Chapter 148: Snow Demon (Part 7) Cultivation

The bridal hall was covered in frost and snow.

These were the traces left by the uncontrollable spiritual power of an ice and snow sword cultivator.

A wooden sword shattered the window and lodged into the ground. The orange-red fire of the departing flames spread, melting the frost and snow inch by inch, causing the red silk and red flowers of the Demon Palace to gradually ignite.

The young woman sitting expressionlessly on the windowsill wore a bright red riding outfit, her skirt flowing like a fiery flower. A golden sword mark was imprinted on her forehead, too dazzling to look at.

Under the light, Xie Yuzhen squinted his eyes, genuinely feeling the burn of its heat.

The young woman walked closer, and the first thing that brushed his face was a ribbon that moved like swimming fish and dragons. It carried the scorching golden light, turning Xie Yuzhen’s hair into a lighter color.

No, that wasn’t a ribbon—it was sword Qi mingled with departing flames, like a long veil rising from the ground.

The embroidered shoes were just in front of him. Xie Yuzhen endured the searing sword Qi, raising his head.

His gaze landed on the foxtail behind her.

A demon form?

Xu Qianyu raised her sword to Xie Yuzhen’s throat.

Xie Yuzhen looked at the cold and beautiful face of the young woman and felt the surrounding chill: “This time, you’re not here to save me; you’re here to kill me.”

In his mind, the image of Xu Qianyu holding a demon bone and rushing toward him through the rain reappeared.

Xie Yuzhen despaired: “You kill me, but why not kill him?”

“He is not a demon.” Xu Qianyu looked up, searching for someone, but only saw bloodstains and frost, with no sign of Shen Suwei.

Had he hidden away?

Rather than reveal himself, he chose to transform into a woman and avoid meeting her.

Shen Suwei was hidden in the dark cabinet, his eyes tightly closed, struggling to regulate his breathing. His inner demons, like a massive gray cloud, stretched out and filled the entire cabinet.

They slithered like snakes, emerging from under the bright red bridal veil, grinding the phoenix crown into dust, constantly whispering in his ear, “Look at you, half-human, half-ghost. You disgust everyone, yet you still resist? Why not become a demon and carve out another path?”
Xie Yuzhen’s voice echoed from the outside: “Miss, didn’t you hate demons the most? You want to rid the world of them, yet he is also a demon.”

Xu Qianyu drove the wooden sword deep into his neck: “He is a demon, but that doesn’t matter. I will rid the world of all demons, and in the end, I will kill him.”

Her voice rose, pausing at the right moment, sweet and crisp.

Xie Yuzhen’s smile vanished as his lips curled downward. He realized that this sentence wasn’t meant for him but was deliberately meant for someone else to hear.

“Because I have years of affection with him,” Xu Qianyu continued slowly.

Leaning against the wooden cabinet, Shen Suwei froze at the sound of her voice, and the inner demons that had consumed his soul weakened.

“Stop it!” Xie Yuzhen interrupted their conversation, gripping Xu Qianyu’s hand, sneering, “You have affection for him, but what about me? You clearly liked me, so why is it only I who remembers, while you’ve forgotten everything?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Xu Qianyu’s eyes were clouded with a dark tranquility. “I once betrayed my sect for you, just hoping you could stay alive.”

Xie Yuzhen was slightly surprised, for this was the first time Xu Qianyu had calmly discussed this matter with him.

“Before I found you, I exhausted all my spiritual stones and energy and was chased by Elder Hua, leaving scars on my face.” Xu Qianyu lowered her eyes. “I say this so you won’t die without knowing.”

Xie Yuzhen was stunned.

He had no idea.

That moment in his century-long memory had been romanticized into nothing but a shock and the lingering scent he couldn’t forget. He hadn’t even noticed the injury on Xu Qianyu’s face or how messy she was.

“And why did you like me?” Xu Qianyu’s sword tip raised his chin as she spoke coldly. “At that time, I was ordinary, even somewhat annoying—always competitive, never willing to lose.”

