The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 53 - Investigating the Past (4)

If Qiang Yong could have witnessed the scene, he would have remembered the first time he saw that icy expression in Dr. Su when he revealed the Empress's diagnosis. He was a black blade, thin and long. Just his glare against the light seemed like a harbinger of imminent death. But the Soul Eater was not far behind. The sound of the collision between the two swords made everyone tremble and move away, running for their lives.

Lai Guen stood frozen a distance away, only to watch as Tung Shiu's two disciples displayed their years of training in a deadly dance. He had no idea how hard Su Ning was trying to maintain control. He definitely didn't want to hit Deng Choi, since as soon as he saw the name of the sword and its color, his entire mind collapsed the first time. As long as only the swords touched there would be no damage, but the moment it hit something alive, there would be no escape.

Deng Choi, however, no longer had any autonomy under his control and went all out on his opponent, using violent and treacherous blows. Now it was the sword that dictated the orders and its only objective was to consume that strong soul in front of it at all costs. In a way, it sensed the danger. Su Ning was also having his own difficulties with his sword.

The permissive energy it emanated tried to consume his sanity, the anger separated in the fragment reminded him all the time of the death of his parents, his brothers, his shifu... Alone, you are alone, he took away from you the only family that you were left! Or why can they live if their family didn't have that chance? He was constantly bombarded by these thoughts.

Su Ning now understood how the sword subdued its master. By stirring up these bad feelings, the mind slowly succumbed to his control, fueling desires for revenge, power and other desires. Su Ning felt as if he was grabbed by several vile tentacles, ready to devour him. He began to recite the sutras mentally but nothing seemed to help him control this harmful energy.

He thought of an alternative to restrain himself, the moment he almost hit Deng Choi. At the last moment he dodged the blow. He didn't let those feelings continue to suffocate him so he put them all into words: "WAS IT WORTH DENG CHOI??? KILLING YOUR OWN MASTER TO KEEP THIS HATEFUL WEAPON??? HOW MANY LIVES DEVOURED WILL BE ENOUGH TO KILL YOUR HUNGRY??? "

Su Ning felt the pressure ease in his mind with this tactic, although he didn't know how efficient it would be. Deng Choi laughed, those words were nothing more than a joke to him. "DO YOU THINK I CARE??? SHIFU HELPED ME BECAUSE I WANTED! IN THIS WORLD THERE IS ONLY CHANCE FOR THE STRONG AND I WILL NEVER BE MISTREATED OR GO STARVING AGAIN IN THIS LIFE!!"

With chaos settling in his soul, he had been fighting as fiercely as his shixiong. As he deflected the blow, he hit a rock. The blade passed through the rock like a ghost and as soon as he withdrew it, even inert mineral was covered in a fluffy black covering, turning a black as dark as pitch. And then it disintegrated to the point where there was nothing left in its place, other than the mark on the floor that indicated it had once existed there.

Su Ning backed away in disgust, he remembered very well that dark stain, covering the golden grains of rice. That fungus didn't take over his body, but rather his soul. He couldn't bear to carry a weapon that spread what he had always fought with his entire life... And he had been wrong, apparently it just couldn't hit a weapon of the same type as it, because even a stone was destroyed!

Faced with this discovery, his mind finally cleared. In the background he could hear his mother's voice whispering an enemy that cannot be seen, heard, smelled, touched... Yes! Now he recognized his true opponent this entire time. His enemy was diseases and himself! The dark side that always hides in the soul, waiting for the opportunity to attack its host.

Whisper of Dark's advances retreated, this was a losing battle for the sword.
Su Ning attacked, this time using the Sect's blocks. As his concentration increased, the attacks were able to block Deng Choi's sword more efficiently. Repelled by these unexpected blows, Deng Choi was startled. Not even strong yao generals had achieved this feat.

That was his mistake, letting fear settle in his heart. Su Ning charged at him again with the sword. Deng Choi thought he would use it this time and prepared to attack back. However, the doctor actually struck his hand with a kung-fu blow, twisting his arm forcefully backwards, to the point that the pain forced him to let go of the sword.

Deng Choi tried to knock him down with his leg, but was hit in the back of the knee first. Su Ning took advantage of him falling and releasing his arm, paralyzed him by hitting the acupuncture points.
"SU NING! YOU DAMN WEASEL!"
The doctor ignored him. Concentrating his spiritual power on his index and middle fingers, he drew a single cut on Deng Choi's chest, severing the bond that connected the sword to the original soul.

It was a technique that Tung Shiu secretly taught him, which allowed him to manipulate, cut or merge the soul, called Artisan. Based on it, Tung Shiu built the entire technique for creating spiritual weapons. And now Su Ning realized how useful she would be to him. Deng Choi began to scream in pain, as if the skin was being ripped off his body. It was painful.

Painful like being dismembered by horses. Painful like suffering death from a thousand cuts. Once again, Su Ning acted quickly and knocked him unconscious by hitting an acupuncture point.
Lai Guen thought the worst was over and slowly approached. He saw Su Ning reaching for his blade and stopped. Would he kill his shixiong???

Su Ning raised his sword and used it to slash at the Soul Eater. No longer having a connection with the user, the sword was split in half and just like the stone, black fungus grew under the two pieces and it began to disintegrate. Tung Shiu's sword killed everything around him for days, Deng Choi's sword consumed the victims' souls anyway and Su Ning's was lethal and immediate, there was no chance of survival.

That's because he hadn't used it enough for its powers to grow as the Soul Eater. From the last pieces of the sword, small souls in the form of ghost fire rose and scattered, fleeing into the forest. It was the souls of those who were devoured being freed. Su Ning sheathed the deadly sword again and Lai Guen let out a sigh of relief.

The young cultivator turned to the second sect master, his face blank. "Master Lai, could you take Deng Choi back to camp?" He handed him a bottle of medicine that he took out of his sleeve. "If he wakes up and feels pain, give him two pills of this painkiller. Don't let him leave until I get back. I'll take him back to the sect."

"Where are you going?" Lai Guen asked, taking the porcelain bottle and analyzed its contents. It was definitely strong medicine.
"I'm going to try to save a life... and I also have to put an end to this." Su Ning tapped the sword sheath twice. Lai Guen shivered. He saw how Deng Choi had reacted and how painful and complex the process was.
"Su N..." He started to say but the doctor had already disappeared into the forest.

Author's Note

How tense 😐. He had courage to destroy this sword.