Chapter 51 Xia Wei - Bath of Fire
"Xia Wei..." Ye Jie called her name softly, but no matter how he called, Xia Wei did not respond at all.
Endless sorrow and loss welled up in Ye Jie's heart. He reached out and stroked Xia Wei's face, feeling only the coldness of his fingertips. He wiped the blood from the corner of Xia Wei's mouth bit by bit, his arm trembling slightly.
After a long moment, he finally accepted the outcome with a melancholy look on his face. "You killed my father's murderer, fulfilling a lifelong wish, and now you've also died a beautiful death... Xiaowei, you truly chose a hero's death."
Ye Jie stood in front of Xia Wei's body for a long time before he sighed, "Death is not the end, Xiaowei. Let me wake you up..."
Ye Jie reached out his hand and patted Xia Wei on the forehead: "Soul, return."
The expected situation did not occur. Xia Wei was still lying there quietly, her soul remained in her body and was not called out by Ye Jie at all.
"Huh? How could it be..." Ye Jie looked at his palm and tried again, "Soul is back!"
This time, Xia Wei finally made some movement, but it was not her soul that was summoned out, but her whole body that was on fire.
"This is..." Ye Jie was stunned and couldn't help but take two steps back, opening his mouth with an expression of disbelief.
Raging flames rose from Xia Wei's body, transforming into a sea of fire that enveloped her body. Under the raging fire, Xia Wei's hairband fell apart, and her clothes quickly charred.
Surrounded by golden-red flames, Xia Wei opened her eyes again, with a captivating light in her eyes.
"This is impossible... Rebirth from the ashes? Oh right! Xia Wei possesses nine innate magical powers, and the last one is Rebirth from the ashes. How could I have forgotten..."
Ye Jie slapped his head and realized the problem: "First-class talent: Rebirth from the Ashes, the effect is exactly rebirth after death, doesn't that mean..."
Amidst the raging fire, Xia Wei stood up, her posture tall and graceful, her whole body exuding a unique aura.
She walked in the sea of fire, and with every step she took, waves of flames cleared the way. The burning flames paved a path for her, and the endless heat became her driving force to move forward. Her whole body exuded an aura of sacredness and inviolability.
Engulfed in the flames, her clothing crumbled to ash, leaving behind only her fair arms, a shimmering sheen, like white jade calcined in a blazing fire. She was majestic, a woman of icy beauty, a woman with a dignified bearing, a truly proud and majestic fire phoenix.
"Master...don't look at it anymore."
As the flames died down, Xia Wei pursed her lips and uttered a coquettish sound, bringing Ye Jie back to reality. A hint of shame washed over her face, and she turned away, her long black hair flowing out from behind her head, covering her flawless back.
Ye Jie coughed dryly and searched around until he finally found a suitable target. He quickly walked over to the corpse of the Hengshan bandit and stripped off the black armor from the corpse.
"The clothes worn by the Hengshan bandit are truly extraordinary. Having weathered sword cuts and fire, they remain undamaged, not even a speck of blood stained. If I'm not mistaken, they must be a rare ninth-grade spiritual treasure. You should put them on."
As he took off his tight clothes, a book with a black cover fell out of his pocket.
Ye Jie handed the clothes to Xia Wei, turned his back and started flipping through the book in his hand.
There was a rustling sound behind him, and soon, Xia Wei said softly, "Okay..."
Ye Jie then turned around and took in Xia Wei's appearance. The clothes did not fit her and were obviously a size larger than her. She had to tie her waist and sleeves and roll up her trouser legs before she could barely put them on.
After changing into this pitch-black outfit, Xia Wei looked even more heroic, with sharp brows and steady steps. Perhaps it was because she had just been reborn from the flames, but her face felt a little hot. She stood on tiptoe in front of Ye Jie, with a hint of intoxicating shyness in her eyes.
"Master, Xiaowei thought she was..." Xia Wei sighed as if she had thought of something.
Ye Jie patted her little head and said, "You have a first-class talent: rebirth from the ashes. This talent saved your life. Otherwise, you would have become a ghost like me."
Xia Wei smiled and said, "If I can stay with my master, then being a ghost wouldn't be a bad thing."
Ye Jie quickly corrected her, saying, "Ghosts don't have physical bodies, and their yin energy is very strong. Whether it's cultivation or ascending to immortal status in the future, it will be very inconvenient. Please don't say such things again."
