The air was filled with a sweet bloody smell, the stench of bodily fluids of toad demons, and a cold fragrance of cedar.
After hiding Bian Lingyu, Shi Luoyi hurriedly used her techniques to remove any lingering smell and placed a protective barrier around the cabinet where Bian Lingyu was hidden.
Although the untransformed demon toads didn't have such a keen sense of smell, the one she was about to face was unfathomable.
Just as Shi Luoyi finished all of this, before she could even sit back down, the candlelight flickered, and a figure silently appeared behind her at some point.
Icy hands wrapped around her waist, Jiang Yan rested his chin on her shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "Why are you standing here, wife? Where is your veil?"
Jiang Yan's chilling, gloomy aura made Shi Luoyi's scalp tingle. She recalled her veil was still clutched in Bian Lingyu's hand, she simply had no time to retrieve it. After hesitating, she could only lie, "They have all left, and since you didn't come for so long, I wanted to look for you."
The room fell silent, such an eerie silence made it hard for Shi Luoyi to endure.
She admitted she wasn't skilled at lying or acting. If she truly were, she wouldn't have lost so terribly to Bian Qingxuan in her past life. She wasn't sure if Jiang Yan believed her, so she steeled herself for the worst possibility and was ready to fight him.
If necessary, she would just directly resort to fighting. She felt tired. Why did Jiang Yan have to hold her while talking? Her whole body felt uncomfortable.
The girl didn't know that what was inconsistent with her status as a sword cultivator was that although she had inherited her father's pride and talent, her looks and voice took after her mother, Princess Wan Xun.
Her voice was gentle, slow, and melodious, carrying a hint of tenderness in everything she said.
If she was willing, she could easily beguile the hearts of men in this world.
Therefore, her lie didn't lead to the expected crossed swords. Of the two men present in the room, one closed his eyes in the cupboard and pinched blood from his palms. The other responded with a low chuckle and a light kiss on the nape of her neck.
"...!" Shi Luoyi felt terrible, her smile was almost impossible to maintain. She desperately wanted to wipe it off. Jiang Yan was just too disgusting; he might as well just turn his face directly. Why did he have to slowly torture her?
Jiang Yan spoke gently, "It's my fault. I came late. Xiao Luoyi, let's drink our wedding toast."
The matter of her veil was smoothly glossed over. Tonight was Jiang Yan's wedding night; he was also uninterested in pursuing where the maids he sent to attend Shi Luoyi went for now. They would all have to die tomorrow anyway.
He led Shi Luoyi to sit at the table, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the untransformed toad demon didn't seem too smart.
She finally had time to figure out where Jiang Yan had hidden his head.
She remembered the head could move and hide. It was the demon toad's vital point. She must hit it accurately with one blow, or the consequences would be disastrous.
As Shi Luoyi pretended to be affectionate with Jiang Yan, she silently prayed that Bian Lingyu in the cabinet wouldn't make a sound.
The cabinet door closed right before his eyes.
All candlelight was blocked outside, and Bian Lingyu was plunged into darkness. He couldn't see, only hear.
He heard the sound of the demon's boots stepping on the ground, and heard the girl's gentle voice saying, "you didn't come for so long, so I wanted to look for you."
Bian Lingyu's eyes were icy, filled with mockery.
She used to say, 'Senior brother Changyuan, why did you only come back now? I've been waiting for you for a long time!'
'I missed you a lot when you weren't at Mingyou Mountain.'
'I want to be with senior brother Changyuan forever.'
Her voice was always sweet and smiling. Even someone as upright and boring as Wei Changyuan couldn't help but curl his lips, his earlobes flushing red.
In that same apricot grove, they both had their hearts set on her.
Yet Bian Lingyu could only watch from the shadows, his gaze fixedly following her like a prying, coveting monster.
After that day, he never wanted to see such a scene again. He would rather occasionally hear fragments about her while lingering under the eaves during rainy or windy dusk.
