Chapter 7: Ruthlessness of the Five Poisons—Part 6

Jiang Xuehe walked ahead and noticed that Ti Ying hadn’t kept up.

Jiang Xuehe turned back.

In Ti Ying’s eyes, the scene appeared like this—

The black-clothed youth, carrying myriad ghostly creatures on his shoulders, tilted his shoulder, the brim of his hood fluttering slightly. As he turned around, the ghosts following him all turned their heads simultaneously, looking towards Ti Ying behind them.

The ghosts formed a misty procession, some expressionless, some arrogant, some resentful, and some malicious.

The entire scene was filled with a ghostly aura, and the impact on Ti Ying was no less than when she first encountered ghosts.

She was afraid of ghosts.

Ever since her former master took her on the path of cultivation, she couldn’t master any of the ghost-summoning talismans her master taught her. Her fear of ghosts penetrated her bones, to the extent that just one glance would make her faint, suffer from recurring nightmares, and fall ill for days.

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.

Gqvla bla qsaxla xypvla vaykdle bla, pbl nswze sdzu xydytl dsv vs cl pnyale vs vbl rskdv sq kzzdlpp. Jwv dso, okvb vbswpydep sq tbspvp ldhlzsrkdt Kkydt Dwlbl yde yzz zssjkdt vsoyaep Mk Zkdt, pbl qlzv y nbkzz awddkdt vbaswtb bla cseu, valxczkdt wdnsdvaszzyczu.

Mbl wdnsdvaszzyczl pbyjkdt xyel bla hkpksd czwaau.

Kkydt Dwlbl’p hsknl rklanle vbaswtb vbl bygl yde alynble bla lyap: “Kwdksa pkpvla, obyv’p oasdt?”

Mk Zkdt yzxspv qykdvle qasx vbl pnyal, cwv pbl kdyehlavldvzu tzydnle yaswde. Tla lulp, yzalyeu psxlobyv pnyvvlale qasx qlya, nywtbv pktbv sq vbl pbyeso zssxkdt blyhkzu cldlyvb vbl vbknj, tbspvzu ralpldnl.

Mbl pju oyp tayukpb-czwl, okvb qykdv pwdzktbv pllrkdt vbaswtb vbl naynjp kd vbl caydnblp yde zlyhlp.

Mbl zktbv qlzz sd vbl pzldela qktwal sq vbl uswvb, nypvkdt y qykdv, poyukdt czynj pbyeso cldlyvb bkp qllv.

Mbyv oyp bkp pbyeso.

G bwxyd’p pbyeso.

Ti Ying was stunned, quickly using this thought to reassure herself. She clenched her teeth so hard that blood oozed from her mouth, convincing herself not to faint.

Just because those ghosts were following Jiang Xuehe didn’t mean Jiang Xuehe wasn’t human.

Relying on this thought, Ti Ying forcibly steadied her trembling hand, formed a hand seal, and closed her divine eye.

The myriad ghostly images disappeared in an instant… they were still there, but she couldn’t see them anymore.

Jiang Xuehe stood quietly in place.

The songs of the little demons in the mountain forest and the sedan chair at the end of the road didn’t hold the same scare as before.

As the cold wind brushed against her, Ti Ying’s back was covered in cold sweat. When she looked towards him, he slowly spoke, “Why isn’t junior sister moving?”

He asked softly, “Are you afraid of me?”

His tone was gentle and warm, and his voice was husky, like a candle burning late at night. He was evidently an ordinary and composed young man, but in this moment, there was a hint of indifference born from worldly affairs.

As if… he sensed what she had seen.

It’s as if… he concluded she would be so scared she’d turn and run.

Ti Ying’s feet were rooted in place.

She suddenly raised her head, her small face pale, but her tone fierce: “What am I afraid of you for? I’m just thinking of ways to deal with the Wuzhi… I already have a plan, and I was just about to discuss it with you!”

Jiang Xuehe remained silent for a moment.

He seemed surprised by her response.

Meanwhile, the cold wind in the mountain forest swept over them, the little demons sneaking closer, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation…

Ti Ying walked towards Jiang Xuehe and grabbed the young man’s hand.

A little demon tried to attack from behind, but she swiftly countered with a talisman, dissipating it instantly.

The little demons screamed and dared not come closer, while Ti Ying held her head high, her eyes fierce and defiant, as if facing an enemy.