Xia Wei stuck out her tongue and listened to Ye Jie say, "Each activation of Rebirth from the Ashes requires a month's interval. If you die again during this month, you'll be truly dead. You must be careful."
"Xiaowei understands." Xia Wei said respectfully.
Ye Jie came to the spot where she had fallen, and from the ashes, he picked up an intact pink sachet and returned it to Xia Wei: "Don't lose this Yichen sachet. It's worth hundreds of thousands of Yin De. With it, other ghost messengers won't be able to detect your innate magical powers."
Xia Wei tucked the sachet close to her body and turned her gaze to the headless, half-naked corpse. The once-famous Hengshan bandit now lay exposed in the dust of the wilderness. A hint of melancholy crossed her eyes as she muttered to herself, "Father, brother, Xiaowei has finally avenged you..."
Ye Jie flipped through the book for a while, and when Xia Wei's expression improved, he said to her:
"This tome records the Heart-Destroying Demon Palm of the bandit Hengshan, a lower-grade Heavenly Rank technique. Unlike the Wild Waves and Sea-Splitting Sword you learned, which is only a partial move, this Heart-Destroying Demon Palm is a complete technique. You should learn it quickly..."
Before she finished speaking, she felt a gust of warm wind blowing into her arms. Xia Wei threw herself into his arms without saying a word, stretched out her hands and hugged him tightly, without saying a word for a long time.
Ye Jie coughed dryly: "Are you still going to learn the technique?"
Xia Wei, however, refused to let go: "Master, just keep reciting like this. Xiao Wei is listening."
Ye Jie couldn't persuade her, so he smiled and had to follow her wishes, opening the martial arts manual and reciting it.
"...The Heart-Destroying Demon Palm is a technique from the Path of Human Immortals, renowned for its viciousness and ruthlessness. A single strike will leave incurable wounds and sever the enemy's meridians, causing them to wail in agony and die."
"...After gathering more spiritual energy, you can long-rangely unleash a Heart-Smashing Devil Palm, attacking enemies dozens of steps away. However, doing so will reduce the power of this technique, to only about 50% of its melee power. To unleash the full power of the Heart-Smashing Devil Palm, you still have to fight in close combat..."
"...Although the Heart-Destroying Devil Palm is a Heaven-level technique, its power does not increase with the stage of cultivation, but rather with the number of people the user kills. In short, the more people you kill in your life, the more powerful the Heart-Destroying Devil Palm will become..."
"This technique is truly bizarre. It increases in power the more people you kill, and it's only effective against humans; it can't even kill monsters... I've never seen such a bizarre technique before. I can only say it's worthy of being a Heavenly Grade technique, with such extraordinary effects."
After reciting the secret of practicing the Heart-Destroying Demon Palm, Xia Wei in Ye Jie's arms finally moved. She stood up, raised her hand to gather her energy, and pushed out a palm. The black palm print whizzed past, making a sharp sound of breaking wind, and hit the tent in the distance, causing the tent to collapse immediately.
"This Heart-Destroying Demon Palm is said to be a low-grade Heavenly Rank technique, so it shouldn't be that difficult to practice."
Xia Wei raised her chin, slightly raised the corners of her mouth, and said with full confidence: "What do you think, Master?"
Ye Jie smiled. Xia Wei used to have a stone pressing on her heart, with a murderous aura hidden between her brows. But now that she had her revenge, she had finally gotten rid of the shackles in her heart. She was full of vigor and vitality in her words, and her talent as a reincarnated immortal was revealed. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, she had mastered the lower-grade heavenly skills, like a flaming golden phoenix flapping its wings and soaring, looking down on the world from the sky.
"You did a great job." Ye Jie praised.
Receiving Ye Jie's praise, Xia Wei smiled at him, as sweet as the spring breeze. All the scenery in the world lost its luster at this moment.
As the two were talking, they suddenly heard shouts and cries of killing in the distance. Ye Jie raised his eyebrows and said, "Someone is coming."
Following the sound, I saw the wounded bandits arriving late.
Seeing this, Xia Wei grabbed a handful of hair and lifted the still-bleeding head high, letting out a roar that resounded through the sky: "The Hengshan bandit has been killed. Surrender! If you continue to resist, you will only end up dead!"
Looking at the head with the hideous scar, the bandits were horrified:
"Is that the king's head? How could this happen?"
"The King... The King died in battle? This is impossible..."
"The king is dead, what should we do? Who will lead us to continue the fight? Who will uphold justice for us..."
