Category: After I Abandoned the Protagonist [Quick Transmigration]

Chapter 222: So I’m the Protagonist After All (18)

“Although the Demon Abyss seal has failed on the nine continents’ side, those demons have altered the sealing formation. Now, this Sea’s Edge only allows the demon race to freely enter the nine continents, but doesn’t allow attacks from this side—”

“It’s a pity that these captured demons have revealed too little. We only recently used a soul-searching technique on one of them, but only managed to find out a small path from the nine continents into it…”

“After the destruction of the Thirteen Schools, the demon race hasn’t made any major moves. We don’t know what conspiracy they’re brewing, and we must find out more.”

Six months later.

At the headquarters of the Thirteen Schools, the Righteous Alliance meeting was being held.

The sea breeze blew from all directions on this sunny island. A misty white figure, as straight as a pine or bamboo, held a fishing rod in one hand, wearing a bamboo hat. Her white veil fluttered gently in the wind. She leaned against a rock on the beach, eyes closed, as if she didn’t see the tugging fishing line.

“Senior Sister… A fish is biting!”

A figure appeared beside her at some point, sneaking up to Su Mingxiu and suddenly whispering in her ear.

Su Mingxiu didn’t even open her eyes, nor did she pull the fishing rod, “Who’s your Senior Sister?”

Since she wouldn’t move, the person took the initiative and pulled up the fishing rod in one go. However, the hook was empty, even the bait was gone.

As if seeing her dejected expression, Su Mingxiu slowly opened her eyes and spread her hand towards Yan Miaomiao, “You’re too impatient. You want to reel in before the fish even takes the bait.”

Yan Miaomiao hadn’t come to help her reel in. Now, she put her hands on her hips and looked at her, “I don’t care, you are my Senior Sister.”

The little girl had grown a lot compared to her time in the Hundred Flower Sect, and was now half a step into the Golden Core stage. Although she no longer wore the hairpin with the illusion spell that Su Mingxiu had given her,

She had blossomed like a summer begonia, lively and charming. Her bright brocade robe instantly made her the most beautiful scenery on the beach.

Su Mingxiu had been “forced” to return to the righteous path six months ago and was now a guest elder of the Sword Sect.

Because she didn’t return to the Hundred Flower Sect, there were inevitably some rumors about the discord between her and the sect. The more unpleasant ones still questioned whether she had used the demon to kill her master, a heinous crime.

But she didn’t care at all, nor did she defend herself. She didn’t take the initiative to participate in any Righteous Alliance meetings about the demon race. She just fished on the beach every day. Regardless of whether she had any harvest, she would always leave empty-handed, taking her fishing rod to another small island to meditate and cultivate.

Hearing Yan Miaomiao’s stubborn words, Su Mingxiu nodded noncommittally. Seeing that the wind was strong today, she didn’t bother to sleep here. She simply reeled in the fishing line, put away the fishing rod, and prepared to return to her island.

Yan Miaomiao followed her, “Senior Sister, how are you feeling today? Do you want to make lunch?”

“No.”

Su Mingxiu ruthlessly rejected her, “Didn’t your Hundred Flower Sect recently make new flavors of inedia pills? They even simulated the taste of spirit beast meat. Can’t the so-called vegetarian pills with meaty aroma satisfy you?”

“Eating meat is eating meat! Eating vegetarian is eating vegetarian! This kind of false advertising of vegetarian meat and vegetarian pills is just fooling people!”

Yan Miaomiao said as she chased after her from behind.

Hearing her words, Su Mingxiu’s eyes under the bamboo hat showed a meaningful look, but she didn’t say much, letting her follow her without any principles, pestering her to make lunch, saying all kinds of nice things.

After arriving at the desolate island, with neither spring flowers nor winter snow, only dark cliffs, Su Mingxiu finally spoke, but not to answer her request, “Rare guest, what brings Elder Xuanling here?”

Hearing her words, Yan Miaomiao knew that they had serious matters to discuss, and her lunch was ruined again. She immediately drooped her head and shoulders, turned around dejectedly, and left.

Just as she turned around, a plate of pumpkin cakes suddenly appeared in her arms. The little girl looked at the bright yellow, festive-looking pastries on the plate, still steaming hot, and didn’t react. Su Mingxiu asked with a smile, “Don’t like them? Then give them back.”

“No way! They’re mine now that you’ve given them to me! I’ll eat them all, and I won’t even return the plate!”

Yan Miaomiao ran away with the plate of pumpkin cakes.

Nearby.

Su Mingxiu put away her smile and even politely took off her bamboo hat, letting her dazzling face appear generously under the sunlight, allowing it to be gilded.

Xuanling rarely didn’t have the smell of alcohol on him. Looking at Su Mingxiu’s expression, he felt that the elders in the sect were all cunning, knowing that Su Mingxiu was difficult to deal with, so they pushed this hot potato to him.

Now, facing Su Mingxiu’s gaze, he sighed in his heart, raised his hand, and scratched his forehead, “Ahem, we recently caught a few demon minions.”

This opening was very familiar.

Su Mingxiu remembered that in her previous life, before she was sent to the demon territory as a spy to scout for the righteous path, this nominal master had also used this opening remark.

She had a flash of inspiration. After Elder Xuanling stammered and finished talking about the alliance’s decision, she said, “With my cultivation level, once I enter the Demon Abyss, I’ll be as bright as a lightbulb, instantly attracting the attention of the demon leaders. It’s not appropriate for me to go, right?”

“Yes, the candidates for this mission to the Demon Abyss have been decided. Originally, the Sword Sect, Buddhist Sect, Hundred Flower Sect, and Joyful Union Sect would each send a disciple to form the infiltration team. But they are still young, and the hope and future of their sects. If possible, we hope that someone can escort them—”

“I remember you can change your cultivation level at will. Few in the nine continents have such talent…”

Having said that, the meaning was quite clear.

Su Mingxiu remembered that when she went in her previous life, she didn’t have such good conditions, nor did she have a powerful being to look after her. It was completely up to her whether she lived or died. Now, facing this master, she thought for a moment and extended her hand towards him.

Elder Xuanling: “?”

“Since you want me to do something, shouldn’t the Sword Sect show some sincerity? You don’t want to get something for nothing, do you?”

Xuanling: “??”

Who said that Su Mingxiu treated him differently and was especially respectful! Where was the respect in her profiteering face?!

That night.

In the center of the thirteen islands, like stars guarding the sea, the tallest and most precipitous one was lit by bonfires, like fireflies on a summer night, gathering a patch of light on the sea.

Su Mingxiu stood with her sword, looking at the three people walking towards her. They were the leader of the Sword Sect, the chief disciple of the Joyful Union Sect… and the new Senior Sister of the Hundred Flower Sect.

Her gaze swept past Huaxuan at the end, as if she didn’t see the complicated emotions in the other person’s eyes. She naturally looked at Elder Xuanling, who was coming towards them.

He was here to see them off, and also gave them a few strangely shaped bottles emitting a faint fragrance, “These are divine objects that the sect specifically borrowed from the Buddhist Sect and the Black Miao Tribe to ensure your safety. When you return, we will remove them for you.”

After receiving the bottles, Su Mingxiu immediately knew what was inside without even opening them—

Gu.

This was a treatment she didn’t have in her previous life.

Thinking of this, the corners of her lips curved into a slight arc, as if amused. The righteous sects never cared about the fall of a talented Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator.

What they needed to be wary of was the possibility of a young ancestor with terrifying talent, who had reached the Great Ascension stage and might have Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and demigod power at any time, abandoning the Great Path and joining the Demon Abyss.

It went without saying who this gu was meant to guard against.

Xiao Xingwei beside her had already introduced the gu into his bloodline without hesitation. Xuan Chan of the Joyful Union Sect, although her face was pale and she was particularly disgusted by this thing, after seeing his actions, she also closed her eyes, sacrificed for love, and introduced the gu into her body.

After her former Second Senior Sister, Huaxuan, had also done all this, everyone’s eyes fell on her. She pretended not to see, shook the bottle, looked left and right, and asked curiously, “Since each sect is sending one person, why don’t I see anyone from the Buddhist Sect?”

“The Buddhist Sect cultivates Zen. Monks don’t tell lies, and they will help you in other ways.”

Su Mingxiu withdrew her gaze and didn’t speak anymore, letting the porcelain bottle open. A spider the size of her little fingernail crawled out and burrowed into her flesh and blood.

Seeing her like this, Xuanling’s heart calmed down a little. But when he spoke next, he tried not to look at her.

Their spiritual power was lowered, and the other three used pills and spirit-binding formations. Not only did they disguise their strength, but they also put on makeup and disguised themselves just in case before setting off.

The small infiltration team was taken to land. Compared to the islands of the Thirteen Schools, where they needed to sail to the dangerous Sea’s Edge and fall into the whirlpool from the high seas in the midst of a storm, this small path was much safer.

Apart from the formation that could only be activated by demons, there was no safer place—at least it seemed that way.

Because in the next second, after a flash of black and red light, Su Mingxiu and the others who entered the formation knew why the demon had revealed this location this time. Because they… had fallen into the demon’s trading market.

Demons of all shapes and sizes, with different horns on their heads, looked over at them. Seeing these cultivators appearing in the teleportation formation, the spiritual light emanating from their bodies was brighter than the moon in the night sky.

The four surrounded people: “…”

Xiao Xingwei’s scalp went numb. Just as he was about to draw his Tai’e Sword, he saw Su Mingxiu, who was leading the way, raise her hands without hesitation, completely abandoning the demeanor of a righteous cultivator, and directly giving up resistance.

Several bull-headed demons rushed over from all directions, tied her up tightly with monster tendons, and then looked at Xiao Xingwei and the others, who were preparing to resist, with fierce eyes.

A moment later—

In the demon trading market, four freshly baked two-legged sheep, with delicate skin and tender flesh, were on display.

Whether they were used for alchemy or simply eaten whole, the news spread like wildfire. The surrounding demons, their eyes shining, were already fighting over the bidding price.

Xuan Chan, who had originally planned to condemn her, smelled the strong scent of blood in the air, looked at the woman who was sitting there smiling, adding fuel to the fire, and causing a river of blood to flow without even lifting a finger. She shrank her neck and didn’t say anything.

In less than fifteen minutes.

In the highest Black Stone Dock of the Demon Abyss, fresh news was presented on the table. The person sitting behind the long table was dressed in the black and red robes of the Demon Lord. Blood lines extended from the fingertips hanging by her side. With a casual hook of her pale fingers, the person kneeling in front of the table, who was speaking, suddenly choked, the veins in his throat bulging, his whole body convulsing, unable to utter another word as he died.

“Drag him away.”

The person behind the table gave a light command, watching as two demonesses silently stepped forward, trembling as they collected the corpse. Because they were afraid that her demonic power would kill them as well, they disappeared very quickly.

…The one hundred and thirty-fourth spy sent by the Heavenly Demon.

The person thought so, listlessly picking up the demon image stone recording the scene on top. She saw the noisy scene of the demon market and originally wanted to know what kind of righteous cultivators could cause such a commotion. A moment later, her gaze focused on a very familiar figure.

She tried to find familiar traces in the other person’s eyes. But the contours of those eyes seemed to have been altered by a clumsy craftsman’s hand, and the curves were not so perfect, like a flawed replica.

Sui Yihuan withdrew her gaze, summoned someone over, and pointed at the few people in the image, “These people are too restless. They are probably spies sent by the righteous path. Just in case, bring them to Black Stone City.”

After a pause.

She pointed at the proper-looking woman in the center, “Especially this one—”

“Keep a close watch on her, don’t let her escape. She looks like a cunning one.”

Chapter 221: So I’m the Protagonist After All (17)

Although she didn’t take Su Mingxiu’s hand by the sea, she didn’t refute her words and tacitly agreed to her arrangement of returning to the Qiangshan Sect.

And Sui Yihuan seemed… to have recognized Su Mingxiu’s feelings for her and no longer resisted her approach.

Like now—

They bypassed the righteous sects’ blockade and successfully arrived at the territory of the Thirteen Schools, settling in a fishing village by the sea.

The situation here was not good. Because of the destruction of the Thirteen Schools, these fishing boats lost the protection of cultivators when they went out to sea, and suffered heavy losses against the sea monsters.

Also, because the barrier sealing the demons was damaged, many demons mingled with the crowd during the day and began to harm the villagers at night.

Now the righteous sects had also received the news. It was said that they were organizing a Righteous Alliance. Although the alliance matters were still under discussion, the Buddhist Sect had already sent a celestial master and disciples here.

For a time, the territory of the Thirteen Schools was quite lively, with various forces mixed together, and it was the most chaotic place in the nine continents.

“Please forgive us, two immortal masters, but there’s only one room left on our boat.” They finally found lodging in this fishing village, but this was what they heard.

If Su Mingxiu wasn’t sure that the Heavenly Dao was very unhappy with her right now, she would have thought that it had finally seen the light and arranged the script for her and Sui Yihuan.

However, the person under the black cloak beside her softly said, “It’s fine, one room is enough.”

Such initiative.

Su Mingxiu followed her upstairs thoughtfully. After entering the room, amidst the slight dizziness caused by the wooden house swaying with the waves, she saw Sui Yihuan take off her cloak. A golden hairpin with a pearl in the center of her hair shone brightly, much brighter than the oil lamp on the table, but very soft, not dazzling at all.

This was the head ornament she had made from the clam demon’s pearl a few days ago. Although Sui Yihuan was surprised at the time, she didn’t refuse her gift.

And after Su Mingxiu used the black jiao’s bones as sword-making materials, she went to the black market and bought many matching materials for her, spending at least a million high-grade spirit stones.

…They were like young lovers in the early stages of their relationship, happily accepting each other’s gifts, and then giving back what the other person needed.

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Su Mingxiu’s face. She touched the roof of her mouth with her tongue and turned her gaze to the dark bed in the wooden house.

Perhaps because it was near the sea, even though there were formations carved on the house to control humidity and temperature, the dark bed in the corner still looked damp, very suitable for harboring those hidden desires.

Noticing her gaze, Sui Yihuan also looked over, her expression blank for a moment. Before she could react, a warm and husky voice fell into her ear:

“Or, should I ask the other guests if they can spare another room?”

Although that was what she said, her voice got closer and closer to her ear, clearly entering her ear, accompanied by a heat that seemed to ignite her blood.

Sui Yihuan’s entire ear was like a shellfish on a charcoal fire, burning red, and even her body under the cloak was trembling slightly.

But she resisted the urge to dodge, not realizing how tempting she was. Her voice trembled as she said, “N-no need.”

“I… want to share a room with you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt as if her ear had been captured by the other person, and the breath entering her ear became even hotter.

But in fact, Su Mingxiu didn’t touch her skin at all, just bit the… snowflake earring hanging from her earlobe.

The owner of the earring under her teeth didn’t seem to know the consequences of saying such things, always using that innocent face, speaking such honest words, which directly hit one’s heart.

If Su Mingxiu hadn’t been thinking about what happened on the cliff by the sea that day, she would have found countless opportunities to devour her, body and soul.

It was the same now.

Her eyes were deeper than the sea after sunset. Hearing Sui Yihuan’s answer, she chuckled softly, but naturally changed the subject, “The seafood in this small village has to be bought. What do you want to eat for dinner? I won’t let them do it for us.”

