Chapter 18: 『Bloodfiend Sacrifice』 and ‘Momentum’

Meanwhile, after leaving the small grove, Chu Feng and Su Yanran continued forward along the dirt road.

Every so often, they came across severed limbs and mangled remains. The brutality of the scene grew more horrifying the farther they went.

Su Yanran’s brows were tightly knotted, and her face was deathly pale. She forcibly suppressed the discomfort in her heart and tried to forget those bloody images.

“Young Master Chu, what exactly happened to Lin Yu?” Su Yanran asked.

...

Inside the carriage, Chu Feng remained silent.

Seeing that, Su Yanran could only keep her eyes fixed straight ahead as she continued driving the carriage, refusing to look at the corpses by the roadside.

After the carriage had traveled for half an hour, Su Yanran suddenly tightened the reins and brought it to an abrupt stop.

Inside the carriage, Chu Feng set down the teacup in his hand, reached out to lift the curtain, and looked ahead.

A hundred meters in front of the carriage stood Lin Yu in his gray shirt. At that moment, he looked like a god of slaughter from the depths of the netherworld. His shirt had been dyed dark red with blood, and an overwhelming vicious Baleful Aura surrounded him.

On the ground beside him lay several corpses that no longer resembled human beings in the slightest.

At that moment, as if sensing something, Lin Yu turned around and looked toward the carriage.

Su Yanran knew that she would never forget Lin Yu’s eyes at that moment for the rest of her life.

They were bloodshot crimson eyes, filled with endless savagery and bloodlust. They did not look like human eyes at all, but rather like the gaze of a wild beast driven into a dead end.

The moment she saw those eyes, Su Yanran felt as though all the blood in her body had frozen, and a chill ran through her.

Fortunately, that look lasted for only an instant. The corners of Lin Yu’s eyes curved slightly, and the bloodthirst in them vanished, returning to a clear brightness.

Holding his long spear, Lin Yu walked over to the front of the carriage. Looking at Su Yanran, who was driving it, a hint of shyness actually appeared on his blood-stained face.

“M-Miss, do you happen to have any rations?” Lin Yu lowered his head and asked politely.

His voice was clear, and his tone carried a trace of awkwardness, completely different from the impression he had given earlier when he killed without blinking an eye.

Su Yanran stood there in a daze for a long time after hearing that.

Lin Yu thought his appearance had frightened her, so he hurriedly explained with complete sincerity, “Miss, please do not be afraid. I don’t mean any harm to you.”

“I am just hungry and wanted to ask you for some rations to fill my stomach. I will pay for them.”

After saying that, Lin Yu fumbled around on himself for a while, his face reddening. Then he turned and ran toward those corpses. A short while later, he came back and held out the money pouch in his hand to Su Yanran.

Su Yanran did not reach out. Instead, she turned toward the carriage, seeking Chu Feng’s instructions.

“Give it to him,” Chu Feng’s voice came from inside the carriage.

After hearing that, Su Yanran took out some rations and handed them to Lin Yu without accepting his money.

“Many thanks.” Lin Yu cupped his hands toward Su Yanran and the carriage in thanks, then began wolfing down the food.

Su Yanran watched Lin Yu in silence, and her gaze gradually softened.

She realized that the Lin Yu before her did not seem terrifying at all. On the contrary, he gave her a sense of kindness, cheerfulness, and optimism.

She could not help thinking of her dead younger brother...

But just then, Su Yanran’s expression changed.

A streak of blood suddenly flowed from the corner of Lin Yu’s mouth. Lin Yu paid it no mind at all. He casually wiped it away, then looked up at Su Yanran and flashed her a bright smile.

After finishing the food, Lin Yu once more cupped his hands toward Su Yanran and the carriage. “Thank you both for the meal. Farewell.”

After taking a few steps away, Lin Yu stopped.

“Miss, wait until I’ve gone farther before setting out again. Staying too close to me will only bring you trouble.”

