Chapter 95 Sacrifice

Su Su followed the demon into the willow tree. The image in front of her flashed and she covered her eyes.  Under the flickering candlelight on the stone walls, she swiftly flew over. The True Fire from her fingertips transformed into a sharp blade, and she pinned the three-headed demon onto the cave wall.

The three-headed demon had transformed into its original form and struggled in pain, filled with resentment.

Across from her, a young man restrained the three-headed demon’s claws, and Su Su called out, “Tantai Jin?”

The young man turned to her and nodded.

 “Are you alright?” Tantai Jin’s white clothes were spotless, but his eyes showed traces of concern.

“Since you’re here too, what about Senior Brother Zang Hai and Senior Sister Yao Guang?” Su Su asked.

“Senior brother followed me into the willow tree, but I’m not sure about Immortal Yao Guang,” Tantai Jin replied.

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a dagger slit the throat of the three-headed demon.

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“Ebyv yal usw eskdt!” Fw Fw oydvle vs pvsr bkx, cwv kv oyp vss zyvl. Mbl vball-blyele elxsd vwadle kdvs y cyzz sq elhkzkpb Ck yde ekpyrrlyale kdvs vbkd yka.

Fw Fw nswzed’v blzr cwv qllz y zkvvzl ydtau, “Lso vbyv vbl vball-blyele elxsd kp elye, bso yal ol pwrrsple vs qkde vbl vsjld?”

“Psd’v osaau, R jdso oblal vbl vsjld kp. Ebld R nyxl kd, R pyo vbl vball-blyele elxsd vaukdt vs vyjl y osseld csm yoyu, yde vbl vsjld oyp kdpkel,” Mydvyk Kkd pyke.

Tl vwadle yaswde qkapv, “Wszzso xl.”

Gzvbswtb vblal oyp ds okde kd vbl pvsdl nbyxcla, Fw Fw qlzv y ckv nsze. Fbl bwttle bla yaxp vktbvzu yde qszzsole clbkde Mydvyk Kkd.

Rd vbl pvsdl nbyxcla, vbl qkpb ryvvlad sd vbl uswdt xyd’p oykpv qykdvzu pbkxxlale.

Fbl pweeldzu pvsrrle kd bla vaynjp yde zssjle yv bkx okvb pwprknksd, “Mydvyk Kkd.”

“Ebyv’p oasdt?” Tl vwadle yaswde.

“Where’s Senior Brother Zang Hai?”

“He might’ve gotten separated,” Tantai Jin said indifferently.

Seeing the hesitation on the young girl’s face, he pursed his lips and said, “This stone chamber is, after all, the lair of the three-headed demon. It’s very dangerous. There’s no time to lose. Let’s grab the token and quickly get out.”

Su Su approached him, feeling like something was off. Had they really successfully killed the three-headed demon and even found the token so easily?

As she got closer, she smelled a faint scent of pine from the young man. His aura was clean, without any trace of demonic Qi.

Su Su reached out and grabbed Tantai Jin’s sleeve, raising her eyes to look at him.

He seemed somewhat surprised, with a restrained smile in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Su Su retracted her hand. “Nothing. This stone cave is too dark. I’m afraid of getting separated like Senior Brother Zang Hai.”

No, there was no demonic Qi. Whether it’s the voice, appearance, or even aura, the person in front of me is undoubtedly Tantai Jin.

Could I be overthinking it? 

The two continued to walk along the stone chamber, and sure enough, not long after, they found a wooden box placed on a jade bed.

Tantai Jin opened the wooden box and handed the token inside to her. “Found it.”

Su Su didn’t reach out to take it. She looked at the young man’s slender and pale fingers and the black token in his hand. 

“Since we’ve found the item, can you return the wutong wood that I gave you earlier?”

Tantai Jin looked at her and didn’t speak.

The stone chamber instantly fell silent. The young man in front of her suddenly smiled strangely and threw the token towards Su Su. The token transformed into a cloud of dark brown smoke, and rushed towards Su Su.

