There is No Way I Could Ever Hurt Master.
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.
A crisp breeze brushed past, blowing through both of their hair.
Wen Chiyue subconsciously took a few steps forward, leaning closer to Jiang Xiechen.
Although Wen Chiyue was the sword spirit of a blade, she didn’t carry even a hint of bloodlust. Instead, she bore a faint, delicate fragrance, resembling both flowers and leaves. The scent wasn’t overpowering; it could only be detected when standing close.
Looking at Wen Chiyue as a person, she talked a lot and maintained a cheerful mindset anytime, anywhere. She was like a child raised in a blissful family, completely carefree.
Nothing about her matched the Autumn Frost Sword, nor did she fit Jiang Xiechen’s past experiences, and she certainly… had nothing in common with the typical demeanor of the Demon Clan.
In Jiang Xiechen’s worldview, members of the Demon Clan were all like the Scarlet Blood Demon, fickle, volatile, and bloodthirsty.
Jiang Xiechen retreated a few steps. Even though her eyes were covered by a white cloth, Wen Chiyue could still feel the sharp gaze piercing through the fabric.
If Master’s eyes were fine right now, Wen Chiyue thought, she might really strike and kill me.
Wen Chiyue pressed her lips tightly together, saying aggrievedly, “I’m really not…”
“Ah!”
In the distance, Fellow Daoist Chen’s scream suddenly echoed. “Help, save me!”
For Fellow Daoist Chen to cry out for help so utterly regardless of his image, he must have encountered something incredibly perilous. This scream also shattered the frozen atmosphere between the two.
Turning her head slightly, Jiang Xiechen instantly guessed what had happened.
The Scarlet Blood Demon must have fled in Fellow Daoist Chen’s direction.
It had to be said that Fellow Daoist Chen’s luck was truly abysmal.
First, outside the secret realm, he had mocked Jiang Xiechen and Wen Chiyue for their poor cultivation, only to be snapped at in return.
After entering, he failed to land in the same location as his fellow sect members. Left entirely alone, he was ambushed and robbed, losing the hard won treasure he had just acquired.
And now, he had run straight into the fleeing Scarlet Blood Demon.
Even though the Scarlet Blood Demon’s cultivation had been slashed by at least half by Jiang Xiechen, Fellow Daoist Chen had already lost his own cultivation and had never encountered a demon before. Panicking in his terror, he would be no match for the creature.
Jiang Xiechen did not possess the heart of a saint, especially since Fellow Daoist Chen had mocked her before. However, this tragic cry did successfully break up her interrogation.
Now was not the right time to press for answers.
“Little Sword Spirit,” Jiang Xiechen called out.
Hearing her name, Wen Chiyue snapped to attention like a newly recruited disciple. Her posture was perfectly straight, and her eyes locked onto Jiang Xiechen, terrified that the person in front of her might banish her if displeased.
Wen Chiyue: “He-Here!”
Her voice trembled slightly.
This was a rare sight for someone like Wen Chiyue.
Jiang Xiechen said, “Little Sword Spirit, you sure have a lot of secrets.”
Wen Chiyue replied anxiously, “I don’t.”
Jiang Xiechen asked, “Will you harm me?”
“How could that be possible!” Wen Chiyue shook her head frantically, swearing to the heavens, “There is no way I could ever hurt Master in this lifetime. Otherwise, otherwise, let me be struck by lightning!”
Rumble!!
A bolt of lightning struck the mountain peak.
Wen Chiyue rubbed her nose sheepishly and said, “That doesn’t count. That’s just someone using a Lightning Talisman.”
The corner of Jiang Xiechen’s mouth twitched slightly into a faint smile as she nodded. “Let’s go check out the situation over there.”
This meant she wouldn’t hold Wen Chiyue’s secrets against her for the time being.
Wen Chiyue shouted joyfully, “Alright!”
Her volume was a bit too high. Realizing she was being a bit too dramatic, Wen Chiyue quickly lowered her voice and repeated, “Alright, Master.”
Yet, her light and cheerful footsteps still betrayed her current mood.
Jiang Xiechen shook her head helplessly.
