Chapter 48: Ichigeki, Tokusen
I was mesmerized.
This was a scene of murder, yet I found it to be incredibly beautiful.
It was so fluid that I mistook it for some kind of dance, perhaps the trajectories of the blades were too exquisite. Even the scattered blood possessed a peculiar aesthetic.
“Pfft, heeheeheehee–eeeheehee… Hahaha!”
Moda desperately cupped his hands over his mouth, but his demonic laughter leaked through his fingers.
He was ecstatic to see his companion murdered. Looking at the fat body that collapsed with half its head missing, he let out a high-pitched laugh as if he had seen something comical.
“Why… can you still laugh?”
I couldn’t comprehend it.
His companions were dead, and he had lost an arm, yet he could still laugh.
He wasn’t normal; was his brain broken?
“It’s normal that you can’t comprehend it. I wouldn’t want Lord Juncheng to understand such twisted notions.”
“That’s true…”
Some things are better left unknown. Otherwise, one might get caught up in them.
After laughing for a while, Moda lowered his hands, took a breath, and continued.
“That’s great, that’s great! I actually thought you were some kind of monster completely different from us. Now… you’re one of us! I’m relieved~ Phew~”
Moda patted his chest, revealing his chest hair, as if he had taken a tranquilizer. He sighed in relief.
I didn’t understand what he meant.
Perhaps he wasn’t used to speaking Chinese yet, his tone was a bit odd.
But it wasn’t because of that; I genuinely didn’t grasp his meaning.
Edward beside me snorted contemptuously.
“So, you’re also someone who indulges in killing to satisfy your selfish desires.”
Was he talking about Xueqing?
“Just because you stand on the opposite side and uphold human interests, you get to slaughter us and receive a ‘license to kill’? Killing people freely under the guise of righteousness, without bearing any guilt, and even being hailed as a hero, how does that feel?” No, something is wrong…
“I didn’t expect you, a young girl, to be so hypocritical.”
He hadn’t understood Xueqing’s personality at all; those things weren’t important to Xueqing.
“Are we going to continue fighting?”
As expected, Xueqing remained unfazed and asked coldly.
“Of course, we must continue! Hahaha! I’m so glad I met you!”
Moda had already fallen into a semi-maniacal state. The red component in his title slowly expanded. He raised his skinning knife, intending to strike Xueqing’s shoulder first.
She ducked, avoiding the blow.
“I am a chosen being! I am a superior existence among humans who have gained immense power far beyond ordinary people!”
“You are no longer human.”
“Shut up, you hypocrite! What’s wrong with killing! The human skins I peel are all works of art! Ignorant fools like you don’t understand my art!”
He rambled like an unreasonable child, yet his knife thrust directly towards his target.
His body moved before his mind could fully process it. It wasn’t a conscious action but a reflex driven by muscle memory, making it incredibly fast!
“It is a great honor for you to become the raw material for my art!”
Dodge.
“I am the ‘god’ who transforms trash like you into art!”
Dodge.
“Rate me higher! Praise me more! Worship me!”
Dodge.
Not even a single hair was touched.
The difference in skill was so vast that even an ordinary person like me could see that Xueqing was completely overwhelming him.
After evading countless attacks, Xueqing began to counter. The katana, which had been sheathed, was now unsheathed again. By the time I noticed, the weapon was already in her hand.
The tip of her blade effortlessly sliced through the Skinning Murderer’s flesh. It was impossible to tell how many times she swung her sword. In my eyes, Moda’s entire body suddenly erupted in a spray of blood, dyeing him red.
His skin split, blood gushed, flesh scattered, and danced in the wind.
His side, his shoulders, his knees, his neck—there were too many wounds to count, yet he still didn’t fall!
It was as if he wouldn’t fall until all his blood drained or his bones turned to dust.
Moda let out a howl. He gripped his skinning knife with his remaining hand, swiped at Xueqing’s neck, but couldn’t even leave a scratch.
Then, that hand was also severed from his main body with a clean cut.
But he still didn’t give up! He leaped up, bit his own hand flying in mid-air, and continued to attack Xueqing by shaking his head!
But he was forcibly stopped.
His heart was pierced.
Blood sprayed out like a fountain the instant she pulled her sword out.
The battle was decided. Anyone who saw this scene would think so, perhaps even Xueqing herself…
But then, she was suddenly embraced.
Moda was not dead yet. With some unknown strength, he pounced and hugged Xueqing. However, he had little strength left. It was less of a grip and more of him leaning on Xueqing to keep himself from falling.
Xueqing, splattered with blood for the first time, frowned.
As if to vent her displeasure, Xueqing thrust her sword upwards over her shoulder without looking back.
It accurately pierced Moda’s eye socket, gouging out his eyeball.