Feeling that something was wrong, Su Su, who had been on guard against him, quickly waved her sleeve to brush away the smoke.

A ball of burning karmic fire appeared in her palm. “You’re not Tantai Jin, who are you?”

The imposter posing as Tantai Jin tried to escape, but Su Su quickly cast an immortal technique.

“Fire spirit, set up formation!”

Flames erupted all around, forming a hexagram pattern that trapped “Tantai Jin” within it. Su Su struck his shoulder with a palm strike, and he fell to the ground.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me!” The young man pleaded.

The flames illuminated Su Su’s face as she asked, “Who are you? Where are Tantai Jin and Zang Hai? And where is the three-headed demon?”

The demon on the ground lifted his head, and a few weapons, as thin as cicada wings, appeared behind Su Su.

Not even looking back, Su Su’s scattered karmic fire turned into fluorescent light and collided with the thin weapons behind her.

Seeing that its sneak attack didn’t work, the demon glared at her, then unhesitatingly rolled through the karmic fire, transforming into a ball of devilish Qi and disappearing.

“Su Su, something isn’t right!” Chongyu said.

Su Su turned and saw the token that the evil spirit had thrown earlier was now emitting black Qi that had spread throughout the entire stone chamber.

Tantai Jin appeared beside Su Su out of nowhere. “Let’s go!”

Unfortunately, it was already too late. The heavy stone chamber door suddenly closed right before their eyes. 

They couldn’t escape and were trapped inside the stone chamber.

Under the candlelight, Su Su stepped back. “Tantai Jin?”

The young man in white slowly turned his head back. Seeing her vigilant gaze, he frowned and said, “The three-headed demon must have obtained some kind of artifact. Despite his low cultivation, he’s able to control demon transformations. But believe it or not, I’m not a demon incarnate.”

After he finished explaining, the Fennian ring in his hand turned into countless golden threads and he attempted to lift the stone chamber door.

Unfortunately, the stone door didn’t budge at all. Tantai Jin used a spell, but then he suddenly clutched his chest, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

With a serious expression, he said, “It’s a Devouring Array.” And the array was currently activated, with the stone chamber as its core, trapping them inside.

Chongyu Harp flew down from Su Su’s neck. “Let Chongyu have a try.”

Before the strumming sound waves rang out, it was pulled back by Tantai Jin.

“Stop hurting more than helping,” Tantai Jin said coldly. “The Devouring Array means it will backfire. Whatever you do to it will backfire on yourself. If you destroy the stone chamber, the Devouring Array will only make us die faster.”

But if they couldn’t find a way out, then when the time was up, they would turn into a pool of blood.

Chongyu flew back to Su Su’s arms dejectedly.

Ever since leaving the Cangyuan Secret Realm, it had always wanted to protect Su Su and show its power. However, despite possessing a spiritual consciousness, it was a divine artifact that was ignorant of worldly affairs, so there were too many things it did not understand.

Realizing it was useless here, and unable to help, it dejectedly transformed back into a pendant.

Su Su patted it comfortingly.

Upon hearing that it was a Devouring Array, Su Su also knew that things were tricky. They couldn’t forcefully break the array, as any immortal technique that they used on the array would rebound onto themselves.

Tantai Jin turned around and walked to Su Su’s side. His pitch-black eyes looked innocent and clueless. “Do you know how to break the Devouring Array?”

“Since you know it’s a Devouring Array, didn’t Immortal Lord Zhao You teach you how to break it?”

Tantai Jin shook his head and said, “He didn’t.”

“Oh,” Su Su replied with a solemn face.

She found it very suspicious. Who learns arrays without learning how to break them?

