Chapter 411 - 219: Foreign Language

Chapter 411: Chapter 219: Foreign Language

"It was an accident," Zheng Xiu replied guiltily.

’Well, a deliberate accident is still an accident, I suppose.’

Of course, he had no intention of doing anything more. At this moment, Zheng Xiu was simply savoring this feeling with Feng Bei—the feeling of getting to know her all over again. Their brief separation made the reunion feel sweeter than a honeymoon.

Right. Ambiguity.

Zheng Xiu suddenly thought of a word.

In any relationship, the ambiguous, flirtatious stage is always the most irresistible part.

He felt wonderfully pleased with himself.

He stretched out his hand and swirled it in the water, watching his skin gradually regain its healthy, ruddy color. Zheng Xiu resisted the urge to let the Dan Demon possess his own body and reveal its giant, muscular cannons.

Previously, whenever he used a Miracle Technique, he had always used an Incarnation as a vessel, letting it bear the Caged Sparrow to undergo inhuman transformations. Zheng Xiu had never tried to bear the Caged Sparrow with his own body; he didn’t know what the consequences would be and didn’t dare to try it lightly.

Now, with the Dan Demon added to his arsenal of Demonization powers, he had even more of an advantage.

Unlike the Caged Sparrow.

In the Path, Zheng Xiu had fought the Dan Demon for hundreds of rounds, and he had pretty much figured out all its strengths and weaknesses.

The Dan Demon was a creature of pure muscle. Its strength was astounding, but its movement speed was extremely slow. The Dan Demon’s trump card was the massive cannon it fired from its mouth. Zheng Xiu would never forget the sight of that blast carving a massive vortex into the gray, misty world behind the Path, as if a hole had been violently punched through the deep sea.

’Pure muscle and massive cannons—that’s true romance for a man. The slow speed,’ Zheng Xiu thought, ’is no problem at all.’

Wait.

Zheng Xiu stroked his chin. He suddenly had a bold idea.

’Could he be possessed by both the Caged Sparrow and the Dan Demon at the same time?’

’A giant, muscular cannon with wings, blasting away wildly in the sky? Wouldn’t that be... a high-altitude muscle cannon?’

’Hsss...’

To sum things up.

Although his trip into the Cannibal Painting had been fraught with peril, nearly costing him his true self and almost getting him possessed by Gongsun Mo in a bizarre way, Zheng Xiu had ultimately reaped great rewards.

As for the Painter Path, he had spent a hundred years recreating the Cannibal Painting, nearly reaching the very end of it. In terms of Danqing painting skill and artistic accomplishment alone, Zheng Xiu had reached a level where he could be considered an unrivaled grandmaster of his generation. It was no exaggeration to say that even if he lost all his wealth now, he could easily make a comeback with his painting skills alone. A single casual painting from him would have countless wealthy magnates, and even the Imperial Family, fighting tooth and nail and spending fortunes to acquire it.

After all, this was Painting Power cultivated over a century.

Zheng Xiu had even captured the Painter’s Deceitful Object and made it his own.

On the Prisoner Path, he captured the Dan Demon. The claw-shaped tattoo on his chest had changed slightly, bulging out a little as if the claw had grown muscles.

Now, Zheng Xiu was no longer the feeble Richest Person who was powerless outside his prison cell. Even outside the prison, relying solely on the Miracle Techniques from the Painter Path... Zheng Xiu closed his eyes and made a quick comparison. He couldn’t say for sure he could beat Feng Bei, but defeating Ye Weiyang and the other Upper Moons would be a piece of cake.

Besides the gains from the Paths, he had also inexplicably acquired a new Talent.

This was probably related to his ability to vaguely understand the Big White Snake and the Crow Fosterer.

[Foreign Language (some accomplishment)] You have spent day and night with a non-Human creature, becoming inseparable from it. Over time, you have come to vaguely understand its mutterings.

’So this is "Foreign Language."’

Although it was unexpected, Zheng Xiu felt it wasn’t particularly useful. It was just a way to communicate a little with small animals.

Thinking about it carefully, he probably learned this new Skill from the ten years he spent day and night with Little Feng Miao in the World in the Painting.

’Better than nothing, I guess.’

For Zheng Xiu, the greatest reward of all was still those ten years.

With his back to Feng Bei, Zheng Xiu was deeply moved and couldn’t help but reach back to gently caress the small hand she had placed on his shoulder.

At this flirtatious touch, Feng Bei’s entire body stiffened for a moment, but she quickly relaxed.

Zheng Xiu smiled. "Actually, this is pretty nice."

Feng Bei: "Hm?"

"After I accidentally glimpsed the Path, the first place I ever entered was Baili Village... the Baili Village of twenty years ago, where I saved you." Zheng Xiu said slowly, his voice filled with nostalgia. "Looking back, so much has happened without me even realizing it. Even if my actions caused the world to change drastically, making the intersection between the Common World and the Darkness unstable, I have never once regretted it."

Feng Bei listened in surprise. She didn’t understand why Zheng Xiu was suddenly saying all this, but with his next sentence, she understood.

"Zhu is wrong. Even if he had ten thousand reasons, he has no right to decide who lives and who dies, or to make anyone a Human Pillar to suppress the Darkness. No Human would willingly be taken by the Darkness. No matter what becomes of the Common World, this is absolutely not the right way to handle things."

"So, don’t overthink it. It’s not your fault. It never was. Wanting to live is never wrong."

Tragedy only begets more tragedy.

It was just the tip of the iceberg. From the story of Gongsun Mo and Xie Luohe two hundred years ago, Zheng Xiu learned just how many people had died unjustly over the past millennium due to Zhu’s schemes, which unfolded every hundred years.

How many Mystics had been plunged into the Darkness to become Human Pillars.

Feng Bei stopped scrubbing his back. She seemed to be struggling with something.

Zheng Xiu was right. After returning from the World in the Painting, Feng Bei had learned that it was precisely because she was "alive" that all sorts of strange phenomena had appeared in the world.

Because she had lived, the Human Pillars were incomplete, causing the border between the Darkness and the Common World to become unstable.

Zheng Xiu truly understood her. Even though Feng Bei had never mentioned it, he understood the self-blame in her heart.

Seeing that Feng Bei was silent, Zheng Xiu smiled and played his trump card. "Remember I still owe you one thing?"

Feng Bei’s pretty face froze for a second. "You mean?"