Because Su Mingxiu was powerful and understood the habits of the righteous sects very well, she could always take her away before the righteous people came looking for them using the Hundred Flower Sect’s soul lamp as guidance.

After leaving the secret realm, Sui Yihuan’s escape route was quite leisurely. She even had the chance to taste the other person’s cooking, vaguely realizing who had made the spiritual beast meat buns in the food box when she first arrived at the Hundred Flower Sect.

“Anything is fine.”

“Then let’s try the green rice balls you wanted to eat. I happened to buy some mugwort leaves earlier. Let me tell you first, if they don’t taste good, don’t dislike them.”

Su Mingxiu responded quickly. Before leaving the room, she checked the formation, specifically using spirit stones to set up the formation and added a defensive one. If anyone intruded, she would be able to sense it clearly.

Before the last stroke of the formation was completed, Su Mingxiu hesitated for a moment, but didn’t change anything in the end. She gave Sui Yihuan a smile before leaving.

But after she left—

The person who had been blushing and nervously anticipating like a new bride suddenly changed her expression, becoming completely indifferent. Her originally pure appearance, because of her red eyes, turned cold and glamorous, even revealing a sense of abstinence.

She calmly cut her palm and saw her blood consciously gather on the ground, becoming a bright red line, crawling towards the window of the small house. Her voice followed,

“Tonight’s operation will proceed as usual.”

But while speaking, because she didn’t like to look at these disgusting things, she closed her eyes in disgust, a slight ripple appearing between her eyebrows.

In her previous life, Su Mingxiu didn’t know what Sui Yihuan liked to eat or what her preferences were. But now she had a guess. However, on the way to choose seafood, she found a merman among the vendors.

But the fishermen couldn’t tell. They just thought he was a cultivator from somewhere. After all, there were few mortals who were so delicate and beautiful. The seafood he sold was also special, a few conch shells of various shapes, and a wooden box.

When she saw this wooden box, Su Mingxiu suddenly remembered what had happened in her previous life. At that time, after she returned from Zhenhai Tower, she didn’t have much time to recover from her injuries. Xiao Xingwei apologized for the incident in the secret realm and brought her to the Sword Sect. Later, she was sent by the Sword Sect to the Thirteen Schools, becoming a member of the front line against the demons.

Xiao Xingwei saw that she had been looking unwell and depressed, thinking of what happened in the secret realm, and wanted to use some rare trinkets to cheer her up. This wooden box was one of the things he gave her at that time.

“This is a mermaid pearl, a tear of the merfolk, and also their inner core. Although merfolk are cruel by nature and like to capture people from the shore to the sea, either to eat or to continue their lineage, once they fall in love, they will only recognize one person for their entire life.
If their loved one dies, the merfolk will leave a tear for them, and then go ashore at the place where they met, giving this mermaid tear only to lovers.”

“Unfortunately—”

Xiao Xingwei seemed to want to please her, but was afraid she wouldn’t like it, so he simply told the truth, “I wanted to buy it before, but the merfolk refused to sell it. It just so happened that the demons attacked this place, and he didn’t want to return to the sea, so he threw this wooden box away and fought desperately with the demons. I just fished it out of the water. But I couldn’t open it no matter what. If you’re interested, I’ll give it to you.”

Su Mingxiu certainly didn’t want it, but at that time, she stared at the box for a while, inexplicably feeling that she would need it in the future. So she bought the wooden box at the price Xiao Xingwei had previously offered to the merman, but she couldn’t open it either.

Later, the demon attacks became more and more fierce, and many elders of the righteous sects died. Even those of their new generation were forced to go to the most dangerous places to hone their skills, so she gradually forgot about this box. When she remembered it, the box was nowhere to be found, and she didn’t know where it had gone.

In the previous life, Su Mingxiu’s love threads were repeatedly cut, so she naturally didn’t have much interest in this kind of thing. But it was different now.

Thinking of the person waiting for her back in the room, she stepped on the wooden planks above the water surface, making creaking sounds, and walked to the merman.

“Are you… selling this wooden box?”

Previously, her cultivation was not high enough, so the wooden box just looked like a wooden box. Now, looking at it again, she could see that the outer layer was just a sealing spell, meant to hide the thing inside. That’s why it looked so ordinary.

The merman leaned against the fence by the sea, looking lazy. Only his face emitted a faint light in the dim light, like a pearl. He glanced at Su Mingxiu, and after a while, he barely sat up straight.

Then he moved his hand and placed the wooden box among the conch shells, “One hundred high-grade spirit stones for a conch shell. If you buy all the conch shells here, I’ll give you this wooden box.”

Su Mingxiu: “?”

Listening to this profiteer’s price, she couldn’t see anything about this merman that resembled someone who had lost their love. After all, someone who was about to die wouldn’t think about making such money before they died.

This stall was completely like Jiang Taigong fishing, using a straight hook to fool fools.

Then the fool Su Mingxiu took out her interspatial bag and bought all these conch shells with beautiful shapes and patterns. She also threw the wooden box into her interspatial bag, preparing to take it back to show Sui Yihuan something new.

Before leaving, she thought for a moment and reminded him, “It looks like it’s going to rain. You should go home early after you’ve sold your things.”

The merman stared at her back with faint eyes for a long time. After she had gone far away, he said softly, “This is my home.”

After buying ordinary fillings like oysters, fresh shrimp, and fish, Su Mingxiu also saw the most important ingredient for seafood-flavored green rice balls, the meat of a certain sea beast. She realized that the taste of local specialties really depended on the unique local ingredients.

She borrowed the kitchen of the inn and seriously studied how to make this kind of green rice ball. After filtering the mugwort juice, she neatly prepared the ingredients on the cutting board.

People were coming in and out of the kitchen, sweating profusely, their skin tanned dark by the sun. Even though she had used a disguise spell, her skin was still exceptionally white, attracting the attention of passersby.

Some of the women who ran the household curiously asked her if she had a Dao companion, which was why she was making such an effort.

Everyone in the nine continents knew that cultivators didn’t need to eat mortal food. For someone as fair as her to come to such a humble place, it must be because of love.

Su Mingxiu just smiled and replied, yes.

The steam from the steamer was carried into the swaying, narrow room of the boat cabin an hour later, filling the entire room with its aroma.

By then, the sky had completely darkened. The clouds stretched out in the sky, and the last vestiges of the sunset had disappeared. A few stars could be seen outside the window.

Sui Yihuan saw the food she brought in and was stunned for a moment when she smelled the aroma. But she didn’t take it. Instead, she took the initiative to hug Su Mingxiu’s waist, and then—

Kissed her lips.

The person who was kissed so directly and intimately was stunned for a moment, resisting the urge to pluck the rose petals delivered to her lips, to peel off all her soft thorns, and crush the leaves. She took the initiative to pull away, “I was asking you to try the food I made, not inviting you to taste the chef.”

Sui Yihuan’s cheeks flushed red at her teasing, but she resisted the urge to dodge and said with difficulty, “I… I can’t suppress… the love poison is acting up again… can, can you help me?”

This kind of invitation was too difficult for her to say, as if she would faint from shame after saying it.

But thinking about what would happen later, she still spoke.

Su Mingxiu reluctantly placed the plate of green rice balls, which she had spent a long time studying, on the table. The previous batch had been given away because she had tasted them and found them to be a failure. So she really wanted Sui Yihuan to taste how far they were from the flavor in her memory.

But the person in her arms had a pinkish tinge to her skin, clearly showing signs of the poison acting up. No matter how important the food was, it couldn’t compare to her beloved. Su Mingxiu put the plate on the table and before hugging her, she smelled the sweet scent emanating from her, and asked with a sigh, “Are you sure you want my help?”

……

The person who politely asked would never be able to maintain this gentle facade at the crucial moment.

The pastry brought to her lips was too soft and delicate. With a light touch, the filling inside flowed out. While kissing deeply, Su Mingxiu realized how much Sui Yihuan was tormented by the love poison. Even with normal force, she left shocking marks on the pink and white peaches.

Even a slightly forceful kiss would exchange a faint metallic taste.

She didn’t want to leave such a rough impression on the other person, so she endured it again and again, not even wanting to continue. She just wanted to give the most appropriate comfort. But Sui Yihuan wanted to lead her into a darker abyss, “Can you… be a little harder?”

“You are too gentle, I don’t like it this way.”

Tears had already streamed down the corners of her eyes, like a mermaid about to condense into pearls, and kiss marks were left on her cheeks. But this pitiful person who was being bullied was actually asking for this.

Su Mingxiu, who heard this: “…”

She felt like she was going crazy.

The absurdity in the room reached its peak, and Su Mingxiu couldn’t tell whether it was the cabin swaying with the waves or if she was shaking the bed too violently.

She fell asleep contentedly, holding the person in her arms, only feeling that the starlight outside the window was too bright, making it hard to sleep.

Wait a minute.

Could the stars be so bright?

Su Mingxiu struggled hard, but because she had fallen too deep into the abyss, her consciousness couldn’t climb up. She finally opened her eyes, and a command filled with strong emotions flashed through her ears:

“Forget these past events, and never remember my face again.”

Who was it?

She finally opened her eyes and saw herself sitting on the seashore. The distant coastline was already ablaze, even the night was being burned.

Supporting her was… a long sword emitting a cold light, which felt very familiar and comfortable in her hand. There were still traces of blood on the blade, seeping into the already red-hot earth.

And around her were scattered corpses of demons.

Su Mingxiu’s eyelashes trembled, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood were reflected in her dark eyes. She saw a carefree figure walking towards her in the distance. The figure also saw the scorched earth she had created, was silent for a moment, and then said, “I didn’t expect that demon to be so capable of bewitching people. Daoist friend Su, you’ve worked hard.”

“If it weren’t for your sword tonight, we would probably still be unable to find the demon’s nest… My condolences for what happened at the Hundred Flower Sect. We have seen your determination.”

…What was he talking about?

Su Mingxiu thought in confusion, her nose twitching. But all that entered it was the dirty smell of blood and rust, not what she was looking for.

She stood up shakily. Even though her clothes were stained with blood, she looked extremely tired. But she was a Great Ascension cultivator after all, and no one dared to get close to her. It was this elder of the Sword Sect who came forward and asked, “Where are you going, Daoist friend?”

Su Mingxiu stared at him fixedly. There was still a trace of blood splattered on the corner of her eye, she didn’t know whose it was. It looked like rouge on her face, so bright and beautiful that even this elder, who was used to seeing the female cultivators of the Joyful Union Sect, had to look away.

“Elder Xuanling.”

After a moment, she finally recognized who the person in front of her was. Her expression softened a little, and she said, “I’m a little hungry, is there any food?”

“Of course.”

Cultivators with high cultivation levels always had some unusual preferences. Moreover, those high-quality spiritual fruits and the spiritual power possessed by spirit beasts were all excellent nourishment.

Although the righteous path had now come to the territory of the Thirteen Schools to fight against the demons, there was no shortage of good things to supply these powerful beings.

She followed him to the tent of the Sword Sect disciples, but before she got close, she saw people hurrying back and forth at the entrance, also carrying things in their hands. They were voluntarily helping these immortals.

The person passing by her happened to be carrying a plate of dark green pastries. Su Mingxiu looked at it for a while, and suddenly reached out and took one very impolitely. The other person was startled, and upon seeing her face, the words of protest were stuck in their throat.

The pastry she got was soft and cold. Su Mingxiu took a bite on her own and tasted the seafood filling inside, finding that it had become fishy because it was too cold.

So she listlessly held the rest, not knowing what to do with it—because it was really unappetizing.

Chapter 220: So I’m the Protagonist After All (16)

Despite her harsh response to the Heavenly Dao, Su Mingxiu knew that her cultivation could only stop here—

As cultivators’ cultivation levels increased, it might not be obvious at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, but the higher they went, the more they could feel the will of the Heavenly Dao.

They would be more and more aware of whether they were favored by it. Judging from the extent to which Su Mingxiu had fallen out with the Heavenly Dao,

Once she entered the Tribulation Transcendence stage, the Heavenly Dao, which still controlled order, would not hesitate to send down tribulation lightning to make her perish.

Even if her state of mind was strong enough, she still needed to restrain herself, lest she accidentally cross that line.

But now, facing this monster, Su Mingxiu had no room to maneuver, not even the option to hold back.

This monster must have been hiding in the Zhenhai Tower for thousands of years, using the secret realm as cover. Therefore, it had not attracted tribulation lightning. Su Mingxiu was obviously a whole realm lower than it, and without a handy spiritual sword, even if she was half a sword cultivator, it would be very difficult for her to fight this monster.

The sword energy condensed on the silver fan was like a flurry of flowers, instantly splitting into hundreds of beams, sweeping towards all directions. This sword energy avoided the bodies of the cultivators trapped in the illusion and only struck at the void. The fog could no longer get close to her.

Sui Yihuan, who was instinctively abandoning her poisoned spiritual meridians and circulating her demonic meridians, had her red eyes gradually deepening in color. Although she was held in Su Mingxiu’s arms, after the sword energy, as soft as flower petals but as sharp as a wind blade, was released, she slowly removed the other person’s hand from her waist, opened her lips, and said softly, “You go, I’m fine.”

In fact, she had many questions to ask, such as whether Su Mingxiu really didn’t mind her demon identity, and why she, as Ye Qingbai’s disciple, could have such powerful strength—

Yes, even though she could previously comfort herself with the reason that Ye Qingbai was symbiotic with her and couldn’t measure her specific strength, saying that Su Mingxiu wasn’t that strong.

But now, facing this monster in the secret realm whose pressure could instantly crush her, she could clearly feel the difference.

Moreover.

If Su Mingxiu was really weaker than her, why had she never been able to see through the other person’s cultivation after spending so much time together?

But the situation was critical now, and it was not the time for her to dwell on these things. All Sui Yihuan could do was take care of herself and not be a burden to the other party.

Receiving her meaning, Su Mingxiu paused, but didn’t say much. She just created a sword light cage on the spot to protect her.

At the same time, she looked at the… clam demon hidden in the fog, which was finally revealed after the fog was split open.

Calling it a clam demon was really hard to believe, because its shell was so thick that it was probably an ancestor of the ancient beast, the Black Tortoise.

If the shell hadn’t been moving as if breathing, opening and closing, Su Mingxiu almost wouldn’t have recognized its true form, as huge and heavy as a mountain. However… she finally knew where the golden light came from.

It was the pearl inside, nurtured for thousands of years, probably its most precious possession.

If she couldn’t get the antidote, splitting open this clam demon and giving the pearl to Sui Yihuan as a hair ornament wouldn’t be bad either. There was no more dazzling spiritual object in the nine continents. Su Mingxiu felt that even the inner core of the merfolk in the sea would be hard-pressed to match its brilliance.

A tremor came from the whole world.

As if the sky was about to collapse and the earth was about to sink. Xuan Chan, who was living a happy married life with Xiao Xingwei and had become the wife of the new Sword Sect Leader, felt this tremor and instinctively felt her heart tremble as well. Her intuition gave her a hint, but she chose to bury her head in Xiao Xingwei’s arms:

“Husband, save me! What happened to the sect?”

“Lingling…”

Her husband didn’t say anything. Instead, the golden bell that her master had given her shook and rang, and the rhythm became faster and faster. Finally, it shattered her beautiful dream.

