"How are things on the royal side?"
"King Tengshe remains unconscious—"
At that moment, Chan Luo pushed open the palace doors and strode in. The man who had been speaking immediately cut off his subordinate: "Enough. Leave us."
"I'm here."
Chan Luo approached with a bright smile.
The man seated on the high platform chuckled and waved his hand, signaling the others to withdraw. The demon generals retreated in silence, leaving only the two of them in the hall.
He rose and walked to Chan Luo’s side. "What brings you here?"
Chan Luo smacked him lightly on the head. "You didn’t come for the meal. Shouldn’t I be worried?"
She sat down and began unpacking dishes from her basket, arranging them on the table. The mighty commander of the demon army, who struck fear across the land, now crouched beside her like a devoted puppy, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I was busy today. Thank you for your trouble, my lady."
Chan Luo’s face flushed. She pushed his head away. "Don’t call me that. We’re not married yet."
"You accepted my hairpin—that was my token of love." The young man pouted, sitting cross-legged on a cushion. "No arguments. Once this war is over, you’re marrying me."
His childish stubbornness made Chan Luo’s cheeks burn even hotter. She stammered, lowering her voice, "This time… are you going to the Seven Perilous Lands?"
He stuffed food into his mouth, chewing noisily. "Mhm. I have to go."
"To fight Fuchun?"
"Yes. Fuchun is a problem. She’s barely two hundred years old, yet her cultivation has already reached the peak of the Great Ascension realm. And her master, the Yingshan Ancestor, is on the verge of ascension."
Chan Luo’s slender fingers tightened around the edge of the table, her willow-thin brows furrowing. "Why is King Tengshe listening to You Zhou? This war is between the demons and the Central Continent. Why must we interfere? Can’t we just live in peace?"
"Who can say what goes on in the higher ranks?"
Chan Luo shook her head. "But this war is strange. The demon realm has never gotten involved before—"
"A Luo, that was the past." His expression remained indifferent as he ate. "Since the dawn of this continent, the cultivators of the Central Continent and the demon realm have been sworn enemies. Battles large and small have never ceased. You Zhou is a born demon, a warmonger by nature. Sooner or later, the flames of war would have reached us. We just follow orders."
"Besides, he planted a demon seed in me. I have no choice but to obey."
Tears welled in Chan Luo’s eyes. She clenched her fingers together and whispered, "If you hadn’t saved me back then, You Zhou would never have discovered you… and you wouldn’t be bound by that seed."
Chou Xiao leaned in, kissing her cheek. His grin was shameless. "Oh? Crying now? Even your tears are beautiful."
Her sorrow instantly turned to rage. She slapped his arm. "Ugh! You’re always so infuriating!"
Unfazed, he laughed and pulled her into his arms, nuzzling against her like an overgrown child. "My lady, my lady~"
That night, Chan Luo watched him sleep beside her. She traced his cheek with her fingers, then bent to press a soft kiss there. "Don’t blame me," she whispered. "I can’t lose you."
Chan Luo’s cultivation was formidable—she had reached the peak of the Great Ascension realm. Silently, she sealed her lover’s spiritual energy and knocked him unconscious. Then she disguised herself, taking on the appearance of Fuling.
She had never understood why Chou Xiao always wore this disguise when meeting You Zhou, presenting himself as the Third Guardian of the demon realm. Whenever she asked, he would only say it was King Tengshe’s order—the demon army’s commander couldn’t be seen as too close to You Zhou.
Now, wearing his face and wielding his blade, she went to war in his stead.
At the Seven Perilous Lands, she faced Fuchun and the Yingshan Ancestor.
Fuchun, a prodigy at the peak of Great Ascension, and her master, a half-step from divinity. Against them, Chan Luo fought for three days before falling beneath Fuchun’s sword.
As her disguise melted away, revealing her true form, she closed her eyes and offered her neck to the blade. "May I… keep my body intact?" she murmured. "This hairpin… he made it for me. It’s very pretty."
But the killing blow never came.
Chan Luo trembled, lifting her lashes. "You…?"
Fuchun, the future leader of Yingshan, gazed down at her with cool detachment. "You’ve never killed a cultivator of the Central Continent. This time, you were used. I won’t execute you."
