Chapter 13: Ruthlessness of the Five Poisons—Part 12

Chen Da and Suan Yu’s souls finally returned to their respective positions.

To ensure the success of the soul exchange, Ti Ying resorted to using her strength to cast the Vast Dream Spell. As the souls of one human and one demon returned to their places, her body swayed in mid-air, and she fell downward.

Jiang Xuehe caught her waist from behind.

Soft and weak from the excessive consumption of spiritual power, Ti Ying murmured, “Thank you.”

Jiang Xuehe smiled. “No need to thank me.”

Hearing the voice, Ti Ying realized that the one supporting her was her clever, powerful, and sometimes deceptive senior brother.

She bristled. “I didn’t say thank you to you!”

Being scolded by the bad-tempered Ti Ying, Jiang Xuehe was momentarily stunned. He gazed thoughtfully at Ti Ying, but she refused to look at him out of stubbornness. Puffing her cheeks, Ti Ying scrutinized the pair of old friends who had successfully exchanged souls.

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.

Mbl alyz Ubld Py, kd bkp sod cseu, srldle bkp lulp—

Tl bye tasod ynnwpvsxle vs vbl elxsd cseu okvbswv rwrkzp, cwv dso pweeldzu byhkdt lulp, vbl uswdt bwdvla valxczle yp bl zssjle esod yv bkp bydep yde cseu.

Usdqwpksd yde lxrvkdlpp pwaqynle sd bkp qynl.

Ubld Py xwaxwale, “R yx alyzzu bwxyd…”

Usdvaypvle okvb bkx oyp y bupvlaknyz calyjesod—”Gb!”

Fwyd Zw alvwadle vs bkp elxsd cseu yde kxxlekyvlzu pldple y pktdkqknydv zspp sq rsola. Slyzkgkdt bl oyp yv vbl lde sq bkp pvaldtvb, bl jdlo bl nswzed’v elqlyv vbkp ryka sq pkczkdtp. Wlya sq elyvb xyel Fwyd Zw valxczl.

Fwyd Zw pvyttlale vs bkp qllv, oydvkdt vs nsdvkdwl qzllkdt.

Kkydt Dwlbl alynble swv bkp oakpv, yde vbl bykacyde ldvydtzle vbl elxsd.

Ti Ying hesitated to speak: My hairband…

Mine!

Suan Yu pleaded, “Let me go, I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die!”

Chen Da looked at Suan Yu with complex emotions.

Even with the extended lifespan of Wuzhi, Chen Da is only a teenager now. His experiences had been tumultuous due to his friendship with a demon, and looking back, it was all full of vicissitudes.

Chen Da asked, “Suan Yu, why did you treat me like this?”

Suan Yu suddenly turned to look at this human.

Although maintaining a humanoid form, the demon’s face had become extremely fierce.

The demon laughed wildly and said, “To stay alive! For survival! Don’t you understand?! Huh, you, a mortal, confined to your own little world, ignorant of the length of your life, unable to see fate. Of course, you wouldn’t understand what I’m begging for…”

Suan Yu looked up at the endless sky.

He sought “immortality.”

He sought “attainment of the Dao.”

Suan Yu was originally a natural-born demon, possessing consciousness from birth and knowing his destiny through cultivation. Everyone who cultivates longs for immortality and longs to ascend to the heavens and become immortal.

However, as a natural-born demon, Suan Yu knew from the beginning that the path of immortality in this world had been severed. Legend has it that an immortal sacrificed themselves to seal away the demons long ago. Since then, there were no demons in the world, but there was also no path to immortality.

Suan Yu searched from all directions and learned that the Yujing sect seemed to be the sect founded by that immortal. If he entered the Yujing sect, would he have the chance to approach the path to immortality?

Suan Yu approached the female disciple of the Yujing sect for this reason. However, unexpectedly, she did not love him. Not only would she not bring him into the Yujing sect, but she also wanted to kill him.

On that day, Suan Yu discovered the truth and found himself at a dead end. The only way for him to survive was to exchange souls with Chen Da.

Only when Chen Da completely disappeared could Suan Yu embark on a true new life.

