Chapter 12: Ruthlessness of the Five Poisons—Part 11

Ti Ying widened her eyes.

Not only her, but Chen Da, who had slumped down with tears falling from his arms, and the Wuzhi beside him all stared blankly at Jiang Xuehe.

Wuzhi said, “What are you saying?”

Chen Da chuckled awkwardly.

“Immortal, please don’t joke. I am a mortal; you should all be able to see that.”

Ti Ying squinted at everyone—she looked at the person and the demon on her left, then at Jiang Xuehe standing tall behind them.

Jiang Xuehe spoke gently again: “Little Ying, come over, stand by my side.”

Ti Ying’s heart trembled.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Fbl tsv ydtau.

“Ebs tyhl usw rlaxkppksd vs nyzz xl ‘Nkvvzl Zkdt’?”

Jwv lhld ps, yqvla nsdpkelakdt nyalqwzzu, pbl pvsse nywvkswpzu cu bla pldksa casvbla —

Fbl alxlxclale bla pldksa casvbla’p cakzzkydnl obld bl qswtbv Ewgbk kd vbl qsalpv.

Klyzswpzu, pbl vbswtbv: Fsxlsdl ps rsolaqwz, vblal’p ds dlle vs elnlkhl xl, aktbv?

Mbl kaakvyvle Ewgbk, ralpple ytykdpv cu Mk Zkdt, pyke, “R yx Fwyd Zw; R yx Ewgbk; obyv yal usw yzz qwppkdt ycswv?”

Kkydt Dwlbl alxykdle nsxrsple: “Xb, kq usw’al Fwyd Zw, vbld obu esd’v usw alxlxcla yzz vbl pvsaklp ycswv usw clqsal usw olal elnlkhle cu vbl qlxyzl ekpnkrzlp sq vbl Zwfkdt Flnv? Gp qya yp R jdso, vbl Ewgbk kp y nsxckdyvksd sq alpldvxldv yde kxrwakvu, cwv kv eslpd’v xlyd usw esd’v alxlxcla lhlauvbkdt qasx uswa rypv zkql.”

Fwyd Zw oyp pvwddle cu obyv bl pyke.

Jiang Xuehe’s gaze fell on Chen Da.

“And you. From the moment we met, you told me a story about a good demon killed by a female disciple of the Immortal Sect. It’s a touching story, indeed moving. But I still don’t understand. My junior sister and I came here for the trial. Suan Yu was trapped here, yet you, a mortal, frequently climbed the mountain. Why didn’t you ever recognize your old demon friend?

“He’s been trapped for five years; you said you wanted to break the formation and set him free—to die freely. It sounds reasonable, but trapped in the Five Poisons Forest, alive; leave the Five Poison Forest, die. Normal people would choose to survive with their friends.”

“You broke the formation, chased after us, and staged a drama of deep brotherly love—perhaps it’s because I am emotionally indifferent; I don’t quite understand the emotions of ordinary humans. Junior sister, tell me, if you went through all the trouble to save someone, would your goal be to have them die at the hands of the immortal sect?”

Ti Ying: “…”

Humph, what emotions of ordinary humans.

She didn’t have them either.

But Ti Ying stood firm: “Naturally, I wouldn’t want to send my friend to die.”

Chen Da’s eyes grew colder.

Suan Yu, sitting on the ground, looked up blankly.

Jiang Xuehe said softly, “Junior sister may be mischievous, but she’s clever. Junior sister once said that Chen Da’s story didn’t make sense, and now I understand why it doesn’t make sense. If this story were to take on a different appearance, it would make much more sense —

“Suan Yu regretted it long ago.

On the day when Suan Yu was deceived into marriage by the female disciples of the Yujing Sect and entered the Five Poisons Forest, Suan Yu already realized he had been tricked. Suan Yu didn’t want to die, so he played a game of soul exchange with his human friend.”

—

Dawn was approaching.

In the Yujing Sect, disciples of the Disciplinary Hall were just yawning and preparing for the day’s activities when they saw a slender figure of a girl in red standing outside the courtyard gate.

That girl stood outside the Disciplinary Hall like a nail, and as soon as she saw someone coming out, she walked towards them: “I request a re-examination of the matter of the trapped demon Suan Yu in the Five Poisons Forest — I believe that the one trapped in the Five Poisons Forest is not the real Suan Yu.”

As the sunlight slowly climbed out of the clouds, a thin layer of golden light shone down. The stubborn girl had a beautiful face, but her eyes were proud and without dust.

The disciples coming out of the Disciplinary Hall all paled.

A younger disciple who had just returned to the mountain asked, “Who is she? Why are you all afraid of her, senior brothers?”