Chan Luo’s breath hitched. "No… I wasn’t used. What are you saying? That’s not—"
Fuchun’s eyes held pity, as if she were looking at a victim still defending her betrayer.
It was the Yingshan Ancestor who spoke next, his voice icy. "The demon army’s commander has led his forces south."
Chan Luo’s heart lurched. Her fingers dug into the dirt, gripping the hilt of the blade beside her. The intricate carvings bit into her palm.
"That’s impossible… I sealed his energy. I knocked him out. If he woke up, he would have come for me. He would have come here—he never let me fight before—"
"How pitiful." The Ancestor’s frown was almost scornful. "He didn’t stop you from fighting because he cared. He was saving you for when you’d be useful. If he truly wanted to protect you, he would have left you in the demon realm, not brought you to the Central Continent."
Chan Luo had asked many times:
—Let me fight this time. My cultivation is high.
And he always replied:
"A Luo, no need. Just stay by my side."
It had sounded like concern. Chan Luo, who abhorred unnecessary bloodshed, had followed him to the Central Continent out of worry. Yet her beloved, her promised partner, had never once urged her to return home.
Yes… if he knew her strength, if he knew she’d come here ready to die for him… why hadn’t he sent her away?
And why, upon waking, had he not come for her? Why had he gone south instead?
Before leaving, Fuchun said, "If you don’t believe us, wait here. See if he comes."
News spread that the Third Guardian of the demon realm had fallen at the Seven Perilous Lands. Fuling’s identity was dead, his body "buried" in that cursed land.
Chan Luo waited for three years.
Day after day, year after year. The miasma gnawed at her health. Poisonous creatures, grotesque and deadly, denied her rest. Yet she remained perched on the mountain, staring down at the path below.
In the end, it wasn’t Chou Xiao who came.
You Zhou emerged from the haze, his blood-red eyes glinting. "Who are you waiting for?"
Chan Luo shuddered, brushing off a venomous insect crawling onto her shoulder. Her voice was a broken whisper from disuse.
"…Someone."
"The one you’re waiting for… will never come."
You Zhou sat lazily beside her, gazing down the mountain. "The war is over. The demonic tribes have been driven back to their domain. He led his troops away—soon enough, he’ll probably become the Demon King."
Chan Luo’s heart remained unmoved. Her voice was hoarse as she replied, "Ah, I see."
You Zhou asked, "Did you think this war was ordered by King Tengshe?"
"...Wasn’t it?"
"You’ve known him for so many years, yet you still don’t understand him. The reason I sought him as an ally was because I saw his ambition—it was no less than mine." You Zhou twisted the knife, smiling as she continued, "I helped him control the Tengshe royal family, and he found a way to obtain the war decree, leading his troops to battle alongside me in the Central Continent."
"Once it was done, I became the ruler of the Central Continent, and he became the Demon King. That’s all there was to it."
I see. So that’s how it was.
Three years had passed. He could have come many times—yet he never did.
You Zhou stood up. "You’re a powerful demonic cultivator, as strong as Fuchun. But you lack her decisiveness. She would never drown in romantic delusions like you."
She extended a hand to Chan Luo. "I’ll give you one chance. Serve me, and I’ll help you—"
"Return to the demonic realm and take his life. What do you say?"
Chan Luo neither agreed to serve You Zhou nor accepted her offer.
She had been waiting for an answer.
Yu Zhiling listened quietly as Chan Luo recounted everything in a calm, measured tone.
When she finally fell silent, Chan Luo looked at Yu Zhiling.
"Tell me, what should I do? Was You Zhou right?"
Yu Zhiling’s expression was unreadable. "You should go back and kill him."
Chan Luo let out a bitter laugh. "You think I should kill him too?"
Yu Zhiling’s gaze drifted to the hairpin in Chan Luo’s hair—the delicate cicada-wing ornament she still wore.
"Why can’t you bring yourself to do it?"
Chan Luo wiped away her tears, smiling faintly. "How could I? When he was just a young demon, he spent every bit of spirit stones he earned from the army on gifts for me. Every day, he’d bring me something delicious. He took me to so many places. He beat up anyone who bullied me. He… he took me away from that suffocating home. How could I?"
"He… he used to love me so much. Even when the princess of the demonic realm pursued him, he never wavered. He stayed by my side, always by my side..."
