Chapter 4: Holy Water

  The sky was just getting light, and Xie Yuxiao got up from the kang, went to the yard to find a small glass bottle, filled it with some cold water, then ran back into the house, plucked up her courage, and used the small knife on her keychain to make a small cut on her left middle finger...

  Blood didn't even flow out. He used his right hand to pinch with two fingers, and a drop of purple blood finally condensed.

  "Strange, how did the color turn purple?"

  He stared at the condensed purple blood in astonishment, slowly moving his fingers towards the mouth of the bottle.

  "Drip"

  A drop of blood in a glass of water drew out a purple line. The purple line grew wider and slowly dissolved.

  He took a look at his fingers, and when he didn't see any more blood seeping out, he felt much better. He picked up the bottle cap, covered the small glass bottle, stuffed it into his backpack, slung the bag over his shoulder, and ran out. Xie Xue Ni, who was cooking in the kitchen, saw her brother running out with his backpack and immediately shouted for him to eat breakfast before leaving. At this moment, Xie Yu Xiao didn't have any appetite for food, and he yelled that he wasn't eating as he ran out of the door.

  He limped and hobbled until he was standing in front of the Second Tiger's house, knocking on the door while loudly shouting: "Second Tiger, Second Tiger, gone to school."

  Two Tigers, Xie Yuxiao's most iron buddy, Little Xie Yuxiao is one year younger than him and just started junior high school this year. Among his peers, he is notorious for being dark-skinned, sturdy, silly, and ruthless, and is a true fighting king in the surrounding villages.

  A moment later, Er Huo walked out with his backpack on, still sleepy. Xie Yu Xiao patted him on the shoulder and said mysteriously, "Hurry up, I'll show you something good in a while."

  "What's good stuff?"

  As soon as he heard something good, Er Hu's eyes lit up and he quickly followed Xie Yu Xiao to the outskirts of the village. When they reached a cornfield outside the village, Xie Yu Xiao stopped and turned around to say to Er Hu: "I'll show you something great, but you have to close your eyes, otherwise I won't let you see it, and don't even think about sneaking a peek."

  "Walk, don't sneak a peek, that turtle egg is sneaking a peek."

  "Okay, close your eyes and put out your hands."

  Two Tigers closed his eyes and stretched out his left hand. Xie Yuxiao smiled slyly, took the small knife from the keychain, and quickly made a cut on Two Tigers' thumb. Two Tigers only felt a chill after which his thumb started to throb with pain, he opened his eyes and cursed loudly: "Xie Yuxiao, what the f**k are you doing? Are you sick?"

  "Yell, yell, what's the big deal? A small injury and you're making such a fuss. Are you even a man?" As he spoke, Xie Yu Xiao pulled out a glass bottle from his backpack, shook it, and said: "Drink this, a little cut is nothing. Even if your intestines come out, I can stuff them back in for you."

  "Your intestines are coming out, I can still stuff them back in for you. Forget it, you want to drink, drink by yourself, I'm not drinking." Er Hu walked forward with a huff. Xie Yu Xiao urgently said: "Whether you drink or not, whether we're brothers or not, when have I ever cheated you?"

  "You just lied to me."

  Xie Yu Xiao was speechless, took a step forward, and patted Er Hu's shoulder like his father used to do: "Alright, I lied to you earlier. Now drink this, and nothing will happen."

  "Go on, I'll drink, let's see what other tricks you have." Er Hu took the bottle and gulped it down.

  Xie Yu Xiao excitedly pulled up Er Hu's thumb to take a look, but saw that the blood was still seeping out non-stop.

  "What's wrong with you? Let's go."

  Xie Yuxiao followed Erhu to the front, scolding the ancestors of the Blood Spirit Clan for eight generations in her heart, and then scolded herself as a stupid cunt.

  After walking for a while, Erhu suddenly stopped and stared at his thumb, shouting: "Look, look, it's really strange!" Xie Yuxiao heard this and was overjoyed, hastily rushing forward to take a look. The wound on Erhu's thumb had healed, and after scraping off the scab with his fingernail, it was as good as new, without even a scar.

  "Xie Yuxiao, what kind of water is that? How did you do it?"

  Xie Yu Xiao walked in front with a proud smile, saying: "Let me tell you, that's the holy water I concocted. Not to mention those external injuries, even if you had an incurable disease, I could cure you."

  The two tigers, though aware that Xie Yu Xiao was bluffing, had no choice but to believe him since they saw it with their own eyes. After being stunned for half a day, the second tiger suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Xie Yu Xiao's arm, saying urgently: "Is there still any holy water? Give me some more."

