Chapter 193: The Exhausted Ox (Part 3)
The thought that suddenly popped into Qin Chu’s head made his scalp tingle.
Could it be… that Sylph had been chosen from the moment she was born into this world?
Twenty-six-year-old Sylph, twenty-six blood-red threads.
This was definitely not a coincidence.
What were those mysterious and sinister beings planning?
The images he glimpsed from Sylph’s soul made Qin Chu realize that the Void’s erosion of this world was far deeper than he had imagined.
It was like this with Sylph, then could it be the same with Karsus?
What about the other members of the Hero Squad?
Qin Chu’s consciousness trembled slightly. This discovery was truly shocking… He suddenly thought of Ekaterina. Although he had controlled her mind with Stunning Love, compared to the Void’s power, the potion’s control was probably insignificant.
If Ekaterina was like Sylph, with the power of the Void lurking within her, waiting to be activated, would she suddenly break free from the potion’s control and turn against him?
A flurry of thoughts raced through Qin Chu’s mind.
After a long while, the turmoil in his consciousness gradually subsided.
He looked ahead. Sylph didn’t seem to notice his presence, her soul still curled up above the pool of blood, the blood churning as if about to boil.
The churning blood had already submerged her small feet, creeping up her slender legs.
Qin Chu could even see faces floating on the surface of the blood… and deeper down, the faint outlines of bones.
Three faces. If the memories he had glimpsed from Sylph were correct, then those should be her father, mother, and… younger brother.
These three people, who should have been closest to her, were killed by her own hands.
Some tragic events must have happened, but Qin Chu had no intention of exploring them.
His consciousness slowly approached Sylph’s soul. Saving her was secondary, even irrelevant. What Qin Chu truly wanted was to find a way to resist the Void’s corruption from her soul. She was a good test subject.
As he got closer, Sylph, who had been murmuring unintelligible words, seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up.
Her dark, empty eyes stared at where Qin Chu’s consciousness was. She had sensed the intruder.
Then, her eyes became redder and redder.
Qin Chu cursed inwardly.
As expected, the next second, Sylph opened her small mouth and let out a shrill scream.
This time, Qin Chu finally understood what she was saying:
“Ah~~~~”
The sharp sound spread like a shockwave, creating a storm in her soul world.
Because he had lived through this once before, Qin Chu’s soul was incredibly strong. But this was Sylph’s domain, and her scream caused the entire space to tremble, almost collapsing.
Black whirlwinds raged around him, and the pool of blood surged like a tsunami.
Qin Chu’s consciousness trembled. Even in his pure soul state, he still possessed all his powers, but the problem was that his defense, without his physical body, was zero. Any impact would cause significant damage to his consciousness.
But he didn’t want to leave just yet.
He didn’t care about Sylph’s life or death, but he was afraid that this kind of corruption might one day appear on him, on Angelica, on Candice…
He wanted to find a way to deal with this from this perfect test subject.
Seeing the black whirlwinds approaching, Qin Chu’s consciousness soared into the sky.
The next instant, a soft, white light erupted from his body.
It was like a sun rising in this gloomy soul world.
The gentle light, like sharp swords, shone in all directions, and wherever it touched, the black mud instantly evaporated, turning into a barren desert. A huge hole was torn in the dark sky above.
The Holy Light shone on Sylph, and her scream turned into a wail.
The Holy Light clashed violently with the blood-red threads wrapped around Sylph, like a red-hot iron against ice, the sizzling sound continuous, causing her endless pain.
Her soul twitched and convulsed in the air.
Her soul even became slightly translucent. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before it completely dissipated.
This wasn’t what Qin Chu wanted. After all, if something similar happened to Angelica, would he directly destroy her soul?
Frowning, Qin Chu withdrew his Holy Light.
Without its obstruction, darkness and filth quickly spread, black mud filling the space.
Waves, tens of meters high, surged in the pool of blood, the viscous liquid sloshing over the sides.
The blood transformed into twisted shadows, howling and clawing at Qin Chu’s consciousness, trying to tear it apart.
Just as these shadows were about to surround him, Qin Chu unleashed his Holy Light again, shattering them, then his consciousness plunged downwards, straight towards Sylph’s soul.