Her cultivation was only at the foundation stage. There were plenty of disciples like her in the Penglai Immortal Sect.

Cultivation was a dull process, and yet, at the age of seventeen, when even the weeds wanted to bloom, she saw Lu You join the sect and glimpse a different kind of life.

“I was ordinary, hoping someone would love me and notice me. When you appeared, I liked you. If someone else had appeared, perhaps I would have fallen for them instead.”

Xu Qianyu’s eyes were black and white, and her words were so merciless, so cruel: “At first, you didn’t like me. You looked down on me, treated me as a toy to pass the time, secretly mocking me with Lu You behind my back, but I didn’t know. I was serious about you.”

Xie Yuzhen hesitated. Xu Qianyu’s calm words pierced his heart like a sharp knife, stirring painful emotions.

“Xie Yuzhen, how did you come to like me?”

“You like me only because I was good to you, because you wanted someone to always wait for you, to always save you.” Xu Qianyu’s mind conjured the image of the golden carp swimming around her finger, and she thought how both her previous and this life’s Xie Yuzhen were equally pitiful.

Her sword tip traced down his robes, leaving a fiery orange mark on them. “Even if you repay my kindness with cruelty, even if I must pierce your heart with a sword, I’ll still forgive you.”

“That’s something only mud people would do,” she tightened her grip, the wooden sword piercing Xie Yuzhen’s heart.

“Mortal beings are not mud people.” Xu Qianyu stared at him. “Some things only happen once. If you fall, you’ll break. If it hurts, you’ll learn. I’ve treated you this way. Do you still like me, Xie Yuzhen?”

Xie Yuzhen spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, but he couldn’t move his body. He could only spasm in pain. His dark eyes shifted to Xu Qianyu, and he felt an unfamiliar sensation.

Humiliation. Anger caused by humiliation and helplessness.

In his previous life, when he stabbed Xu Qianyu with a sword, it was because, in the eyes of the Demon King, humans were nothing more than ants—he would have no mercy for them.

Most of the mortals disgusted him, but he was only interested in the special ones. The young lady was one of them. Whether she lashed out with a whip or threw a tantrum, it only piqued his curiosity.

But when the roles reversed and the young lady became like a goddess or a demon, high and mighty, toying with him like prey, while insisting on telling him that even mortals had tempers, it angered him.

His smile slowly faded, and his chest began to rise and fall rapidly.

With that sword, black energy exploded from Xie Yuzhen’s chest, pushing the wooden sword aside, along with a red light dot that flew out.

Xu Qianyu’s gaze was almost instantly drawn to the light.

She had seen it over the sea before; it felt familiar, but she didn’t know then that it was the soul fragment of love she had left in Xie Yuzhen’s body.

The soul fragment rose into the air, warm and intense, its light casting a brilliant glow on both their faces.

“Your thing is here,” Xie Yuzhen said in a dark tone, staring at her. “It was always yours. I’m giving it back to you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the soul fragment, wrapped in a thread of demonic energy, shot toward Xu Qianyu like a dart. Someone stepped in front of her.

Shen Suwei’s primordial spirit arrived, shielding Xu Qianyu, and he grabbed the incoming attack with his hand.

The shattered demonic energy scattered from his fingers.

His hand was immediately pulled open, and Xu Qianyu snatched the light dot from him.

It was the missing soul fragment of love, and now she couldn’t control herself. The soul fragment in her hand turned into a cherry blossom-red halo, flowing into her lungs through her meridians.

Everything happened too quickly. She closed her eyes, her face showing discomfort, as if she were feeling unwell. Shen Suwei’s eyes flashed like lightning as he glanced at Xie Yuzhen.

Xie Yuzhen, with a smile that seemed on the verge of tears, said, “You don’t love me. Your soul fragment should have stayed with you when you loved me, shouldn’t it?”

