Chapter 216: So I’m the Protagonist After All (12)
Sui Yihuan indeed didn’t sleep well that night, not because of the pain in her hand, but because she discovered that she had somehow damaged the Hundred Flower Sect’s spiritual garden. According to the sect’s rules, she had to help out in the dining hall—
She wasn’t assigned the leisurely task of distributing meals, but only chores like wiping tables and washing dishes. The people of the Hundred Flower Sect had no qualms about ordering her around.
Once, because she was too slow in wiping the tables, Sui Yihuan looked up and heard a particularly enthusiastic and cheerful voice, “Senior Sister, over here! Hurry up, if you’re any slower, we won’t even get the only edible thing in this dining hall, the rice porridge.”
Having mostly relied on inedia pills to stave off hunger, Sui Yihuan had indeed heard disciples complain about the unappetizing food in the Hundred Flower Sect during these days.
But she had smelled the aroma of the food and knew that they were all highly nutritious spiritual ingredients. So, before she had tasted them, she felt a little envious of these disciples from major sects who had the luxury to be picky.
But she didn’t look up until another familiar voice came from afar, “If you dislike it so much, why not just rely on inedia pills for this period?”
Sui Yihuan, who had turned around, was stunned for a moment.
…Senior Sister?
In fact, during these days, she had met more people in the Hundred Flower Sect, and only then did she realize that not many people were as stunningly beautiful as that disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall.
But when she heard this title, she felt that it was somewhat expected. After all, someone with such looks and bearing should be a Child of Heaven.
Sui Yihuan didn’t leave.
Because she was stopped by the person who came. Those black eyes now carried a clear smile, like a moonlit stream, all the goodwill in them clearly visible, “Are you a disciple helping out in the dining hall? By the way, are your hands feeling better?”
“Uh…” Sui Yihuan didn’t speak, but the other person had already moved her gaze to her hands, and seeing that the injuries had indeed healed, she visibly relaxed.
Then, she watched as the other person took out another crystal-clear porcelain bottle, this time placing it in her hand without any explanation, “I thought about it later and felt that I was too harsh that day. Most disciples of the Hundred Flower Sect have wood-type spiritual power, which is much gentler than the thunder-type. It’s your bad luck to have met me. Please accept this bottle of pills as my apology.”
After saying this, without waiting for Sui Yihuan’s answer, she went to sit with the little girl who was urging her with “Senior Sister” calls.
Sui Yihuan originally didn’t want to accept her things, but because she was being urged by the other disciples in the dining hall, she could only quickly walk over to help. But as she inadvertently turned her head, she saw the person’s figure bathed in sunlight, with a golden outline. Her skin, like mica, was soft and lustrous. Even though she was only wearing a plain green robe, she felt that all the shells she had picked up on the beach by the sea were not as beautiful as her.
Later, she overheard the disciples of the Hundred Flower Sect mentioning this person, and learned that her name was Su Mingxiu.
Like her name, bright and dazzling, as if embracing all the beautiful mountains and rivers of the nine continents.
Sui Yihuan also remembered seeing a picture of a “hydrangea” in the Winter Depository’s herbal records, clustered together. Even with only a single color, as long as it sprouted from green leaves, it gave an extremely gorgeous feeling, not lacking in color.
Gentle, powerful, and firm, even though in the rumors of the Hundred Flower Sect, this person did not seem to be favored by her master.
But every time she saw Su Mingxiu, Sui Yihuan had to admit that she fulfilled all her conjectures about disciples from prestigious sects. It seemed that the cultivators in the folk tales who punished evil and promoted good should all have this perfect appearance in the end.
Although they were not familiar with each other, Sui Yihuan was deeply impressed by her. She even felt that no matter where she was in the nine continents in the future, no matter how far she walked on the Great Path, she would always remember the existence of such a person.
Until…
She began to be haunted by nightmares.
First, one day she woke up to find that the servants who had followed her to the courtyard had all died tragically. When she woke up, her clothes were covered in blood from participating in a cruel murder. Sui Yihuan swore that she had never seen so much blood, even during the New Year celebrations when her parents would kill chickens and pigs.
She hesitated about whether to report to the Hundred Flower Sect. That night, she used all the spells she knew about confinement and restriction on herself. She even covered herself with a thick quilt and tied herself up with clothes.
But it was useless.
The next morning, when she got up again, the formations were broken, and the restraints were all on the floor beside the bed. And the unbearable, terrifying bloodstains in the courtyard had all disappeared.
If it weren’t for the fact that the servants who had come with her to this courtyard had all vanished into thin air, she would have thought that all the blood from before was just a nightmare.
Sui Yihuan no longer appeared in the classroom. She used her token to ask the elders of the Hundred Flower Sect for leave, claiming that she was ill. During the recuperation period, she kept herself locked in the Lotus House.
