Finally, after clearing the first page and turning to the second, she stopped.
She planned to drink her medicine and rest properly.
Of course, it was also for the sake of her own mental health.
The demon who had returned at some unknown time pushed open the door, glanced at her, and said, “If you don’t sleep tonight, I’ll knock you unconscious.”
As if knowing that for a sword cultivator, lying in bed was as unbearable as death itself, this demon simply moved into the room next to hers.
The moment she made any movement, a cold sneer came from next door.
If she tried to get out of bed, there would be the sound of a demon tapping the table from next door.
She had no choice but to lie there.
She thought: this demon must be taking revenge for her kissing him the day before yesterday.
Sure enough, one cannot do things with a guilty conscience—whether ghosts come knocking or not, she didn’t know.
But a demon would definitely sneer behind the door.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
It wasn’t that she disregarded her own body. But she discovered that with each use of the Kunlun Sword in her sea of consciousness, her connection to the Kunlun Sword grew stronger, and the phantom of the Kunlun Sword within her sea of consciousness became increasingly solid.
Gradually, she felt that the Kunlun Sword was becoming familiar with her.
So this was another way to attune with the Kunlun Sword!
As the Kunlun Sword grew more solid, its aura became increasingly fierce and baleful, and its suppression of the restless, sinister love gu became stronger and stronger.
For an entire day, the love gu caused no disturbances. Several times it tried to stir, but each time the Kunlun Sword suppressed it.
However, tonight, the love gu—only calm for a short while—seemed once again to receive some kind of summons and became unprecedentedly active.
In her dream, she heard a voice, and that familiar yearning rose in her heart once more.
The system had been watching the love gu for her the whole time and immediately called out, “Host! Host!”
It had thought this time the host would not hear, but she woke almost instantly.
If not for the increasingly solid Kunlun Sword in her sea of consciousness suppressing it, she would already have lost control by now.
But this time, the Kunlun Sword played its role. With sheer willpower, she forced herself to remain awake, resisting the clamoring voice deep in her heart.
That voice grew clearer and clearer—she could almost make it out—it was a female voice!
Strange and bewitching, urging her to absorb, to draw near.
This gentle yet eerie voice sounded somewhat familiar to her.
She gritted her teeth, wanting to hear clearly what the female voice was saying, but her mind grew increasingly hazy.
She forced herself upright, drew the Kunlun Sword, and was about to slash open her palm—using pain to stay conscious!
The next moment, her hand was seized.
She crashed into a pair of phoenix eyes tinged with anger.
She gritted her teeth. “Wait, I’m about to hear it clearly!”
But he did not release her. His grip was like iron, not allowing her to harm herself.
He infused a surge of extremely domineering, baleful demonic energy into her, stimulating her mind and keeping her conscious.
After quite a while, he asked, “Did you hear it clearly?”
Her whole body was drenched in sweat. She nodded.
The next second, she was pulled to her feet.
Her voice trembled as she endured it: “Yan Xueyi, aren’t you afraid your yang energy will be drained dry by me?”
After learning that this gu was urging her to absorb yang energy, she had already resolved that she would not harm him again.
He let out a cold laugh. “Have you forgotten who I am?”
His voice carried a faint arrogance. His cold, sharp jaw lifted slightly, and those beautiful, sinister phoenix eyes of the demon race narrowed. “Whoever gets drained into a dried corpse, it won’t be me.”
He turned his head away somewhat awkwardly. “Well?”
She asked, “What?”
He glared at her. “I’m letting you absorb yang energy, don’t be stupid and stab yourself with a knife!”
The next moment, he viciously dragged her into his arms, with such force it felt as though he wanted to embed her into his body.
This demon’s aura rushed over her, almost completely enveloping her.
She hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her arms around him.
Both of them stiffened at the same time.
But soon, he pressed his thin lips together, then lowered his head and held her tighter.
He frowned slightly. Clearly, he had already sensed the thing in her body frantically absorbing and devouring yang energy.
Slowly, the clamoring gu gradually quieted down.
But both of their expressions grew very grave.
Clearly, Guangping had not been wrong at all. If it were someone else, this gu really might have drained them dry.
After a long while, she wanted to say it was enough. But the demon stubbornly said nothing and continued holding her, refusing to let go.
She pushed at him. The handsome demon frowned. “Is that enough? Should you absorb a bit more?”
Last time they had almost kissed—was mere skin contact enough this time?
Chao Jinsui: “……”
Last time, she had no awareness and was controlled by the gu, so anything she did would not have been strange. But this time she was conscious! She had only just managed to suppress the gu with the Kunlun Sword, yet suddenly she realized—why did this demon look a little regretful?
Suddenly, she felt he resembled that vicious guard dog on Mingyue Mountain—especially when his gaze flicked, intentionally or not, toward her lips.
She pushed him. “Yan Xueyi, I heard that voice clearly. I recognize it.”
Speaking of serious matters, he finally released her slowly.
He said, “Good. I also have something to tell you.”
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Dawn was about to break. Guangping was summoned over.
Yan Xueyi said unhurriedly, “Do you still remember that half-demon old ancestor of the Su family? The extermination of the Hehuan Sect, most likely the Su family did it.”
Chao Jinsui thought for a moment:
“The voice I heard was Su Liuyun’s mother’s voice—Madam Zi.”
“Madam Zi is the younger sister of the Hehuan Sect’s sect master. Not many people know this.”
After recognizing the voice, she had the system investigate Madam Zi, and this was pieced together from scattered fragments of the plot.
