Chapter 4

There’s Still A Long Life Ahead, So Death Is Not Imminent

Yu Pei heard a faint sound, followed by the rustling of fabric.

She slightly lifted her eyelids and, through the blurred gap, saw Chi Shu half-squatting in front of Jiang Yuan.

Chi Shu extended a finger and manipulated a strand of spiritual energy that entered Jiang Yuan’s forehead, seemingly searching for something.

It appeared that he was suspecting someone had intruded into the stone pavilion.

The heart of the Su Zhan had already been rumored to be a treasure that could enhance cultivation, and many evil cultivators were eager to infiltrate Demon God Mountain.

However, once one got too close to the stone pavilion, their excessive spiritual power would inevitably leave spiritual traces on the intruder’s body.

This was indeed a good method.

Even though Yu Pei had separated her soul from her body, spiritual traces were still attached to her, making them hard to dissipate in a short time.

As long as Chi Shu used spiritual energy to detect, he would notice she had been to the stone pavilion.

She shifted her gaze to the door.

Running was definitely not an option.

Although she still needed to keep drawing attack points from Chi Shu, if they became enemies, it would be troublesome.

Besides, he was guarding the heart of Su Zhan. If she angered him, it would be even harder to see the heart again in the future.

In the brief moment of thought, Chi Shu had already retracted his hand and moved to stand in front of Wen Yunhe.

If escape was impossible, then only one path remained.

Yu Pei took a gentle breath and began to circulate her spiritual power, attempting to forcibly devour the spiritual traces attached to her body.

The spiritual stones used to build the stone pavilion were elemental stones, which inevitably clashed with her own spiritual power, leading to considerable side effects.

Yu Pei was prepared to endure the agonizing pain that would consume her heart and bones, but at that moment, she suddenly heard a hearty laugh.

It was the senior brother of the male and female protagonists—the eccentric monk who still smiled while sleeping.

After waking up, he didn’t even seem curious about where he was or why he was bound. He simply glanced at Chi Shu’s half-raised left arm and asked, “Do you usually use your left hand?”

Chi Shu’s expression remained indifferent.

Indeed, he was left-handed.

The senior brother in the green robe took his silence as an acknowledgment and asked, “So you eat with your left hand, write, and draw talismans with it too?”

Chi Shu’s face turned cold, “What if I do? Is there a problem?”

Yu Pei was curious too.

The senior brother in the green robe seemed to be a cultivator of the medical path.

Although Yu Pei noticed that Chi Shu was left-handed, she hadn’t discovered any hidden ailments he might have.

“You’re impressive,” said the senior brother in the green robe seriously. “People like us, ordinary folks, we only use chopsticks to eat and pens to write.”

Chi Shu: “…”

Yu Pei: “…”

She finally remembered.

In The Weakness and Salvation, there were five great families, and the Shen family was one of them. This person should be Shen Zhongyu, the second son of the Shen family. His favorite pastime was telling absurd, cold jokes.

However, she couldn’t quite recall how Shen Zhongyu’s storyline ended.

Meanwhile, Wen Yunhe also slowly woke up.

After a brief daze, his gaze fell on the two of them.

Chi Shu finally reacted and coldly reprimanded, “Absurd!”

Shen Zhongyu: “I haven’t eaten yet.”

Chi Shu furrowed his brow, his expression darkening even further, “Shut up!”

Shen Zhongyu: “I haven’t lived here either.”

“You!” Chi Shu was speechless. His face flushed slightly with anger.

The system, tempted, said, “Your Highness, you should learn from this person. With his methods, you’d gain a lot of attack points.”

Better not.

Every word Shen Zhongyu spoke sent a chill up her spine, colder than the ghost breath.

Shen Zhongyu’s joke didn’t make Chi Shu laugh, but instead, it was Wen Yunhe next to him who suddenly shook his shoulders, unable to stop laughing.

His complexion was already pale, and after a while, his face turned red as he laughed. Due to his weak body, he curled up after laughing for a while and began coughing violently.

Before the coughing ceased, he even vomited several large mouthfuls of blood.

