After Cutting Off Love And Emotions, I Was Pestered By The Demon Sect’s Enchantress - Chapter 19

Immediate Jade City (Part 5)

Zhu Shengxi turned her face away slightly, arguing in a low voice, “It was you who suddenly grabbed my wrist.”

A-Xu feigned surprise. “I gripped your wrist unconsciously, and Fellow Taoist Zhu didn’t immediately break free?”

Zhu Shengxi’s mind was in disarray, and she fell into silence once more.

Last time, she hadn’t struggled because she didn’t want to force a release and cause A-Xu further injury, but this time… she hadn’t even thought about breaking free.

Last night, A-Xu’s consciousness had been heavy and blurred; those intimate actions should have been unintentional. Yet she herself had been clearly awake, yet she had allowed herself to sink into that intimacy.

She didn’t resent A-Xu’s closeness; in fact… she had tacitly permitted it.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” A-Xu’s eyes carried a smile, and her voice was gentle, yet as she slowly drew closer, there was an inexplicable feeling of pressing her advantage.

Zhu Shengxi said coolly, “Abruptly breaking away would have aggravated your injuries.” She paused, then added: “That is all.”

The final sentence sounded like a clumsy cover-up no matter how one heard it. A-Xu smiled and stopped teasing her on purpose, turning instead to serious matters.

“Currently, we can only guess the general appearance of the Chenze Beast from that painting. Do you have any clues on how specifically to find it?”

Zhu Shengxi pondered for a moment. “The Chenze Beast certainly isn’t in the city; it has likely fled to some deep forest. But Jade City is adjacent to several mountain ranges. Searching them one by one would consume too much time.”

A-Xu thought for a moment and said, “The Xie family said the Chenze Beast is similar in build to an eagle, so it should also be carnivorous. The deep forest is overgrown and tangled, making it difficult to hunt snakes or wild chickens. Therefore, it can only resort to eating carrion.”

“Additionally, the Chenze Beast is a third-tier spiritual beast and requires spiritual energy for nourishment. Thus, the carrion it consumes must either be in a place rich in spiritual energy or a place shrouded in yin energy.”

Her analysis was logical and well-reasoned, and she seemed quite knowledgeable about the habits of spiritual beasts. A flash of surprise crossed Zhu Shengxi’s eyes. “Are you truly a cultivator without a sect or affiliation?”

A-Xu looked at her with a hint of dissatisfaction. “Yes. I’m here helping you analyze the situation, and you’re starting to suspect me again?”

Zhu Shengxi shook her head slightly. “No, I simply think you are naturally intelligent.”

Intelligent…

A-Xu fell silent for a moment, lowering her eyes. “You are the first person to praise me like that.”

Seeing the sudden dimming of her gaze, Zhu Shengxi knew she might have touched upon a painful subject. She asked tentatively, “Why haven’t you joined an orthodox sect?”

It seemed this person hadn’t listened to a single word she had said before.

A-Xu glanced at her. “I told you already—they couldn’t tolerate me.”

Zhu Shengxi knit her brows in silence. A-Xu had indeed said that before, but at the time, Zhu Shengxi hadn’t believed her at all.

“Why resort to practicing heretical arts?” Zhu Shengxi looked at her, her eyes filled with confusion.

They had clearly been discussing how to find the Chenze Beast just a moment ago, and A-Xu didn’t understand why she had veered the conversation off track, but she still answered patiently: “Cultivation is fast. It allowed me to have the power to protect myself as soon as possible.”

A-Xu looked at her and, after a long while, sighed softly. “Someone like you, born of a famous clan with a smooth path in the Dao, wouldn’t understand. You only see the surface. You see that some cultivators practice heretical arts, but you don’t see the hardships behind it.”

Hearing these words, Zhu Shengxi felt a tightening in her chest. She couldn’t help but think of her conversation with Ling Zhuo back at the Suluo tribe.