She was no saint, let alone for someone who had mocked her. If it weren’t for the Scarlet Blood Demon, she wouldn’t even bother to take a look.
However, if the Scarlet Blood Demon managed to consume Fellow Daoist Chen’s blood, even just a drop, it could help recover some of its injuries.
That was something Jiang Xiechen did not want to see.
Inside the secret realm, the towering trees reached into the clouds, their branches tightly interwoven. The grass on the ground had been left untended for years, growing into a chaotic mess that could easily trip someone up if they weren’t careful.
Wen Chiyue offered proactively, “Master, let me lead the way for you.”
She enthusiastically grabbed Jiang Xiechen’s arm.
Jiang Xiechen’s body leaned back slightly, seemingly wanting to avoid Wen Chiyue. However, halfway through the motion, she stopped herself abruptly and allowed Wen Chiyue to hold her.
Unaware of this, Wen Chiyue kept her eyes on the ground, saying, “There’s a pebble here, Master. Take a wider step forward.”
Jiang Xiechen: “Mm.”
Being able to walk so close to her master, Wen Chiyue wished this path could go on for just a bit longer.
Unfortunately, before they had walked very far, the figure of Fellow Daoist Chen came into view.
Wen Chiyue pouted, thinking to herself, This Fellow Daoist Chen is way too slow. He ran for so long and only made it this far.
Being slightly shorter than Jiang Xiechen, she failed to notice a branch hanging diagonally above her master. Just as she spotted it out of the corner of her eye and was about to speak, she saw Jiang Xiechen bend down smoothly, avoiding the branch entirely.
Wen Chiyue paused in her tracks.
Jiang Xiechen turned her head toward Wen Chiyue and asked, “Hmm?”
Wen Chiyue felt both guilty and impressed. “Master is so amazing! How did you see that branch?”
“By listening,” Jiang Xiechen replied, tapping her ear to explain. “There was the sound of wind.”
But it was still incredible.
Having just lost her sight, she was able to accept her condition so quickly and utilize her hearing to replace her vision. Wen Chiyue didn’t know what kind of childhood Jiang Xiechen had endured, back then, the Autumn Frost Sword hadn’t yet birthed a spirit, so she naturally had no way of knowing.
Never dwelling on what has been lost, Wen Chiyue thought. Master’s mindset is simply too stable. So stable that she doesn’t seem like someone in her twenties at all, but rather like a great cultivator who has lived for thousands of years.
Curiosity suddenly got the best of Wen Chiyue, and she asked, “Master, are you really only twenty-seven?”
Jiang Xiechen didn’t respond.
This actually matched Jiang Xiechen’s usual demeanor. Feeling reassured, Wen Chiyue said, “Master, Fellow Daoist Chen is right ahead. Wow! what a dark, shadowy figure.”
She didn’t purposely lower her voice, so both Fellow Daoist Chen and the Scarlet Blood Demon could hear her.
Hearing a voice, Fellow Daoist Chen was overjoyed at first. But when he turned around and saw Jiang Xiechen and Wen Chiyue, despair washed over his face once more.
It wasn’t entirely because he looked down on them. The fact that the two could endure the pressure of a great cultivator and be the first to enter the secret realm was already commendable for their courage alone.
However, this wasn’t a matter that could be resolved by courage. Furthermore, Wen Chiyue looked like she had never entered a secret realm before, appearing as though she hadn’t even adapted to losing her cultivation yet.
“Quick, run!” Seeing that the demon had noticed the newcomers, Fellow Daoist Chen yelled at the top of his lungs, “It’s a demon!”
Wen Chiyue squinted and asked, “Is that the Scarlet Blood Demon?”
It wasn’t her fault for not recognizing him, the demon’s current state was vastly different from its original appearance.
A mass of black mist was laced with a hint of crimson. The parts exposed to the outside were entirely bone. Vaguely, a pair of blood-red eyes could be seen, staring greedily like a beast that had lost all reason.
“Yes,” Jiang Xiechen said. “When a high-tier demon’s cultivation is shattered, they revert to their primordial form.”
“No wonder he couldn’t beat the other demons,” Wen Chiyue pouted. “His primordial form is so ugly. If I were them, I’d ostracize him too.”