Perhaps she didn’t realize that as she held his hand, it felt as cold as ice,and her hand was still trembling slightly.

With her hair disheveled, she persisted: “Why aren’t you leaving? Don’t you want to discuss this with me?”

Jiang Xuehe lowered his gaze.

From his junior sister’s eyes, he could discern stubbornness, defiance, toughness, and also a hidden vulnerability.

And under this tough exterior, Jiang Xuehe was pulled away by Ti Ying, hastily following her as they ran through the woods—

She wanted to avoid the little demons, find a safe place, and discuss her method of defense with Jiang Xuehe.

—

This time, she took his hand voluntarily.

Unlike before, when she touched his hand, she felt relieved.

Although her senior brother’s hand was cold, it carried the warmth of a human.

He was indeed human, not a ghost.

As for the peculiarities about him… Ti Ying vaguely felt familiar, as if she had learned similar Daoist techniques, but her memory seemed to falter at crucial moments, leaving her unable to recall where she had encountered them.

But regardless… they were like grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

Even if he were a villain, even if he truly had some connection with ghosts, they needed to escape the Five Poisons Forest together before Ti Ying could part ways with this strange senior brother.

—

With the fierce courage bursting forth from her, Ti Ying evaded the little demons’ pursuit, set up a formation, placed protective talismans, and led Jiang Xuehe into a cave.

Inside the cave, Ti Ying lay at the entrance, anxiously watching as the little demons found their location and lingered outside, the red wedding clothes almost blocking out the light from the entrance.

The power of the monsters was growing stronger and stronger…

Ti Ying turned to Jiang Xuehe and said, “Let’s act after dark.”

Jiang Xuehe sat aside.

This secretive young man remained by her side, sitting upright and composed, elegant as ever. “Alright.”

He didn’t ask about her visions just now, nor did he show any hint of doubt about her sudden decision.

Ti Ying couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you want to hear my plan?”

Jiang Xuehe replied, “What is it?”

Ti Ying’s plan swirled in her throat, hesitating before she could speak it out loud.

She was a little more wary of him because of what had just happened, and she started to hesitate.

Jiang Xuehe thought she wouldn’t speak, so he turned his face away and looked outside the cave. Suddenly, he heard the girl’s voice:

“The little demons raised by the Wuzhi can already find the entrance to the cave during the day, which indicates that the Wuzhi’s power is growing stronger. When it’s dark, the Wuzhi might not be able to resist and might come after us personally.

“The Wuzhi is very powerful, but from what that hunter said and from the sedan chair chasing us on this mountain, we can guess—he hates the bride who tricked him into death on their wedding night.”

“This red wedding dress is definitely meant to be worn by an innocent person. He wants to treat the person wearing the dress as his unwed wife, tear them apart, and vent his resentment.

“Under normal circumstances, we can’t defeat that Wuzhi. This bride is our opportunity—one person dresses as the bride to distract the Wuzhi; another person goes around the mountains, activating the formations I set up during the day. Once the formations are activated, it will consume Wuzhi’s power.”

As Ti Ying spoke, she calmed down.

Her eyes darted around, and her shrewdness returned.

She asked, “This is our only chance, right?”

Jiang Xuehe knew she was probably hiding something from him.

But he didn’t expose it.

“Yes.”

Her senior brother’s attitude remained consistent, and Ti Ying relaxed a bit: “The formations I set up during the day might be noticed by the Wuzhi and destroyed on the spot. So, we need someone to activate them at night… Senior brother, do you understand formations?”

Jiang Xuehe smiled: “I do.”

In just a moment, Jiang Xuehe caught a glimpse of disappointment in Ti Ying’s eyes.

Jiang Xuehe was surprised:

Why didn’t junior sister want him to activate her formations? He thought her formations were crude, and by activating them, he could improve their effectiveness…

But junior sister seemed unhappy.

Ti Ying’s displeasure lasted only a moment before she composed herself: “I understand my own formations; I’ll go activate them myself.”

She pointed at Jiang Xuehe and said, “You go dress up as the bride.”

Jiang Xuehe: “…”

Ti Ying: “You don’t want to?”

She felt anxious, thinking the strange senior brother wasn’t foolish. He must know how powerful the Wuzhi was, so why would he want to do this thankless task… But she had no choice. She still needed to kill those pursuers, and she needed her senior brother to distract the Wuzhi for her to come back and have the strength to deal with it.

She was so courageous.

