Passing Three Passes

Qiu Luoye looked at Li Banfeng's back, where two wounds were still bleeding. He called Tiger over and told him to fetch some wound medicine for Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng shook his head. "No need for medicine. It'll heal in a bit." "It still needs bandaging." "No need. This blood is fresh—can't let it go to waste." Li Banfeng placed the pendulum against his back. Seeing that Li Banfeng's bleeding had stopped, Qiu Luoye chuckled. "How about a couple of drinks?" "Sure!" Qiu Luoye looked over at He Yuxiu. "You the Seventh's sweetheart?" He Yuxiu blushed slightly. "If... if you say so, then I am." Qiu Luoye praised, "Good! One look at that build, and you can tell she'll bear strong children!" He Yuxiu looked at Li Banfeng rather smugly. "See? Big Brother Qiu says so too." Qiu Luoye turned his eyes to Chu the Second. "I didn't care much for you before, but you did alright today. You've got balls." "I don't have those," Chu the Second murmured, shaking her head bashfully. Qiu Luoye shouted toward the crowd of three-headed people, "Everyone! If you're hurt, come over here to get patched up! I've got top-grade wound medicine! "If you're not hurt, come have a bowl of wine with us! I have plenty of good brew! "I was a bit too wary of you all before—that was Old Qiu's fault! We were originally fellow disciples of the same path anyway, so let's drink our fill today!" Fellow disciples? Strictly speaking, the three-headed people were body cultivators who had failed their initiation, but Juanzi had never heard any other body cultivator refer to them as peers from the same sect. The crowd stood stunned for a moment, then turned their eyes to Li the Seventh. Li the Seventh smiled. "Not enough wine, is that it? I'll have someone bring more up the mountain!" Qiu Luoye brought out all the fine liquor he had saved over the years, and the three-headed people hurried home to carry back an assortment of dishes and wine. Learning that Li the Seventh was safe and sound, Ma the Fifth was overjoyed and ordered men to send wine up from the foot of the mountain. The crowd set up tables right in the woods, clinking bowls and cups, eating and drinking to their hearts' content. Ever since reaching the tenth level, Qiu Luoye had never enjoyed a proper New Year's celebration. This New Year was wonderful, but it might also be his last. Mengzi toasted Qiu Luoye with a cup, and Qiu Luoye downed it in one gulp. Juanzi offered another toast, and Qiu Luoye downed that too. Xiaoshan toasted him next, and Qiu Luoye couldn't manage another drop. "Even a kid can drink this much? Drinking with you folks is completely unreasonable—three heads against one!" Watching Qiu Luoye stagger on his feet, Li Banfeng frowned slightly. He Yuxiu lowered her voice. "Chu Shaoqiang was driven off, but the covenant deed is still clutched in the Inner States' hands. Old Qiu probably won't make it past this hurdle. "Holding his covenant deed is the same as holding his life. Your older sister here..." "Younger sister." He Yuxiu coughed, glanced around to make sure no one was near, and continued, "This little sister of yours isn't in any rush to advance precisely because I don't want to go to the Inner States and become a slave." Li Banfeng set down his wine bowl and sighed. "Is there no other way?" He Yuxiu shook her head. "I can't think of one. Why don't you go ask that sweetheart of yours?" "Which one..." She meant Xiao Yeci. Li Banfeng actually went to ask her. Xiao Yeci had indeed read a great deal of books recently, but the records regarding covenant deeds were far too sparse. He couldn't count on Xiao Yeci for this; he had to consult the wife. Finding an opportune moment, Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling and laid out the whole situation to the gramophone. "Precious Wife, I really can't wrap my head around this. Qiu Luoye has two covenant deeds. Even if the Inner States destroyed one of them, Big Brother Qiu shouldn't have fallen from his rank, let alone suffered such terrible injuries." The gramophone replied, "Precious Husband, was Qiu Luoye's first covenant deed bestowed by the Inner States, or did he snatch it from someone else?" "Bestowed by the Inner States. Qiu Luoye was enfeoffed as a local spirit by them." "Then that makes things difficult." Li Banfeng asked, "What's the difference between a deed given by the Inner States and one taken by force?" "From what this humble servant knows, the deeds crafted by the Inner States contain a portion of the cultivator's own flesh and bone, imbued with a curse. As for what specific curse it is, this servant does not know either. "This servant has only heard rumors that if a local spirit enfeoffed