In the gray Zhenhai Tower, Xuan Chan woke up from her thousand-year dream, her face pale, just in time to meet Xiao Xingwei’s gaze, who had been beside her when she entered the illusion.

This Sword Sect leader had not yet grown into the obedient husband from her dream, but he still had the youthful spirit that fascinated her. Xuan Chan hid the beautiful dream in her heart and tentatively said, “Brother Xiao?”

Xiao Xingwei thought about the content of his illusion earlier. He had been very eager to save her when he went to rescue her, but now he took the initiative to look away, even taking a few steps back, and then looked around, “Yes, we may have been trapped in an illusion earlier. If it hadn’t been broken from the outside, we would probably have died inside. I wonder which expert…”

He suddenly stopped.

His gaze focused on one spot.

Xuan Chan followed his gaze and saw the figure standing on top of a black mountain. Only the edges of her outer robe seemed to be stained with ink, but blood-red plum blossoms bloomed on her body. Her face was like the snow of the Heavenly Mountain, her black eyes like the stars in the night sky, and she held an exceptionally large pearl in her palm.

To call it a pearl was truly an understatement. The brilliance within it flowed, and anyone who saw it would know that it was a peerless treasure, and their hearts would be stirred.

But in the next second, all the gazes that peeked at the pearl felt an overwhelming killing intent, like a five-fingered mountain pressing down. Xuan Chan couldn’t dodge in time, and the bell on her wrist rang urgently. Although it blocked some of the killing intent for her, she still felt her blood churn, and a fishy sweetness welled up in her throat.

The person whose outer robe was stained with blood withdrew her warning gaze from them. It was at this moment that Xuan Chan shook her head and finally recognized who the owner of that gaze was—

Su Mingxiu.

She was still alive…

No, why did she already possess such power? Did she really collude with the demon race and practice evil techniques?

Xuan Chan felt both jealous and a little relieved. She secretly pulled Xiao Xingwei’s sleeve and transmitted her voice to him, regardless of his complicated gaze.

These were not things that Su Mingxiu cared about. She had suffered internal injuries. Although her expression wasn’t obvious, her face was as pale as paper, and her lips had no color at all.

But she still had to suppress those cultivators who had come out of the illusion.

Otherwise, those who coveted the treasure, and those who recognized her face, might attack her all at once. Although she still had the strength, she didn’t want to fight anymore, and she didn’t want Sui Yihuan to get involved in this.

Thinking of this, her mind raced. She instantly returned to Sui Yihuan’s side, casually waved her right hand, and swept away the bloodstains on the fan, which was covered in sword energy but still broken by the clam shell. After drawing a long bloodstain on the ground, she handed it to the other party with a slight apology, “Sorry, I was very careful, but it’s still a little damaged. I’ll find someone to repair it for you later.”

Sui Yihuan looked at the Lake Light Fan, which had withstood the frantic swordsmanship of a Great Ascension cultivator and was still not completely shattered. Her eyes were complicated for a moment, but she still shook her head, “Keep it with you for now.”

First, Su Mingxiu didn’t seem to have any handy weapons. Second, she didn’t really want to face this silver fan right now.

Su Mingxiu didn’t ask further, knowing that her defenses were still up. She touched the corner of her eye with her clean left fingertip, looking at her demonic pupils that hadn’t faded yet, and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”

By reversing and directing the flow of her bloodline, Sui Yihuan kept the love poison only on the surface of her skin, preventing it from penetrating deeper.

Although it was much better than before, she was still poisoned. Her surface temperature was very high, and… her skin was hundreds of times more sensitive than usual.

Su Mingxiu’s light touch on her cheek felt like a hard scratch. If it was just pain, it would be fine, but it was mixed with a strange pleasure. If Sui Yihuan hadn’t bitten her lip in time, she would have made a sound from that touch.

She took a big step back as if avoiding a plague god. Just as she was about to reply “I’m fine,” she met Su Mingxiu’s slightly dimmed gaze. Somehow, she raised her hand and after a while, it landed on the other person’s sleeve.

Sui Yihuan gently held onto her, not daring to look at her, her gaze fixed on the bloodstains on her body, “Are… are you alright?”

Su Mingxiu looked at her holding her sleeve like a child and chuckled. She didn’t answer the question, but only said, “Since you’re fine, let’s take the last treasure on this floor and go out.”

“What treasure?”

“The evil jiao.”

Sui Yihuan: “…?”

Was this something that could be described with the word “take”?

She widened her eyes slightly and followed Su Mingxiu. A moment later, when she saw the dying evil jiao, which could only be described as barely clinging to life, she realized that Su Mingxiu’s words were not wrong.

After all… such a severely injured monster, even though Su Mingxiu was also injured, her Great Ascension cultivation was enough to kill it. Facing this black jiao, which was a treasure trove, their actions were like picking up scraps.

When they were spit out by Zhenhai Tower after eliminating the monster on the same floor, Sui Yihuan was still a little dazed, unable to believe that this dangerous journey to the secret realm had ended in such a way for the two of them?

She was still thinking about the black jiao when she discovered that she and Su Mingxiu had randomly appeared in a place surrounded by a group of cultivators.

“Fat sheep—”

The rogue cultivator waiting there revealed a ferocious smile. Just as he said these two words, he was stunned by Su Mingxiu and Sui Yihuan’s faces. Before he could reveal their identities, Su Mingxiu grabbed his neck, took his interspatial bag, erased the divine sense mark, and threw it to Sui Yihuan.

“Here, a fat sheep. See if there’s anything useful for you.”

Sui Yihuan: ?

She looked at Su Mingxiu in a daze, seeing how naturally she acted like a bandit. Holding the interspatial bag, she didn’t know what to do, looking a little silly. Fortunately, Su Mingxiu didn’t care. After throwing the person away, she put on her cloak again, and taking Sui Yihuan with her, they used the shrinking ground spell and headed south.

Until they smelled the salty sea breeze outside Zhenhai City.

“Have you decided where you want to go?” The cloak rustled in the sea breeze. Su Mingxiu didn’t wear a hood, only hiding her spiritual power. When she asked her with a smile, her long black hair was blown onto her cheeks, and the mole at the corner of her eye was hidden and revealed by her hair as she smiled.

Sui Yihuan was stunned for a moment and shook her head, “Anywhere is fine.”

That’s what she said.

“Why don’t you want to go home anymore?” Su Mingxiu leaned closer. The long hair that was originally only blowing on her face now playfully reached towards Sui Yihuan’s face and neck.

For ordinary people, it was just a slightly itchy feeling, but for her, it was like being touched by hundreds of hands. She immediately took a big step back, and a blush crept up her face.

She almost forgot what Su Mingxiu had said. She was just stimulated by this reaction, and thinking of everything in Zhenhai Tower, she asked in return, “Don’t you mind? I’m a demon.”

“You just have demon blood, or something else from the demon race. But this doesn’t mean you’re an unforgivable demon. These changes are things you didn’t notice and couldn’t choose—but what kind of existence you become is something you can choose.”

Su Mingxiu narrowed her eyes, looking at the blush that had spread to her collarbone. She gritted her teeth slightly, but her voice was very gentle.

“No.”

Sui Yihuan’s expression turned cold, as if separated from her body’s reactions. Her eyes were icy, but her cheeks were flushed. She didn’t know how charming this contradictory expression looked on her pure face. She just answered in a cold voice, “I can no longer choose.”

Since leaving the Qiangshan Sect and recalling those nightmares, she could no longer choose what kind of person she wanted to be. She was covered in sins. Even if she climbed up the cliff, no one would accept her.

She couldn’t forgive herself either.

Because the emotions in her tone were too heavy, Su Mingxiu had to put away her thoughts that were attracted by her appearance. She observed her thoughtfully for a moment, feeling that this change in her should be related to what happened in the Qiangshan Sect.

She barely managed to sort out her emotions and answered formally, “You haven’t looked back at the road you came from carefully, how do you know you don’t have a choice?”

“Be good.”

“I’ll go back to the Qiangshan Sect with you. No matter what your final choice is, and no matter whether you cultivate immortality or become a demon in the future, even if your soul is scattered, I’ll be with you, okay?”

Sui Yihuan saw the hand she extended towards her.

If it were before, no matter what, she would try her best to grab it. But this time, she just looked at it and even took half a step back.

Not good.

She answered in her heart.

At that moment, the thick clouds on the sea happened to part, and the sunlight breaking through the blockade turned into a golden pillar, projected down from the sky. When it hit the sea surface, it formed golden rings of sparkling waves.

Falling in front of the cliff by the sea and enveloping Su Mingxiu, it was a holy, righteous golden light that no one dared to violate.

She was so powerful that there was no need for her to fall with her.

She could return to her original path if it weren’t for her burdening her.

Sui Yihuan looked at her face and had never felt so clearly before… A thought gradually became clear in her mind.

—She wanted Su Mingxiu to walk uprightly in the nine continents, just like when she was the Senior Sister of the Hundred Flower Sect, with a bright future ahead of her.

Chapter 219: So I’m the Protagonist After All (15)

The red thread wrapped around her slender little finger was like a silk cloth from a dyeing workshop, blown onto a chilly branch, gently kissing a white magnolia flower. The bright red formed a stark contrast with the pure white seen only on snowy plains.

Su Mingxiu’s movement of untying the red string suddenly paused.

She remembered that in her previous life, she had been poisoned by an aphrodisiac in this Zhenhai Tower secret realm.

Because that memory was too repulsive to her, she was even more reluctant to delve into it, especially given her already fragmented memories. But now, separated upon entering the secret realm, she reluctantly closed her eyes.

A moment later, she opened her dark eyes, the curve of her eyes traced with a cold light. She didn’t try to untie the red string again, but just pressed the end of the string. After a long time, she felt a slight tremor coming back, and the ice and snow accumulated in her eyes melted, revealing a sudden burst of spring light.

On the other end of the red string.

Sui Yihuan, noticing that there was no one nearby, pulled down the hood of her cloak and tried to look around carefully, but found herself in a hazy chaos. Only a distant light shone through, flickering on and off, like the Candle Dragon in ancient legends, who controlled the alternation of Yin and Yang.

But that divine creature had long since disappeared after the creation of heaven and earth. And that light only looked close, but it should actually be very far away because of its enormous size.

Sui Yihuan heightened her vigilance and unconsciously summoned her magical artifact. But when she touched the smooth handle of the silver fan, her fingertips suddenly cramped, and she almost couldn’t hold onto her weapon.

Before she could get closer, a ethereal voice fell into her ears, “Oh? There’s another one unaffected by the illusion… Hmm? A demon, what a disgusting smell… What’s in your hand? Oh, the Joyful Union Sect’s love entanglement, connected to a female cultivator on the other end? I wonder where this little girl got the guts. Aren’t you afraid of being swallowed alive by this demon in the future?”

As soon as the word “demon” entered her ears, Sui Yihuan’s expression turned completely cold, like she had accidentally swallowed a fishbone while eating fish.

She instantly lost interest in all the delicious food on the table. It was the same now. She had originally wanted to explore the secret realm with Su Mingxiu, which would also delay her return to the Qiangshan Sect. But after being judged by this unknown monster, an inexplicable irritability welled up in her heart.

Just like the Heavenly Demon had said at the Hundred Flower Sect—

“There will be no place for you in the nine continents and four seas.”

“I am not a demon,” Sui Yihuan said word by word.

The ethereal voice became heavier, carrying an irresistible pressure that suddenly made her knees weak, almost making her kneel on the ground.

“Little brat, I can smell the stench of demon blood in you from eight hundred miles away, and you’re still arguing with me?”

Because demons could cultivate by consuming the blood and inner cores of cultivators and spirits, their cultivation method was entirely different from that of the nine continents. Even the flow of their meridians was reversed, so there was no race in the nine continents that could be compatible with them.

“Let me think, how should I make you disappear… Oh right, those righteous cultivators hate evil the most. Although they are hypocritical, they are still useful when they see a demon…”

As Sui Yihuan forced down the blood that had welled up in her throat, she felt the gray fog in the air dissipate. Just as she was about to see clearly what the flickering object was, a sweet smell suddenly rushed into her nose.

It was like… candied strawberries.

Or honey.

At first, Sui Yihuan thought it was her own illusion, until she saw that the fog and clouds gathering around her were no longer gray, but a lovely pink. Her expression changed instantly, and she raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose.

But this couldn’t stop the fog. It still frantically flocked towards Sui Yihuan, getting into her cloak and sticking to her exposed skin—

A burning heat suddenly rose from her dantian. Sui Yihuan’s forehead gradually became covered with a thin layer of sweat, and she could no longer see the pink fog clearly.

When the forks in the red string disappeared, Su Mingxiu realized that she had walked out of that illusion.

But the master of this illusion must have already reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Otherwise, even she wouldn’t have been unable to detect that she had entered an illusion for so long.

The illusion was fake, but many of the people inside were real. It was just that the real and the fake were mixed together, and many cultivators had lost their lives in this “ghost catching” game.

Then she suddenly realized that in her previous life, she had also entered this floor. After all, at that time, she was still the Child of Heaven, with the luck of the small worlds. As long as she came here, the best opportunities would surely await her.

But at that time, she had the “Serene Realm Fruit” on her, so she wasn’t affected by the illusion and easily walked out… Then, she encountered that particularly nasty demon.

In the previous life, Su Mingxiu’s cultivation level was too low, and she couldn’t see through this senior’s cultivation. So she could only be toyed with, and even got caught in the aphrodisiac fog.

But this time, what made the other party change their mind?

Su Mingxiu quickly found out the answer. The moment she saw the fog, she raised her sleeve, and a small watering can flew out, spraying a light green mist with the scent of herbs.

Learning from her past mistakes, after suffering from these inexplicable love poisons, Su Mingxiu devoted herself to studying pharmacology in her previous life. She wasn’t good at anything else, but her interspatial bag was filled with pills and artifacts that could counteract these disgusting things. This time, when she left the Hundred Flower Sect, she brought this artifact with her just in case.

Unexpectedly, it came in handy—

This senior had once swallowed a disciple of the Joyful Union Sect, who happened to cultivate in toxicology, so this pink fog was created this way. As everyone knew, the Hundred Flower Sect countered the Joyful Union Sect, and the sect had many formulas to break these things.

Su Mingxiu, having learned her lesson, wasn’t affected. But on the other end of the red string, the person she cared about was not in a good situation.

Before they met, the string tied to her little finger only transmitted a slight tremor. After she dispelled the pink poisonous fog and saw the figure become clearer from the haze, with skin that had turned a faint pink as if poisoned, Su Mingxiu suddenly quickened her pace.

She pulled the person who almost fell to the ground into her arms, “Are you alright?”

Sui Yihuan’s deer-like eyes were now filled with mist, like the morning dew condensed on branches. If one shook it even slightly, these crystals would shatter. Her cheeks were flushed, and even the summer peaches were not as tempting as her appearance, making one eager to take a bite and let the sweet juice flow through their lips and teeth.

Her eyes were unfocused, and she could barely recognize who was in front of her. Even so, she instinctively raised her hand to push.

