“I was forced into this!”
Wan Shao, who had been hiding quite a distance away, came scurrying back the moment she spotted Shang Can’s silhouette. She wore a look of utter misery, greeting her friend with a nonsensical outburst.
“How could you leave me alone with the Lord of the Clouds?! I’m a demon, for heaven’s sake! That was way too dangerous for me—wait, did she change her clothes? They look kind of familiar?”
Shang Can, feeling a headache coming on, pushed back Wan Shao, who was stretching her neck to peek behind her. “Dangerous for you?”
This was a first for Shang Can—hearing a demon scream about the danger of being left alone with a human. She asked skeptically, “If you don’t provoke her, is she really going to draw her sword and hack you for no reason?”
“How can you say that! Do I look like the type who would provoke her?!” Wan Shao flared up instantly. “Of course I wouldn’t! But she had blood on her waist!”
“That stuff is like a lethal drug to us demons. You just incinerated a whole batch of monsters; don’t you get it?!”
So that’s why she was rushing Yun Duan to change in the woods.
Shang Can felt a throb in her temples. she cast a glance back at Yun Duan, who was standing behind her with an air of complete detachment, as if the conversation had absolutely nothing to do with her.
…She really had zero sense of self-preservation. Knowing her blood acted like catnip to demons, she didn’t even think to change her blood-stained clothes; she just chased them all the way from Tianwaitian like that. If Shang Can hadn’t spoken up, who knows when Yun Duan would have realized it.
‘But I don’t have any other clothes.’ That’s what the supposedly refined and upright Lord of the Clouds had said. ‘My luggage is at Tianwaitian; I didn’t bring it—maybe I should just tear off the bloody part?’
To prevent the Lord of the Clouds from walking down the street with her waist exposed—an unthinkable sight in this relatively conservative era—Shang Can had been forced to rummage through her own belongings and lend her a set of azure robes she’d rarely worn. As for Yun Duan’s original snow-white silk robe—
‘I have nowhere to put it. Should I just throw it away?’
The “meticulous” Lord of the Clouds had spoken again, completely failing to consider that discarding blood-soaked clothing would trigger a demonic feeding frenzy. Thus, the “Canzhe” had to swallow her annoyance and store the clothes in her own pouch. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished.
“And then? What actually happened back there?” Shang Can rubbed her temples, sighing as she urged Wan Shao on. “Where’s her sword? And her wrists—”
“It’s right there! I didn’t touch it! Didn’t even graze it!”
Wan Shao pointed frantically toward a large tree behind them. Sure enough, the sword Wuyou was leaning pathetically against the trunk. From the neat way it was placed, it didn’t look like it had been seized in battle at all; it looked like the owner had voluntarily unbuckled it and set it aside.
Wan Shao felt she had been wronged to the highest heavens.
After Shang Can and Chu Ming left, she had been quite self-aware, standing far away from Yun Duan and huddling like a quail, hoping only for Shang Can’s quick return.
But within two minutes, Wan Shao’s sensitive nose picked up the scent of the Flawless Immortal Body’s blood. Her heart hammered. She turned to see that Yun Duan had somehow walked within five paces of her without making a sound. It scared her so much she nearly jumped into a tree.
“You might not believe me, but the Lord of the Clouds was totally ‘fishing’ for a reason to arrest herself!” Wan Shao spoke with such tears and snot she was ready to hug Shang Can’s leg to swear an oath. “I admit, I was attracted by her blood for a split second, but I snapped out of it immediately! Immediately!”
“I refuse to believe that a random vine I whipped out while I was half-crazed could actually disarm The Lord! Of! The! Clouds!”
In Wan Shao’s eyes, it looked like Yun Duan had simply let go of Wuyou with zero hesitation, then cooperatively allowed a bewildered Wan Shao to bind her spiritual power. After that, Yun Duan had simply nodded at her and walked into the woods on her own.
Rather than a fight, it looked more like a mysterious hand-over ceremony.
Shang Can looked at Wan Shao, who was howling about her innocence, and then at Yun Duan, who seemed to have no intention of commenting on these allegations. She felt the world had truly gone mad.
She walked to the tree, picked up Wuyou, and handed it back to Yun Duan. The latter didn’t reach for it immediately, instead giving her a questioning look that asked, “What are you doing?”
Ugh, I’m the one who should be asking ‘what are you doing.’
“Take it. Then go back to Qingyu.”
Shang Can felt a mess of emotions, unable to comprehend the absurd turn of events. Seeing Yun Duan being uncooperative, she simply buckled the sword back onto Yun Duan’s waist herself, then grabbed her wrist and undid Wan Shao’s binding spell.
“I don’t care what you’re thinking,” Shang Can said, stepping back. “Biluo Huangquan cannot afford the crime of kidnapping the Lord of the Clouds.”
Yun Duan stared at her for a long time, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Are you not interested in the Flawless Immortal Body?”
Coming from Yun Duan, these words felt incredibly strange. Shang Can let out a sudden laugh. “Does the Lord of the Clouds want me to be interested?”
“Yes.”
Incredibly, Yun Duan nodded without a second thought, her right hand resting on the hilt of Wuyou as if by accident.
“That way, I would have leverage.”
“If you won’t take me back to Biluo Huangquan, then you could come back to Qingyu with me instead.”
Perhaps the “have you seen a ghost?” look on Shang Can’s face was too obvious. Yun Duan paused, then added seriously, “The food at Qingyu is also better than at Tianwaitian.”
As if I didn’t know that. Anywhere has better food than Tianwaitian—but that’s not the point!
Beside them, Wan Shao—who had been yelling about her innocence a moment ago—stopped. Her expression shifted through a dozen colors, settling on something very close to “I just caught you two having an affair.”
