Chapter 85: On the Way
On their journey to the Ejian Sect, Bai Jingxue kept glancing at Zhu Er and the Imperial Advisor.
She had learned a bit about him over the past few days. He was an orphan, his health frail, his life dedicated to serving his country.
But his efforts had been in vain, the capital destroyed in an instant. He had nowhere to go, so he had accepted Fang Xin’s offer to recuperate at the Ejian Sect.
She felt a pressure against her waist and looked down to see Lü Qingyan’s arm wrapped around her. She sighed. “Qingyan.”
Lü Qingyan, her ears twitching, feigned innocence. “Huh?”
“You two seem close,” a gentle voice said, amusement lacing its tone. It was Fang Yue Lian, her words clearly directed at Bai Jingxue and Lü Qingyan.
She wasn’t sharing a sword with Fang Xin. She was hovering beside Bai Jingxue and Lü Qingyan, her expression curious.
Bai Jingxue, seeing her, felt a surge of emotion. The memory of Fang Yue Lian, her white robes stained with blood, leaping into the ghost formation, was still vivid.
And Luo Nianshang, her face a mask of despair and anger.
Seeing them both alive and well, their voices light and teasing, was a strange experience.
But Lü Qingyan’s tightening grip brought her back to the present. She patted Lü Qingyan’s hand. “Let go,” she said.
Lü Qingyan, however, refused to obey when she had the opportunity to take advantage of Bai Jingxue. She wouldn’t go too far, of course. Just a little touching, a little hugging.
She was always a timid puppy in front of Bai Jingxue.
Fang Yue Lian, watching them, her gaze envious, smiled. “You’ll be elders once you join the sect,” she said. “You’ll have the authority to take on disciples. Perhaps you’ll find some you like.”
Bai Jingxue hadn’t considered taking on disciples. She simply wanted to escape this illusion and return to the present.
And she wasn’t sure how time flowed in this realm. What if they returned to find that years, or even centuries, had passed? That wouldn’t be ideal.
She shook her head, but the topic of disciples had piqued her curiosity. “What kind of disciple are you looking for, Senior Sister Fang?” she asked.
The moonlight was bright, its soft glow illuminating Fang Yue Lian’s delicate features, her beauty enhanced by a veil of shadows.
A wine gourd hung from her waist. She was clearly fond of alcohol.
Fang Yue Lian, surprised by the question, chuckled. “Simple,” she said. “Someone beautiful, cheerful, and talented.”
Luo Nianshang possessed beauty and talent, but “cheerful”… that was a stretch.
Luo Nianshang was about as cheerful as a rock.
Bai Jingxue hesitated, then said, “I wish you luck in finding such a disciple, Senior Sister Fang.”
The sound of a cork popping reached their ears, followed by the aroma of wine. Fang Yue Lian had opened her gourd.
She took a sip, then, her brow furrowed, she asked, “Why do you sound so resigned?”
Bai Jingxue simply smiled.
Lü Qingyan, glancing at Fang Yue Lian, then at Bai Jingxue, noticed that Lü Qingyan had become even bolder, her chin now resting on Bai Jingxue’s shoulder.
Bai Jingxue’s patience was wearing thin. She raised an eyebrow, her voice calm. “You haven’t fulfilled our agreement yet,” she said. “This is crossing the line.”
Lü Qingyan’s face fell, her ears drooping, her expression pitiful.
She loosened her grip, but she didn’t let go.
Bai Jingxue sighed. She didn’t know what to do with this dog.
She felt like her bad luck hadn’t vanished. If she was the only one suffering, it would have been fine, but she was afraid Lü Qingyan would be dragged down with her, just like in their past life.
Lü Qingyan was so persistent, and Bai Jingxue couldn’t bring herself to be cruel.
Their awkward, affectionate dynamic was driving Fang Yue Lian crazy. She flew closer, her voice a low whisper. “What agreement?”
Lü Qingyan, ever the straightforward one, replied, “She wants me to make two powerful individuals, who are on opposing sides, become best friends.”
