The Western-style house had just been freshly painted. Against the brilliant white of the walls, the green-pus-dripping grin of the Lüshui Beggar appeared peculiarly eerie and radiant.
The Lüshui Beggar's smile was indeed radiant. At such close range in a direct confrontation with him, Chu Shaoqiang had little chance of survival.
The methods of a Disease Cultivator were far too difficult to counter. Unless one crushed them with overwhelmingly superior cultivation, or possessed a specialized pathway capable of countering them, a head-on encounter with a Disease Cultivator offered slim odds of victory even for an opponent of equal cultivation. This had long become a consensus among high-level cultivators in Puluo Province.
Chu Shaoqiang walked down the stairs step by step, fixing his gaze on the Lüshui Beggar. "Regarding what happened back then, I really do want to have a proper talk with you. Why were you so convinced I was going to seize Lüshuiwan?"
The Lüshui Beggar blinked, seemingly reminiscing about the past. "Four Great Families, four heads of household. Back then, everyone thought Lu Dongliang had the highest cultivation. But in truth, you were the strongest. Your cultivation had surpassed the ninth tier long ago, and you used certain craft techniques to conceal a great deal of your power. Even the local gods on the Cloud First Tier were no match for you. I know all about that."
Chu Shaoqiang frowned. "Just because I was the strongest, does that make me guilty? I never once said I was going to seize Lüshuiwan. Why did you try so ruthlessly to kill me?"
Lü Huazi chuckled. "By the time you spelled it out plain and clear, would I still be around to hear it? I would have already been sent down the yellow springs by you. Or have you forgotten how Lüshuiwan came to be? Didn't I snatch it by force too?"
Chu Shaoqiang shook his head. "There was a misunderstanding. Back then, I truly didn't..."
The Lüshui Beggar squeezed open a boil. Splattering dark-green pus cut Chu Shaoqiang off. "Stop stalling for time. With the hundred blades of a Craft Cultivator, every moment you delay gives you that much more of an advantage."
Chu Shaoqiang halted in his tracks, seemingly dodging the beggar's pus. "The longer a Disease Cultivator sets up their layout, the greater their odds of winning. If we catch up on old times, you're hardly at a disadvantage either."
The Lüshui Beggar shook his head. "My pathway prioritizes striking fast and catching foes off guard. It doesn't need so much preparation."
"Striking off guard is true enough, but is your pathway genuinely fast?" Chu Shaoqiang shook his head. "Lü Huazi, your pathway is quite deceptive. Disease Cultivators are formidable, but their strength doesn't lie in speed.
"A Disease Cultivator's true power lies in being 'small.' The focus of disease is so minute—so small it has neither form nor trace, neither sound nor breath.
"No one knows when they arrive, how they arrive, or how to block them.
"That is why many people develop a misconception, believing in the saying: 'sickness falls like a collapsing mountain.'
"Everyone assumes an illness strikes quickly. In reality, the pathogenic focus doesn't arrive fast at all—it is merely so small that people are caught completely unprepared.
"Just like now: the pus you squeeze out, the boils all over your body—these are visible, so there is no need to worry about them. What I should worry about are the things too small to see. Those are the true disease foci one cannot evade."
As his words fell, fine, powdery snowflakes suddenly drifted into the mansion's main hall.
Enclosed within the snowflakes were invisible pathogens—more accurately, the corpses of pathogens.
These germs had been slain by the "snowflakes." Wrapped inside the snow, they rained continuously from the air. The pungent, alkaline odor made Lü Huazi's cheeks twitch slightly.
"What sort of magic treasure is this now?" Lü Huazi rolled his eyes, scanning for the origin of the technique.
"It isn't any magic treasure. It's just lime." Chu Shaoqiang caught a "snowflake" from the air and crushed it into dust.
At the word lime, the Lüshui Beggar looked toward the surrounding walls.
The once-smooth white walls had already turned mottled; copious amounts of lime were flaking rapidly off the surface.
Chu Shaoqiang said, "A pathogenic focus is tiny, small enough to penetrate every crevice. When I fought you back then, I erected three layers of barriers, yet I still couldn't keep you out. All these years have passed, and I never once forgot that battle. For so long, I've pondered how to defeat you. In the end, I realized one thing: to beat you, I couldn't focus on being faster, nor could I aim for an airtight defense. No matter how tight and strict the guard, there will always come a moment when something slips through. To defeat you, I had to become just as small as you. And so, I stopped focusing my mind on weapons. I turned my attention to dust."
