He immediately pressed down on her shoulder to keep her from struggling violently, but very quickly, he withdrew.
Her face turned pale, her whole body drenched in sweat.
The demon stared at her complexion for a long time, then handed her a cup of tea.
Because he had invaded her sea of consciousness, he had already seen the memory that had just flashed back.
She held her head, feeling the sharp pain gradually fade, and said:
“Again.”
He frowned and looked at her for a while. In the end, he still reached out, placing his finger against her brow.
This time, he tried to send only a portion of his divine sense in. At first, it was indeed successful, but perhaps because it went deeper into the sea of consciousness, even more intense resistance followed.
That overwhelming feeling of another person’s divine sense invading her was too strong. Images from her previous life even flashed uncontrollably through her mind—
In her previous life, after demonic energy flourished and Yan Xueyi was already close to becoming the Demon God, his sanity came and went. That was the most brutal moment in her memory.
He threw her aside and told her to leave, but she did not hear. The next moment, the Demon God, having completely lost his reason, nearly hurled her off the mountain peak. Gritting her teeth, she drew her sword and plunged it into the Demon God’s abdomen.
He withdrew even faster this time—not because she could not endure it, but because the impact of that memory on him was too great.
“When did I ever… when did I ever treat you like that?”
The sharp pain made her unable to recover her senses; she could not hear clearly what he was saying at all.
After quite a while, she finally recovered and opened her eyes: “Again.”
“No. You’re too weak right now. Try again tomorrow.”
She said, “I know my own body. Try once more.”
Seeing her like this, the ruthless and merciless Demon Sovereign actually found himself unable to act.
In the end, he forced himself to endure it, turning his head away from her pale face, and once again placed his finger against her brow.
This time, he saw that scene even more clearly. He saw his pitch-black eyes, saw the part of himself that was almost devoid of humanity, stabbing down without hesitation. It was clearly only a memory, yet he suddenly felt an indescribable palpitation in his heart.
The demon suddenly realized—
The person in her memories really was him.
Only, it was the him who had lost control.
His face instantly turned extremely pale—paler even than she was now.
—Because he knew that was something extremely likely to happen.
If he lost control, if…
He looked at her, withdrew his hand, and fell silent for a moment:
“This won’t work. I’ll go find Guangping and have him try.”
Chao Jinsui had not expected that he could even see the memories of her previous life.
He did not ask, and she did not explain.
She realized where the problem lay—deep within her consciousness, she found it hard to distinguish between Yan Xueyi and the Demon God.
Especially in her previous life, when she had been almost lifelong enemies with him, and had never known the difference between Yan Xueyi and the Demon God.
Compared to an entire lifetime, the understanding she had gained in these past few months was still far too shallow.
But… change to someone else?
Her voice was weak, but resolute:
“No. I only want you.”
She knew very clearly what kind of person she was—
From a very young age, she could not even trust her own father. There was not a single elder around her whom she could rely on, and her only brother was not much older than she was.
So from childhood, she had always found it extremely difficult to place trust in others. Later, she gradually learned to trust her sect, only to end up pierced through by ten thousand arrows.
She had never trusted even the system that had accompanied her for a hundred years—let alone anyone else.
—Now, there was only him.
If it had been before, after seeing that scene from her memories, this demon might have retreated. All his life he had been decisive in killing and conquest, yet when facing her alone, he became cautious, like someone who, upon nearing home, grows timid—lingering at the softest place in his heart, not daring to take even one step forward.
They had been enemies for so long. In the past, she had never been polite to him, crossing blades with him again and again. After countless rejections, this demon had long since become like a startled bird—he did not want to face her wariness and rejection.
And moreover… he was facing a scene from her memories for which he could not defend himself at all.
He could not even bring himself to say to her: that he would never hurt her like that.
His gloomy expression had never been so pale.
But this time, he was only silent for a moment.
“If you won’t change, then we won’t change.”
He pressed his thin lips together. His profile was incomparably resolute, his jaw tightly set, like a cheetah poised to strike:
“I’ll think of a way.”
Not just the divine soul, but also—
One day, he could openly and properly say that sentence to her:
“I will never hurt you.”
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
With the Su family’s downfall, servants and maids packed their belongings and left one after another. All at once, the entire Yuanyang City seemed much emptier.
The next day, Lingyun finally woke up.
The moment she woke and saw Chao Jinsui, she grabbed the hem of her clothes and refused, no matter what, to return to Kunlun Sword Sect.
“Young Sect Master, after you left, the Sect Master handed us over to the elders of the Punishment Hall.”
The disciples who had secretly gone down the mountain to help Chao Jinsui open the mountain gate—all of them were punished.
However, Chao Taichu had not gone too far, but the two leaders, Lingyun and Wuya, were both expelled from the ranks of inner disciples.
Lingyun said dejectedly: “Senior Brother Wuya was sent to the Demon Realm to transport a batch of rare spiritual herbs. I don’t know whether he’ll be able to come back…”
She turned and asked Lingyun: “And you? Why did you follow Chao Xiaotu here?”
Lingyun’s expression dimmed.
On Lingyun’s side… it was outright humiliation.
Not only did she lose her status as an inner disciple, she would never in this lifetime be able to cultivate within the inner sect again, and she had to serve Chao Xiaotu tea and water, summoned and dismissed at will.
Forget sword practice—even her freedom was gone.