That was an accurate description. In the original story, their relationship had been a constant cycle of poisoning and beheading. If it hadn’t been for the male lead’s intervention, one of them would have died, the other severely injured.
Those scenes had been painful to read.
Fang Yue Lian, hearing this, was stunned. “That’s impossible!”
She then stared at Bai Jingxue, her expression a mixture of disapproval and pity. “I know demons are different from humans,” she said, her voice gentle, “but Qingyan clearly loves you. Don’t string her along.”
Bai Jingxue felt a surge of exasperation. She was about to explain when Lü Qingyan interrupted, her voice firm. “No, it’s me,” she said. “I’m the one pursuing her.”
She puffed out her chest. “It’s not a big deal,” she said. “Making them become best friends? I can do it!”
Fang Yue Lian stared at her, her jaw slack, then she burst out laughing. “Is this some kind of weird foreplay?” she asked, her voice laced with amusement.
Bai Jingxue, her cheeks burning, quickly denied it. “No!”
But Fang Yue Lian didn’t believe her. She laughed again, then flew away, catching up to Fang Xin. They whispered to each other, their voices low.
Bai Jingxue, seeing Fang Xin’s shocked expression, wished she could disappear.
They were still a long way from the Ejian Sect. They decided to stop at a city known for its cultivators.
Fang Xin and Fang Yue Lian needed to purchase supplies for their sect: elixirs, artifacts, spirit herbs, ores. They always prioritized the sect’s development.
Bai Jingxue wasn’t fond of going out, and Lü Qingyan hadn’t requested a sightseeing trip, so she stayed in her room, focusing on her cultivation.
But she had barely settled into her meditation when Lü Qingyan appeared, her movements furtive.
Bai Jingxue opened her eyes. “What is it?” she asked.
Lü Qingyan settled beside her, her tail deliberately brushing against Bai Jingxue’s. Seeing that Bai Jingxue didn’t react, she grinned, eager to share the gossip she had just acquired.
She leaned closer, her voice a whisper. “I just saw Zhu Er and Luo Liancheng in the hallway,” she said. “They were chatting and laughing.”
“As expected,” Bai Jingxue thought, then she simply said, “Oh.”
Her lack of reaction confused Lü Qingyan. Others might not know, but Lü Qingyan was well aware of Bai Jingxue’s hidden nature. She might seem aloof and indifferent, but her exceptional memory allowed her to effortlessly recall every juicy detail posted on the confession wall.
Whenever someone was gossiping, she might appear uninterested, but her ears would twitch, her body leaning slightly towards the source of the gossip.
These movements were subtle, easily missed, but there were always exceptions.
Bai Jingxue had never imagined that the rebellious student sitting in the back of the classroom, her grades abysmal, had been secretly observing her for an entire semester.
She had enjoyed listening to those romantic rumors, but why wasn’t she interested now?
Lü Qingyan, disappointed by Bai Jingxue’s lack of reaction, sighed, her arms spread wide as she lay on the bed. “This is boring,” she said. “I thought you would like this.”
Bai Jingxue, staring at her, her voice calm, said, “You’re lying on my tail.”
Her voice was deceptively calm, a warning of the impending storm. If Lü Qingyan didn’t move, she would face the consequences.
Lü Qingyan, wisely choosing to avoid a confrontation, rolled to the side, then decided to stay.
“Jingxue, let’s sleep together again tonight,” she said.
“…”
“Please, Jingxue~”
“…Whatever.”
“Yay! You’re the best, Jingxue!”
Seeing that her tactic had worked, Lü Qingyan rolled around on the bed, her joy overflowing.
Then she felt something poking her back.
Bai Jingxue chuckled. “You’re lying on my tail again,” she said.
Lü Qingyan, her cheeks flushing, quickly got off the bed, then carefully picked up Bai Jingxue’s tail, stroking it gently before placing it back on the bed.
Her mission accomplished, she didn’t want to risk angering Bai Jingxue. She teleported out of the room.
Bai Jingxue, alone again, sighed. “Am I that scary?” she muttered.