Behind the bandits, Commander Zhang Yong and Captain Zhao Shun, who had joined them, arrived just in time. Seeing the head Xia Wei had lifted, they were overjoyed: "The Hengshan bandit is dead. Those bandits have no power to resist anymore. We have won this battle!"
The death of the bandit Hengshan was a huge blow to the bandits. At the peak of the third level, he was undoubtedly invincible in the eyes of the bandits. Now that he was dead, the panic in the hearts of the others could be imagined. There was no other way but to surrender.
Not long after, the battle was over. The Qingshi Town group won a great victory. Zhang Yong came to Xia Wei with a happy face, clasped his fists and congratulated her:
"Miss Xia Wei is truly incomparably brave. She single-handedly killed the wicked Hengshan bandit. I will report this to the river patrol commander, and Miss Xia Wei will surely be handsomely rewarded!"
Xia Wei waved her hand, her expression indifferent: "The bandit Hengshan has committed many evil deeds. If I kill him, I will be doing justice for the heavens."
Zhang Yong's gaze fell on the head of the Hengshan Bandit. "Miss Xia Wei, could you please hand over the Hengshan Bandit's head to me? The people in this town don't know this exciting news yet. Once I bring back the Hengshan Bandit's head, the townspeople will be able to rest assured."
Xia Wei glanced at the empty space beside her, then handed over the head.
After the battle, everyone did a simple inventory in the camp, took away the usable items, buried the bodies of the thieves simply, and then went home.
Seeing that Xia Wei was still standing there, not returning with the others, Zhang Yong came over and asked, "Miss Xia Wei, aren't you leaving? The Hengshan bandit is dead, and we've prepared a grand celebration banquet for all the soldiers. As the number one hero in killing the Hengshan bandit, Miss Xia Wei, you must attend this banquet."
Xia Wei nodded and said, "I will go. The bandit Hengshan killed my family. Although I have avenged him, I feel sad inside and want to be alone for a while."
Zhang Yong stopped trying to persuade them and led everyone away.
The entire bandit camp suddenly became empty, with no one else there except Xia Wei.
Of course, Xia Wei wasn't alone. She slowly shifted her gaze and saw two distinct figures standing there, out of sight. One was dressed in black robes, tall and thin, with the face of a teenager. The other had a fierce expression. If he hadn't been restrained by the Soul Binding Rope, he would have pounced on them long ago.
The extra soul was none other than the bandit Hengshan. After waking from death, the scar on his face disappeared, and his missing left eye was restored. He looked no different from an ordinary first-level wandering soul, but his fierce expression was no less fierce.
When enemies meet, they are extremely jealous of each other. Xia Wei picked up the Mo Dao without saying a word, ready to completely crush the soul of the Hengshan bandit.
At this moment, Ye Jie stretched out his hand and stood in front of her.
Xia Wei angrily said, "Master, get out of the way! The Hengshan bandit has committed countless evil deeds. I want to shatter his soul!"
Ye Jie waved his hand, "That's not necessary. You'll feel good about killing him, but the sins he carries will go unpunished. His final destination should be the dark, dark Soul-Devouring Abyss. There, his soul will be tortured for over a thousand years, repeatedly experiencing mountains of swords and cauldrons of oil, forever in agony and regret for his actions. Isn't that better than just killing him?"
Xia Wei thought for a moment, nodded, and agreed: "Master is right. If I kill him now, it would be too easy for him. He deserves a more severe punishment! He will regret his actions forever!"
At this moment, the bandit Hengshan, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke: "Regret? What do I have to regret? I, Jiang Xin, have lived a life without regrets, and I am only ashamed of my lover. If there is anything I regret, it's that I didn't kill a few more thieves!"
Xia Wei was furious. She raised her hand and condensed a soul-breaking arrow: "How dare you talk back! I'll teach you a lesson!"
The bandit Hengshan stretched out his neck and said, "Do you think I'm afraid of you? If you have the guts, you can kill me. How can you be considered a hero just by relying on your tongue?"
"etc……"
As the two were arguing, Ye Jie suddenly frowned, feeling that something was amiss. He quickly stepped in front of them and asked the Hengshan Bandit, "What did you say your name was?"
The bandit Hengshan glared at Ye Jie with a cold brow, and had no intention of answering his question at all.
"Don't want to tell me? That's fine. Now that your life span has ended, only your spirit remains. With the power of the Book of Life and Death, I can see all your past experiences."
Ye Jie reached into his arms and pulled out a scrap of paper: "Let me see what you have done."
