Backlash Part 1

Chapter 117: Xuanwu Bait

As soon as Wei Wuxian took his first breath of the air inside the Xuanwu of Slaughter's shell he gagged. He remembered thinking it was one of the worst things he had ever smelled, but over time the memory had lost its edge and Wei Wuxian himself sometimes wondered if he hadn't exaggerated the experience. He was wrong. It was worse than he remembered. He wasn't even sure he had the words to describe it.

It was a putrid stench, like vomit and rotting meat. It didn't just fill the air, it was the air. The air itself was thick with it. The humidity made it feel like he was drinking the foul combination with every breath. He had to take shallow breaths to try and limit the feeling of something sliding down his throat. Truly this was the most disgusting place on earth. Burial Mounds might be full of rotting corpses and resentful energy, but at least the stench didn't cling to your skin and slide down your throat like you were drinking it from the air.

Wei Wuxian was wading through knee deep fluid as he began his search for the sword he knew was here somewhere. It wasn't as though there were any landmarks to guide him. His talisman was providing him with a dim light that reflected off of the murky viscous liquid. He did not want to contemplate what it was. It was thick like syrup, but with the humanoid lumps floating in it, casting odd shadows, Wei Wuxian could not even try to pretend it was something as innocuous as cold honey. Especially not when it was cloudy and opaque. With his light source he could not be certain of the colour, but he had a sneaky suspicion that it might be some sickly shade of pink or red. Something fleshy, like the soft meat under his feet, another thing he was trying very hard not to think about.

As he moved forward the temperature seemed to drop. The damp putrid air seemed to congeal against his skin with the cold. It was a cold Wei Wuxian was intimately familiar with. Resentful energy carried a certain bite to it, it was sharper than even the coldest winter. Wei Wuxian knew he was getting closer to the sword he was looking for.

Wei Wuxian could feel the first whispers scratching at the edge of his consciousness. It was more of a sensation than a sound. Something scratchy and uncomfortable that poked and tugged at his senses. By the time Wei Wuxian saw the sword his ears were filled with wispy unintelligible voices. He had not been able to hear this last time, but Wei Wuxian already knew why. Last time he was not a demonic cultivator yet.

Practising demonic cultivation made Wei Wuxian more sensitive to resentful energy. It was both good and bad. It was useful in his cultivation and night hunting to have this increased awareness of resentful energy, but this sensitivity brought a few unpleasant traits with it. As the whispering began to grow into shouts and screams Wei Wuxian grimaced. It was like standing in a thunderstorm, the wind itself so loud that drowned out everything else. Except this wind was made of screams and shouts, unintelligible but ceaseless.

With a grimace Wei Wuxian did his best to ignore the lightheaded-ness brought on by the painful screaming. With a deep breath to brace himself, Wei Wuxian gripped the sword and drew it out. The resentful energy in the sword eagerly flooded through Wei Wuxian. Even with his control and experience it felt like a rusty blade was being dragged along his nerve endings. Wei Wuxian stifled a groan and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

'No!' The thought was a mental shout piercing through the resentful energy's noise. The amount of resentful energy in the sword was tremendous. This was not the Yin Hufu, not yet anyway. This was just the raw material, metal soaked in resentful energy. Eventually this would be a tool that could store and channel resentful energy, enough energy to command thousands of fierce corpses. Wei Wuxian focused on containing the resentment it exuded.

A sudden shiver of dread ran down Wei Wuxian's spine and he immediately spun around. The Xuanwu of Slaughter had found him. The large snake-like head opened its jaws and snapped at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian jumped back, a little too slow. He had become distracted trying to rain in the resentful energy in the sword, and had forgotten to pay attention to the impending danger he knew was coming. A fang as big as Wei Wuxian's arm snagged on his robes and Wei Wuxian found himself being yanked backwards at a bone breaking speed.