Chapter 46: Was This a Yuri Situation?
The woman’s voice softened, her tone conveying both gentleness and firmness, a sincerity that couldn’t be mistaken.
“Save someone…” The wariness in Mu Tao’s eyes lessened. She looked at Li Yu, then stepped forward, stood before Li Yu, and looked at the woman, frowning slightly. “If you can break this formation, you must be very powerful! What kind of danger is this person you want to save in? If even you can’t save them, wouldn’t asking my master be even more dangerous than breaking this formation?”
Indeed, if this woman could break the formation, her request couldn’t be simple.
Help with the formation was welcome, but if it led to more trouble and delayed them further, retrieving the Upper Spirit Lamp would be more difficult.
“You misunderstand, little sister. The person I want to save isn’t in grave danger. Your master doesn’t need to risk anything, just expend some spiritual energy.” The woman said softly, a hint of helplessness in her dark brown eyes. “The person I want to save…she’s sick, very sick, and no one in the mortal realm can cure her.”
Mu Tao blinked and looked at Li Yu, saying nothing.
Li Yu lowered her gaze, not answering immediately.
Healing wasn’t her forte.
Should she recommend the ever-so-capable Si Qinglan?
No, that wouldn’t be good…
Si Qinglan was already weak; she shouldn’t burden her further. She needed to rest.
This woman claimed that it wouldn’t be dangerous, just a bit of spiritual energy expenditure. It sounded simple, perhaps like powering the formation earlier, just acting as a charger.
If that were the case, it was a good deal.
But she didn’t know how much spiritual energy it would require, and whether she would have enough left to search for the Upper Spirit Lamp.
Retrieving the Lamp was her priority; she had to conserve her strength before confronting the black-robed figure.
Although she needed this woman’s help, the woman was the one asking for a favor.
So, this deal didn’t have to be fair.
Li Yu said tentatively, “If it only requires spiritual energy, I can help, but you must first break this formation for me.”
“Certainly,” the demon woman readily agreed.
“But I have other urgent matters to attend to and cannot expend too much spiritual energy before resolving them.” Li Yu said calmly. “After you break the formation, tell me who this person is, why no one in the mortal realm can save them, and what I need to do. I will then assess the cost.”
Li Yu observed the demon woman’s expression, and seeing no change, continued, “If the cost is too high, I’ll have to fulfill my own obligations before fulfilling our agreement.”
The demon woman smiled faintly. “Are you referring to the theft of the Upper Spirit Lamp, Exalted Immortal Li Yu?”
Li Yu’s expression changed instantly.
She now understood why this woman had suddenly appeared.
She should have realized earlier, a demon appearing in this place, knowing her identity, couldn’t be unrelated to the main storyline.
And if it was related to the main storyline, she had to take it seriously.
“It seems you know quite a bit.” Li Yu chuckled coldly. “I’m curious, does the matter of the Upper Spirit Lamp have anything to do with you?”
“Yes,” the demon woman replied without hesitation, her smile unwavering.
Her straightforward admission left Li Yu momentarily speechless.
The woman walked lightly towards the edge of the formation, her feet barely disturbing the red snow, and crouched down, gently touching one of the stones.
After a moment of silence, she looked up at Li Yu and said with a smile, “I was the one who stole the Upper Spirit Lamp, and I was also present when this formation was created.”
“…”
“I know how to break it, and I know where the Upper Spirit Lamp is. If you want to know who is behind all this, I can tell you.” She smiled playfully and winked at Li Yu. “As long as you’re willing to help me, I’ll do anything, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“That sounds like a trap!” Mu Tao couldn’t help but interject.
“I’m just a demon, unable to achieve immortality. How would I dare deceive an Exalted Immortal?” The demon woman frowned slightly and said softly, “I just want to save someone. If I can restore her to her former state, I’m willing to serve you for the rest of my life, without complaint.”
She remained crouched on the ground, looking up at them submissively.
Li Yu was silent, staring at the woman, trying to discern her true motives.
The demon woman sighed, stood up, and brushed the snow off her clothes.
“It’s understandable that you don’t trust me.” She smiled faintly. “In that case, allow me to show you my sincerity.”
She took a few steps back, her expression suddenly turning serious.
