Volume Two: The Mortal Realm Chapter One Hundred: The Half-Corpse Wax Figure

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“Boy, I might allow you to make a trip to Yangjing. But...” In the dim firelight of the cave, the old beggar looked at Ye Mingke with some resentment, yet still conceded coldly.
“I don’t need anyone’s permission to go to Yangjing.”
Although Ye Mingke had calmed Aru, who bore hostility toward the old beggar’s irritable and domineering nature, he couldn’t help but reply coldly when he heard the beggar’s commanding tone, his words laced with subtle barbs.
His temperament was gentle outwardly, but inwardly stubborn and strong-willed. Though he was indebted to the old beggar, that didn’t mean he would obey his every command.
Since childhood, his uncle at most only gave him directions and rarely interfered directly in his affairs. This had fostered a strong sense of independence in him.
He would only do what he wanted, not what others ordered or hoped for.
The old beggar was furious but suppressed his anger to finish speaking.
“I can accompany you to Yangjing, but you must become my disciple. Along the way, I will teach you martial ways and martial arts.”
“One day a teacher, forever a father. Becoming a disciple is a serious matter. Please forgive Mingke for not making a hasty decision.” Ye Mingke politely but distantly refused. “Besides, a highly skilled elder once told me that no one in the world can be my teacher. I have no intention of taking a master for now.”
“Moreover, as the elder said, Yangjing is extremely dangerous. How could I let the elder risk his life for me? Aru and I will go together.”
“If the elder needs me to accompany him southward, we can arrange another meeting place. After I safely deliver Aru to her mother, I will come to find you.”
“You’re going alone?”
The old beggar’s bloodshot eyes stared sharply at Ye Mingke.
“Do you even know where Yangjing is?”
“No.” Ye Mingke shook his head.
“Do you know how to evade the Guard Department’s pursuit?”
“No.” Ye Mingke shook his head again.
“Without us, you think you can get to Yangjing?”
“I don’t know, but I have to try.” Ye Mingke smiled faintly.
“You don’t know, but I do. You’re a stubborn mule, or worse, a heartless stubborn mule.” The old man was so angry that his beard fluttered wildly like a sunflower...
He scowled, snorted heavily, shook his head, and left the fire, stepping into the dark night outside, unwilling to speak more with Ye Mingke.
Liu Xi, who had been silently sitting nearby, looked at Ye Mingke with gentle eyes, nodded in acknowledgment, then rose and followed the old beggar out of the cave.
Ye Mingke sighed softly toward the fire, feeling a twinge of guilt.
He knew the old beggar valued him greatly because he believed Ye Mingke was the destined Emperor of Humanity to save the world.
But Ye Mingke did not see himself as that. As he told the old beggar, compared to saving the world, he had more important things to do: find the Nine Spirit Primordial Sage, unravel the mysteries of the small town, find Sword Uncle, Auntie Dragon, Qiao Qiao, and Tao Yao.
He was not even truly a person of this world; his roots lay in that town forged in a dream, in a realm where every light was false under eternal night.
He didn’t even know if he could be considered human.
Ye Mingke closed his eyes, and suddenly the image of the first person he killed flashed before him—the bloated, repulsive immortal body and the fierce hunger that surged within him then.
He felt a strong wave of nausea and fear suddenly rise from his chest, his body shivering with goosebumps.
He didn’t know what he truly was—a monster, a demon? How could someone like him be the luminous Emperor of Humanity to save the world from catastrophe?

