Waiting for death is far more agonizing than death itself.
When it came to “waiting for death,” Wang Sandong had a wealth of experience.
The problem, however, was that the method of death changed the sensation of waiting.
Waiting to die from weakness due to a lack of a Spiritual Root was a world apart from waiting for one’s family to “execute a relative for the greater good” because of demonic cultivation.
Looking at the clearly identifiable traces of Demonic Qi in the crevices of his ten fingernails, and listening to the thumping of his heart, Wang Sandong forced his trembling legs to a halt.
He stood up, took two steps forward, then turned back and sat down again.
He immediately resumed the rapid shaking of his legs.
He couldn’t run.
Perhaps Hongxiu hadn’t seen anything.
With his frail constitution, if he actually tried to flee, he probably wouldn’t survive for more than a few days.
If Hongxiu really had seen it and suspected him of being a Demonic Cultivator, there would be no escape anyway!
‘Sigh!’
‘I should have rushed forward to kill her and silence the witness!’
He had only been afraid of making things worse and getting himself killed instead.
After all, Hongxiu wasn’t an ordinary maid; she was his mother’s confidante, and her strength was not to be underestimated.
“Wang Tong! Prepare the carriage!”
Soon, the carriage left the mansion and headed straight for Fengyue Tower.
Yueniang personally received Wang Sandong with a beaming smile and led him to a room on the third floor.
After accepting the silver ingot Wang Sandong gave her, Yueniang’s smile grew even more brilliant.
She swayed her hips as she walked downstairs.
When she passed by a regular customer in the hall, she was stopped.
“Tsk, tsk. Yueniang, I hear this Third Young Master Wang has been coming here quite often lately,” the regular teased, giving Yueniang’s backside a firm squeeze as he spoke.
Yueniang leaned into him.
“Oh, Brother Liu, you haven’t been visiting much lately yourself.”
She draped an arm over his shoulder and lowered her voice.
“I’ve heard that this Third Young Master doesn’t have much longer to live. I suppose he wants to enjoy himself as much as possible while he still can.”
Brother Liu clicked his tongue and nodded, replying in a whisper, “I heard that too. Well, it’s understandable. It’s just… with his constitution, he can probably only look, right?”
As he spoke, his hand rubbed back and forth along Yueniang’s leg.
“He shouldn’t even look too much,” Yueniang joked.
“It’s easy to drop dead from the excitement.”
“Hahaha!”
The two of them weren’t the only ones gossiping about Wang Sandong behind his back.
In the Old Capital, many people knew that the legitimate Third Young Master of the Wang Family would soon be dead.
Rumor had it that Mr. Yi, who had been treating the Third Young Master for years, had already declared: “Wang Sandong will certainly be dead before autumn.”
If Mr. Yi said so, then there was surely no hope.
After all, in the Old Capital, no one’s medical skills surpassed those of Mr. Yi.
While Yueniang shared crude jokes with Brother Liu, she would occasionally cast an inadvertent glance toward the third-floor corridor.
If any guest approached that specific room, she would instinctively grow tense.
Fortunately, she had already arranged for girls to intervene; if they spotted anything unusual, they would immediately approach and pull the guests away.
They say the most dangerous place is the safest.
The Old Capital was a perfect place to hide.
But still…
One had to be cautious.
There was no room for even a single careless mistake.
***
Inside the room on the third floor, Yuan Di held Wang Sandong’s soft, delicate hand.
Looking at the traces of Demonic Qi under his fingernails, she smiled.
“The Demonic Qi in your body isn’t bound by a Spiritual Root. It’s normal for some to leak out as it thrashes around.”
After saying this, she gave his hand another squeeze.
Wang Sandong looked at Yuan Di’s fair hand.
As he allowed her to hold his own, he felt a strange sense of pleasure.
However, he was in no mood for such thoughts.
“Normal? It’s also normal for people to try to kill me once they see it.”
“Exterminating demons and defending the Dao is, of course, very normal.”
“You… how can we make it abnormal then?”
Yuan Di thought for a moment and said, “Simple. Lick it back in.”
“Lick it how?”
“With your tongue.”
Wang Sandong froze.
He looked at his fingers, then at Yuan Di, and then back down at his fingers.
“Uh, I don’t quite understand. Could you demonstrate?”
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed an index finger toward Yuan Di’s mouth.
Yuan Di’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Staring into his eyes, she let out a scoffing laugh.
“Are you sure you want me to demonstrate?”
He had been “sure,” but hearing Yuan Di say it that way made him feel a bit apprehensive.
He cautiously withdrew his finger, popped it into his own mouth, and mumbled indistinctly, “How long do I have to lick?”
“Until it’s clean,” Yuan Di said.
She picked up a book and began flipping through it casually.
From time to time, she would look up at Wang Sandong.
Seeing him lick his fingers like a kitten, or sometimes just suck on them, she couldn’t help but chuckle.
Wang Sandong, whose mind was entirely focused on the Demonic Qi under his nails, didn’t notice her peeking.
After licking for a long while, he voiced his doubt.
“The effect doesn’t seem very obvious.”
Yuan Di smiled.
After a moment of contemplation, she said, “Part of the reason Demonic Cultivators are loathed by Spiritual Cultivators is that demonic methods naturally possess a devouring effect. In the eyes of a Spiritual Cultivator, devouring the power of others is evil.”
Wang Sandong was well aware of this common knowledge.
After thinking it over, he asked, “Are you saying that what I’m doing now is like devouring?”
Yuan Di nodded with a smile.
“You are only at the First Rank of cultivation. Your devouring ability is very weak, so the effect is naturally not obvious.”
As she spoke, she noticed Wang Sandong lean his elbow on the corner of the table.
