Chapter 59 – The Initial Achievement of White Bone (1/2)

Li Qingshan thought of what the black ox had said in the past. Xiao An was only using the blood of beasts due to the circumstances for practising the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty. If he wanted to practise it properly, he needed the blood of humans. He needed blood that was still warm from corpses that had just died. The more vitality it contained, the better it would be.

These mountain bandits were the great material the black ox was speaking about. Although Li Qingshan did not readily agree to this method, he did not mind too much. He moved the corpses over and formed quite a pile on an empty patch of land. The sight was extremely horrific and terrifying, and the sanguine smell was so heavy that it was overpowering. Even Li Qingshan himself felt rather shaken up. He could not help but ask himself, Was it really me who did this?

However, he immediately composed himself. This was retribution. If the bandits had not suffered such a fate, the world would be unfair. As long as he had a clear conscience, there was no need for him to feel regret over anything he had done. Afterwards, he followed the black ox’s orders and placed the porcelain jar that held Xiao An’s skeleton upside down on the pile of corpses.

Xiao An flew around rather nervously on the side. He only turned into a wisp and entered the jar when he heard Li Qingshan say, “Go!”

The piles of corpses trembled. The blood that dripped downwards suddenly flowed into the jar. The jar also began to tremble violently as the smell of blood became fainter and fainter.

A while later, there were cracking sounds, and the jar became riddled with fractures as red light seethed out. It was like coagulated blood, eye-dazzlingly red.

Li Qingshan frowned and held his breath. This seemed far too much like some kind of terrifying, evil ritual. It seemed like they were summoning some demon.

Bang! The jar exploded, and a tiny, blood-red skeleton remained seated on the pile of corpses. Two balls of blood-red flames blazed within its eye sockets. It was clearly an extremely mysterious and terrifying sight, but the little skeleton just happened to be sitting quietly with his hands together like some old monk meditating. It gave off a sacred feeling of enlightenment and seeing through life and death. The horrific, frightening pile of corpses vaguely seemed like the lotus pedestal that buddhas meditated on. Those pale, extended arms seemed like the pure-white petals of the lotus. It was extremely strange.

Li Qingshan probed by calling out, “Xiao An?”

Li Qingshan was immediately left at a loss as for how to react. All he saw was Xiao An sitting on the ground, shaking his head, as if he had failed to control his speed.

Xiao An stood up and looked at Li Qingshan. In Li Qingshan’s eyes, Xiao An saw his current figure. As if he had suddenly realised he was no longer a ghost, he lowered his head to look at his thin, bony hands before looking at his body. Afterwards, he began to tremble violently, squatting down and covering his face with his hands.

There was not the slightest sound, but Li Qingshan could clearly sense that Xiao An was weeping. As a ghost, at least he had a human form. Not a single person who had been turned into such an inhuman, terrifying state would be able to remain calm. Not to mention that he was still just a child.

Li Qingshan’s heart ached. His heart that had grown as tough as steel from the slaughter immediately softened. He rubbed his stinging nose and squatted down with a smile, rubbing Xiao An’s head. “Don’t be like this. Aren’t you pretty cute like this? In the past, only you could touch me. I couldn’t touch you. Now we’re fair.”

Xiao An raised his head, and the blood-red flames in his eye sockets became slightly brighter. He extended his hands and hugged Li Qingshan gently, laying his head against Li Qingshan’s chest. Li Qingshan opened his arms and embraced him tightly.

In the snow and wind, below a pile of corpses, a half-grown teenager and a small skeleton hugged one another, relying on each other. It was as if they could both feel a certain warmth from each other’s icy-cold bodies.

The black ox watched on quietly from one side, but his gaze was missing his usual mocking sneer.

At the end of the day, Xiao An was still a child. He cheered up very quickly, experimenting with his new body curiously. He would wander around at times and pick up a fallen bandit’s blade and play around with it at other times. He would even leap several meters into the air before helplessly falling back down to the ground with a clatter.