Xie Bai stared into his eyes and slowly said, "Planning to tell the truth this time?"

Yin Wushu nodded and straightened his expression, seemingly prepared to take things seriously and stop the nonsense. Unfortunately, just having a face that could charm wasn't useful, at least not to Xie Bai, who had been deceived by it since childhood.

"Alright..." Xie Bai nodded, pinching his thumb and forefinger lightly, and suddenly there appeared something between his fingertips.

It was a thin, hard scale, the size of a coin, shimmering slightly blue in the sunlight, translucent and beautiful. Anyone with a bit of knowledge would recognize at a glance that this was a scale from a merman. Those with extensive experience and broad knowledge could even tell from the shape, size, and color of the scale that it came from behind the ears of a merman.

It is said that mermen are a magical race, best at bewitching hearts and discerning truth from falsehood. They weave dreams for those under their spell, yet rarely dream themselves; however, when they do dream, what they see is invariably true. Furthermore, it is said that the abilities of mermen can be borrowed—the scales that grow behind their ears, when touched with blood, can discern truth from falsehood.

Most people would never get their hands on a merman‘s scale from behind the ears, and thus could not verify if the legend was credible. But Xie Bai knew it was true, as he had seen Yin Wushu use one before.

Holding the scale in front of Yin Wushu, he said, "I don't have the skills to spar with you, so I must rely on a little external help."

Yin Wushu: "......"

Of course, he recognized what it was at a glance and couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, asking Xie Bai, "Did you just take that from a merman? Plucking a scale from behind their ears is excruciatingly painful; they're a race that fears pain above all, and he actually gave you one?"

Xie Bai shook his head and replied, "At that time, I had cut a meter-long gash on his body; the pain from that cut was probably a bit harder to ignore than plucking a scale."

Yin Wushu: "......"

He gave a dry laugh and said, "If you've had this thing all along, why didn't you use it when you questioned me in Mount Tianshan?"

At that time, Xie Bai himself didn't have the strength to engage with Yin Wushu about the truth, and seeing Yin Wushu's pale face, he didn't really want him to shed another drop of blood on the merman's ear scale. Of course, he couldn't say such a thing, and simply stated stiffly, "I chose not to."

If it weren't for Yin Wushu obviously lying again and given the unclear circumstances now, Xie Bai still wouldn't want Yin Wushu to unnecessarily cut himself to shed a bit of blood.

Yin Wushu quieted down, looked at Xie Bai for a while, and then shook his head, saying, "Alright, it seems I really can't tell a lie this time."

He didn't play any tricks to buy time, and cleanly made a very fine, shallow cut in the palm of his hand. Through that shallow cut, Xie Bai could faintly see a hint of red, probably a thin and delicate layer of blood.

In Xie Bai's memory, Yin Wushu's blood was always sparse, no matter the wound; it always just contained a hint of blood about to emerge but never quite flowing freely. It seemed as if the outermost layer of the wound would dry up before the blood could gush out, likely due to his quick healing.

But this was just right; the merman's ear scale only needed a touch of blood to activate, and Yin Wushu's little streak of blood was enough.

Xie Bai pursed his lips, quietly watching as Yin Wushu took the ear scale, wiped it across the shallow cut that was healing in his palm, and then handed it back to Xie Bai. The transparent scale, shimmering with a bit of blue light, now had a very faint red hue, which was quickly absorbed by the scale.

If the person who shed the blood lied, the absorbed bloodstain would reappear on the scale, forming a thin and clear bloodline.

Perhaps because Xie Bai was used to being fooled by Yin Wushu, he was a bit unaccustomed to his compliance this time and hesitated for a moment before taking back the scale, muttering quietly, "Why not try any tricks now..."

Yin Wushu raised his hands helplessly and said, "Young man... I'm completely locked by you; how can I move? Just keep this silly fish scale safe. Don't put it away; you've brought out this god-level lie detector. How can I talk nonsense now?"

"Alright, now tell me who is the one trapped in the ice?" Xie Bai asked.

 

Yin Wushu thought for a moment and said, "I believe I've told you before, everything in this world interacts and counteracts each other; there are no exceptions exempt from this rule, including myself. Since I am the embodiment of pure Yang energy, naturally, there exists pure Yin energy as well."

In fact Xie Bai had guessed this direction before, as not everyone could be considered a rival to someone like Yin Wushu or even worthy of his consideration. Those he referred to as having "some issues" with him would likely not be too different in strength, at least on a similar level. Where there is Yang, there must be Yin; this was not difficult to guess.

He glanced at the fish scale in his hand; it showed no change.

"Since there is pure Yin energy, why have I rarely heard others mention it before?" Xie Bai was somewhat puzzled, as he had heard about Yin Wushu but nothing about pure Yin energy, which seemed to have been forgotten from the start.

