After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 31

This was a desolate mountain range, its surface pitch black, the soil beneath her feet scorched as if by raging flames. Scattered around were low tree stumps, their rings devoured by fire, now blurred beyond recognition.

A nearby sign bore the emblem of the demon realm, and a faded, broken marker lay on the ground, likely having rested there for over a decade. Two words were printed on it, “Black Mountain.”

Yes. This was the path she had to take to return to Miaojiang.

Wu Ruo staggered to her feet, ignoring Jiang Qingbei’s loud calls behind her. She gritted her teeth and trudged forward, head down.

She didn’t want to see Jiang Qingbei, didn’t want to see anything related to Zhiyuan Immortal Sect. She couldn’t even bring herself to wield the Jianhong Descends Upon the World sword that Luo Qingyi had left her, nor use her lightness skill to quicken her steps.

All she wanted was to sever all ties with that absurd, laughable chapter of her life in the immortal sect.

“Wu Ruo! Stop running so fast, I’m exhausted! I came looking for you in the middle of the night, and you’re acting like some heartbroken coward who just wants to flee.”

Yue Qinglan snapped, “Qingbei-jie, shut up!”

The two figures flew swiftly on their swords, spiritual energy swirling around the blades as they closed the distance in an instant, now just a step behind Wu Ruo, who was still walking on foot.

Wu Ruo lowered her gaze, wiped her eyes, and turned around. “Young Mistress Jiang. Immortal Lord Yue.”

“Why are you calling me that?! Sure, I call myself that all the time, but you don’t have to.”

Jiang Qingbei’s expression darkened in an instant. Though she usually carried herself with arrogance, she could guess why Wu Ruo had suddenly grown so distant and cold. She hurriedly added, “I know you’re upset, but this happened so long ago crying won’t change anything.”

Before she could finish, Yue Qinglan yanked her back hard. For once, Jiang Qingbei didn’t flare up but fell silent, letting Yue Qinglan take over.

“Senior Sister Wu Ruo. Senior Sister didn’t mean to hide it from you. But as Qingbei said, the calamity in Miaojiang happened over a decade ago. And with you being alone, bringing you back to the sect was the only way to ensure your safety.”

Wu Ruo kept her eyes downcast, staring at the charred grass beneath her feet. It was the most ordinary blade of grass, surrounded by faint specks of green new sprouts emerging from withered roots.

No.

If new seeds had taken root here, then where there was grass.

She closed her eyes, tuning out the voices around her. The venomous scorpion in the inner chamber had awakened her abilities in witchcraft. Her consciousness sank deep into the soil, following the veins of the earth.

A small spider, its limbs shimmering with iridescent hues, slowly emerged from the dense soil.

Snakes, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and toads these were the Five Poisons. And as a daughter of Miaojiang, she was born with the ability to command them.

The spider crawled up the hem of her robe, along her arm, and finally nestled into her fingertip, concealed beneath her sleeve.

On her fingertip was a small, half-healed cut, a wound she had gotten earlier at Zhiyuan Sect’s mountain gate. Now, the spider pried open the cut, its fangs quietly drinking her blood before channeling it through its ducts into its abdomen.

“Senior Sister Wu Ruo, are you listening to me? Senior Sister Luo didn’t mean to hide it from you. She was just worried you might lose heart, which is why she acted this way.”

“Wu Ruo! What are you doing? This place is dangerous, don’t just stand there spacing out!”

A few drops of blood entered the little spider’s abdomen, causing its belly to swell increasingly larger, its color growing more vivid and bright, taking on a deep crimson hue like fresh blood.

It was a Miaojiang gu. Only the venomous snakes and insects raised by the Miao people were accustomed to feeding on her blood. And her wound was minuscule only the most keenly sensitive gu insects could detect its scent and crawl up to it.

Such gu-raising techniques were passed down exclusively among the Miao people.

Could it be that her clansmen hadn’t been wiped out after all?

An immense joy descended upon her like a gift from the heavens, sweeping away Wu Ruo’s heavy grief in an instant. Overjoyed, she gently stroked the little spider’s head and was about to release it, intending to follow its trail to find her long-lost kin.

But the next moment, her little snake, which had somehow slithered into her sleeve, suddenly opened its maw. Its forked tongue instantly coiled around the crimson spider, and despite the spider’s violent struggles, the serpent merely bared its fangs and swallowed it whole!

In the blink of an eye, the little spider vanished into the black snake’s belly.

Wu Ruo: “…”

Seeing that Wu Ruo hadn’t responded for a long time, Yue Qinglan’s voice took on a pleading tone: “Senior Sister, Senior Sister Wu Ruo, the demonic cultivators’ camp is just ahead. With your immortal bones and Golden Core cultivation, you’re like a prized treasure in their eyes. Could you please come away with us first, alright?”

“Fine.” The snake’s tongue coiled around Wu Ruo’s finger, its belly pressing against her skin in a rhythmic undulation.

Suddenly, she understood why the little snake had done this.

“Let’s go. We should leave this place first.” Under the insistent gazes of Jiang and Yue, Wu Ruo finally turned around. Without looking at them, she summoned her sword, Jinghong Jiangshi, and flew back the way they had come.

Throughout the journey, Wu Ruo was uncharacteristically distant, her expression grim. Yue Qinglan didn’t disturb her, but Jiang Qingbei, never one to read the room, assumed she had already recovered and began chattering again.