*Whoosh—*
The "snowflakes" in the hall abruptly thickened. Lü Huazi had increased the release of his pathogens.
The lime in the air responded swiftly. The dust ground finer, and its concentration surged.
These lime particles required no orders from Chu Shaoqiang; they could directly engage the Lüshui Beggar's pathogens in combat. Such exquisitely refined craft technique made the Lüshui Beggar somewhat nervous.
Yet what unsettled the Lüshui Beggar most was that Chu Shaoqiang had grasped the vital crux of a Disease Cultivator.
"Smallness" was the most pivotal element of disease cultivation.
"You think this lime is really that effective?" Lü Huazi also caught a flake of lime-snow and rubbed it between his fingers.
Chu Shaoqiang paused. "You think lime particles are larger than the disease foci you create?"
The Lüshui Beggar replied, "Anything visible can't be considered small."
"Which means there is lime you haven't seen at all." Chu Shaoqiang smiled. "Take another careful whiff. Isn't that alkaline stench about to burn right through your lungs?"
The lime-snow fell heavier and heavier. The Lüshui Beggar was forced to encase his body in pus.
This house held inexhaustible lime. Every speck of lime dust was Chu Shaoqiang's numinous object—creatures almost as microscopic as the germs themselves.
Now, every speck was battling the pathogens. Due to the lime's alkalinity, the germs were virtually powerless before it.
He had fallen into a trap.
The Lüshui Beggar should never have set foot in this house.
Now, wishing to leave would not be so easy. The pus coating his body was caking and hardening.
Chu Shaoqiang's silhouette had vanished into the lime-snow, but his voice lingered: "Everything that needed saying has been said. It's time for us to settle this once and for all. Lü Huazi, if I recall, you still have one more move. You can enter the Unnameable Land. This is your final chance. I'm quite intrigued by the Unnameable Land. Use that trick before my eyes: you get to escape with your life, and I get to study it properly. A win-win for both of us."
Lü Huazi didn't budge. Covered in lime, he had turned into a snowman.
He was reluctant to open the Unnameable Land; it was too precious.
As things stood, even if he opened the Unnameable Land, he might not be able to get away. It was highly likely the Unnameable Land would be seized by Chu Shaoqiang, along with his covenant deed.
Standing amid the lime, Chu Shaoqiang watched the Lüshui Beggar in silence. "I didn't expect you to be so stubborn. In that case, I have no choice but to send you on your way."
A sudden gust swept in, plastering dust tightly against the Lüshui Beggar's body.
The pus upon him hardened and caked over completely. The skin beneath stiffened and cracked. Beneath skin lay flesh and bone, beneath flesh and bone lay internal organs. Before long, the Lüshui Beggar was saturated from head to toe with lime, rendered dry and rigid.
Chu Shaoqiang lit a cigarette and casually tossed the lighter onto the Lüshui Beggar.
*Bang!*
The lighter shattered the Lüshui Beggar's body.
Like a broken plaster statue, brittle shards littered the floor.
Was this the Lüshui Beggar's corpse?
Yes. This was the Lüshui Beggar's true physical body.
Chu Shaoqiang had prepared too thoroughly. The moment the Lüshui Beggar stepped into the house, any chance of flight had been lost. His body had been completely petrified by the lime.
Was the Lüshui Beggar dead?
Chu Shaoqiang harbored doubts.
Outside in the courtyard, several guards were still standing at their posts.
Suddenly, one guard's head burst open. Emerald-green pus sloshed back and forth inside his body cavity.
Chu Shaoqiang grabbed a handful of lime and hurled it out the window, landing squarely on the guard.
At the same time, the pus inside the guard's torso swiftly pooled together, morphing into a little green man slightly over a foot tall, which vanished from Chu Shaoqiang's sight in an instant.
Had the Lüshui Beggar revived?
Why did he vanish so abruptly?
He had gone to the Unnameable Land—what the Outer States referred to as the dark dimension. For Chu Shaoqiang, uncovering the truth of the dark dimension held far greater value than killing the Lüshui Beggar.
At the thought of the dark dimension, Chu Shaoqiang felt a surge of chagrin.
*That pair of judge's brushes I acquired could originally enter the dark dimension within a certain range, yet that idiot Huaijun gave them away as a gift! I should never have handed the family business to him back then. Handing it to Huaiyuan would have been vastly better.*
The Lüshui Beggar had moved too quickly, so Chu Shaoqiang hadn't clearly observed the nuances of the dark dimension.