Su Mingxiu thought that she didn’t want to be forced, so even the kiss only landed on the hair on top of her head. She said softly, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid… I won’t hurt you…”

She took out many pills from her interspatial bag and fed them to Sui Yihuan one by one. Calming pills, detoxifying pills, Su Mingxiu remembered that she had done the same in her previous life, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to escape Xiao Xingwei’s seduction.

“That’s why I said I hate the hypocrisy of these righteous cultivators…” That ethereal voice reappeared, with condescending arrogance.

Hearing this voice, Su Mingxiu didn’t respond, as if she hadn’t heard it. The other party was puzzled for a moment, “But this little girl has already reached the Great Ascension stage. Interesting, are you both playing pig to eat the tiger?”

“Alright, little girl, don’t bother. There’s no antidote to my love poison. Unless someone is willing to transfer it into their own body, otherwise, it will act up every ten days… If no one relieves it, your meridians and dantian will burst, and you will die.”

Perhaps it was because it hadn’t encountered anyone who could talk for a long time, this voice was chattering, especially verbose, and would take the initiative to speak even if no one paid attention to it.

Sure enough, not long after taking the pills, the subsided passion on Sui Yihuan’s face was quickly swept up by the pink wave again. Just as she got up from her arms, she fell back weakly. Unconsciously, her eyes turned as red as a rabbit’s.

Impossible.

Su Mingxiu remembered that she had relied on these pills in her previous life…

The fragmented memories, because of being repeatedly checked and touched, caused a sharp pain in the depths of her brain, like shards of glass piercing into her mind. She couldn’t help but gasp.

Sui Yihuan saw her red eyes from the reflection in Su Mingxiu’s eyes and thought that Su Mingxiu was thinking about how she was controlled and hurt her in the Hundred Flower Sect. She subconsciously closed her eyes and apologized helplessly, “I’m sorry… I, I’m not a demon… I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

Su Mingxiu gritted her teeth, enduring the churning pain in her mind, but still focused her attention on her. Hearing the little girl’s mumbled apology, she just hugged her tighter, as if she wanted to rub her into her bones.

She finally remembered what exactly was connecting these fragments—

In the previous life, in the Hundred Flower Sect, she thought that she had escaped Ye Qingbai’s pursuit with her own abilities. But it turned out that it was Sui Yihuan who saved her and hid her in the back mountain, leaving her pills and letting her stumble back to strength. She had wanted to save the disciples of the mountain gate, but when she returned, she found that it was a sea of fire, and her little garden had long since been reduced to ashes.

After she went down the mountain with her surviving junior sister and wanted to look back, she realized that she was being wanted by her sect and had become a traitor who killed her master. In order not to implicate her junior sister, Su Mingxiu hid from the righteous path alone, fleeing all the way to remote places, and finally forced to hide in the secret realm of Zhenhai Tower.

She wasn’t affected by the illusion, but she was hit by the love poison. Xiao Xingwei was also poisoned by the same poison, but she used her magical artifact to force him away and stumbled into an even more remote place.

Then.

Someone saved her.

She drew the poison away from her body. Perhaps because she wasn’t very familiar with it, she felt hot and cold for a while. Later, the two of them rolled into a ball, outside the illusion that no one could escape from, in this Zhenhai Tower filled with evil beasts and their howls.

They were each other’s antidote, time and time again, lost in passion, even ignoring the surrounding danger.

But Su Mingxiu had forgotten all about it.

She thought that her fate with Sui Yihuan ended at the Hundred Flower Sect and never saw her again. So she treated Sui Yihuan as the white moonlight in her heart, forever hanging in the sky, because she was too difficult to reach.

But in fact, this moon had long been pressed into the deep pool by her, and she had touched every edge and corner, every ravine. The moonlight had been shattered by her shaking in the pool water.

And she still didn’t want to stop, wanting to scoop up the pool water, wash the moon clean, and carefully hold it in her arms.

Su Mingxiu had already obtained her white moonlight, but she had forgotten everything.

She even remembered that she later entered the Demon Abyss… A demon lord had come to see her. Those memories were locked deeper, and she couldn’t remember, but she clearly remembered what she had said—

With a clear voice, sharper than the teeth of the Demon Abyss’ beasts, a simple sentence that could shatter the heart of the demon race.

“Who are you?”

“I don’t remember ever having anything resembling a relationship with you damned demons.”

She had forgotten.

She had held that bright moon, letting its cold white light stain her body temperature, but after waking up, she casually abandoned the moon. When the moon hung high in the sky again, shining only on her, she had a troubled look in her eyes, feeling annoyed, wishing that the moon would shine on the gutters instead.

“Hahaha, little demon, if you don’t run, you’re going to die in her arms.”

Seeing Su Mingxiu’s reaction and Sui Yihuan, whose eyes were deep red but full of despair and disgust, waiting to be killed, the monster was greatly satisfied, wishing she could sing and dance for this wonderful show.

Sui Yihuan heard it, but she didn’t run. Moisture fell from the corners of her eyes, and she said softly, “I owe her once. If she wants to kill me, I have nothing to say.”

This was to repay the debt of being controlled by the Heavenly Demon and attacking her in the Hundred Flower Sect.

At this moment, Su Mingxiu opened her eyes. Her eyes had never been so cold before. If Xiao Xingwei were to escape from the illusion and see this, he would be afraid that the light from the Tai’e Sword was not as sharp as the killing intent in her eyes, like the light reflecting off the cliff, or like the streak of white on the snow-capped peak at noon—

“You… should… die…”

Su Mingxiu had never shown such emotions before, but when she said these three words one by one through gritted teeth, it was like a spell. Those thin lips uttered, condensing a terrifying killing intent, causing Sui Yihuan, facing her directly, and the monster lurking in the dark to freeze.

However, only the Heavenly Dao knew that these words were not directed at the two of them.

But to it.

“You were the protagonist at the time. Since you received the favor of the world and me, you should have made the corresponding sacrifice. I gave you supreme glory. Do you think you shouldn’t pay the price?”

It was still calm, as if it didn’t find anything wrong with Su Mingxiu discovering the truth it had hidden in her previous life only now.

Countless grains of sand had flowed through the Ganges River of time, and it had existed for far too long. If there were gods in this world, they would also be its will. The Heavenly Dao bestows favors on things. After gaining consciousness, it also collects rewards from everything.

Su Mingxiu suddenly remembered the intense hatred she had felt when she first went to that world to do her task.

But she couldn’t remember what she hated, only that her instinct told her that she had to return to the original world. Only there could she achieve her goal.

Now she finally knew who she hated.

It was this Heavenly Dao, this damned fate, this unfair order.

She wanted to break through this boundless sky, to stop this cold wheel of fate that had no regard for emotions, to tear to shreds the red string between herself and the so-called male protagonist…

She wanted this sky to no longer be the sky, to have it fall into the mortal world as well, to shatter its will, and to teach it not to interfere with the lives of any living creatures ever again!

She wanted to tear off the hypocritical veil of this Heavenly Dao, so that it would never dare to look down on the mortal world with that condescending attitude again!

【You should die.】

Su Mingxiu still said so. This hypocritical Heavenly Dao had actually gouged out the person she loved from her heart.

Judging from the final ending, Su Mingxiu thought, this one time of sweetness was definitely not enough. It loved to repeatedly and tirelessly break up lovers it deemed unsuitable.

Until it felt that the protagonist’s heart had finally been sculpted into the shape it wanted, even in love.

She didn’t have her natal sword, but that still didn’t prevent her from condensing that deadly killing intent. Electric light flickered in the tower, the compressed thunder spiritual power. Used with her Great Ascension cultivation, it already had the power of a thunder tribulation, enough to make all spirits tremble instinctively.

Su Mingxiu slowly took the silver fan from Sui Yihuan’s hand, covered it with her spiritual power, and extended the end of the fan. It instantly became the shape of a spiritual sword. She closed the silver fan, pointing it at the void where light flickered on and off, “I’ll ask you one last time—”

“Will you hand over the antidote?”

The Heavenly Dao, having received her murderous threat, didn’t know how to retreat at this moment. It continued to provoke her, “Please leave the opportunity to the true protagonist, don’t forget the heart demon oath you made.”

Heart demon oath?

If it hadn’t mentioned it, Su Mingxiu would have almost forgotten about it. Thinking of the person standing beside Xiao Xingwei that she had seen in the illusion earlier, Su Mingxiu already knew the effect of this heart demon oath.

Xuan Chan, who had sworn at the back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect not to reveal her location, was chosen as the next female protagonist.

So she didn’t receive any punishment for breaking her oath. The Heavenly Dao gave the green light for this, treating its words as fart.

It only wanted to restrain her.

Or rather, it used all its remaining power to restrain her.

“When you’re no longer the Heavenly Dao, this thing won’t matter anymore.” What was the point of a signed contract? As long as one party dies, the other party no longer has to fulfill their obligations.

Besides… Su Mingxiu could feel that restraining her to this extent was already the limit of the Heavenly Dao.

The heart demon oath, which the Heavenly Dao wanted to use to control her, was sensed by her in reverse. Su Mingxiu understood clearly that this time reversal could only be its last.

This broken, unsalvageable Heavenly Dao would no longer have the chance to regret and start over.

This was both the Heavenly Dao’s last chance and the only chance for her and Sui Yihuan.

Chapter 218: So I’m the Protagonist After All (14)

Sui Yihuan raised her hand and pressed it against Su Mingxiu’s shoulder, pushing them apart. The force she used was actually not that strong.

But at the moment of resistance, the person leaning in took the initiative to retreat and even concluded her actions—

With the soft pad of her index finger, she wiped away a trace of crystal from the corner of Sui Yihuan’s lips.

When her gaze touched the mark on her fingertip, Sui Yihuan’s ears turned as red as a copper kettle on a stove, about to whistle along with the boiling water.

She lowered her gaze and squeezed out two words from between her teeth, “Frivolous…” What decent cultivator would be so dissolute! This Su Mingxiu must be a flower demon!

But when she glanced at her clothes, she realized that the robe she had been wearing, which had a dust-repelling charm and simple defensive spells, was long gone. She was only wearing a moon-white undergarment. The red on Sui Yihuan’s face couldn’t be concealed, almost reaching the point of wanting to die of shame and anger.

Su Mingxiu watched her many changes and, in order to prevent her from being repeatedly hit by the demonization of her body and the changes she had inflicted, she finally showed some kindness and explained in time, “Your clothes were stained with blood, so I changed them with a spell—I closed my eyes, I didn’t take advantage of you.”

Sui Yihuan’s expression improved a little.

Realizing that her beloved was currently rather conservative about love and affection, Su Mingxiu didn’t tease her further. As long as Sui Yihuan wasn’t immersed in that unnecessary guilt, she was happy to take it slow. At this moment, she naturally followed up and asked, “This inn is on the bustling main street. Do you want to go down and have a look around?”

According to Su Mingxiu’s plan, this place was not very wealthy, and there were no incidents of spirits disturbing the people. They only needed to use a simple spell to go out, and they didn’t even need cloaks to hide their spiritual power.

However, as soon as they reached the lobby of the inn, Su Mingxiu saw several people holding extraordinary weapons. Judging from their attire, they didn’t seem to be from near Zhenhai City. She paused and casually stopped a waiter who was serving dishes.

“Waiter, I remember there weren’t so many people yesterday. Why is it so lively today? Is there a big event in town?”

“You’ve asked the right person! We just got the news too. It is said that some kind of immortal realm… is about to open nearby, so the immortals who got the news are all rushing here. In less than half an hour, I heard that the inns in the city are all full, so we’re also picking up the slack.”

The waiter was beaming and was polite even though he was stopped. It was clear that this grand event had brought considerable profits to the inn’s business.

Su Mingxiu thoughtfully released her hand and looked at the moon-white figure that had just come down the stairs. The color of this robe was called moon-white, but it was the light blue reflection of the moon in the night sky illuminating the clouds, so the color was rather dark. But Sui Yihuan’s skin was delicate, like the finest sea sand, and the darkness set off the brightness of her features.

But no one else could see this beauty. This was a treasure that only Su Mingxiu could appreciate. Her eyes moved, and she quickly hid the emotions she couldn’t reveal in the blink of an eye.

Although it was a small town outside Zhenhai City, today was the day when all the villages came to the town for the market. Not only were there many mountain delicacies on the street market, but there were also many unique handmade pastries of various flavors. The fragrance mixed with the medicine of rogue cultivators who had come from all over for the secret realm, making it even more tempting.

Su Mingxiu originally wanted to buy some easily digestible rice cakes for Sui Yihuan, but found that the other person’s steps unconsciously stopped in front of a stall selling dried goods, staring at a bamboo basket of green rice balls, her expression unreadable.

The stall owner naturally greeted her, “Homemade green rice balls, with red bean paste, cured meat, and mushroom fillings. Would you like to try one?”

After listening to the stall owner introduce the fillings one by one, the light in Sui Yihuan’s eyes shattered. She was disappointed but unwilling to move her feet. In the end, Su Mingxiu saw that the stall owner’s face had darkened and pulled her sleeve, dragging her to her side.

“What flavor do you want to eat? I can give it a try.”

Sui Yihuan was about to speak when the surroundings suddenly became noisy.

“Zhenhai Tower has opened!”

Someone shouted, and the people on the long street all looked up to see the spectacle. Countless spiritual energies from all directions flew towards the azure sky. Swords, flutes, and all imaginable and unimaginable magical artifacts carried their owners’ weight, rushing towards the faintly visible mirage in the sky.

Su Mingxiu looked at this mirage and finally remembered what this Zhenhai Tower secret realm was…

The next moment, her expression suddenly changed.

Oh no.

As the towers in the mirage became clearer, a bright sunny day suddenly turned to rain. The pattering rain fell on the mortals, having the effect of ordinary rain. But when it splashed on those magical artifacts, it instantly made those colorful spiritual artifacts lose their light.

Where the raindrops fell, Sui Yihuan was still a little dazed. Instead, the owner of the green rice ball stall, who was holding an umbrella and watching the excitement in the sky, reacted the fastest. He raised his hand and took a piece of clothing, rolled up his dried goods and baskets, and quickly ran towards the nearby eaves.

A drop of rain fell unimpeded on Sui Yihuan’s face as she looked up at the sky.

In an instant, the spell covering it lost its effect, revealing her original delicate face, like a camellia or a jasmine.

At that moment, a cultivator happened to fall nearby. Because he almost bumped into someone when he fell, the unlucky cultivator got up and bowed to Sui Yihuan. He wanted to apologize, but was stunned by her face washed by the rain.

After looking carefully for two seconds, he shouted, “You are the one on the wanted poster—”

The second half of the sentence was blocked by the pill that Su Mingxiu threw into his mouth. He blushed and struggled on the spot, but couldn’t spit out another word.

Sui Yihuan turned her head and was covered by the cloak thrown at her. Before she could react to what had happened, she was already being pressed into someone’s arms by the cloak, “Let’s go, this rain can deplete spiritual energy!”

Until she was taken to the eaves of a nearby restaurant, Sui Yihuan was still a little dazed. When she lifted the cloak, she asked Su Mingxiu in a low voice, “What wanted poster?”

“Nothing.”

The woman in black was also wearing a cloak, her voice casual. Guessing that the treasures in the Zhenhai Tower secret realm had made the cultivators restless, and now that who knows how many people from the nine continents were coming to Zhenhai City, the risk of going out was too high. So she suddenly changed her mind and asked, “Do you want to go to Zhenhai Tower to have a look?”

