Chapter 13: Shuiyue Jinghua

Demonic energy surged into the sky before them, power churning violently.

Sang Ying’s body was weak, and the blast of demonic energy rattled her chest and lungs. A piercing pain bloomed in her heart, rendering her immobile as her small face instantly turned pale.

“A little late to realize now, my dear Junior Sister.”

The young man behind her wrapped an arm around her waist, his chin nearly resting on her shoulder. The posture was intimate, but his gloomy voice was laced with amusement.

In an instant, a streak of cyan-white sword energy tore through the dense demonic energy, rushing straight for them with palpable killing intent aimed at the young man’s life.

Sang Ying felt a chill on her neck as the young man’s hand tightened around it, applying slight pressure.

The next moment, the sword energy veered sharply aside, carving a canyon into the ground and dissipating a large swath of the demonic energy.

As the demonic energy cleared, the surrounding scene was revealed once more. Sang Ying looked over and saw the tense and regretful expression on Xiao Lingzhou’s face, as well as Xie Lingyu standing not far from him, a pair of black eyes staring icily in their direction.

“Xie… cough.”

Sang Ying tried to speak, but the moment she opened her mouth, she coughed up a mouthful of blood that trickled down from the corner of her lips.

“Junior Sister!”

Xiao Lingzhou’s expression faltered. He wanted to step forward but feared the demonic cultivator would act. Annoyed and worried, he gritted his teeth. “Damn you, demonic cultivator! If you have any guts, come and face me. What kind of man uses an unarmed female cultivator as a shield! Have you no shame?”

“Tsk, so weak.”

The young man behind her scoffed, retracting some of the demonic energy overflowing from his body. He placed a palm on her back, transferring some power to her.

Sang Ying felt a little better. She took two gasping breaths and spoke in a low voice, “What… cough, what do you want?”

He must have been impersonating the Southern Realm Demon King Yintu for some time now. His acting was so superb that even her Second Senior Brother hadn’t seen through it.

When Second Senior Brother had seen her, he had been hesitant and evasive. The young man must have said something to him, which would explain Second Senior Brother’s strange behavior today—first urging her to separate, then trying to introduce her to promising young talents.

The Yunshui Merchant Guild, the Immortal Alliance, her Second Senior Brother whom she hadn’t seen in three years… The purpose of this series of events was clearly to get her to come here.

A demonic cultivator had laid such a trap, using a Demon King to capture the precious daughters of the four great families and Yaochi. She could understand if his motives were wealth, power, or revenge against these families.

But she didn’t understand why he wanted her here.

She paused. “The Grand Elder is in charge of the Wu Wen Sect now. Even if you capture me, cough, you won’t get the sect.”

The person behind her frowned impatiently, his tone dripping with disdain. “What would I want with a rundown sect like that?”

From his tone, it was clear he looked down on the number one sect in the Cultivation World. It seemed his goal was neither wealth nor power.

Sang Ying pressed her lips together. Just as she was about to speak again, the young man cut her off impatiently. “Alright, stop trying to fish for information. Keep your mouth shut and stay quiet for a bit, before you bleed all over me.”

With Sang Ying as a hostage, neither Xiao Lingzhou nor Xie Lingyu dared to act rashly, and for a moment, no fight broke out.

Sang Ying watched the young man, who seemed to be waiting for something. Reinforcements? Or another move? Soon, she saw him raise an eyebrow. Sang Ying followed his gaze and froze.

A gentle-faced young man descended on his sword’s light. The Wu Wen Sect’s signature Jade Token at his waist and his familiar face revealed his identity… Xu Baishen.

Sang Ying’s brow furrowed. The Wu Wen Sect was colluding with a demonic cultivator?!

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a girl in a pink dress landed behind Xu Baishen. It was Xu Xuan. “Brother, I found the missing female cultivators. I’ve already notified the Immortal Alliance; they’ll be here to rescue them soon. With this evidence, not even the Demon Emperor can stop us.”