A disciple hiding in the back introduced, “That’s Hua Shi, the beloved daughter of Elder Hua.”

The younger disciple said in awe, “So should we address her as a senior sister?”

The senior disciple hesitated, “Well…”

The younger disciple asked, “Well…?”

So the senior disciple introduced — Hua Shi is Elder Hua’s beloved daughter, but she hasn’t officially joined the Yujing Sect, so she’s not considered a formal disciple of the sect.

Five years ago, Hua Shi was supposed to join the Yujing Sect. However, on her first expedition to participate in the sect’s initiation assessment, she provoked a demon named Suan Yu.

In the end, Hua Shi killed the demon, and the Yujing Sect used her deception to trap Suan Yu in the Five Poison Forest.

It should have been a good ending for both parties, but after Miss Hua returned to the mountain, she kept demanding a reassessment —

Hua Shi believed that the demon Suan Yu she deceived wasn’t the same Suan Yu who had been turned into the Wuzhi in the Five Poison Forest.

On the day of the fake marriage, Suan Yu didn’t seem right, and his death was too easy.

Hua Shi said, “Suan Yu caused havoc by summoning floods to harm the people, and he should be punished. But if the one trapped in the Five Poison Forest isn’t him, then the punishment is wrong.”

However, others believed — regardless of who or what was trapped in the Five Poison Forest, they must bear the consequences.

The Yujing Sect wanted to ensure that Suan Yu, who could cause trouble everywhere, couldn’t leave the Five Poison Forest; the Yujing Sect didn’t care who or what Suan Yu was.

Hua Shi argued with them for five years, and people thought she was reluctant to let go of the demon and wanted to secretly let him go.

Her father avoided her, and the sect leader avoided her. They all placated her, saying that this matter fell under the jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Hall, so Hua Shi came to the Disciplinary Hall to cause trouble every day.

She did this every day, missing the opportunity to join the sect. Now, as the disciples were being re-selected, Hua Shi was still causing trouble over Suan Yu.

Everyone in the Disciplinary Hall was afraid to see her.

Today, the little troublemaker came to bother them again.

Hua Shi stopped someone, speaking confidently, “I met Suan Yu back then, he was very cunning…”

Everyone had a headache.

As the troubled senior disciple was trying to dodge her, suddenly, there was a tremor in the formation inside the house.

The disciples were startled and rushed inside to see.

When they came out, they looked at Hua Shi with complex and puzzled expressions and said, “The Suan Yu you mentioned… has escaped.”

Hua Shi was stunned.

She immediately turned into a streak of light and dashed down the mountain.

The disciples exclaimed, “Quick! Catch up with senior sister! See what’s going on!”

Jiang Xuehe gave the story a new twist.

On the day when Suan Yu was deceived into marriage with the female disciple of the Yujing Sect and entered the Five Poison Forest, he discovered he had been tricked.

Love and affection turned into smoke and clouds in his heart, Suan Yu hated the female disciple, but more importantly, he pondered how to survive in the trap specifically set for him in the Five Poison Forest.

Suan Yu had a human friend named Chen Da. They had a close relationship, and Suan Yu knew Chen Da’s destiny, which allowed him to lock souls.

When Chen Da was young, Suan Yu often played this kind of game with him.

That day, faced with the trap set by the Yujing Sect in the Five Poison Forest, Suan Yu used a soul exchange technique to deal with the predicament —

His own soul entered the body of the mortal Chen Da, and Chen Da’s soul entered Suan Yu’s body.

Suan Yu, with a guilty conscience, inadvertently killed his human friend.

But Suan Yu didn’t expect that once inside his demonic body, Chen Da didn’t die — under the fusion of resentment, unwillingness, and impurity,Wuzhi was born.

The resentment and impurity were too strong, devouring Chen Da’s human soul… His soul fragmented, and Chen Da lost the memories of his human life, only remembering that he was Suan Yu, deceived by the female disciple, and trapped in the Five Poison Forest for eternity.

From that moment on, the Five Poison Forest became the nightmare of Chen Da turned Wuzhi.

Likewise, the Five Poison Forest became the nightmare of Suan Yu turned human.

As a human, Suan Yu lived in fear every day: the Ghost-Locking Formation in the Five Poison Forest, under the Yujing Sect disciples’ trials year after year, would increase the strength of the trapped demons.

Suan Yu worried that one day the Five Poison Forest would no longer be able to contain Chen Da.

Suan Yu feared Chen Da seeking revenge on him.

For five years, Suan Yu monitored the Five Poison Forest every day — he was always thinking of a way to truly kill the Wuzhi.

Only when the demon was completely dead could Suan Yu, now turned human, truly be safe.

And to engage in these covert actions under the nose of the Yujing Sect, Suan Yu was extremely cautious.

