Chapter 13: The Five Venoms, Ruthless and Unfeeling

The souls of Chen Da and Suan Yu finally returned to their rightful places.

To ensure the soul exchange succeeded, Ti Ying had forced herself to cast the Great Dream Incantation. When the human and the demon's souls were restored, her own body wavered in mid-air and plummeted downward.

Jiang Xuehe caught her by the waist from behind.

Exhausted from her use of spiritual power, Ti Ying was limp and dizzy. "Thank..."

Jiang Xuehe smiled, "No need to thank me."

The sound of his voice made Ti Ying realize her rescuer was her clever, powerful, and ever-devious senior brother. She instantly bristled. "I wasn't thanking you!"

Snubbed by Ti Ying's bad temper, Jiang Xuehe paused, gazing at her thoughtfully, but she refused to meet his eyes, puffing out her cheeks as she watched the pair who had just succeeded in exchanging souls.

The real Chen Da opened his eyes within his own body at last—

He had grown used to that demon body, the one without pupils. Now, suddenly, he had eyes again. The young hunter trembled, lowering his head to look at his own hands, his own body.

A look of confusion and emptiness crossed his face.

He murmured, "I really am human..."

In sharp contrast, Suan Yu was overwhelmed with hysteria—"Ah!"

Suan Yu, back in his original demon body, immediately sensed his power draining away. He realized he was spent, no match for this brother and sister duo. Terrified of death, Suan Yu shook and tried to stagger away.

Jiang Xuehe flicked his wrist, and the hairband wrapped around the demon.

Ti Ying hesitated. That’s my hairband...

Mine!

Suan Yu pleaded, "Let me go! I don’t want to die... I don’t want to die!"

Chen Da regarded Suan Yu with a complicated expression.

Even with the added years from serving as a wuzhi demon, Chen Da was no more than a boy in his teens. His life had been turned upside down by befriending a demon, and now, looking back, he saw nothing but hardship.

Chen Da asked, "Suan Yu, why did you do this to me?"

Suan Yu whipped his head around to look at the human.

The great demon held his human form, but his features had grown hideous. He laughed maniacally. "To survive! To live! Don’t you understand?! Ha, you’re just a mortal, trapped in your little world, unaware of your own lifespan, unable to see fate—you couldn’t possibly know what I seek..."

Suan Yu stared up at the endless sky.

He sought "immortality."

He sought "enlightenment."

Suan Yu was a naturally born great demon, born with consciousness, aware of his destiny from the start. All who cultivate long for immortality, for the celestial path.

But as a natural-born demon, Suan Yu knew from the start that the path to ascension was cut off in this world. Long ago, it was said that an immortal, for the sake of sealing away demons, sacrificed himself—and ever since, there were neither demons nor a way to become immortal.

Suan Yu searched far and wide, learning that the Jade Capital Sect was founded by that very immortal. If he could enter the sect, would there be a chance to approach the immortal path?

Thus, Suan Yu tried to get close to a female disciple from Jade Capital, only to find she neither cared for him nor would bring him into the sect—in fact, she wanted him dead.

That day, Suan Yu discovered the truth and reached a dead end. Only by swapping souls with Chen Da could he survive.

Only if Chen Da vanished completely could Suan Yu begin a new life.

—

Chen Da said, "Your pursuit of immortality has driven you mad."

Suan Yu was unmoved.

Chen Da’s voice trembled. "I thought you’d at least apologize—I thought you’d remember our friendship..."

Suan Yu’s eyeless gaze shifted.

After a long silence, he said, "Compared to cultivation, such things are nothing."

There was nothing left for Chen Da to say.

The young hunter stood in the bleak wind, slowly turning his back. He looked toward the direction of the Five Venoms Forest—

Towering mountains and deep waters, friendships are rare.

Things change, people change; right and wrong are tangled through half a lifetime.

A life and memories deceived, impossible to make sense of.

---

Ti Ying watched them in confusion.

For the sake of ascension? For immortality?

She thought of those who had hunted her, seeking immortality, believing she and her old master could bring the dead back to life. They would listen to no explanation, desperate to obtain the technique...

But Ti Ying knew there was no true immortality, no resurrection.

So-called "resurrection" was nothing more than a minor trick of the Great Dream Incantation...

So young, Ti Ying disliked practicing ghost-related spells and had no wish to learn revival arts to fulfill others’ dreams. Becoming an immortal was even further from her reach...

Yet there were demons in this world, exhausting themselves for the sake of ascension.

In the morning light, a tear hung in Chen Da’s eyes.

Amid her confusion, Ti Ying heard Jiang Xuehe speak softly behind her. "Chen Da’s tears are not just for sorrow, but for reflection. The world changes, mistakes compound... You are young still; one day you will understand."

Ti Ying realized she’d spoken her question aloud. "Oh..."

She watched the man and demon face off. Bored, she shifted, and suddenly noticed Jiang Xuehe holding her hand.

She looked down, seeing his rough, scarred hand, as weathered as tree bark.

She instantly thought of how this senior brother always played at being harmless, all while carrying a terrifying load of ghosts.

Hmph.

She suddenly jerked her hand free, hopping a good distance away.

Jiang Xuehe looked down at his now empty hand, then up. Ti Ying was on guard. "It was I who performed the soul exchange!"

Jiang Xuehe paused.

He ignored that and instead asked, "What happened to you in the Five Venoms Forest? How did you get so injured?"