—

Chen Da said, “Your cultivation has driven you mad.”

Suan Yu remained expressionless.

Chen Da’s voice trembled slightly, “I thought you would at least apologize to me. You should at least remember our friendship…”

The dull eyes of Suan Yu, without pupils, twitched slightly.

After a long pause, he said, “Compared to cultivation, these things are insignificant.”

With things having come to this point, Chen Da had nothing more to say.

The young hunter stood in the bleak, chilly wind, slowly turning around. He looked in the direction of the Five Poisons Forest—

The mountains are high and the waters are deep, with few sincere friendships.

Things change, people change, and wrong choices last a lifetime.

Life and memories, manipulated and confused, are lost in the mist.

Ti Ying looked at them, perplexed.

For immortality? For eternal life?

She thought of those who chased after her, also seeking immortality. They mistakenly believed she had the power to resurrect people like her former master, unwilling to listen to explanations, and seeking after her knowledge…

But Ti ying knew there was no immortality, no resurrection.

The so-called “resurrection” was just a small trick of the vast Dream Spell…

At such a young age, Ti ying neither liked to practice the Vast Dream Spell related to ghosts nor did she want to practice any resurrection spells to fulfill others’ dreams. As for becoming an immortal, it was far beyond her reach…

Yet in this world, there were monsters who exhaustively planned and schemed for immortality.

In the morning light, a tear welled up in Chen Da’s eyes.

Confused, Ti ying heard Jiang Xuehe’s gentle voice behind her, “Chen Da is crying, not just from sadness, but also from nostalgia. The changes of time, repeated mistakes… You’re still young, you’ll understand in the future.”

Ti ying suddenly realized she had voiced her concerns aloud, “Oh…”

She looked at the standoff between the human and the demon, feeling bored, when suddenly she felt Jiang Xuehe grabbing her hand.

She lowered her head and saw his rough hand, scarred like tree bark.

In an instant, Ti ying thought of how this senior brother pretended to be weak but was actually quite formidable, and how he carried around a frightening ghost.

Humph.

Ti ying immediately shook off Jiang Xuehe’s hand and jumped back, putting some distance between them.

Jiang Xuehe looked down at his empty hand, then lifted his head. Ti ying warily said, “I was the one who performed the soul exchange!”

Jiang Xuehe was taken aback.

He didn’t respond to that; instead, he asked, “What happened to Junior Sister in the Five Poison Forest? How did you get injured like this?”

Ti ying immediately felt angry—

Her senior brother wore a hood, was refined, and spoke calmly. He looked quite handsome, but the more handsome he was, the more she remembered his former self, who fought Suan Yu with both spiritual and physical prowess.

If it weren’t for him injuring Suan Yu, Ti ying might not have had this opportunity.

Ti ying’s face fell.

She really didn’t want to share credit with her lenient senior brother… but her lenient senior brother did deserve some credit.

Jiang Xuehe didn’t understand why she suddenly seemed upset.

Was it because of his concealment?

Jiang Xuehe couldn’t quite figure out his junior sister, but he also couldn’t let her leave in anger.

A strange emotion arose in him—

He, who had always been solitary, often resorted to any means necessary to kill. Yet recently, he had frequently used his methods to cheer up a little girl.

As Jiang Xuehe pondered, Ti ying suddenly looked up, her round eyes staring at him:

“You’re so capable, yet you say my heroic bearing in battle is unmatched by you?”

Jiang Xuehe smoothly replied, “Regardless of my abilities, they are far inferior to Junior Sister’s heroic bearing.”

Ti ying was stunned.

All her displeasure froze momentarily because of his gentleness.

Ti ying had always had a bad temper, always mischievous and disobedient. From childhood to adulthood, all she heard were reprimands. Even her former master, who raised her with so much effort, would shake his head and sigh in front of her—

“Oh, little ying…”

Of course, she knew what her former master didn’t say—How could you be so bad?

Her former master didn’t say it out of soft-heartedness.

But this senior brother in front of her, even though he didn’t sigh, and even… praised her heroic bearing without changing his expression.

Humph, even if he changed his expression, with that hood on, she wouldn’t be able to tell.

Ti ying continued to frown, “Senior Brother!”

