Chapter 95: Changes To The Blood Bandage
Chapter 95: Changes To The Blood Bandage
Translator: JL Editor: Pranav
After a good night’s sleep, Ai Hui felt an indescribable sense of happiness and satisfaction. All his previous tiredness was now gone.
Looking at the time, the traces of sleepiness that Ai Hui felt immediately disappeared. He had actually slept for one entire day. Given that he had just woken up, Ai Hui decided to take a bath directly.
While soaking in the hot spring, he began playing with the Blood Bandage.
The Blood Bandage had a very unusual texture; it was neither cloth nor silk, and there were still intact traces of blood as if it had just dried up. Mistress had said that it had existed for an extremely long period of time—more than ten thousand years.
Every time he looked at the Blood Bandage, his thoughts couldn’t help but wander to the Cultivation Era. It was such a bustling and diversified period with a vast world. There were different oddities of techniques and innumerable magic-infused treasures. Cultivators soared through the skies and combed through the earth to explore the unknown, dominating the era for thousands of years.
The Blood Bandage was really sturdy; even with all his strength, Ai Hui was unable to tear even a bit. When Mistress had split the Blood Bandage into two, she had used tremendous strength as well. She had said that the silk yarn was bound up by a special force, seamlessly blending them together. The Blood Bandage had many loose threads on its sides due to Mistress’ attempt to tear it.
Thanks to the swordplay manual, Ai Hui’s had a much better understanding of the Cultivation Era than before.
During the Cultivation Era, blood sects were never the mainstream sects; instead, the mainstream sects were those that revolved around swordsmanship and weapon-training. Now, though, along with all their magic-infused treasures, those prestigious and orthodox schools that had hundreds and thousands of years of history had all decayed and disappeared. However, an object from a small blood sect had been able to escape the fate of becoming decayed throughout the millennia. Life was indeed filled with variables.
Just by hearing the name "blood-refinement," one could figure out that it was related to fresh blood. That mysterious strength should be related to fresh blood as well.
The Blood Bandage had a faintly discernible bone-chilling smell. In the beginning, Ai Hui was not accustomed to wearing the bandage as it would suddenly erupt with a killing intent. Ai Hui’s pores would abruptly constrict, and it would feel like the bandages had become two bands of ice.
Nevertheless, it was fortunate that the killing intent did not erupt frequently and that each episode was short-lived.
What a strange object.
To be related to blood...
Should he perhaps try to drip a few drops of blood onto the bandage?
That sudden inspiration filled Ai Hui with energy; he had always been curious about the Blood Bandage. The Blood Bandage was a blood-refined object, and he did not have any clue as to what was blood refinement. As for those few drops of blood, it was not a matter of concern for Ai Hui; he was not a pampered and spoilt rich brat, and injuries were a common occurrence back in the Wilderness.
Unable to contain his curiosity, which had firmly rooted in his heart like a weed, he did not hesitate and immediately bit his finger. He dripped a few drops of blood on the two pieces of the Blood Bandage.
The fresh blood dripped onto the Blood Bandage. The drops resembled water droplets on a lotus leaf, round and dark red.
The next moment, the blood droplets were absorbed into the Blood Bandage, as if it were yellow sand. Only a few abnormally bright blood stains were left on the bandage.
The next scene, however, led Ai Hui to widen his eyes in shock. The Blood Bandage suddenly came to life—the part that was torn by Mistress had loose threads, which started to wriggle and grow.
In just a few moments, the edge of the Blood Bandage lost all signs of being torn. The two pieces showed no evidence of damage and were perfectly intact.
Ai Hui was dumbfounded.
This blood refinement was indeed unconventional.
Previously, the Blood Bandage had looked rather dull and low; but now, it looked as good as new and had become brighter and whiter. The earlier dried blood stains had become more faint, except the stain due to his blood—that was still unusually bright red.
The texture of the bandage had also become soft, unlike the hard and heavy texture of before.