Yin Wushu explained, "It's a matter of how it exists; his nature from the beginning doomed him to a passive position, much like the sun and the moon, light and shadow. Compared to the latter, the former seems to have a stronger presence."

"So over time, he grew resentful?" Xie Bai understood the so-called "issues" between them.

"Of course," Yin Wushu nodded, "No one wants to be perpetually suppressed. I think I've told you before, the balance between Yin and Yang is maintained through constant struggle. This ebb and flow of Yin and Yang is why people feel discomfort and fall ill. Even those who have taken shape cannot escape these fights; it's quite normal."

Following this line of thought, Xie Bai recalled some past events and speculated, "So, this confrontation between you two doesn't need to be face-to-face?"

"No need," Yin Wushu seemed to recall some incidents too, and with a snort, he pointed to his temple, speaking coolly, "That guy has a sickness that acts up every now and then. Whenever it does, he feels the cosmic justice is against him and that killing me would solve everything. Therefore, he constantly tries to make my life difficult, incessantly and relentlessly."

"So the occasional random wounds on your body are his doing..." Xie Bai understood.

Yin Wushu: "Yes."

The ear scale remained thin and transparent, showing no change, indicating that everything Yin Wushu had said was true.

If that was the case, then the conflict and contradictions between him and the person under the ice were comprehensible.

"So the purpose of the Hundred Ghosts Corpse Nurturing Formation on my body was initially targeted at you?" Xie Bai recalled Yin Wushu's words under Mount Tianshan, saying that the array on his body was related to the person under the ice, and that person couldn't possibly have any connection with a newborn baby that died shortly after birth. The only plausible explanation was that it was aimed at Yin Wushu.

Yin Wushu paused and then replied softly, "Hmm. Actually, because he was causing too much trouble, I was so annoyed that I simply sealed him under Mount Tianshan for a few decades. But a complete imbalance between Yin and Yang isn't good, so I left him some leeway, didn't go to extremes, just suppressed him. Whenever he made a move, I would sense it, but I didn't expect that he had left something behind. The Hundred Ghosts Corpse Nurturing Formation on your body was likely set up by his people in advance while he was sealed under Mount Tianshan. He didn't make any moves himself, which is why I initially didn't realize the array on you was related to him."

"Isn't the Hundred Ghosts Corpse Nurturing Formation used for cultivating infant corpses?" Xie Bai furrowed his brow, not quite understanding how the person under the ice could target Yin Wushu through this array.

 

Yin Wushu responded, "It's commonly said to be used for cultivating infant corpses, but you might also have heard of another concept related to the array, called 'mutual nurturing.' The Hundred Ghosts spirits feed the infant corpse to life, and in turn, the revived person will continually sustain those hundred vengeful ghosts. Both are bound to each other, unable to escape, so although it's profoundly unnatural, it's not enough to bring calamity to the world. This is also why I initially took you home."

Because it was within his control.

"And when I taught you how to refine and control the Yin corpse energy, it was also to free you from the control and influence of those ghosts, minimizing your connection with them. However, the components of the hundred ghosts in your Corpse Nurturing Formation are probably not very pure." Yin Wushu paused, implying something deeper, "There's some tampering involved."

Xie Bai immediately understood that the person under the ice had likely mixed some of his own essence into it, causing Xie Bai to passively sustain those hundred ghosts, and unknowingly, also sustain him. At that time, neither Xie Bai nor Yin Wushu were aware of this.

If the vengeful ghosts drew the necessary Yin corpse energy and spiritual power from Xie Bai to continue existing, as for the person under the ice—Xie Bai involuntarily thought back to the scene at the foot of Mount Tianshan. The person under the ice could use his body as a medium to draw spiritual power from Yin Wushu.

Xie Bai pondered for a moment, reviewing the past events, not overlooking even the details from a hundred years ago, and indeed found some clues.

For instance, whenever Yin Wushu was inexplicably injured, it always coincided with times when Xie Bai himself felt unusually spirited, which often followed several days of suffering under the influence of the Hundred Ghosts Corpse Nurturing Formation. Then Yin Wushu, unable to watch him suffer, would use his spiritual power to alleviate his pain...

Things that were unclear back then, when retraced now, became startlingly clear.

Xie Bai looked down in silence for a while, then tentatively asked, "…When you intentionally distanced yourself from me for a while, was it because you discovered that the Hundred Ghosts Corpse Nurturing Formation was related to that person?"

Yin Wushu almost instinctively affirmed with a nod, "Pretty much."

No sooner had he spoken than the fish scale in Xie Bai's hand suddenly lit up, and then a thin blood line slowly appeared.

Xie Bai: "……"

Yin Wushu: "……"

 

Translator : DarNan