  "What's going on?" Xie Yu Xiao's eyes widened in surprise.

  "My dad was cutting grass for the cows yesterday, and the sickle slashed his leg. The flesh is all exposed, and now he can't even move." Erhu said with tears in his eyes.

  "Do you think holy water is that easy to mix?!" Xie Yu Xiao thought he was going to cry. He remembered the small note on the "Xuanxue Magic Classic". One drop of blood equals ten thousand drops of blood, and these ten thousand drops of blood don't know where to make up for it now. If another drop comes, shouldn't he be finished? He wanted to help Erhu, but really didn't have the courage.

  "Xiao Ge, you have to help my dad, otherwise it's not right."

  "It's not that I don't want to help, but that thing is really hard to adjust, can it be done in a few days?"

  "In a few days, my dad will be dead from pain."

  "Let me think about it, I'll go to school first."

  That day, Xie Yu Xiao almost went crazy. Every time there was a class break, Er Huo would run to their classroom and pester him. By the afternoon, he really couldn't take it anymore, so he agreed. He thought: "I've shed one drop of blood, my body didn't have any reaction, shedding another drop should be fine too, might as well try out what the 'Xuanxue Magic Classics' said."

  After school, Xie Yuxiao returned home with Erhu, and secretly squeezed another drop of blood in Erhu's room. After configuring a bottle of so-called holy water, he called Erhu in.

  Two Tigers looked at the Holy Water and laughed: "You cheated me, it's not worth it. You said that the Holy Water was difficult to mix, but you finished in two minutes."

  Xie Yuxiao wanted to laugh, but suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and blurred vision. She grasped the table: "Go, take this holy water to your dad, then quickly send me back home."

  "Alright, alright!" The two tigers looked at Xie Yu Xiao who almost fainted and were also startled. They quickly sent the holy water to their father and then ran back.

  Xie Yu Xiao's eyes lost their luster, and his eye sockets seemed to have sunken in. The two tigers were at a loss, anxiously pacing back and forth.

  "What's the panic? Carry me back." Xie Yu Xiao said weakly.

  Two tigers, two words not spoken, carried Xie Yu Xiao and left. Almost home, Xie Yu Xiao raised his eyes to see Old Xie walking from the direction of his house, and habitually opened his mouth to call out "Village Head Uncle is well", but this voice was so small that even he himself couldn't hear it.

  He saw from afar and the old, frail figure suddenly quickened its pace, taking only two steps to reach in front of Er Hu. He stretched out two fingers to probe at Xie Yu's wrist and said to Er Hu: "Take him back to Uncle's house, quickly."

  The two tigers then hurriedly carried Xie Yu back to the Xie's old house and put him on the kang.

  "Second Brother Tiger, Rainy Brother, what's going on?"

  A pair of twin sisters standing in front of the kang asked Erhu in unison.

  These twin sisters were raised by Old Xie since they were young, the one with braids is called Xi Yu, and the one with loose hair is called Xi Ting, both of them are pretty and well-behaved.

  "They... I..." The two tigers stuttered and stumbled over their words, unsure of what to say or where to begin.

  "Second Tiger, you go back first, don't worry, he'll be fine after a rest."

  "Well... I'll be off then."

  Two tigers have left, Xie Lao looked at Xie Yu Xiao and muttered to himself: "Blood, indeed it's blood, how could the loss of blood be so severe?"

  Xie Yu Xiao opened his mouth and Xie Lao leaned in with his ear.

  "Wolf blood, wolf blood, twenty thousand drops." Xie Yu Xiao dazedly thought of wolf blood and said it out loud without considering whether the wolf blood would match or be useful. As soon as Old Xie heard "wolf blood", he told Xi Yue and Xi Ting beside him: "You two carry a bucket and go to the back mountain to catch a few wolves, fill the bucket with wolf blood and come back."

  "Alright, let's go."

  Xi Yu and Xi Ting, a pair of twins, immediately went out.

  Xie Lao gazed at Xie Yu Xiao, who was unconscious and unresponsive. His eyes became distant and his mouth murmured: "On the Blood Demon Peak, blood rain floats, emotions like blood, sword like soul. Turning hatred into stone, wind erosion is hard to erase, pointing to the sky for a thousand years. In front of the Washing Heart Cliff, a lonely Chu Ying, empty and self-guarding, already a thousand years. When the song floats in intoxication, the sword intention points towards the moon shadow, the heart guards the stone opening."