Chapter 9 – The Cultivation of the Secret Code for Sacred Blood (1/2)

Chapter 9 - The Cultivation of the Secret Code for Sacred Blood

Three days later, in a small room in one of the small eastern courtyards. It was almost dusk.

- Tick! Tick! -

Qinghan quietly sat on his bed, with his eyes closed and his sleeves rolled up to over his elbows. His right hand held his left one in a balanced position, ensuring that his scarlet red blood would drop into the barrel.

Right under his left hand, there stood a black wooden barrel, the bottom of which was almost completely covered up with blood. Judging from a simple glance, it was well over a liter.

At this time of day, the hustles and bustles in the Ye Castle had already faded into utter tranquility. Outside the window, the moon hang in the middle of the sky, emitting its silver rays all over the courtyard.

Having a deep and long sigh, Qinghan felt dizzy, while his face had long gone as pale as white paper. He snatched a nearby bandage and wrapped it around the wound, hoping that it would quicken the healing process. Looking at the blood-filled barrel, he estimated that it was roughly enough. He then shoved the barrel underneath his bed, before moving into bed himself. Out of sheer exhaustion, Qinghan lied almost paralyzed in his bed, as it only took him a couple of minutes to fall into a deep slumber.

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly outside.

“Brother, what happened? Wake up!”

When she had opened her brother’s door, the smell of blood had instantly caught Qingyu’s attention. Walking closer, she had seen the blood-stained bandages on Qinghan’s left hand, which had eclipsed her composed expression. She hastily shook her brother, frantically hoping that he was still alive.

“Er?” Qinghan opened his sleepy eyes, while he still felt lightheaded. Being giddy and wobbly, he couldn’t even identify where he was. Therefore, he closed his eyes once again to refresh his spirit. “Sister, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I just… Lost some blood. Don’t make a fuss about it...”

“But… You look so weak…”

“Hey, listen to me. I’m ok. I just feel a little bit tired and I need a good night’s rest.” He didn’t want to upset his sister because of his secret, yet brutal method. So he managed a smile and lied to his sister.

Once his sister was coaxed away by his consoling words, Qinghan was determined to continue with the next step – Enriching the blood.

By rubbing his temples on both sides of his head, he focussed himself a little bit. Despite the fact that he was still weak in the knees, he pulled himself together and took the barrel out from underneath his bed. He then brought it outside, before he started pouring the blood away.

…...

Walking through several streets, Qinghan finally arrived at the bazaar of Grey City. Here he bought several kilograms of animal liver, as well as some special medicines as per required for the Secret Code for Sacred Blood.

Qinghan grinded the livers into small bits and pieces and mingled it with the medicine powder.

“Is… Is this stuff really edible?”

Staring at the bloody mixture of liver and medicine, Qinghan felt as if something was rolling over and over in his stomach. He couldn’t stand the color, nor the smell of the liver, which made him want to vomit. How could he possibly eat this mixture raw?

“Errrrr...”

Qinghan closed his eyes before he randomly snatched up some of it and put it into his mouth. He swallowed it up almost instantly, hoping that he wouldn’t have to experience the taste. Unfortunately, however, a second later, everything he had stuffed into his mouth was thrown up over his bedroom floor.

“What do I do? This stuff is disgusting!”

It was clearly enunciated in the Secret Code that the second step was decisive in the whole process. Yesterday, he had already lost a fourth of his blood; if he didn’t replenish it with the required nourishments, his health would be permanently damaged. Actually, the first two steps, bloodletting and enriching the blood served as a prerequisite for the third step - refining the blood. In the third step, the blood would be renewed and improved, in a way that the less purified parts would be discarded and the sacred parts would be reserved. This was the most effective way to increase the density of the sacred blood.

“I have no choice!”

“I have to eat it!”