Mortal Dawn and Dusk, My Eternal Life - Chapter 17

A-Mu ultimately couldn’t escape Qingyun Temple’s pursuit. On a stormy night, he was cornered in a dilapidated temple by several nimble Daoists from Qingyun Temple. Despite his desperate resistance, even unleashing some superhuman strength in a critical moment, two fists were no match for four hands. He was tightly bound with specially made ropes by the Daoists and escorted back to Qingyun Temple deep in the mountains.

Qingyun Temple, rather than a Daoist temple, was more like a heavily guarded prison. The pavilions and terraces within the temple were well-constructed, but underground, there were secret tunnels. These tunnels connected directly to the underground area of the Huang Mansion’s dry well. The air was filled with a strong smell of herbs and an indescribably strange odor that made one nauseous. Patrols of Daoists could be seen everywhere, their eyes vigilant, swords at their waists, completely devoid of the compassion expected of renunciates.

A-Mu was taken directly to a dark, damp secret chamber. The chamber walls were covered with various bizarre torture instruments, emitting a chilling metallic glint. The abbot of Qingyun Temple, a gaunt-faced old Daoist with sinister eyes, was already waiting there. He saw A-Mu being led in, and his cloudy eyes gleamed with greedy and excited light, like a hungry wolf seeing its prey.

“You, are you the one rumored to be immortal?” The old Daoist’s voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. He scrutinized A-Mu up and down, his gaze like that of someone examining a rare treasure.

A-Mu looked at him coldly, saying nothing. Years of wandering and being ostracized had taught him to protect himself with silence.

The old Daoist didn’t care about A-Mu’s attitude. He gestured to the Daoists beside him. Several Daoists immediately stepped forward, roughly pushing A-Mu onto a cold stone bed, securing his hands and feet firmly with iron chains.

“Abbot, the person is subdued,” a Daoist bowed and reported.

The old Daoist nodded in satisfaction, then took out a set of glittering silver needles and several transparent glass bottles from a nearby wooden box.

“Since you won’t speak, then this humble Daoist will obtain the evidence myself.” The old Daoist smiled sinisterly, picked up a long, slender silver needle, and unhesitatingly pierced A-Mu’s arm.

Bright red blood slowly flowed along the silver needle, dripping into the glass bottle below. Modern Su Mingyue’s consciousness clearly felt the pain of the cold needle piercing the skin, as well as the weakness from the blood leaving the body. A surge of anger rose in her heart; she wished she could rush out immediately and tear these hypocritical scoundrels to shreds! But she knew that she was currently only an observer, a soul trapped in A-Mu’s memory, completely unable to intervene in anything happening here.

The old Daoist carefully collected A-Mu’s blood, then held it under the light for close observation. He also sniffed it, and his brow gradually furrowed.

“Hmm? This blood… seems no different from that of an ordinary person?” he muttered, a hint of confusion on his face. He then ordered his men to bring some ordinary blood samples for comparison, and the result was that A-Mu’s blood, apart from being slightly redder, had no significant difference in smell, viscosity, or other aspects from ordinary human blood.

“Impossible!” The old Daoist was somewhat unwilling to accept this. He then picked up a sharp small knife and lightly cut A-Mu’s arm. Blood gushed out again. The old Daoist stared intently at the wound, expecting to see a miracle of instantaneous healing as in the legends. However, time passed second by second. Although the wound on A-Mu’s arm slowly stopped bleeding and scabbed over, its healing speed was no different from that of an ordinary person; in fact, it was even slower due to his physical weakness.

“How could this be?” The old Daoist’s confusion turned into despair, and then into a hint of annoyance. He had thought he had caught a living “elixir of immortality,” but he hadn’t expected the other party’s bodily reactions to be identical to an ordinary person’s! Could the rumors be false? Or was this boy hiding some secret?

Su Mingyue, through A-Mu’s perspective, watched the old Daoist’s changing expression, her heart filled with understanding. It seemed that the drop of blood she had unknowingly given to A-Mu back then, although it bestowed upon him eternal life and ageless beauty, did not completely replicate her ability for instantaneous self-healing or the pure yang power contained in her blood. Perhaps it was because the amount of blood was too small, or perhaps because A-Mu was merely a mortal and couldn’t fully bear the enormous energy within her blood. In short, apart from not aging and not dying naturally, A-Mu’s body, in other respects, was no different from an ordinary person’s. This meant he would get injured, bleed, feel pain, and even… if he lost too much blood or suffered a fatal wound, he would “die”—of course, this “death” might only be temporary, and he would eventually “resurrect” due to the immortal quality in his blood, but this process would undoubtedly be painful and prolonged.

