turn around.

"I don't know. Go back to Jiankang and check for yourself."

He's gone. He disappeared into the bushes.

---

After walking for a while, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves ahead.

Not just one horse—it was a troop. Dozens of riders charged in from the north.

Iron Shield draws its sword.

"alert!"

White robe. Silver spear. Mounted on horseback.

The leader pointed his gun at Shen Bai.

"The Shen family's?"

"yes."

"Come with us."

The cavalry charged forward.

---

Shen Bai drew his sword.

As the sword was drawn, the engravings lit up. A pale silver light followed the engravings, from the hilt to the tip.

The flowing patterns surged from Shen Bai's palm into the blade.

A white light shot out from the blade.

The first step. Passing through the horse's legs.

The second one. Passing through one person's arm.

The third strike landed in the middle of the cavalry.

No one could get close enough to Shen Bai.

One beam of white light after another. One fell. Another fell. And another.

The man clutched his arm and fell from his horse. The others began to run away.

Shen Bai gripped the knife tightly.

He walked forward.

A streak of white light appeared with each step. No one could get within three steps of him.

He walked forward. One step. Then another.

With each step taken, that thing would swell out a little more.

With each step it takes, it eats a portion of his food.

His chest ached. Not from the arrow shaft—it was something moving inside. Pushing outwards. Drilling into the knife.

He walked forward.

One beam of white light followed another. No one could get within three steps of him.

But with each ray of white light, he felt the thing inside his body swelling.

They're eating him.

They're stuffing his bones into the stone.

He felt his fingers were going numb.

He felt a tightening in his chest.

He felt something drawing his blood into the knife.

He walked forward.

Another white light.

I ate another portion.

Then he saw that person.

At the back of the line, there was one person who hadn't moved.

White robe. Silver spear. Standing by the roadside.

He's a young man.

He looked at Shen Bai. Not with hatred, not with anger. That look—like he was looking at prey.

Then he raised his hand.

---

There was light in that man's hands as well.

A pale silver light burst forth from the man's palm.

Flow patterns.

Shen Bai saw it.

That person also had flowing patterns.

That person also has that thing.

A white light shot out from the man's hand.

Heading towards Shen Bai's direction.

Shen Bai raised his knife.

Two beams of white light collided in mid-air.

Click.

Light shone everywhere.

The man staggered back a few steps.

Shen Bai took half a step back.

The white light emanating from both of them dimmed simultaneously.

The man looked at Shen Bai. His gaze—had changed. It had become very cold.

"You have one too."

His voice was flat.

"Your father's child is indeed there."

He turned around.

Shen Bai gripped the knife tightly.

"stop."

The person didn't stop.

"You have that thing too?"

The man paused for a moment.

"I do, but I'm different from you."

Then he mounted his horse and rode away.

---

The battle is over.

More than a dozen pursuers died, and the rest escaped. The ground was covered in blood.

Shen Bai stood there, still clutching the knife in his hand. The light on the blade had dimmed.

He looked down at his hands.

My knuckles are cracking. They're not turning black—Shen Anning's needles worked.

That thing ate a lot of him.

At least 50%.

His left hand was trembling. It was trembling uncontrollably.

He felt his bones softening. His blood thinning.

"Chen Bai!"

Iron Shield charged forward.

Shen Bai waved his hand.

"fine."

He looked at his hands.

"I ate more than I expected."

"How many?"

"Fifty percent."

Iron Shield's expression changed.

"Fifty percent - "

"It still works."

Shen Bai gripped the knife handle tightly.

"My knife is still here. My hand can still grip it. That's enough."

He took a step forward.

My legs went weak. I almost knelt down.

---

Shen Anning arrived when it got dark.

She squatted down in front of Shen Bai and opened the medicine box.

I glanced at his hands.

How much was used?

Shen Bai remained silent.

"How many?"

"Fifty percent."

Shen Anning stopped.

She looked up at Shen Bai. Her gaze—like she was looking at a dead man.

"Fifty percent."

"Um."

"You used 50%."

"Um."

Shen Anning stood up.

She walked up to Shen Bai.

Then she raised her hand.

a slap.

It hit Shen Bai's face.

It was very loud.

"Who told you to use so much?"

Shen Bai remained silent.

"Fifty percent. When your father used up half of it, he was bedridden for three months."

"I am not my father."

"You're just like your father."

Her hands were trembling.

"They're all reckless."

Shen Bai clenched his fists.

"I want to live."

"live?"

"You can only survive with this."

Shen Anning looked at him. The way he looked at her—it was as if he were looking at a complete stranger.

"Your father said the same thing back then."

She squatted down and opened the medicine box.

"First, press it down with a stone. Then pull out the arrow."

---

Shen Bai gripped the stone tightly.

That thing was moving inside my body. Pushing outwards.

He pushed it in.

He pushed it little by little. The ripples flowed down his palm and into the stone.

The stone lit up.

It wasn't white light—it was black light. It shone from the inside out, as bright as a piece of burnt charcoal.

Shen Bai felt the arrow shaft on his left shoulder loosening.

The thing withdrew from the arrow shaft. It retreated into the stone.

But that's not enough.

Of the 50% flow pattern, only 30% was pressed in.

There's still 20% inside the body.

They're eating him.

"not enough."

Shen Anning pressed his hand down.

"If you press the stone down any further, it will explode."

Shen Bai released his grip.

The stone had turned a dark gray, like a piece of burnt charcoal.

But Shen Bai knew.

There's still 20% inside the body.

Seven days.

Only seven days.

---

"Pull it out now."

Shen Anning picked up the pliers.

"Endure it."

The pliers gripped the arrow shaft. A twist. A pull.

The arrow shaft has emerged.

Shen Bai didn't call out.

He looked down at his chest.

A hole. Not big. Blood is seeping in.

Shen Anning pressed the cloth down on top.

"Hold it down."

Shen Bai held it down.

He looked down at his hands.

White. Not grayish-white—it's white. Like a bone picked out of a fire, but definitely white.

"Do not exert yourself for three days."

Shen Anning packed her medicine kit.

"You'll need to press down on them with stones again within seven days. Otherwise, the remaining 20% ​​will continue to eat you."

Shen Bai gripped the blackened stone tightly.

"Where will the next piece come from?"

"have no idea."

Shen Anning stood up.

"But your father said there's always a way."

She walked out of the crowd.

She walked a few steps and then stopped.

Turn around.

There was something extra in my hand.

A piece of cloth. Dusty and folded very small.

She placed it next to Shen Bai.

He didn't say anything.

Then she left.

---

Shen Bai looked down at the piece of cloth.

turn on.

Inside was a piece of broken silver. About the size of a fingernail. Something worthless.

There's another piece of paper.

An address was written on the paper.

"Hefei. East Market. Kangji Blacksmith Shop."

There is one more word.

"ask."

Iron Shield walked over.

"She left it?"

"Um."

Shen Bai clutched the piece of paper.

He didn't know what it meant.

But he only glanced at it and remembered it.

Hefei. East Market. Kangji Blacksmith Shop.

Iron Shield asked, "Where to next?"

Shen Bai stared at Zhou Lie's body in the car. The white cloth was soaked in blood, turning a dark, almost blackish red.

"Go back to Jiankang. That man told me to go back and investigate; Zhou Lie can't stay here forever."

---

(End of Chapter Seven)