“Since you’re willing, what are we still waiting for?”
That voice, laced with amusement, asked from the depths of her heart.
“I’m waiting for our death. That way Su Junior Sister won’t feel so conflicted.”
Li Xingyue answered, kneeling on the ground with her eyes lowered.
But as the voice let out a soft, low chuckle, she suddenly felt everything around her fade away.
In the end she found herself submerged in a pitch-black lake.
This was her sea of consciousness—the domain of her heart demon.
“Yan’er doesn’t like it when we call her Su Junior Sister. She’ll be unhappy if you address her that way.”
A pitch-black, blurry figure walked out from behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning down close to her ear.
“She is Su Zhan.”
Li Xingyue said softly.
“She can also be Yan’er.”
The black shadow chuckled lightly.
“They look so alike. Can you really tell them apart? Perhaps Yan’er couldn’t bear to see us in pain, so she guided her to us from beyond the veil.”
“Don’t you have so many regrets? So many things you wanted to do with Yan’er? Now you have the chance to make up for them all.”
“As long as you’re willing, we can stay with Yan’er until we grow old in this life, never to be separated again… What Su Zhan said about the next life sounds tempting, but can you really be sure what the so-called next life will be like?”
Li Xingyue remained silent.
“You just don’t want to die, right?” she asked softly. “Whether it’s Yan’er or Su Zhan, neither of them actually matters to you.”
“How can you accuse me like that? I am you. We are one and the same. You love Yan’er, so I love Yan’er too,” the black shadow retorted.
Li Xingyue shook her head.
“You are not me. You are merely a heart demon.”
“Fine, you’re right. I’m just a heart demon. So what? I will keep you alive. I will let you live on and on. Wasn’t that your original wish?”
The black shadow’s voice suddenly drifted away.
“Never mind. You’re too stubborn and will only keep overthinking things. The medicinal power has already been refined. I don’t want to waste any more words with you… I will take your place and live happily ever after. For a very, very long time.”
“…”
Li Xingyue opened her eyes. She carefully put away the red paper in front of her and placed it back under the bed.
Then she sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and began silently reciting the calming incantation.
How much effect would this incantation have? Li Xingyue didn’t know.
She only wanted to resist for as long as possible.
But the chaotic thoughts in her mind surged like a tidal wave.
She remembered being beaten at five years old because her younger brother had fallen.
She remembered crying and apologizing to her brother even though she had done nothing wrong.
She remembered fighting with a wild dog over a steamed bun on the second day she was abandoned in the mass grave.
She had driven the dog away, but the bun was dirty.
She took one bite—it was the worst thing she had ever tasted.
She remembered the night she was chased by a demon.
She had just begged a kind person for a fruit, but before she could eat it, it was trampled into the mud. She never even got to taste it.
She remembered the cold mockery, the people calling her a money-losing good-for-nothing, the bitterness and grievances of being told to go die.
In the end she couldn’t finish reciting the calming incantation. Li Xingyue’s consciousness was swallowed by the surging malice.
The last thread of clarity snapped like breaking strings.
Spiritual power erupted from her body.
Li Xingyue violently coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
Then a powerful vitality burst forth from within her.
Her face twisted in pain as she made one final struggle.
She staggered to her feet, picked up the long sword that had been tossed into the corner, gripped the chipped blade in her palm, and stabbed it toward her own heart.
But the sword never reached its target. It stopped in mid-air.
Her originally ink-black pupils turned a bloody scarlet, and the corners of her blood-stained lips curved upward.
“I couldn’t bear to die together with you.”
She said softly.
Two small arrays appeared in her hands.
She pressed them on either side of the sword and applied force at the same time, shattering the blade.
She casually tossed the broken pieces to the ground.
She raised her hand and looked at her bloody palm, clicking her tongue in dissatisfaction.
“Look at how messy I’ve become. What if Junior Sister doesn’t like it?”
The next moment, however, a smile appeared on her face again as she walked out of the room.
The instant she pushed the door open, a surge of sword qi flew straight at her.
She paused and tilted her head slightly.
The sword qi grazed her cheek and tore a gash into the ground.
“Junior Sister, it’s not nice to sneak attack like this. This is already the third time. If you keep doing this, I’ll get angry.”
She smiled lightly and turned her head to look at Su Zhan, who was standing not far away, staring at her with a calm expression.
“Are you Li Xingyue, or the heart demon?” Su Zhan asked in an indifferent tone.
She had actually been woken by the sudden burst of spiritual power earlier, but she still wanted to confirm.
“Of course I’m Li Xingyue,” the woman said, still smiling.
“Did Junior Sister sleep too deeply, or are you in a bad mood after waking up? Shall your Senior Sister apologize to you?”
“Alright.”
Su Zhan nodded, her voice calm. “Then can Senior Sister go ahead and die?”
“Ah… I forgot again that Junior Sister follows the Ruthless Dao. But I didn’t expect you to be this ruthless. Just for disturbing your sweet dream, you want me to pay with my life? Isn’t that a bit unreasonable?”
The woman let out a helpless sigh and teased Su Zhan.
“How about this? Your Senior Sister will dedicate the rest of her life to you. I’ll treat you very well.”
“Don’t say such things while wearing her face.” Su Zhan lowered her gaze and said softly. “It’s disgusting.”
“What Yan’er wanted to hear most in her life was exactly that. Why is it different with Junior Sister? It seems you still need some proper training.”
The woman’s smile faded. She snorted coldly. “But it’s fine. We have the rest of our lives to take our time.”
“That sentence is disgusting too. Arbitrarily treating someone as a substitute, and arbitrarily making decisions for others. On this point, you’re not even as good as Li Xingyue.”
Su Zhan said indifferently.
“Yes, yes, yes. She’s good, I’m bad. You all like good women, and I’m the only disliked bad woman. Happy now?”
“How fickle. You clearly said you liked me earlier, yet you changed your attitude in the blink of an eye.”
The woman shrugged, her tone full of regret.
“We could have avoided ending up in this situation, Junior Sister. You become my Yan’er, I’ll marry you, and we can live happily ever after.”
“What a shame.”
Su Zhan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Spiritual power swirled around the long sword in her hand.
“I cultivate the Ruthless Dao, so I do not seek love or affection. I only seek to kill pests like you.”
“Killing your own wife is not something a righteous cultivator should do, Junior Sister,” the woman said softly. She spread her hands, letting the blood drip from her palms.
She had been trying to hide it from Su Zhan before, but now she no longer cared.
“First, I am not your wife.”
Su Zhan opened her eyes.
Her spiritual power surged wildly.
The wind howled and the sword trembled with a clear ring, as if enraged along with its master, letting out an icy sword cry.
“Second, a heart demon fiend like you has no right to call me Junior Sister the way she did.”