From laughing to coughing and then vomiting blood, it all happened in less than ten seconds.

Yu Pei stood there dumbfounded.

No.

Wait a minute, is this person the male lead?

Chi Shu’s expression also held a subtle hint of astonishment.

It was Shen Zhongyu, who was closer to Wen Yunhe, who showed no sign of urgency at all. In fact, he even had the time to explain to Yu Pei, “My junior brother is impatient and laughs at everything he says.”

This was no longer about temperament, if he kept spewing blood like this, he would surely die!

Shen Zhongyu asked her again, “You are?”

Yu Pei’s attention was still on Wen Yunhe. Distracted, she replied, “Yu… Pei.”

“Yu, Pei.” Shen Zhongyu mimicked her tone, pausing deliberately between the two characters. “I’m Shen Zhongyu—why were you brought here?”

Yu Pei shifted her gaze back. “I was digging spirit stones down the mountain and got tied up… What about the senior brother?”

Shen Zhongyu answered nonchalantly, “Junior Sister Jiang and I were here nearby hunting demons, and we accidentally fell into a spider demon’s trap. My little junior brother came to rescue us, but the ghost official probably thought we were stealing treasures, so he captured the three of us all at once.”

Yu Pei took the chance to ask, “But doesn’t Demon God Mountain have a formation for protection? How did that—” she glanced at the senior brother coughing up blood, “—coughing blood senior brother get in?”

“You’ll have to ask him,” Shen Zhongyu said, casting a glance at Wen Yunhe. “—Look at him, he’s good-looking, even his coughing sounds pleasant. I plan to use a recording pearl to capture a clip. Many disciples in the sect admire him, so I’ll sell it to them. If they can’t get out of bed in the morning, they can play it as encouragement. I’ll price it at one middle-grade spirit stone—what do you think?”

Yu Pei hesitated, “Wouldn’t that be a bit expensive?”

One middle-grade spirit stone could buy two or three good meals.

Shen Zhongyu pondered for a moment.

“Reasonable. How about half a stone?”

Yu Pei thought about it seriously.

With the way he was coughing like a broken gong, she didn’t want to give him even half a stone.

But to keep his enthusiasm up, she said, “Well… I suppose… maybe?”

Meanwhile, Wen Yunhe had gone from coughing up blood to vomiting it.

Unable to bear it any longer, Chi Shu snapped at the Day Patrol: “The Book of Life and Death.”

When the Day Patrol brought the book, Chi Shu stared at Wen Yunhe’s face while flipping through it.

He didn’t stop until he reached a certain page, his expression softening.

His life was still long, so he wasn’t dying just yet.

Yu Pei was quite curious about the Book of Life and Death and asked, “Can it see me too?”

She wasn’t from this world, so she wasn’t sure if the book would even have her.

Chi Shu closed the book with a snap. “No.”

“Why not?” Shen Zhongyu asked. “Is the Book of Life and Death still serialized?”

Chi Shu didn’t even spare him a glance.

Wen Yunhe’s coughing gradually stopped, and Shen Zhongyu suggested, “I practice the path of a healer. How about I untie the rope and treat his injuries?”

Chi Shu opened the Book of Life and Death again.

“No.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he furrowed his brows and glanced at the Day Patrol.

“Untie it.”

After all the commotion, when Chi Shu came to check Yu Pei’s spiritual energy again, the spiritual marks within her had completely disappeared.

But his brow didn’t relax. He asked, “Do you know them?”

Yu Pei shook her head. “I just met them today.”

At that moment, she noticed he seemed to visibly relax.

As if a drifting boat had finally found its harbor, he stepped closer to Yu Pei and said, “This matter was indeed caused by the spider demon’s disturbance, and it was my failure to discern right from wrong that caused you to suffer.”

As he spoke, the Day Patrol stepped forward and took out four embroidered pouches, handing them to them.

Chi Shu said, “Each bag contains one hundred spirit stones, a small token of apology. If you have any requests, I will do my best to fulfill them.”

