After a Fake Death, the Emotionless Dao Senior Sister Became Obsessed - Chapter 16

Sister, blow on it, and the pain will go away…

Shen Susu hurried over from behind Si Jing.

She stumbled and fell from her flying sword, seeing Yuan Ling lying on the jade bed with her eyes tightly closed. Susu gritted her teeth and gripped her sword hilt.

“…Give Yuan Ling back.”

“It’s no matter,” Shan Hu did not look up, her gaze fixed only on the mermaid fish oil lamp, her eyes full of tenderness.

“It won’t affect anything even without this one soul of hers.”

“Soon, my Elder Sister will return.”

Chu Zhao could not understand what her usually gentle niangzi (wife/mistress) was saying.

She used all her strength to pull at Yuan Ling’s body, biting onto the maiden’s frost-covered collar and breathing warm air onto her.

Anxiously pecking at her neck, “W-wake up! Ah Chu wants peanuts, hurry up and get up!”

Shan Hu slowly walked over.

Chu Zhao’s cheek was suddenly cupped by a soft hand.

She looked up in a daze, noticing that Shan Hu’s eyes contained suppressed demonic energy.

Yet, she restrained her tone, her voice low and soft, “Ah Chu, you need to be good and listen.”

Chu Zhao bit her, “Niangzi is lying to me!”

“You said you were timid and didn’t dare to kill; you said you would only like me, one demon, but your heart still holds someone else.”

Her apricot eyes were tearful and full of grievance, “…Why did you lie to Ah Chu?”

Chu Zhao had never imagined that the niangzi she most adored would lie to her.

Almost everything she knew about the world outside the desolate mountain was told to her by Shan Hu.

Shan Hu said there was the cycle of the sun and moon and four seasons outside the mountain, and the scenery was exquisitely beautiful, so her heart yearned to go and see how the moon rose;

Shan Hu said the Xuanmen (cultivation sects) were skilled in scheming and were all hypocrites, so she parted ways with passing cultivators and glared angrily whenever they met;

Shan Hu said she would always be good to her and stay with her forever, and she had deeply believed it.

Fish demons don’t cry, and though Chu Zhao’s nose was sour, no tears fell. She just stared blankly at Shan Hu, “You’re going to abandon Ah Chu too, right?”

The hand cupping her cheek had always been warm, but now it was ethereal and cold, like a wisp of water mist.

Chu Zhao couldn’t sense Shan Hu’s demon power fluctuations and frantically grabbed at her sleeve.

But it was like water slipping through her palm.

The mermaid fish oil lamp Shan Hu held was eternally lit, yet its glow almost passed through her body.

She gave a faint smile, “How could I? Who could bear to cruelly abandon Ah Chu?”

Glancing at the unconscious Yuan Ling on the ice jade bed, she softly murmured, “It’s just that, since she’s someone Ah Chu wants to protect, I won’t hurt her then.”

Only one wisp of soul was missing to condense into her Elder Sister’s new soul.

Then, staking her own would not matter.

Si Jing still stood silently at the entrance, her grip on her sword hilt slightly relaxing.

From the moment she broke into the jade chamber, saw Chu Zhao safe, and then saw Yuan Ling placed on the ice jade bed with soul-condensing properties, she knew.

All along, Shan Hu had kept this fallback plan.

It was so that if someone obstructed, someone… like her, would interfere with the residual soul of Madam Li  being completely reshaped.

But why?

Why would someone be willing to sacrifice her own hundred-plus years of cultivation and soul, just so another could return to this world?

Si Jing lowered her eyes, gazing at her plain, unadorned sword.

She didn’t understand.

Yuan Ling’s eyelashes trembled, her soul flowed back, and her body gradually warmed.

Shen Susu’s eyes were red, no longer able to restrain herself, and she rushed into the jade chamber.

She tightly embraced the silent person on the ice jade bed, “Yuan Ling, little senior sister… don’t scare me.”

How could she have imagined that the moment the Yingchuan City illusion was shattered, the souls of all living beings within the city were extracted?

And the person she guarded with her sword, the one she protected, had placed the only cinnabar-drawn protection talisman on her back.

With her soul being consumed by the mermaid lamp, Shan Hu’s face was already somewhat blurred. She smiled softly at Chu Zhao, wanting to say something, a thousand thoughts rushing through her mind, but she suppressed them.

In the end, she only turned her back, “When you return to the cave dwelling, Ah Chu, you must be good and not worry the other niangzis anymore.”

“Did you know? Everyone missed you very much after you left the desolate mountain.”

Chu Zhao jumped off the jade bed, her voice tearful and panicked, “Niangzi, Niangzi…!”

She didn’t know what Shan Hu was going to do. In her haste and confusion, she tripped. Her transformed, tender body was delicate and soft, scraping until it bled.

Shan Hu sighed.