Chan Luo covered her face, tears spilling between her fingers as she collapsed to the ground, strength leaving her body.
"But he forgot me completely. He didn’t even come looking for my corpse..."
Again and again, she asked Yu Zhiling—do you regret it? After everything you did for them, only to be forgotten, trapped in the Abyss of Demons, watching yourself slowly lose your mind… do you regret it?
She desperately wanted an answer—a confirmation that yes, she regretted it.
That after being betrayed, she regretted it.
But Yu Zhiling always said she didn’t. There wasn’t a trace of resentment in her, leaving Chan Luo’s fury with nowhere to go.
Yu Zhiling crouched down, her expression complicated. "Why do you think this is the same? Me saying I don’t regret it has nothing to do with you regretting it."
"But I can’t let myself regret it!" Chan Luo suddenly dropped her hands, her voice raw with fury. "If I say I regret it, then what were those centuries between us worth? Do I have to admit I was fooled by a man? Do I have to tell myself my love was trampled like dirt, like weeds? That I was blind? That I was stupid?"
"Every time I regret it, I ask you—do you regret it? But you never do. You’re always so calm, so magnanimous. I—"
"Is this the same?"
Yu Zhiling cut her off, her tone light but firm.
Chan Luo froze. "...What?"
Yu Zhiling’s voice turned cold. "Being deceived wasn’t your fault. But lying to yourself is stupidity. You can tell yourself not to regret loving him, but what happened between us is nothing alike. The Yingshan Sect was never him. They never deceived me."
Chan Luo’s voice was almost pleading. "But they forgot you… they forgot you..."
Yu Zhiling shook her head. "No. They never forgot me. Don’t you know that too?"
Because she knew, that was why she kept asking—do you regret being forgotten?
She wanted to convince Yu Zhiling to hate, to believe she had truly been abandoned.
But Yu Zhiling’s answer was always the same—
I don’t regret it.
She didn’t regret inheriting her master’s will, becoming the Jade Purification Immortal.
She didn’t regret fighting for the Central Continent, killing the person she once was.
She didn’t regret avenging her master, securing eternal peace for the Yingshan Sect and her dearest friends, even if it meant descending into the Abyss of Demons alone.
She didn’t regret being trapped there, watching herself slowly unravel, while her sect failed to recognize the imposter who took her place.
She would never regret it. No matter what.
Not even in death.
Chan Luo laughed, her body trembling as she pressed her forehead to the ground, tears soaking the earth.
The glow of Yu Zhiling’s mermaid pearl dispelled the darkness, illuminating her tears.
Chan Luo stared at the wetness on the ground, the light around Yu Zhiling almost blinding.
"You’ve always been surrounded by people who love you. That’s why you can do anything for them. Your courage comes from love—just like how I loved him, how I was willing to fight and die for him. But I’m not you, and he was never the Yingshan Sect."
"This was never the same. I was just… desperate. I wanted you to hate like I did. But you never hated, because you know—they love you."
Chan Luo lifted her head, tears clinging to her chin before falling.
"Whether you live or die, they love you. That’s why you’ll never regret it."
She reached up, yanking the cicada-wing hairpin from her hair. The delicate ornament, preserved so carefully all these years, was torn apart in her hands.
Yu Zhiling glanced at the ruined pieces on the ground. "Made up your mind?"
Chan Luo whispered, "Yes."
"What will you do?"
"Go back. Tear him apart."
Yu Zhiling stood, offering her hand. "Then get up."
Chan Luo’s fingers trembled as Yu Zhiling grasped them, pulling her to her feet in one sharp motion.
The darkness shattered. A wind heavy with miasma rushed past them. Yu Zhiling heard panicked voices.
"Where’s the Immortal Master? Where did she go?"
"Did she fall into the swamp? Hurry, we have to save her!"
"Help—help! If something happened to the Immortal Master, the Sect Leader and elders will skin us alive!"
The disciples hadn’t noticed her yet. The thick miasma limited their vision, leaving them scrambling in chaos.
Yu Zhiling’s eye twitched. She and Chan Luo exchanged a look, both stifling a laugh.
Chan Luo murmured, "What you want to know… once we leave this place, I’ll tell you."