Lin Yu gave the reminder with a smile, then picked up his long spear and set out once more. His desolate figure looked especially lonely.

Su Yanran stared at Lin Yu’s departing figure in a daze. It felt as though something were lodged in her chest, making it a little hard to breathe.

Inside the carriage, Chu Feng let out a helpless sigh and finally spoke.

“You’ve already killed all the people from the Primordial Yang Sect ahead. If you do not continue killing, your ‘Momentum’ will dissipate.”

Lin Yu’s expression stiffened. He turned toward the carriage, and his eyes immediately became sharp. “Who are you?”

“Who I am is not important. I only want to ask you one question.”

“How do you intend to walk the road ahead? Will you keep killing in order to preserve your ‘Momentum’?”

“Or will you let all your previous efforts come to nothing and allow your ‘Momentum’ to disperse?”

Lin Yu stared at the carriage in silence for a moment. Then, with unwavering resolve on his face, he said, “My long spear will never kill a single innocent person.”

After learning of Lin Yu’s choice, a trace of approval appeared on Chu Feng’s face.

“Get on the carriage. I have a way to stabilize your ‘Momentum’.”

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Yu walked over to the carriage and prepared to get on, but Su Yanran stopped him.

Su Yanran handed Lin Yu a clean set of clothes. Blushing, Lin Yu thanked her, took the clothes, and ran off to a place where no one was around.

After cleaning the blood off himself and changing into the clean clothes, Lin Yu returned to the carriage.

This time, Su Yanran did not stop him. She let him sit inside the carriage, then drove it onward.

Inside the carriage, the moment Lin Yu saw Chu Feng, a trace of surprise flashed across his face. Then he sat down awkwardly to one side.

“I am Lin Yu. May I ask how I should address you, brother?”

“Chen Feng.” Chu Feng casually gave an alias, then looked at Lin Yu with a meaningful gaze.

“If I am not mistaken, you should be from the Shaluo Spear Imperial Guard, one of the Great Xuan Dynasty’s three great Imperial Guard armies, correct?”

Lin Yu’s hands tightened. Although his face remained calm, he was inwardly shocked.

He had not expected the man before him to recognize his origins at a single glance.

“That’s right. I used to be a member of the Shaluo Spear Imperial Guard, but now I am already a free man.”

“Everything I have done has nothing whatsoever to do with the Shaluo Spear Imperial Guard,” Lin Yu admitted straightforwardly.

Chu Feng shrugged, clearly uninterested in that.

“Let us talk about your current condition instead.”

“The cultivation art you practice should be 『Bloodfiend Sacrifice』, one of the Great Xuan Dynasty’s forbidden arts.”

“This cultivation art is extremely tyrannical and cruel. That cruelty is not only directed at your enemies, but at the person cultivating it as well.”

“The moment you activate this cultivation art, there is no turning back.”

“By burning your own Blood Essence as the catalyst, it awakens all of your body’s potential and causes your strength to surge dramatically for a short time.”

“As the number of enemies you kill continues to increase, the Baleful Aura around your body condenses into ‘Momentum.’ As long as the killing does not stop and your Blood Essence continues to burn, that ‘Momentum’ will only continue to rise.”

“But the moment you stop, when that ‘Momentum’ disperses, that is the moment the practitioner dies suddenly.”

“Lin Yu, am I right?”

Outside the carriage, Su Yanran felt her heart pound wildly after hearing Chu Feng’s words.

She had never heard of such a tyrannical cultivation art before. It could only be used once in an entire lifetime, and the moment one stopped, one would die...

At that moment, she finally understood what Chu Feng had meant earlier when he said that Lin Yu could no longer stop.

“Brother Chen is correct.” Lin Yu nodded calmly.

Since Chu Feng had been able to recognize that he came from the Shaluo Spear Imperial Guard, Lin Yu understood that the man before him was absolutely no ordinary person, so there was no point in hiding anything.