Shang Can had a splitting headache. She grabbed Wan Shao by the collar, tossed her aside, and stepped closer to Yun Duan. “Does the Lord of the Clouds even know what she’s saying?”
“Or is it that my disguise at Tianwaitian was so good that you haven’t adjusted to my real identity yet?”
Shang Can reached out, summoning a ball of quietly burning golden flame in her palm. Her intention was to force Yun Duan to face reality. To her surprise, Yun Duan glanced at the flame and said something completely unexpected: “So that night when we roasted the chicken… when you said you brought a fire talisman, you were lying. You used this fire to roast the chicken, didn’t you?”
Before Shang Can could respond, Wan Shao crawled back over, her face full of teasing. You used Heavenly Fire to roast a chicken?! Shang Can pushed her away again.
“…What exactly do you want?” Shang Can surrendered, asking bluntly.
Yun Duan lowered her eyes. The azure robes made her look softer than her usual “ethereal immortal” white robes, but she was still transcendently beautiful. She remained silent for a long time, then spoke thoughtfully.
“You look a lot like an old friend of mine.”
Shang Can’s brain buzzed. She blurted out instinctively, “I don’t.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she knew she’d messed up. Sure enough, Yun Duan looked straight at her, her voice gaining a hint of certainty. “I haven’t said who it was. Why is the ‘Canzhe’ so sure she doesn’t look like them?”
Shang Can’s heart was in chaos, but sensing that Yun Duan hadn’t fully recognized her yet, she asked with a trace of hope, “Who?”
Yun Duan pursed her lips, hesitating for a long while. Her clear, ink-black eyes studied Shang Can closely, a rare look of confusion appearing in them, as if they were clouded by mist.
“…I don’t remember.”
Her voice was soft, but the sound of the stone dropping in Shang Can’s heart was incredibly heavy, as if it were going to smash a hole in her chest.
Shang Can couldn’t tell if she was happy or not. She just wanted to end this conversation. “Then they must not have been a very important friend. If you don’t remember, let it go.”
At that moment, she saw Chu Ming’s slightly dejected figure walking toward them in the distance. Not wanting things to get any more complicated, Shang Can spun around and pulled back, creating distance.
” I have no intention of making an enemy of the Lord of the Clouds, but I am not someone you should want to befriend.”
“Whether you believe it or not, Biluo Huangquan just took the blame for something we didn’t do. We must return to handle it. We have no time to waste with you Qingyu cultivators.”
“If we meet again among the cultivators attacking the Underworld in the future, I will host you properly.”
She didn’t stay a moment longer. Grabbing a just-reacting Wan Shao, she rode the wind away. This time her speed was even greater than before, and she vanished into the horizon in an instant.
Chu Ming ran to where Shang Can had been standing, staring blankly at the direction she had gone. Only after a long time did he lower his head in defeat.
“…Junior Sister Yun Duan, you and her…?”
He asked cautiously, only to be shocked to see Yun Duan wearing a set of clothes he had never seen before.
Yun Duan was staring at the horizon. It was a long time before she took her hand off her sword hilt and turned around. She spoke in a low voice—it was as calm as ever, yet it strangely reminded one of water with hidden undercurrents. Her answer was non-sequitur, leaving Chu Ming in a daze of confusion.
“I believe her.”
Home
After half a day of travel, Shang Can and Wan Shao finally returned to Biluo Huangquan.
The Underworld was located in the Demon Realm, its entrance to the cultivation world hidden among towering mountains, accessible only to those permitted by the Demon Lord.
Wan Shao opened the entrance, and Shang Can followed her in, moving through the familiar path. Once inside the city, she finally tore off the mask from her face. It had been far too long. Shang Can exhaled a long breath of relief, then felt a sudden weight on her leg.
“A’Can is back!”
A crisp child’s voice rang out joyfully. Shang Can laughed and picked up the child who was hugging her leg.
“Why are you running around outside at this hour? Careful or your mother will spank you again.”
“She won’t! I’m running errands for her! She won’t spank me!”
“Is that so? How impressive. My mistake.”
She laughed and set the huffy child down. She was already surrounded by a circle of people—young and old, all smiling with delight.
“Canzhe, why are you back so early? Have you eaten?”
“Yeah, I remember the Demon Lord said you’d be gone for at least a month, and it’s only been a few days…”
“Surely it’s because our Canzhe is unparalleled and finished the business in record time!”
Approving cheers broke out. Shang Can felt a twinge of guilt and could only offer a bitter smile. Before she could explain, Wan Shao poked her head out, pulling Shang Can forward while feigning anger: “How come you only see the Canzhe? Does no one see that I, the Demon Lord, am back too?!”
The crowd erupted in laughter, apologizing to Wan Shao with smiles. Street vendors greeted them warmly, stuffing various trinkets and snacks into their arms. Children ran around playing, their cheers echoing through the street.
“Canzhe is back! The Demon Lord is back!”
This was the place cultivators avoided like the plague—the rumored den of evil demons where might makes right. But before her eyes were streets as bustling as Yanyang, perhaps even more so.
The only difference was that the pedestrians all had physical traits of the demon race. Even the child Shang Can had just held had small, unformed horns on his forehead and heterochromatic red and green eyes.
Though it wasn’t yet evening, and the world outside was still bright, the sky of Biluo Huangquan was pitch black. There was no daylight here, no stars or moon—only the lanterns lit along the streets, holding up a patch of light against the infinite darkness.
This was Biluo Huangquan.
Shang Can bid farewell to Wan Shao and returned to her own residence. After washing her face, she suddenly felt at peace.
This was her sanctuary now.