After she killed the bad people, she would come back and activate the “Vast Dream Spell,” using the inexhaustible ghostly aura on the strange senior brother to kill the Wuzhi…

Ti Ying had prepared so many reasons in her heart, but unexpectedly, Jiang Xuehe spoke gently, “I’m willing.”

In the sudden silence, Ti Ying suddenly looked up at him.

—

After Chen Da descended from the mountain, he looked back several times.

Not seeing the senior brother and junior sister in the mountains, he relaxed and met ten or so men and women at the small tea house arranged at the foot of the mountain.

Chen Da spoke humbly, smiling apologetically, “Immortals, I’ve found out. That arrogant and ignorant little girl indeed intends to deal with the big demon in the mountains. She doesn’t know how powerful the big demon in the mountain is… Tonight, she will surely have no place to bury her bones.”

The faces of the ten or so men and women changed slightly.

The one leading them said, “Then we can only go into the mountain and capture that little demon girl first… The big demon you mentioned won’t be hostile towards us, right?”

Chen Da shook his head repeatedly. “The little demon girl has already been marked by the big demon in the mountain. The big demon will only focus on her! Immortals, you don’t know, the red wedding dress of the big demon in the mountain follows whoever it follows, and that person becomes the big demon’s chosen bride… The big demon intends to devour that person.”

Chen Da’s voice was somewhat low, with a hint of melancholy.

He recalled a long time ago when the big demon in the mountain was still called Suan Yu, not the way it is now. At that time, when he went up the mountain, he drank with Suan Yu, who was then disguised as a scholar, and asked him many strange questions…

The years in the mountains were long but not eternal, and changes came suddenly. Suan Yu was not an evil demon; he had just made one mistake, but he was turned into the current appearance by the Yujing Sect.

After Suan Yu’s death, he was transformed into Wuzhi by the Yujing Sect, and the Yujing Sect turned Wuzhi into a “trial” method for selecting disciples.

Once a proud great demon, unable to live yet unable to die, repeatedly suffered the humiliation of these ignorant cultivators.

A slap on Chen Da’s shoulder snapped him back to his senses.

These people said, “Here, take the gold we promised you and get lost. If you dare to spread word about us chasing the demon girl, your whole family will be doomed.”

Chen Da nodded, bowed, and left.

As he left, he heard a woman’s uneasy voice among the men and women saying, “Senior brother, do we really have to enter the Five Poisons Forest? I don’t trust that hunter. How can we easily take people into the trial ground of a major sect like the Yujing Sect…”

A haughty male voice sneered, “Junior sister, if you dare not enter, then stay outside tonight and help us keep watch. We just need to capture Ti Ying… Ti Ying hasn’t entered the Yujing sect yet! If she truly becomes a disciple of the Yujing Sect, we won’t dare touch her.”

Another person cursed, “This little demon girl doesn’t want her master anymore, saying she’ll join a new sect, betraying her master and ancestors. shameless!”

“Squeak—”

Dust filled his nostrils as Chen Da closed the wooden door behind him.

The “shadow-splitting talisman” on his back, while the men and women inside the door were arguing, slipped through the crack in the door and stuck onto those people.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the tea house, leaning against a plane tree, a black-clad young man hid in the shade of the tree, quietly listening to the commotion below.

It was nothing but mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

—

As the “shadow-splitting talisman” adhered to the pursuers, the faint light in the Five Poisons Forest dimmed, and the sky grew darker.

Ti Ying, sitting with her arms crossed and dozing off in the cave, suddenly saw a flicker of lake-blue light in her eyes—she sensed the trace of the “shadow-splitting talisman.”

Ti Ying snapped out of her daze, widened her eyes, and looked at the other person in the cave.

In the dim light, with the wind sighing, she could hardly see her senior brother melding into the darkness.

Was he asleep?

With nightfall still a while away, Ti Ying was bored to death. Holding her breath, she quietly approached.

Resting her chin on her hand, Ti Ying scrutinized the person leaning against the mountain wall: What did her senior brother, hidden behind his hood, look like? Was he really frightening-looking, which attracted so many ghosts?

Being still young, Ti Ying’s curiosity got the best of her. As she pondered, she gently brushed her hand against his black hood, tentatively poking at it.

Jiang Xuehe had been concentrating with his eyes closed. Feeling the breath of the young girl brushing against him and getting closer and closer, almost about to pounce into his arms… he opened his eyes.