But what was even more excessive was…
“Young Sect Master, I followed Chao Xiaotu to the Su family. That day, after choosing the bride for the joy marriage, Senior Sister Xiaotu insisted on seeing Madam Zi. Madam Zi refused to meet her, but she still tried to secretly follow her. I didn’t want to go, so she threatened to throw me into the Punishment Hall!”
“Who knew… who knew…”
The young girl’s pale face was filled with terror:
“Senior Sister Xiaotu followed Madam Zi underground and discovered that giant spider… She wanted to run but didn’t have time, so she dragged me over to block the spider silk, and secretly ran away herself.”
So Lingyun was bound by the spider silk just like that, nearly losing her life. She was terrified and despairing, truly thinking she would die such a miserable death.
A flash of fear passed through the young girl’s eyes, and she could not help but begin to tremble.
“She used you as a shield?”
Chao Jinsui could not help feeling a trace of anger.
Lingyun was an inner disciple recruited from outside by Kunlun Sword Sect, with excellent talent and limitless prospects. Yet Chao Taichu, out of personal motives, had relegated her to the outer sect. Even so, Lingyun was by no means a maid or servant of the Chao family—there was absolutely no reason for her to die in place of the Chao family’s young lady. No matter what sect in the cultivation world, there could not be such disregard for human life!
What did Chao Taichu and Chao Xiaotu take Kunlun Sword Sect for? The Chao family’s backyard?
She fell silent for a while, then said to Lingyun: “I won’t send you back to Kunlun Sword Sect. Rest first. Don’t worry about anything else, I will arrange everything.”
Before she left, Lingyun called out to her: “Young Sect Master, there’s one more thing. I remember Senior Sister Xiaotu kept talking about reviving Senior Brother Su… She even wanted to steal a coffin.”
Lingyun did not believe in any method of bringing the dead back to life, but after witnessing that sinister giant spider, she could not help but grow worried.
Chao Jinsui paused mid-step. She recalled how Madam Zi had once wanted to revive Su Liuyun, preparing a coffin and a body. Could the one Chao Xiaotu wanted to steal be that?
Chao Jinsui was almost angered into laughter.
Truly both stupid and vicious, not a bit of improvement.
But she could not help wondering:
Just what kind of gu had Su Liuyun planted in her that she would be so devoted? Even now she still wanted to revive him?
Chao Jinsui suddenly asked the system suspiciously: “Did Su Liuyun plant a love gu on Chao Xiaotu?”
Even now, she still thought about stealing back the coffin meant for Su Liuyun’s revival. In her previous life, Su Liuyun had been unbelievably scummy, yet she had remained devoted through near death after near death. Compared to her, even cultivators wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao would seem to have less steadfast Dao hearts.
System: “Host, you may not believe it, but there was no gu. It’s true love.”
Chao Jinsui: “…”
“True love?”
Chao Jinsui suddenly stopped walking.
No—aside from matters involving Su Liuyun, Chao Xiaotu was actually quite clever.
At such a young age, she already knew how to compete for favor in front of Chao Taichu, and she had used Lingyun to block the giant spider. She was clearly very intelligent.
In a flash of realization, she suddenly recalled the time she had awakened from that great dream and had just returned to the sect.
At that time, Chao Xiaotu’s behavior had been very strange. Chao Xiaotu had been extremely shocked, astonished—as if she believed Chao Jinsui should not have returned so intact.
The system also remembered: “Could it be… she’s like you?”
She knew how the future would unfold. She knew Chao Jinsui would be afflicted by a love gu, would appear covered in blood.
But things had turned out differently, which was why Chao Xiaotu had been so shocked.
Chao Jinsui pondered: “Perhaps more than that—Chao Xiaotu probably knows that Su Liuyun is the male lead.”
That would explain why Chao Xiaotu was so utterly devoted to Su Liuyun.
Because she knew he was the male lead, even if Su Liuyun mistreated her a thousand times, she still treated him like her first love. When an ordinary person loses the one they love, they mourn and grieve—but Chao Xiaotu seemed to believe Su Liuyun would never truly die, single-mindedly thinking about reviving him.
Where did her confidence come from?
Unless… she believed she herself was the female lead, and Su Liuyun was the male lead.
Only then would such a shrewd person display a devotion that did not match her true nature.
Like a gambler placing a bet—once she already knew she would win in the end, she would not hesitate to wager everything she had!
She suddenly said: “System, have you noticed? Chao Xiaotu’s luck is pretty good too.”
The system muttered, “How could it not be? She survived even in front of the Gu King…”
“And she survived being thrown into the Patriarch’s trial last time.”
The system froze the next moment.
That’s right—this was exactly the problem! She even knew how the future would unfold, knew who the male lead was!
The whereabouts of the second Butian Stone became very obvious!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Chao Jinsui had already risen quickly and was walking outside.
She had to hurry and repair her divine soul—at least make some progress—before going to investigate this lead.
She couldn’t let her heart demon take over every single time.
She knocked on the door. “Yan Xueyi, are you there?”
“Have you thought of a solution?”
After quite a while, the door was pushed open from inside, and Chao Jinsui saw a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar—beautiful.
—It was the little demon overlord.
The little demon overlord in his youth possessed an extreme, flamboyant beauty. Compared to his later gloominess and unpredictability, he was more like a razor-sharp weapon brimming with brilliance. The demonic horns on his head made that flamboyance even more striking—like a mass of black flames, baring its fangs and claws.
The little demon tilted his horns slightly, crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe. A trace of awkwardness flashed across his beautiful face:
