Has this kid gotten too bold?
That was Shu Xin’s first thought.
Did he really think that just because he had passed the Trial of Three Winds and Four Fires and reached the Pure Realm, he no longer had to show her any respect?
However, given Wen Jingzhi’s current condition, Shu Xin didn’t dare make a move.
It was obvious that although Wen Jingzhi had somehow managed to pass the Trial of Three Winds and Four Fires by sheer luck, his cultivation in the Pure Realm was unstable. On top of that, he was suffering the backlash of the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Technique, and his body was still tainted by demonic energy.
In his mind, he might still be undergoing the trial in an illusion. He probably had no idea what was happening in the real world.
If she forcibly pulled Wen Jingzhi out of that state now, his cultivation in the Pure Realm would immediately collapse.
The best course of action was to wait until he realized that something was wrong and awakened from his muddled state on his own. Only then could he truly be considered to have passed this trial.
Shu Xin felt exhausted.
Sure enough, raising a child wasn’t easy.
Even when that child grew into an apparently reliable adult, there was no telling when he might suddenly lose his mind.
With that thought, Shu Xin could only try to soften her tone as much as possible. She asked gently, “Jingzhi, why are you covering my eyes? Let me go, all right?”
“No.” Wen Jingzhi actually understood her and responded. “I can’t let you see me fighting with other people, Big Sister.”
Fighting?
Fighting whom?
Who was he fighting in the illusion?
Shu Xin was utterly confused. She had a feeling that something had gone far beyond her understanding.
Yet in Wen Jingzhi’s eyes, all he could see were the people he had driven away from Shu Xin’s side, silently cursing him.
He didn’t need to hear them to know what they were saying.
Let them curse.
But the moment any of them tried to crawl back to Shu Xin’s side, Wen Jingzhi would strike again and send them all flying.
And if they came back again, he would break their legs!
No one was allowed to restrain Shu Xin. No one!
“It’s all right, Big Sister Shu.” Wen Jingzhi took Shu Xin’s hand and said to her earnestly, “I won’t give them any chance to hurt you. I’m not that powerless little brat anymore. I can protect people now.”
Shu Xin was on the verge of losing it.
When had anyone ever hurt her? Wasn’t she the one who had tirelessly gone around hurting other people?
What on earth had this kid Wen Jingzhi seen in his illusion? What kind of wild scenario had he imagined?
Still, hearing Wen Jingzhi say that he wanted to protect her made Shu Xin a little happy.
Sigh.
In this state, there was no way she could take him away.
If she brought him outside, given his current condition, he would absolutely be mistaken for a demonic cultivator and killed.
“All right, all right. I’ll be counting on you from now on.” As she spoke, Shu Xin lowered Wen Jingzhi’s hand from over her eyes.
Wen Jingzhi obediently stayed still, not daring to move.
Shu Xin tentatively took one step forward.
Wen Jingzhi followed with one step of his own.
Shu Xin took another step backward.
Wen Jingzhi immediately stepped back as well.
Right.
He had turned into a shadow.
Shu Xin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had plenty of tricks up her sleeve, but clearly, not a single one of them would work on Wen Jingzhi in his current state.
She couldn’t bring herself to use anything too harsh, either.
Wen Jingzhi had already suffered enough.
When other people fell to demonic cultivation, they went out and harmed innocent people. He had only sealed himself away after becoming corrupted. At worst, he had turned into a human shadow.
What more could she ask for?
The fact that he was in this state at all meant the heavens were finally showing some mercy!
I really am destined for a life of hard labor.
Shu Xin took one look around and immediately made up her mind.
She sealed the cave dwelling once more, then took out all kinds of food, bedding, and daily necessities from her storage ring. In the blink of an eye, she had completely transformed the place.
Now this was somewhere a person could actually live!
A cave and a meditation cushion—living like that was worse than being a savage!
“Sit down, Jingzhi.” After arranging the cave dwelling, Shu Xin pulled Wen Jingzhi down beside her and asked tentatively, “Jingzhi, why do you say you want to protect me? Do you think someone has hurt me?”