He was Bian Lingyu. He could rot and wither here, never seeing her again in this life. But he could never become a dog wagging its tail and begging for her mercy yet could never ask for it.
The heart of a sword cultivator is true and pure. But it was a sharp blade for all those who fell in love with her yet couldn't have her. If Shi Luoyi hadn't developed her inner demons, perhaps Bian Lingyu wouldn't have willingly involved himself with her and tainted her in this lifetime.
At this moment, red candles flickered outside. Just thinking of what they were about to do, Bian Lingyu lowered his head. The corners of his lips were still stained with blood making his icy expression appear even more grim.
She could marry someone, could entangle herself with that person, never having room for him in her eyes for life. But he wouldn't allow her to be intimate with someone right in front of him.
What did they take him for? Not to mention that demon was still an Untransformed Toad.
Bian Lingyu wiped away the bloodstains from the corner of his lips and placed his hand on the cabinet lock. The barrier Shi Luoyi had set up looked like thin paper in his eyes.
Just as the cabinet door was about to be kicked open by him, outside suddenly went eerily quiet, followed by a sinister voice of a man.
Jiang Yan gripped Shi Luoyi's wrist and said furiously. "Who! Who took your yin essence?"
Bian Lingyu: "..."
Shi Luoyi's wrist pulse was held by Jiang Yan and she felt that Jiang Yan must have some kind of problem in his head. At a critical moment like this, look at what he's concerned about?
Jiang Yan shook from anger, jealousy and rage spreading through his eyes. The demon toad's ashen skin appeared over his face as if he was wearing a strange mask.
Jiang Yan's body pressed over, his hands strangling Shi Luoyi's neck.
Demons were naturally violent and unpredictable. At this moment, Jiang Yan's eyes turned bloodshot red, he seemed deranged, both sad and angry. One eye glared covetously while the other silently shed tears. "Why couldn't my father get Princess Wan Xun...Why can't I get you..."
The girl couldn't make out the grief and gloom in his words. The Shen Yan sword soundlessly appeared in Shi Luoyi's hand as she was struggling to breathe under Jiang Yan's grip, but her eyes remained calm.
Now is the time! While Jiang Yan was immersed in his emotions unable to extricate himself, she flung out her sword. It flew out, neatly cutting off the "Phoenix Candle" of the Dragon Phoenix Candle.
The Phoenix Candle broke off and fell to the floor, turning into an ugly, cold toad. The untransformed toad's head, just like Jiang Yan, had one eye filled with coldness, while the other eye wept gently, silently shedding tears.
She hadn't guessed wrong, she found the real head of the untransformed toad demon.
"Ahhh—!"
Jiang Yan roared in rage, clutching his own neck, his face contorted in pain.
If the Untransformed Toad Demon had its head chopped off, it wouldn't take long for it to die. Now its ferocity was provoked, it shed its human disguise before Shi Luoyi and its body rose from the ground, filling half the room in the blink of an eye... It looked at Shi Luoyi grimly, flicking out its long tongue.
Shi Luoyi knew a bitter battle still lay ahead. She hurriedly summoned back her Shen Yan sword and spun around to swiftly dodge the attack.
The untransformed toad appeared clumsy but its speed was actually terrifying. Every time it attacked, the strike felt as heavy as a thousand catties. In her past life, everyone besieged it together, with over half of them dying before finally subduing it.
Too much had changed in this life compared to her previous life. Elder Han Shu was not here and neither was Wei Changyuan. Only Shi Luoyi was left alone.
But Shi Luoyi had no fear in her heart. As long as she could hold on for a while, the toad demon would be exhausted to death.
The Untransformed Toad, on the brink of death, also wanted to kill the person who beheaded it before its power dissipates completely.
The Untransformed toad demons were ancient monsters. Even if Elder Han Shu was here, she might not necessarily win, much less Shi Luoyi as a young teenage girl in the Golden Core Stage. The demon's claws struck down again, forcing Shi Luoyi to use the Shen Yan sword to block.
