After leaving Tianwaitian, Shang Can and Wan Shao flew for dozens of miles in silence.
Finally, Wan Shao broke the silence. She let out a long sigh, slowed her pace, and turned to ask, “How is your body?”
Shang Can nodded silently. “Fine.”
“I believe your nonsense.” Wan Shao didn’t buy it at all and came to a full stop. “Look at how pathetic you look, and you’re still telling me you’re fine? Take your medicine first.”
Wan Shao was the authority in this area, so Shang Can obediently reached for her waist, only to find it empty. She fumbled fruitlessly for a moment before withdrawing her hand and meeting Wan Shao’s accusatory glare.
“…The pouch is gone.”
“Shang Can, why don’t you just lose yourself while you’re at it?”
Knowing she was in the wrong, Shang Can stood still before a fuming Wan Shao to take her scolding.
“Why on earth did you throw it away? Don’t tell me it was an accident! Now look—no medicine, no pouch, and half a sleeve missing! You’re going to be the death of me!”
Wan Shao was livid. She grumbled while frantically searching her own person for backup medicine. Suddenly, she caught sight of a brilliant white sword-light streaking across the horizon from the direction they had come. Her soul almost left her body.
“Pu—pursuers—”
Before she could finish, the sword-light descended like falling frost. A woman in fluttering white clothes landed not far in front of them and turned around quietly.
Wan Shao groaned inwardly, her anger at Shang Can instantly replaced by dread. She stepped back and secretly shoved the medicine bottle she’d just found into Shang Can’s hand, staring at Yun Duan without daring to breathe.
Good grief… how is Shang Can’s Junior Sister so good at tracking? Are we running that slowly?
She felt a wave of gloom. It seemed a fight was inevitable, even though they hadn’t actually done anything wrong—well, not yet. What bad luck for Biluo Huangquan, she thought. Once I get back, I’m going to find that imposter and skin them alive.
Not only did Shang Can fail to get the lotus seed, but after doing the “righteous” thing by clearing out the demons for those cultivators, they were still being chased down by her sister for a fight—
“Are you injured?”
…Wait? Was she here to fight or not?
Wan Shao was confused again. She followed Yun Duan’s gaze to look at Shang Can.
Shang Can looked at the medicine bottle Wan Shao had just shoved into her hand. She tucked it into her robes and dodged the question. “Is the Lord of the Clouds here to stop us?”
“…”
The ethereal figure didn’t move. She simply gazed at Shang Can, seemingly waiting patiently for an answer to her original question.
When Shang Can didn’t speak, and Yun Duan didn’t speak, Wan Shao—standing to the side—began to suffer. For some reason, the Demon Lord of the Underworld felt incredibly awkward, as if she were a third wheel.
If I just ran away right now, would anything even happen?
As she was calculating this, another thunderous sword-light descended behind them. The sharp ring of the blade betrayed the owner’s turbulent emotions. Wan Shao jumped again, turned around, and saw another familiar face.
It was Chu Ming, Lord Yushan of Qingyu.
In the cultivation world, Lord Yushan was always praised for his warm and refined nature. But now, Wan Shao could see clearly that his jade-like face was filled with agitation and despair.
“…………Canzhe.”
He didn’t even acknowledge Yun Duan, who had arrived first. He walked straight toward Shang Can, his voice dry and raspy.
“I… have a private matter to discuss with you.” Only now did Chu Ming seem to notice the presence of Yun Duan and Wan Shao. He swept his gaze over them quickly, steadying his voice, yet his eyes remained locked on Shang Can. “Can we speak in private?”
As an attitude toward the recently exposed “Demonic Cultivator Canzhe,” this was beyond irrational.
Shang Can’s gaze drifted toward the empty sky. Finally, she closed her eyes and nodded slowly.
“Fine.”
The Unmasking
The situation grew more absurd. Shang Can followed Chu Ming into a quiet grove nearby.
Yun Duan and Wan Shao stayed behind. Wan Shao understood the gravity of the situation, but with Yun Duan there, she didn’t dare say much. She could only watch anxiously as Shang Can left with Chu Ming.
Yun Duan was likely the only one who didn’t fully grasp what was happening, yet she asked nothing. She leaned her sword against a tree and said coldly, “Fifteen minutes,” before falling silent.
It was a generous time limit. Shang Can thought it was best not to exceed it. She’s a considerate child, knowing not to pry, Shang Can mused distractedly.
“Fellow Daoist Gong Shang.”
Chu Ming spoke suddenly, each word deliberate. “Should I call you that, or should I call you Canzhe?” He turned around and gave her a tragic smile. “You are… quite the actress, aren’t you?”
“Lord Yushan overpraises me,” Shang Can replied warmly. “Just call me Canzhe. I’m not used to that alias myself.”
The muscles in Chu Ming’s face twitched. He clenched his fists as if suppressing an explosion of emotion. Finally, his composure shattered, and his voice trembled with heart-wrenching sorrow.
“How long are you going to keep acting with me…!”
“Are you going to tell me you haven’t realized that I’ve recognized you, Shang Can?!”
She had, of course. But even though she suspected it, hearing him say her name made her mind go blank. It was like a drowning sensation, a suffocating wave of reality.
What now? Where did I slip up? I really am a terrible actress.
At least Yun Duan isn’t here.
“Speak, Shang Can! Look at me!”