But since they were trapped together, and the array seemed to have activated because of her, Su Su could only say, “The Devouring Array is an evil array, and there are two ways to break it. First, someone attacks the array from the outside, to reveal the Life Door¹生门 (shēngmén) – Earth Element: Original Palace (Gen) 艮宫. Symbolizes the change in energy from negative to positive, a very auspicious door. the opportunities for growth and personal development. (One of the doors in Qi Men Dun Jia). Second……”

She paused, then said clearly, “Someone sacrifices their soul to make the Devouring Array open by itself. It’s alright, Zang Hai and Senior Sister Yao Guang are outside. If they sense something is wrong, they will break the array.”

Tantai Jin looked at her with his pitch-black eyes. After five hundred years, she rarely spoke to him in such a calm and composed manner. Not with disgust, but with encouragement, as if to give him confidence that they could get out of here.

How long had it been since he’d seen such a tenacious and resilient Su Su?

In fact, she had always been like this, unwilling to yield under any circumstances, always able to find a better solution. So, five hundred years ago, how desperate must she have been to choose to jump from the top of the tower?

He whispered, “Yes, Senior Brother will come.”

However, saying so was one thing. Within the stone chamber, devilish Qi began to spread towards Su Su and Tantai Jin.

This was the three-headed demon’s trump card. He had turned his lair into a place of almost certain death. A crafty rabbit had three burrows²狡兔三窟 (jiǎotù-sānkū) – a sly individual has more than one plan to fall back on (idiom); A crafty person has more than one hideout.. He had captured so many infants that he had probably long foreseen this day.

The Devouring Array was like a mirror- if you cast a spell on it, it would backfire, and if you tried to create a barrier to block the devilish Qi, it would still backfire by allowing the devilish Qi to enter an immortal body even faster.

They couldn’t set up a barrier, so they could only let the devilish Qi enter their bodies.

Gradually, Su Su’s face turned pale.

Previously, during the Devilish Shower in Cangyuan Secret Realm, devilish Qi had entered Yue Fuya’s body, causing him unbearable pain.

And now, Su Su was experiencing the same.

Every trace of devilish Qi that entered her meridians felt like a blunt knife cutting through her flesh, tearing it bit by bit. She gritted her teeth, but didn’t make a sound.

Su Su sat cross-legged in the corner, praying for Zang Hai and Yao Guang to quickly break the Devouring Array.

Tantai Jin’s gaze fell on Su Su. The young girl’s eyes were closed, with a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead. She was like a tranquil broad-leaved epiphyllum.

But the cinnabar dot between her eyebrows was vividly alluring, creating a huge contrast from her temperament. Her lips were as vibrant as vermillion, mesmerizing.

She had waited for a long time, but Zang Hai and Yao Guang still hadn’t arrived. The devilish Qi in the stone chamber grew even thicker. She had no idea what that shattered token was, but it carried such a heavy concentration of devilish Qi.

Su Su felt uncomfortable all over, as if an invisible mountain was weighing down on her soul.

If devilish Qi entered an immortal body for only a short period, it would be okay as long as you expelled it in time. But if it was in the body for too long, not only would one’s pure spiritual root be damaged, but their cultivation would also stop at a bottleneck. There was even a possibility of falling into the devil’s path.

Her body was trembling slightly from the pain. She tried to concentrate her thoughts and silently recite the Heart Calming Mantra, trying to forget about the extreme agony.

Then a refreshing breath suddenly appeared by her side.

A cool hand gently touched her cheek.

The icy lips of the young man pressed against her forehead.

Su Su abruptly opened her eyes, and with a loud “slap,” she slapped him on the face and took two steps back.

“What are you doing?”

The soft and slightly cool sensation on her forehead was hard to ignore. At that moment, Su Su’s heart had skipped a beat. She glared at the young man in front of her with anger and embarrassment.

Haven’t we agreed to have nothing to do with each other? What is he doing now?

Tantai Jin turned his head away and looked at the ground.

He slowly stretched out his hand and wiped the corner of his lips, showing no hint of shame. He calmly said, “Helping you transfer the devilish Qi. Weren’t you almost unable to endure it anymore?”