Xu Baishen pointed his sword at the young man, his expression grave. “Shameless demonic cultivator, release that innocent female cultivator and surrender at once.”

Sang Ying was even more confused. The Xu siblings were also here undercover in the Demon Realm to save people, not as this demonic cultivator’s reinforcements. Then what was he waiting for them for?

What… what on earth did he want?

The young man let out a low laugh. “Now that everyone’s here, we can…”

His voice suddenly turned sharp. He lifted Sang Ying, leaping backward into the air to dodge a sudden attack that erupted from the ground.

Sand and dust scattered. As the dust gradually settled, it revealed a burly man with a resolute face.

His demonic power was formidable, his presence overwhelming.

Sang Ying understood. This was the Northern Desert Demon King Fuye.

Fuye flexed his firm, well-developed arm muscles, assuming a battle stance. His voice was deep. “You’re not going to make a move just because of one hostage?”

“Sacrifices are inevitable in war. If she doesn’t survive, just prepare a more generous gift and see to her family. But if you let this evil demonic cultivator escape because of her, more people will die horribly in the future. You human cultivators drone on about your grand principles all day, yet you can’t even understand something this simple?”

Xiao Lingzhou blocked his path with his sword, his expression cold. “Northern Desert Demon King, I have always held you in some regard. That is my Junior Sister. I must ask you not to act rashly.”

“So what if she’s your Junior Sister?” Fuye pointed to the demons strewn across the ground. “This demonic cultivator made a fool of my brothers, humiliating them like this. There is no way I’m letting him go today.”

He abruptly looked up and saw the girl’s delicate features ripple like water, revealing a small, paper-pale face. The scent of medicine filled the air as she coughed up blood.

After this ordeal, Sang Ying’s Spiritual Power was depleted and could no longer sustain the Illusion Form Talisman, revealing her true face.

Three voices cried out in surprise at the same time.

“It’s you!”

“Junior Sister Sang?”

“Sang Ying?”

The latter two voices came from the Xu siblings, while the first came from the Northern Desert Demon King Fuye.

His face was a mask of shock, mixed with some other indescribable emotion. As if remembering something, the tips of his ears turned red, and his previously resolute voice softened.

“Um, so your name is Sang Ying.”

The demonic cultivator behind her sneered, “What, has the Northern Desert Demon King fallen for this female cultivator at first sight? But have you forgotten? You’re still carrying a child. To be like this…”

Fuye’s ears turned an even deeper red, as if they were about to drip blood. He looked at Sang Ying. “Yes, I’m carrying your child.”

Sang Ying: ?

Xiao Lingzhou: ?

Xu Baishen: ?

Xu Xuan: ?

The demonic cultivator: ?

In an instant, the small area exploded.

The demonic cultivator looked down in disbelief, all his gloom and ruthlessness vanishing. He stared at Sang Ying. “No, are you for real? You could even bring yourself to do it with someone like this?”

Xu Xuan’s eyes widened. “Sang Ying, you were cheating on Senior Brother Xie with another man! And you even have a child! You—you’re shameless!”

Xiao Lingzhou was dumbfounded. He looked at her, then at the blushing, muscular Fuye. “Junior Sister, so this is your type now. No wonder you didn’t like any of the ones I introduced to you.”

A crack appeared in Xu Baishen’s usually gentle and proper expression. “Junior Sister Sang, you…”

Sang Ying: “…”

She almost spat out another mouthful of blood. “I don’t even know you! How could your child possibly be mine? Please don’t slander my good name out of thin air!”

Fuye’s expression turned shy. “A month ago, you saved me when I was heavily injured and unconscious. Then, a few days ago, I discovered I was pregnant.”

Now, the looks everyone gave her grew even stranger.

Unconscious, one night, running away with a child.

Sang Ying was on the verge of a breakdown. “I admit I used to like picking things up, but I’ve quit now. A month ago, I only saved a rabbit, okay?”