At the brink of his own demise, Xie Yuzhen remembered what that voice had told him.

It said that if he kept someone else’s soul fragment, if he understood love, he would no longer be the Demon King, and someone would replace him. It seemed that the voice had spoken the truth.

He was unwilling to die like this. If he returned the soul fragment, he could reclaim his power.

He still wanted to gamble.

Xu Qianyu was right. He preferred the young lady from his past life, the one who had loved him. If she forgot this life and returned to how things were, she could be with him forever.

Xie Yuzhen coughed weakly: “Miss, help me retrieve the Demon Bone. Otherwise, I’ll die.”

The ornate pillars and beams of the demon palace, the jade tables, and red silk exploded as the Demon King’s power dissipated, scattering like smoke. Xu Qianyu stood in the dust, her eyes opening. Countless old memories flooded into her mind, making her head swell, unable to tell where and when it was.

But the feelings of urgency, despair, and grievance were like slow-moving storm clouds in the sky, urgently needing to release a heavy rain.

As the dust settled and light began to rise, she saw Shen Suwei leaning against the wall, and vaguely, she remembered. She had just made a decision to find the Demon Bone from her sect to save Xie Yuzhen.

Her senior brother sat on the ground, his white robe embroidered with golden threads spread out like a blooming lotus flower.

When Shen Suwei saw her walk toward the cabinet, his primordial spirit returned to his body. He opened his eyes, and in the black and white of his pupils, her figure walking toward him was reflected: “Senior brother.”

Her demeanor was so tense that it made Shen Suwei’s heart instantly plunge into an icy pit.
Today, he finally understood that the soul fragment Xu Qianyu had lost was with Xie Yuzhen. It seemed that in her past life, Xu Qianyu had truly given her heart to the Demon King, leaving no place for anyone else.

In the past, he always wanted Xu Qianyu’s soul fragment to return to its rightful place, greedily hoping to obtain her complete love. But now that the soul fragment had returned, he was filled with unease.

He didn’t know who she would love.

Xu Qianyu looked at the expressionless Shen Suwei and recalled how she had used spiced tea and hallucinogenic incense to make her senior brother lose his ability to resist.

She stood still for a moment, not wanting to waste any more time, and began searching for the Demon Bone.

As soon as she moved, Shen Suwei grabbed her sleeve and pulled her down.

The fragrance on his body suddenly grew stronger, and Xu Qianyu’s heart nearly leaped out of her throat. Fortunately, he was only holding her tightly without the strength for anything else.

Xu Qianyu stole a glance at him, daringly feeling around his body. In a familiar spot, she found his mustard seed golden pearl.

Whether it was nerves or something else, their breaths tangled in the air. Xu Qianyu opened Shen Suwei’s mustard seed golden pearl, only to find it empty.

She froze. Shen Suwei opened his hand, and in his palm lay a piece of charred black substance.
“You’re looking for the Demon Bone, aren’t you?” Shen Suwei tilted his head and watched her patiently. As she reached out to grab it, his expression remained emotionless as he tightened his grip on the Demon Bone.

His nails dug deeply into his palm, and he felt the pain.

He knew that the memory confusion caused by the return of the soul fragment would make her briefly stay in the moment when she lost her soul fragment in her past life, but he still cared.

Shen Suwei didn’t let go of her. Xu Qianyu was so close to him that it felt like she was sitting in his arms.

Just as she was about to push herself up, he pulled her collar and brought her back close to him. Xu Qianyu shrank back.

She had a premonition that her senior brother was about to slap her face and call her shameless. Her hair stood on end, and as she saw the shadow fall, she closed her eyes.

But instead, it was a cool kiss on her cheek, followed by a kiss on the corner of her lips, their breaths intertwining in secret and cautious harmony.

Xu Qianyu froze in place, then looked at him in shock.

In the dim light, Shen Suwei’s expression was faint, his eyes holding countless emotions yet hidden beneath the surface. There was a layer of soft water-like shimmer in his gaze, like the glimmer of pearls, with a hint of temptation: “Is it strange?”