Wen Jingzhi saw those men and women reaching toward Shu Xin, begging her to save them. Hearing her question, the demonic energy around him began to surge uncontrollably.
“Yes. They’re all hurting you!”
“Every one of them craves your strength. They want you to save them from the flames of suffering once, twice, three times—over and over again!”
“They approach you without the slightest restraint, wanting to claim your strength as their own.”
“But they can’t even control their own lives or fortunes. All they’ll do by getting close to you is drag you into the conflicts behind them.”
“They’re harming you.”
“They’re merely using the guise of liking you and pursuing you to take advantage of you!”
In Wen Jingzhi’s eyes, those who had fallen for Shu Xin after being saved by her didn’t truly understand what kind of person she was. They were simply looking for someone to rely on.
They clearly had nothing, yet they kept testing Shu Xin’s limits.
The only thing they could rely on was her soft heart.
Wen Jingzhi absolutely would not allow it.
But he was afraid, too.
Because he knew that if those people were given the chance to truly understand Shu Xin, some of them might leave—but even more would only come to love her.
Shu Xin didn’t change her opinion of someone based on how high or low their cultivation was, or whether their birth was noble or humble.
What she valued was the person themselves.
As long as you were upright and had nothing to fear from the shadows, as long as you still possessed compassion for the people of this world, Shu Xin would extend a helping hand to you.
If you were compatible, you stayed together. If not, you parted ways.
In a world like this, everyone struggled desperately through the mire. No one knew how to forge their own path, so they could only follow the roads left behind by those who came before, step by step, until they reached the very end.
But Shu Xin was different.
She was like a beacon, firmly certain of where she wanted to go and what destination she was headed toward.
A beacon would drive away the darkness along the road and attract countless moths eager to throw themselves into the flames.
Wen Jingzhi understood.
Because when he was young, he had been one of them.
He had already burdened Shu Xin enough.
Because of him, Shu Xin had been forced to lie low in the Longevity Dao Sect for a hundred years, enduring the mockery of people who knew nothing of the truth.
Even when he was there, all he could do upon hearing everyone belittle Shu Xin was scold them sternly. He could only teach them a proper lesson afterward.
He should have beaten every one of them half to death on the spot.
Because of him, Shu Xin had been ridiculed after breaking off her engagement.
Because of him, she had given up a perfectly peaceful life to help him kill one demonic cultivator after another and seize their spiritual roots for him to use.
During those years, Shu Xin had been fleeing the pursuit of demonic cultivators while dragging him all over the place with her.
How could what he owed her be repaid with just one life?
The more Shu Xin listened, the more confused she became.
At that moment, she found herself missing the Sword Spirit a little.
If the Sword Spirit were here, perhaps it could help translate Wen Jingzhi’s words for her.
“You mean a lot of people like me because they want to use me?” Shu Xin racked her brains, but she couldn’t think of anyone bold enough to do that and still be alive. “Are you talking about those people from the Fan family? But I already killed them all.”
Anyone who wanted to use her never even needed her to act.
The Sword Spirit had already skewered them all to death.
“It’s Luo Huannian, Qu Yougu, Xie Xianzhi, and Pei Qiyun!” Wen Jingzhi said through gritted teeth. “They all have ulterior motives.”
Wait a moment. Who was Luo Huannian again?
The name sounded vaguely familiar.
And why was Pei Qiyun included?
“Why do you think that?” Shu Xin could tell that something was clearly wrong with Wen Jingzhi, but once her curiosity was piqued, she couldn’t suppress it. All she could do was ask cautiously.
“Luo Huannian hasn’t even avenged his master yet, but he came to question me about your whereabouts. That plainly shows he means you no good.”
“As soon as Qu Yougu became the Dao Disciple, the Myriad Dao Sect began searching for dozens of female cultivators with comparable family backgrounds and compatible constitutions to serve as candidates for his future dao companions.”
“And Xie Xianzhi is even more obvious. He grew up in a ‘small world’ the sect created for him. He doesn’t even understand what kind of person he himself is. For him to approach you so recklessly—how is that not inviting trouble to your door?”
“As for Pei Qiyun…” Wen Jingzhi sneered. “It’s only because the Profound Spirit Dao Sect was destroyed that she hasn’t dared come looking for you.”