“Zhenhai Tower…” Because Zhenhai City was in the Southern Region and near the sea, although it was not as spectacular as the sea of the Thirteen Schools, Sui Yihuan was still familiar with the legends related to it.

“Legend has it that this tower was specially built by a powerful cultivator to suppress a black dragon that was causing trouble in the sea. He suppressed his magical artifact here. But after he fell, this artifact disappeared. This Zhenhai Tower has ninety-nine and eighty-one floors, and each floor is filled with the most heinous monsters from all over the nine continents.”

“Yes.”

Because she had been there in the previous life, Su Mingxiu knew some of the monsters inside. Speaking of which, the material for her spiritual sword was made from the bones of that evil jiao. And this monster that caused trouble in front of Zhenhai City was only in the middle of Zhenhai Tower.

The reason why it attracted so many people from the nine continents was that after entering this secret realm, cultivators were randomly sent to one of the floors. They could neither go up nor down.

If they could defeat the monster on the same floor, they could take everything on that floor as loot and be teleported out of the secret realm.

This Zhenhai Tower only appeared once every thousand years, and many of the monsters in it were no longer found in the nine continents. Therefore, both artifact refiners and alchemists wanted to go in and get some rare materials.

Not to mention the cultivators who wanted to temper themselves, there were even many cultivators who wanted to go in and try their luck.

【Enter the Zhenhai Tower story, please cooperate with the male protagonist to get his opportunities—the thousand-year-old jiao core and the ten-thousand-year-old dragon bone.】

Su Mingxiu, who had taken these two things out in her previous life, smiled and responded to the suddenly appearing Heavenly Dao:

【Fuck off.】

The rain in the sky gradually stopped, and the originally illusory and ethereal Zhenhai Tower, which seemed to be out of reach, had now revealed its physical form. Countless golden lights shone through the small windows of the tower, showing that the evil beasts were still vigorously suppressed in the tower’s formation after thousands of years.

After the rain, a rainbow bridge was erected from the top of the tower to the outside of Zhenhai City. This was the only way to enter the secret realm.

With the first person taking the plunge, the rest followed, even fighting on the rainbow bridge.

Outside the restaurant, Su Mingxiu took out a red string from her interspatial bag at some point and wrapped it around Sui Yihuan’s little finger.

Sui Yihuan: “?”

“What is this?”

“I don’t know, a little trinket.” Su Mingxiu answered very frankly. After all, this was something she had confiscated from the interspatial bag of an unlucky pursuer from the Joyful Union Sect on the way after she and Sui Yihuan fled from the Hundred Flower Sect. She could only vaguely sense its effect, but didn’t know the name of this treasure.

“But the two people tied together, their spiritual power can be connected through this red string. I guess it can trick this secret realm into sending us to the same floor, so we don’t have to be separated.”

Sui Yihuan heard the undisguised “not wanting to be separated” in her words, and felt her heartbeat suddenly speed up. As a result, she heard Su Mingxiu continue smoothly, “After all, without you, who will protect me?”

The blush that had just appeared on her face was frozen. Sui Yihuan: “…”

Looking at the woman who was quietly approaching her, as if she were a delicate and pitiful little bird, Sui Yihuan looked outside, stammered, and replied, “Um, yes, I said I would, and I will protect you.”

—She had already forgotten the memory of being bullied by someone at the table in the morning.

After the first wave of cultivators entered the tower, Su Mingxiu took her onto the rainbow bridge. In the blink of an eye, they were pushed into the tower by the rainbow bridge, and their eyes suddenly went dark.

“Ouch, who squeezed me?”

“Where is this?”

“Which blind turtle grandson used a knife to cut your grandpa’s ass!”

“Sorry, sorry, I was too vigilant and took out my spiritual artifact. Daoist friend, please forgive me, I can compensate you.”

……

The chaotic voices came, and it was even more lively here than the long street in the small town.

Oh no.

Su Mingxiu felt the number of spiritual powers nearby and realized that she and Sui Yihuan had been thrown into a crowd. From time to time, cultivators tried to use their spiritual power to condense fire, or took out illuminating objects. Unfortunately, it was pitch black all around, and nothing could be lit.

She moved her mind, and the red thread on her right little finger appeared. She wanted to find Sui Yihuan’s position. Her intuition told her that the other person was nearby.

As a result, her left hand searched along the front of the red thread, but an inch away, she found three or four forks. And after taking a step, Su Mingxiu heard a very artificial voice nearby:

“Aiya! Brother Xiao, what is this? I seem to be entangled in something, please save me.”

“Chan’er, don’t be afraid, I’m coming.” A gentle male voice answered her.

Su Mingxiu: “…”

She woodenly began to untangle the red thread from her little finger, and said two words from the bottom of her heart, “Bad luck.”

She didn’t know if she was cursing the Heavenly Dao.

Or these lovebirds who were ruining her love life.

Chapter 217: So I’m the Protagonist After All (13)

“Are you awake?”

Sui Yihuan heard a gentle and soothing voice near her ear, like spring rain or winter sun. She opened her eyes, and in her field of vision, there was finally no piercing red light or soaring flames. Her eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes and saw Su Mingxiu sitting by her bed. The room also had the aroma of food, which made her stomach growl, waking up before her consciousness did, greeting the other person with a “grumble.”

She guiltily tucked the blanket over her stomach, not knowing what day it was. She was also afraid that this was just another endless nightmare. The sound of “only one of you is destined to live” still lingered in her ears, and Sui Yihuan was especially afraid that Su Mingxiu would discover her true identity in the next second and kill her.

Seeing that she hadn’t spoken for a long time, the person sitting by the bed looked puzzled. Even in the dim light of the room, where the sunlight was blocked, her beautiful face could still light up one’s eyes. Sui Yihuan watched as her face got closer and closer in her field of vision—

“You don’t have a fever.”

Su Mingxiu touched her forehead with her own, then pulled back a little. But the distance between the two was still close enough to feel each other’s breath.

Then, she took Sui Yihuan’s wrist. The overly sensitive consciousness of a cultivator transmitted the temperature of the other person’s fingertips inch by inch. The person whose wrist was held couldn’t help but shrink back.

Noticing her avoidance, Su Mingxiu was stunned for a moment. She didn’t force it and didn’t use her spiritual power to probe whether she was injured. She just asked in a gentle voice, “You haven’t eaten for a long time. I bought a pheasant nearby yesterday and made some chicken congee for you. Would you like to have some?”

She and the person in her dream were too different. She was neither the one who was filled with hatred for evil, nor the one who was mired in the mud but still struggled to get up. But compared to the righteous and awe-inspiring person she had first met, there seemed to be something more…

What was it?

Sui Yihuan stared at the small mole at the corner of her eye. Since her gaze had shifted there, she couldn’t avoid seeing her eyes. At this moment, those black eyes were gentle, but they were like a long river in the night, flowing with more emotions that she couldn’t understand.

Almost demonic, more like a demon than a righteous cultivator.

Oh right, a lotus demon, she had guessed before.

But, what kind of demon could contend with the power of a Heavenly Demon?

Sui Yihuan’s mind was in chaos, unable to figure out what kind of strength Su Mingxiu possessed. Because she was symbiotic with the Heavenly Demon, the two of them could not kill each other. Therefore, she was not intimidated by the spiritual power released by Ye Qingbai.

As for Su Mingxiu’s spiritual power—

The other party had cleverly avoided affecting her at the time, so the person who was protected in her arms still couldn’t feel it.

Sui Yihuan thought for a long time, barely able to distinguish between the nightmare and reality. She guessed that Ye Qingbai was discovered too early this time.

So her strength had not reached its peak. If she hadn’t been restrained, maybe she could have solved this trouble for the other party?

She was thinking about the scene of her uncontrollably hurting Su Mingxiu, and then she was thinking about the reason for her dream. Was it because she couldn’t stand others being so noble and virtuous, so she was eager to find a kindred spirit in her heart, imagining that someone could be as miserable as her?

While Sui Yihuan was affected by the negative emotions in her heart, the person who had been waiting for her answer finally couldn’t help it. She bent her fingers and tapped her forehead, “Why are you still in a daze? You don’t want to eat, do you want to go back to sleep?”

The force was not heavy at all, not even leaving a red mark, but it made Sui Yihuan, who had come back to her senses, blush. She didn’t know if it was because the blanket was too tight, or if it was because she was teased by the other person’s overly intimate action.

“I… Where is this?”

In the end, she pulled the blanket and could only carefully ask this question.

Perhaps it was because the way she looked like a proud sun since their reunion left too deep of an impression. Su Mingxiu couldn’t stand this little bird being so wilted, listless, like it had been bullied by the wind and rain outside and didn’t dare to soar in the sky anymore.

So her tone was encouraging and even more gentle, “In the Southern Region, Zhenhai City.”

This was a place between the Thirteen Schools and the Hundred Flower Sect. Sui Yihuan remembered that if she wanted to go from the Qiangshan Sect to the Hundred Flower Sect, she would definitely have to pass through here. But why were they here?

“Didn’t you say you wanted to apply for leave to go home? I’m accompanying you.”

The word “home” touched on the nightmare that Sui Yihuan didn’t want to recall. She trembled in shock and reflexively wanted to refuse to face that terrifying reality, “No.”

Su Mingxiu didn’t know why she had changed her mind after waking up. But thinking about how she had been controlled by Ye Qingbai before and had involuntarily attacked her, she felt that there might be a connection. So she asked, “Then where do you want to go? No matter where you want to go, get up and have some congee first. I’ve been cooking it for a long time.”

Of course, things were not as easy as Su Mingxiu said.

After bringing Sui Yihuan out of the Hundred Flower Sect, she had left. The next moment, wanted posters for the two of them had already spread from the Hundred Flower Sect to the Southern Region.

The news of the bizarre death of the Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect and the reappearance of the demon race in the nine continents spread like wildfire. In just a few days, the bounty offered by the Sword Sect and other sects was enough to make any rogue cultivator’s eyes turn red.

Therefore, the inn they were staying at was actually in a small county outside Zhenhai City, a small place where even the immortal sects’ wanted posters were not distributed.

Even so, Su Mingxiu still found two cloaks that could conceal their spiritual power, and she also specially learned two or three spells that could conceal their appearance. Relying on the fact that her cultivation was higher than most cultivators in the nine continents, she didn’t bother to learn the most effective but most troublesome disguise techniques of mortals.

But Sui Yihuan didn’t know this for the time being. She didn’t want to disappoint Su Mingxiu’s kindness, so after washing up, she sat down at the table. While absentmindedly eating the chicken congee that had cooled to just the right temperature—

The delicious fragrance that melted in her mouth brought her attention back.

Sui Yihuan was still thinking about Su Mingxiu and her master’s affairs, and how heartbroken she must be by the Heavenly Demon’s identity.

And how ruthless her own attack had been. But when this warm congee flowed down her esophagus and into her stomach, filling her abdomen with warmth, all these distracting thoughts disappeared.

Then she quickly finished the bowl of congee and found that she was not full at all. She held the bowl and turned to look at the person who had walked to the window at some point, opened it, and let the sunlight in. She asked a little embarrassedly, “Is there… any more?”

“You’ve been asleep for a long time. Even though the spiritual meat of this pheasant is only mildly nourishing, you can’t eat too much right after waking up.”

Moreover, she hadn’t figured out the changes in Sui Yihuan’s body before, and she wasn’t sure if the input of spiritual power from these spirit beasts would have any adverse effects on her.

If she hadn’t slept for too long and her spirit seemed to be greatly affected, Su Mingxiu wouldn’t even have considered using spiritual ingredients in her meals.

But she was really hungry.

Sui Yihuan couldn’t help but frown, but found that there wasn’t even an extra plate of fruit or pastries on the table of this inn. Her awakened stomach was even hungrier.

Amused by her listless appearance, Su Mingxiu walked over from the window and leaned down to look at her. Her hair fell down and brushed her cheek.

“Still want to eat something delicious?”

The skin that was touched by her long hair was itchy. Sui Yihuan only then noticed that the other person’s hair, which had been tied up with a hairpin engraved with the Hundred Flower Sect’s emblem, was now gone. Now it was just tied up with an ordinary wooden hairpin.

And her clothes were no longer the ordinary green robe that shimmered with the light of a magical artifact, but a… robe that looked like someone had put a piece of wildly written calligraphy on it.

Black, white, and gray were interlaced. This light robe was much dimmer than green, but it completely eliminated the gentle and jade-like temperament of Su Mingxiu, replacing it with a much more arrogant and overbearing aura. Now it was difficult to see the temperament of the chief disciple of the Hundred Flower Sect from her.

Sui Yihuan felt a little sad and nodded absentmindedly.

Su Mingxiu suddenly reached out and held her chin, so close that the breath from her red lips was about to be eaten. Sui Yihuan was startled and came back to her senses. She reflexively reached out and grabbed the table, “Su… Daoist friend Su…”

What was she doing?

“What are you thinking about?” Su Mingxiu didn’t correct her somewhat distant form of address, she just asked persistently.

The person who was forced to look up didn’t realize how ambiguous their posture was at this moment because of her excessive guilt. The other person seemed to be about to kiss her at any moment. She thought that Su Mingxiu was unhappy because she was always absent-minded and hiding too many things since she woke up.

So she calmed down, forced herself to ignore the moist breath on her lips, lowered her eyelashes uneasily, and said softly, “I’m sorry, I… hurt you before.”

“It’s okay, I already said I didn’t mind. You didn’t mean to.”

That was what she said, but Su Mingxiu still didn’t let go, using a tough posture to break through the high wall that the other party had barely built.

Sure enough, Sui Yihuan quickly continued to say hesitantly, “But… not only that. If, if I hadn’t come to the Hundred Flower Sect, none of this would have happened.”

If she hadn’t come, the Heavenly Demon’s plan could not have been completed. Although it was unknown how long it would have been delayed, at least this disciple of the Hundred Flower Sect wouldn’t have to face this despair so soon. Her bright and beautiful path of cultivation wouldn’t have been overturned, she wouldn’t have lost her master, and she wouldn’t have known that everything she had today was only because she was chosen as a vessel back then—

Her misfortune stemmed from herself.

But Su Mingxiu’s misfortune was all brought by her.

It was Sui Yihuan who made Su Mingxiu lose her righteous identity, her master, and the protection of her sect.

This was something that made Sui Yihuan even more at a loss than when she had intruded into the spiritual garden and accidentally trampled the other person’s roses. Because this time she really didn’t know how to make amends.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “It’s all my fault.”

It was she who had not seen clearly the sins she was born with, and had mistakenly joined the wrong herd. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, she had eaten grass for too long. When the wolves smelled the scent and disturbed the sheepfold, she was anxious and uneasy, hypocritically discovering that she was the one in the wrong.

Even her apology was so pale and weak.

“You seem to be immersed in your own emotions too deeply, so you can’t hear what I’m saying, and you don’t understand what I mean.” In her apology, Su Mingxiu was silent for a while, but only gave this sentence.

Sui Yihuan: “?”

She raised her eyes in confusion. When they were not red, these deer-like eyes were really too pure, like a woodland spirit who knew nothing of the world, reflecting all the evil and dirty emotions of human beings.

