But for a moment, he could not find an excuse, and simply turned into black smoke, dispersing completely.
The young man left one final sentence:
“You’d better hope your will won’t waver,”
“Otherwise, you won’t be able to get rid of me.”
His voice was cold and sinister.
Only after the barrier disappeared did the birdsong and the sound of rain, which had been blocked outside, finally filter back in.
The crisis was resolved.
The system said in astonishment, “Host, how did you know?”
Chao Jinsui said faintly, “I bluffed him.”
—Who would have thought this demonic head had really been secretly following her!
She lowered her head and touched her waist—sure enough, the bite mark was still there, and it was faintly warm.
She ground her teeth in anger, this demonic head!
The system was full of worry: with a Lord of the Demon Realm watching her like a tiger stalking its prey, always ready to lure her into demonic cultivation, there would eventually be a moment he could exploit. As long as the host’s will wavered even slightly and she accidentally fell into demonic cultivation, the mission would be finished.
The system asked her, but she had no good solution, and could only say, “Remember to stab me awake.”
The system instantly felt that it had taken on Rong Momo’s responsibility.
The only thing that made the system feel comforted was—
More than a hundred years! It had finally shaken off the stigma of being a heart demon!
The host had finally seen what a heart demon looked like!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
The person the Su family sent this time was Su Liuyun’s eldest uncle, Su Baiyin.
At this moment, Chao Taichu and Su Baiyin were seated facing each other.
Clearly, not all cultivators single-mindedly pursue ascension and the Great Dao.
Chao Taichu had once been a sword cultivator devoted to the path of the sword. Yet as the years passed, after realizing ascension was hopeless and reaching the Nascent Soul stage remained impossibly distant, his desire for power began to swell unprecedentedly, and his need for control grew more and more severe.
Su Baiyin and Chao Taichu were the same kind of people.
He had always believed that ascension was something for the geniuses of the family to pursue, while his greatest wish was to strengthen the Su family, continue its glory, and grasp even greater power.
But at this moment, his mood was extremely bad, because the eldest young master of the family, the one with the most outstanding talent, had met with misfortune—this was a devastating blow to the Su family.
As soon as news about Chao Xiaotu arrived, he hurried over.
Su Baiyin’s cultivation was only at the Golden Core stage, but he still could not be underestimated, because he was the confidant of the Su family head and Su Liuyun’s eldest uncle. Every move he made could represent the family.
If one had to sum him up in a label, there were only two words: vicious and insidious.
Chao Taichu was indeed angry that someone had spread the news, but since the man had already arrived, he could not punish his disciples in front of everyone. He could only suppress his anger and receive the guest first.
He briefly explained what had happened, then took Su Baiyin to see Su Liuyun.
Originally, he thought Su Baiyin would strike first or fly into a rage, but although Su Baiyin’s expression was extremely unpleasant, he had not yet reached the point of anger.
Instead, when Elder Bai said, “Even if Su Liuyun wakes up, he’ll be a cripple,” he immediately interrupted Elder Bai.
Su Baiyin: “A cripple? The eldest young master will not become a cripple.”
Chao Xiaotu, who was following behind him, immediately revealed a look of wild joy.
Chao Taichu: “Brother Baiyin has a good method?”
Su Baiyin turned to look at Chao Taichu, smiling meaningfully: “That depends on whether the Sect Master is willing to part with it.”
Chao Taichu’s heart jolted, his brows deeply furrowed.
What did the Su family want to do?
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Early in the morning, noise came from the foot of Mingyue Mountain.
Chao Jinsui woke very early, but someone had risen even earlier than her.
She pushed open the bamboo door and saw a storage pouch embroidered with cloud patterns at the entrance, with a note left on the ground:
I’m going to meet the Su family. I’ll try to stall for time. Take the things and leave first.
It was Chao Zhaoyue’s handwriting.
The system asked softly, “Host?”
Chao Jinsui was silent for a while.
Originally, she had wanted to take Chao Zhaoyue with her, but she knew that just like her, he was someone who would never turn back until he hit the southern wall.
She had thought of ways all night, but had been at a complete loss.
But now she had an idea.
“Let Chao Zhaoyue hit the southern wall once too. He has to give up on Kunlun, and on Chao Taichu.”
“Even if his head is broken and bleeding, it’s still better than dying in Kunlun.”
Only after a long time did she take a deep breath and stride toward the foot of the mountain.
Because Kunlun stood at a very high elevation, the climate at the mountain peak was extremely cold. For half the year, snow drifted down. Now, though peach blossoms had already bloomed at the mountain’s base, the mountains were still blanketed in white snow.
She stepped through the snow and arrived outside Taichu Hall.
Chao Zhaoyue had indeed already gone inside.
At this moment, the place was heavily guarded. She vaguely saw people within, but could not hear their voices—it was clear a barrier had been set.
She did not want to alert those inside. With a flick of her fingers, a small paper crane flew into the wind and snow.
It was a little trinket they had made while playing around before—able to deliver messages and also eavesdrop.
