Chapter 16.1: Birth (Part 11) Completion

Xu Qianyu had no time to react before the world spun around her, and she found herself pinned beneath someone. At the same time, the smoky black mist swirling on the ground erupted alongside the golden light from Shen Suwei’s sleeves.

The demon, not yet having formed a human shape, was perhaps the most miserable one in all of Nanling: its front half was instantly devoured by demonic energy, while the back half was burned to ashes by a sword’s shadow. Before it could even let out a scream, it vanished into thin air, leaving only a few embers drifting slowly upwards.

Xie Yuzhen found it difficult to explain his actions of protecting Xu Qianyu just now. The young lady was so willful that her death would have been a relief. But perhaps because no demon could run rampant and snatch food in front of the demon king, he felt a surge of bloodlust and hostility in that moment. Unfortunately, Lady Wang acted too quickly; he had only devoured half of the demonic energy and wasn’t fully sated.

He tilted his head, slowly looking down at the person beneath him. The sweet scent in his arms suddenly became a hundred times more enticing, making him ravenously hungry and straining to restrain himself.

The young lady stared at him, her face turning pale.

To Xu Qianyu, the person pinning her down, Xiao Yi, had black mist rising from both shoulders, and the color of his eyes had become as horrifying as the blood swallow in her grandfather’s bowl. In that moment, she even forgot the word “demon.” She had only seen someone like him once before; the only term that could describe such a scene was:

“Xie Yuzhen…”

At that moment, it felt as if she had returned to the icy cold stream, a sharp pain instantly spreading from her chest throughout her limbs. She knew she wasn’t hurt at all; it was merely a “phantom pain” caused by excessive fright. Yet she couldn’t control her trembling, weakened body, lying stiffly on the ground, unable to move her fingertips or even cry out.

After a long while, she finally felt her fingers, as well as the jade cleansing bottle still gripped in her right hand. With great effort, she managed to turn it over, gripping the neck tightly, and she swung it fiercely toward Xiao Yi’s face.

Help!

Before the bottle could even get close to the demon king, it turned to powder. But then, a force like a hurricane pushed her away, sweeping her off her feet. Xu Qianyu didn’t know if it was Xiao Yi who pushed her out, someone else pulling her away, or if she herself had rolled away in panic. In any case, in the blink of an eye, that black mist suddenly drifted far away.

She lay against soft fabric, her nose filled with an unfamiliar magnolia scent. Above her was the same fragrance, and her blurred vision saw a drooping white, which looked like a sleeve.

Xu Qianyu came to her senses and realized she had rolled to Lady Wang’s side.

However, Xie Yuzhen did not chase after her. He stared blankly at the ground. Suddenly, the young lady uttered those three words, sounding like a decree from the heavens. He murmured, “You know my name? You recognize me?”

In his mind, a voice suddenly echoed, calling his name. But the voice did not belong to the young lady; it was from another girl.

As that voice resonated, something rolled down in front of him and fell.

That sudden pain felt like a piece of flesh being torn away from him.

His expression remained impassive for a long while as he looked down.

The edge of the cliff was covered in bright white snow, with round blood spots like red plums on paper. The cliff below was bottomless, only the heavy shadows of pines visible amidst the vast mist.

He suspected Xu Qianyu knew something, and that black mist turned to rush towards her. “Who is she?”

What relationship did the girl who called his name have with him?

However, before he could get close, Xu Jiansu suddenly heard Shen Suwei’s voice: “Second Senior Brother has a significant accomplishment behind him; why bother entangling with me?” Before Xu Jiansu could finish processing the message, she turned abruptly, and Xu Qianyu watched helplessly as Xiao Yi was pierced by Xu Jiansu’s sword.

That sword was Xu Jiansu’s Lingbo Sword. Black and red, it was entirely made of intertwining, hollowed vines, with each leaf forming a sharp point—a stunning and bloodthirsty design. With a swift backhand, the revealed form of Xiao Yi was pierced through like a paper figure, sticking him to the floor.

Yet, Xiao Yi looked down at the hole in his body, still showing no expression. He was like a wisp of smoke given form, dispersing into two paths from the wound. Then, his physical form vanished completely, turning into black mist that flowed past the sword, rushing away into the air and out through a window.

“Still dare to run?” Xu Jiansu transformed into a shadow and swiftly pursued.

The temple became eerily quiet. Xu Qianyu lay on the ground, her ears ringing, heart pounding as if waking from a dream, pounding uncomfortably.

Her mind was in disarray, struggling to understand how she could see someone in reality who resembled her Second Senior Brother from her dreams, who even wielded the same Lingbo Sword.

Could it be that everything the wild spirit said was true?

So, was her current life a lie?

She felt a bit sad. She didn’t know if it was due to Xiao Yi’s betrayal or his revealing his demonic form that caused her to revisit the scenes from her dream.