Su Mingxiu also saw her own in her eyes, but she didn’t choose to hide it. She just smiled and said, “Let me express my thoughts more succinctly, listen carefully—”

“Next time you get distracted like this while talking to me, I will kiss you until you focus your attention on me.”

“Like this…”

The breath exhaled while speaking had long since softened the thin lips that the other person had pursed because of nervousness, like a scallop being steamed, easily pried open, allowing the diner to taste the more delicious insides.

Originally still immersed in uncontrollable guilt, Sui Yihuan was suddenly pulled into another world, and she was completely stunned.

So she didn’t resist at all, until she found that she couldn’t even see the approaching person clearly when she widened her eyes. Everything became hazy, and the light shining on the table was also wrinkled by her action of tightening her grip on the tablecloth, causing the teacups to clink—

Her eyelashes trembled fiercely. Sui Yihuan was suddenly startled, finally realizing what Su Mingxiu was doing to her!

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.”

Chapter 215: So I’m the Protagonist After All (11)

“I told you long ago not to approach her, or the consequences would be unbearable for you.” While the elders of the Hundred Flower Sect came to check on the situation because of the commotion, the Heavenly Dao, which had been silent all this time, only watching everything, whispered in her ear again.

The person in her arms had not yet woken up. Su Mingxiu leaned against the broken wall, her eyelashes moved slightly, and she raised her eyes to look at the elders of the Hundred Flower Sect who were gathering around.

【What consequences?】

She knew that their eyes were all focused on Sui Yihuan. Moreover, the little girl, whose demonic pupils had been activated, was still emitting an ominous black aura, a fact that could not be covered up no matter what.

Therefore, she calmly let them look, and at the same time answered the Heavenly Dao with her consciousness, “The consequence is that the road she once walked alone, I can now walk with her.”

“Mingxiu, you should believe the sect’s judgment now. She is a demon, you must hand her over.”

The one who ordered her was Elder Yuejian of the Law Enforcement Hall, who was also Huaxuan’s master and particularly protective of her own. Therefore, her attitude towards Su Mingxiu was cold and official.

Elder Xuehan, on the other hand, stared at Ye Qingbai’s corpse with a grim expression, “Was it the demon in front of you who killed your master?”

She didn’t finish the rest of the sentence, obviously in disbelief and feeling heartbroken. Even her gaze towards Su Mingxiu was a little strange.

“Elders, the truth of the matter is not so—”

Even though Su Mingxiu’s green clothes were stained with blood, like red flowers blooming on the grassland, it only made her face more beautiful, not showing any weakness, “The demon is the one who has been appearing as the Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect, not Sui Yihuan.”

Compared to the sea of fire that destroyed all evidence in the previous life, at least now a corpse that could be investigated was left for the Hundred Flower Sect. As long as these elders could be serious and responsible…

“The demonic energy on her body can’t be hidden. Do you know the consequences of harboring a demon, Su Mingxiu?” Elder Yuejian’s eyes were full of coldness as she looked at her.

Noticing that she was about to take out her magical artifact, Xuehan subconsciously stopped her. She had already seen that Su Mingxiu’s current realm was a mystery, and she had probably obtained some opportunity in this incident.

Thinking of her usual performance in the sect and the bizarre death of the Sect Leader, she softened her voice, but it was still a forced question, “Mingxiu, today’s matter is inseparable from the demon race, and your master is… If you still have a heart, hand her over and cooperate with the sect’s investigation—”

The protective formation, the demon race, and the death of the Sect Leader were all weighing heavily on the Hundred Flower Sect at this time. The Elder Hall, which had not encountered such a major event in thousands of years, had lost its leader and was somewhat at a loss. Therefore, with Yuejian’s strong voice, the other elders subconsciously obeyed.

Su Mingxiu’s gaze swept over them one by one, and she suddenly understood why the Hundred Flower Sect was so vulnerable when the demon race invaded in the previous life.

Because these righteous people had been comfortable for too long, contentedly enjoying the shade of the lush tree grown from the foundation of their ancestors, they couldn’t even distinguish the priorities of the situation.

She stood up, holding Sui Yihuan, her expression still cold. Perhaps the reincarnations that repaired her soul had diluted the emotions of the previous life, or perhaps the past was still like a reflection in a mirror, a flower in the water. Su Mingxiu found that when she made this decision, she did not feel the pain and discomfort she had imagined, “I will not hand her over.”

“If the elders want to ignore the truth and make things difficult for us, this disciple cannot obey.”

The dust in the sunlight suddenly swayed, as if captured by an unknown force, stopping its movement in the light. The overlapping figures of green and red standing on the ruins, even the fluttering of their robes, were obediently subdued, as if captured by something.

The backlit figure, with stray hairs casting shadows on her forehead, yet miraculously gathering some scattered light in her eyes, like the sparkling of a lake, inadvertently cutting one’s gaze.

And all of this was unknown to Sui Yihuan, who was asleep.

She seemed to be captured by a nightmare from ancient legends, deeply trapped in that blood-colored purgatory, unable to extricate herself.

She found herself back at the Qiangshan Sect, but the sect was silent. Not even the hooting of owls could be heard in the middle of the night. Only a blood moon illuminated the sky.

Sui Yihuan pushed open the gate with her bare feet, wanting to find her father. As the heavy gate creaked open, what was revealed to her was a human purgatory. The terrifying blood color spread out from the ground like a spider web, like the most ominous curse in the world.

The blood was so strange, who knows how many lives had to be filled to make it so vivid. And this formation seemed to have a life of its own, beating with her gaze.

Sui Yihuan’s ominous feeling grew stronger. She instinctively wanted to find her father, but as she pushed open one door after another, she was only greeted by mountains of corpses and seas of blood—

Until finally, in front of the family ancestral hall, she saw the figure standing there. She remembered that since her mother passed away, her father always liked to come here to accompany her mother when he had time, bringing her mother’s favorite green rice balls, which were made with seafood filling, a unique specialty of the Thirteen Schools, and each family had a different flavor.

She breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the anomalies in her mind. She carefully walked over, deliberately circling to the front of the figure, as if seeking salvation, or as if she had suffered for a long time and wanted comfort from her family, “Father… do you know what’s outside…”

The rest of the words were suppressed in her throat by an invisible force.

Sui Yihuan’s eyes widened, her eyes bloodshot—

She saw a silver light piercing into the man’s chest. Although it did not pierce through his heart, it was firmly nailed to the position of his heart. The silver had penetrated so deeply into his body that one could clearly imagine the scene of a shattered heart.

This light was too bright, the only dazzling existence in the bloody hell. Sui Yihuan was even hurt by it, but she didn’t dare to move, nor did she dare to touch it. She just stood there in a daze, staring at it intently.

No one in the world was more familiar with this silver light than she was. This was the sea beast dragon bone that her father brought back from the sea on her tenth birthday. Her mother drew a picture and had craftsmen grind it little by little into a fan, named “Lake and Mountain Scenery.” Her parents always felt that she lived by the sea all year round and couldn’t see the beautiful scenery on land.

So they spared no effort to collect famous paintings of various landscapes in the nine continents, embroidered them on the screens in the house, placed them on the eaves and walls, and now, it was also engraved on her birthday gift.

“Have you remembered?”

A familiar, malicious laughter sounded from above.

Sui Yihuan trembled all over, but an infinite hatred arose in her heart, hating the creator of this illusion for concocting such a sinister dream.

She ran out without looking back, as if this way she could escape the scope of the illusion, and not have to see this clumsy hell on earth.

On the way, Sui Yihuan tripped over a stone and fell, her knees covered in blood. But she couldn’t escape that voice, “Do you remember, when you were young, you were weak and often sleepwalked. Every time you woke up in a different place, the entire Qiangshan Sect had to send people to look for you.”

“That was not you sleepwalking. It was your bloodthirsty demon bloodline following its instincts, finding supplements for you. Look how well you’ve grown now. You can finally leave the Qiangshan Sect and see the scenery your parents always wanted you to see.”

“Shut up! Get lost!” Sui Yihuan picked up the stone stained with her blood and threw it around randomly.

Then she saw that the part of her palm stained with blood also emitted the same light as the formation in the house earlier, as if it had its own consciousness.

She knew that it was because she had not yet escaped the illusion. So she ran all the way forward, hearing that voice chasing after her, “I knew you wouldn’t accept the present world. Never mind, the demon race has been dormant for tens of thousands of years, they don’t care about this short time. If you want to escape by forgetting again, then forget.”

Sui Yihuan covered her ears and ran forward. As she ran, she heard the sound of the wind beside her ears. The heavy shackles on her body seemed to be blown away by the wind. She felt that her whole body had become lighter. When she was exhausted, she fell asleep by the roadside.

When she woke up again, Sui Yihuan was awakened by her servants, “Miss, the rules of the Hundred Flower Sect are not like those of our Qiangshan Sect. Today is the first day of class at the Cultivation Conference. If you are late, you might be punished.”

“What?”

She woke up in a daze, sat up in bed, and smelled a particularly fragrant scent from the soft, non-salty wind. She realized that she was not in the Qiangshan Sect. She had to ask, “What Hundred Flower Sect?”

“Miss, don’t you remember?” The servant looked at her strangely, “You came here to participate in this Cultivation Conference on the Sect Leader’s orders. Yesterday you told me you would perform well. Oh dear, time is running out. Miss, don’t forget the mountain of the first class. It would be troublesome if you were late.”

She was hurriedly called up. When she walked out of the room, she saw a small pond next to her house, where pink and white flowers swayed gracefully. She vaguely remembered that these seemed to be lotus flowers.

Naturally, Sui Yihuan walked out of this Lotus House, not knowing where to go to class. After asking people along the way, she was still in a daze when she arrived at the classroom.

“I hate it when people are late to my class.” The lecturing elder looked at her with a cold expression, the gold trim on his collar almost blinding her eyes. Sui Yihuan was stunned for a moment. When all the unfamiliar cultivators in the class looked over, she heard the other person’s judgment, “Go to the Law Enforcement Hall to receive your punishment. Since you are late, you don’t need to attend this class.”

Having gotten lost for a long time before finding this place, Sui Yihuan: “…?”

She opened her mouth, but was intimidated by the complicated rules of the Hundred Flower Sect. Unfamiliar with the place, she could only shut her mouth, turn around dejectedly, go back down the mountain, and ask for directions to the Law Enforcement Hall.

After climbing the mountain road again, when she arrived at the gate of the Law Enforcement Hall, Sui Yihuan was attracted by a figure standing in the flower bushes. Especially when the other person turned around, the wind blew her hair, revealing her delicate face, which made Sui Yihuan think of the gracefully swaying lotus flowers in the pond when she left the courtyard earlier.

But such a small pond seemed to be a sacrilege to her.

She stared blankly. When the other person noticed her gaze and glanced at her diagonally, her eyes curved, and the shimmering light in her eyes was more dazzling than the surrounding flowers.

When Sui Yihuan came to her senses, she had already been staring blankly at this never-before-seen beauty as she walked closer, “Why has Daoist friend come here?”

Facing those eyes that seemed to be able to suck out one’s soul, Sui Yihuan suddenly came to her senses, hurriedly averted her impolite gaze, and said softly, “I… was late for class, and someone told me to come to the Law Enforcement Hall to receive punishment.”

Although she didn’t look at the other person, Sui Yihuan belatedly added a mole to the overly stunning face in her mind, right at the corner of her eye—

Perhaps it was to match the name of the Hundred Flower Sect. Only a sect that was so dazzling, full of fragrant flowers and colorful blooms, could raise such a beauty that one couldn’t take their eyes off her. Even a mole was perfectly placed. Just one glance made it hard to pull away.

“It’s Elder Yuejian’s class, right? You’re really unlucky to have been caught by her.”

A hint of a smile crept into the voice that fell into her ears.

Sui Yihuan didn’t know how to describe this wonderful sound on land. Anyway, she felt that she had only heard such a beautiful voice when the merfolk in the sea sang.

So she was also bewitched by this voice, “Come in with me.”

After blankly following her in, she saw this beauty take out a black wooden ruler. And she obediently held out her hand, receiving a blow. Only then did she quickly withdraw her palm, as if bitten by a jellyfish.

“Ah!”

The exclamation was full of disbelief, not at all reacting to the fact that the other person had hit her.

The enforcer was also surprised by her reaction. After a moment, her eyes curved into a smile, “You’re the first person I’ve seen who reacted so genuinely to receiving punishment—”

Sui Yihuan felt that she was being mocked.

Perhaps the major sects were like this, doing things by the book, even receiving punishment with a stiff upper lip. For a moment, she felt the embarrassment of coming from a remote place to a prosperous capital. In the other person’s gentle gaze, she felt ashamed and didn’t know why she was so embarrassed.

She held out her hand again, gritted her teeth, and saw that her palm was already red and swollen from just that one blow, with a raised ridge. The wound was painful and numb. Even when her father had disciplined her with the family law in the Qiangshan Sect, she had never felt such pain.

After all, she was a cultivator, and her body had been tempered by spiritual power.

Until the ruler made a whooshing sound and the second blow landed in exactly the same place, Sui Yihuan still couldn’t help it. Her eyelashes trembled fiercely, tears welled up in her eyes, and she let out a short, suppressed sound of pain from her throat.

Wh-why did it hurt so much?

For a moment, she wished this person would cut off her arm. She would rather endure the pain of a severed arm than this unbearable pain in her flesh.

After five blows—

Sui Yihuan’s forehead was covered in sweat, her back was also wet, and she could barely stand.

When the ruler was raised, she no longer had time to think about beauty or flower spirits. She just held her red and swollen palm, the skin of which had become thin, with tears in her eyes, thinking, I want to go home. Why did I come to this place to suffer?

“I forgot to tell Daoist friend earlier, the instruments of punishment in our Law Enforcement Hall all need to be empowered with spiritual power. Perhaps it is because I have natural thunder spiritual power that the punishment I administer is particularly painful and unbearable. If Daoist friend doesn’t mind, take this spiritual pill first, otherwise you might not be able to sleep tonight.”

The beauty handed her a white porcelain bottle.

Sui Yihuan, who had rarely suffered such hardship, sternly refused. As she turned around, enduring the pain, she thought to herself, I’m so stupid, really. I was just bewitched by beauty and didn’t know that the beautiful flowers in this world are all poisonous.

If I had been able to take my eyes off her when I entered the Law Enforcement Hall and look at someone else… I wouldn’t have been beaten so badly by someone with thunder spiritual power! And I wouldn’t be so embarrassed!

Chapter 214: So I’m the Protagonist After All (10)

The master of Yan Miaomiao, Elder Xuehan, followed them out. Although she was not in charge of the Law Enforcement Hall that disciplined disciples, when she saw Su Mingxiu’s expression, she could more or less guess that she might know this little disciple from the Qiangshan Sect. So she could only sigh and advise her, “The demon race has not appeared on the nine continents for a long time. If not for the fact that our Hundred Flower Sect still has a few records of them, perhaps the disciple who died in the courtyard would have died in vain…

That was definitely the attack method of the demon race. Mingxiu, I know you have always been kind. But this matter will be investigated by the sect elders. Before the conclusion is reached, don’t get involved.”

Her expression was very gentle, but her eyes contained an indescribable helplessness, as if she had a lot to say, but in the end, she could only give a well-intentioned reminder, “Don’t disappoint your master.”