by the Inner States refuses to obey their commands, the Inner States will destroy their covenant deed, and the curse will claim the local spirit's life." Li Banfeng fell silent for a while before saying, "Going from the ninth level to the tenth, one goes to the Inner States to become a dog. "Reaching the first level above the clouds, one is banished to the newland. "Once enough popularity gathers in the newland to cross over into proper land, the Inner States swoops in to pick the fruit. "Even snatching an extra covenant deed doesn't work, because the curse is dogging your heels. "Precious Wife, once a person embarks on the path of the Inner States, is there truly no way to ever break free?" The wife sighed. "Husband, the local spirits who came out of the Inner States dare not even speak of it. They are truly terrified. The Inner States need only tamper with the deed to take their lives. "Qiu Luoye is still alive now because his deed hasn't been completely destroyed, but the Inner States must have damaged a portion of it, which is why his wounds are so severe." An idea came to Li Banfeng. "If I go dig up Big Brother Qiu's covenant deed right now and we find a way to repair it, won't his injuries heal?" "Precious Husband, that deed must not be dug up lightly! Doing so will make him lose his cultivation! He is already heavily wounded; if his cultivation drops and cannot be recovered, he will truly lose his life." Li Banfeng couldn't understand. "He already obtained Lady Wuqin's deed, so why would his cultivation drop?" "Deeds have a hierarchy of precedence. A deed seized in Puluo Province has only been sprinkled with blood. But the deed brought from the Inner States holds not just blood, but his flesh and bone—its bond with the local spirit runs far deeper. "If Husband digs up Qiu Luoye's Inner States deed right now, his cultivation will inevitably plummet first. Relying on the seized deed, there is a chance he might pull it back up. "However, if he fails to recover it, his severe injuries will likely cause his soul to scatter into oblivion." Two possibilities: one was pulling it back, and the other was immediate death. "Are the chances of pulling it back high?" The wife said, "Normally speaking, not even a ten-percent chance. More crucially, doing so is utterly pointless. "Husband, digging up Qiu Luoye's deed and repairing it now would achieve nothing. "The two halves of the deed share a single lifeline. Once this side is mended, the Inner States will see it and inevitably damage it again. "We would go through immense hardship to patch it up, while for them, destroying it is a matter of lifting a finger. "It would be like treating Qiu Luoye's wounds only to hand him back over for them to torture, over and over, making him suffer in vain." The approach had been flawed from the very beginning. "Precious Wife, is there any other way?" The gramophone searched its memory for a long time. "This humble servant once heard a rumor. There was a local spirit who refused to be manipulated by the Inner States. Through certain methods, he gradually lowered his own cultivation while stabilizing his soul, eventually turning into an Injured Demon Fiend." "Turning into an Injured Demon Fiend can shake off the curse?" "In principle, yes. To ascend from the ninth level to the tenth, one must shed the mortal shell and become a departed soul. "From the tenth level to above the clouds, the Inner States crafts a fresh body of flesh and blood for the cultivator, turning the soul back into a human. The curse resides within that very body granted by the Inner States. "Becoming an Injured Demon Fiend is equivalent to reverting to an evil spirit. Once the flesh and blood are discarded, the curse is naturally broken. "Yet this method still won't work for Qiu Luoye. Lowering one's cultivation while keeping the soul stable requires extraordinarily delicate techniques—something Qiu Luoye likely cannot master. "Moreover, it takes half a year, perhaps even longer. Qiu Luoye cannot afford to wait. The Inner States could strike at him at any moment, and if he lowers his cultivation by force, he still won't survive the strain." Li Banfeng sat by the bed, staring up at the ceiling, silent for a long time. The wife consoled him from the side. "Do not fret, Husband. We will find another way." Li Banfeng spoke, "We have to find a way fast. We truly can't wait. It's better to fix the deed first." The wife soothed, "Husband, don't be hasty..." Li Banfeng said again, "What's the point of fixing the deed? Wife is right, that's just making Big Brother Qiu suffer for nothing! Think, is there really no other path?" "Husband, what's come over you..." Li Banfeng said again, "What other path could there be? As