So cautious, yet still couldn’t escape Jiang Xuehe’s eyes.

—

The forest breeze whispered softly, the sky tinged with silver.

The great demon sitting on the ground stared in shock at the human who had just wiped away tears: “You are me… I am human…”

Chen Da looked coldly at Jiang Xuehe.

Jiang Xuehe’s voice was hoarse, sounding unpleasant through the hood: “You didn’t want to save Suan Yu, you wanted to use us to kill Suan Yu completely.”

Chen Da: “Where did I reveal any flaws?”

Jiang Xuehe’s tone softened: “Leaving aside how a mere mortal like you knows about the Ghost-Locking Formation, let’s just say you were afraid my junior sister and I couldn’t kill the demon, so you staged a drama of deep brotherly love. But you are a demon, not a human, you don’t fully understand human emotions — you overstepped.”

The real Suan Yu must appear at the scene where the fake Suan Yu dies; he must ensure that there is no longer a Yujing Sect to keep the fake Suan Yu alive.

Ti Ying secretly watched Jiang Xuehe from the side: So clever.

If he weren’t injured, he must have been a handsome youth with clear and bright features… Hmph, detestable.

Chen Da’s face turned ashen.

He turned and ran.

Jiang Xuehe didn’t move, the ribbon on his wrist fluttered, and he flew out to entangle the fleeing man.

Ti Ying anxiously stood by, fearing Jiang Xuehe would take all the credit by acting.

With a quick wit, she pounced in front of the great demon on the ground: “Chen Da, quickly tell me your date of birth, so I can exchange the soul back.”

The great demon sitting on the ground stuttered, “I, I, I don’t remember…”

Ti Ying’s temper was bad: “Then just die.”

The great demon widened his eyes, and seeing this ruthless girl, she suddenly wanted to use a secret spell to kill him. Already injured and just learning this shocking news, the great demon couldn’t help but panic. A mere little girl, Ti Ying, actually beat him to a pulp.

The great demon rolled on the ground: “You, you were supposed to kill demons; why are you killing me!”

Ti Ying sniffed: “Who said I’m killing demons? Clearly, I’m here to kill Wuzhi!”

The great demon was dumbfounded.

And Ti Ying was exceptionally powerful at this moment.

The “Poisonous Dragon Formation” made her spiritual energy more abundant than ever before, and she hadn’t had enough yet, so she easily dealt with a severely injured great demon.

While her senior brother’s ribbon entangled Chen Da, she chased after the great demon — she had to have some credit!

Ti Ying’s ruthlessness made the great demon escape in embarrassment. Finally, the great demon couldn’t escape. He collapsed on the ground, looking back, seeing the girl flying down from mid-air, her long skirt fluttering, and pointing a finger at his forehead —

In the midst of life and death, the great demon’s mind went blank, suddenly flooded with numerous chaotic memories.

As a child, climbing the mountain and being saved by a demon disguised as a young man who called himself Suan Yu;

Suan Yu grew up with the child, the child taught him common knowledge of the world, and Suan Yu taught the child the spell of soul exchange;

As an adult, the child reached the age to marry and have children. Suan Yu accidentally summoned floods to save from drought.

Suan Yu grew close to the female disciple of the Immortal Sect, gradually drifting away from old friends. One day, Suan Yu said he was getting married…

The great demon sitting on the ground widened his eyes.

His eyeless eyes suddenly had pupils when the sunlight shone through the clouds.

He murmured, “I remember, I remember! The day Suan Yu got married, five years ago, was supposed to be the day he died, which was my birthday!”

As his words fell, the real Suan Yu, struggling against Jiang Xuehe’s confinement, turned his head and looked at the demon.

Time stood still.

At the break of dawn, when all was silent, outside the woods, gusts of wind roared. Only the delicate voice of Ti Ying could be heard:

“Three feet of fate, I respectfully ask the heavens. I wield the power of the sky; rivers, sun, moon, mountains, seas, and stars are in my hands. Souls from all directions, the mysteries of the five organs, urgently obey my command—return!”

The Four Chapters of the Vast Dream, the invocation of the return spell. Leaves rustled without wind, caressing the slender waist of the maiden.

A blue aura flowed from her brows, her dark hair scattered, and her blood-stained garments fluttered along.

As she stumbled through the incantation, all things in heaven and earth intimately submitted to an invisible light enveloping Chen Da and Suan Yu… guiding the deceived souls back to their rightful places.

At this moment, Ti Ying stood between darkness and light, like a firefly.

As night turned to dawn, the firefly flickered faintly.

In the morning light, Jiang Xuehe looked up, his gaze focused —

Hmmph, so even demon have such beautiful moments.