Chapter 1161: Inheritance
Little Xuanwu stared at Qiu Shiliu for a long time without speaking, as if pondering something.
"Is it because you have 'Immortality' that you can't kill yourself?" Qiu Shiliu asked again.
"No..." Little Xuanwu shook his head and said coldly, "I still cannot commit suicide now. I can only die by accident."
"Heh..." Cold sweat from Qiu Shiliu's forehead dripped into her eyes, and she blinked painfully. "Come on... let me hear what fucking excuse it is this time."
"Because of that person," Little Xuanwu murmured. "He promised I would never go hungry again, never suffer pain again, never have to hide again. And in exchange, I was to guard the rules here for him."
"Oh..." Qiu Shiliu leaned back, trying to sit up as straight as possible, then said, "Doesn't sound like a good person either, to have left you in such a state."
"Yes, living like this is painful," Xuanwu said. "But he is another Bodhisattva. I cannot defy a Bodhisattva."
"That thing is probably Qinglong, isn't it..." Qiu Shiliu said. "What the hell about him looks like a Bodhisattva?"
"Everywhere except his eyes and brows," Xuanwu said. "Neither male nor female, boundless in power, he attains great freedom in transformation. Only his eyes and brows are never as humble as a Bodhisattva's."
"Heh... Qinglong Bodhisattva..." Qiu Shiliu laughed bitterly. "How ridiculous..."
Having said that, she turned to look at her severed right arm, which was still slowly bleeding. It seemed she wouldn't last more than a few minutes.
"Jiu-jie." Qiu Shiliu raised her voice. "This person has gone completely mad guarding the temple. I'll hug her at the last moment and trigger 'Echo.' Leave the rest to you all."
Upon hearing this, Bai Jiu turned to look at the others. At this point, no one could come up with a better plan; they could only take it step by step.
Perhaps after Qiu Shiliu incinerated Xuanwu, a new opening would appear, but it was also possible that...
"I have a question for Xuanwu."
Jiang Shi, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up weakly.
"Little Jiang Shi..." Bai Jiu looked at him. "What is it?"
"Xuanwu..." Jiang Shi said. "How did you become a temple guardian?"
Although he couldn't see Xuanwu's form, her voice sounded in his ears.
「My mother was one. Then she died, and I became one.」
Upon hearing this, Song Qi slowly raised his eyebrows. "Little Jiang Shi... are you suggesting..."
"In other words..." Jiang Shi coughed a few times and continued, "If we could find you a 'successor,' you could commit suicide without worries."
「Successor...?」
"Successor...?"
Both Xuanwus stopped moving at this moment and tilted their heads to listen to this strange voice.
"That's right," Jiang Shi said with a smile. "If someone else guards the 'rules' for you and someone else guards the 'Bodhisattva' for you... then you can rest in peace, can't you?"
The two Xuanwus were silent for a moment after hearing this, then spoke in unison: 「That makes sense.」
"I've found one for you," Jiang Shi said.
「Found one?」Little Xuanwu was stunned for a long moment before speaking. 「I can only acknowledge someone stronger than me.」
"Stronger than you? Of course. Much stronger than you."
Jiang Shi reached out and slowly covered his left eye, then said, "Everyone... once you step onto the battlefield, sorrow breaks the heart, and from then on, life and death are vast and unknown. I have a plan that requires the full cooperation of all 'Cat' members, and it will surely make that demon willingly submit."
Then he moved his lips slightly and slowly laid out his plan.
To prevent Xuanwu from understanding, Jiang Shi used "Echo" to refer to people's names, "whistle sound" to replace key words, and occasionally interjected snippets of storytelling, ensuring that the meaning could only be accurately conveyed to "Cat."
Everyone present, including Qiu Shiliu on the other side who couldn't hear clearly, widened their eyes after hearing the plan.
"Little Jiang Shi..." Bai Jiu said blankly. "Your plan... might be the riskiest one so far."
"But it's the safest," Jiang Shi said. "I understand 'inheritance.' Sometimes 'inheritance' can be greater than life itself... Only this strategy can let her die in peace."
"Little Jiang Shi is right," Song Qi said. "If we drag this out any longer, Xuanwu will only continue to rampage, and we'll all die."
Hearing Song Qi speak, no one raised any further objections, though their expressions all turned grave.
"Carry out the plan as discussed. Start transmitting," Song Qi said.
Everyone nodded, and soon various whistle sounds echoed between the low buildings.
Yun Shijiu had just heard the whistle when he turned to look down the street, only to see a chilling sight in the distance.
A withered old man was slowly approaching, killing everyone he saw, leaving a trail of "explosions" in his wake.
It seemed he had already cleared the square and was chasing them all the way here.
"Bad..." Yun Shijiu turned and shouted, "Baihu has arrived! We need to evade! Qi-ge!"
Song Qi looked up at him. "How far?"
"Three hundred... no, two hundred meters!"
"Two hundred steps, enough time. We won't evade for now. Let's go all in..." Song Qi turned to look at the others and said, "Execute immediately."
Luo Shiyi heard the whistle and turned to look at Bai Jiu, Song Qi, and the others in the distance, muttering in disbelief, "What the hell are they whistling about?"
"Shiyi-ge..." Ma Shier of "Teleportation" was also stunned. "I thought I misheard."
Wang Ba held his shoulder and knelt on one knee, speaking softly, "Baihu is almost here... Follow the signal they gave."
Hearing Wang Ba say this, the others stopped hesitating and quickly withdrew from Xuanwu's vicinity.
Their figures darted through the low buildings and soon disappeared from sight.
Xuanwu slowly tilted her head. From her perspective, everyone in sight had fled, leaving only a short, fat man missing an arm kneeling on the ground.
「How bold...」Xuanwu murmured. 「You can't kill me, so you try to run away?」
...
"Little Shiliu, are you in position?" Jiang Shi said.
「Just got into position...」Qiu Shiliu replied. 「With only one hand, moving around is really difficult.」
"Haha, nothing in the world is difficult, only the lack of determination," Jiang Shi said with a laugh.
「Shi-ge, then I'll have to offend you,」Qiu Shiliu said. 「Don't worry, I'll be your burial companion.」
"No, it's not an offense," Jiang Shi said. "You've worked hard all this time, little Shiliu."
The people around Jiang Shi stepped back upon hearing this.
The next second, a finger emerged from Jiang Shi's left eye, then blazed with bright, blinding light like a burning fuse, instantly setting Jiang Shi's face ablaze.
This strange fire began to spread wildly from his left eye, quickly reaching his neck and chest, then his entire body.
And Jiang Shi sat there quietly throughout, making no movement at all.