Ten Day Ultimatum

“Ah um, yes.” Cui Fourteen nodded and said somewhat hesitantly. “Even {Earthly Branches} die when they lose their head... but Ten ge should be fine.”

Hearing this, Chen Junnan could only force himself to glance back at Jiang Ten, though the scene remained puzzling.

Not a drop of blood had spilled.

A few seconds later, the slumped Jiang Ten began to move his hands slightly, searching over his body as if seeking something. In no time, his hands found his nearly detached head.

“Hooah...” Jiang Ten’s voice echoed from his throat. “So much strength... my head was completely knocked off...”

Chen Junnan and Terrestrial Rabbit both gaped in astonishment.

Jiang Ten’s hands repeatedly explored his head, attempting to reconnect his head to his body, but each attempt failed. That made sense afterall, human joints were not puzzle pieces; once severed, they cannot be forced back together.

“The hit... wasn’t light at all...” Jiang Ten muttered, supporting his head with one hand while bracing himself with the other to stand. “What do I do now... go see Five ge like this?”

“Hey... k-kid...” Chen Junnan called out in disbelief. “You’re really okay?”

Jiang Ten turned his head back in a grotesque motion. Without much tension from his neck muscles and skin, his head swung uncontrollably, spinning an extra half-turn before he managed to stabilize it.

“I’m fine, Idiot Captain,” Jiang Ten replied, adjusting his head. “It’s just a bit inconvenient... I can’t free my hands... I have to keep holding it...”

It was then Chen Junnan noticed that the left side of Jiang Ten’s face had completely caved in. The skin and muscle were gone, revealing pale yellow bone beneath.

“Uh...” Chen Junnan swallowed hard. “That’s g–good to know... as long as you’re okay... You should take care of yourself... your complexion doesn’t look great...”

“Complexion?” Jiang Ten reached up with his other hand to touch the half of his face that was completely battered. “How am I supposed to have a complexion now?”

Before he could finish, Terrestrial Rabbit had already struck again, his resolve steeled. No matter what this child truly was, as long as he was human, he was meant to die.

As the punch swung toward him, Chen Junnan shouted, {Watch out!} and Jiang Ten immediately reacted, slightly dodging to the side before executing another one of his signature back handsprings.

He arched his body backward, hands bracing the ground, but this time the maneuver was awkward. Though he avoided Terrestrial Rabbit’s attack, gravity performed, and his head smacked the ground.

Before he could finish the handspring, Jiang Ten let out a muffled grunt and toppled to the side.

Each time, Chen Junnan feared he had died—but somehow, he hadn’t.

Terrestrial Rabbit’s expression darkened. The child’s neck was clearly broken; it was already bizarre he could still speak, but why was he still attempting to execute back handsprings?

Who in their right mind attempts a back handspring with a broken neck?

“Ouch...that really hurt...” Jiang Ten lay on the ground, cradling his head. “You, rabbit demon, are downright reckless... They say ‘sweep the ground with care not to injure the lives of ants; veil the lamp with gauze out of pity for the moths*’... my head’s off and you still won’t give up... I’ll definitely find that demon-slaying Daoist and have you—”

(TLN: Adapted from a line spoken by Tang Sanzang while admonishing Sun Wukong in ‘Journey to the West’. Through vivid imagery, it expresses Tang Monk’s ideal of boundless compassion and the Buddhist precept of ‘non-killing’. At the same time, the novel uses the repeated failures of this indiscriminate mercy to create a pointed, often ironic satire.)

“Dammit!” Chen Junnan smacked his thigh. “The kid’s been beaten stupid!”

“You’re the stupid one, captain...” Jiang Ten interrupted his muttering, struggling to get up while still supporting his head. “I don’t think I can do back handsprings anymore... my head’s going to fall off...”

“Fall...” Chen Junnan retorted. “It’s not just about falling anymore, is it? Don’t you feel any pain?”

“How could I not feel pain?!” Jiang Ten spun around, tears brimming in his eyes. “My head’s completely off!! You still have the nerve to ask if it hurts?!”

“Y-yeah true...then please take care of your body...”

Terrestrial Rabbit felt as if the mismatched pair were mocking him. He took a deep breath, centering himself, and suddenly swung a horizontal punch toward Jiang Ten’s head.

Quick as lightning, Jiang Ten abandoned his back handspring, hugged his head to his chest, and narrowly avoided the blow.

Terrestrial Rabbit had killed countless people, yet he had never seen such a bizarre evasive maneuver. Who would tuck their head to their chest to dodge an incoming attack?

“Why the head again?” Jiang Ten’s voice came from the head he was cradling, tinged with mild annoyance. “Can’t you aim somewhere else? If my head flies off, it’ll be a huge hassle!”

“You really are a monster...” Terrestrial Rabbit muttered under his breath.

“Enough already!” Chen Junnan added, fanning the flames from the sidelines. “You, a Terrestrial-grade {Earthly Branch}, chasing a child for so long. Since you haven’t killed him by now, just give up. If word gets out, it would be humiliating.”

“No matter...” Terrestrial Rabbit shook his head, eyes cold. “As long as you all die here... no word will ever make it out.”

He stopped wasting words on Jiang Ten and swung an uppercut directly at the head in his arms. This attack was swift and merciless; Jiang Ten had no chance to evade.

{Crack!}

A crisp sound echoed. Jiang Ten’s head lost all connection and was sent flying straight into the ceiling, knocking loose a scatter of dust before falling back down, while his body took two steps forward and calmly caught its own head in its arms.

Both Chen Junnan and Terrestrial Rabbit froze, a mixture of shock and disbelief written across their faces.

Jiang Ten hugged his own head, tenderly wiping his face with one hand. Then, like cradling a basketball, he tucked the head under his arm and turned back toward Terrestrial Rabbit.

“You’re way too strong. Who are you trying to hurt to death...?” Jiang Ten sighed deeply. “I’ve told you so many times not to knock it flying. Why won’t you listen?”

Chen Junnan held his breath, eyes fixed on the torn stump of Jiang Ten’s neck. Only in horror films did one ever see someone walking around holding their own head.

Yet a closer look revealed something deeply unsettling. There was not a single drop of blood on Jiang Ten’s body.

Terrestrial Rabbit had torn the flesh of his neck apart in the most brutal way imaginable, but the wound was pitch-black, resembling neither exposed flesh nor bare bone.

It looked more like the cross-section of a withered, dead tree.

“What kind of {Reverberation} is this...?” Terrestrial Rabbit’s lips trembled as he spoke. “I’ve never seen anything like you.”

“Me?” Jiang Ten blinked. “My ability is pretty special. It has to be used together with Five ge. Otherwise, once my {Reverberation} ends, I’ll die for real. Also, I’ve never really participated in games before, so it’s normal that no one knows about me.”

Hearing this, Chen Junnan finally began to understand.

Song Seven had previously mentioned that Jiang Ten’s ability granted him immortality only for a limited time. It was now clear that this {Reverberation} carried a fatal flaw.

If Chen Junnan’s guess was correct, once the {Reverberation} ended, Jiang Ten’s body would revert to its normal state. At that moment, every fatal injury he had suffered would erupt at once, ending him instantly.

What an absurd {Reverberation}.

His body was neither strengthened nor immune to pain, and he could even be terrified by his own appearance. During the activation of his {Reverberation}, no matter what injuries he sustained, he simply {could not die}.