After Cutting Off Love And Emotions, I Was Pestered By The Demon Sect’s Enchantress - Chapter 10

Thunderclouds

The surrounding clouds slowly converged into a thick, deep black, with faint streaks of lightning flickering within them. The immortal skiff shuttled through this sea of thunderclouds.

A-Xu’s expression was grave as she spoke to Zhu Shengxi, “It’s a thundercloud cell. Should I maneuver the skiff to avoid it?”

Hearing this, Zhu Shengxi ignored A-Xu’s previous warnings and forced herself out of bed. The moment her feet touched the floor, a massive wave of dizziness suddenly struck. Her body lurched, but instead of the expected pain of a fall, she was caught in someone’s arms.

How could she be this weak?

Zhu Shengxi looked at A-Xu coldly and questioned, “What did you do?” Her tone was icy to the extreme, carrying a hint of gritted teeth.

A-Xu blinked innocently. “I didn’t do anything. I told you, it’s best to lie down and rest while your heavy injuries haven’t healed. You’re the one who insisted on getting up.”

A layer of anger rose in Zhu Shengxi’s eyes. Did she not know her own spiritual energy consumption or the severity of her injuries? After the clash with Ling Zhuo, no matter what, she shouldn’t have been so injured that she couldn’t even walk.

Before the anger in her heart could subside, she felt herself being lifted in a horizontal carry in the next instant.

The extremely unfamiliar sensation of weightlessness caused her to instinctively grab the other person’s lapels. From this angle, Zhu Shengxi could only see A-Xu’s calm profile.

A-Xu gently placed her back onto the bed and asked, “How do I control the skiff to avoid the thunderclouds?”

Zhu Shengxi was annoyed and initially wanted to close her eyes and ignore her, but since the skiff was currently traveling through the thunderclouds—an extremely dangerous situation—she couldn’t just leave things be.

She turned her face away, her gaze landing elsewhere, and said coldly, “Control it with spiritual energy.”

A-Xu hummed in response. At the moment she turned around, the corners of her mouth curled upward imperceptibly.

No matter how cold this person acted, she had her ways.

One day, this hedgehog would voluntarily reveal her trusting side.

At the very front of the skiff’s deck, there was a rudder for controlling direction. When A-Xu stepped out of the cabin, the scene outside became even clearer.

The sky was pitch black, and terrifying thunder crashed with a roar, nearly striking the skiff.

A-Xu steadied her mind, gathered spiritual energy in her palms, and gripped the rudder. As the energy was injected, the outermost ring of the rudder lit up. She stared at the black clouds, maneuvering the skiff to dodge streaks of lightning.

The gale howled, and her black robes snapped loudly in the fierce wind. A-Xu focused intently, preparing to accelerate the skiff through the thunderclouds, when Zhu Shengxi’s voice transmission echoed in her mind:

“Come back.”

A-Xu hesitated for a moment but eventually let go of the rudder and turned to return to the cabin.

“What is it?” A-Xu sat by the bed, her gaze puzzled.

Zhu Shengxi glanced at her, then leaned forward, grabbed her collar, and said coldly, “Give me back my spiritual energy.”

A-Xu thought she was still throwing a tantrum and said gently, “Your energy will recover after a few days of rest. Right now the skiff is in the thunderclouds; I need to go control it to avoid the lightning.” As she spoke, she moved to stand up, only to find her collar still gripped tightly.

Zhu Shengxi’s expression was serious. “Think of a way to restore my spiritual energy now. I am not joking with you.”

She was being forceful without explaining why. A bit of dissatisfaction rose in A-Xu’s heart as she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why?”

Having witnessed this person’s talent for being difficult and unreasonable, Zhu Shengxi didn’t want to get into a long-winded argument. She stated succinctly: “The skiff cannot make it through the thunderclouds. It won’t get out.”

“So, hurry and let me restore my energy so we can leave before the skiff breaks apart.”

A-Xu’s lips moved, and after a long pause, she squeezed out a sentence: “You cannot restore your spiritual energy prematurely, or else your cultivation realm will drop.”