Li Yu pulled Mu Tao back with her.
The demon woman raised her hands, her slender fingers swiftly forming a complex hand seal.
Black, mist-like demonic energy emanated from her fingertips. A gust of wind swept through the area, and the surrounding resentment churned chaotically.
Li Yu frowned and conjured a protective barrier around herself and Mu Tao.
The ground trembled slightly as the black mist enveloped the formation.
After a few seconds of charging, a loud boom echoed, and the altar at the center of the formation shattered into dust.
The stones forming the formation exploded outwards, and the stellar energy within transformed into flickering sparks, swallowed by the surging resentment.
The black mist dissipated. The demon woman lowered her hands, beads of sweat on her forehead, her lips slightly pale.
“The formation is broken. Although the resentment is still strong, it won’t harm cultivators above Sixth-rank.” Her voice was weak.
She looked up at Li Yu, a smile on her face. “Do you believe me now, Exalted Immortal Li Yu?”
“You were present when the formation was created. You know how to break it, which means you also know how to create it.” Li Yu dispelled her protective barrier and said in a low voice, “How do I know this isn’t a trap you and the black-robed figure planned together?”
“You’re right, creating this formation isn’t difficult, but such a large formation still takes time.” The demon woman sighed softly. “You can send a message butterfly now and ask those human cultivators to come and guard this place. Then who would dare tamper with it?”
Mu Tao retorted, “That’s not necessarily true. That black-robed figure is very powerful. He might just kill everyone!”
The demon woman chuckled. “He won’t.”
Mu Tao: “You sound so certain, as if you have an agreement with him.”
Demon Woman: “I have no agreement with him, but I know that as long as someone is guarding this place, he won’t act again.”
Mu Tao frowned, confused, and looked at Li Yu.
Demon Woman: “Don’t you understand, little sister?”
Mu Tao: “…”
The demon woman smiled. “That person is incredibly powerful. Just a sliver of his power left here was enough to kill an Eighth-rank imperial cultivator. Why do you think he always hides in the shadows, manipulating others?”
Li Yu frowned.
The demon woman’s words made her realize something.
The black-robed figure was so powerful, yet he always hid, using others, not even leaving behind much of his power for such an important formation.
It didn’t make sense, unless…he was also an immortal or a god.
If he was, then his indirect approach was to avoid the heavens’ punishment.
Bound by the laws of heaven, he couldn’t directly harm humans. As long as human cultivators were present, he couldn’t act so openly.
Resentment was important to him.
Although the human realm was vast, there wouldn’t be another place like the City of the Undying with such concentrated resentment anytime soon.
This demon woman, not only daring to break the formation, but also suggesting that human cultivators guard the city, clearly wasn’t afraid of offending the black-robed figure.
But did that make her trustworthy?
Li Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, “That black-robed figure is quite capable, even breaking into Suiqiong Cave on Mount Chao Yao. You’ve done so much for him, also to save that person, right?”
Demon Woman: “Yes.”
Li Yu: “He couldn’t give you what you wanted?”
Demon Woman: “Yes.”
Li Yu: “Aren’t you afraid of his retaliation?”
The demon woman lowered her gaze.
After a brief silence, she smiled and said, “I am, but there are things…more important than my own safety.”
Her voice was soft, the slight curve of her lips conveying both determination and a deep-seated tenderness.
Li Yu now believed her.
“I’ll trust you, just this once,” she said softly, summoning a spiritual butterfly.
The demon woman looked at the butterfly thoughtfully.
The butterfly flew away, the last of its blue light disappearing from view.
“It will take at least half a day for those outside to arrive.”
Li Yu looked around, then led Mu Tao to a set of steps and sat down.
She glanced at the sea of resentment, sighed, and said to the demon woman, “It’s a long wait; sit down and wait with us.”
The demon woman relaxed and sat down opposite them, hugging her knees.
Li Yu: “What’s your name?”
The demon woman smiled and replied softly, “Xiang Hanyu.”
“Your name sounds…cold,” Mu Tao muttered.
“It’s not cold,” Xiang Hanyu shook her head, not offended, and explained patiently, “Hanyu means ‘winter jade,’ and jade often refers to bamboo. Doesn’t that sound warmer?”
