He Mu calmly looked at Bai Xi before him, as if everything was within his grasp.
"Isn't the Divine Maiden asking the obvious? He specializes in medicine and poison. What can he do to the Divine Maiden? Please rest assured, all I've given you is a muscle-relaxing powder. It will only leave you weak and at the mercy of others. After all, I still need the Divine Maiden's blood for a sacrifice to the heavens, to open the Altar of Heaven and allow the Spirit Realm to return to the human world. Therefore, the Divine Maiden's blood naturally cannot be contaminated by poison."
The dagger in Bai Xi's hand clattered to the ground, and her whole body swayed, leaning against a stone pillar not far away. "You are a descendant of Xuan Ji. What you want to do is to sacrifice me here and open the so-called Altar of Heaven from three hundred years ago?"
He Mu picked up Bai Xi's dropped dagger from the ground, his smile becoming even more pronounced. "Divine Maiden, you are mistaken. I am not a descendant of Xuan Ji. I am Xuan Ji himself."
At these words, Bai Xi's eyes widened. "But your body was clearly at the bottom of the lake in the Ice Ridge Mountains. Have you also been reborn?"
He Mu approached Bai Xi step by step, holding the dagger. "The conditions for rebirth are too harsh. Even if I could find someone like Han Mo, who is willing to sacrifice himself for me like the Divine Maiden, it wouldn't guarantee he could endure the torture, akin to bones being shattered and flesh being gouged out, to forge a blood jade bracelet that nourishes the soul."
Hearing He Mu's words, Bai Xi felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She possessed Han Mo's memories and naturally knew how painful and difficult it was back then. Now, hearing He Mu mention it again, it was as if she saw Han Mo forging the blood jade bracelet all over again.
Seeing Bai Xi's expression, He Mu continued, "So, I used a simpler, more efficient method: possession."
Possession was not an unfamiliar term.
She had heard of it three hundred years ago.
Three hundred years ago, some had said that the continent was once filled with spiritual energy, giving rise to a group of people with spiritual roots who could ascend to immortality by cultivating them. However, to her, those things had always been nothing more than a vague and absurd fairy tale.
But the person before her... actually claimed to have possessed another person's body and thus extended his lifespan!
Bai Xi gritted her teeth. "So, from the moment you guided Han Mo to resurrect me, you had been planning all of this for three hundred years?"
"You speak the truth."
He thrust the dagger fiercely towards Bai Xi, but it did not pierce her body. Instead, it struck the stone pillar to her right, close to her carotid artery, less than a centimeter away.
The dagger was quite sharp, so it penetrated the stone pillar to a depth of about one centimeter.
"On the day you died, I hated the foolish Han Luo and the troublesome Han Mo immensely. I thought my plan was shelved, and I almost decided to destroy the entire Han family, destroy the city at that time, and then take my own life. After all, I had been waiting for this plan for over seven hundred years! But then, Han Mo came to me and said... he was willing to resurrect you at any cost!"
As He Mu spoke, his once ordinary features contorted into a somewhat ferocious expression due to his emotions.
"So, I taught him the method of resurrection, and then waited for him to complete everything. At that time, the body I had possessed was about to fail, unable to bear my soul any longer. So, I chose to take care of him in his final days, gave him my favorite blood butterfly, and made him trust me completely, opening his heart to me. But in reality, the blood butterfly was always my eyes and ears on him, monitoring his every move."
As He Mu spoke these words, Bai Xi's mind was filled with Han Mo's memories.
In her memories, Xuan Ji, the old divine physician, took care of Han Mo, acting as both a mentor and a friend, even providing him with the warmth his own father had never given him. But all of this... was merely a play he orchestrated to use him.
Bai Xi's eyes were tinged with a hint of red. "Xuan Ji, since you have obtained eternal life through possession and are skilled in medicine and poison, completely controlling the destinies of others, why are you still fixated on the Altar of Heaven? And what exactly is the Altar of Heaven? Why do you call me Divine Maiden!"
He Mu toyed with the dagger, standing opposite Bai Xi. "Divine Maiden, you're asking so many questions at once, I don't even know which one to answer first."
