She was one of the people Chao Taichu had sent to accompany Chao Xiaotu, and this morning she had come to the Su residence together with her.
Chao Jinsui had an excellent memory. When Lingyun had been with Wuya at the foot of the mountain to see her off, she had been wearing this very jade-green hairpin.
Chao Xiaotu had clearly been kicked into the lake. She had thought Lingyun would have been sent out together with Chao Xiaotu, so how did it end up here?
Madam Zi would not harm Chao Xiaotu. Chao Xiaotu was the daughter of the Kunlun Sword Sect’s sect master, of great value—Madam Zi could not possibly kill her so easily. Lingyun, being with her, should have been safe.
She asked Hongniang, “Among the eight, was there Chao Xiaotu?”
Hongniang shook her head. “No.”
She thought for a moment, then suddenly recalled something. “But… it seemed someone was making a fuss about wanting to see Madam Zi. That should have been that… Tu, right?”
Chao Jinsui clenched the hairpin tightly. “Quick, go—maybe there’s still time!”
Yan Xueyi also remembered Lingyun—mainly because he cared greatly about Wuya, so he had incidentally remembered Lingyun, who had been there to see them off.
He understood what she was thinking. Grabbing her wrist, he transformed directly into a mass of black mist and shot swiftly toward the depths of the underground palace!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Soon, they finally found the Gu King and Madam Zi.
It was a massive underground hall, nearly as tall as a multi-story building. The ground was extremely vast—comparable to the sword-training grounds of the Kunlun Sword Sect where disciples practiced flying swords. It seemed like a place specially used to raise some enormous creature.
They finally saw the true form of the Gu King.
Gu are created by placing various poisonous insects together and letting them devour one another—until the one that survives at the end is the Gu King.
At the end of the day, all gu are poisonous insects.
This gu that the Hehuan Sect had raised for a thousand years was a gigantic spider, with a full sixteen legs—pitch black and terrifying, covered in barbs. Its massive body occupied nearly two-thirds of the entire vast hall!
Spider webs filled the surroundings, making the place look completely and utterly like a spider’s nest!
Madam Zi let out a sharp screech: “Give my son back!”
Countless strands of spider silk shot toward them with whistling speed!
The silk gleamed with a cold light, as if steeped in poison, so tough it could instantly strangle countless people!
The next second, the demon lord at the front suddenly flashed forward, moving so fast that seven or eight afterimages were left behind where he had stood!
His ten fingers were wrapped with countless strands of spider silk. With a cold laugh, he suddenly exerted force and yanked viciously!
The enormous spider let out a shrill cry and was dragged across the ground, carving deep grooves!
The countless strands of silk seemed to turn into cotton threads in an instant—snapping apart abruptly!
He opened his pitch-black phoenix eyes, and black flames rose out of nowhere, surging along the spider silk as they burned toward the Gu King!
The next moment, Madam Zi let out a piercing scream!
The giant spider immediately sprayed venom, temporarily blocking the black flames.
But Madam Zi, whose mind had been clouded by her son’s remnant soul, finally began to realize something was wrong—
That flame was clearly karmic fire!
Moreover, who could seize a soul from the cycle of reincarnation and burn it?
There was only one answer—
Demon Sovereign, Yan Xueyi.
Madam Zi cherished her life and feared death. Her heart ached for her son, but she knew even more clearly that as long as the green hills remained, there would be no fear of lacking firewood.
Facing a powerful enemy, Madam Zi no longer lingered in battle!
She had refined herself together with the Gu King, but she also had a method of escape. Gritting her teeth and enduring the intense pain, she abruptly severed her connection with the Gu King!
Then she fiercely stimulated the giant spider. A spray of venom burst forth. Taking advantage of the moment their vision was blocked, Madam Zi endured the agony and fled outward like a madwoman, risking her life to escape!
The demon lord did not hesitate. He drew a circle of karmic fire on the ground, shoved Chao Jinsui and Hongniang inside it, then transformed into a mass of black qi and gave chase!
