Chapter 50 Severing the Medium, Trading Lifespan for Survival

A string of smooth eighteen-seed Buddhist prayer beads fell to Lang Jiuchuan's feet. She bent down and picked them up. Although they should have been warm and lustrous, the entire string was now pitch black. On the surface, invisible to mortal eyes, lay a layer of black and crimson malevolent Qi.

"How did it become like this?" Shen Qinghe was utterly shocked.

Shen Peng's face also turned pale. This string of eighteen seeds was crafted and polished by his own hands from superior small-leaf red sandalwood, given to his father as a birthday gift. Each seed was carved with endless fretwork patterns or characters symbolizing fortune, prosperity, and longevity, carrying his blessings for his father.

It should have been gentle and warm to the touch, but now, it had completely changed—turning dark and dismal, evoking an involuntary sense of aversion.

The malevolent and ominous Qi was dense, resembling viscous, disgusting congealed blood. Lang Jiuchuan noticed one of the beads emanating a faint trace of blood-red Qi, which split into several wisps, connecting separately to Shen Qinghe and Shen Peng.

It was the karmic bond of bloodline.

"So it is this." Lang Jiuchuan watched as the malevolent Qi attempted to drill into her hand. Her gaze turned frosty, and with a flick of her right hand, the Judge's Brush materialized in her palm, tapping lightly against the string of eighteen seeds.

A profound and distant hum resonated through the air.

Divine might struck awe.

As if encountering its natural nemesis, the malevolent Qi retreated swiftly and dissolved into thin air.

Snap.

The eighteen seeds shed their black and crimson hues, reverting to their original appearance, yet they were now devoid of luster. Suddenly, each seed cracked open, dropping to the ground and shattering into halves.

Shen Qinghe pulled Madam Shen into his embrace, retreating two steps as they held their breath.

Madam Shen was completely drained of color. Swallowing hard, she looked tremblingly at Lang Jiuchuan. She opened her mouth, but her throat felt as though it were being choked, leaving her unable to utter a single word.

Lang Jiuchuan dusted her hands, looked down at the wood fragments on the floor, and disdainfully kicked them aside with the tip of her shoe. Raising her head, she saw the family of three staring at her as if she were a ghost, and her lips pressed into a thin line. "I am not paying for these."

Shen Qinghe and the others: "?"

Kicking away the shattered wood, Lang Jiuchuan said, "This string of eighteen seeds had already been contaminated with malevolent Qi. If I hadn't exterminated the affliction, it would eventually have transformed into a demonic artifact, harming countless more people. Now that it is shattered, may peace be with you throughout the year." She looked at Shen Peng. "You, grind another string in the future to give to your father."

Shen Peng nodded instinctively.

Madam Shen, however, caught the underlying meaning and rejoiced, "Young lady, does what you said mean my son is all right now?"

"How could it be so simple? You have paid with a precious decade of your lifespan," Lang Jiuchuan said. "Destroying these eighteen seeds merely severs the medium, preventing his rapid decline. Otherwise, its existence would have corrupted his temperament, and the next step wouldn't be beating himself, but plunging a sword into his own throat."

The Shen family members: "..."

"The medium has been removed, but the malevolent affliction lingering on his body has not. It has already penetrated his bones. Without completely dispelling the evil and exorcising the spirits, the moment his parents' accumulated merit and protection cease to shield him, he will surely die."

Madam Shen pushed Shen Qinghe away and abruptly dropped to her knees before Lang Jiuchuan. "Nine Girl, I beg you to save my son. Not just ten years—even twenty or thirty years, I am willing to give them."

"Mother!" Shen Peng's eyes reddened with heartache.

Unable to believe her actions, Shen Qinghe went to pull Madam Shen up, demanding, "What decade of lifespan? What does this mean?"

"I once made a vow before the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas that as long as Peng'er recovered, I would gladly trade ten years of my life," Madam Shen said, choking back sobs.

"You..." Even as a normally stern and upright man, Shen Qinghe felt his eyes sting with moisture. "There is no need for you to do this. Take mine instead."