Her expression didn’t look like she was lying. Zhu Shengxi endured and endured, but finally burst out in anger, “Just what did you do? What is your purpose?”

A-Xu allowed her to pull her collar, lowering her eyes as she murmured, “It hurts.”

Zhu Shengxi stared at her coldly. After a moment, she helplessly released her hand. Suddenly, the skiff shook violently. The roof was pierced through by a bolt of lightning, and wood chunks and sawdust tumbled down.

A-Xu immediately pulled the jade flute from her waist and condensed a seal to block the falling debris. More and more lightning strikes hit the skiff, leaving it teetering on the verge of collapse.

Zhu Shengxi asked coldly, “Can you fly a sword?”

While blocking the falling wood, A-Xu replied, “Do you see a sword on me?”

Zhu Shengxi picked up the Chenque Sword lying beside her and handed it over. “Use Chenque.”

A-Xu was stunned. The Chenque Sword was Zhu Shengxi’s soul-bound spirit sword. A soul-bound sword is telepathically linked to the cultivator’s emotions and is extremely important; generally, it cannot be easily lent to others.

Seeing her dazed at a time like this, Zhu Shengxi couldn’t help but frown and urge, “What are you staring for? Hurry up!”

A-Xu pulled her thoughts together and took the Chenque Sword. She pressed two fingers together, chanting a mantra, and the Chenque Sword moved accordingly.

As Zhu Shengxi watched her skillfully perform the sword-flying hand seals, the suspicions in her heart deepened.

The technique A-Xu used gave her a strange sense of familiarity. It didn’t look like some unorthodox or crooked path. Zhu Shengxi wanted to observe further, but A-Xu turned back to look at her.

“You… grab onto my sleeve in a moment.”

After saying that, A-Xu lightly wrapped an arm around her waist, brought her onto the sword, and then controlled the blade to lift off. In the instant the Chenque Sword flew out of the skiff, a final bolt of heavenly thunder fell, smashing the skiff to pieces.

A-Xu glanced back. “The skiff was destroyed.”

The sky was gloomy. Zhu Shengxi looked at the constantly gathering lightning in the distance with a heavy expression. “Yes, I know.”

A-Xu asked again, “Didn’t you say the skiff wasn’t yours? Will the owner give you trouble?”

Zhu Shengxi felt like she was just making small talk and answered patiently, “No.”

In the next moment, the hand around her waist tightened. Zhu Shengxi thought she was intentionally teasing her again and frowned, saying coldly, “Is it always interesting to act this way?”

“What?” A-Xu turned her head. Zhu Shengxi noticed her lips were pale and her expression was strange, holding a hint of trepidation.

What… happened to her?

Zhu Shengxi narrowed her eyes at A-Xu. After a long while, she asked, “Are you nervous?”

“No.” A-Xu pursed her lips, uncharacteristically responding with only two words.

Zhu Shengxi wanted to ask more, but suddenly, there was a flash of electricity ahead. A-Xu hurriedly changed her hand signs to maneuver the sword away from the bolt. Whether out of haste or something else, A-Xu made a wrong step in the hand signs, and the Chenque Sword beneath their feet stalled for a few seconds.

Her mind suddenly went blank. A-Xu froze, muttering, “I got it wrong. What do I do?”

Her state was clearly abnormal. Zhu Shengxi called out softly, “Chenque.”

Even though she currently lacked spiritual energy, the Chenque Sword was one with her heart; it would not fall easily. Zhu Shengxi grabbed A-Xu’s hand, correcting her sword-flying movements, and said softly:

“Don’t panic.”

That “Don’t panic” pulled her out of the abyss of memory. A-Xu steadied her mind and controlled the sword to fly rapidly out of the thundercloud zone.

Observing that A-Xu’s complexion was still not great, Zhu Shengxi silently suppressed the questions in her heart. Without spiritual energy to protect her body, the cold wind was like a blade, stinging so much she couldn’t keep her eyes open, forced to keep her head slightly bowed.

A-Xu noticed this keenly and cast a protective barrier, shielding them from the fierce wind.