Until three days later, she decided to go to the Hundred Flower Sect to turn herself in and confess that she seemed to be controlled by her body, or that she had some strange disease. In short, she could no longer bear to be inexplicably stained with these lives.
But when she was about to open the door, she found a cyan figure standing outside her courtyard. The clothes were as plain as ever.
But the beauty of that face was as stunning as ever, leaving an impression on people. Sui Yihuan was stunned for a moment, and heard the person outside the door speak first.
“I heard from the elders that you were ill. I thought that Daoist friend had come here from thousands of miles away, but there weren’t many family and friends around to take care of you. So I wanted to come and visit you. Are you feeling better now?”
Facing such a pair of clear eyes, full of concern, Sui Yihuan suddenly felt timid.
She didn’t dare to tell Su Mingxiu about what she had done, so she just dryly replied, “I’m fine now.”
“That’s good—”
The person standing in front of her handed her the bamboo basket she was holding. It was full of fresh fruits, and Sui Yihuan couldn’t even recognize them all. She could only tell that they were good things by the abundant spiritual energy she felt.
She subconsciously reached out to take it, bewitched by the other person’s voice, and heard Su Mingxiu say with a smile, “Then I wish Daoist friend a speedy recovery.”
When she reacted, Su Mingxiu had already left. Only a faint fragrance of flowers remained in the courtyard. If it weren’t for that, she would have thought that the person who gave her these fruits was another dream of hers.
Sui Yihuan placed the fruits on the table in the courtyard, not daring to eat a single one. She sat opposite them, looked at them for a long time, and finally summoned up the courage to go to the Hundred Flower Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall and confess all her crimes.
At that time, she didn’t know that she would never get better, and she would never be healthy again.
This nightmare would last a lifetime.
A shrill scream pierced the night sky.
Sui Yihuan suddenly woke up and found herself standing on a mountain path in front of the Hundred Flower Sect’s spiritual garden.
In the distance and nearby, fires raged wildly. In front of her was a faint silver light canopy, like some kind of protective formation.
But at this moment, this formation seemed to be torn apart by something, with a miserable opening. In the shadows not yet reached by the fire, she saw densely packed black figures of varying shades. The first thing she noticed was a protruding horn… attracting her attention.
…What kind of monster is this?
Sui Yihuan instinctively wanted to take out her magical artifact to defend herself, but found that these monsters did not attack her. They even politely… bypassed her when they passed by
Realizing that she could sense the emotions of these monsters, Sui Yihuan’s face turned pale. At this moment, she heard that voice again, “Have you remembered?”
Wait, why did she say “again”?
As she realized this, the scenery around her suddenly blurred. Sui Yihuan found herself standing at the entrance of the Qiangshan Sect.
Facing the bronze door that she had thought was extremely tall when she was young, as if she could never see the top even if she craned her neck, and looking at the ferocious beast head on the door knocker, she found that she didn’t dare to reach out.
This was the home she had wanted to return to countless times, but Sui Yihuan didn’t dare to take a step forward.
She seemed to know that she had sunk to the edge of a beautiful dream. One more step forward, and she would fall into the abyss, facing the cruel reality.
“Creak.”
This beautiful dream seemed to hear the voice in her heart and insisted on tearing open the truth she refused to face. The bronze door opened, once again revealing to her the terrifying hell on earth that she had tried to escape from thousands of times.
When her spirit was exhausted and she was so tormented that she wanted to take up arms and kill herself rather than accept her disgusting fate, Sui Yihuan suddenly heard a voice nearby. The voice was somewhat familiar, but at this moment, it was so hoarse that it made her hesitate for a moment.
Through the hazy firelight, she looked nearby—
She saw that body covered in red.
Like a bloodthirsty, strange butterfly flitting through the spring forest, the extreme color contrast, the two most incompatible colors, all at once crashed into her sight. Sui Yihuan found that she could always be attracted by this person’s gaze.
She heard the other person coughing lightly, puzzled and confused, asking, “Master… As the Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect, why would you do such a thing…”
“What is the Hundred Flower Sect?”
That voice, so similar to the one in Sui Yihuan’s memory, appeared. She had been driven by this voice, like a stray dog, fleeing through the empty night streets of the Qiangshan Sect.
Until she could retreat no further, she was instilled with countless stories of the demon race. Every time she heard this voice, she moved further away from humans, cultivators, and the nine continents. Until today, she had completely become a demon that was not accepted anywhere.
“Have you really forgotten? Don’t you remember how your mother died? Don’t you remember who destroyed the Qiangshan Sect?”
“You are just deceiving yourself. The demon race is destined to be unable to live among the ordinary crowd. Even if you want to, you can’t control your bloodthirsty instincts. Sui Yihuan, you were born to become a demon, to kill your father and mother, to slaughter the Thirteen Schools. Now you have become a traitor who colluded with the demons in the Hundred Flower Sect. Don’t you feel it? You opened the protective formation of the Hundred Flower Sect—”
“From now on, besides the Demon Abyss, where in these nine continents and four seas can you be accepted? On this land, these righteous cultivators all want to get rid of you. Come, accept your identity, and give everything for the great cause of the demon race. This is your mission from birth.”