If she had been a cat, she would have smacked Lü Qingyan on the head, but now that Lü Qingyan had the same face as her past self, she couldn’t bring herself to be harsh.
She chuckled, shaking her head, then finally settled into her meditation.
Lü Qingyan, back in her own room, found Er Ya sitting on the bed, staring at her.
The child was too young, her exceptional talent making her a target, so the Fang sisters had been keeping a close eye on her.
She assumed the Fang sisters were out, and she couldn’t intrude on Zhu Er and Luo Liancheng’s budding romance, so she had come to Lü Qingyan’s room.
Lü Qingyan didn’t mind. She was happy to have company. “Did the Fang sisters send you here?” she asked.
Er Ya shook her head, her voice small. “I’m scared to be alone.”
Lü Qingyan walked over, pinching Er Ya’s cheek gently. They hadn’t lacked food or clothing during their journey, but Er Ya was still thin. Her cheeks were hollow.
Lü Qingyan wasn’t disgusted. She simply felt a pang of sympathy. She scooped Er Ya up, settling onto the bed, her voice cheerful as she tried to distract the child. “You’ll become a powerful person one day, Er Ya,” she said. “No one will be able to bully you.”
Er Ya, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes, her expression blank, asked, “Will I become an immortal?”
“Yes, an immortal.”
But Er Ya’s next question left Lü Qingyan speechless. “Are there many immortals?” she asked, her voice flat, devoid of emotion. “Do immortals bully each other?”
Lü Qingyan had wanted to preserve the child’s innocence, but Er Ya seemed far too mature for her age.
Perhaps her past suffering had forced her to grow up too quickly.
Lü Qingyan patted Er Ya’s head, her voice gentle. “Then you should become even stronger, so no one can bully you,” she said.
“But there will always be someone stronger than me,” Er Ya replied. “And if I become stronger, I might bully others.”
This child was a bit too aware of the world’s harsh realities.
Lü Qingyan’s gentle pat turned into a playful swat. “Why are you so pessimistic?” she asked. “Are you going to bully others when you’re stronger?”
“Yes.”
This conversation was going nowhere.
Thankfully, Er Ya changed the subject. “Is Jingxue your beloved?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Yes,” Lü Qingyan replied.
Now that they were on this topic, she wanted to enlighten this child. Her worldview seemed a bit skewed. She needed guidance.
It was important to start them young.
She smiled, her expression filled with a nostalgic sweetness, as she recounted her love story.
“She’s always been unlucky,” she said. “It’s like fate is playing tricks on her. She overcomes one obstacle, only to face another.”
Er Ya looked up at her. “Obstacles?” she asked. “But she’s so powerful. Does she also face obstacles?”
Lü Qingyan’s heart ached. “Yes,” she said. “Her family was poor. She suffered a lot. When she grew up, her parents tried to force her to marry for money. Then, because of our relationship, she was ridiculed and ostracized. She found a job, but she was bullied and framed because she was too quiet. She found another job, but her health failed.”
“She never gave up,” Lü Qingyan continued, her voice filled with admiration. “She always lived her life on her own terms.”
Er Ya interrupted, her voice laced with confusion. “But aren’t you demons?”
Ordinary animals needed luck to become demons. Most demons had no memories of their parents and didn’t live with them. And blending into the mortal world, seeking employment? That was unheard of.
Even if there was a demon who was bored enough to do that, if they were bullied, they wouldn’t simply find a new job. They would unleash their demonic nature and devour their tormentors.
Lü Qingyan, realizing her mistake, quickly explained, “That was our past life! We have memories of our previous lives!”
That made sense.
Er Ya stared at her feet. “I think I also dream about my past life,” she said.
Lü Qingyan, intrigued, gently pinched Er Ya’s ear. “What were you in your past life, Er Ya?”
Er Ya shook her head. “It’s just a blurry figure,” she said. “I run towards her, and she turns around, her sword pointed at me.”
What kind of nightmares was this child having? Lü Qingyan couldn’t help but ask, “What happened before we found you?”