The sword cultivator's strength was already strong enough, yet this blow still caused Shi Luoyi's dantian to ache and spit out blood.
The Untransformed Toad Demon knew the techniques to bind. It imprisoned her and attacked with its tongue, trying to pierce her heart and Shi Luoyi had nowhere to evade it. She gritted her teeth and desperately twisted her body to avoid a fatal blow. It seemed she would be heavily injured if not dead today!
Before it could touch her body, as if startled by something, the Untransformed Toad shrieked out and retracted its tongue.
But it was already too late. A small peach wood sword at Shi Luoyi's waist flew out, piercing through the toad demon's mouth. It writhed and eventually turned into filthy water, dissipating into the air.
Before dissipating, it still sprayed venom, intending to kill Shi Luoyi.
Everything happened too quickly. Shi Luoyi could only cover her head and face.
The expected pain didn't come. Instead, something heavy pressed down on her immediately followed by a muffled groan.
Moving her arm away, she saw Bian Lingyu tightly pursing his lips, supporting himself above her.
Shi Luoyi, who was not particularly anxious when she was sprayed with venom, now felt her heart sink and became flustered.
"Bian Lingyu?"
What's wrong with him? Was he swept over by the power of Untransformed Toad's last blow? Otherwise, why would he risk his life?
They looked at each other. The girl frowned, staring straight at him without blinking, and felt a chill in her heart.
Shi Luoyi felt Bian Lingyu might breathe his last breath at any moment. Yet the young man continued to support himself with his arm, not even touching her body.
He closed his eyes, endured past that pain, and gritted his teeth to stand up.
Shi Luoyi lay on the floor, looking at him in a rare daze, and then looked at the toad demon's remains. "It...sprayed ink?" Is this a toad or an octopus?
Bian Lingyu lowered his eyes and said nothing.
The girl put away her sword and got up from the ground. Shi Luoyi was fine till she didn't look at the puddle of pus left behind by the toad demon, but when she saw it flowing silently into the ground, her heart turned cold.
The pus from the demon toad she thought was dead, was silently seeping into the ground, seeming to move on its own.
The illusion realm suddenly collapsed and the lavish Jiang Mansion disappeared, replaced by a large expanse of withered ponds nearby.
There were no lotus flowers and it wasn't summer either. The sudden cold of winter caught Shi Luoyi off guard, causing her to shiver.
"How could this be..." Has the Untransformed Toad really died?
"The Untransformed Toad has two primordial selves."
Huh? Shi Luoyi looked over in surprise to see Bian Lingyu barely staying upright on one knee. She hurriedly supported him. "Don't move, I'll take you to rest and check your injuries."
The true appearance of Qingshui Village was revealed—a rustic village, with large ponds covered in broken ice, and there was no moon in the sky.
The heavy yet pale night felt desolate. Shi Luoyi found a large rock for Bian Lingyu to lean against.
She felt a bit discouraged. She thought that once the Untransformed Toad died, everyone would be safe, but it actually had two cores. Even though she killed one, there was still another one lurking dangerously, capable of killing and breeding! This was something she never knew in her past life.
No wonder they fell into a trap later, and she barely survived, and Han Shu died. It turned out that the other primordial core of the Untransformed Toad was causing trouble.
To make matters worse, Bian Lingyu's condition looked terrible at the moment. He was drenched in blood and the slime of the Untransformed Toad.
Shi Luoyi felt very worried.
She wasn't a pill cultivator and could only use some mystic techniques to barely treat his injuries and clean him up. After struggling half the day, she realized that this might not be enough. If she wanted to save Bian Lingyu, she had to quickly find Elder Han Shu or Bian Qingxuan.
They might be able to help him heal.
She retracted her hands. "I'll take you to find Elder Han Shu."
The words fell, but there was no response from Bian Lingyu. Shi Luoyi looked up and met his gaze.
It was an exceptionally calm and focused gaze. He had been silently watching her while she remained oblivious.
