Hua Yan clenched her palms but didn’t move forward, seemingly still hesitating.
In a soft voice, she asked, “Can I go…”
…to see him once more.
Xie Yingxian had already seen through her. His voice, lazy yet clear, carried a hint of sighing at the end, “Don’t be foolish. Do you think he would still treat you the same way if he knew your true identity?”
Hua Yan struggled, “But what if…”
Xie Yingxian said, “He is from Tingjian Manor, and countless of our sect members have died at his hands. If he doesn’t kill you, it would already be considered deep affection. Even taking a step back, if he truly loves you enough to stay with you knowing you are a demoness from the demonic sect, then you shouldn’t go even more. Not to mention the dangers and constant hiding, once discovered—how could he alone protect you? He might not even be able to protect himself then.”
If he didn’t know, it could still be said he was deceived by a demoness from the demonic sect. Knowing and still being entangled with her, even Tingjian Manor’s Lu Chengsha wouldn’t have a good end… No, it might be even worse.
Hua Yan opened her mouth, unable to find words to refute.
Moreover, she didn’t even know where Lu Chengsha was now. Searching recklessly might not only cost her life but also waste time and possibly implicate Xie Yingxian.
In the end, Hua Yan’s face fell.
Seeing this, Xie Yingxian softened his voice, “If you truly want to see him, there will always be opportunities in the future.”
Hua Yan bit her lip, pressing against her shoulder. The wound, untreated and stained with dirty lake water, made her entire shoulder ache and feel numb, icy cold. Suddenly, Hua Yan couldn’t hold it in anymore. When she opened her mouth, she found her nasal voice unconsciously tinged with sobs, “Master, it hurts so much…”
Xie Yingxian: “…”
He rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a pack of osmanthus candies, and handed them to her, “Alright, come up and cry later.”
***
“She truly is the newly appointed Tianhuo Demoness of the demonic sect?”
Yu Ye sighed softly, seemingly very unwilling and a bit apologetic, “Yes, although she is willful by nature, she is still young. I couldn’t bear it, so I hid it until now… But seeing Young Hero Lu sinking deeper and deeper, I couldn’t bear it any longer…”
Inside the hall, everyone was in heated discussion.
Some accused Yu Ye of favoring the demoness, deceiving them for so long, which he silently accepted.
Others were inwardly horrified.
“She actually blended in among us for so long, what exactly is her intention?”
“What else could it be for? You all can’t have forgotten that demoness from two years ago, can you? It’s simply to use her beauty to seduce our righteous disciples to her side, while sowing discord and causing infighting among us! This demonic sect demoness truly does not take our righteous path seriously!”
As soon as he said this, others immediately echoed him.
“On the day of the sect battle, she deliberately got close to Young Hero Chu, then caused a commotion, leading Young Hero Lu to draw his sword against him. I saw it with my own eyes!”
Ling Tianxiao personally came to Cixin Valley, while Chu Jun stayed behind in Dangshan due to his injuries and was not present. However, this did not stop others who remembered the incident from speaking up, “I remember too!”
“I can also testify!”
“I always said Young Hero Chu is not the kind to frivolously harass women…” He glanced at the expression of Ling Tianxiao sitting at the head, and continued, “As expected, it was this demoness who did it on purpose. She just wanted to incite internal strife among us!”
At this moment, a disciple of Cixin Valley looked slightly different.
Ming Qi clearly remembered it was he who sent her to deliver medicine to the disciples at Dangshan. How could that be her deliberately approaching them? If she did it on purpose, wouldn’t he be an accomplice? This was truly absurd.
But in the midst of the heated discussions, he couldn’t even speak up.
However, amidst the crowd’s discussions, they realized another more terrifying thing.
“Wait, I remember this demoness is unaffiliated. How did she get into the sect battle? When Tingjian Manor disciples entered, I saw that all five were male. The number of female disciples from other sects was also very small… she wasn’t among them.”
As soon as this was said, everyone’s faces changed.
During the sect battle, so many traps and poisonous insects suddenly appeared, and the number of accidents surged. Later on, many people were sent for rescue, and no one pursued the identity of each disciple who came. But thinking back carefully now, it was truly horrifying.
“She must have been an inside agent arranged by the demonic sect’s leader, or she deliberately wanted to enter to witness our disciples being killed with her own eyes…”
“I said, why did she never step into traps while leading other disciples? She must have been present when the traps were set up… What a demoness, harming people while stealing the limelight.”
“What is her purpose in coming to Cixin Valley this time?”
Someone immediately analyzed, “She must be here to rescue the demonic sect’s leader. The demonic sect leader is hiding somewhere, and he needs an insider, so she came. Also, that old case of Master Nian might have been brought up by her on purpose to distract us and make Cixin Valley’s disciples eager for us to leave. They killed two peasant women and then killed the disciple who spread the rumors to silence him.”
“No wonder she could instantly say Hua Yi’s name that day. Turns out it was all arranged by their demonic sect!”