Ti Ying bristled—

Her senior brother, so refined and mild-mannered beneath his wind-hood, spoke with calm deliberation. He looked elegant, but the more elegant he seemed, the more she recalled his brilliance in fighting Suan Yu, body and soul as one.

If not for his wounding of Suan Yu, Ti Ying might not have had the chance to snatch victory.

Her face fell.

She was reluctant to share the credit with this convenient senior brother... but he truly had earned it.

Jiang Xuehe could not understand why she was suddenly upset.

Was she angry at his secrecy?

He couldn’t quite make sense of his little junior, but he also couldn’t let her run off in a huff.

A peculiar feeling stirred in his heart—

He had always worked alone, often ruthless to achieve his ends. Yet lately, he found himself using his skills to coax a little girl into happiness.

As he pondered this, Ti Ying suddenly looked up, her round eyes glaring at him:

"If you’re so powerful, why did you say that my fighting skills were beyond your abilities?"

Jiang Xuehe replied smoothly, "No matter how capable I am, I could never match my junior sister’s valor."

Ti Ying was struck dumb.

All her discontent was momentarily stilled by his gentle words.

Her bad temper and willful ways had always earned her scoldings. Even her former master, who had raised her with such difficulty, would shake his head and sigh—

"Ah, little Ying..."

She knew well what her master never said aloud—Why are you so troublesome?

He never said it out of softness.

But this hooded senior brother never sighed; he praised her valor without changing his expression.

Hmph! Even if he did change his expression, she wouldn’t know—he always wore that wind-hood.

Ti Ying kept up her scowl. "Senior brother!"

Jiang Xuehe, "Hm?"

He approached her calmly, hoping to find out the reason for her injuries without alerting her. Suddenly, Ti Ying scolded him in a sharp voice: "You big liar!"

Jiang Xuehe was taken aback.

He’d been called worse, but this was the first time a little girl had called him a "big liar."

At that moment, the tear in Chen Da’s eye slid down his cheek. He took a deep breath and, voice trembling, addressed the pair:

"Please, immortals, send him on his final journey."

—

When the dust settled, Ti Ying immediately jumped into action. "Let me, let me!"

Afraid Jiang Xuehe would steal her credit, she rushed forward, glancing back at him as she went.

Jiang Xuehe had no intention of interfering.

After all, his junior was so defensive around him.

But when she turned to look at him, his expression beneath the wind-hood changed slightly. His sleeve swept up as he dashed toward her. "Junior sister!"

Ti Ying was bewildered, not knowing what was happening.

The moment Jiang Xuehe caught her, a sudden pain seized her. Her limbs convulsed, cold sweat broke out all over her body, and she realized she was bleeding heavily from her waist and abdomen—

It was bad. The time limit on the Poison Scale Formation had ended; the backlash had begun.

Because of her constitution, she wasn’t really afraid of the backlash. But, but... even if she wasn’t afraid, it hurt so much!

Jiang Xuehe tried to lift her, but Ti Ying insisted on dragging herself out. "I must slay the demon..."

With her last ounce of strength, she cast a spell and, drenched in sweat, finished off the resigned Suan Yu.

She added, "A job well done... by us!"

Jiang Xuehe, holding her restlessly in his arms, asked Chen Da, his tone no longer calm, "Is there a place where my junior sister can rest?"

—

Delicate Ti Ying was carried to an inn and placed on the bed.

Curled in his arms, trembling in pain, she sobbed uncontrollably. Tears welled in her eyes. Jiang Xuehe swept his sleeve over her, sealing several acupoints.

He bent over her, comforting, "Don’t be afraid. Senior brother is here."

His rough voice made her cry even harder—oh, the backlash from the Poison Scale Formation hurt so much.

In a daze, Ti Ying clung to the snow-white collar beneath Jiang Xuehe’s black robe.

He was about to heal her, but her grip pulled him down onto the bed, his elbows propping him up.

Struggling to open her eyes through the pain, Ti Ying saw a blurred, elegant figure holding her.

Jiang Xuehe covered her eyes with his hand. "Sleep, junior sister."

Ti Ying, "No."

Still sobbing, she struggled up, weak and groggy. "I need to go to the Five Venoms Forest..."

To deal with the bodies of those who had hunted her.

The distraught little Ying, tear-stained and stubborn, insisted, "I must let Jade Capital Sect know that I am a beautiful, kind, gentle, and brave little fairy."

Beautiful, kind, gentle, and brave indeed.

Jiang Xuehe couldn’t help but find her adorable.

She fussed, and he responded. The wooden bed rustled as their figures tangled. Her hand knocked off his wind-hood, which landed on the floor.

The girl sobbed, the young man was short of breath, and the inn’s servant, carrying water and cloths, accidentally stepped on the hood and backed out hastily. "Sorry!"

Jiang Xuehe winced. "..."

He looked down at the tear-stained, blood-soaked girl in his arms.

At last, he relented. "Whatever you need, I’ll do it for you."

Ti Ying blinked.

Inside the canopy, the sweat-soaked girl clung to her strange senior brother’s neck, wracked with pain yet still stubborn. "Then swear on your Dao heart that you’ll help me... I’ll watch you. If you cheat, you’ll suffer Dao heart backlash!"

Jiang Xuehe could only agree.

—His junior sister was indeed beautiful.

But not kind.

Not gentle.

Not brave.