Chu Ming dropped his sword, letting it clang onto the ground. He rushed forward but hesitated right before grabbing her collar. His fists shook.
“Why… why on earth did you become Canzhe? Why did you join Biluo Huangquan?!”
Shang Can had never seen him so out of control. His eyes were bloodshot.
“If you were alive… why…”
“Why, after all these years, did you never tell us…?”
He finally began to cry—a mix of joy at the reunion and the agonizing pain of disbelief. “They all said you were dead. We searched for so long. I eventually believed it too, Shang Can…”
“Aunt Wang Yue was afraid Yun Duan would be consumed by grief, so she made her forget you. After that, I didn’t even dare mention your name.”
“If you’re alive, then what—”
Chu Ming seemed to finally see Shang Can’s face clearly. He reached out, almost snarling, to rip away her mask.
But Shang Can moved suddenly, slamming the unprepared Chu Ming heavily to the ground. She stepped back and looked down at him.
“What nonsense is Lord Yushan talking about?” Shang Can’s face was cold, her eyes clear. “I don’t understand a single word.”
“I don’t know the person you’re speaking of.”
“I am Canzhe,” she said coldly, repeating it for emphasis. “Canzhe of Biluo Huangquan.”
She turned to leave. Chu Ming lay on the ground, silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was hollow, like a dream.
“How many people in this world know that Yun Duan is a Flawless Immortal Body?”
“Even I only found out by accident, overhearing Aunt Wang Yue and the Sect Leader talking before we left for the assembly.”
“I was strictly forbidden from leaking it. I was told that outside the Qingyu elders, only you knew.”
He stared at the sky through the branches. “Why would Canzhe of the Underworld protect Yun Duan the moment she was hurt and heal her, instead of kidnapping her for her own cultivation?”
“I am not a fool, Shang Can.”
There was a long silence. Just as Chu Ming thought she had gone, he heard a voice so indifferent it felt inhuman.
“I don’t know how many people knew about the Flawless Immortal Body before. But now, within a day, the whole cultivation world will know.”
“Instead of talking nonsense here, Lord Yushan should take the Lord of the Clouds back to Qingyu and protect her well.”
“Lest a villain like Canzhe changes her mind.”
He heard the rustle of receding footsteps. Chu Ming stayed on the ground, his strength gone.
“Your acting is terrible… Shang Can.”
He wasn’t naturally talented, but he was valued for his steady character. He was always disciplined. This made his peers keep their distance—except for Shang Can. She was his only friend.
He always felt her talent and heart far exceeded his. He remembered Master lamenting: “That child’s heart is too tied to the mortal world; her Dao-heart is not strong.”
When he’d told Shang Can that, she’d just laughed and tossed him a piece of candy.
“They’re right. I think it’s fine this way. Wine, the moon, friends, and my Junior Sister—what more could I want? If I must have a Dao-heart, I just want my Junior Sister to have an easier life. You have no idea how beautiful she is when she smiles.”
He covered his eyes against the sunlight. “…Shang Can, look at her. Does she look like she’s having an easy life now?”
Chu Ming truly wished he were a fool.
The Captive
Shang Can emerged from the woods. The sunlight was dazzling. She squinted as she walked back to the tree, fished out her medicine bottle, and swallowed two pills.
Someone walked toward her, making no effort to hide their footsteps. They stopped three feet away. Shang Can didn’t look up as she put the bottle away.
“Is the fifteen minutes up?”
“It’s over.”
The cold female voice was dead serious. Shang Can couldn’t help but smile and look up. “My apologies for making the Lord of the Clouds wait.”
Yun Duan hummed softly and handed something to Shang Can. “You dropped this.”
It was the pouch. Shang Can raised an eyebrow in surprise, took it, and tied it back to her waist. “Did you look inside?”
“No.”
So honest. Shang Can looked into Yun Duan’s calm, candid eyes and then looked away. “Actually, it wouldn’t have mattered if you did.”
Since meeting her at Tianwaitian, Yun Duan’s actions had been consistently unpredictable. She didn’t ask about Chu Ming at all; her first priority was returning a lost item.
Unable to grasp the logic behind Yun Duan’s behavior, Shang Can simply stood up straight.
“I assume you didn’t come all this way just to return a pouch? If you’re here to take me back…” Shang Can sighed at the sky. “I won’t go quietly. If we start now, whoever wins might still make it back for dinner.”
Yun Duan looked at the sky too and nodded seriously. “Is dinner at Biluo Huangquan good?”
“Better than at Tianwaitian—wait, why are you asking that?”
Shang Can looked over in confusion. She suddenly noticed that Yun Duan’s waist was empty—the famous sword Wuyou was gone. And… Shang Can’s heart skipped a beat. The bloodstains were still there, untreated.
As if sensing the gaze, Yun Duan spoke to clear the confusion.
“Because I am going to Biluo Huangquan as well.”
Under Shang Can’s shocked gaze, Yun Duan lifted her hand. Her wide sleeve slipped down, revealing a slender, porcelain-white wrist. Beneath the skin, faint blue veins were visible.
Bound tightly around that wrist was a cluster of intertwined vines. Shang Can immediately recognized the demonic energy—it was Wan Shao’s handiwork, a spell used to bind spiritual power.
“I was captured by your companion,” Yun Duan said calmly, her voice so matter-of-fact that Shang Can wondered if her ears were failing her.
“I am now… a prisoner of the Underworld.”