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“Ah.”
Suddenly, he felt a small warm body slip into his arms. He opened his eyes and saw Aru trembling slightly.
Aru burrowed into his embrace, clutching him tightly, but the nails on her small hands dug deeply into the skin of his back, causing slight pain—like fear mixed with a desperate plea, and also tinged with bitterness and anger.
“Don’t leave me behind!”
Aru’s emotions had never truly stabilized; she often showed intermittent ferocity like a frightened wild animal, her temperament becoming more irritable.
She clung to him inseparably but seemed to harbor some resentment, as if she could hurt him.
“Don’t worry, Aru. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely will never leave you.” Ye Mingke’s heart softened, though still ached slightly. He gently stroked Aru’s head to comfort her.
“That old man, bad person. Kill him.”
Hearing Ye Mingke’s words, Aru’s trembling body relaxed a little, but her eyes, glowing faintly with an eerie blue light, stared in the direction where the old beggar had disappeared, filled with hatred.
“He wanted to take you away too.”
“Aru, he’s not a bad person. And Aru, you can’t harm others recklessly, especially not with your abilities. Do you understand?”
Ye Mingke gently pushed Aru’s body away a little and looked straight into her strange blue-glowing eyes. He felt a shiver himself—fear of the unknown power.
But he still stared directly into those eyes, filled with fear and bitterness, without flinching. His gaze held warmth, kindness, expectation, and an unyielding firmness.
Aru looked into Ye Mingke’s clear eyes, and the blue light in her pupils gradually dimmed.
“Aru, you must get better soon. Your father wouldn’t want to see you like this.” Ye Mingke spoke softly.
Aru closed her eyes and buried her head against Ye Mingke.
“Father.” Her lips moved silently, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.
Ye Mingke waited for a while longer for the old beggar and the woman to return, but when they did not come back, he, still heavily wounded and physically and mentally exhausted, fell asleep.
When he woke at dawn, he saw the old beggar and the woman sitting beside the burned-out campfire, seemingly having stayed awake all night.
The old beggar noticed him waking and looking at him, then averted his gaze to Liu Xi and asked coldly, “Xiao Xi, do you know what the Wanli Dragon Ridge is?”
Liu Xi brushed aside the tangled hair on her forehead, her gentle eyes seeming to smile, but her voice remained calm.
“Wanli Dragon Ridge stretches from the northern wilderness down to Yangjing. It is a vast and extremely long mountain range traversing the entire northern part of Greater Xia. The terrain within is perilous and complex, with few inhabitants.”
“If we want to evade the scum from the Guard Department and accompany your father to Yangjing to retrieve the sword he left at the Vermilion Bird Gate, how should we go?”
“To evade the Guard Department’s pursuit and reach Yangjing to retrieve father’s sword, the best path is to start at the foot of the Dragon Ridge, pass through its belly, cross the Dragon’s Neck, and proceed straight to the capital city, Yangjing, known as the Dragon’s Mouth.”
“The Dragon Ridge’s terrain is like a labyrinth, with roads twisting like a maze. If it weren’t for father’s years of experience traveling there, ordinary people would never find this direct path to Yangjing.”
Liu Xi spoke, then raised her eyes and glanced at Ye Mingke with a subtle smile, deliberately raising her voice a little.
Ye Mingke listened to this question-and-answer exchange between father and daughter, a slight smile touching his narrowed eyes, though he knew the old man’s irritable and proud nature wouldn’t allow him to show his own smile openly.
“Xiao Xi, let’s go.”
The old beggar stood up, his face still dark, snorting coldly.
“If some people don’t keep up, they can look forward to being handed over to the immortals of the Guard Department to enjoy their ‘hospitality,’ or be trapped forever in this vast Dragon Ridge.”

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After speaking, the old beggar and the woman left the cave without mentioning anything more about the Emperor of Humanity or saving the world.
By then, Aru had already woken. Ye Mingke quickly packed his belongings, and seeing him prepare to leave, Aru clung tightly to his back like a koala. Ye Mingke slung the sword case over his shoulder, and the two stepped out from the narrow, dim cave.
Ye Mingke smiled faintly as he looked ahead; the two figures in front walked slowly, not far away.
Following their footprints, carrying Aru and the sword case, Ye Mingke once again trudged through the snow toward the wilderness ahead.
...
In another snow-covered wilderness, a pale hand suddenly twitched in the snow. A few yards away, another pale hand moved as well.
One was a left hand, the other a right.
These two hands, connected to their respective bodies, suddenly rose from the snow—the two halves of a body standing up.
The wind howled, and in the midst of the snowstorm, two half-figures stood.
These two pale half-figures, each only half a body, swayed unsteadily in the wind and snow as they floated toward each other.
Though stained with blood, the marks of flesh and blood were invisible in the snowstorm; their pallor resembled the snow that fell upon them, or perhaps... white wax.
The two halves collided with a soft sound in the snow.
Then a hoarse chuckle echoed faintly.
The laughter came from a pale, wax-like face, split by a thin black seam down the center—this was the face of Yi Er, torn in two by Ye Mingke’s heavy sword.
“Heh heh, no one has ever asked.”
The seam between the two halves of the face melted quickly like wax, fusing back together. The thin black line narrowed until it vanished. The newly mended mouth curled into a terrifying, pale smile.
“Why does the Puppet Box have three layers? Why do I have Eldest Da and the Three Children, yet no one ever saw Second?”
“Because Second is just Second. Second is the most amusing, because he lives completely unaware that he is a puppet. Every time I see his proud, handsome face, I find it quite entertaining.”
“Yi Er, this face was the one I chose to be the most beautiful and youthful. A pity it was destroyed.”
From “Yi Er” came a cackling laugh, both proud and pitying. He caressed his still handsome face, even after waxification.
“That mortal boy was ruthless; that one sword almost prevented this wax corpse technique from taking effect. My strength has declined too much, far below the level Yi Er once reached.”
“My original body was even shattered by that old beggar’s fierce energy, unusable now. That damned old bastard suddenly broke through to the twelfth level of martial way.”
Lingchen, reborn as a rear hand on Yi Er’s body, involuntarily extended his trembling hand when recalling this.
“But that mad old man thought breaking through to the twelfth level was a good thing. Hmph. He doesn’t know the world isn’t without people who reached the twelfth level—every one of them is hunted by the Guard Department with the highest bounty.”
“The reward for the highest bounty probably won’t even cover some of my losses. Especially since they dared to take my Puppet Box.”
He looked up into the snowy wind, cold light flashing in his eyes.
“Puppet and box are one. As long as this body exists, even a fragment can let those skilled trackers from the Guard Department find their trail.”
“Thanks to Master for leaving such a bounty for the disciple. Especially for providing such detailed methods—your disciple is deeply grateful.”
A clear voice suddenly rang from behind Lingchen.