In the second before her soul was refined by the mermaid fish oil lamp, she gently caught her, “Ah Chu, does it hurt?”

“Blow on it, and the pain will go away.”

As the last thread of Shan Hu’s soul was stripped away, the figure holding Chu Zhao finally dissipated.

In its place, a Demon Core  rose up fiercely.

Its color was not the usual dull, dark shade of a demon, but rather an ashy-white hue, like a chaotic mass of mist.

Chu Zhao knelt on the ground, staring up in a daze.

Niangzi Shan Hu had been lying to her all along. Lying that she hadn’t condensed a demon core, lying that she needed Chu Zhao’s protection.

She hadn’t even told her that she was not a coral demon, but had already fallen into the demonic path

The Demon Core, having lost its sustaining body, suddenly burst open silently.

The thin moisture throughout the chamber silently froze, turning into bitter, salty water droplets that slowly fell.

Every single drop was a mirage of Shan Hu’s memories from her life.

…

It was a beautiful season in Yingchuan City, right after the rain cleared.

Looking up, the dust was washed away, and the mountain scenery was hazy.

Madam Li was drawing water by the stone well in the courtyard, and when she turned her head, she unexpectedly saw her.

A soft, damp hand picked her up, cradling her in the palm. The woman was a little flustered, but her voice was gentle.

“A demon? How did you get here…?”

The sound reaching Shan Hu’s ears was blurry and distorted. She had only just come into being, unable to distinguish human speech, let alone understand it.

She shrank back in terror, curling into a branch-like shape. Even when Madam Li stroked her, she continued to tremble.

Shan Hu came from the Silent Sea, a place full of terrifying demons. Having barely escaped with her life, she was still extremely weak, unable to escape even from a human’s palm.

She was taken back by Madam Li just like that.

The woman fetched a coarse pottery water jar and carefully kept her in the bedroom.

Madam Li independently ran a tofu shop. Business was decent, and she seemed to harbor no prejudice against demons.

One day, Shan Hu boldly climbed to the edge of the water jar and saw the woman busy scrubbing a cutting board.

Just as she was curiously observing, Madam Li suddenly turned her head.

Catching sight of her timid attempt to hide from the corner of her eye, the woman actually smiled.

Hearing the footsteps gradually approach, Shan Hu trembled in fear, sinking to the bottom of the water jar, daring not to move.

But through the gently rocking ripples of the clear water, she saw the woman softly wave her hand and scatter a handful of feed.

“Why did you fall down just now?” Madam Li spoke softly, “Are you hungry? Well, come and try my freshly made tofu, how about it?”

Shan Hu couldn’t suppress her hunger.

Seeing the woman still looking at her with gentle affection and making no further move, she slowly and quietly floated to the surface.

She slowly swallowed one piece of feed, then another.

But the fragrant tofu residue further away, she strained but couldn’t reach it.

Madam Li lightly pushed it over with her fingertip, allowing her to feast.

As Shan Hu swallowed, she didn’t even realize the woman’s fingertip had gently touched her head.

She only heard the woman speak in an especially soft tone, saying words she didn’t understand, “…I’ve never seen such beautiful coral before.”

Yingchuan City was located in the Central State, surrounded by no lakes or seas.

And an ordinary woman, lacking the talent for cultivation and only able to rely on a tofu shop for a living, seemed unlikely to ever step out of the hundred-mile radius of this small city in her lifetime.

Months passed, and Shan Hu was well cared for in the water jar.

Gradually, she was actually able to understand Madam Li’s words.

Madam Li loved to read. Every night, after the tofu shop closed, she would pick up a book and read to Shan Hu, who would perch on the edge of the water jar.

From the secret tales of Kunlun Xu, the head of the Xuanmen in the Northern State, to strange tales of the scenic mountains and rivers of the Southern region, and even some cultivation techniques for drawing qi into the body.

The woman’s voice was soft and pleasing, always telling the stories slowly and methodically.

Shan Hu sank to the bottom of the water, carefully chewing on the words, desperately trying to memorize those cultivation techniques.

She didn’t want to be forever trapped in the water jar. Though she had always been timid, she had never so intensely wished to cultivate a human form.

If she became human, she could walk out of this small Yingchuan City with Madam Li, go to the Northern State to enjoy the snow, and go boating in the Southern region, right?

She was too weak and could only think of this way to repay the woman.

If Madam Li couldn’t cultivate, she was willing to protect the woman forever.

Until one night, Shan Hu woke up and realized she had grown slender, frail hands and feet.

Everything in the world felt utterly unfamiliar.

She managed to climb out of the water jar, dripping wet, and ran to Madam Li’s bedside.

Gazing foolishly at the woman’s face, which was being outlined by the moonlight and was peacefully asleep, she clumsily crawled up, bringing her moist eyelashes closer.

Madam Li opened her eyes. A completely naked, beautiful, and charming strange girl had burrowed into her arms, and she was startled.