Ai Hui examined it over and over again, but he was unable to come up with any plausible reasons, except the confirmation that his fresh blood was pivotal to such a change.
"You indeed live up to your name," Ai Hui muttered. Yet, he did not plan to continue wasting his own blood. An average person would have some fear when faced with the strange situations of the Blood Bandage. Ai Hui, however, did not experience any fear; he had seen many situations which were similar to hell. How could he be frightened by a few drops of blood?
He finished his bath and came out of the hot spring. After wiping his body dry, he prepared to bind the Blood Bandage to himself.
When it came into contact with his body, the bandage came to life. Like an agile snake, it wound nimbly around Ai Hui’s body, and in a flash, it was bound properly and was similar to how Ai Hui usually did it. The fit was just right. It did not have the usual bone-chilling feel, but instead, it was warm and soft—extremely comfortable. Ai Hui widened his eyes. Was this the same Blood Bandage?
This is kind of awesome....
He could never have believed his unexpected action to bring about such a pretty good result. He felt that he was quite lucky. It was a complicated process to bind the Blood Bandage, and it usually took Ai Hui quite a long time. Now that the bandage could bind by itself, it saved him a lot of hassle.
After wearing his clothes, he randomly plucked a blade of grass and chewed on it. Walking into the training hall, he saw Lou Lan sitting in the courtyard. He noticed that Lou Lan did not seem to be in a good mood. Ai Hui was puzzled. If sand puppets had personalities, then Lou Lan was definitely an optimistic and happy-go-lucky sand puppet.
"Lou Lan, what happened?"
Ai Hui sat next to Lou Lan.
"Ai Hui, Master Shao left," Lou Lan said, his head downcast.
Ai Hui paused. "Master Shao left? Did he go on a journey or did he meet with some mishaps?"
Ai Hui had always been mystified by his neighbor. It was said that one could see an earth elementalist’s character through his sand puppet. However, he could not think of any kind of earth elementalist who would create a sand puppet like Lou Lan.
Ai Hui had encountered many sand puppets. All those sand puppets had shocking war capabilities, but compared to Lou Lan, they were many times more foolish.
"He left on a journey," Lou Lan said softly. "He said he has almost reached the end of his life and he wanted to complete something that he has always regretted. Ai Hui, what kind of matters could make Master Shao feel regretful his whole life?"
Ai Hui exhaled in relief. It was fine as long as he hadn’t met with any mishaps. He thought for a while. "It could be anything; relationships, diplomatic matters...there are important events for each and every one of us."
"But if that’s the case, then why didn’t he do it then?" Lou Lan said with a face of confusion.
Ai Hui was struck dumb. He did not know how to answer such a profound question. He thought quickly and spread out his arms. "For example, he had no money!"
"No money?" Lou Lan tilted his head and pondered. "Yes, Master Shao always used his money on Lou Lan."
Ai Hui let out a breath. "Now that Lou Lan has grown up and Master Shao does not need to watch over Lou Lan, he can complete his unfulfilled desires."
Ai Hui felt as if he was an old creep that was going to kidnap a child.
"But why didn’t Master Shao bring Lou Lan along? Lou Lan could help Master Shao." Lou Lan looked at Ai Hui with wide eyes.
Ai Hui racked his brain. "A lot of things should be solved by oneself. Look at my Master and Mistress, can I help in their relationship? I definitely can’t! If Master wants to have a date with Mistress, would he bring me along? Definitely not."
"Master Shao has gone to find Mistress Shao?" Realization dawned upon Lou Lan. "I see."
"It must be!" Ai Hui wondered how many of his brain cells had died; he was starting to believe his own lies. His voice expressed heartfelt emotion as he said, "Although Master Shao is of a certain age, he still has the right to chase after his happiness. To be able to figure this out at such an old age is not easy. We must give him our blessings!"
Lou Lan nodded. "Lou Lan also wanted to wish Master Shao."
Bang! Lou Lan transformed into five words.
"All the best, Master Shao!"
Ai Hui let out a loud laugh.