Mu Tao tilted her head and hugged her knees. “Are you a bamboo spirit?”
Xiang Hanyu: “I’m from the Winged Clan.”
Mu Tao: “You’re a bird too!”
Xiang Hanyu looked confused. “Why ‘too’?”
“I know a little black bird, it also worked for that black-robed figure, right here in this city. We recently took it back to Mount Chao Yao.” Mu Tao asked curiously, “Do you know it?”
“I don’t,” Xiang Hanyu said. “I only came here a few months ago.”
Li Yu asked, “Why did you come here?”
Xiang Hanyu: “The black-robed figure brought me here. He said that if I worked for him, he would help me save someone…”
Mu Tao: “But he tricked you?”
Xiang Hanyu: “Sort of.”
“What do you mean, ‘sort of’?” Mu Tao frowned, confused.
Xiang Hanyu nodded and smiled faintly. “He did tell me how to save her, but he couldn’t do it, so I had to find someone else.”
Mu Tao blinked, not quite understanding, and looked at Li Yu.
Li Yu: “Are you sure I can do it?”
Xiang Hanyu bit her lip, sighed softly, and smiled. “I’m not sure, but I have to try.”
There was a hint of bitterness in her smile.
Mu Tao opened her mouth as if to offer comfort but didn’t know what to say.
After a long silence, Li Yu said gently, “We have plenty of time, you can tell me your story slowly.”
Xiang Hanyu bit her lip.
She hugged her knees tighter, her dark brown eyes gazing at the seemingly endless sea of resentment, her thoughts unreadable.
No one urged her. After a long silence, she looked down and said softly,
“Humans have a saying, ‘Good people are rewarded’…It’s a lie.”
Mu Tao opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to agree, but then glanced at Li Yu and closed it.
Li Yu: “…”
Xiang Hanyu looked at the pale red snow, tracing patterns in it with her toes.
She said that it was incredibly difficult for demons to cultivate immortality.
Even if they became powerful demons, even if they reached the age of Heavenly Tribulation, without immortal destiny, they couldn’t ascend to the Heavenly Gate or achieve immortality.
So many demons yearned for immortality, but very few succeeded.
And she happened to know one who had achieved immortality before reaching the age of Heavenly Tribulation.
Xiang Hanyu said that this demon’s name was Yan Buqiu, a bamboo demon who grew up with her in Lingzhou.
Bamboo, neither flexible nor strong, easily felled by a human blade.
The Winged Clan was different; they could fly freely in the sky, going wherever they pleased, unreachable by humans.
Xiang Hanyu had always believed that she would become much stronger than Yan Buqiu.
And she was right.
For a long time, they cultivated together.
She always kept an eye on Yan Buqiu, making sure her own cultivation was always higher.
It wasn’t that she looked down on bamboo, she just couldn’t help but compare.
She wanted to be stronger than Yan Buqiu, always.
A flicker of defiance appeared in Xiang Hanyu’s eyes.
“She was just a bit older than me, awakened her spiritual awareness a few decades earlier, yet she always acted like an elder sister, constantly lecturing me…”
“Even though I was stronger than her, the other demons always sided with her, going to her for help whenever they had problems…”
“She was always meddling, helping both demons and humans, no wonder her cultivation never surpassed mine…”
She traced a bamboo branch in the red snow with her finger.
She said she had thought long and hard but never understood why she wasn’t as good as Yan Buqiu.
Even when Yan Buqiu achieved immortality over a thousand years ago, becoming the only immortal in Lingzhou, she still didn’t understand.
She was both angry and envious.
All the demons in the mountain surrounded Yan Buqiu, their distance widening, so far that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch up.
She didn’t know how to face that once weaker bamboo anymore.
Now, she was no longer better than her in any way…
So, she escaped to the human realm, telling herself to stop comparing.
She traveled the human realm for a long time, perhaps five or six hundred years.
She went to many places, performing good deeds like Yan Buqiu, patiently helping those in need.
But she didn’t achieve immortality.
So, eventually, she returned to Lingzhou.
She had reached the age of Heavenly Tribulation, uncertain if she could survive it.
And with the possibility of death looming, she had only one thought.
