Some painful sacrifices…
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Ch. 67 | The Nine Star Halberd
‘Snap —’
A very subtle sound knifed the still air, as if something had just broken through and emerged…
Song Lin’s eyes were wide as he stared at Dandan’s bloodied hand which seemed to be grasping something…
He had actually pulled out a weapon physically from his body?! This fellow… what kind of a monster was he!!
Dandan sucked in his breath sharply. Pain was coursing through his chest for as the sharp blade came out, he felt all the very real agony of his insides being lacerated.
Deuce!
It hurts…
It really hurts!
He could hardly breathe. If a weapon was summoned, it only took shape physically outside of the body but with this method of pulling it out by force, it had to take shape physically within the body, otherwise it couldn’t be grasped. The result was that he could feel every ounce of throbbing pain being inflicted as it was drawn out inch by agonising inch from his body.
When the Crone saw a section of the weapon which had the lustre of black onyx, she could hardly believe her eyes. ‘The Nine Star Halberd? Yu Huan’s magic weapon??!’
‘Dandan, stop it now!!’ Song Lin saw how Dandan’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, how his entire body was trembling, and could imagine how much it hurt. Using such a suicidal method to pull out a weapon was sheer madness!
‘Just…’ Dandan gritted his teeth, his eyes so red they seemed to be on the verge of bleeding. ‘Just a bit more!!!’
Swoosh!
The next moment, following his heartrending¹ roar of pain, a massive halberd was finally pulled out of his body.
Song Fuyan gazed at the weapon and exclaimed in shock, ‘The Nine Star Halberd!’
¹ 撕心裂肺. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
There were nine of these halberds altogether, ranked from one star to nine stars with the power level increasing progressively, which could only be obtained from the Reincarnation Pagoda. Many Guardians had taken up the challenge of the Pagoda but none had ever reached the ninth level. When Yu Huan had succeeded in acquiring the Nine Star Halberd from the ninth level, it had stunned the whole of Ridge City. Who would have expected Yu Huan to have bestowed such a rare weapon upon Dandan?
Dandan grasped the halberd with both hands, his eyes bloodshot as he glared balefully at the Crone. ‘How can an old hag like you be allowed to just snatch all the magic weapons which the Guardians have put in so much effort to obtain? Damn well… return them all!’
‘Im-… impossible…’ The Crone was rooted to the spot, her eyes wide with shock. ‘With your level of spiritual power now… how can you possibly use this weapon?’
Dandan was panting heavily as he gnashed his teeth and rasped, ‘Oi… don’t underestimate rabbits! Don’t forget that the Jade Rabbit tribe… has an innate talent!’
After saying that, he swung the weapon with an effort. A streak of red light streaked through the air, followed by an explosive wave of light as the nine stars on the halberd’s hilt radiated dazzling rainbows. A flash of lightning cleaved the sky, uniting with the rainbows and hurtled straight at the Crone with an annihilating momentum. The Crone only had time to be dazzled and before she could react, she was cut into half instantly!
‘…’
All of a sudden, she was unable to hear anything around her except for the sound of her own breathing. Slowly, she looked down at her own body which had been cleaved in half and was shaken to her very core. The hand with which she had been holding all the magic weapons was suddenly powerless and the weapons dropped one after another.
As the weapons clattered to the floor, Dandan also sank to his knees, holding the halberd.
Song Lin immediately crouched down to help support him, pillowing his head on his shoulder.
‘Song Lin…’ Dandan gasped softly, his ashen lips parting slightly. ‘I got the magic weapons back for you…’
Song Lin embraced him. ‘Don’t talk, don’t exert yourself. Relax, lean on me, breathe slowly.’
Song Fuyan had never seen his younger brother so tense before. He turned his head to look at the Crone only to discover that she had turned into a pool of black liquid and escaped.
It only took him a moment to arrive at a decision — no pursuit.
With Styx and Dandan so badly injured, the top priority was to get them back for treatment and not to pursue the Crone. He thus used magic to summon a huge eagle, put the other three people and all the other magic weapons on its back, and then flew back to Crescent Moon Ridge.
When the Guardians waiting at Crescent Moon Ridge saw the recovered magic weapons, they were all astounded and began hastily taking their own weapons back and checking for any damage.
‘Thank you, Chief! Thank you, Second Master Song!’
In contrast to the overjoyed expressions around them, the two Song brothers looked extremely grim. There was absolutely no way they could be happy because they knew only too well how high and painful a price had been paid for the recovery of these magic weapons.
Dandan and Styx were sent to Feng Chulian’s treatment room and when he gazed at the two of them lying on the beds, he felt his head aching to an unprecedented² extent.
One showed no signs of life, the other had a yawning hole in his chest and was still holding the Nine Star Halberd in one hand.
² 前所未有. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
Wait!
The Nine Star Halberd? Wasn’t this Yu Huan’s rare weapon? Surely this fellow hadn’t used the remaining spiritual power in his heart receptacle to tow the Nine Star Halberd out?
T-that was just sheer madness!!
Madman! As crazy as Yu Huan!
Feng Chulian placed a hand over Dandan’s chest, trying to sense…
Hm.
There.was.absolutely.no.spiritual.power.left!
This fellow had expended every single bit of his spiritual power.