Bai Xi looked at the person before her, who appeared gentle but was in reality deranged, calculating, and manipulating everyone with ease. "If you are willing, you can answer them one by one."
He Mu let out a light chuckle. "As expected of the Divine Maiden. Even in such a situation, you remain so imperious. However, I am in a good mood today, and I don't mind answering your questions."
He released the dagger stuck in the pillar, and it fell to the ground with a crisp, clear sound. "The Bai family lineage possesses divine blood, but there can only be one Divine Maiden. Therefore, under the guise of Han Luo, I secretly investigated the Bai family. The first time I saw you, I sensed the spiritual energy around you and knew that you were the reincarnation of the Divine Maiden I had been waiting for seven hundred years. Even without cultivation, you are more powerful than others."
Bai Xi recalled that in her previous life, she wasn't particularly diligent, yet her martial prowess surpassed that of all her brothers.
Her father said she had extraordinary talent, and she, filled with pride in her genius, never imagined it would bring disaster upon the entire Bai family.
He Mu turned and walked towards the dragon-headed sacrificial altar not far away.
"Divine Maiden asks why I am fixated on the Altar of Heaven when I have already gained eternal life through possession. That is because any body obtained through possession can only be used for a maximum of fifteen years. I need to constantly replace bodies to ensure my soul's immortality. I am tired of this. Therefore, I want to open the Altar of Heaven and allow the inherent spiritual energy of this world to return to this place, so I can cultivate here and achieve true eternal life!"
Bai Xi gritted her teeth slightly, looking at the frenzied villain before her, her eyes filled with anger.
He said... a body could only be used for fifteen years at most. Then, how many people had this thousand-year-old monster killed just by possessing bodies? "You say you are tired of changing bodies. You could simply die. There's no need to live in this world and harm others."
He Mu laughed heartily upon hearing this. "Who among the living would want to die? Didn't Han Mo and Han Luo's father, because I told him he was dying, exhaust all his efforts, disregarding his two sons' wishes, to help me complete the Altar of Heaven, hoping to gain a longer lifespan like me?"
Hearing this, Bai Xi's eyes filled with even deeper sorrow.
Her mother, driven mad by her father's actions, poured all her resentment onto him, abused him, and then cried holding him.
Her younger brother, due to their parents' favoritism, was jealous of him since childhood, ostracized him, framed him repeatedly, and schemed to snatch everything from him.
Her father, once showing a sliver of gentleness towards him due to his unusual abilities, then betrayed him by causing the death of his beloved's entire family, creating a deep blood feud between the two families.
And Xuan Ji, under the guise of resurrecting him, had designed and exploited him step by step...
Han Mo's life was truly blameless towards anyone, yet he was exploited and schemed against by those he had given his true heart to, a life absurd and desolate.
Now, he was dead, sacrificing himself to save her, but he didn't know... this was all part of Xuan Ji's meticulously laid plan.
Bai Xi fell silent, simply watching Xuan Ji, her gaze growing colder, the killing intent in her eyes intensifying.
Xuan Ji chuckled. "Divine Maiden asks me to sacrifice myself for righteousness, surely she has already enlightened herself. Now is the time for the Divine Maiden to sacrifice herself for righteousness. Rest assured, after the Divine Maiden returns to the heavens, I will certainly cultivate into an immortal and become the last person to ascend."
Saying this, he pulled out a long, sharp hook from the mouth of a dragon head and walked towards Bai Xi step by step. The hook could easily pierce Bai Xi's collarbone, hoist her up, and allow him to draw her blood.
Unknowingly, he had already stood before Bai Xi. The hook needed only an instant to pierce the body before him.
But at this very moment, the person before him suddenly vanished, leaving only the hole marked by the dagger's impact.
Xuan Ji's eyes widened in disbelief.
Where did she go? How was this possible?
Just then, he suddenly heard Bai Xi's icy voice from behind him, "Sacrificing oneself for righteousness is acceptable, but sacrificing oneself to feed a demon is not! Xuan Ji, you have fallen into demonic ways. This God of War will now execute you!"