Shan Hu opened her mouth, painstakingly uttering human words, “…Li-niang (Madam Li).”

She was extremely panicked, not knowing what she looked like now, afraid of being rejected by the woman, so she leaned closer again.

Pressing her wet lips against the other’s.

A demon’s nature is insatiable, and the softness she touched made her entranced, moving closer in intimacy.

Until both of them were panting, their faces flushed.

Madam Li didn’t mind her forwardness. She just looked at Shan Hu with pity and cupped the knees that had been bruised when she climbed out of the water jar, “Does it hurt?”

“Elder Sister, blow on it, and the pain will go away.”

The name “Shan Hu” was given to her by Madam Li after she transformed into human form.

However, seeing that Shan Hu struggled to pronounce it clearly, the woman lovingly just called her Xiaohu (Little Hu).

Shan Hu and Madam Li spent a full year of seasons in Yingchuan City.

In spring, the peach trees bloomed, and visitors flocked, but because Shan Hu was indulgent in pleasure at night and missed the spring festivities, Madam Li promised to watch them with her the following year;

In summer, they washed clothes by the stream. Shan Hu claimed to be her younger sister, but after everyone left, she secretly kissed Madam Li’s lips.

Shan Hu saw the whole mountain covered in crisp yellow broad leaves for the first time and tasted the initial snowflake on her tongue for the first time.

But Madam Li suddenly fell ill.

She endured the lingering winter of that year by the woman’s bedside.

Shan Hu’s appearance was beautiful to the point of being bewitching, yet she was timid by nature and was usually protected by Madam Li.

Her human speech was halting. She only knew the two words “Li-niang” and “Elder Sister.” She usually kept silent and was extremely withdrawn when meeting strangers.

Now that Madam Li was seriously ill, she attracted much criticism.

The neighbors discussed her unknown origins and, due to her seductive appearance, suspected she was related to the recent rumors of a water demon in the deep pool north of the city.

Those coveting her beauty brought betrothal gifts, breaking the threshold of the tofu shop.

Naturally, this included the only son of a cultivation family in Yingchuan City.

The day Huan Liu came, it was snowing, a rarity for several years.

Shan Hu was spoon-feeding medicine to Madam Li when she suddenly heard the sound of the door being broken open.

A stranger barged into their home. She was terrified and dropped the medicine bowl.

Under Huan Liu’s malicious gaze, she shrank into a ball, so scared that she reverted to her coral original form.

Huan Liu had just been rejected by several Xuanmen sects who had gathered in Yingchuan City to select disciples because of his poor talent. Upon seeing the coral radiating demonic energy, he immediately forgot about the marriage proposal.

He drew his sword, wanting to kill the demon in front of him, hoping to earn the favor of the Xuanmen.

Shan Hu closed her eyes, stubbornly blocking Madam Li’s bedside, shielding the woman with her body.

She thought that perhaps, as a demon, this was the fate she deserved.

Even though she had never done evil, she only wanted to… stay with Madam Li forever.

But when she opened her eyes again, Huan Liu had fallen to the ground, his sword having slipped from his hand, and demonic energy had invaded his body.

Shan Hu cautiously approached and discovered that with her current cultivation, she could actually make demonic energy invade a person’s Sea of Consciousness, allowing her to read and tamper with those memories.

She was anxious, like a child who had secretly eaten Madam Li’s homemade tofu.

She erased Huan Liu’s memory of this encounter, replacing it with… the beautiful coral he saw was just an illusion, and he should never bother her and her Elder Sister again.

After everything was finished, Shan Hu tossed Huan Liu out the door, extremely happy.

This way, she would be able to protect Madam Li better in the future.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last.

The Xuanmen had gathered in Yingchuan City for the disciple selection. With powerful cultivators present, how could they ignore a wisp of demonic energy in the city that was not being suppressed at all?

Within a few days, the door of the tofu shop was broken open.

A group of Xuanmen disciples held talismans. The light from their magical artifacts was blinding, and the demon-tracking stone in their palms could detect a trace of demonic energy from a hundred feet away.

Sword light cleaved a notch in the stone mill. Shan Hu was so frightened that she hid back in the water jar, desperately holding her breath, barely managing to escape.

After the crowd left, she emerged from the water in her original form.

But she saw a female cultivator sitting at the table opposite her.

The woman wore a white-and-green Daoist robe, her demeanor noble and poised, clearly having held a high position for many years. Her facial features were gentle, not as stern as ordinary cultivators looked when they saw her. Her eyes even held a sense of compassion.

After observing her for a moment, her voice softened, and she chuckled, “A water demon? A… coral.”

She waved her hand, removing the barrier that concealed Shan Hu’s aura.

“Did you know that the illness of this woman who raised you into human form,” the cultivator glanced at the unconscious Madam Li, “All the ailments stemmed from you?”

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