Still, it didn't matter. There was still lime on the Lüshui Beggar; Chu Shaoqiang could track him down.
The Lüshui Beggar was terribly weak and couldn't linger in the Unnameable Land for long. He would have to return to ordinary territory to replenish his strength.
The moment he stepped out of the Unnameable Land, his life would be forfeit.
...
Inside the Boundless Hospital, Critick sat in his office, his fingers tapping softly against the desk.
He was very nervous. A formidable enemy was approaching.
Yet at this moment, he had no choice. He had to face this adversary.
Critick put on a face mask and opened the office door. Standing right outside was a man dressed in an off-white trench coat and an off-white fedora.
"Sir, are you here to see me?" Critick inquired politely.
Standing at the doorway, Chu Shaoqiang felt a touch surprised. By all accounts, the foreigner before him shouldn't have been able to see him.
Had Lü Huazi warned this foreigner?
No. He truly could see him—that much was clear from his tone and gaze.
Chu Shaoqiang looked past Critick. "I'm not here for you. But the person I'm looking for is in this room."
Critick glanced behind himself. "You're looking for a patient? This is my office. If you're looking for patients, you should head to the wards."
A "snowflake" drifted down through the air, landing in Chu Shaoqiang's palm. He was certain the Lüshui Beggar was inside this room.
With a smile on his face, Chu Shaoqiang said, "I don't wish to kill you—at least, not at the moment. Step aside, and none of this will have anything to do with you."
Critick shook his head. "Apologies. This office, and indeed this entire hospital, is my private territory. I cannot yield this path."
Chu Shaoqiang's smile remained unchanged. "Then I cannot let you live. You truly refuse to see reason."
Fine snowflakes drifted down slowly. Although this was not Chu Shaoqiang's house, Critick was not the Lüshui Beggar either. The lime Chu Shaoqiang carried on his person was more than enough to kill him.
A layer of green vesicles swelled across Critick's body. Many ruptured in rapid succession, serum spraying amid the snowflakes.
Within this fluid lingered the aura of the Lüshui Beggar. This foreigner could actually wield the Lüshui Beggar's power?
Chu Shaoqiang tightened his guard, though his expression betrayed no reaction. "So you are a Disease Cultivator. Are you intending to stake your life against mine? I truly never expected your pathway would harbor a cultivator as loyal as you."
Critick said, "I am indeed a loyal person. I am willing to give my life for my pathway."
Chu Shaoqiang nodded. "I can grant your wish."
Critick remained planted at the doorway. "Do not be so hasty. I believe you are a loyal person as well. You were dispatched by the Inner States. If your master does not wish to offend a friendly nation, I suggest you refrain from laying a hand on me."
The word "master" grated harshly on his ears. Chu Shaoqiang's cheek twitched, and his smile gradually faded. "Foreign devil, what kind of creature do you take yourself for?"
Critick replied calmly, "I am nothing of significance. But this is my hospital, this is my territory. There are many numinous objects and magic treasures here—not meant for combat, but for communication. If you force your way into my territory, I will fight you with my life. And if you kill me, word will get out immediately, dragging out a great many entanglements. I urge you to think twice."
Chu Shaoqiang fell silent for a moment, then turned and left the Boundless Hospital.
Critick removed his mask and slumped in his chair, panting for a long while.
He was terrified. Ever since the peddler helped him bring the Lüshui Beggar's power under control, Critick had never felt such an intense threat to his life.
A little green man slightly over a foot tall materialized upon the desk.
"Chu Shaoqiang has changed. The Inner States changed him far too much," the little green man lamented. "Had it been the old him, your life would have ended long ago. That is precisely why I refuse to go to the Inner States no matter what."
Critick bowed to the little green man. "I love the Grandmaster. My loyalty to the pathway shall never waver."
The little green man let out a chuckle. "I trust you. To dare stand up to Chu Shaoqiang, you've certainly got guts. What tier of cultivation are you at now?"
Critick replied, "Currently still at the seventh tier."
The little green man placed his right hand onto his left shoulder, gave a hard twist, snapped off his own left arm, and handed it to Critick. "Eat this. It will raise you to the eighth tier."
"Thank you for the gift, Grandmaster!" Without the slightest hesitation, Critick swallowed the arm down.
The little green man nodded. "I have another errand to entrust to you. Make a trip to Jianrengang and deliver some good things to that wretched woman. When the deed is done, I'll send you up to the ninth tier!"
Chapter 426