—Return to Lingzhou and see Yan Buqiu, perhaps it would be her last chance.
When she returned, she saw that the people of Lingzhou had built a temple for the bamboo.
They called her the Silver Bamboo Immortal.
They worshipped her with sincere devotion.
She heard them say that Lingzhou used to be plagued by demons, but ever since the Silver Bamboo Immortal appeared, there hadn’t been any incidents of demons harming humans for centuries.
Even if there were occasional incidents, they were quickly resolved.
As expected, Yan Buqiu was still meddling, just like before.
Xiang Hanyu had thought she would be unhappy, resentful, seeing so many people worshipping that bamboo.
But she actually felt…happy.
Strange, how could she be happy that so many people adored that bamboo?
It wouldn’t have been like this before.
She hadn’t seen her for so long. As she left the human city and flew towards the mountains, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Was Yan Buqiu, now an immortal, still as approachable as before?
Having traveled for so long and still failing to achieve immortality, would Yan Buqiu laugh at her?
Had Yan Buqiu ever thought of her during these past few centuries…?
“Did she ever think of you?” Mu Tao couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t know,” Xiang Hanyu replied, a smile in her eyes. “I didn’t dare ask, afraid she would laugh at me.”
She didn’t dare ask Yan Buqiu if she had ever thought of her.
And she didn’t dare tell her that no matter where she went all these years, she couldn’t stop thinking about her.
It was too ridiculous…
Even more ridiculous was that before leaving the mountain, she had thought it was unnecessary for demons to have human names. Yan Buqiu always said names were important, but she dismissed it as the bamboo being influenced by humans.
But after leaving, she gave herself a name.
Compared to asking if Yan Buqiu had thought of her, compared to telling her she had always been on her mind, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Yan Buqiu her name.
Mu Tao listened attentively, but Xiang Hanyu was lost in her memories.
After waiting for a while, Mu Tao couldn’t help but ask, “Then what happened?”
“Later…”
Later, Xiang Hanyu faced her first Heavenly Tribulation at three thousand years old.
The pain was excruciating, unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Torrential rain and lightning, like needles, relentlessly struck her wounds.
The wind howled, as if trying to tear her apart.
She was just a small demon bird, not a powerful being. No matter how competitive she was, she would eventually die during the tribulation.
It was so painful; maybe she should just give up…
Mu Tao: “But you survived.”
Xiang Hanyu: “Yes.”
She survived.
Just as she was about to give up, Yan Buqiu appeared before her.
In Xiang Hanyu’s memory, Yan Buqiu was always frail and gentle, never assertive.
She disliked that image; it wasn’t how a bird should be.
But that day, Yan Buqiu stood before her, forming a hand seal in midair, a snow-white light illuminating the stormy night.
Bolts of lightning struck her palm, one after another, as if trying to tear through her protective spiritual energy, but she stood firm, unyielding.
Xiang Hanyu didn’t know how many bolts of lightning Yan Buqiu endured for her, just as her blurry vision couldn’t clearly see her figure in the rain that night.
As the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, Yan Buqiu turned around, a weary smile on her face, and extended a hand covered in wounds.
Xiang Hanyu stared at that hand for a long moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
She had never been kind to her, always competing with her, always trying to prove she was stronger.
Even after returning, she hadn’t shown her any warmth…
Yan Buqiu thought for a moment, then said softly, “You finally came back; I don’t want you to leave again.”
After that, Xiang Hanyu thought for a long time.
Finally, unable to hold back any longer, when Yan Buqiu came to tend to her injuries, she grabbed her sleeve.
“Buqiu, I gave myself a name.”
“What is it?”
“Xiang Hanyu!”
“It’s beautiful. Is there any meaning behind it?”
Xiang Hanyu took a deep breath and said softly, “I heard humans say that Buqiu means ‘autumn’s end,’ which refers to bamboo…and Hanyu also refers to bamboo!”
Her tone was earnest.
Her heart had already been swayed, but she hadn’t dared to admit it.
She could never see her own heart clearly.
All those years of competition were just to prove her worth to Yan Buqiu.
She didn’t need to be stronger.
She could simply be…important to her.
But she hadn’t dared to believe that before.
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