—Disappointment?

Su Mingxiu met her clear eyes and suddenly remembered the look of despair on this elder’s face in the previous life when she learned the truth about the destruction of the sect. She couldn’t believe until her death that her senior sister, who had grown up with her in the sect and experienced so many ups and downs, would become… a demon.

At that moment, self-blame, shock, guilt… many incompatible emotions crowded into her world. Even at the moment of her death, these emotions still lingered in her eyes.

But these were destined to be things that Su Mingxiu couldn’t say. Facing this elder who had always taken care of her in the sect, she just pursed her lips and gave a smile as light as the wind, “Thank you for your advice, Elder.”

Then she found out where the Law Enforcement Hall’s forbidden prison was within fifteen minutes.

Sui Yihuan felt that her mind was muddled.

She kept dreaming of a sea of fire. Looking around, many broken images were pieced together, but her vision was obscured by the black smoke of the raging fire, and she couldn’t see anything clearly. In the end, the scene froze on the dead servant from this morning.

She seemed to see how the other person lost his vitality and how he struggled in his dying moments. The movements were so close to her that… Sui Yihuan always felt that the desire for survival in the other person’s eyes at the end was directed at her.

But how could that be!

A cool temperature touched her forehead, waking her from this nightmare of the boundless sea of fire. Her hands were chained to the wall, and her entire body weight was supported by the thin chains on her wrists. The red-clothed female cultivator woke up in a daze, only to find that it was not the dying servant’s fingertips touching her, but… the cold and beautiful woman testing her temperature.

The chains clanged, making a crisp sound of struggle.

Sui Yihuan moved her lips, wanting to ask Su Mingxiu why she was here. But she quickly realized that the other person must have violated the sect’s rules. So she just opened her mouth and silently said, “Go…” Go away.

Because she didn’t dare to rashly send spiritual power into her body, Su Mingxiu could only feed her the pills for treating internal and external injuries, while whispering in her ear, “Hush, don’t be afraid, I will save you.”

Save her?

Since being taken away and interrogated by the people of the Hundred Flower Sect in the morning, Sui Yihuan had felt that she was innocent.

But since entering this forbidden prison, no one had tortured her, but she was always shrouded in that nightmare, over and over again. In the end, she could even feel the pleasure of taking the servant’s life.

She had lost all memory after falling asleep last night, sinking into a deep sleep. When she woke up, her head ached terribly. Until she was taken away by the disciples of the Hundred Flower Sect and interrogated by their elders—

She would never forget that when facing the treasure that could detect lies, she repeatedly said, “I didn’t kill him,” and “I couldn’t have killed someone from my family,” the treasure emitted a red light, indicating that everything she said was a lie.

Sui Yihuan’s expression changed too much, and she even looked like she had suffered a great blow. Su Mingxiu couldn’t ignore her condition, so she could only whisper to her, “Tell me everything that happened from the time we parted last night until now.”

Actually, after taking the pills she gave her, Sui Yihuan didn’t feel any better. But thinking that Su Mingxiu still trusted her unconditionally, she was moved and forced herself to tell her everything.

Because she was intermittent and lacked strength, Su Mingxiu even took out the food she had taken from the dining hall. Although it tasted terrible, at this time, it was indeed a good medicine comparable to a panacea.

She broke off pieces of the pastry and fed them to Sui Yihuan, and also took out the dew from the spiritual flowers to quench her thirst. Hearing the other person say the last sentence with confusion and some bewilderment, “Now I just feel that I am really suspicious, as if I was possessed by that demon, always doing those terrifying things of taking people’s lives without knowing it… Daoist friend Su, go, go quickly. No matter what, don’t come looking for me again…”

She was even afraid that she would really lose her mind and kill this friend she had just met.

But hearing her words, Su Mingxiu just gently and tenderly stroked her cheek, even helping her tidy up some messy strands of hair, “A true demon would never regret this bloodthirst and killing. You are not a demon, but a human.”

How could there be such a stupid demon?

Her voice was like a light that pierced through the fog, or a rainbow that parted the clouds. It had no sound of metal or stone, but it strangely calmed Sui Yihuan’s panic and anxiety.

“I will save you,” Su Mingxiu said, “Don’t stay here anymore. Leave the Hundred Flower Sect and immediately return to the Qiangshan Sect to see how your father’s injuries are doing during his seclusion. If fate allows, I will come find you and travel the nine continents with you, to make up for the sights you missed at the conference.”

She knew Ye Qingbai’s methods. She never spared the lives of insignificant people. Sui Yihuan only had two outcomes, one was death, and the other was worse than death—if Ye Qingbai didn’t kill her, it only meant that she wanted to use this person to do something more terrible.

Su Mingxiu would never allow this possibility to happen.

By this time, Sui Yihuan’s burnt-out brain seemed to belatedly realize that the patrolling disciples and the formations that should have been activated were nowhere to be seen. And facing this person who believed in her without hesitation.

Even wanting to save her at the risk of her own life, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes, “You… what did you do?”

Su Mingxiu had just touched the iron lock on her wrist when she was stunned by this question. However, just as she paused, a cold voice echoed outside the forbidden prison, “Yes, what did you do?”

Fifteen minutes earlier, Hundred Flower Sect.

Xiao Xingwei was annoyed by Xuan Chan’s pestering, so he planned to find a quiet place to practice his sword. Who knew that the Hundred Flower Sect’s token suddenly lost its guiding function. They got entangled all the way to the back mountain, alarming the patrolling disciples and then the elders, who discovered the anomaly of the empty grave in the back mountain.

Then, the elders suspected that the two of them were also involved with the demon race and wanted to arrest them. But after all, one was the new generation leader of the Sword Sect, and the other was an inner disciple of the Joyful Union Sect. Xuan Chan was arrogant and naturally wouldn’t submit to the Hundred Flower Sect’s control.

She immediately took out her magical artifact without any regard, and as a result, she accidentally released the Nascent Soul strike that her master had given her—

The attack was deflected by Elder Yuejian and shot towards the sky. It should have hit the protective formation, but who knew that it went straight into the sky, and after a long time, it fell back down, hitting the mountain behind Spring Hall.

When Elder Xuehan saw this, her face immediately changed. She hadn’t expected that chasing two unruly disciples from other sects would lead to so much trouble. Why was the Hundred Flower Sect’s protective formation like a sieve, unable to block any attacks?

The protective formation was a major matter concerning the sect. There were also Xuan Chan and Xiao Xingwei, two disciples from other sects who had inexplicably entered the back mountain, insisted that the empty grave had nothing to do with them, and had complicated backgrounds. The elders were overwhelmed.

Especially after they crushed their communication talismans, wanting the sect leader to preside over the situation. Naturally, they couldn’t put these two hot potatoes in the forbidden prison like Sui Yihuan.

The two groups were at an impasse.

At this moment.

Hearing the movement outside the forbidden prison, and seeing the person’s figure stepping into this narrow space, Su Mingxiu showed no surprise on her face, “Disciple greets Master.”

She didn’t even bother with the pretense of respect.

The person who came was Ye Qingbai.

Compared to her open, gentle, and willing-to-listen demeanor in front of the elders, and her previous impatient, even indifferent attitude towards Su Mingxiu’s education, Ye Qingbai’s eyes now showed interest, like an eagle soaring in the sky discovering its prey, locking onto her disciple.

“You seem to know everything already.”

Ye Qingbai said her observations unhurriedly, and then affirmed, “So the little mouse that wanted to sneak into the back mountain some time ago, alarmed the formation, and then snuck in again last night, was my dear disciple.”

She asked with interest, “When did you find out?”

This had to be traced back to the previous life, but now, after experiencing thousands of years of ups and downs, and the entanglement with Sui Yihuan in these many worlds of life and death, Su Mingxiu found that her emotions could not be stirred up at this most critical moment of questioning and excitement. Her heart and eyes were filled with plans on how to kill this ‘kind’ master, and then send Sui Yihuan back to the Qiangshan Sect safe and sound.

So she replied perfunctorily, “Who knows? Maybe before you were even born.”

Ye Qingbai stopped smiling.

She seemed to be getting to know this wildly-grown disciple of hers for the first time. Noticing the great difference in her expression from what she had seen before, she mused, “You seem to have had some wondrous encounter. But it doesn’t matter. Once I take over your body, I will naturally know everything.”

Her words were like a key, unlocking another piece of sealed memory.

Su Mingxiu suddenly remembered what truths her ‘kind’ master had revealed when the demon race was ravaging the sect in the previous life—

For example, after learning that she was born with a Daoist constitution, this sect leader chose her as a vessel. The vessel only needed to look good on the outside. As for what was inside, did it matter?

So after bringing Su Mingxiu back to the sect, she privately refused to even pretend, and allowed the other elders and disciples to bully her.

Or rather, this was exactly what she wanted. The more fragile the will, the easier it was to shatter when she needed it.

But unexpectedly, this disciple seemed to be more resilient than she thought. But it didn’t matter. It was just an ant that had grown into a turtle. To a powerful hunter, crushing her was no different. This was what Ye Qingbai thought.

“What Master says is exactly what this disciple wants to say—”

Su Mingxiu’s eyebrows also curved, as if in agreement, but her dark eyes were frozen, “Once I capture your soul in my palm, I will know everything I want to know about when Master was replaced by the Heavenly Demon and when you betrayed the Hundred Flower Sect.”

Ye Qingbai sensed that her cultivation level was hidden, so she didn’t underestimate her. Besides, the elders were just flustered by the matter of the protective formation.

If she dragged this out for too long, it wouldn’t be appropriate. After all, her long-laid plans had already been disrupted quite a bit.

“You wretched disciple.” The Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect said, her snow-white robe moving without wind. She didn’t even summon a magical artifact, just condensing her own cultivation into a palm, like a five-fingered mountain, pressing down on Su Mingxiu, “If there is an afterlife, remember to respect your master.”

If this palm really hit, even if Su Mingxiu’s cultivation had reached the Golden Core stage, she probably wouldn’t be able to withstand it. Her soul would be immediately knocked out of her body and then directly annihilated by this soul-destroying palm technique.

But unfortunately!

Electric light suddenly erupted in the forbidden prison, like a forbidden thunder from the heavens falling here. Every corner was filled with powerful blue electric light. Only by looking carefully could one discern that this was the manifestation of spiritual power released to its extreme.

And now, the electric light was like a shield, blocking that palm several meters away. When Ye Qingbai saw the person in the middle clearly, she found that Sui Yihuan, who was originally hanging on the wall, had already been protected in Su Mingxiu’s arms.

The green-clothed female cultivator took a step forward, her robes fluttering wildly as if disturbed by the thunder spiritual power, like they were in a strong wind.

But she calmly protected the person in her arms, looking through the layers of blue light at the person whose blood-red mark on her forehead was becoming more intense, “Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect, the rarely seen Heavenly Demon, is this all you’ve got?”

“You! You wretched disciple! How could you possibly have such…”

The rest of her words were drowned out by the oppressive force of the Heaven-born spiritual artifact, the God Sealing Mirror, when it was summoned.

Because of this, the oppressive force of the spiritual artifact’s appearance instantly shook the entire Hundred Flower Sect. For a moment, all the elders and disciples, no matter where they were, felt this shock.

Su Mingxiu looked at the woman in front of her, whose forehead was flashing with an eerie red light, like a seed with blood marks spreading from the center of her eyebrows to all directions. Her face and neck were all covered with these marks, looking like she was being parasitized by this blood-colored seed. Knowing that this was her true appearance, even though one of her sleeves was stained with blood, she still asked calmly, “Master, are you already at your wit’s end?”

“This disciple thought that you would only use this thing after realizing that you couldn’t take over my body, out of desperation. After all, once you use it, this body of yours will soon be unable to withstand the power of the demon race, and you will have to abandon it, leaving this disciple with the crime of murdering her master. How regrettable.”

Ye Qingbai heard her even write the script for her and couldn’t help but sneer.

But she didn’t know that these were not just made up by Su Mingxiu, but things that had truly happened in the previous life.

At that time, Su Mingxiu naturally couldn’t possess the power to resist her. So she was beaten to a pulp, vomiting blood, with who knows how many broken bones. However… at the last moment, Ye Qingbai was furious to find that she couldn’t take over her body.

Because she had eaten that Serene Realm Fruit.

Besides making her immune to illusions, the greatest effect of the Serene Realm Fruit was to strengthen the soul. Even the most vicious curses could not possess a body that had eaten this fruit.

This was the most imperfect part of Ye Qingbai’s plan in the previous life. So when she left, she was particularly angry, so angry that she wanted to kill Su Mingxiu directly.

Unfortunately, in the end, her body was the first to collapse, so she could only regretfully leave Su Mingxiu with that lifelong infamy.

The worst and most terrible plan for Ye Qingbai made Su Mingxiu suffer more than death. She could no longer be accepted by the righteous path, nor did she want to fall into the demonic path. She wandered alone in this world, and for a long time, she felt that there was truly no place for her in this vast world.

The God Sealing Mirror was a cyan and white jade seal. When it appeared, it instantly shattered the forbidden prison, and daylight poured in. It grew larger and larger in the air, as if carrying the power of the laws, and was about to fall towards Su Mingxiu—

“Su, Su…”

The person she had been protecting in her arms all this time widened her eyes in surprise, wanting to remind her. But because her voice was stuck in her throat, perhaps also because she was being suppressed by the spiritual artifact, she could only manage to utter these two words in the end.

But the person who heard her call was very happy. She even used her uninjured hand to cover her eyes, saying very gently, “I’m here, don’t be afraid.”

Su Mingxiu narrowed her eyes, looking directly at the terrifying oppressive force of the spiritual artifact falling from the sky, like a thunderbolt.

And her spiritual power was released even more intensely. At the same time, she thought. Sure enough, without her natal spiritual sword, it was really not as convenient.

Her realm, at this moment, forcefully broke through along with her state of mind—Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Body Integration, Great Ascension!

At the peak of the Great Ascension stage, all the spiritual veins within the Hundred Flower Sect were frantically extracted by her. The surging spiritual power vortex even formed a tornado above the forbidden prison. Su Mingxiu faced this spiritual artifact that surpassed all levels in the nine continents, forcefully condensing a shield of thunder spiritual power to block the blow from the God Sealing Mirror!

“Boom”!

It was like a huge sound, and also like a blow to everyone’s heart. Those who saw this scene from near and far felt a tightness in their chests, and then they coughed up blood from this commotion.

They thought that their ears would be deafened by such a blow, but many disciples with lower cultivation levels touched their ears with their last bit of strength, but didn’t find any blood.

This seemed to strike their souls.

Nearby.

Su Mingxiu stood in the bright daylight, not looking at the completely destroyed forbidden prison around her because of the blow just now, nor at the damaged walls and ruins of half the mountain. She lowered her head to check on the person in her arms, and after finding that Sui Yihuan was not injured, she raised her head and asked, “Master, is this all you’ve got?”

Indeed.

Ye Qingbai had just seen her realm rise all the way, and was already shocked to the extreme. Now her eyes were full of fear and greed as she looked at Su Mingxiu. She seemed to think that this was the hidden potential of the natural Dao body. She understood her meaning, but Su Mingxiu didn’t want to explain it to her, let her imagine.