At that time, her tone had been certain as she claimed that those who practiced heretical arts were all people seeking private gain or possessing crooked hearts… What must A-Xu have felt in her heart then?

Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind: she really wanted to tell A-Xu to stop practicing heretical arts, and then…

“Let’s move quickly.” A-Xu’s words interrupted her thoughts. Zhu Shengxi looked at her and found her expression normal, as if she had already adjusted her emotions.

“Alright,” Zhu Shengxi replied, tucking her thoughts away.

The forest was shrouded in thick fog, and the path ahead was indistinct. Zhu Shengxi condensed a spell at her fingertips. A flash of spiritual power surged, but it did not break through the barrier; instead, it vanished into the dense mist.

“This is the mountain range closest to Jade City. We’ll start searching here,” Zhu Shengxi said to the person behind her.

A-Xu nodded and looked ahead. The white mist before them was growing thicker. The surrounding shrubs were draped in fog, appearing as flickering shadows; everything felt somewhat off.

A-Xu felt suspicious and spoke up to warn her: “There’s something strange here. Let’s stay close so we don’t get separated.”

Zhu Shengxi hummed in agreement and walked side-by-side with her. Because they were so close, their sleeves brushed against each other from time to time before quickly parting.

Zhu Shengxi glanced at the person beside her, but A-Xu seemed entirely unaware, looking ahead with a calm face.

She quietly moved a few steps to the side so their sleeves would no longer touch. Unexpectedly, A-Xu also moved a few steps. Now, it wasn’t just their sleeves touching; their arms were pressed together, and A-Xu was almost leaning against her.

What crooked idea does she have now?

Before she could ask, Zhu Shengxi suddenly felt her left hand gently grasped. A strange, warm body temperature traveled from the palm of her hand.

She had never been so intimate with anyone else. Zhu Shengxi turned her head to look at A-Xu. A soft smile surfaced in A-Xu’s eyes. “I think… holding hands makes it harder to get lost.”

Meeting the smile in her eyes, Zhu Shengxi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Her expression became somewhat unnatural as she shifted her gaze away, saying nothing more.

She actually permitted the hand-holding…

A-Xu was somewhat stunned. She had thought this person would surely coldly pull her hand away, but she hadn’t expected her to say nothing at all.

Continuing forward, the two were almost swallowed by the mist. Zhu Shengxi held her Chenque Sword and slowed her pace. She glanced to the side; the surroundings were completely submerged in the thick fog. If it weren’t for the hand she was holding, she might have felt that A-Xu wasn’t even there.

“This thick fog isn’t poisonous; there’s no need to cover your nose and mouth,” A-Xu’s voice rang out beside her.

Zhu Shengxi hummed in response and condensed a spell again, only to find that her spiritual power seemed to have vanished completely. There was no spiritual energy at all within her meridians.

The person beside her suddenly stopped, and A-Xu couldn’t help but be confused. “Why have you stopped?”

Despite being right next to her, she couldn’t see Zhu Shengxi’s face clearly; she could only hear a voice carrying a chill:

“My spiritual power has disappeared. Did you play some trick again?”

Hearing this, A-Xu frowned slightly and tried to circulate the spiritual power in her body, only to find that her spiritual power had also vanished.

“Mine is gone as well.”

“It’s possible a restriction was set up ahead that prevents the use of spiritual power. Let’s go back first. Without spiritual power, even if we find the Chenze Beast, we won’t be able to take it away.” After saying this, A-Xu turned, preparing to walk back.

Zhu Shengxi grabbed her firmly and said in a heavy voice, “After entering the mist, we couldn’t see the road ahead. We were only moving forward by feeling. How do you know that walking back now is the way we came?”

A-Xu realized: “True. The directions here are likely shifting quietly.”

Under the thick fog, the road ahead was impossible to see. They were only moving forward on intuition. But if this place was like the Heavenly Qian Realm, where positions changed silently, then turning back now would only lead to a dead end.

Zhu Shengxi composed herself. “For now, we can only continue forward. And… don’t look back.”