Er Ya thought for a moment, her voice still flat, devoid of emotion, as if she were a puppet. “I don’t remember much,” she said. “My earliest memories are of being a slave. My first master was kind, but there was a famine. He wanted to eat me before he starved to death, but a demon ate him first.”
Lü Qingyan, who had grown up in a peaceful world, couldn’t comprehend such cruelty. Children should be cherished and protected, not subjected to such horrors.
She covered Er Ya’s mouth, her voice soothing. “It’s okay,” she said. “Forget about those memories. You’ll never experience that again.”
Er Ya nodded, and Lü Qingyan released her. Wanting to cheer the child up, she scooped her up, heading towards the door.
Seeing that Lü Qingyan was taking her outside, Er Ya struggled, her voice filled with panic. “Sister Fang said I can’t go outside,” she said. “There are bad people who will steal my spiritual root.”
Spiritual roots could be stolen and transplanted. That was why the Fang sisters hadn’t taken Er Ya outside. This city was filled with cultivators. Someone would surely recognize her potential.
Lü Qingyan slapped her forehead. She wasn’t as observant as the Fang sisters. She needed to find another way to entertain the child.
“Do you want to hear a story?” she asked.
Er Ya shook her head, her voice laced with a hint of disdain. “No.”
Lü Qingyan sighed. This child was difficult. She tried several other activities, but they were all rejected.
Just as she was about to give up, Er Ya, perhaps taking pity on her, said, “Fine, tell me a story.”
Lü Qingyan wanted to throw the child out the window, but she restrained herself. This poor child had suffered enough. She deserved kindness.
She took a deep breath, forcing a smile. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”
Er Ya stared at her, her eyes unfocused.
Compared to her previous life, filled with pain and abuse, her current life was almost too good to be true. She was afraid to let herself believe in it.
But she was also afraid that it was all a dream, a dream that would eventually end. Would losing this newfound happiness be even more painful?
She was unlucky. She wanted to know how another unlucky person coped.
“You said Jingxue is unlucky,” she said. “What about her new life? Is she still unlucky?”
Lü Qingyan chuckled. “No, she’s very lucky now,” she said. “Except for those times when she gets dragged into illusions and secret realms, her life is pretty good.”
“She was adopted by the most powerful person in the world,” she continued. “She transformed quickly, and she’s made a lot of friends. But…”
Er Ya, noticing her hesitation, her expression turning somber, asked, “But what?”
“We know how the story is supposed to end,” Lü Qingyan said, her voice laced with a hint of sadness. “We know that all her friends will be hurt by a very bad person. They’ll become his concubines.”
“She doesn’t like that ending, so she’s trying to change it. But that bad person is favored by destiny, by the heavens. It’s a dangerous path.”
Er Ya’s eyes widened. “Are there really gods who are that bad?”
“Yes, but we, as cultivators, have a chance to become gods ourselves. Perhaps then, we can defy fate and give them all happy endings.”
Er Ya sat in silence for a long time. She could sense that Lü Qingyan was being honest, and that honesty made her heart heavy.
She clenched her fists. “You will succeed,” she said, her voice firm.
“Of course we will!” Lü Qingyan exclaimed. “If we become gods, I’m going to rewrite all those bad endings!”
Er Ya, hearing her bold declaration, smiled, a rare sight. “I’ll cultivate diligently too,” she said. “I’ll become a good god and chase away the bad ones.”
Lü Qingyan, relieved to see Er Ya’s newfound optimism, let out a sigh of relief. But her relief was short-lived.
She had clearly underestimated this child’s ability to drop truth bombs.
“But what if we all become gods,” Er Ya asked, her voice serious, “and we disagree about the endings?”
Lü Qingyan was speechless. She was, at her core, a simple, happy-go-lucky dog. Her thoughts were straightforward. She pursued what she wanted, she picked herself up after failures, and she reveled in her successes.
This question was beyond her comprehension.
She patted Er Ya’s head, her voice firm, trying to maintain her dignity. “Don’t overthink it,” she said. “You’re still a long way from becoming a god. Thinking too much will only lead to anxiety, and anxiety leads to suffering. How can someone who’s suffering save others?”