Shen Zhongyu was already skillfully feeding medicine to Wen Yunhe.

Upon hearing this, he looked up and said, “Spirit stones will be fine, but there is another matter I’d like to ask for help with. We were originally here nearby hunting demons, which is related to whether we can enter the Heavenly Realm Academy. But now that the demon has escaped, it will be difficult to explain this to our master when we return—could we ask you to write a letter to help explain the situation?”

“Of course.” Chi Shu agreed, then turned to look at Yu Pei. “What is it that you seek, fellow Taoist?”

Yu Pei only wanted to ask for a mountain entry token.

But that seemed a bit too direct.

After some thought, she asked, “If the opportunity arises, could we have another match?”

This caught Chi Shu by surprise.

“Why?”

“Earlier, when we competed at the foot of the mountain, we didn’t determine a winner, so I thought to try again.”

A sword strike was worth ten attack points, surely she could earn a bit more, right?

And since he couldn’t leave Demon God Mountain, if they were to compete again, she’d have to go up the mountain.

At that time, she could think of a way to approach that furry little creature.

Chi Shu remained silent.

From the spiritual technique she used at the foot of the mountain, he could already tell that her cultivation wasn’t shallow.

Although young in age, she must have extraordinary talent, and it’s clear she must be someone who studies diligently.

After a long pause, he agreed with a soft “Alright.”

He was deeply focused on cultivation and preferred to associate with those who were diligent.

—

After Wen Yunhe finished his medicine and regained some strength, Chi Shu instructed the Day Patrol to take them down the mountain.

Jiang Yuan was still unconscious, and Wen Yunhe was too weak to move. Shen Zhongyu hesitated for a long time, then suddenly called Yu Pei aside.

“Yu, Pei, Junior Sister, could you help with a small favor?” He lifted his right sleeve, speaking quietly, “I was accidentally bitten by a spider, and the poison hasn’t been cleared yet.”

Yu Pei looked at his right arm, startled.

He spoke in such a casual tone, but the wound was shocking.

Almost his entire arm had turned purple, the bite was swollen, and despite using a hemostatic technique, dark blood was still slowly oozing out.

Strange.

She had a strange sense of familiarity with this.

Shen Zhongyu quickly lowered his sleeve.

He bent slightly, bringing his gaze level with hers.

“Junior Sister, did I scare you? I shouldn’t have let you see it, but I couldn’t let our first meeting end with you thinking I was lying.”

Yu Pei frowned slightly. “You’re badly injured.”

“It just looks bad. I’ve already dealt with it, it’s not a big deal.”

Shen Zhongyu flashed a bright smile—only then did Yu Pei realize he had a sharp canine tooth.

“However, I would appreciate it if you could keep this secret and not tell them—I have a junior who tends to overreact.”

Yu Pei wasn’t used to the closeness of strangers.

She took a small step back before asking, “What exactly do you need help with?”

“I’m poisoned now, and Junior Sister Jiang has many injuries. If I accidentally touch her, the poison could spread to her. Junior Brother Wen is also unable to move, and neither of them can get close to her—could you please help her up?”

Yu Pei: …

So now, she was in the male lead’s storyline?

She patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”

“Thank you.” Shen Zhongyu smiled. “I’ll be sure to invite Junior Sister Yu for a meal sometime.”

Just as he finished speaking, Wen Yunhe behind him asked, “Senior Brother, when do we leave?”

The word “Senior Brother” felt like a silver needle, piercing straight into Yu Pei’s mind.

Some vague, fragmented memories slowly began to intertwine and take shape in her mind.

She remembered.

Yu Pei suddenly looked up, staring at the cheerful smile of Shen Zhongyu in front of her.

Although he hadn’t mentioned his name, the book had clearly given Wen Yunhe’s senior brother his ending—

Slightly lacking in talent, but with a carefree temperament.

He was skilled with the bow, but his right hand was ruined by demonic poison.

He cultivated the way of the healer, yet could not heal himself. The poison struck three times, causing his body to rot and eventually die.

Since being poisoned, he never shot another arrow until his death.