Compared to the patient persuasion towards her, when this voice faced Su Mingxiu, it was disdainful and mocking, “You are the same. Mingxiu, I picked you up from the mountain back then only because I saw that your constitution was good and you could be my new vessel. That’s why I bestowed upon you the position of a direct disciple. If you still remember the kindness of your master, then obediently hand over your body now. I will cherish it more than you.”
Sui Yihuan didn’t know what Su Mingxiu felt when she heard these words, but she was stunned.
Just when she thought she had fallen into the mud and could no longer pull herself out, fate seemed to finally take notice of her. To comfort her, it also kicked another unfortunate person in.
Then she watched as the delicate eyebrows of this person were also stained with dust, and even those clear and beautiful eyes, like stars, gradually dimmed, finally settling into a dark night sky.
“This disciple naturally remembers Master’s kindness, but… I will never do such a thing as aiding evil. I hope Master will forgive me.”
The speaker didn’t seem to see her own predicament. In short, Su Mingxiu was like this, refusing to yield even when beaten like a broken kite, with not a single piece of intact flesh on her body.
Later, the person who had initially been calm became less composed. The black aura of forbidden curses and forbidden techniques spread everywhere, accompanied by her furious voice, “This forbidden curse is not swayed by will, why can’t I possess you?”
“This light… could it be the Serene Realm Fruit?”
“Never mind, since you cannot be used by me, I cannot let you live.”
Hearing this sentence, Sui Yihuan, who had been in the dark, lamenting her own tragic fate, could no longer stay still.
Clearly, Su Mingxiu was a disciple of a major sect, and the first half of her life had been spent on the bright and beautiful Great Path. But at this moment, Sui Yihuan strangely felt a sense of camaraderie with her.
She also seemed to see the pain of having those precious things shattered one by one. So she rushed over regardless of everything, wanting to save this “companion” whom she recognized.
For the first time, she felt fortunate for her identity. Because she was the human demon born alongside the other, this powerful enemy, the Heavenly Demon in the guise of the Hundred Flower Sect’s Sect Leader, seemed unable to do anything to her, or rather, the other party didn’t bother to do anything to her.
She just watched her protect Su Mingxiu, like a stray dog in the rain, dragging its scarred body to another wet stray dog, licking the other’s wet fur.
“You seem to like her very much.”
The Heavenly Demon, still in the guise of the human Sect Leader, even though the raging fire and the ruins of the mountain were all around, was still dressed in white, not a speck of dust on her sleeves. Only the red in her pupils revealed her unusual bloodthirsty nature.
Sui Yihuan heard the other party say to her in a tone that seemed to be watching a play, not minding that things were getting out of hand:
“But you are not the same kind of people.”
“This disciple of mine is born with a Daoist constitution, a favorite of the Heavenly Dao. If she doesn’t die today, she will surely become the leader of the righteous path in the future.
She hates evil like an enemy, and you are already stained with blood like an ordinary demon. Guess how she will treat you when you meet again in the future?”
The red clothes covered the green undergarment, as if this could cover up the even more vivid red on the other person’s body. Sui Yihuan rummaged through her interspatial bag, took out all the spiritual pills and medicines she had, and fed them to Su Mingxiu.
At this time, she was in a terrible state, worse than an old rag doll in a trash can in the town. Sui Yihuan felt that she might even shatter the other person if she used a little force.
She didn’t answer the Heavenly Demon’s words, just using her fragile back as the only shield to protect her “companion,” all her attention focused on sensing Su Mingxiu’s weak, almost stopping breath.
Other demons obeyed the order. In this overwhelming victory, they came to the rear, wanting to hear the Heavenly Demon’s instructions.
During this time, they noticed the survivor of the Hundred Flower Sect in Sui Yihuan’s arms and couldn’t help but show killing intent towards this side. However, they were stopped by the leader, who had changed her mind.
“If she wants to save her, let her save her. Children are inevitably willful.”
The Heavenly Demon said this, and in a corner that Sui Yihuan couldn’t see, she slowly gave the demon a new instruction, “After cleaning up the battlefield, find another opportunity to come back and kill this person.”
The demon accepted the order and retreated.
The fire burned the night sky red, like a branding iron. Sui Yihuan, while feeding Su Mingxiu the pills, racked her brains to think of how to completely save this person under the watchful eyes of the Heavenly Demon. She was so preoccupied that she couldn’t hear the Heavenly Demon’s judgment: “Today you will save her life, but tomorrow she will use you to consecrate her path—”
“If you don’t kill her, she will one day use your blood to dye the righteous banner of the nine continents and use your bones to commemorate the souls of the cultivators of the four seas. Sui Yihuan, you are a human demon, she is a cultivator. Only one of you is destined to live.”
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