Soon, the voices inside were transmitted over.
Su Baiyin: “Sect Master Chao, have you ever heard of the method of replacing bones?”
Su Baiyin: “The eldest young master’s bones and tendons are all shattered, but it’s not without a solution. As long as he is given a new set of bones and tendons.”
The system was stunned: as expected of the male lead—even with his bones and tendons shattered, there was still a turning point!
Chao Jinsui: Is this what it means to be blessed with fate? Truly extraordinary.
But in the next moment, the person and the system outside the window both fell silent.
Su Baiyin’s voice came through: “I remember, Chao Jinsui was born with sword bones, wasn’t she?”
Her eyes turned cold.
The great hall fell into silence, clearly all stunned by this proposal.
One had to know, Chao Jinsui was the young sect master, truly the jade of Kunshan—how dared the Su family!
But even more suffocating was that Chao Taichu did not immediately refuse.
Su Baiyin: “Sect Master Chao, we do not wish to become enemies with Kunlun. But the eldest young master is the Su family’s only hope. If he is truly ruined…”
“The Su family and Kunlun will be locked in endless conflict, to the death.”
The final sentence landed with force.
After a long while, Chao Taichu’s voice came from inside,
“I need to think about it. Give me a little more time.”
The Su family and Kunlun were both colossal forces—did Kunlun really fear the Su family?
No.
However—
Chao Taichu said he needed to think.
The system did not even dare look at the host’s expression.
But strangely, Chao Jinsui appeared terrifyingly calm.
She smiled.
“You don’t think I still have any illusions about him, do you?”
“In the previous life, he personally gave the order to kill me, this wretched being.”
The system said to her cautiously, “Host, y-you must absolutely not fall into demonic cultivation.”
Chao Jinsui reached out and caught the little paper crane that had flown back.
She looked at the snowflakes drifting and swirling among the mountains of Kunlun, and softly asked, “Have you ever experienced the pain of ten thousand arrows piercing your heart?”
“If you have, you’d know this is nothing at all.”
What Chao Taichu did now could only grind away the last trace of goodwill she had toward Kunlun. It could no longer truly hurt her.
She turned around and lifted her foot to leave.
However, she saw Chao Zhaoyue walking out of Taichu Hall.
The expression on his face had turned blank, as if he could no longer understand what the people inside were saying.
After a long while, he lifted his robe and knelt in the snow.
Chao Jinsui watched him from afar.
She knew—it was useless. Chao Taichu would not change his mind.
Even if he knelt here for three days and three nights, it would be useless.
She had tried it before, crashing into the southern wall until her head was broken and bleeding.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Only after everyone had left did Chao Jinsui walk toward Chao Zhaoyue.
Sensing the familiar footsteps behind him, Chao Zhaoyue turned his head slightly. “Why didn’t you leave?”
She said, “I heard everything.”
She came to his side. He subconsciously thought she was going to kneel with him and frowned, stopping her.
She smiled. “What, you can kneel, but I can’t?”
Chao Zhaoyue raised a brow:
“The ancients say, beneath a daughter’s knees lies gold.”
“Other than bowing to Heaven and Earth, you must not kneel.”
Chao Jinsui stopped.
“I’m not here to kneel with you. Chao Zhaoyue, today you come with me—we leave Kunlun together.”
One standing, one kneeling, they faced each other in silent confrontation.
Finally, Chao Zhaoyue brushed the snow off himself and stood up.
He lowered his head to look at his younger sister.
In that instant, she suddenly felt that the Chao Zhaoyue before her had become extremely unfamiliar.
He suddenly said, “Chao Jinsui, draw your sword.”
He unsheathed his Lanyue Sword. The tip trembled, murderous intent surging.
“Chao Jinsui, where is your sword?”
“I’ve wanted to ask you since yesterday—as a sword cultivator, where is your sword?”
She pressed her lips together. “I gave it away.”
He let out a cold laugh. “Gave it away? A sword cultivator giving away her own sword? Well done.”
He barked at her, “Draw your sword!”
“Chao Zhaoyue, you know I won’t make a move against you.”
He sneered. “That’s not up to you.”
The young man’s figure flashed. The next moment, his sword moved like a swimming dragon, sweeping up the drifting snow between heaven and earth as it pressed straight toward her face.
She had no choice but to draw the Qiushui Sword to block.
The two swords collided violently!
He said coldly, “You don’t even have a sword that suits your hand—what, and you still want to oppose all of Kunlun?”
“You heard it too. The Su family and Kunlun will fight to the death. If you want to be hunted down by both sides until you die, that’s not impossible—”
“Defeat me first!”
Chao Zhaoyue’s sword was like the man himself—broad and unrestrained.
His famous sword technique was called Great River Reflecting the Moon. Sword qi formed countless strands of moonlight, weaving into a dense net, airtight from every direction; and his sword moves were like surging river waters, continuous and unending, leaving no moment to catch one’s breath.