Everyone marveled at how deep and terrifying the scheming of this demonic sect demoness was, mingling among them for so long without being discovered. Someone else added, “I always thought she didn’t seem like a good person. Normal righteous female heroes like Fairy Qin from Qiqin Tianxia all have an ethereal demeanor, but she looks just like a vixen.”
“I heard she once caused Young Hero Lu to draw his sword against his cousin, Lu Chengzhao.”
“I heard that too. She has seduced more than one young hero. They say she even tried to seduce Young Hero Bai Yijiang from Baiya Peak but failed.”
“Isn’t there a young disciple from Qingcheng Sect who is infatuated with this demoness?”
A disciple from Qingcheng Sect thought for a moment and then exclaimed, “Are you talking about Junior Brother Zhao You? It seems so. This demoness once stayed in our Dongfeng Buye Building’s courtyard for a while. We even joked about Junior Brother Zhao being bold enough to compete with Young Hero Lu for her.”
“Now that you mention it, I remember she seemed to have no internal energy when we were in Lishan City. But yesterday, I saw her leap onto a rooftop, which doesn’t seem like someone without internal energy…”
“Maybe she sealed her internal energy to get close to Young Hero Lu, and now that she no longer needs to pretend, she’s restored it!”
At this point, even Ming Qi started to feel a hint of doubt. But the girl he remembered was someone who didn’t even realize she was in love with Young Hero Lu and asked him for herbs to cool Lu Chengsha’s temper…
How could she be so scheming?
Could it be that even her behavior in front of him was all an act?
While everyone was talking, Lu Chengsha walked in.
He was unaware of what had happened, and everyone looked at him with subtle and sympathetic eyes. Lu Chengsha remained oblivious, his gaze cold, his face expressionless, and a hidden killing intent surrounded him, still appearing as the same Lu Chengsha as before.
Ling Tianxiao signaled, and someone nervously summarized what everyone had just said, gently conveying it to him.
Lu Chengsha’s gaze changed from calm to turbulent, and then he suddenly lifted his eyes, staring fixedly at the speaking disciple, who felt a chill down his spine and stammered.
Everyone could sense the change in Lu Chengsha.
He listened quietly until the disciple finished speaking, then turned to leave.
“…Great Hero Lu, where are you going?”
Lu Chengsha replied, “I’m going to ask her.”
“You mustn’t! If you go and confront her, it will alert the enemy! And her identity is already so clear, do you still not believe it?” Someone hurriedly stopped him.
“Young Hero Lu, we understand it’s hard for you to accept, but don’t be deceived by that demoness. She approached you deliberately to gain your trust and then plot against you.”
But Lu Chengsha did not stop walking.
At this moment, a male voice rang out.
“Young Hero Lu, I cannot bear to see you like this. You only know her as Zhou Xiaohua, but that is just an alias. Her real surname is Hua, with the single name Yan. That is her true name.” Yu Ye’s voice held a trace of bitterness. “To be honest, I once had feelings for her as well. But after I defected from the demonic sect, she treated me as nothing. She grew up in the demonic sect and was personally taught by the Fiery Flame Demoness. Her nature is deeply ingrained. No matter what choices she makes, she will always choose the demonic sect’s leader, Xie Yingxian, even if…” His voice paused, as if deeply pained, “Even if we once had a marriage agreement. I was very close to marrying her.”
Lu Chengsha’s steps finally halted.
“Everything I said is true. If there’s a single lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death.”
Lu Chengsha finally turned around and asked, “Did she agree to marry you?”
Yu Ye was taken aback, then quickly replied, “We had a marriage agreement long ago, of course she agreed.” He took out a dagger from his chest. The hilt was engraved with feathers, and the end was inlaid with rubies, very exquisite and beautiful. “This was specially made and given to me by her. Unfortunately, I could no longer bear the torment of my conscience and chose to defect to the righteous path, unwilling to remain a pawn of the demonic sect. If not for that, we would have been married by now, and she would have been my wife.”
He spoke with a choking voice, yet he felt the intense killing intent from Lu Chengsha, as if he might draw his sword at any moment.
Yu Ye smiled inwardly but continued to look sorrowful on the surface, “Young Hero Lu, don’t take your anger out on me. I am already despised by her. In her heart, there is probably only the demonic sect leader, Xie Yingxian. I know you have been close recently, but you haven’t been together all the time. Have you ever wondered where she goes when you are not around? Has she behaved unusually at times? Sometimes she pretends to be ignorant just to deceive you.”
At this moment, someone rushed in.
“Something’s wrong! After being exposed, that demoness was rescued…!”
Another person rushed in and said, “There is a hidden passage under Cixin Valley’s water. The demonic sect leader has been hiding there all this time! No wonder we couldn’t find him!”
“She has probably escaped with the demonic sect leader.”
***
Hua Yan bit into the osmanthus candy but found no sweetness in it.
Jiang Lan was driving the carriage, which moved very smoothly. Ning Yin was carefully tearing open the cloth on Hua Yan’s shoulder, cleaning the wound and preparing to apply medicine.
However, every touch made Hua Yan wince in pain.