Before Sylph could scream again, he grabbed one of the blood-red threads on her body, pulled it hard, and then his consciousness retreated, leaving her soul world.
Hum…
Qin Chu’s body trembled, and his vacant eyes returned to normal.
He sat down on the bed, his body drenched in sweat, beads of perspiration rolling down his face.
He glanced at the time. It had only been a few minutes.
But those few minutes felt longer than the previous hour.
His muscles twitched, and a sharp pain pierced his mind. But the harvest this time was good. He opened his palm, and a soft, hazy white light, forming a sphere, pulsed within it. A thin, worm-like creature wriggled inside.
Sylph, losing his support, collapsed to the ground.
Her condition was worse than his, white foam bubbling at the corners of her mouth as if she had been poisoned.
After a long time, her consciousness slowly returned. She didn’t even remember what had happened in her soul world, only the unbearable, almost maddening, tearing pain.
She lay on the ground, gasping for breath, then slowly got up, tidying her disheveled clothes, and looked at her chest.
Then, a joyful expression appeared on her face… The marks on her chest had almost completely disappeared, only a very faint trace remained, barely visible.
Although she didn’t know if it would suddenly worsen again, at least for now, it was good news.
Then she looked up at Qin Chu. Seeing his pale face and sweat-drenched body, Sylph was stunned. It seemed that the treatment had exhausted him as well.
She struggled to get up, her body still aching, her legs trembling.
The slightest movement sent a stinging pain through her wounds.
“Qin Chu, are you alright?” she asked cautiously.
Qin Chu forced a smile. “I’ll live.”
“How… how am I doing?” Sylph asked again, her voice filled with fear.
Qin Chu took a deep breath and raised his right hand, showing her the sphere of Holy Light in his palm. The crimson thread, like a horsehair worm, wriggled frantically, as if it had its own consciousness, its tip twisting as if trying to break through the Holy Light’s barrier.
But every time it touched the barrier, it recoiled in pain, curling up into a ball.
A few seconds later, it tried again, an endless cycle.
This strange creature made Sylph’s scalp tingle. “What… what is this?”
“I pulled it from your soul…”
Qin Chu’s words made Sylph’s face turn pale.
“This is the root of your corruption. There are twenty-six of these things in your soul…”
Hiss…
Sylph shivered, her hair standing on end.
The thought of twenty-six of these things crawling in her soul made her scalp tingle.
Fear… and disgust.
“Sorry, I tried my best, but I could only pull out one,” Qin Chu said apologetically, “I wanted to destroy them all, but your soul might also be destroyed along with them. They’re almost completely fused with your soul.”
Looking at the Hero, his face filled with fatigue, yet still apologizing to her, Sylph suddenly felt that this man wasn’t so hateful after all.
However, did this mean that she needed twenty-five more treatments like this?
“Should we start the next one immediately?”
Qin Chu’s eyes widened, and he shook his head vigorously, “No, no, no…”
“Sylph, are you crazy?”
“Even if you can endure it, I can’t!”
The plow was fine, but the ox would be worked to death.
Actually, he just needed some time to study this thing in his hand.
Cleansing these things from the soul seemed like a good way to remove the corruption and restore the affected person to normal, but this method seemed too troublesome.
And the process was also very dangerous.
Compared to Sylph, Qin Chu cared more about Ekaterina… After all, she was currently a very useful spy planted within the Hero Squad.
Both Loseweisse and Athena, although they might suspect each other, still believed that Ekaterina was on their side. Such a spy was currently very valuable, and Qin Chu didn’t want to lose her yet.
Sylph pouted, feeling frustrated that she couldn’t immediately cleanse all these disgusting things from her soul.
If possible, she would rather spend three days and three nights and get it all over with at once.
…
Time passed day by day.
Candice had already closed her bar and left the Imperial City.
She was currently in the Demon Beast territory, waiting for an audience with Lomond.
The task Lord Horus had given her was very important. She had to talk to Lomond face-to-face and confirm his true intentions.
“Look, that lowly bastard is back.”
“The land of demons will be defiled by that filthy half-breed.”
“Doesn’t she know that she’s not welcome here at all?”
“If I were her, I would have killed myself out of shame long ago. Her very existence is a filthy taint…”
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