Su Su was stunned. Only then did she realize that a small amount of the devilish Qi inside her had indeed been transferred after Tantai Jin’s touch. 

The young man raised his gaze, his pitch-black eyes looking at her openly. “What? Did you think I was going to do something?”

There was a hint of self-mockery on his face. His tone was light as he murmured, “Do you really find me so unbearable?”

Vulnerability flashed across his face, and for a moment, Su Su felt uncomfortable. She hadn’t expected that Tantai Jin was helping her transfer the devilish Qi. 

She lowered her eyes, remembering how she had done the same thing in the Peach Blossom Demon’s body, helping him transfer the residual power of the World Topping Flower.

The life essence of a person gathers in the head and dissipates from the head. 

Back then, in order to clear the power of the World Toppling Flower in his body, she had pressed her lips against his, as it was the most effortless way. Meanwhile, transferring devilish Qi needed to be done from the forehead, which required a lot of spiritual energy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Su Su said. “You don’t have to do this.”

Tantai Jin said coldly, “Zang Hai and Yao Guang haven’t arrived yet. If we really were to wait until they’re here, your spiritual root would’ve been destroyed.”

Su Su also understood this. They had been trapped in the stone chamber for almost four hours. Zang Hai and Yao Guang must have been held up by something, otherwise, they would have rushed over as soon as they sensed something was wrong. 

The worst possibility was that something had happened to Zang Hai and Yao Guang as well, and it was difficult for them to get away.

Su Su and Tantai Jin had already achieved inedia³The (purported) ability to live without food, so it wouldn’t be a problem for them to survive in the stone chamber, but the devilish Qi in her body would keep tormenting her, and it would also erode and destroy her spiritual root.

Su Su was silent for a moment, but she still shook her head.

Tantai Jin was also cultivating immortality, and he was also a one in a million cultivator in the cultivation realm with a pure Heavenly Spiritual Root.

It was true that she longed for the supreme divine Dao, but she didn’t need someone else to sacrifice themself for her, especially when that person was Tantai Jin.

The young man slightly sneered. “Do you think I’ll sacrifice myself to save you?”

Su Su raised her eyes. Wasn’t that the case?

Tantai Jin indifferently continued, “My physique is special, so devilish Qi has no effect on me.”

Could a constitution with an innate evil bone really not be affected by devilish Qi? 

Su Su still wanted to say something, but……

The back of her head was clasped, and she abruptly met the young man’s eyes, which carried a mixture of perversity and impatience. “Li Su Su, do you really want to become a god, or do you want to be destroyed? Is your Heart of Dao so ridiculous?”

Her brows were furrowed, as if she was still hesitating.

Tantai Jin stared as his left hand exerted force, and he placed his lips on the cinnabar dot that he had long coveted. 

Whether it’s a god or devil, right or wrong, the truth or a lie, who really cares?

He closed his eyes.

It was never Li Su Su who was ridiculous. It was him.

---

Edited by: Gaze

Translator’s Note:
This is just a repeat of the recent announcement I made in SLT Discord server in case you missed it.
First of all, I’m not sure if you have noticed, but the updates for Black Moonlight have been quite inconsistent recently. As a result, I have decided to change the frequency of updates from weekly to either biweekly or once or twice per month.
There are a couple of reasons for this change. Firstly, I now have a 9 to 6 job, which leaves me with less time for translation. Secondly, ever since we entered the immortal realm arc, the author’s writing has been progressively getting worse. This includes her choice of idioms or terms usage and sentences that sometimes don’t make much sense. It has become very difficult for me to translate, as I need to brainstorm a lot to make things coherent (shoutout to Islanor for helping me a lot when I face these issues). All of this has led to me feeling demotivated.
However, I’m very grateful to the readers who have left supportive messages ❤️ I appreciate your understanding and thank you for reading 🙏🏻