He actually closed his eyes while licking his fingers, giving off an oddly enjoyable vibe.
Perhaps because his chest felt itchy, his other hand scratched at it twice.
He was a natural beauty—a delicate and fragile specimen.
Once the *Huitian* technique reached mastery, he would likely bring chaos to the world.
Yuan Di’s brow twitched involuntarily.
Her throat vibrated as she let out a light cough and asked, “What are you doing with your eyes closed?”
“I’m sleepy.”
Wang Sandong let out a yawn and lazily opened his eyes to look at Yuan Di.
“Isn’t it your fault? I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Yuan Di gave a wry smile and lowered her eyes to her book.
“Demonic cultivation can easily corrupt one’s character,” she said.
“Though we have no formal title of master and disciple, the reality exists between us. It is necessary for me to test your character.”
“Oh. And… how was it?”
“Quite good.”
The corners of Yuan Di’s mouth curled up, her eyes never leaving the pages.
“Especially the fact that you actually dared to strike at me at the end.”
“Uh…”
“True cultivation means seeking the path of life while embracing the heart of certain death.”
“It sounds like you’re actually praising me.”
Yuan Di smiled.
“Alright, you can go now. I’m going to read for a bit.”
“Hmph, you certainly are studious.”
As he spoke, Wang Sandong glanced at the cover of the book in Yuan Di’s hand.
“*The Difference Between Black and White—A Dissertation on the Disparity Between Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi*. Where did you find such an obscure book? My family has a copy too; it’s full of errors and isn’t worth a single read.”
“It’s not entirely full of errors. If there is even one correct point, it is worth reading.”
“Fine. One more thing.”
Wang Sandong intended to tell Yuan Di about the possibility of Hongxiu discovering his demonic cultivation and ask for her advice.
However, the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back down.
He felt that Yuan Di might prefer to kill Hongxiu rather than risk letting her go.
‘Sigh.’
Over the years, Hongxiu had been very good to him.
If he just had her killed so casually…
How could his conscience be at peace?
But in truth, hadn’t he come to find Yuan Di with the hidden intent of using her hand to eliminate Hongxiu and remove the threat?
‘Perhaps I really am suited for demonic cultivation.’
Seeing Yuan Di looking at him suspiciously, Wang Sandong smiled and asked, “Are you… a man or a woman?”
Wang Sandong had asked this before, but she had never answered.
“A man.”
“Really? Strip and let me see—”
Before he could finish the sentence, he suddenly felt a wave of icy air.
Yuan Di kept her head down, looking at the book without revealing any murderous intent.
But the temperature in the entire room dropped noticeably, as if someone had turned on a cold air conditioner.
Wang Sandong gave a dry laugh.
“You keep reading. I’m leaving.”
***
He stepped out of Fengyue Tower and got into the carriage.
He was about to resume licking his fingers when he suddenly froze.
*The Difference Between Black and White*…
That book wasn’t in the Wang Family’s library.
There was, however, a copy in the Zheng Clan’s Hundred Scriptures Tower.
His memory seemed to have diverged.
Many memories didn’t originally belong to him.
If every person he killed allowed him to plunder a portion of their memories, then as he killed more people in the future, his memories would only increase.
Thinking of it this way…
It didn’t seem like a good thing.
Ordinary memories were one thing, but if there were painful memories…
‘Sigh…’
Wang Sandong felt a bit melancholy.
The move “Soul Snatching” was truly…
Of course, one couldn’t ignore the benefits of “Soul Snatching.”
For instance, it allowed Wang Sandong to easily “learn” the Zheng Clan’s secret technique: the *Noble Spirit Art*.
However, even though he had learned it, he couldn’t use it.
Because Wang Sandong had no Spiritual Root, he couldn’t practice any technique other than *Huitian*.
So, while the gains seemed good, they were actually useless.
“Young Master, are we returning to the mansion?”
Wang Tong asked.
Wang Sandong hesitated.
Should he go back?
Hongxiu probably hadn’t seen anything.
Otherwise, he would have likely been surrounded and killed by the Wang Family by now.
So, it was highly probable that she hadn’t discovered anything.
Or maybe he was already being watched in secret.
Even though he knew he might have been exposed, he had deliberately gone to see Yuan Di.
‘Truly…’
Wang Sandong sighed dejectedly.
He felt quite miserable about his own character.
“Young Master?”
“We’re going back,” Wang Sandong replied softly.
***
Wang Mansion.
Anzhi Courtyard.
Wang Sandong sat on the commode, thinking about the matter with Hongxiu for a bit, then worrying about the trouble with his muddled memories for a while longer.
Suddenly, he dazed out.
‘Why does the sound seem wrong?’
The sound of urinating…
He froze again, then raised his hand and gave himself a sharp slap on the forehead.
‘How could it be “right”?!’
He was a man!
He was just relieving himself, so why was he sitting on the commode like a woman?!
A strange sense of shame made Wang Sandong’s face flush bright red.
When he stepped out of the washroom, Wang Tong, who was waiting outside, saw Wang Sandong’s crimson cheeks and asked with concern, “Young Master, are you feeling unwell?”
A pale face meant poor circulation.
A red face meant excessive blood flow.
Over the years, Wang Sandong’s face had been either pale or flushed, always making him look like he might drop dead at any moment.
Seeing his face turn red, Wang Tong naturally grew nervous.
“I’m fine,” Wang Sandong replied.
He walked over to a lounge chair in the courtyard, lay down, and began to bask in the sun.
Mr. Yi had said that getting plenty of sunlight was beneficial.
While basking in the sun, Wang Sandong licked his fingers, pondering the idea that once the traces of Demonic Qi were gone, he would go find Hongxiu to test the waters.