“It seems my blood has only brought you endless longevity,” Su Mingyue sighed softly within A-Mu’s consciousness. “Other than that, you are no different from an ordinary person. Is this a blessing or a misfortune?”

The old Daoist clearly didn’t believe this result. He believed that a person capable of eternal life must possess extraordinary physical characteristics. He began to conduct more frequent and cruel “experiments” on A-Mu. Every day, Daoists would come to draw A-Mu’s blood, observing his bodily reactions. They inflicted various wounds on him, testing his healing abilities. They fed him various elixirs and poisonous herbs, observing whether his body would have any special reactions.

Long-term torture and blood loss made A-Mu’s body grow weaker and weaker. His face was as pale as paper, his lips cracked, and his eyes grew dim. He was barely clinging to life, as if he could die at any moment. But he always gritted his teeth, not uttering a single sound.

The old Daoist looked at A-Mu’s appearance, his doubts deepening. How could a person of eternal life be so fragile? This completely contradicted his understanding!

“Boy, what secret do you have?” The old Daoist finally lost his patience. He walked up to A-Mu, his eyes cold as he stared at him. “How did you obtain your ageless and immortal ability? Tell me, and this humble Daoist can spare your life, or even take you as a disciple and teach you the true path to eternal life!” The old Daoist knew soul-searching secret arts, but alas, his body couldn’t support him in performing such a spell!

A-Mu slowly opened his eyes, weakly glancing at the old Daoist, his eyes filled with disdain and… a hint of deep sorrow. He did not answer. He knew that once he spoke of the “fairy sister” from back then, these greedy Daoists would definitely try everything to find her and harm her. He would absolutely not allow this to happen! The “fairy sister” who saved his life and gave him a second chance at life was the most sacred existence in his heart, not to be desecrated by anyone! Even if he had to endure greater pain, he would protect this secret.

“You won’t take the polite offer, so you’ll take the punishment!” The old Daoist, seeing A-Mu ignore him, immediately flew into a rage. “Guards! Torture him! I want to see whose bones are harder, his or my torture instruments!”

Immediately, several Daoists stepped forward with sinister smiles, applying red-hot branding irons, barbed leather whips, and other torture instruments to A-Mu’s body one by one.

Excruciating pain, like a tidal wave, instantly overwhelmed A-Mu’s body. His body trembled violently, beads of sweat the size of beans seeped from his forehead, and his teeth bit into his lips, drawing blood. But he still stubbornly gritted his teeth, not uttering a single groan.

This intense pain also clearly transferred to modern Su Mingyue’s consciousness. She felt as if she were personally experiencing all of it, feeling the pain of flesh being torn and bones being shattered. Her heart was bleeding, her soul trembling.

“Tell him! A-Mu! Tell him!” Su Mingyue screamed frantically within A-Mu’s consciousness. “Why are you so foolish! Why are you enduring such pain for me! This way you won’t have to suffer this physical torment!” She would rather expose herself again than see this innocent life suffer such inhuman torture because of her.

However, her shouts were merely self-talk within her consciousness; A-Mu couldn’t hear them at all. He still endured everything silently with his frail body, guarding the only secret in his heart.

“Abbot! Abbot! You can’t beat him anymore!” A younger Daoist beside him, seeing A-Mu on the verge of death, felt some reluctance and worry. He quickly stepped forward to dissuade him: “If you continue, this boy will die! If he dies, we’ll get nothing!”

The old Daoist also noticed A-Mu’s aura growing weaker and weaker. If he continued, he truly might kill this “immortal specimen.” Although he was cruel, he also knew when to stop. He glared fiercely at A-Mu, panting: “Hmph! Consider yourself lucky, boy! Lock him up! Starve him for a few days, thirst him for a few days, let’s see if he’s still stubborn!”

Several Daoists clumsily untied the already unconscious A-Mu from the torture rack and, like dragging a dead dog, dragged him back to the dark, damp secret chamber. The heavy stone door of the secret chamber closed with a thud.

Darkness once again enveloped everything. Only Su Mingyue’s heart remained, violently trembling with anger, heartache, and helplessness.