Feng Chulian’s brow furrowed. ‘This…’
What bloody hope is there for him!!! Huh? Who can tell me what hope there is for him now! The High Priest was breaking down internally.
He managed however to maintain a calm façade as he turned his head to look at the Song brothers…
My word…
Both brothers were looking exceedingly worried. To be honest, seeing Song Lin worried was nothing compared to the very rare sight of an equally distressed Song Fuyan.
Feng Chulian stroked his chin. ‘I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?’
Song Fuyan: ‘The good.’
Song Lin: ‘The bad.’
They spoke simultaneously. Their voices died away, both hesitated, exchanged glances, cleared their throats, then reversed positions.
Song Fuyan: ‘The bad.’
Song Lin: ‘The good.’
Feng Chulian facepalmed. Forget it, these two brothers haven’t changed one bit — they never did have any rapport.
‘Let’s talk about the bad news first,’ he said gravely. ‘Styx’s heart receptacle has already been severely damaged and the chances of rebirth are extremely low. From this moment on, we have to ensure that he receives both starlight and moonlight daily. The fastest is a month, the slowest is a year. If he can regain consciousness, then it means that he has been reborn. If he never regains consciousness, then that means he’s already dead at this point. Please be mentally prepared for that, Your Excellency.’ Feng Chulian deliberately looked at Song Fuyan while saying the last sentence.
Song Fuyan said with his customary composure, ‘I understand.’ But the hands hidden by his sleeves were already balled tightly and his fingers were trembling.
Feng Chulian then continued, ‘Dandan’s situation is not much better. I can heal the wound in his chest but his heart receptacle is already empty. Which is to say, Dandan used to have one third of his spiritual power, but now he has absolutely nothing and is no different from a Chrysalis-level spirit beast. Any child here can easily crush him.’
Song Lin’s eyes dimmed slightly. ‘Then… what’s the good news?’
Feng Chulian smoothed back his hair and said, ‘Come with me.’
He led the two of them into the Chamber of Daoist Treasures where he took down The Ancient Book of Spells from a shelf, turning the pages until he came to one where he stopped and said, ‘The book has a record of a very rare case of a completely empty heart receptacle which is also at its purest.’
‘The purest heart receptacle?’
‘All kinds of spirit beasts are born in different environments: the sea; land; air; desert; swamps; forests; cliffs. The spiritual power in the spirit beasts’ heart receptacles is mingled with things from these complex environments and when they bond with an owner later, is further interweaved with the owner’s spiritual power. In addition, some spirit beasts keep replacing their owners which makes their spiritual power even more mixed. So, the purest heart receptacle is even harder to come by than the rarest weapon because when your heart receptacle is at its purest, it means you can receive something that’s brand-new, at its purest and most enduring³.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Song Lin.
Feng Chulian held his gaze as he enunciated, ‘Dandan might be able to possess newfound spiritual power that he’s never had before.’
Song Lin stared at him in bewilderment.
³ 從一而終. Please consider reading from hiding in plain sight rather than from novelscraping sites.
Beside him, Song Fuyan was commenting, ‘Nothing could be better, he’s Ridge City’s last hope for salvation. The Crone will definitely stage a comeback: it might be tomorrow or it might be the next moment. We have to start getting ready.’ He asked Feng Chulian, ‘What’s the first step to letting Dandan gain this newfound spiritual power?’
Feng Chulian narrowed his eyes in thought before answering, ‘Eating.’
‘…’ Song Fuyan and Song Lin, ‘Huh???’
‘Think about it yourselves, how long has it been since you last ate?’
Both brothers answered, ‘I’m not hungry.’ They had just said this when their stomachs growled in protest. Embarrassed, both of them muttered under their breaths.
Feng Chulian patted them on the shoulders and said, ‘I’m hungry even if you two aren’t. Be good and come eat?’ So saying, he slipped between the two of them and went off.
(Approx. 1695 words)
12’s notes:
Edited on 30th April 2020.
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
I’m so glad I can just read this chapter, but what the heck, the weapons are PHYSICALLY INSIDE? HOW DOES IT FIT??? I’m just. Confused. Halberds are huge! Dandan is not huge! How is this even work, author!
Omg, Dandan. ;O; Stop hurting them, author…
Song Lin and Song Fuyan are cute together. :’)
It’s a bit… convenient that Dandan can possess new, more powerful powers than before. I’m not complaining too much, but I don’t think battles and powerups are the author’s strong point, haha. I’m glad that neither Styx or Dandan is dead…or well… potential chance of coming back in Styx’s case. If Styx dies I will be SO MAD, he is a good boy (for Song Fuyan). 8|
Thank you for all the translations!!
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Umm, the Chinese halberd looks quite slim in the pictures I’ve seen, but they are definitely long and pointy. I see what you mean though — it would still be taller than Dandan so it’s a bit illogical. But since he doesn’t have enough power to summon it, I guess she had to go with this method. I think the weapons reside as a kind of energy in the body normally. Only this time he had to make it take shape physically inside his body.
And no, this is the only fantasy story she wrote. The rest of her stories feature couples at university. And she did say that she just wanted to write about a fluffy rabbit’s adventures so 😂
My pleasure ❣️💙
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