After a long time with no response, Zhu Shengxi’s face changed slightly. At that moment, she suddenly felt that the sensation in her left hand was wrong.

She opened her left hand to look, and it was actually a piece of withered wood.

How can this be? Just a second ago, A-Xu was right beside me.

Zhu Shengxi dropped the withered wood and called out to her surroundings: “A-Xu? A-Xu!”

There was no response, only the vast, white fog. Surrounded by the dense mist, it felt as though she was the only one there.

Zhu Shengxi gripped the Chenque Sword tightly. Just then, a sense of malevolent chill rose in her heart. Guided by instinct, she quickly lunged to the side as a massive, sharp claw narrowly grazed her right arm.

Could that claw just now have been the Chenze Beast? But in this thick fog, even if the Chenze Beast is a third-tier beast, it shouldn’t be able to see clearly either.

There was no time for much thought. A whistling sound of breaking wind rang in her ear. Zhu Shengxi held her sword horizontally, just in time to block the claw, and then retreated several steps to shed part of the force.

Without spiritual power protecting her body, she couldn’t withstand it at all.

The next attack came quickly. Unlike the previous one, which had stirred the surrounding air, this one was silent.

The sharp claws tightly caught the blade of the sword. Zhu Shengxi was somewhat surprised. In the next instant, a force dragged the sword downward.

Zhu Shengxi made a split-second decision and let go of the sword. She thought the Chenque Sword would fall to the ground, but to her surprise, those sharp claws forcibly turned the sword around and hurled it toward her. The speed was so fast it left no time to dodge.

At that moment, an ear-piercing flute sound rang out abruptly. The mist thinned slightly, and A-Xu looked toward Zhu Shengxi with a worried expression, finding her leaning on her sword, blood gushing from a wound on her abdomen.

A-Xu hurried over. Noticing blood on the tip of the sword, she asked, “Isn’t the Chenque Sword your natal spiritual sword? How could it wound you?”

Zhu Shengxi said in a heavy voice, “In here, the connection between me and the Chenque Sword has been severed.”

Blood continued to flow out, and her voice was inevitably weak: “I tried just now. For some reason, I can’t stop the bleeding.”

Hearing this, A-Xu’s face changed. She reached out to unfasten the lapel of her robe.

Zhu Shengxi instinctively pressed her hand down. “Give me the medicine. I’ll apply it myself.”

A-Xu frowned. “If the bleeding won’t stop, I need to see the wound to determine if you’ve been poisoned.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shengxi fell silent for a moment and moved her hand away, allowing A-Xu to unfasten her layers of clothing.

She looked elsewhere. After a short while, she felt a coolness on the wound.

A-Xu must have applied the ointment.

Zhu Shengxi closed her eyes in embarrassment. Thinking of her current state with her clothes partially undone, the sense of strangeness in her heart continued to magnify.

She thought that once the medicine was applied, it would be over. But in the next moment, that soft, warm hand gently stroked her abdomen.

Zhu Shengxi’s body jolted, and she immediately opened her eyes. Yet that hand remained there, lingering without any sense of propriety. She couldn’t help but say coldly, “What are you doing?”

A-Xu looked innocent. “I’m checking if there are any hidden internal injuries.”

“It’s not necessary,” Zhu Shengxi spat out several words coldly and quickly straightened her clothes.

Seeing her slightly annoyed expression, A-Xu laughed instead. “I’m telling the truth. I really was just checking for hidden injuries.”

Zhu Shengxi restrained her anger and cooled her voice: “Is it necessary to stroke all over just to check a wound?”

A-Xu’s expression stiffened for a moment, then she changed her tune: “Fine. Actually, there was an element of selfishness involved.”

“But,” she corrected quite seriously, “I wasn’t ‘stroking all over.’ Don’t talk nonsense.”

Zhu Shengxi raised her eyes to look at her, only asking: “What selfishness?”

A-Xu’s gaze was tender as she stared at her.

“I like you a little.”