At this moment, the burning marks of the red blood vessels on Ye Qingbai’s body had spread from her forehead to the back of her hands, looking like they were about to burst out of her body.

Ye Qingbai saw that her attack had failed, and that her tampering with the protective formation had been discovered. She knew that she was about to fail, and she was very unwilling.

Her gaze fell on the person in Su Mingxiu’s arms. Previously, when Su Mingxiu came to the forbidden prison to save people, Ye Qingbai only thought that it was her disciple’s usual act of kindness. Only now did she realize that their posture was a little too intimate.

Su Mingxiu… was protecting Sui Yihuan too much, as if she was holding a treasured possession.

The posture was too obvious, or rather, she never intended to hide it. Thinking of this, Ye Qingbai’s eyes suddenly showed a strange mockery, “You seem to like this little disciple from the Qiangshan Sect very much.”

Just as Su Mingxiu was about to dismiss her words as nonsense, Ye Qingbai suddenly asked, “Since you know that I am the Heavenly Demon, do you know that when the Heavenly Demon appears and brings chaos to the world, there is always a human demon who is born alongside it—”

“Wretched disciple, can you guess who the human demon born alongside this seat is?”

Hearing her obviously pointed words, although Su Mingxiu stood under the golden sunlight, her expression was even more indifferent than the lake on the back of the Heavenly Mountain, as if it were covered with the coldest ice, “This disciple has been taught, and will naturally seek them out in the future…”

She had only said half of her sentence.

Because her attention was diverted by the sudden pain surging into her shoulder. She lowered her eyes and saw that Sui Yihuan had somehow summoned that silver fan at some point. Although her expression was stunned, her eyes had turned blood red.

At the same time, she watched helplessly as the fan, which was also extremely sharp when closed, was thrust into the other person’s body like an iron pestle.

The red blood flowed from Su Mingxiu’s wound onto Sui Yihuan’s hand. She even felt that her hand holding the fan was trembling. It was trembling so much that she felt like she couldn’t even see the other person’s face clearly. Even the small mole at the corner of her eye became blurry. But she just couldn’t let go of the weapon she was holding tightly.

In an instant.

She understood. So the servant from last night was really killed by her.

…How long ago had it started? Why hadn’t she realized that she could actually?

Knowing that this was the truth that Ye Qingbai from the previous life hadn’t told her, and that the other party was now revealing her last trump card, Su Mingxiu wasn’t afraid of her. She just looked at the person she was holding.

A smile actually appeared on her lips.

She still used her uninjured hand to wipe the corner of Sui Yihuan’s eye, “Why are you crying?”

She said, “It didn’t hit the heart.”

Even if it hit the heart, it wouldn’t matter. Her Nascent Soul was still there, her spiritual platform was not destroyed, and even her soul was intact. For a cultivator, such a fatal injury to an ordinary person really didn’t mean much.

But Sui Yihuan was completely broken down. She seemed to finally understand why she had such a headache since last night, and also finally realized that she could no longer leave here and return to the Qiangshan Sect. Since she left the South Sea, her life had been completely changed.

“Have you remembered?”

Before Ye Qingbai got rid of this burdensome body, she smiled and left her a sentence, “Since you are my symbiotic partner, you don’t have to be burdened by these useless oil bottles. What awaits you are the powerful compatriots of the demon race. Only where I am is your home. I will come to pick you up.”

The demon soul left the body, leaving only the corpse of the Hundred Flower Sect’s Sect Leader on the ground. The demonic energy directly broke through the Hundred Flower Sect’s useless formation and escaped.

But the two victors she left behind were not in a good state either.

Su Mingxiu watched helplessly as the color of the eyes of the person in her arms switched between scarlet and normal black. But later, she didn’t know what she remembered. She just stared blankly at the sky, staying on the deep red, as if a match had been thrown in from the inside, burning her soul—

So in those eyes that she liked so much, which were as agile as a deer and as charming as a fox, two lines of blood-colored tears flowed down, as if she was grieving to the extreme, and would self-destruct in the next moment.

She heard Sui Yihuan struggling with her broken will, constantly apologizing to her, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Su Mingxiu decisively knocked her unconscious, not even caring that the silver fan fell to the ground because it lost its support.

She gently took out a rose-colored handkerchief and wiped the traces from Sui Yihuan’s face clean.

If one looked closely, they would find a word “Huan” embroidered on the edge of the handkerchief, with two small fish next to it. It was probably embroidered by the other person’s family.

Earlier in the small garden, Su Mingxiu had used her handkerchief to wrap her hand that had been cut by the formation. She later washed it clean but never returned it.

To the person who had already fallen asleep, she sighed softly. While sitting down to rest among the ruins, she rested her chin on Sui Yihuan’s forehead, rubbing it affectionately, “I should be the one apologizing to you.”

I once thought that as long as I wasn’t as cold and inhumane to you as I was in the previous life when we first met, our ending would be different. I could rewrite your fate and pull you back from the edge of the cliff.

But it turns out…

My encounter with you was already late from the beginning. How ridiculous that I thought I could change everything.

Chapter 213: So I’m the Protagonist After All (9)

Seeing the soil at the bottom of the pit resembling an abyss, soaking every inch of the land’s texture, Su Mingxiu jumped down, bent down, and pinched some with her fingertips, only then did she understand what it was—

Demonic energy.

Since the fame of One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools spread throughout the nine continents, all the demons in the world had been driven to the edge of the Southern Sea, separated into a separate realm, and no longer had contact with the inhabitants of the nine continents.

Now, tens of thousands of years had passed, and no one knew how much the demon race had developed… Moreover, why was there demonic energy in the back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect?

【Heavenly Dao, it’s time to do something.】

Even in the previous life, Su Mingxiu couldn’t figure out why her master was related to demons.

And actually, in the later period when the demons broke out of the seal and ravaged the nine continents, the Heavenly Demon did not reappear. It was rumored that the appearance of the human demon caused internal strife in the Demon Abyss, until later…

Her memory was fragmented here, probably because too many related people were no longer around, so Su Mingxiu couldn’t remember more.

This time, the Heavenly Dao was silent for a long time. But thinking that the male protagonist, who had not yet secured his status as the Child of Destiny, still needed Su Mingxiu’s help, it had to give her a spoiler, “The story between the founding ancestors of the Sword Sect, Hundred Flower Sect, and Joyful Union Sect is real, but the rumors have omitted a part—”

【Back then, the three of them joined forces during the war precisely because they beheaded the Heavenly Demon that was causing chaos. Then, led by the Buddhist Sect, they joined forces with countless elders from the Thirteen Schools and used immense spiritual power to seal the remnants of the demon race outside the Southern Sea. Now the nine continents have formed the situation of One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools. The place where the Heavenly Demon fell is now the back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect.】

【The back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect, in addition to being the resting place of the fallen powerful beings, is most importantly used to seal the accompanying artifact of the last Heavenly Demon, the God Sealing Mirror.】

【Because the Thirteen Schools guard the South Sea, the demon race can no longer ravage the nine continents. Therefore, the legends of the nine continents erased all records of the defeated, so that future generations would not have to suffer from the demon race.】

Su Mingxiu stood in the pit without moving.

She suddenly thought of a more deadly matter. She had once thought that the demon race had suddenly descended on the Hundred Flower Sect’s territory and destroyed the Hundred Flower Sect through the damaged protective formation. But according to the Heavenly Dao, the demon race’s sealed land was in the further south overseas…

Then what was the fate of all the people in the Thirteen Schools in the previous life?

Furthermore.

The Qiangshan Sect where Sui Yihuan was from seemed to be… within the territory of the Thirteen Schools.

She subconsciously looked at the person beside her, pinching her fan. Compared to Su Mingxiu, who had fragmented memories, Sui Yihuan naturally didn’t know what these black traces were. Moreover, because the demonic energy had been sealed here for many years, the color of the soil had completely covered the traces of the formation buried underground, making it impossible to see any clues.

“Daoist friend Su, have you discovered anything?”

Xiao Xingwei, standing at the edge of the pit, noticed her heavy expression and couldn’t help but ask from above.

His voice brought Su Mingxiu’s attention back. She shook her head and didn’t say anything related to the demon race—

After all, the artifact that was sealed here was now missing, and it seemed to be related to her master.

In addition, demonic energy had reappeared in the nine continents. Releasing such news would only cause panic in advance, and there would be no benefit.

“No.”

Su Mingxiu pulled Sui Yihuan and jumped up. She didn’t look at the surrounding conditions anymore, so as not to cause any accidents. Under the guidance of the Heavenly Dao’s GPS, she successfully bypassed the back mountain without triggering the formation or alerting the sect’s patrolling disciples.

As soon as they left the mountain, Su Mingxiu followed Sui Yihuan to her lodging, the Lotus House. Xiao Xingwei wanted to follow, but he had no excuse, and there was also Xuan Chan, who kept clinging to him. In the end, he could only watch them walk away regretfully.

The moonlight illuminated the path lined with nameless flowers. Su Mingxiu wanted to speak, but found that Sui Yihuan had very awkwardly let go of her hand, moved to the side, and pretended to tidy up her clothes and hair.

But a faint mist remained in Su Mingxiu’s palm.

—It was the sweat from the little girl’s nervousness from holding hands for too long.

She rarely didn’t take advantage of the situation, but instead naturally changed the subject, “I haven’t had the chance to ask, why did Daoist friend Sui come to participate in the Cultivation Conference? I heard that the Qiangshan Sect bypassed the Thirteen Schools this time and sent a letter of inquiry.”

“My father wanted me to come…” Mentioning this, Sui Yihuan finally escaped from her embarrassment. A few strands of worry appeared between her delicate eyebrows. “Moreover, the Thirteen Schools seem to have important matters to deal with internally and do not plan to participate in this Cultivation Conference. My father didn’t want me to miss this grand event, so he let me come alone.”

Sure enough.

There was probably something wrong within the Thirteen Schools as well.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t miss this opportunity to compare the talents of the new generation of disciples.

Su Mingxiu had various speculations in her mind, but she smiled faintly on the surface, “If there is a chance, I would like to visit your esteemed father and see what kind of family can cultivate such an interesting character as Daoist friend.”

Because she was thinking about her father, Sui Yihuan even forgot why Su Mingxiu suddenly expressed interest in visiting. The worry in her eyes deepened, and she said softly, “My father was injured while out at sea and is currently in seclusion to recuperate. If he hadn’t insisted on sending me to participate in this conference, I should be at home waiting for him to come out of seclusion.”

“The conference has a vacation system. If Daoist friend is really concerned about the situation at home, I think the sect elders will understand. As long as you can return before the end of the conference and complete all the assessments of the Hundred Flower Sect, Daoist friend can also obtain the certificate of completion.”

Hearing Su Mingxiu’s words, Sui Yihuan was immediately tempted, “Is that possible?”

But she soon hesitated again, “But my father sent me out to see more of the people and events of the nine continents. If I go back so soon, I’m afraid my father will be disappointed in me.”

“Cultivators cultivate their own Great Dao. Even if they want to sever ties with the mortal world, it should be done willingly and naturally, not by forcing cultivators to cut off their mortal ties—to be able to fulfill filial piety as a human, to provide for their parents in their old age, and then to walk the Great Dao without any worries, wouldn’t that be better?”

Seeing the hazy, dreamy smile in her eyes, Sui Yihuan could no longer hide her concern for her family. The two agreed to apply for leave from the Hundred Flower Sect tomorrow.

Su Mingxiu watched her walk into the Lotus House and smelled the fragrance of lotus flowers carried by the evening breeze. The smile she had been wearing in front of the other person had now completely disappeared.

She didn’t even dare to ask the Heavenly Dao if Sui Yihuan’s family was safe.

Because Su Mingxiu was afraid of hearing bad news, which would make her feel remorse, regretting that she hadn’t come back early enough to change everything.

So she could only do her best to make up for the regrets. In the previous life, this Cultivation Conference of the Hundred Flower Sect didn’t last until the end, precisely because most of the talented individuals from various sects had gathered here.

Therefore, the demon race’s attack caused a generational gap in the nine continents, leaving all the top sects facing the embarrassing situation of losing their successors for decades to come, and dealing a devastating blow to One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools.

“I have already warned you not to approach Sui Yihuan.” When Su Mingxiu returned to the small garden, the Heavenly Dao suddenly warned her again.

But this time, before Su Mingxiu could answer, it added the second half of the sentence on its own, “Everything you change will not make the ending better, but worse—I just hope that when the time comes, you can remember that all this misfortune originated from you.”

Su Mingxiu didn’t ask what it meant by these cryptic words. Having spent so much time together, she thought she had some understanding of this damn thing.

There must be something happening that she wouldn’t be happy to see.

Sure enough—

Early the next morning.

Su Mingxiu hadn’t slept all night. When she felt the token at her side buzzing, she instantly appeared outside the small garden, not even having time to use a cleansing spell to remove the mixed floral scents from her body.

“Senior Sister!”

Little junior sister Yan Miaomiao, who had also received the sect’s message, saw her on the mountain path and quickly waved to her.

The green-clothed female cultivator hadn’t even approached, but her voice arrived first, “The Sect Leader has issued an urgent summons. Why are you still here?”

Yan Miaomiao’s hairpin was a little messy, but she didn’t care about that at the moment. She quickly approached Su Mingxiu and spoke to her while running to keep up with her, “Because I know what happened, and I thought that person was related to you, I hurried to tell you.”

“What?” Su Mingxiu stopped abruptly.

“Early this morning, by the door of the Lotus House, patrolling disciples found a dead disciple from another sect. The manner of death was terrifying, and it alarmed my master. I happened to go with my master, and my master said it was the work of the demon race. Now the matter has been reported to the Sect Leader, and everyone is saying that there is a demon in the Lotus House. I thought that you should know that person, Senior Sister, so I hurried to tell you—”

Yan Miaomiao held Su Mingxiu’s sleeve very seriously, “Although I don’t know much about the demon race or demons, my master’s expression was extremely serious. It seems that anyone involved in this matter will not have a good time. Senior Sister, you have always been kind and like to help others. But this time is different. If you are not careful, you may be locked up in the forbidden prison. You must clear yourself of any relationship with that person, okay?”

This was something that had never happened in her fragmented memories.

The Heavenly Dao’s warning from last night still lingered in her mind. Now, being hit suddenly by Yan Miaomiao, Su Mingxiu felt a pain in her heart, as if she had been struck by something heavy.

But her expression only froze for a moment, and soon she showed a faint smile, “So, the person suspected of being a demon is Sui Yihuan, right?”

Was it because her previous approach to the back mountain formation had attracted Ye Qingbai’s attention, or was it because of Xuan Chan’s attack last night, or had they left some extra traces that caused the snake to come out of the cave early?

The smile reached the bottom of her eyes, but it was like frost, frozen within. Su Mingxiu suppressed herself from using spells that exceeded her current cultivation level, such as teleportation. When she arrived at Spring Hall, she saw Sui Yihuan being escorted out by the Hundred Flower Sect’s law enforcement disciples—

Their eyes met.

Sui Yihuan moved her throat nervously, as if she wanted to say something to her. But in the end, she just lowered her eyes, avoiding her gaze, as if she already understood that all efforts were futile, so she could only try to minimize the impact on others.

When she lowered her eyes, Su Mingxiu’s heart also sank to the bottom.