"*Rustle*~" A gentle breeze blew through the forest, rustling the dense leaves as if they were whispering. Under the sunlight, Li Xuan's master knelt quietly on the grass, her figure looking somewhat sorrowful in his eyes.
Is it because of the passing of her old friends? Li Xuan thought. Would he one day, because of the people around him…
"..." Li Xuan suddenly shook his head violently, stopping himself from thinking about this terrifying question. Even touching upon it filled him with an uncontrollable fear.
"Miss Black Maple once asked me what the meaning of my life was…" Hokushin Mei said, seeming to fall into a memory. "After that, the spirits of those who died by my sword always asked me the same question…"
"Sigh~" This peerless swordswoman before Li Xuan sighed and said, "...Yet, I still haven't found the answer. What a regret."
"The meaning of life?..." Li Xuan silently repeated. What was the meaning of his life?...…
"But even so, to be able to come to your side before my death, I have no regrets. Let me return my life to you both, and accompany you for the short remainder of my life…" Hokushin Mei closed her wine-red eyes, an expression of release on her face.
"Cough cough!!..." She suddenly bent over and coughed violently, her right hand, which had been resting on her sword hilt, involuntarily covering her lips.
"Master!" Li Xuan saw this and immediately rushed forward to help her up, but Hokushin Mei put down the hand covering her mouth and waved at him, signaling that it wasn't necessary.
"That's!" As Hokushin Mei waved her hand, Li Xuan clearly saw the splash of crimson on it… It was a pool of blood with a hint of purple.
"Why are you covered in so many injuries?!" Li Xuan inadvertently saw that his master's arms, which should have been like jade-white lotus roots under her sleeves, were covered in wounds of all sizes… This made Li Xuan forget his respectful address for Hokushin.
"You all should leave quickly…" Hokushin Mei said in a low voice. "These are the marks left from countless battles with warriors… and…" Hokushin Mei paused, then said with a tone of despair.
"...the scars from fighting the monster within my own body. I'm afraid I don't have the confidence to win against it this time…"
"Huh?! A monster inside you?!…" Li Xuan's eyes widened. His master was right here, perfectly fine, wasn't she? What monster could be inside her?!
"..." In the next moment, Li Xuan witnessed a shocking scene. The expression of his master, who was half-kneeling on the ground, became contorted, and a black smoke suddenly erupted from her body out of thin air.
The black smoke was just like the black mist they had first encountered in the outskirts of Nagazora City…
"What's going on?!… Why is black smoke coming from Master?!" Li Xuan hurriedly lifted his foot, wanting to step forward, but a hand suddenly reached out from behind and grabbed his. It was Yae Sakura's hand…
"….It's Honkai energy. Li Xuan-kun, get back," Yae Sakura said with a frown, her expression somewhat grave. At the same time, a black fox silently appeared behind Yae Sakura and said in a sharp, low voice.
"...I can feel it. That monster is about to come out…"
"No…." Li Xuan looked at the master he had just acknowledged, who was half-kneeling in pain on the ground. He turned and looked at Yae Sakura, saying with determination, "We have to find a way to help her…"
After all, a master for a day is a father for life…. Although it wasn't that exaggerated, Li Xuan couldn't just stand by and watch her die.
"But…" Yae Sakura opened her mouth, wanting to persuade Li Xuan to give up. Honkai energy wasn't so easily eliminated, otherwise, there wouldn't be so many Honkai Zombies… but his determined gaze made her stop.
'Is it Honkai energy again?!…' Li Xuan thought as he looked at the black mist continuously rising behind Hokushin Mei. In this world, this stuff was like maggots on a rotting bone, appearing everywhere he went…
"If it's Honkai energy..." Li Xuan raised his right hand. Under the sunlight, the crimson mark on the back of his hand, representing the ancient Eastern 'Tao', shone with a blood-like luster. This was Li Xuan's 'Stigmata'—'Two Principles, Four Symbols'.
"My Stigmata has the ability to absorb Honkai energy from dead Honkai Zombies… so can it absorb Honkai energy directly?" Li Xuan stared at his fair hands and spoke in a voice only he could hear.
"Hang in there… Master." Gritting his teeth, Li Xuan walked to Hokushin Mei's side and placed his right hand on her shoulder.
The Stigmata on the back of Li Xuan's hand flashed with a red glow. The black mist that had been continuously rising from Hokushin Mei's body suddenly stopped. Strands of black, thread-like substances appeared on Li Xuan's right hand, and the red mark on the back of his hand slowly turned deep red…
"Aaaargh!!!" An excruciating pain shot up from Li Xuan's hand. He felt as if countless embroidery needles were piercing into his fingers, a pain that seemed to bore into his very bones…
"Hah… Hah!!!~" Li Xuan, his eyes bloodshot, finally pulled his hand back. He couldn't withstand the terrifying pain coming from his hand. He was, after all, just an ordinary person who had lived a comfortable life in the modern world. How could he have ever felt such pain?
"*Crack crack!*~" The moment Li Xuan's hand left Hokushin Mei's body, the dark red Stigmata seemed to come alive again, flashing with a faint light. Out of thin air, deep blue, almost pitch-black, crystal-like shards appeared on the back of Li Xuan's hand with a crisp sound.
"..." Li Xuan stood there in a daze. The intense pain still lingered in his mind, leaving it completely blank.
"Ugh..." The black, ominous mist was no longer appearing on the half-kneeling Hokushin Mei. She let out a soft, unconscious groan and slowly opened her wine-red, glass-like eyes.
"Master!" Liv hurriedly rushed forward to support the dazed Li Xuan, preventing him from falling.
At the same time, a cool sensation spread from Li Xuan's right hand, rushed up his arm, and into his blank mind. As if his soul had returned, Li Xuan came back to his senses.
Did it succeed or fail? The first thing he saw was the azure sky…
"...." Yae Sakura looked on with a complex expression as the half-kneeling Hokushin Mei seemed to regain her senses and stand up again...
That Honkai energy was actually suppressed by Li Xuan-kun...
With a human body.
(End of Chapter)