“Being with me is a different path,” he said. “Which path will you choose? I’ll let you decide.”

Xu Qianyu never expected this outcome.

She stood there in a daze, tentatively leaning closer. Shen Suwei didn’t pull away in disgust. Instead, he leaned against the wall and half closed his eyes.

But she didn’t kiss him. When he opened his eyes, he found Xu Qianyu still standing in place, looking at him with a hint of sadness.

Shen Suwei suddenly reached behind her and grabbed her foxtail. His fingers patiently combed through the fur, then slowly brushed against it in the opposite direction, working all the way to the root, all the while taking in her expression.

Xu Qianyu clutched his collar with both hands, her head lowered as she breathed heavily.

A bit more hesitation would be fine.

Feeling Shen Suwei’s fingers pressing against her spiritual root, Xu Qianyu’s body tensed. She thought he was going to attack her spiritual root and kill her. But he did nothing. He only slowly sent his spiritual energy into her.

The borrowed power of the fox demon was almost used up. Her half-step into the Transformation Realm wouldn’t hold for much longer.

The two of them were silent for a while. Xu Qianyu lowered her head, wanting to ask something:

“Lu You…”

Shen Suwei coldly interrupted her: “I only have one junior sister.”

Xie Yuzhen’s jet-black eyes looked coldly at them, filled with rage.
Now that the young miss was his puppet, how could she be held in someone else’s arms, entangled with someone else?

Anyone who had touched her must die.

His gaze collided with Shen Suwei’s across the room, yet Xie Yuzhen still smiled at him. He knew that Xu Qianyu would not turn back.

Xu Qianyu lay there for a moment, then decisively pushed Shen Suwei away. She quickly took the demon bone from her “Space Exchange” spell and stuffed it into her robe.

“I’m sorry.” She lowered her head, her eyelashes trembling, looking unusually flustered. “It’s too late.”

The affection she cared about most, the love she most wanted to receive, never arrived at the right time. And now she had gone too far, fallen in love with someone else, and couldn’t turn back.

Now that Xie Yuzhen’s life was hanging by a thread, she had to save him.

She flicked her skirt and turned to leave.

But there was a slight resistance from behind.

Xu Qianyu turned around to see that Shen Suwei had gently grabbed the corner of her skirt.
Xu Qianyu’s heart constricted painfully. When had she ever seen her senior brother like this, so humble? Furthermore, this was a great act of rebellion—leaving the sect—and it made her feel even worse.

She still had to leave, and Shen Suwei had long expected this. Xu Qianyu had an almost obsessive stubbornness. If she stayed now, it would make her love seem too shallow.

He lowered his eyes, slowly pulling a string of candied haws from his realm. Secretly, he attached a pill to break the Heart-Linked Curse to the top, transforming it into the reddest and most tempting one, and handed it to her, calmly watching her: “Eat it before you leave.”

Xu Qianyu took the candied haw and put it in her mouth.

Every time they went out for autumn outings, if she lingered a bit longer at a vendor, Shen Suwei would always buy her a string of candied haws, silently handing them to her when she returned from killing demons.

She used to think it was just Shen Suwei not wanting her to waste time, doing it out of convenience.

They walked side by side, the night wind brushing their faces. Xu Qianyu secretly glanced at his profile. The things her senior brother bought, she always ate slowly, and the taste seemed a little different from the ones she bought herself.

The sweet fragrance lingered at her nose. This was the last one.

She chewed forcefully, but each bite felt like swallowing shards of glass, cutting her throat, forcing the pain to pile up in her chest.

She bit twice, then suddenly stopped. With a sharp motion, she threw the candied haw away and turned to run.

Two pieces of candied haw rolled off the stick, tumbling at her feet. Shen Suwei quietly watched her retreating figure, his fingers tightening gradually.
It was alright. He would go kill Xie Yuzhen soon.