In Wen Jingzhi’s eyes, these so-called favored sons and daughters of heaven were nothing more than pitiful creatures who couldn’t control even their own fates—puppets manipulated by others, drifting wherever the crowd carried them.
Puppets controlled by their sects and families, yet deluded enough to think they could drag a free person into becoming a puppet just like themselves.
If that wasn’t ill intent, then what was?
If that wasn’t an attempt to harm Shu Xin, then what was?
Could these people protect Shu Xin?
When her identity as the Master of the Immortal Sword was exposed, could they stand firmly at her side without wavering?
Or, when forced to choose between their families, sects, and Shu Xin, would they choose Shu Xin?
There was no need to ask. Wen Jingzhi already knew the answer.
If they were incapable of choosing her without hesitation, then why did they keep approaching her, again and again?
They all deserved to die!
Every last one of them deserved to die!
Wen Jingzhi didn’t know how much reason he had to force himself to keep his killing intent under control.
If Sister Shu weren’t here, he would not merely have covered her eyes and driven them away. He would have used far more vicious and brutal methods to chase every one of them away.
“Um… I don’t think you need to imagine them as being quite that terrible.” Shu Xin rubbed her forehead, feeling a terrible headache coming on.
She didn’t understand why Wen Jingzhi had such thoughts.
She clearly remembered that the last time Wen Jingzhi had met Qu Yougu, the two of them had gotten along quite well.
And he had been perfectly courteous toward Xie Xianzhi too. Xie Xianzhi had even kept addressing him as “fellow daoist.”
So this was it. Wen Jingzhi had been pretending all along?
It really had been hard on him.
Not only did he have to drink and chat merrily with Qu Yougu and the others, he also had to put on an act and pretend to be their friend. Perhaps he even had to curse them inwardly while helping them with a polite smile on his face.
For some reason, Shu Xin suddenly felt like laughing.
She could only hear words like these after Wen Jingzhi had fallen into demonic cultivation.
Who would have thought this unlucky child was so possessive?
He must have been suppressing himself terribly.
In truth, Shu Xin also felt a little regretful. As Wen Jingzhi grew older, he became increasingly unreadable and increasingly taciturn. He used the excuse of being “devoted to the Great Dao” to deceive everyone—and himself.
A person had to deceive themselves first before they could deceive others.
Shu Xin had watched him study constantly and cultivate constantly. She had watched him learn to toy with everyone in the palm of his hand, using his enemies’ weaknesses to manipulate them into killing one another. It was impossible for her not to feel gratified.
But it was equally impossible for her not to feel regret.
He should never have had to live this kind of life, buried in darkness without end.
But that was the way of the world. If he wanted revenge, he had no choice but to live like this.
The slightest lapse in vigilance could allow his enemies to discover that something was wrong.
A hundred years, day after day.
Every day was spent cultivating and nothing else.
His need for spiritual roots and cultivation would only grow greater, and so would the threats surrounding him.
That Peace Talisman had saved Wen Jingzhi countless times.
But even a Peace Talisman would eventually run out of power.
By now, Wen Jingzhi hardly had any Peace Talismans left on him.
Shu Xin couldn’t help feeling regretful. If she had been a little stronger back then, perhaps she could have given Wen Jingzhi more choices.
But there was no use talking about it now.
Because Wen Jingzhi was simply too obedient toward her.
Whatever she said, he agreed.
It was as though he had no temper of his own at all.
Sometimes Shu Xin would deliberately tease him, and he would only cooperate, allowing her to tease him without showing even the slightest desire to resist.
Gradually, Shu Xin stopped teasing him.
There was no fun in it anymore.
At first, Shu Xin had thought Wen Jingzhi acted this way because he felt indebted to her for saving his life.
But now it seemed that he wasn’t without thoughts of his own at all. He simply thought too much and hid it too well, so no one could see through him.
“Actually, everyone has both good and bad sides,” Shu Xin continued, trying to persuade him. “You’re being a little too extreme. They approach me because they think I’m a decent person. If they truly wanted to use me, I would be able to tell.”