“Wu Ruo, have you come around? That place is completely overrun by the demonic realm now. I even sensed a few demonic cultivators though I could definitely take them, it’d still be a hassle. What if they dirty my hands. Hmm, why is there a…”

“There’s an aura you can’t quite perceive, isn’t there?”

Perhaps surprised that Wu Ruo had engaged with her, Jiang Qingbei exclaimed, “How did you know? Can you sense it too? But that can’t be my cultivation is so much higher than yours.”

Yue Qinglan interjected, “Qingbei, that’s enough.”

Wu Ruo glanced at her and continued, “Moreover, this person’s cultivation system doesn’t belong to demonic cultivators. Because demonic cultivators are, in truth, righteous cultivators who have fallen after being consumed by inner demons their cultivation system is similar to that of the orthodox sects. But the one you sensed she has no demonic bones, nor does she possess a corrupted core or nascent soul. Because she is…”

Jinghong Jiangshi came to a halt. They had flown to a mountainside far from the demonic realm. An old-fashioned pavilion stood before them, and without ceremony, Wu Ruo brushed the dust off a seat and sat down.

“A gu cultivator. Just like me, a gu cultivator, isn’t that right?”

Wu Ruo raised her face, the tear stains on her cheeks long dried by the wind. Now, apart from the faint redness at the corners of her eyes, there was no trace left of the fragile woman who had collapsed to the ground in despair just two hours earlier, devastated by the fall of her homeland.

Something within her seemed different now.

After her homeland vanished, after she realized she had been deceived by her Daoist companion, after she became aware that the entire world was filled with lies she had never known.

And also, when she noticed her little snake had devoured the red spider and then coiled around her wrist as if seeking praise.

The owner of that red spider her former clansmen had not been slaughtered in the onslaught of the demonic cultivators. Instead, they had chosen to surrender and then joined forces with them.

Her thoughts were clearer than ever before, each word devoid of any emotion.

“But that Gu cultivator turned to demonic ways or rather, my clansmen have already joined the demonic cultivators. You were worried about my stance, afraid I would rush to reconcile with her, sever ties with you, and willingly merge into the demonic realm, becoming a weapon for the demonic cultivators against Luo Qingyi.”

Jiang Qingbei hastily lifted her head, as if deeply wronged, and pointed at Wu Ruo’s nose in anger. “Wu Ruo! How could you think of me like that! You barely count as my friend, even though you’re not at all loyal and made me sleep in a straw shed, but how could I possibly,”

The young mistress’s voice choked slightly. “You, how could you think of me like that!”

Yue Qinglan stepped forward, shielding the red-eyed Jiang Qingbei, and said softly, “I’m sorry, Senior Sister. I know you wouldn’t think that way. We came here only out of selfishness, afraid we’d be punished if we failed your task. That’s why we followed you *not because we were worried you’d join the demonic.”

“I’m not afraid of punishment!” Jiang Qingbei interrupted, her voice rising sharply before trailing off into a whisper, barely audible. “You already consider me a friend, even if it was because you mistook me for someone else. But since you’ve behaved decently, I’ll reluctantly be friends with you too. Not that I don’t have many no, I have plenty of friends! It’s not like I was worried.”

The young mistress’s voice suddenly grew loud again, though with a faint rasp. “Anyway, don’t drag me into your cowardice. So what if Senior Sister punishes us?”

“Alright, thank you for your concern, Qingbei.”

The young mistress’s cheeks flushed instantly, and she muttered something about not caring before scurrying off to sulk in silence.

Watching Jiang Qingbei’s wide-eyed expression, Wu Ruo suddenly felt a warmth in her heart. Her fondness for this tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside young mistress was not insignificant. Just looking at that face, so similar to A-Xiang’s, often made her lose herself, mistaking the other for someone she had once known intimately.

And this young mistress, though seemingly spoiled and unreasonable, was unexpectedly pure-hearted and kind, bearing a striking resemblance to the close friend she had once known.

“Yue Qinglan,” Wu Ruo gathered her thoughts and spoke seriously. “In your opinion, what is your perfect plan?”

“When I first heard you were leaving, I intended to stop you at the mountain gate and send word to Senior Sister, urging her to return quickly. But things got a little unpleasant at the gate. The Peak Master of Changfeng Peak will likely come to cause trouble, so Qingbei-jie and I came out to find you instead.”

Wu Ruo said, “So, what’s your plan now? Follow me from the outside and wait for Luo Qingyi to return, then regroup with her?”

Yue Qinglan didn’t answer, merely smiling in tacit agreement.

“Why don’t we take this chance to have some fun? Let’s tour the Five Great Sects since we’re already out here anyway. My mother gave me plenty of spirit stones and magical artifacts, I’m loaded! Wu Ruo, since you’re kind of my friend, it’s on me!” Jiang Qingbei patted her sleeve, feeling the hefty Qiankun pouch inside, and interjected with a haughty air. However, the other two paid no heed to her suggestion.

“No need, Qingbei,” Wu Ruo chuckled, her gaze burning intently at Yue Qinglan. “How about we try a different approach?”

“The master of Changfeng Peak is a madman who fiercely protects his own, he’s hard to deal with. Since you both want to wait for Luo Qingyi to return before heading back to the immortal sect, and plan to follow me in the meantime to report my every move to her.”

She gave a light laugh. “Why don’t we just go find her instead, what do you say?”

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