Xu Qianyu suddenly felt a profound emptiness and loneliness. After the night’s events, even the temporary joy brought by the stand-in Bodhisattva faded; she quickly got up, brushed off her skirt, wanting to go home, take a bath, and lie under her blanket.

It was still a few hours until dawn, and she felt she had fulfilled her duties. It seemed unlikely that anyone else would come during the latter half of the night.

However, after taking two steps, she felt herself being tugged by a force. She turned back to see her skirt belt taut, forming a diagonal angle, pulling her back. The other end was beneath Lady Wang’s skirt.

It seemed that just now, as they rolled, their clothing intertwined. Her skirt ribbon came undone, and in a panic, she called out for Lady Wang to hold it down.

Xu Qianyu tried to tug on the skirt ribbon with her hand a couple of times but couldn’t pull it out. The ribbon was sewn onto the skirt and couldn’t be removed; she had no knife or iron to cut it. She didn’t want to disturb Lady Wang, lest it alarm the room full of demon hunters, so she tried tugging again, but it wouldn’t budge. Bending down, she bit at it a couple of times, but it didn’t break. Frustrated, she waved her hand in front of her veil and said in a hushed voice:

“Lady.”

“Lady…”

“Hey.”

“Ah!”

Lady Wang sat silently in place, showing no reaction, as if she were asleep.

But just a moment ago, when Xu Jiansu was rough with her, hadn’t she moved? He had pulled out his knife to slay the demons, making quite a commotion—how could she possibly be sleeping? Perhaps she was timid and cowardly, concerned about her reputation, fearing that if she woke up, she wouldn’t be able to explain, so she pretended to remain asleep from start to finish, wanting to avoid the situation.

Xu Qianyu coldly stared at Lady Wang.

How could there be such a person? If it weren’t to save her, she wouldn’t have fallen from the lotus platform, nor would she have nearly been eaten by a demon. Not only did she fail to say thank you, but she didn’t even dare to open her eyes or respond.

Thinking of this, all her grievances from the night transformed into anger. Expressionless, she stepped in front of Lady Wang, lifted her veil, and leaned in to look at her face.

Shen Suwei’s transformation technique was extremely draining, and Xu Jiansu had been ruthless, tearing at his wound. Just now, he had managed to hold on in front of Xu Jiansu. Now that he was gone and the remaining people in the temple posed no threat, he could finally relax, closing his eyes to regain his breath. A thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead as he bore through the stagnant blood in his meridians.

Suddenly, the veil was lifted, and a gust of wind stirred, causing Shen Suwei to abruptly open his eyes.

The wild fox spirit had pointed ears that lifted the white veil. Backlit by the dim light, it revealed a youthful girl’s charming face, with red-tipped eyes and an alluring makeup that made her appear both human and beast. On her forehead, a dignified bodhi flower was painted, yet her eyes held a fierce glint, an uncanny sight. Through her teeth, she squeezed out a threatening statement: “Did you hear? You pressed down the bodhisattva’s skirt ribbon!”

“…”

Xu Qianyu called for Lady Wang to look up, but she was stunned.

Lady Wang was about twenty, her face lightly adorned with makeup, appearing almost plain. Yet her eyes were exceedingly calm. There was not a hint of shyness or fear in them; when she glanced over, her gaze was cold and devoid of emotion.

Such clean and beautiful eyes, Xu Qianyu had only seen on her senior brother. With just that one glance, Lady Wang immediately exuded a demeanor that was noble and proud, making others dare not desecrate her.

Xu Qianyu was initially taken aback, then felt a sense of embarrassment between women, so she forcefully lowered the white veil. She thought to herself that it was all the fault of Guan Niang for telling her the purpose of the veil, making her suspicious, wondering if Lady Wang, who wore a white veil all day, was afraid that the world would find her unattractive.

Just then, Lady Wang moved, and Xu Qianyu withdrew the skirt ribbon to leave. But Lady Wang suddenly grabbed her sleeve from behind.

At that moment, all the demon hunters woke up in shock. Compared to the presence of a girl in the temple, they were more horrified by the scene of shattered windows and the chaos inside.

“Just now, a cultivator came by, claiming to be from the celestial sect,” Lady Wang timely said, “and has slain the demons before leaving.”

“Oh!” The demon hunters looked at each other in realization, their expressions falling. It was normal for a mysterious and proud cultivator from the celestial sect to defeat them and leave, but to have squatted for so long only to end up empty-handed was truly regrettable. However, how could they compare to the cultivators? They could only sigh and lament their bad luck.

Lady Wang gently tugged Xu Qianyu’s sleeve and stood up, lightly wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Unintentionally, her sleeve covered most of Xu Qianyu’s face: “My maid has already come to thank you, esteemed sirs, for staying. It’s late, and we shall take our leave. We’re heading back.”

Upon hearing that someone dared to consider her a “maid,” Xu Qianyu felt a surge of anger. But after a moment’s thought, realizing Lady Wang was likely eager to leave and she too wanted to go home, their intentions aligned. She accepted it expressionlessly, deciding to address it later.