Since childhood, Hua Yan had never been ill or injured, and she had a very low tolerance for pain. Earlier, her mental tension and inner anxiety overshadowed the pain, but now that she had relaxed, she couldn’t bear it anymore. Surrounded by familiar faces, her eyes immediately filled with tears.
Looking at the wound, Ning Yin felt heartache, seeing it as a crack on a piece of clear white jade, now marred with blemishes. She said gently, “Holy Maiden, I’ll be gentler. Bear with it, it’ll be over soon.”
Hua Yan bit her lip and nodded, but the pain still pierced her deeply.
Ning Yin frowned, inwardly cursing the righteous path several times over, regretting that she hadn’t managed to kill a few more of them earlier. The wound was deeper than she had imagined, almost to the bone. She worried whether it would leave a scar after healing.
Hua Yan sniffed and began thinking about Lu Chengsha.
She desperately wanted to throw herself into his arms, act spoiled, and see him flustered as he comforted her. When she had a cold and fever, they hadn’t yet been intimate, but Lu Chengsha had taken great care of her and worried endlessly. Now, he would probably be even more tender… Then she remembered that Lu Chengsha now knew her true identity, and all of this became moot.
She couldn’t help but pout, feeling a great sense of grievance.
Xie Yingxian turned his head to the side, not looking at the two of them. He pressed his temples, unable to ignore the sounds next to him.
Knowing some things was one thing, but he wasn’t interested, nor was he adept at them—he could lay out facts and reasons, but he certainly couldn’t comfort a heartbroken girl. He had foreseen this day back when they were in the Dangshan dungeon.
As he was thinking, he heard his maid beside him say, “Holy Maiden, why is there a mark on this side of your shoulder? Was it from a mosquito bite?”
Hua Yan paused, then replied, “…Yes.”
Ning Yin said, “I’ll apply some ointment to repel insects… Wow, Holy Maiden, it feels like you’ve grown a bit since I last saw you. Don’t you think so, Master?”
Xie Yingxian: “…”
Ning Yin continued, “Why don’t I measure you? We need to measure your size when we get to our destination to change into new clothes anyway!”
Hua Yan protested, “No!”
Ning Yin insisted, “I have a ruler right here. Come on!”
Even Jiang Lan, who was driving the carriage, lifted the curtain and teased, “If you don’t let her measure, she won’t let it go all the way. Holy Maiden, just bear with it a bit.”
The carriage wasn’t large, and the commotion was significant. Hua Yan seemed to have no time for sorrow anymore.
As the only male in the carriage, Xie Yingxian considered switching places with Jiang Lan outside but ultimately decided he was too lazy to drive. He pressed his temples again and said, “Alright, calm down a bit.”
Only then did Ning Yin quiet down.
The carriage stopped outside a small town, and the four of them changed into new disguises. Ning Yin transformed herself into a man and took turns driving the carriage with Jiang Lan.
Xie Yingxian also disguised himself, making his face look deathly pale, planning to pose as a sickly young master. To make it more convincing, they bought a medicine stove and herbs to brew medicine inside the carriage.
Jiang Lan posed as his concubine, and Hua Yan said, “I’ll play your sister!”
Xie Yingxian glanced at her and said, “Do sickly young masters seeking medical treatment bring their sisters along?”
Hua Yan suggested, “Then I’ll play your daughter, showing filial piety!”
Xie Yingxian raised an eyebrow and replied, “I couldn’t have a daughter as old as you… Forget it, you can be my maid. Find her some plain clothes.”
Although Jiang Lan’s outfit was attractive, Hua Yan thought for a moment and decided to give it up. After changing into a simpler outfit, she suddenly remembered and asked, “Where is Protector Qi?”
Xie Yingxian replied, “He has returned to the sect ahead of us.”
Hua Yan was puzzled, “But isn’t the sect already under Yu Ye’s control? What will he do when he gets back… Oh, didn’t you say you were going to give that scoundrel Yu Ye a surprise?”
Xie Yingxian smiled at her words and said, “All under his control? It’s not that easy. Do you think I’m just a vegetarian? I went into Ling Tianxiao’s dungeon with a bitter flesh strategy to give him a chance. Otherwise, do you think he would dare to expose himself so easily? I knew this opportunity was rare, and he wouldn’t want to give it up.”
Hua Yan, full of confidence in him, said, “As long as you think it’s fine!”
Xie Yingxian said nonchalantly, “His caution is expected. Some of his methods really don’t work well within our sect. No matter how he wins people over, he can’t change one fact—he’s not strong enough, so he still wants to win over the righteous path. As for the surprise, you’ll know soon enough.”
“But…” Xie Yingxian suddenly remembered, “One more thing I need to remind you. Now that he is by Ling Tianxiao’s side, he might embellish the truth about you, especially any suspicious actions of yours, and make a big deal out of them. When that happens, others, including Lu Chengsha, might misunderstand you. You’d better not go recklessly.”
Hua Yan was stunned, recalling all the things she had done in the past, including hiding her identity from Lu Chengsha—she hadn’t even had the chance to tell him her real name.
“…What will happen?” Her heart trembled.
Xie Yingxian said, “I don’t know. It depends on him.”