Jiang Xuehe: “Hmm?”

He walked towards her calmly, intending to ask about her injuries without leaving any traces. However, Ti ying scolded him in a coquettish voice, “You big liar!”

Jiang Xuehe was dumbfounded.

He had been scolded by many people, but being called a “big liar” by a little girl was a first.

At this moment, a tear rolled down Chen Da’s face, and he took a deep breath, tremblingly saying to the two people beside him, “Please, immortal beings, accompany him on his final journey.”

With the dust settled, Ti ying immediately volunteered, “I’ll go, I’ll go!”

She was afraid Jiang Xuehe would take the credit, so she rushed forward, but she glanced back at Jiang Xuehe.

Jiang Xuehe hadn’t intended to act anyway.

After all, his junior sister was so wary of him.

But when his junior sister glanced back at him, Jiang Xuehe’s expression under the hood changed slightly, and he raised his sleeve towards Ti ying, “Junior Sister!”

Ti ying was completely bewildered and didn’t know what was happening.

But as Jiang Xuehe embraced her, a sudden pang of pain struck her, and she realized she was bleeding profusely from her abdomen—

Oh no, the time for the “Poisonous Dragon Formation” had passed, and the backlash had begun.

Due to her constitution, she wasn’t afraid of this backlash. But… it still hurt!

Jiang Xuehe tried to lift her up, but Ti ying, with her last ounce of strength, insisted on crawling out, “I have to eliminate the demon…”

With her last bit of strength, she activated a talisman and, sweating profusely, killed the severely injured Suan Yu.

Ti ying added, “Truly worthy of us!”

Jiang Xuehe held her restlessly, asking Chen Da with a less steady tone, “Is there a place for my junior sister to rest?”

—

The delicate Ti ying was carried into an inn and placed on a bed.

She curled up in his arms, convulsing and crying in pain. With tears streaming down her face, Jiang Xuehe swept his sleeve over her body, sealing several acupuncture points.

Jiang Xuehe lowered his head to comfort her, “Don’t be afraid, Senior Brother is here.”

This somewhat comforting voice made Ti ying shed even more tears—sobbing, “Why does the backlash of the ‘Poisonous Dragon Formation’ hurt so much?”

In her dazed state, Ti ying grabbed onto the pure white collar of Jiang Xuehe’s black robe.

Jiang Xuehe had intended to heal her, but when the girl in his arms grabbed him, he fell onto the bed, supporting himself with both elbows.

Struggling to open her eyes, Ti Ying, in the midst of intense pain, saw a blurry and elegant figure holding her.

Jiang Xuehe reached out to cover her eyes and said, “Junior Sister, go to sleep.”

Ti ying protested weakly, “No.”

With sobs, she climbed up, weak and dizzy. “I want to go to the Five Poison Forest…”

To deal with the pursuers’ bodies.

Determined despite her breakdown, Ti ying, with tears in her eyes, insisted, “I want the Yujing Sect to know that I am a beautiful, kind, gentle, and brave little fairy.”

She is also beautiful, kind, gentle, and brave.

Jiang Xuehe found her adorable.

She thrashed around, while Jiang Xuehe countered her moves. The wooden bed creaked, and the figures of the man and the woman intertwined. Ti Ying raised her hand and removed Jiang Xuehe’s hood, throwing it outside the bed.

The girl choked back sobs, and the boy gasped for air. The servant boy who brought in the water basin and towels accidentally stepped on the hood as he entered, quickly apologizing and exiting, “Sorry.”

Jiang Xuehe sighed, “…”

He lowered his head to see the girl in his arms, tears streaming down her face and blood staining her waist.

Finally, he relented and said, “Junior Sister, what do you want to do? I’ll do it for you.”

Ti Ying blinks.

Within the tent, the sweaty girl clung to her unfamiliar senior brother’s neck in agony, yet stubbornly saying, “Then you must swear by your Dao heart that you will help me… If I see any reluctance from you, you’ll suffer the backlash of your Dao heart!”

Jiang Xuehe had no choice but to agree.

— junior sister was indeed beautiful.

But not kind.

But not gentle.

But not brave.