Yet when she raised her head, his gaze shifted away.
Shi Luoyi couldn't quite explain why, but whenever she met Bian Lingyu, more often than not, he was angry. However, this time, despite his severe injuries, she unexpectedly found him very calm.
She squatted beside him, feeling the strange atmosphere and remembering his gaze just now, she even wanted to touch her own face to see if there was anything unusual. The girl hesitated for a moment and asked him with concern, "Are you feeling very uncomfortable?"
The look in his eyes was different again.
She remembered when she stuffed Bian Lingyu into the cabinet, his eyes seemed to freeze. The strength in his grip on her wrist felt like it could crush her bones.
Now in the eerie quiet of night, she squatted by him and found his gaze very strange for some reason.
Bian Lingyu's throat moved, he inexplicably felt a little embarrassed, "Mm."
Hearing him say that he was indeed uncomfortable, Shi Luoyi subconsciously thought that this poor guy was even more hapless than her. He was blasted over by the energy wave and ended up crashing into the venom. The toad's poison didn't land on her but was sprayed onto Bian Lingyu's back instead.
Her heart tightened, fearing that something might happen to him she said, "Let me take a look at your injuries?"
The girl was anxious to help and didn't think too much about undoing Bian Lingyu's clothes. Just as she touched his belt, her hand was held back.
He watched her in the darkness, and then whispered, "Shi Luoyi." [I don't know why, but this scene somehow reminded me of 'decreed by fate' 😉🤭.]
Just called her name softly.
Shi Luoyi awkwardly retracted her hand, her cheeks inexplicably flushing red. She guiltily remembered that a few months ago, in her past life when she harmed him, she had also stripped him of his clothes like she did now.
Back then, she was ignorant about the ways of the world at that time but roughly understood the steps. But because she had no feelings for the young man in front of her, she undressed him but didn't fully remove his clothes. Driven by her inner demons, she was so perfunctory that she didn't even lean down to kiss him or touch his upper body once.
In the end, Bian Qingxuan barged in and the half open clothes were fastened by himself.
"..." Shi Luoyi's cheeks rarely felt hot, feeling a bit embarrassed. She must have left Bian Lingyu with indelible awful memories. Shi Luoyi didn't insist on checking his injuries any further. She realized whether it was ink or poison, as a sword cultivator who only knew how to kill, there was nothing she could do about it.
Bian Lingyu also fell silent for a while before finally speaking, "Let me rest for a while. It's almost dawn. When it's daylight, we'll go find Qingxuan."
"Oh." She consciously moved a bit farther, hoping that he wouldn't be afraid of her.
Although Bian Lingyu had a bad temper and cold personality, now she could see that he was different from Bian Qingxuan.
Regardless of his quirks, he still knew to inform her that the person was fake.
He wasn't detestable and didn't seem like a bad person, making her past actions truly beastly. Shi Luoyi had a rare headache.
The evening breeze carried the scent of the lotus pond, mixed with a hint of earthy smell .It was no longer the rotten stench of monsters.
Shi Luoyi was also injured. Her chest felt stuffy and painful, but luckily it was a minor injury. With Bian Lingyu here, she was too embarrassed to rub it and could only keep a stern expression, pretending as if nothing happened.
The girl calmed down and many questions surfaced in her mind. Like what was the deal with the peach wood swords? Did Bian Qingxuan do something to them? How did Bian Lingyu know the demon toad had two cores? She didn't sense any immortal or demonic energy from Bian Lingyu.
She assumed Bian Lingyu wouldn't speak to her again but unexpectedly, after a long silence, he suddenly asked a strange question. "Who was that untransformed toad?"
Shi Luoyi was stunned for a moment before answering, "Mm… It should be Jiang Yan. The young sect master of Chuanyun Sect who disappeared in Qingshui Village this time."
"Jiang Yan."
He slowly and softly chewed on the name in a chilly tone.
Jiang Yan ah, heh.