Fuye blinked, slapped his forehead, and a pair of his original rabbit ears popped out. “I am that rabbit.”

“Hey, kid, let go of my child’s mother. You just need a hostage anyway, I’ll be your hostage.”

The demonic cultivator: “…”

Sang Ying: “…”

She felt so helpless. “You said it yourself, you were a rabbit. What kind of depraved thing could I do to a rabbit? At most, I thought the rabbit was cute and petted its ears and tail, so your child has absolutely nothing to do with…”

A phantom-like figure flickered into existence, piercing through the demonic energy from behind and aiming straight for the young man’s heart. The demonic cultivator sensed it and dodged hastily, but he couldn’t evade it completely. The sword tip missed its mark but plunged deep into his shoulder with a “pfft.”

Sang Ying had long been prepared. Seizing the opportunity, she used her last ounce of strength to tear off a Talisman and slap it onto him. During the half-second he was paralyzed, she broke free from his grasp.

Then, like a kite with a broken string, she plummeted from the sky.

There was, after all, a tacit understanding between senior and junior siblings. Xiao Lingzhou had already noticed Xie Lingyu’s covert actions and flew over in time to catch the falling Sang Ying.

Just as he was about to touch her, a burst of demonic energy, hidden within her by the young man, erupted from her body. Xiao Lingzhou’s movements faltered slightly. In that instant, a mirror suddenly appeared behind Sang Ying. A hand reached out from it and pulled her into the mirror.

The demonic cultivator clutched his wound, his eyes dark and gloomy. He transformed into a wisp of demonic energy and dove into the mirror.

Immediately after, a streak of cyan-white sword light also chased after them into the mirror.

The surroundings fell silent. The few people left all stared at the mirror. Its surface slowly calmed like water, reflecting a crescent moon.

Xu Xuan cried out in surprise, “Could this be… Shuiyue Jinghua?”

“The treasure of the demonic realm, Shuiyue Jinghua.” Xiao Lingzhou’s brow furrowed. It seemed this demonic cultivator’s identity was far from ordinary.

Many years ago, the Cultivation World had been a chaotic era of widespread slaughter. But the Devil Realm had been even more chaotic, with rivers of blood and fields of bones. A demonic cultivator, relying on a magic treasure he had refined himself, had used slaughter to end slaughter, pacifying the Devil Realm and becoming the Lord of the Demonic Realm.

And that magic treasure was Shuiyue Jinghua. According to records, anyone who faced it was doomed to die.

Xu Baishen lowered his eyes in thought. “But rumor has it that when Shuiyue Jinghua is activated, no one within a thousand miles can detect it. This is clearly different from the current situation. This young man is likely not that Lord of the Demonic Realm.”

“Who cares what mirror or flower it is! If we don’t go in and save her, the mother of my child will be gone!”

With that, Fuye flew into the mirror.

“No, you damn rabbit, didn’t you hear my Junior Sister? The child in your belly isn’t hers!” Xiao Lingzhou also entered the mirror.

Xu Xuan wanted to follow, but found she couldn’t move an inch.

Xu Baishen sheathed his sword. “Xiao Xuan, I’ve already set up a Restrictive Barrier. You wait here for the Immortal Alliance’s reinforcements.”

Xu Xuan was stunned. “Brother, are you going in? That’s a treasure of the demonic realm! I’m going for Senior Brother Xie, but you have no reason to go!”

“Brother—”

An image of the girl’s bloodless face as she fell appeared in Xu Baishen’s mind, her once sparkling eyes having lost their light. He tightened his grip on his sword and entered the mirror.

Not long after, the Immortal Alliance reinforcements arrived with their access tokens, rescuing Xu Xuan and the other imprisoned female cultivators.

“Something’s wrong… Director, these are just ordinary female cultivators who went missing from various places. The daughters of the four great family heads and the successor Saintess of Yaochi are not here!”

Xu Xuan froze, her head snapping up to look at the now-closed Shuiyue Jinghua in mid-air.