“No. You wouldn’t.” Wen Jingzhi suddenly stood up, his emotions running high.
“Because even they don’t realize how much danger and trouble their approach will bring you. But I know.”
“Every time I see them exposing you without a care in the world to the forces behind them, I want to kill them!”
At that moment, Wen Jingzhi’s venom and killing intent erupted without restraint.
Perhaps under normal circumstances, he would only have tried every possible way to drive them away.
But now, with demonic thoughts rooted deep within him, every emotion had been magnified.
This was the fundamental reason almost all demonic cultivators treated human lives as worthless and could harvest countless lives without the slightest compunction.
Demonic cultivators and immortal cultivators walked entirely different paths.
The fact that Wen Jingzhi had managed to hold himself back for so many years, never giving in to murderous intent, was due not only to his inherently kind nature. Deep down, he also knew that Shu Xin would never be able to accept a demon who slaughtered people like cattle.
She could accept him using any means necessary to take revenge, manipulating those with ulterior motives.
But she could not accept him becoming another being who harmed countless living creatures for his own sake.
Wen Jingzhi would never let himself become that kind of person.
If he truly did, then he would really, truly have no chance of ever having anything to do with Shu Xin again.
That thought was like a rope hanging tightly around Wen Jingzhi’s neck.
He did not dare take even one step beyond the line.
“Don’t get worked up. Take it slowly.”
Shu Xin was so frightened that she stood up as well. She hurriedly patted Wen Jingzhi on the shoulder, then rubbed his head, coaxing him to sit back down.
“Fighting and killing people is never a good idea.” Shu Xin broke out in a cold sweat.
She was terrified that Wen Jingzhi might actually rush out of the cave abode, drag Qu Yougu and the others out of the sect, and kill them.
Demonic cultivators really were capable of anything. And if she wanted to stop him, she could only break his legs first.
The problem was that Wen Jingzhi was now, at the very least, in the middle to late stages of the Immaculate Realm. In theory, he was stronger than she was.
Shu Xin had already begun to miss the Sword Spirit.
Ah, she really couldn’t handle this alone.
“You have no idea what they’re thinking?” Wen Jingzhi said, sounding somewhat aggrieved. “Just as, many times, you have no idea what I’m thinking either.”
“That’s because you never tell me.” Shu Xin felt terribly wronged.
As Wen Jingzhi had grown older, he had stopped telling her about many things unless she relentlessly questioned him.
But they were all adults now. She had to take his dignity into consideration. She couldn’t meddle in everything, could she?
Sometimes, when it was time to let go, you had to let go.
Shu Xin had always felt that her approach to raising him was practically ahead of its time.
“You broke off our engagement.” Suddenly, Wen Jingzhi said in a hollow voice, “And you didn’t even tell me.”
What?
Wait a minute. How had the subject suddenly shifted to this?
What did this have to do with what they had been discussing?
Never mind, never mind. I can’t hold it against someone who’s fallen to the demonic path.
Their minds aren’t clear to begin with.
Shu Xin made a thorough mental preparation, but she still couldn’t help retorting, “Because that Lin family young lady offered more money. Besides, our engagement was fake to begin with. I was going to leave the Everlasting Dao Sect, and you were going to take the old bastard from the Lin family’s spiritual root and cultivation so you could advance further. Wasn’t that our unspoken understanding?”
Heaven knew she had even planned to split some of the spirit stones with Wen Jingzhi.
“No.” Wen Jingzhi’s answer was decisive. “I never intended to break off the engagement. I already became the Lin family patriarch’s disciple in advance, so there was no need for me to marry into the Lin family.”
There were plenty of ways for him to get close to the Lin family patriarch.
But just after he had become the Lin family patriarch’s disciple and begun preparing the Fingertip Moon to give Shu Xin, he heard Shu Xin happily announce that she had sold their engagement for a handsome price.
The ridiculous part was that he couldn’t even tell Shu Xin that he had already succeeded in getting close to the Lin family patriarch.
Because Shu Xin would think that this was the tacit understanding between them.
So he couldn’t shatter that understanding.
