"Sever!"
Hao Xuan's palm was glowing with a faint blue light but as soon as he uttered the word "sever", its glow started getting stronger and stronger. Within a few seconds, it was so bright that Ensis Couldn't even look at it directly.
Hao Xuan's forehead was caked with sweat and his breathing was getting more and more forceful.
Monk was biting down hard as the veins around his eyes bulged, threatening to burst any second.
"AHHH!"
He finally couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"What the f*ck is going on?!" Hao Xuan spoke through gritted teeth, "It was never this difficult before!"
Maybe because Monk knew something was coming that he was prepared but he wasn't letting go. His resistance against Hao Xuan's power was causing a conflict between their souls.
"Just give in you moron, you're only hurting yourself!" Hao Xuan yelled at Monk.
Monk's screams came to a halt as he let out a bloody grin, "Haha…never!"
Hao Xuan saw the determination in his eyes and instantly knew he wasn't just going to just let this happen. He looked back at Ensis and gestured with his chin.
Ensis nodded and came around from the side.
Hao Xuan took in a deep breath and started gathering everything in his palm for one final push.
Monk's grin vanished as he concentrated on resisting against the incoming flow of energy, but suddenly..
*BANG*
*Crack* x4
A sturdy fist impacted with his right chest and broke every single rib in its way, hitting his very heart. The unexpected blow was enough to distract Monk for just a second, which was all Hao Xuan needed.
As soon as he felt the resistance lower, he let loose the entirety of his soul power that had been amassing in his palm.
*SHIIING~*
For half a second, the pale light intensified by several degrees coloring the entire cave blue, before disappearing like it was never there to begin with.
*Huff*Huff*
Hao Xuan fell back, landing on his bottom.
"Fi…nally…."
Monk's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving anymore, but Hao Xuan knew he was fine, or would be soon. He waved his hand and sent Monk's body to the Mind Palace.
"Hah~. I'm so tired…"
Whenever Hao Xuan used his constitution abilities, they would consume a bit of energy directly from his soul, leaving him extremely tired and lifeless.
Fortunately, As long as the soul wasn't damaged, he could replenish this energy endlessly by simply resting for some time or consuming soul-nourishing foods and medicines.
Unfortunately though, he didn't have any such things on him right now.
"Alright…you next…" he looked at the bundle of tentacles on one corner of the room.
But when he tried to get up, his legs refused to listen to him.
"Damn it, bring that guy over," he said to Ensis who happily obliged, dragging Jiang Ling over to Hao Xuan.
Hao Xuan patted the tentacles, "Let him talk."
The tentacles along the top subsided, revealing Jiang Ling's expressionless face.
"So, how about we have that talk now?" Hao Xuan asked smilingly.
Jiang Ling glared back at him coldly.
"What is this thing? How can it restrict my abilities?"
"Hell if I know. I just found him on the side of the road and couldn't help but pity him, so decided to take him with me."
*Whip*
A tentacle separated from the bundle and whipped Hao Xuan on the leg.
"OW! What the actual f*ck! It was a joke you a*shole!" Hao Xuan shouted back while rubbing his thigh.
A muffled "NO YOU!" came from somewhere inside the tentacles, making the vein on Hao Xuan's forehead bulge up.
"Goddamnit, can't even make a joke…" Hao Xuan grumbled under his breath.
Jiang Ling watched on speechlessly.
'This is the guy that kidnapped me? ME?!'
He simply couldn't understand how.
"Anyways, tell me about your plans. You know the deal, spill everything and I promise to let you go.," Hao Xuan quickly changed the subject.
"Do you really think I will tell you anything?"
Hao Xuan didn't want to argue back so he just let out a sigh.
He was already extremely tired and could barely keep his eyes open, let alone 'interrogate' someone right now.
"Alright, your choice. I can't force you right now but my Senior brother or others in the Mei Kingdom will be able to. They will be coming for me soon so if you decide to answer me honestly, I promise on my very soul that I will let you go. You have till morning to think about it."
Hao Xuan explained briefly before patting the tentacles, making them cover Jiang Ling's face once again.
He then looked at Ensis, "You go back too. Keep an eye on that guy for me," he said referring to Monk.
"Yes," Ensis bowed from the waist as Hao Xuan waved his hand, recalling him to the mind palace.
There was a single light crystal placed on one end of the cave, near the back, which was the only source of light.
After recalling the others Hao Xuan was left alone with the clump of silent tentacles.
He peeked outside and saw the raging blizzard. There was only white snow as far as the eye could see, which arguably wasn't more than a few meters.
Hao Xuan loved snow ever since he was young. Back on earth he lived in a rather arid area with barely any rains let alone snow, so the cold weather, in general, was his favorite.
He reached out and picked up a handful. It quickly melted in his palm and dripped down.
His eyelids became heavier and heavier and he could feel the incoming bout of sleepiness.
He turned around and started crawling back but froze. With a frown, he slowly turned around.
"…."
There wasn't anything there.
Just now as he was going back he caught sight of a person standing out there in the stormy winds.
But the strange thing was that he knew the person. It was Xu Qing.
She was just standing out there in the turbulent snowstorm, staring at him with a curious light.
Although it looked like her, he got the feeling it wasn't really her.
He squinted his eyes hard but couldn't even find any footprints in the snow.
Chalking it up to hallucination caused by expending all his energy, he turned back around once again and returned to the cave.
As soon as his head hit the ground, he dozed off.
That night he dreamt of a massive tree. A maple tree that covered everything in sight.. In the dream, he rested under that tree for a long, long time.
