***
But where was she supposed to find Master Chongxu?
After Master Chongxu left, Wu Guanyue had said only a few words to Wenren Ying before rushing out to look for him—but she had overlooked one crucial fact.
This was a world of immortals and cultivators.
So even five minutes was more than enough time for Master Chongxu to vanish without a trace.
Er…
All right, then.
After searching around to no avail, Wu Guanyue decided to return to the inn first. Yet when she reached the entrance, she spotted a jade-like figure in flowing white robes standing outside.
Naturally, that figure was Master Chongxu.
Master Chongxu had heard of Wu Guanyue’s inn. After all, his younger brother, She Wenjie, had suffered a spectacular humiliation there. And today, after meeting the little shopkeeper…
Well, she truly was a remarkable person.
Moreover, he had been unable to make up his mind for a long time, so…
So he had decided to come and take a look at Wu Guanyue’s inn first.
At that moment, he was standing not far from the entrance when the Blood Demon Ancestor in his ear suddenly spoke again.
“Ah-ah-ah, oh-oh-oh, uh-uh-uh…”
“Blood Demon Ancestor,” Master Chongxu interrupted him mildly, “are you secretly a monkey?”
The Blood Demon Ancestor: “…”
The Blood Demon Ancestor angrily continued, “I only read out the name of the inn for you because you’re blind! Truly, harsh words can make winter feel like midsummer!”
Then he fell silent again.
Master Chongxu stood there expressionlessly.
“Ah! Master Chongxu, you’re here!”
Wu Guanyue’s voice came from behind him.
Master Chongxu tilted his head slightly and said softly, “Little Shopkeeper Wu.”
Wu Guanyue walked over, thinking about how to strike up a conversation with him.
Ah… Got it!
“I’m really sorry about today, Master Chongxu. Brother Ying has always been like that, but he’s not a bad person deep down. Please don’t take it to heart, okay?”
Wu Guanyue instantly switched into the role of a gentle and virtuous wife, her voice filled with apology.
The Blood Demon Ancestor suddenly came back to life and sighed emotionally. “Ah… When choosing a wife, virtue comes first…”
Master Chongxu: “…”
Master Chongxu could not be bothered to pay attention to that old bachelor of a demon. He lowered his head toward Wu Guanyue and said, “It’s all right… Wenren and I have known each other for many years. He is a good man. We simply have a difference of opinion.”
In truth, he might not have been entirely unaware that Wenren Ying had not lied to him. He simply did not want to accept the truth, because it represented the hope he had been clinging to.
Before this, even if he refused to accept the truth, it would not have affected anything. At most, he had only wanted to probe Wenren Ying a little further.
But now…
The Blood Demon Ancestor had given him another choice. Faced with that choice, he might… commit an irreparable mistake.
Wu Guanyue let out a long sigh and continued in that same gentle, virtuous-wife tone. “Ai! No matter what, he was in the wrong this time. I really feel terrible about it… Oh, it’s already lunchtime! Why don’t you come in and have some dumplings before you leave?”
Wu Guanyue unleashed her dumpling strategy!
And Master Chongxu…
Master Chongxu fell into silence.
What a warm and simple-hearted young woman!
Although there was something a little strange about Wu Guanyue’s behavior… Wenren Ying did not seem to mind, so perhaps this was simply a private form of affection between the two of them, something outsiders could never understand. Aside from that, Wu Guanyue was truly a gentle and kind-hearted girl.
Was he really going to destroy Wu Guanyue for the sake of that faint, illusory hope of his?
Master Chongxu asked himself that question.
In fact, even after becoming infected with the Blood Poison, he had never once surrendered to its murderous impulses. That was why his meridians had become so severely disordered, causing him to spit blood at the slightest provocation.
Yet he had always been proud of that.
Could it be that now, after refusing to submit to the Blood Poison, he was going to yield to his own greed instead?
With that thought, Master Chongxu’s heart suddenly seemed to clear. He made his decision and smiled faintly, about to tell Wu Guanyue—
“All right. Since you insist, I’ll accept your invitation.”
But those were not the words he intended to say!
Master Chongxu was stunned—and then he realized that his entire body was no longer under his control.
It was the Blood Demon! The Blood Demon Ancestor!
“Blood Demon Ancestor! What have you done?!”
Master Chongxu’s voice rang through his sea of consciousness, shocked and furious.
“Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke,” the Blood Demon Ancestor roared with laughter. “I knew you were a useless fool. You can’t even handle such a little thing, so let your old ancestor help you out!”
“You can actually seize someone else’s body?!”
“Boy, you always called me some backwater demon. Now do you understand how powerful a backwater demon can be?”
Their conversation took place entirely within Master Chongxu’s sea of consciousness. Wu Guanyue did not notice anything unusual at all. She simply happily invited Master Chongxu into the inn for a chat.
The Blood Demon Ancestor lifted his foot and walked forward.
The Blood Demon Ancestor had been one of the “Blood Poison demonic cultivators” who emerged from Donghua City three hundred years ago.
He dared to call himself the Blood Demon Ancestor because his mastery over the Blood Poison had reached perfection. Three hundred years ago, back when Master Chongxu had not even been born, he had already been a great evil cultivator whom every righteous sect wanted to see dead.
The essence of the Blood Poison was the blood of an ancient demonic beast known as the huī serpent.
A snake could gain new life by shedding its skin, and the blood of the huī serpent possessed the power to raise the dead and restore flesh to bare bones. At the same time, however, the blood of this demonic beast would cause anyone infected by it to become hopelessly ensnared by the Blood Poison…
When the huī serpent, which would later bring about an enormous calamity, was discovered, it was already dead. Yet its body had not decayed. It looked as though it were merely sleeping.