Wen Jingzhi knew that he shouldn’t be angry over this. After all, the engagement had been fake from the very beginning. It had been a scheme the two of them had set up together.
But the human heart was greedy and never satisfied.
Especially for someone like him, who had always harbored improper feelings toward Shu Xin.
From time to time, he would remember the excitement he had felt when Shu Xin had taken him by the hand and acknowledged him in front of everyone for the first time.
“This is my fiancé.”
Even though it had been fake, he still couldn’t stop the joy from flooding his heart.
Even when reason tore at him—How can you indulge in love when your great vengeance remains unavenged?—human emotions had never been something reason could control.
He had been so excited that he had nearly wanted to jump on the spot.
Even afterward, when he pretended to be distant from Shu Xin and cultivated alone in his cave abode, he would carefully take this joy out of his memories, savor it once more, then quietly put it back.
It was like counting the sweetness he had obtained only after great difficulty, afraid that if he revisited the memory too often, there wouldn’t be enough of it left.
In the dead of night, he would even let himself think dark thoughts.
If this engagement could continue forever, then perhaps one day, the fake might become real.
He shouldn’t think that way.
But he couldn’t help it.
When Shu Xin told him that their engagement had been called off—and that she had sold it for a very good price—the only things he could see on her face were a simple longing for spirit stones and the delight of having made a good deal.
A dream he had held for a hundred years suddenly shattered.
He couldn’t even tell Shu Xin that, in fact, he had many ways to avoid breaking off the engagement.
This was what he deserved.
This was the bitter fruit of his own actions.
Anything stolen was still stolen. Even if you possessed it for a short time, you would eventually have to return it.
“…I admit I got a little carried away and didn’t tell you beforehand, but I informed you at the first opportunity afterward.” Shu Xin couldn’t understand what there was to be angry about. The only possible reason was, perhaps, a man’s so-called pride?
Er… That was something she really couldn’t comprehend.
When Wen Jingzhi heard Shu Xin’s words, he knew that he shouldn’t continue. He ought to stop there.
If he said too much, Shu Xin would definitely notice that something was wrong.
Even if she was exceptionally slow to pick up on things in this regard, she would still…
“I… actually…” Wen Jingzhi opened his mouth, wanting to say something more.
But deep in his mind, a voice seemed to be frantically stopping him.
Once certain things were spoken aloud, there would be no way to take them back.
Was this really the right place to tell Shu Xin?
Strange. Why did he feel that he had to say “the right place”?
Wen Jingzhi’s thoughts descended into chaos for a moment.
Something about this place was wrong.
The scene was wrong too.
And how could Shu-jie be here?
Wen Jingzhi clutched his head. He felt that everything around him was somehow wrong—or perhaps everything had become wrong from the moment he saw so many men and women around Shu Xin.
She would never come here.
She would never have so many people around her.
Pei Qiyun had already been sent away.
All those who had pursued her had also been rejected by him while disguised as Shu Xin. He had even secretly attended their ceremonies after they became dual-cultivation partners.
Many people should not be here.
They could not be here.
No. None of this was right!
The demonic energy within Wen Jingzhi began to circulate wildly, as though it had been provoked by something.
“What were you actually going to say?” Shu Xin asked.
Yet the instant she finished speaking, the backlash from the demonic cultivation technique came swiftly and violently.
Huh?
I only asked one question. Did that really provoke him?
Shu Xin was bewildered.
Should she find a demonic cultivation manual and study it properly, to see what demonic cultivators encountered during cultivation and how many taboos there were—things they couldn’t ask about or touch?
“Jingzhi…” Shu Xin reached out, wanting to touch him.
With a whoosh, Wen Jingzhi dodged her approach.
He curled up in the corner, inch by inch.
In front of himself, Wen Jingzhi hurriedly cast every restriction and formation he knew.
This was an illusion!
An illusion!
That thought surfaced hazily in Wen Jingzhi’s mind.
Only in an illusion would Shu-jie keep approaching him like this while he was possessed by demonic energy.
To break out of the illusion, he either had to endure it on his own or kill the phantom before him!
But he didn’t want to strike.
Even if she was only an impostor, he still couldn’t bring himself to hurt Shu Xin.