Jiang Xiechen remarked casually, “You say that as if you know what other demons look like.”
Wen Chiyue choked.
She really didn’t know; she had just said it offhandedly. But if she tried to explain it now, it would feel strange, almost like she was intentionally hiding something.
Wen Chiyue felt a surge of despair.
She had truly just said it without thinking, and she didn’t know if her master would believe her.
Wen Chiyue hummed and said, “I’m just guessing.”
She smiled, explaining, “If all demons were this ugly, that race would have gone extinct tens of millions of years ago.”
She placed her hands behind her back, joking over Fellow Daoist Chen’s screams ahead, “After all, the cultivation world doesn’t accommodate ugly people.”
That was true. If you randomly pulled any cultivator from the cultivation world, their physical appearance alone could be described as “good looking.”
The face reflects the mind. When cultivators spoke of appearance, they were usually referring to a person’s temperament and cultivation level.
Jiang Xiechen was an exception.
To the outside world, she appeared to have no cultivation at all. Yet, her aura and the Autumn Frost Sword at her waist were second to none. It was hard to view her as an uninitiated novice, instead, she looked more like a rogue cultivator hidden away in the mountains.
Speaking of which, Wen Chiyue glanced at Fellow Daoist Chen and remarked, “Oh, but there sure are a lot of average looking people.”
She still didn’t lower her voice when saying this. Fellow Daoist Chen’s face darkened, and he couldn’t help but curse out, “What kind of time is it to be talking about this! Do you have to be eaten by a demon cultivator to be happy?!”
Fellow Daoist Chen hadn’t expected Wen Chiyue and Jiang Xiechen to help at all.
Even with two more people, it would just be like throwing eggs against a rock, sheer recklessness. It was better to let them run to save their lives.
The black mist wrapped around Fellow Daoist Chen’s arm. Immediately following a sharp sting, his face turned deathly pale as his blood began to drain along with the mist.
Am I really going to die here? Fellow Daoist Chen felt utterly hopeless.
Swish!
A snow-white sword shadow cut through the sky, forcefully severing the connection between the black mist and Fellow Daoist Chen.
The severed portion of the black mist actually materialized and fell to the ground. As his blood flowed normally again and his body temperature returned, Fellow Daoist Chen finally snapped back to reality. Supporting himself against the ground, he hurriedly scrambled away from the black mist. Wiping his face, he stumbled to his feet and said, “Let’s quickly! uh.”
He froze.
To his surprise, the demon retreated rapidly as if it had encountered its natural enemy. The speed was so fast that Fellow Daoist Chen began to doubt his own judgment.
Was it not a demon?
He wasn’t entirely sure.
After all, the Demon Clan hadn’t appeared for a very long time. If he hadn’t accidentally stumbled upon a book documenting demon related matters, he wouldn’t have guessed that the black mist belonged to the Demon Clan.
Regardless of what it was, it was at least not something he could handle.
Fellow Daoist Chen grabbed Wen Chiyue and Jiang Xiechen, speaking rapidly, “Let’s leave first and meet up with my martial brothers.”
Jiang Xiechen dodged Fellow Daoist Chen’s hand with a few quick steps, saying in a deep voice, “I’m going to take a look.”
“Look?” Fellow Daoist Chen raised his voice in shock, exasperated by her stubbornness. “What are you looking at? You’re already blind and you still want to look? Are you looking for death?”
Jiang Xiechen stepped forward, picked up her sword from the ground, and slid it back into its sheath.
If a demon wanted to flee and concealed its aura, you wouldn’t be able to find it even if you possessed heaven defying abilities.
However, the Scarlet Blood Demon was greedy for blood and had carelessly left behind a trace of its aura. Although it wasn’t much, it was enough for Jiang Xiechen to track it for a short while.
Without stopping, Jiang Xiechen walked forward, following the direction of the aura.
“Master!” Wen Chiyue’s face fell in alarm as she hurriedly shouted, “Watch your step!”
Thud.
Jiang Xiechen felt the ground beneath her suddenly give way. The grass used for concealment collapsed instantly.
In the end, the blind Jiang Xiechen still fell victim to the most common and direct trick of the mortal world.
A trap.