It was outright torture…
Her movements were decisive and ruthless, like an automaton made for killing…
Moda recoiled from the stab, but his arm remained clamped. He spoke in an almost inaudible voice.
“Ah… I can’t… anymore. I… guess I’ll leave the bounty to you, haha…”
“Don’t count on me. I’ll probably become like you soon.”
Edward wore an indifferent expression, but his body acted honestly. He walked towards Xueqing, who was being hugged.
“When I was young, I really liked dinosaur skeletons. Now that I think about it, maybe that was the trigger.”
Edward reached Xueqing, removed his jacket, revealing his lean physique. There was almost no flesh on him; his ribs were clearly visible. Two blades resembling cleavers hung at his side.
The moment he drew them and held them in his hands, his aura changed drastically. His previously calm demeanor was completely shattered. Holding those two blades, Edward looked like a butcher!
Xueqing didn’t move. Moda, who had been holding her, was now dead, but his body didn’t fall. He hung from Xueqing like a piece of large trash, immobilizing her.
“Because my family runs a ranch, I occasionally helped out. After butchering various livestock, one day, I suddenly had a thought… What would it feel like to butcher a human?”
He spoke as if telling a story, swinging his blades. It was as if he was about to cut not a living human, but a sacrificial animal or a stationary tree.
“Moda was the same. The human skins he peeled were all used to make ugly decorations. He was always lost in self-admiration; what an arrogant idiot.”
His blades traced arcs in the air several times, colliding with Xueqing’s sword, sending sparks flying as they were repelled, as if they were irreconcilably opposed.
“And you’re the same… So what are you pursuing in your killing? Show me!”
Xueqing remained silent, then responded with her subsequent actions.
The result of her response was several ‘things’ being sprayed out along with a large amount of blood.
Fingers.
All eight fingers, except for the thumb, were perfectly severed from the root.
What Xueqing intended to do to me was now being enacted on Edward. It was even more precise, more decisive, and more direct, without any hesitation.
I swallowed hard, feeling nauseous at the gruesome sight.
If I hadn’t escaped earlier, I would have ended up like that guy.
“So that’s how it is… There’s not even the slightest killing intent… You are a more twisted being than us murderers…”
His hand, having lost its fingers, could no longer grip the blade. The two cleavers fell to the ground, and Edward closed his eyes with a smile.
“You win. Take it. Do as you please.”
I felt that this couldn’t continue! If Xueqing let herself go, she would lose herself like these murderers.
But I could do nothing standing here.
…
Blades swung, limbs danced.
Even the arm holding her shoulder was severed, and her arms were cut off. Moda, with no support points left, fell into the pool of blood with a thud.
[Skinning Murderer] [Moda], [Bone-Removing Murderer] [Edward Cain]. Their titles gradually became transparent and finally disappeared. Both died from excessive blood loss.
“Tian Xiang…”
“2”
Scattered limbs and severed parts lay on the ground. Xueqing stood alone in the blood, tilting her head slightly, letting the rain wash away the splatters on her face.
She was too cold.
A coldness from the inside out, from the surface to the depths of her bones, made even her blood seem ‘cold-blooded.’
She was too calm.
So calm that it was unfathomable, so calm that when she swung her blade, saw blood, or severed limbs, or killed her opponents… her expression remained serene…
There was no killing intent in her heart.
Was that killing intent directed at me?
No, perhaps I was merely the catalyst…
That killing intent stemmed from her dissatisfaction with being unable to cleanse the world of its filth and achieve true purity, and her inability to make her opponents conform to her ideal form.
But now, she had not a single trace of killing intent.
That’s right, what she craved was simply ‘imperfection.’ Killing was not the goal.
When one takes a life, their heart may harbor killing intent, but it cannot be truly devoid of it. Unless…
This person’s heart is truly indifferent, detached from the world.
As if all the filth in the world were natural phenomena. Natural phenomena are indispensable, so one must get used to them, accustomed to them to the point that even when destroying them with one’s own hands, the heart remains as still as water.
Is that why she could make a cut like slicing water?
“You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? Her technique is too masterful. Although her physical abilities are significantly enhanced after demonification, such fluid movements are definitely not something an ordinary person can achieve.”
“It’s a realm that might take decades of practice to even approach, and she’s already reached it at this age—Jiang Xueqing knows exactly how to swing her sword to dismember her opponents. She must be able to see some kind of trajectory. In other words…”
Actually, I knew what Yuhui Bai wanted to say without her asking.
Because anyone who saw this scene would have the same thought come to mind.
Yuhui Bai and I were no exception, captivated by her extraordinary talent.
Even the act of slaughter could be rendered so beautifully.
“She’s a genius at ‘dismemberment’.”