"How can we haggle over this? I have already made a solemn vow before the Buddha," Madam Shen rebuked. "Before the Buddha, one does not go back on their word or break a promise."

"Lu, I am the head of this household!"

"I am his mother, and mother and son share one heart."

Seeing that they were about to argue, Lang Jiuchuan intervened, "Enough. I only want Madam Shen's. Yours won't do."

Shen Qinghe frowned.

Coughing lightly, Shen Peng said, "Nine Girl, can something else be used in exchange? I can trade my own fate. If ten years aren't enough, thirty will do, but please do not take away my mother's lifespan."

"Your father won't do, and you even less so. You, who can only rely on your parents' protection, have nothing at all. Your fate? It is hardly as precious as your mother's!"

Shen Peng's face flushed red, his eyes filled with grievance.

Even though Madam Shen knew those words were meant to praise her, hearing them still stung just a little.

Yet, she dared not utter a sound.

Lang Jiuchuan's repeated displays of power had truly opened her eyes. Although this young lady looked frail, she possessed genuine and formidable abilities.

The suppressed Jiang Qi emerged from within and muttered, "I told you it was worth coming to save them. Look at this family—how deeply touching."

Lang Jiuchuan pressed it back down.

Too verbose.

Madam Shen asked, "Nine Girl, what do I need to do? Do I need to go before the Buddha and kneel to make the vow?"

"Have you thought this through? Once a decade of your lifespan is deducted, even if you were originally destined to live sixty years, you will no longer have them," Lang Jiuchuan said, looking straight at her. "Once this ritual is performed, you may fall weak and sickly for three months. As you said, there is no turning back. Well, even if you did regret it, it would be useless; cause and effect are permanently decreed the very moment you make your decision."

"I am willing."

"Yunniang, we can still think of other ways..." Shen Qinghe's face was plastered with disapproval.

"Move aside and wait outside." Madam Shen pushed him away, suddenly raising three fingers to take an oath: "Nine Girl, I, Lu Yunniang, if I ever regret this afterward, may I meet a wretched death and never transcend through the cycles of reincarnation."

"Mother!"

"Yunniang!"

The faces of father and son turned ashen.

Lang Jiuchuan nodded and issued instructions one by one: "Then go retrieve some cinnabar, a pinch of ashes from before the Buddha—yes, incense ash—as well as lamp oil and a lamp wick..."

"You go get them yourself," Madam Shen ordered Shen Qinghe.

Shen Qinghe stared at her fixedly for a long moment before turning around. His back seemed hunched, losing its usual upright posture. The moment his figure vanished, the sound of a crisp slap echoed through the room.

With eyes full of worry, Madam Shen stared in the direction where Shen Qinghe had disappeared, tears pooling in her eyes, yet she bit her lip and did not follow him out.

Clenching his fists tightly, Shen Peng felt for the first time how utterly useless he was. Looking at Madam Shen's haggard and aged face, he seemed to mature all at once.

Squatting on Lang Jiuchuan's shoulder, Jiang Qi wept noisily with crocodile tears. *Touching, simply too touching.*

It turned its head to look at Lang Jiuchuan, but her expression remained completely devoid of any fluctuation. Forget being moved; not even the corners of her eyes turned the slightest bit red.

"You heartless thing, so cold and hard."

Lang Jiuchuan communicated with it through her spiritual platform: "Excessive emotions will only shackle my steps. Their deep affection is their own fortune and blessing, but I certainly won't work for free because of it. My primary task is to revitalize this physical body."

While the words made logical sense, they still sounded rather cold. Jiang Qi snorted, "I shall just wait and see what the future holds."

Lang Jiuchuan said nothing. Instead, she walked over to the table, spread out the talisman paper she had previously retrieved from the bedside, smoothed it out, and began tracing patterns upon it with her fingertip.

The talisman was a good one, but lacking in spiritual energy. She needed to infuse it with greater spirit so it could become a genuine spiritual talisman capable of driving away evil and exterminating malevolent entities. All of this required consuming her spiritual power and cultivation base.

Trading a decade of lifespan for a life—had they profited from this deal?