Once the information was exchanged, everything became clear—
Back then, the extermination of the Hehuan Sect was the Su family’s doing.
So ten years after its destruction, Su Liuyun could easily obtain this love gu that had already vanished without a trace;
And Madam Zi, as the younger sister of the Hehuan Sect’s sect master, was the most likely person to possess the Gu King.
Chao Jinsui said, “No matter what, I have to go meet her.”
Speaking of Madam Zi, her impression of this person was very deep.
Before anything happened to Su Liuyun, Kunlun and the Su family had always been on very good terms.
Chao Taichu had always wanted Su Liuyun to become his ideal son-in-law and often dealt with the Su family.
Back then, when Su Liuyun had “saved” her, the first time she went to thank them in person, Madam Zi had even proposed that Chao Jinsui call her godmother.
Madam Zi was a beautiful woman who still retained her charm.
To this day, Chao Jinsui still vividly remembered Madam Zi’s gentle yet eerie voice, which was why she had been able to recognize it even when her consciousness was extremely blurred.
She had never seen her own mother and was unwilling to call anyone else “mother.” So back then she immediately declined Madam Zi’s offer, and afterward rarely visited the Su family except for formal occasions;
On the other hand, Chao Xiaotu had always enthusiastically called Madam Zi godmother and went to the Su family every few days.
But if there was one impression of Madam Zi that left the deepest mark on Chao Jinsui—it was that she loved her son more than life itself.
Su Liuyun spent money like flowing water. Everything he owned was exquisitely refined, not only because he was the family head’s son, but also because of Madam Zi’s indulgence. Whatever he liked, Madam Zi would present to him with both hands.
Thinking of it that way, her giving the love gu to Su Liuyun was perfectly normal.
—After all, in a certain sense, wasn’t she also something Su Liuyun “liked”?
Could someone like that accept the pain of losing her son?
She had a very strong premonition that if the matter of the love gu was not resolved soon, something major would definitely happen.
She thought for a moment. “The Su family’s stronghold is in Yuanyang City. The Su family head has taken a group of disciples to trouble Kunlun, but Madam Zi has always lived in seclusion—she must still be in Yuanyang City.”
Yan Xueyi lifted his gaze and stared at her. “How will you go? Go alone in your current state to seek death?”
“I’ll go with you.”
His phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously, and he sneered coldly:
“For daring to pin the extermination on this seat, they should at least weigh whether they have the strength to bear the consequences.”
Guangping, who had been very quiet all along, hesitated to speak:
In truth, of the blame the demon race carried, if not a hundred thousand then at least eighty thousand—and the Demon Venerable’s notoriety was even more infamous. If a chicken went missing in the cultivation world, it was said the Demon Venerable had personally stolen it.
But in the end, Guangping still pressed his palms together and recited a Buddhist chant—
Forget it, better not undermine His Excellency. It was too easy to get kicked flying.
Guangping: “This poor monk will go as well.”
The two of them turned to look at him in perfect unison. For a moment, he felt extremely unnecessary.
Guangping: But this poor monk is the one who knows medicine!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
On the night before leaving Wuxiang Valley, Chao Jinsui received a paper crane from Chao Zhaoyue.
Unfolding the letter, she learned that Chao Zhaoyue had already reached the mortal world. Everything was going smoothly, and he had not encountered any of Chao Taichu’s people along the way. He was now on the road searching for their mother’s burial place.
After thinking for a moment, she told him about her impending trip to Yuanyang City, but concealed the matter of the love gu acting up again.
Watching the paper crane fly into the distance, she suddenly remembered the unfinished words Chao Zhaoyue had spoken in the carriage on the day she left Kunlun—
“The one who sends you birthday gifts every year?”
She regretted not asking him about it in the letter.
But then she suddenly recalled:
When Chao Zhaoyue left Mingyue Mountain, he had packed up all her belongings. He had even brought her two full tea sets. Presumably, all the miscellaneous items she had left on Mingyue Mountain had been packed as well.
So she simply sat on the couch and began searching through them one by one.
Early the next morning, Chao Jinsui kept staring at Yan Xueyi.
—To be precise, at his demon horns.
When relaxed, the Demon Venerable resembled a lazy big cat, but his broken demon horns looked somewhat ferocious, instantly making that lazy big cat seem full of aggression.
He grew increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze. Wherever he went, her line of sight followed his demon horns.
She stared without blinking.
On one hand, he felt she was being clingy; on the other, her staring irritated him.
Mainly because her gaze was too focused—under her stare, his limbs grew stiff no matter what he did.
Finally, he could not endure it any longer. His phoenix eyes narrowed as he approached her with malicious intent, backing her all the way into a corner against the wall.
He glared fiercely at her and demanded, “Why are you staring at me? Is it the love gu again?”
He knew it!
But the cool and composed girl was not frightened in the slightest by his fierce appearance. Instead, she suddenly opened her palm toward him. “It’s because of this.”
In her palm was a piece of letter paper.
In the past, she had been the Young Sect Master. Whenever her birthday came, the gifts she received piled up like small mountains, and there were countless social obligations to manage. Thus, those gifts without names seemed extremely inconspicuous and were all stored in the corner of her storage pouch, gathering dust year after year.
Yesterday, she searched through that pile of things for a long time and finally found one person’s gift.
Sent every year, unsigned every year, with only a congratulatory note attached.
Though… it could not quite be called unsigned.
Because at the place of the signature on the note—there were two horns drawn.