She had used a bit too much force. Er Ya rubbed her head, then nodded obediently. “I understand.”
Lü Qingyan set her down, then crouched before her, smoothing her clothes, her smile returning. “Don’t be so pessimistic,” she said. “Life is long. You’ll meet good people and bad people. Don’t let one bad person make you lose faith in the world.”
“Perhaps one day, someone will come for you too.”
Er Ya listened quietly, her gaze fixed on Lü Qingyan’s gentle face. She thought of Bai Jingxue’s mission.
She had already encountered so many kind people.
She retrieved a flower from her pocket, offering it to Lü Qingyan. It was a bright orange flower, resembling a miniature sun, its petals slightly wilted and incomplete.
Lü Qingyan, staring at the flower, a sense of familiarity washing over her, examined it. She had seen this flower before. It was the same type that had been planted in the pot that had fallen on her head in her past life.
She had actually liked the flower, but it had also been the catalyst for her transmigration, leading her to Bai Jingxue in this life.
A mix of emotions surged through her, then she smiled, her voice soft. “Is this for me?” she asked. “Thank you. I love it.”
Er Ya nodded shyly, then, after a moment of hesitation, she asked, “If there really are gods, and they could grant you a wish, but it came with a price, what would you wish for?”
Lü Qingyan thought for a long time, then smiled. “I would use all my luck to make Jingxue’s life lucky,” she said.
She didn’t have any grand ambitions. Bai Jingxue wanted to change the fates of those around her, but Lü Qingyan simply wanted to change Bai Jingxue’s fate.
Er Ya stared at her, her voice filled with envy. “You two are truly in love.”
Lü Qingyan puffed out her chest, her voice filled with pride. “Of course! There’s no couple more in love than us!”
Er Ya, having been sold to a brothel as a servant girl, had a rather limited understanding of love. She associated it with physical intimacy.
“Have you slept together?” she asked, her voice innocent.
Lü Qingyan quickly covered the child’s mouth, her cheeks burning. She couldn’t believe this child would say such a thing, especially in broad daylight.
But then she felt a surge of frustration. They had done it in their past life, but not in this one.
She was miserable. She decided she would sing the Demon Lord’s praises to Luo Nianshang, hoping to turn them into friends!
Meanwhile, at a secluded spirit spring in the Demon Realm, the dog, oblivious to her girlfriend’s plans, was unaware that the seemingly uptight Sword Saint was currently struggling with a child.
The Demon Lord, disguised as a child, clung to her clothes, her voice filled with panic. “Big Sister, it’s okay,” she said. “I’ll wash myself when I get home!”
The spirit spring, Luo Nianshang, the attempted undressing… her PTSD was triggered. And she had a precious talisman concealed beneath her clothes. No ordinary child would possess such a thing.
Luo Nianshang didn’t understand her resistance. The child was filthy. She simply wanted to give her a bath. And this spirit spring was special. It could suppress evil thoughts and purify the soul.
But her recent experience had made her question the spring’s effectiveness.
Seeing the child’s fear, she decided to let it go.
She suddenly remembered that Bai Jingxue, before her transformation, had also been afraid of baths. But that was because she had nearly drowned.
She paused, then scooped the Demon Lord into her arms, patting her back soothingly. “It’s okay,” she said. “Go to sleep.”
She retrieved a piece of cloth from the ground, spreading it out, then gently placed the Demon Lord on it.
The Demon Lord didn’t want to sleep. She sat up, then her eyes widened as she recognized the cloth.
It was her own discarded robe!
Her face turned green. She glared at Luo Nianshang, then noticed that Luo Nianshang was still wearing her undergarments.
They were wet and clinging to her body, but the Demon Lord couldn’t help but scoff. “How stingy,” she thought. “Who would even look at you?”
She turned away, then, a moment later, she peeked.
She felt like a pervert, but she had already done everything with Luo Nianshang. Looking couldn’t hurt.
She resumed her observation, her guilt fading.
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