long as the deed is in the Inner States, the road is completely blocked!" "Husband, don't be like this..." Li Banfeng said again, "Isn't turning into an Injured Demon Fiend a path? At least it breaks free of the Inner States' curse!" Li Banfeng said again, "You call that a path? After struggling so hard to reach proper land, now he's supposed to become an evil spirit again? Besides, if he forces his cultivation down, Big Brother Qiu won't survive it!" Li Banfeng said again, "Didn't you say he could still pull it back?" Li Banfeng said again, "Didn't Wife already say there isn't even a ten-percent chance? What were you listening to?" Li Banfeng said again, "Maintain order in the meeting! Speak one at a time in turn!" The gramophone vented a blast of steam that enveloped Li Banfeng. "Precious Husband, don't scare me like that!" Li Banfeng held the gramophone and said, "Wife, what if we dig up Big Brother Qiu's deed, forcibly drop his cultivation to turn him into an Injured Demon Fiend so he sheds his flesh and breaks the curse, and then use Lady Wuqin's deed to pull his cultivation back up—would that work?" The gramophone pondered for a moment. "Theoretically, it works. But he cannot turn into an Injured Demon Fiend. "To pull his cultivation back, he must pass three passes, and not the slightest misstep is permitted in any of them. "The first pass is the Soul-Departure Pass. When cultivation falls from above the clouds down to the ground-crust, the soul and the physical body must separate once. Once the deed is dug up, some local spirits separate immediately, while others take several days. "The separation of soul and body, put plainly, means dying once. The process brings excruciating agony, damaging at least twenty percent of the soul. If fear or panic takes hold, the damage will worsen. "Once the damage exceeds twenty percent, he will turn into an Injured Demon Fiend, and his cultivation will never return. Heavily wounded as he is, Qiu Luoye would lose his life. "For this pass, soul damage must be kept under twenty percent. Only someone exceptionally clever and extraordinarily steadfast in will can endure it. You wouldn't find one such person in ten thousand." Li Banfeng was puzzled. "Why can an exceptionally clever and steadfast person endure it?" "A person of exceptional intellect can distinguish body from soul with utter clarity. They know that what dies in that moment is merely the physical shell, not the soul. They must firmly believe they are not dead. "Even at the border between life and death, there must not be a sliver of fear or panic in their heart. Go ask Qiu Luoye—can he manage that?" When it came to steadfast will, Li Banfeng harbored no doubt whatsoever. When it came to exceptional intellect, however, there was a bit of a gap. He had to distinguish the concepts of body and soul. Qiu Luoye definitely couldn't tell the difference between the two words, and as for the abstract concepts, could anyone even explain it to him? Qiu Luoye might manage to learn embroidery, but such a complex philosophical distinction was certainly beyond him. "Wife, what if we drug Qiu Luoye and put him straight to sleep? That way he won't feel fear or panic. Do you think that could work?" The wife shook her head. "Husband, at the moment of soul-departure, if he falls asleep, he will never wake up again. The soul will perish right along with the body." Drugging him was out too. Firmly believing one was not dead at the brink of life and death... that trick sounded familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before. He had indeed seen it. This pass was far too difficult; it needed thorough study. Put it aside for now. Li Banfeng asked, "What about the second pass?" "The second pass is Revival, and it is even harder than the first. The difficulty lies in rapidly regrowing the discarded body of flesh and blood from scratch. "Only by doing so can the damaged soul be nurtured back to health, and only then can he rely on the covenant deed to pull his lost cultivation back." Growing flesh. Qiu Luoye's wounds healed very fast, but if he had to start from scratch, would he know how to grow a whole body of flesh and blood? Who could teach him? Who knew how to grow flesh? After a moment's thought, Li Banfeng rubbed his cheeks, adjusted the angles of his brow and eyes, and put on a smile brimming with tender affection. He stepped into the second bedroom and saw Hong Ying applying her makeup. Taking the eyebrow pencil from her hand, he said softly, "Yingying, let me draw them for you." Hong Ying smiled bashfully, picked up a lipstick, and wrote the word 'Shameless' across Li Banfeng's face. In a gentle voice, she said, "Qilang, out with whatever you want to say!"