The next day.
Fangcun Sect, small courtyard in front of Li Xingyue’s residence.
Su Zhan lifted a teacup to her lips, took a sip, and said softly.
“That is the full reason for my visit this time, Senior Sister.”
Across the stone table, Li Xingyue held the small wooden box in a daze. She remained silent for a long, long time.
Su Zhan had arrived early in the morning.
When she reached the courtyard, Li Xingyue was already sitting by the stone table staring blankly into space.
She only gave a slight nod upon seeing her, her face weary.
Su Zhan wondered when exactly Li Xingyue had woken up… or whether she had slept at all.
After pushing the wooden box toward Li Xingyue, she recounted everything she and Xia Liu had learned from the old woman the previous day.
Throughout her explanation, Li Xingyue said nothing.
Su Zhan waited for her to process the information, and that wait lasted another half a shichen.
“Thank you, Junior Sister,” Li Xingyue finally said in a hoarse voice. The words seemed stuck in her throat, coming out with difficulty.
“I will keep this item. Please do not tell Granny Su any details about the current state of the sect.”
“So that senior’s surname is Su as well—the same as Junior Sister Beiyan,” Su Zhan said.
“Yan’er was raised by Granny Su. She was like a half-daughter to her,” Li Xingyue said, lowering her gaze.
Su Zhan had already suspected as much. The old woman’s attitude toward her yesterday had been unusually special.
For a poison cultivator to make a request instead of a threat when asking for help showed just how important the specially mentioned Su Beiyan was in the old woman’s heart.
Even the slightest resemblance Su Zhan bore was enough to earn her favorable treatment.
“That’s why you don’t dare leave the mountain. Not only because you don’t want to be reminded of the past, but also because you don’t want to see that senior.”
Su Zhan paused.
“But for a mother, isn’t hiding the truth this way too cruel?”
“This was Yan’er’s dying wish. She didn’t want Granny Su to grieve,” Li Xingyue said. “…Besides, I don’t know how I would answer if Granny Su asked about Yan’er.”
“I understand,” Su Zhan nodded.
There was no clear right or wrong here. Being caught in the middle made things incredibly difficult for Li Xingyue.
Following her junior sister’s last wish was likely the best choice for both of them.
“Then, the second matter.”
Su Zhan’s gaze shifted to the small wooden box in Li Xingyue’s hands.
“Regarding the suppression of the demons, does Senior Sister have anything to say about it?”
“Junior Sister is referring to the fact that the suppressed demons will eventually go into a frenzy?”
Li Xingyue opened her mouth, as if recalling something, then gently shook her head and kept the difficult words unsaid.
“There’s no need to worry… I have my own methods.”
She was silent for a few seconds, then poured herself a cup of tea.
The water in the pot was cold.
She gulped it down, then broke into a violent cough. She quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth.
In that brief moment, Su Zhan caught a very faint, sweet metallic scent… It was masked by the fragrance of crabapple blossoms, extremely faint.
It looked like she had simply choked on the water, but she was actually covering up that she had coughed blood.
Su Zhan did not expose her.
Since Li Xingyue was hiding it, she clearly didn’t want Su Zhan to know—whether to avoid worrying her or for other reasons. Naturally, Su Zhan wouldn’t ask.
“Master used the mountain range as a map and Fangcheng as the guard post, placing the eye of the suppression array at the very center. Human vitality suppresses the demonic energy. Those demons only accumulate enough spiritual power to break the array every few years. They aren’t difficult to handle. And with these pills, even if they rage in the future, they won’t be able to stir up much trouble.”
Li Xingyue recovered after a few seconds and lowered her hand as if nothing had happened.
“Once I grind these pills into powder and sprinkle them into the array in a few days, using wind techniques to circulate them, Junior Sister Su can set her mind at ease.”
She suddenly looked up at Su Zhan and smiled.
“It’s been a long time since I last called someone ‘Junior Sister Su.’ When Yan’er first entered the sect, she said she hated me calling her that. After that, I only ever called her Yan’er.”
Su Zhan did not respond. She simply stared into Li Xingyue’s eyes.
There it was again—that same gaze. It held no malice, yet it felt as though she was looking through her at someone else.
Direct and full of hope, yet that hope was occasionally clouded with desolation.
“There’s one more thing.”
Su Zhan avoided Li Xingyue’s gaze, shook her head slightly, and took out a sheet of white paper from within her robes.
She unfolded the paper.
Several lines were written across it in flowing script. The content was short, listing only names and dates.
Shu Hua, sword cultivator of Fuling Sect, accepted the commission in the 6th month of Tianli Year 719.
Fang Yuan, body cultivator of Ancient Moon Gate, accepted the commission in the 9th month of Tianli Year 719.
The final entry was her own name.
Su Zhan, sword cultivator of Qingyun Sect, accepted the commission in the 4th month of Tianli Year 725.
Over six years, more than ten people had accepted the commission.
Of them, nine had died and six were left crippled.
Those who died had perished while slaying demons, yet not because of the man-eating demon.
The commission was filled with suspicious points, yet the previous Su Zhan had never thought deeply about it.
“If it was truly only for dealing with the man-eating demon, why did these people die while fighting demons without completing the commission?”
Su Zhan spoke each word slowly and softly. “According to what Senior Sister said yesterday, the man-eating demon should not be inside the suppression array. Their deaths make no sense… Senior Sister, you’re hiding something from me.”
The smile on Li Xingyue’s face stiffened for a moment.
She pressed her lips together, her expression turning bitter.
“Junior Sister Su, there are some things… it’s better that you don’t know.”
“My junior sister guessed yesterday that the man-eating demon commission is actually a joint deception between you and the Immortal Alliance. The goal is to lure people here to sacrifice their lives suppressing the demons.”
Su Zhan stood up, turned her back to Li Xingyue, and gazed into the distance beyond the Daoist temple walls.
Outside stood towering green mountains.
Halfway up the slope was a waterfall feeding into a pool. Sunlight shimmered on the water’s surface, creating rainbow-like colors.
The scenery was beautiful, but the shadows cast by the backlight felt suffocating, like a heavy curtain covering the dense forest—a natural prison.
If her guess was correct, the dense forest between the mountainside and the temple was where the demons were being suppressed.
Only that area could possibly contain several hundred demons.
“But why would I conspire with the Immortal Alliance to deceive everyone? If we simply released the information publicly, many cultivators would come to assist.”
Li Xingyue also stood and walked to Su Zhan’s side, gazing at the same view.
Her voice was soft and murmuring.
“At that time, several hundred demons wouldn’t even be enough for those cultivators to kill, would they?”
“Then why did those people die? I refuse to believe they didn’t understand this logic. Even if some of them were inflexible fools, after one or two deaths, the rest should have realized something was wrong.”
Li Xingyue fell silent once more.
Facing Su Zhan’s calm questioning, she neither denied nor refuted anything.
Su Zhan waited quietly until Li Xingyue couldn’t hold back another couple of coughs, breaking the silence.
After the violent coughing fit, Li Xingyue suddenly let out a soft laugh—half amusement, half sigh.
“…Junior Sister, with that kind of imagination, you really ought to write storybooks.”
“Am I very similar to her? Is that why you took pity on me and didn’t act against me?”
Seeing Li Xingyue change the subject again, Su Zhan asked calmly.
“Her?”
“Su Beiyan.”
“No.”
Li Xingyue shook her head woodenly.
“Not really. You’re actually very different… But I don’t know why—when I look at your eyes, or see you from the side… the resemblance is striking.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.