The sky gradually returned to normal; they had exited the thundercloud region. A-Xu looked at the undulating mountain ranges below and asked in a low voice, “Which Mystic Domain is this?”

An immortal skiff could travel a thousand miles in half a day. Zhu Shengxi did a quick calculation in her head and said, “It should be the Eastern Mystic Domain.”

Upon hearing this, A-Xu remained silent.

Zhu Shengxi glanced at her and said calmly, “Are you not happy? You can go home soon.”

A-Xu pouted, thinking to herself: She’s probably the happy one, finally being able to get rid of me. This person is likely secretly rejoicing.

A-Xu thought for a moment and feigned difficulty. “I want to go home too, but I’ve provoked Ling Zhuo. If I go home now, I’m afraid I’ll implicate my kin.”

Zhu Shengxi acted as if she hadn’t heard the hint and emphasized, “Before you go home, let me restore my spiritual energy.”

Her words received no response. A-Xu sneered in her heart and likewise avoided the topic, asking, “Daoist Friend Zhu doesn’t often leave the sect. What is the purpose of your trip this time?”

“None of your business.”

It was the same icy tone as usual. A-Xu almost thought that the gentle “Don’t panic” from earlier was her own hallucination.

A-Xu’s expression remained unchanged. She pursed her lips and smiled, saying leisurely, “I guess… it’s for that jade.”

“The jade in the Heaven-Dry Realm is only one piece of it. You want to collect the complete jade, right?”

Zhu Shengxi hadn’t expected her to be so sharp. For a moment, she couldn’t think of any other excuse to brush her off, so she could only give a stiff denial: “No.”

Her denial seemed pale and weak. A-Xu said slowly, “What if I said I could help you collect the complete jade?”

Zhu Shengxi looked at her. Her expression was serious, her face full of sincerity, with no hint of falsehood to be seen.

“Collaborate with me. It’s better than searching aimlessly on your own.” In the whistling wind, her voice was somewhat ethereal, carrying a faint, subtle inducement.

Zhu Shengxi said nothing, staring at A-Xu. Those eyes were still clear and bright, meeting hers frankly without guilt or calculation.

Someone with such clear eyes didn’t seem like a person who practiced evil arts, yet her words and actions were rebellious and inconsistent with those of righteous cultivators.

Zhu Shengxi could feel that she seemed to be intentionally approaching her, but no matter how she tried to test her, this person always managed to change the subject and muddle through.

Today, she was able to make her lose all her spiritual energy while she was off-guard. If they truly collaborated, who knew what she might do later?

The shift in Zhu Shengxi’s emotions was fully captured by A-Xu. She lowered her head and laughed, saying, “Daoist Friend Zhu has doubts about me. We certainly won’t be able to work together effectively. How about this: you ask me three questions, I will answer truthfully to dispel your suspicions.”

To her surprise, Zhu Shengxi shook her head. “Once my spiritual energy is restored, we shall go our separate ways.”

A-Xu was silent for a moment, then asked, “You said before that those who practice evil arts are all people with crooked hearts. You think of me that way in your heart, so you disdain to be with me, is that it?” Her tone was calm, without a trace of resentment even when using the word “disdain.”

Zhu Shengxi frowned slightly but gave no answer.

A-Xu snorted and steered the sword down toward a certain mountain range below.

Seeing this, Zhu Shengxi asked, “Why are you landing here?”

“I’ve exhausted too much spiritual energy. I can’t hold on anymore,” A-Xu said truthfully.

Hearing this, Zhu Shengxi was silenced. Flying a sword through that thundercloud area indeed consumed a lot of energy. She had been focused solely on restoring her own power and getting away, failing to consider this point.

Moreover, A-Xu’s expression had been normal just now, showing no signs of the weakness that comes with over-exhaustion.

As soon as they landed, A-Xu’s body swayed. She leaned against a nearby tree, her face pale, yet her hand still held tightly onto Zhu Shengxi to protect her.

It turned out she had been forcing herself to endure just now.

The grip on her waist was still palpable. Zhu Shengxi looked at her, an indescribable feeling rising in her heart.