Madam Zi was very skilled at fleeing. After recognizing Yan Xueyi, she unleashed nearly all her abilities, with only one goal—escape with her life!
She absolutely could not be let go at this moment. Otherwise, with Madam Zi’s crooked and sinister methods, who knew what hidden place she might find to hide again?
Inside the underground palace, after Madam Zi severed her connection with the Gu King, the Gu King let out a massive shriek! It had long merged into one with Madam Zi. When she left, part of its power was taken away with her, along with immense pain.
Driven mad by the agony, the Gu King began to go berserk. It wanted to devour people to restore its strength. It had many cocoons—but it was not enough. It wanted to eat even more!
But it dared not approach the area surrounded by karmic fire. It could only stare at that place with its eerie green eyes, hissing.
Chao Jinsui’s gaze was not on the Gu King, but on the ground.
There lay an unremarkable sword worn at the waist.
This was standard issue for the Kunlun Sword Sect. Since Lingyun had not yet reached the Golden Core stage, she had not gone to the Sword Tomb to obtain a sword of her own.
That sword lay there alone in the corner, with drag marks still visible on the ground.
Hongniang noticed something was off in her expression and asked, “Miss, what’s wrong?”
Chao Jinsui said softly, “I can’t sense her aura.”
“Lingyun… she was dragged in here, but her aura has already disappeared.”
Hongniang also fell silent, looking at her somewhat awkwardly, not knowing how to comfort her.
For a cultivator’s aura to vanish meant at least half a day had passed. They had only just entered the Su residence that afternoon—it was likely she had already been dragged down not long after.
Hongniang did not care much about the life or death of a human cultivator, nor did she particularly care about the lives of demons. To demons, death was a very ordinary matter.
But she had heard from the Venerable Lord that this human cultivator was different from them—she had a very kind heart.
Chao Jinsui said quietly, “Hongniang, I want to retrieve Lingyun’s remains.”
Hongniang replied, “Miss Chao, your spirit is unstable. Wait until the Venerable Lord returns before making a move!”
Although the Gu King was no longer under Madam Zi’s control and had lost its intelligence, it was still extremely dangerous!
Chao Jinsui lowered her head and looked at her hands.
She had actually been thinking all along—why had Lingyun followed Chao Xiaotu here?
The maids and attendants who followed Chao Xiaotu were all outer disciples of the Kunlun Sword Sect. Only Lingyun was an inner disciple.
Inner disciples all had exceptional talent and high status within the sect. Even if Chao Xiaotu was the sect master’s daughter, she could never treat an inner disciple as a maid or servant, summoning and dismissing her at will.
—That would provoke public outrage. No matter how much Chao Taichu doted on Chao Xiaotu, he would never do such a thing.
She hadn’t understood before. Until just now—she finally figured it out.
Lingyun had been punished and exiled here.
Lingyun was young and very obedient, what mistake could she have made?
No… perhaps she had made only one mistake. That day, she joined Wuya and many other disciples to secretly descend the mountain and open the mountain gate for her.
Lingyun was only one among many unremarkable inner disciples of the Kunlun Sword Sect. Just as she had said that day, she neither had the ability to oppose the sect master nor the strength to fight her way down Kunlun Mountain alongside her. She could only offer a small bit of help—quietly coming down to open the mountain gate.
After leaving the Kunlun Sword Sect, she still remembered that small kindness—
At least it proved that all her painstaking efforts in Kunlun had not been in vain. Not everyone was an ungrateful wretch. What she had done had value, and someone remembered it.
So she left with great composure, without the slightest indulgence in the past.
Yet because of that tiny bit of kindness, Chao Taichu had punished Lingyun by sending her to Chao Xiaotu’s side, to serve tea and pour water—perhaps even stripping her of her status as an inner disciple.
And now, Lingyun was dead—just recently devoured by this Gu King.