Yu Zhiling released her hand and strode toward the disciples, clapping one on the shoulder.
The disciple screamed in terror: "Ahhhh! The demonic fiends have awakened! Form the formation, form the formation... No no no, don’t worry about me—save the Immortal Venerable first!"
Yu Zhiling: "...Shut up!"
The disciple: "..."
The disciple: "Immortal Venerable!"
Chan Luo looked at Yu Zhiling, surrounded by a group of young disciples who clung to her like lost children reunited with their mother, wailing and sobbing.
Yu Zhiling patted one on the shoulder, ruffled another’s hair, and occasionally wiped away the tears of a few female disciples.
In that moment, Chan Luo understood what love was.
Sincerity could be met with sincerity—she had simply encountered the wrong person before. But in this world, there were still many good people.
Chan Luo lowered her head with a self-deprecating smile and turned to leave, intending to wait for Yu Zhiling outside the Seven Perils Land.
"Why are you leaving?"
Someone called out from behind.
Chan Luo stiffened, then muttered, "I’ll wait for you outside. I’m just in the way here. Don’t you have things to do?"
Yu Zhiling frowned, seemingly displeased with her answer. "Since you’re already here, and you’re a cultivator at the peak of the Mahayana stage, aren’t you going to help me out?"
Chan Luo: "...What?"
Yu Zhiling pointed into the distance. "See that swamp? It’s crawling with demonic fiends, and they’re a serious threat to my adorable little disciples. Help me clear them out, and I’ll treat you to a meal."
She gave a meaningful glance, and the disciples of Yingshan Sect immediately caught on.
The leading disciple, ever quick-witted, bowed. "Many thanks, fellow cultivator—no, sister! Beautiful sister, please lend us your aid!"
The disciples chorused in unison: "Thank you, beautiful sister, for your help!"
Chan Luo single-handedly wiped out the demonic fiends in the Bone-Burial Marsh.
By the time she emerged from the Seven Perils Land, Yu Zhiling and the other disciples had also cleared the remaining fiends. The two groups reunited outside.
Yu Zhiling glanced up at the sky. "We can still make it back in time. I still have to celebrate my disciple’s birthday."
Chan Luo walked beside her and asked quietly, "Should I... go back to Yingshan Sect with you?"
Yu Zhiling glanced at her. "You can’t stay at Listening Spring Cliff. I have a little snake there who’s prone to jealousy—he’d throw a fit. You can stay on my Second Senior Sister or Fourth Senior Sister’s peak. Don’t worry, my senior brothers and sisters will be overjoyed to have a Mahayana-stage cultivator defect to our side."
Chan Luo bit her lip, her hands unconsciously tightening. "I owe your master a life—she spared me. I’ll... protect Yingshan Sect with you. And I’ll tell you everything you want to know."
[Task progress update: "Prevent the Destruction of Yingshan" main quest at 90%. Reward: 250 merit points. Current merit points: 4150. Keep up the good work.]
Yu Zhiling remained calm as she gazed back at the Seven Perils Land.
With the largest horde of demonic fiends eliminated, the mission to save Yingshan was nearly complete.
The fiends truly had been the cause of Yingshan’s destruction in the original story.
Chan Luo boarded the Jiezi Boat and turned to call out to her. "Come on, it’s getting dark. You still have to go back and celebrate your disciple’s—I mean, that jealous little snake’s—birthday."
Yu Zhiling immediately perked up, lifting her skirts as she hurried onto the boat.
She slipped away from Chan Luo and the disciples and dialed Mo Zhu’s jade token. He answered instantly, as always.
"Master."
Yu Zhiling leaned against the railing, watching the clouds drift below. "I’m on my way back. You can start preparing dinner."
"Understood."
Yu Zhiling called out to him again. "Mo Zhu."
Mo Zhu replied softly, "Yes?"
Yu Zhiling lowered her voice. "Do you love me?"
The question seemed to catch him off guard. Love and fondness were different—such a direct question made Yu Zhiling blush the moment she asked it.
She covered the jade token, as if that would undo her words. "Never mind, never mind! Don’t answer yet—"
But Mo Zhu’s voice came through clearly. "Master, some words must be said in person."
His voice, as always, was clear and gentle.
"When you return, I’ll give you my answer."