She did not dare injure him in the slightest, and the Qiushui Sword was not very easy to use. She could only retreat again and again beneath Chao Zhaoyue’s blade.
As she retreated, she gritted her teeth: “Chao Zhaoyue, let’s leave this place! The world is vast—where can’t we go!”
Sword qi rushed toward her face. She narrowly avoided it, and the Qiushui Sword slammed fiercely against the Lanyue Sword!
“Yes—and then Kunlun and the Su family join forces, and half the cultivation world can no longer tolerate you. Where will you go?”
She retreated three chi across the snow, yet the Lanyue Sword was already pressing straight toward her face.
“To the Demon Realm?!”
The blade stopped at the tip of her nose.
He looked at her, lightly sheathing his sword,
“You forgot—Kunlun still has a second one born with sword bones.”
She trembled with rage. “Chao Zhaoyue, you dare!”
The high-ponytailed young man did not look back, “What did you say? The wind’s too loud, I can’t hear clearly!”
With an easy flourish, he waved a hand behind him and disappeared into the wind and snow.
She gripped the Qiushui Sword, so angry that smoke seemed to pour from all seven orifices.
Just as she was about to chase after him—
The next moment, the Qiushui Sword shattered inch by inch.
She threw the sword aside and snapped, “Useless thing!”
Neither the system nor the little snake in her sleeve dared to speak.
She strode forward in great strides.
She did not know where she was going, but she knew that if she stayed where she was, Chao Zhaoyue would anger her to death.
However, when she passed the peach blossom grove at the foot of the mountain, her steps halted.
Faint voices drifted out from within:
“Eldest Young Master, what you mean is…”
A coughing sound came. “No, we cannot take her sword bones!”
Su Baiyin said with dissatisfaction, “Eldest Young Master, now is not the time to cherish beauty and pity jade!”
Su Liuyun’s voice followed: “No, Uncle, you don’t understand. Chao Taichu will not agree. She is, after all, Kunlun’s heir. For Chao Taichu to cut off his own arm is too difficult.”
Su Baiyin said, “Then are you willing to be a cripple?”
Su Liuyun coughed violently again, as if speaking just a few sentences was enough to take his life,
“Isn’t there Chao Zhaoyue?”
“Although his aptitude is not as good as his sister’s, he is still a once-in-a-generation sword bone prodigy! If it were him, Chao Taichu would not hesitate so much.”
He murmured, “In any case, Uncle, we cannot take the Young Sect Master’s. She is my most favored candidate for a wife, you must not touch her.”
Only after a long time did Su Baiyin say, “Yes, Eldest Young Master.”
To obtain a set of innate sword bones for free—what did a little loss matter?
With just a few words, Su Liuyun seemed to have already decided Chao Zhaoyue’s fate.
Not far away, Chao Jinsui asked the system, “Should I be shedding tears of gratitude and thanking His Grace for his great favor?”
The system trembled.
Because it knew—a dragon has reverse scales.
Especially since the host had just quarreled with her brother and fought him, yet did not dare win, leaving a belly full of suppressed anger.
She smiled.
“The method of replacing bones?”
“If a person dies, their bones crushed and ashes scattered, then there’s no need to replace anything, right?”
What great bearer of destiny—she refused to believe that if he were smashed into fragments, burned into ashes, his soul torn apart and ground to dust, he could still come back to life!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Su Liuyun was staying in Peach Blossom Dock, and Su Baiyin and the others of the Su family had also taken residence there.
Now the place was heavily guarded, with sentries every three steps and patrols every five. Only disciples from the medical hall could enter and exit.
Clearly, they were somewhat on guard.
After a simple survey of the terrain, she needed a weapon that suited her hand.
The Sword Sect lacked everything except swords.
But this time Chao Jinsui learned from the lesson of the Qiushui Sword. After all, the Fumo Sword was too domineering—other swords of the same kind did not work well in her hands.
So she simply switched to a dagger. Sure enough, this time it felt much easier to handle.
She went to Elder Bai’s room and rummaged around for quite a while, eventually finding several sticks of sleeping incense.
Now she felt that what that demonic head said yesterday was right:
These heartless, ungrateful things—someone really should dig out their hearts and livers and see what color they are.
Clearly, some people simply cannot withstand being thought about—
Sensing the change in her mood, the heart demon formed from black qi drifted out again.
At this moment, Chao Jinsui had just changed into her night-traveling clothes.
The young girl tied up her long hair and gave him a cold glance. “Tonight, don’t get in my way.”
Her murderous silhouette had already merged into the night.
The black qi drifted behind her like a ghost, speaking unhurriedly,
“Aren’t you unwilling to fall into demonic cultivation?”
“What are you going to do? Kill someone?”
She turned her head and glared at him,
“I’m going to dig out someone’s heart and liver.”
“If you’re not helping, stand farther away.”
The handsome demonic head formed from black qi crossed his arms, his expression uncertain. After a long while, he lowered his head and asked Xiao Yanjing:
“Why is she so fierce?”
“Is she the demonic head, or am I the demonic head?”