However, at this moment, neither Chao Jinsui nor Hongniang knew—
Within the nest beneath the massive spider’s body, there were many white spider cocoons.
Inside each cocoon was a woman, wrapped tightly within, their life force and spiritual energy gradually absorbed by the white spider silk, until finally even their flesh and blood were consumed.
The Lingyun they believed to be dead… still had one last breath left.
Lingyun still retained a faint trace of consciousness. Only half a day had passed—she would not die that quickly. But she felt herself growing extremely weak. Cultivators understood their own bodies very well; she knew she was about to die. She could not hold on much longer.
Faintly, she heard a familiar voice and almost thought it was her imagination. Her eyes widened, tears streaming down uncontrollably—was it the Young Sect Master? Was it her?
After Hongniang advised her not to act rashly, she did not know how else to comfort her.
For a time, one human and one demon stood silently within the circle of burning karmic fire, hearing only the hissing of the giant spider.
Chao Jinsui lowered her head and looked at her hands. They were the hands of a sword cultivator—long-fingered, covered with thin calluses. Though top-grade spiritual medicine had healed her injuries, many faint scars still remained.
Before her soul was injured, she had never known what helplessness felt like—after all, with the Kunlun Sword in hand, and in her previous life having been a Transformation Realm cultivator, far beyond an ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivator, as long as she held a sword, she feared nothing.
But now her soul was unstable; she could not even properly control her own body.
The last time she killed Su Baishan, it had been through perfect cooperation with Xiao Yanjing. Now, she even needed Hongniang’s protection.
But if she waited—waited for Yan Xueyi to return—perhaps even Lingyun’s bones would have melted away!
She lowered her head, trying to comfort herself: you’re injured, it’s alright if you can’t do it.
But she clutched Lingyun’s hairpin so tightly that her fingers turned white.
She couldn’t accept that!
“No.”
Chao Jinsui’s gaze froze.
—No, she had a way!
Hadn’t the Love Gu once controlled her?
She suddenly said, “Heart demon!”
A demon figure drifted out behind her.
This heart demon had been secretly planted in her by the demon lord when the Love Gu first acted up, constantly trying to lure her into demonic cultivation before she left the Kunlun Sword Sect. After the main body had been with her, the heart demon rarely appeared.
When Hongniang saw the heart demon, her eyes widened.
Then she heard Chao Jinsui say decisively, “Heart demon, control my body!”
Yes, her soul was unstable but she could let the heart demon control her!
As long as the heart demon temporarily took control—
She could briefly return to normal!
The heart demon hesitated, as if wanting to speak, but upon meeting her eyes, said nothing more and swiftly drilled into her body.
In an instant, her ears and mind filled with one word—
“Kill!”
A dense killing intent surfaced in her pupils.
The Kunlun Sword seemed to sense its master’s thoughts, buzzing incessantly, golden light blazing.
Hongniang hesitated for a moment. Bound by the Demon Sovereign’s orders, she still silently blocked her.
Chao Jinsui looked at the Gu King not far away, isolated by the karmic fire, and softly said to Hongniang:
“I didn’t plan to go alone.”
“Hongniang, I heard you have slain many demons yourself and are a renowned demon general. If we join forces, could we really not defeat a mindless beast?”
Hongniang: …. .
Don’t casually provoke demons!
She turned back and asked softly, “What, a dignified demon general—afraid of a little spider?”
Hongniang: …..
Demons should not be provoked, because once provoked, they easily lose control.
Hongniang still struggled a bit in the end. “What little spider? That’s a thousand-year Gu King!”
But Chao Jinsui had already moved!
With a tap of her toe, she vanished from where she stood and landed directly before the gigantic Gu King!
The Kunlun Sword let out a resonant hum.
Her voice was very soft: “What thousand-year Gu King? I only know—”
Her black hair was blown by the wind. She lifted her gaze to meet the giant spider’s eerie green eyes. In her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, there was a field of blood-red—
“Those who kill must pay with their lives, and debts must be repaid!”