And that huī serpent had been discovered in a farmer’s fields outside Donghua City.
The Blood Demon Ancestor was the farmer who had dug it up with a single swing of his hoe.
For three hundred years, he had secretly studied the serpent’s blood. Although he himself had been infected by the Blood Poison, he had never regarded it as a curse like everyone else. Instead, he created an entire cultivation art based on it—the Blood Poison Demon Art.
A hundred years ago, his demonic art reached completion. He rose to prominence and dominated the world, living a life of incomparable freedom and delight!
And then Wenren Ying appeared.
At the time, Wenren Ying had not yet taken that name. His dao title was Lord Chasing Clouds, and he was a disciple of the Xuantian Sect of Yuntai.
He fought the Blood Demon Ancestor for three days and three nights, and in the end, he killed him by tearing him apart alive.
Yet he had overlooked one thing.
Under ordinary circumstances, a cultivator at the Blood Demon Ancestor’s level could not separate his soul from his physical body and survive. However, after being transformed by the huī serpent’s blood and cultivating the Blood Poison Demon Art, the Blood Demon Ancestor could no longer be judged by ordinary principles.
And so, the Blood Demon Ancestor escaped… relying on possession to prolong his life.
His primordial spirit was simply too powerful. Unless a physical body had been cultivated to a certain level, it could not contain him. The rogue cultivator Master Chongxu had discovered in the secret realm had actually exploded and died for precisely this reason.
However, this also led the Blood Poison demonic cultivator to discover Master Chongxu—a perfect candidate.
He had infected Master Chongxu with the Blood Poison and transformed his meridians so that, after possessing him, he would be able to continue cultivating the Blood Poison Demon Art through Master Chongxu’s body.
Master Chongxu had also been blessed with an exceptionally fine appearance, which greatly satisfied the Blood Demon Ancestor.
The only thing he was unhappy about was that Master Chongxu was blind.
That meant he would not be able to see after possessing him, either.
Even so, Master Chongxu was the most naturally gifted person he had ever been able to reach.
But he had never expected that, while dwelling in Master Chongxu’s sea of divine consciousness, he would actually run into Lord Chasing Clouds!
By then, he had changed his name to Wenren Ying. With his spiritual residence shattered, he looked like a down-and-out wandering swordsman, utterly different from the lofty, heroic, and handsome figure he had once been.
The Blood Demon Ancestor and Lord Chasing Clouds had a deep-seated grudge between them. He had long since engraved his enemy’s appearance into his memory, yet even so, the instant he saw Wenren Ying, he still hardly dared believe his eyes.
Yo—if it isn’t Lord Chasing Clouds! What happened to you? It’s only been a few days, and you’re already this miserable!
He had really wanted to sneer those words right in Wenren Ying’s face.
Then he witnessed Wenren Ying’s blade flash as he struck down an enemy… His movements were even cleaner, more vicious, and more powerful than before.
The Blood Demon Ancestor: “……”
The Blood Demon Ancestor fell silent.
Fortunately, because Wenren Ying’s spiritual residence was shattered, he could no longer sense primordial spirits. He had no idea that the Blood Demon Ancestor had been hiding here all along.
The Blood Demon Ancestor had been biding his time, waiting for a chance to take revenge.
And now, after seeing Wenren Ying’s attitude toward Wu Guanyue with his own eyes, the Blood Demon Ancestor realized—
The opportunity had come!
It had come right now!
All he had to do was poison Wu Guanyue with Blood Demon venom. Then, without lifting a finger, he could control Wenren Ying. When that time came, whether Wenren Ying lived or died would be decided by a single word from him!
And after avenging himself and wiping out his old hatred, he could completely seize Master Chongxu’s body and live freely from then on.
As things stood, he could only temporarily take control of Master Chongxu’s body, and he would have to return it after the time it took an incense stick to burn. It was terribly inconvenient.
He had to hurry!
However, with people coming and going all over the street, this was not a suitable place to make his move. It would be better to enter the inn first. He had just investigated the place, and that Chu Yingfeng was not currently inside.
With that thought, the Blood Demon Ancestor used Master Chongxu’s face to reveal a smug, self-satisfied smile. In a deep voice, he said, “Then I shall accept your invitation!”
Wu Guanyue: “……”
Wu Guanyue: “……?”
Why was he wearing such an oily yet arrogant smile…? Master Chongxu’s personality wasn’t supposed to be like this, was it…?
For some reason, it was really irritating…
Forget it. The more irritating he was, the better he would be for her to torment!
Wu Guanyue said sweetly, “Then please come in and have a seat~”
Wu Guanyue: (*^▽^*)
The Little Shopkeeper Wu had once again revealed her trademark adorable smile.
Unfortunately, the Blood Demon Ancestor was blind at the moment, so he couldn’t see it~
Couldn’t~ see~ it~
The Blood Demon Ancestor flicked up the hem of his robe and strode forward, crossing the inn’s threshold.
Hmph, the moment he entered the inn, he would make his move at once. She was just a young woman running an inn in the city—dealing with her would be as easy as lifting a finger!
His foot had already crossed the threshold, and the glazed bottle containing the viper’s blood had slipped out from his sleeve.
Just then, two extremely bizarre voices suddenly sounded behind him, one on either side—
“Hello~ Welcome~~”
“Hello~ Welcome~~”
The voices were strange and stiff. Although they came from two different directions, their pitch and pauses were exactly the same. The moment one heard them, one’s scalp began to prickle, and an intensely unpleasant sensation spread throughout the body.
More importantly—
The voices had come from places that contained not the slightest trace of living human presence, nor even the faintest fluctuation of spiritual energy!
It was as though the voices had come from evil ghosts!
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