## Chapter 22: The Blood of Tushan, A Lifeline - Ah? The Wives I Abandoned Turned Out to Be Real

## Chapter 22: The Blood of Tushan, A Lifeline [As you arrive at the Blood Hunt Arena, you find someone engaged in combat with a ferocious beast in the blood-soaked battleground.] [The arena is a vast expanse comparable in size to two football fields, surrounded by dozens of enormous bronze cauldrons.] [These cauldrons aren't just for confining the creatures and people, preventing them from escaping; inside them lie the cooked remains of fallen beasts and humans, sacrifices to the ancestors and spirits.] [The spectators seated on the high platforms around are predominantly bored nobles and some affluent commoners.] [Only by witnessing the raw violence here can they find some thrill in their mundane lives.] [Naturally, this has even led to a gambling scene, where the most precious currency, the shell jade, is wagered in heaps as high as small mountains.] [Initially, you find yourself imprisoned with a group of other slaves, all of whom wear expressions of utter despair, gazing blankly even as you’re thrown in with them.] [At this moment, it’s clear to you that any chance of escape has vanished.] [Soon enough, the blood duel begins.] [Thunderous cheers erupt from the surrounding platforms as you and nine other slaves are pushed into the arena.] [The moment your foot touches the ground of this battlefield, it feels as if the earth is made of mounds of flesh.] [Years of decay and rot have filled the arena with a nauseating stench, flies and mosquitoes swarming everywhere, with some even recklessly landing on your face.] [With a roar, the creature you're up against with the others appears.] [A Zhēng, a beast from Mount Zhang'e, resembling a red leopard with five tails and a horn, its cry like the clash of stones.] [The beast has devoured hundreds of slave bodies, its own hardened with dense scales, and the audience watches in exhilaration.] [A mound of bets glitters within a cauldron, promising the spectators a substantial payoff.] [In this moment, bloodlust, greed, and the heat of combat dominate their minds.] [Inside the arena.] [You note that the Zhēng seems to possess intelligence, refraining from attacking you and the other slaves initially.] [Instead, it circles, toying with you, heightening the pressure and terror, causing two slaves to collapse in fear.] [The impatience of the noble audience grows.] "Attack! Devour them already!" [They shout while tossing chunks of dried meat into the arena, some even striking the beast directly.] "Roar!" [The Zhēng glares at the spectators but quickly shifts focus, altering its strategy and charging at you and the other slaves.] [Everyone else flees, leaving you alone in its path.] [The tension peaks.] [Every eye is on you, red-faced and eager for your dismemberment by the Zhēng.] [But you defy them.] [Instead of tearing you apart, the Zhēng finds you atop its back.] [Your feat leaves the audience in disbelief.] [They cannot comprehend when such a powerful slave was introduced.] [The Zhēng, in defense, leaps wildly, trying to shake you off while releasing a thick violet mist, suffusing the air with stench, your skin tinged with an unnatural purple-red hue.] [Despite its strength, your arms remain like a vice around its neck, its frantic struggles fueled by suffocation.] [Even with the strength of a bull, the Zhēng's might tests your limits.] [Perhaps it’s a trick of the eye.] [From the corner of your sight, you catch an unexpected figure in the audience.] [A woman veiled in a black robe, save for a pair of stunning eyes.] [It's her—Daji.] [Here, having abandoned you, now watching your struggle in the blood match.] [Anger floods you, yet there’s nothing you can do.] [You channel this fury into subduing the Zhēng.] [Under your hold, the Zhēng gradually weakens.] [The victory is yours.] [Outraged, the audience demands retribution for what they deem an impossible outcome.] "Execute him!" "Execute him!" "Execute him!" [Upon dismounting, the Zhēng's poison seizes your body.] [You collapse into unconsciousness.] Su Mo plunges into darkness. Light gradually seeps back in, revealing a familiar room in the palace, far from the slave encampment. This sight surprises Su Mo. Has Daji fetched him again? Her actions are baffling; perhaps she's displeased with his defiance in the simulation, using this as a reprimand. ... [Upon waking, you find the familiar weight of a bronze collar around your neck.] [The surroundings stir confusion within you.] [You remember passing out in the arena.] [According to tradition, whether dead or alive, you should have been sacrificed, boiled in a cauldron until nothing remained.] [As awareness returns, Daji enters, wearing a red silk cloak, her presence vibrant compared to before.] [Her lashes flutter at the sight of you.] "Awake?" "Follow me." [Without elaboration, she departs.] [Still weak, you have no choice but to follow her into a palace she resides in, yet one you’ve never entered.] [Inside, you encounter a stark scene: four supporting columns, nine bronze cauldrons, and a crystal coffin.] [The cauldrons bear fearsome patterns of Taotie, eyes seeming to ooze some unknown substance.] [Why such ominous motifs are engraved upon them eludes you.] [Within the crystal coffin lies a person.] [His chest encrusted with blood-red crystals, as though rubies flow from his heart.] [Despite the decade since your last encounter, the identity is unmistakable: King Di Xin of Shang.] [It's shocking to see him in a coma, ensconced here, sustained by mysterious means.] [As you ponder this, Daji stands by the coffin, slitting her wrist with a bone knife, allowing blood to drip onto King Di Xin’s chest, staining it crimson.] [Noticing your bewilderment, Daji offers a soft smile.] "Tushan's blood grants life anew." (End of Chapter)