After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 44

On a nearby tree branch, Wu Ruo tightly gripped Luo Qingyi’s hand, her body temperature nearly as cold as the other’s.

Surrounded by demonic cultivators hundreds of them, packed so densely there was no room to move each exuded an extraordinary aura. The few at the forefront were particularly formidable, their cultivation profound enough to make Wu Ruo uneasy.

Her mind raced with chaotic thoughts: If we’re really discovered by these demonic cultivators, I don’t know if I can break through with Luo Qingyi.

Perhaps sensing the chill in her fingers, Luo Qingyi noticed her tension and gently hooked Wu Ruo’s pinky, rubbing it lightly with her fingertip a silent reassurance.

“Don’t be afraid,” Luo Qingyi transmitted through divine sense. “None of these demonic cultivators have cultivation surpassing mine. They won’t detect us.”

“Alright.”

Having her jumbled thoughts seen through, Wu Ruo smiled in relief and turned her attention back to the scene below. But the sudden appearance of a woman stunned her. “This person Guardian Lan?”

A familiar name flashed through her mind. Her heart pounded like a drum, yet she remained cautious, silently watching from the tree branch without uttering a word.

She recalled the red spider she had seen at the ruins of Miaojiang.

Could it be?

She didn’t dare speculate. Out of habit, she reached to touch her little snake, only to remember, Xiao Hei had been lost in the Red Temple. Probably with Yue Qinglan, it wouldn’t be faring too badly.

So she continued listening.

Until the words “Miaojiang” were spoken. Wu Ruo’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the flamboyant demonic cultivator in red. “Lan Ting.”

“It seems,” Luo Qingyi, who had also been listening quietly, sighed. “It really is Lan Ting.”

“Lan Ting, she,” Wu Ruo listened intently, her expression growing grave. She transmitted quietly, “I almost didn’t recognize her. In the time since I left Miaojiang, I never imagined, Ah.”

“Mn. In the past, she was a very steady child. But after the calamity in Miaojiang, when we searched the ruins for traces, we found nothing. Now, seeing her alive is already a stroke of luck.”

“The ‘madwoman’ she mentioned must be the Right Envoy of the Demonic Sect that Jin Ruyun spoke of. Do you know anything about her?”

“No.” Luo Qingyi shook her head. “Rumors don’t even reveal her appearance, age, or cultivation techniques. It’s only known that she appeared in the Demonic Sect roughly thirty years ago. With the Demon Sovereign still absent, she oversees all affairs. Some say the Right Envoy often wears a mask of Asura, beneath which lies a face of unparalleled beauty. Others claim her true visage is hideous, covered in scars. Beyond that, there’s no information.”

Wu Ruo nodded and pressed further. “What is the Blood Gu Pool?”

Luo Qingyi glanced at the layers of demonic cultivators below and cast another spell to further conceal their auras. Softly, she explained, “It’s a cruel punishment the demonic cultivators have employed in recent years. The victim suffers the agony of ten thousand gu devouring their heart, a hundred days of torment in a sealed pool of demonic snakes, insects, and poisonous gu. Beyond that, I only know the general method.”

“Heavens,” Wu Ruo stared at Lan Ting, now more terrifying than any demonic cultivator, and at the trembling Jin Hua and her daughter. Her gaze lingered on the changed figure of Lan Ting before she finally sighed. “She has suffered.”

“You should be careful too. The Lan Ting now is no longer the Lan Ting of the past.” Luo Qingyi hesitated for a moment before offering the warning.

She knew that saying this now was particularly ill-timed. If she wanted to go along with Wu Ruo’s desire to reunite with her clansmen and earn some goodwill, she shouldn’t have poured cold water on the situation. But looking at Lan Ting before her, her intuition told her this woman was far from benevolent.

“Hmm.” Wu Ruo responded indifferently, making no movement other than leaning on a tree branch as she quietly observed the figures below. “Let’s watch her first.”

Sharp nails pierced the aged woman’s pale skin, and crimson blood gushed from the wounds. Jin Ruyun’s muffled groan lasted only a brief moment, drowned out by the panicked screams of children and the hushed whispers of the demonic cultivators.

“Elder Jin, does it hurt?”

In the darkness, ethereal clouds obscured the moon, casting the bluestone path before the Red Temple into gloom. A faint light flickered dimly at the temple gate, like a will-o’-the-wisp guiding the way only for an instant.

Lan Ting’s shrill laughter spread through the air, echoing endlessly across the boundless mountains. She gazed with satisfaction at her now bright red, immaculate fingers not only had her nails turned a vivid hue, but her slender, pale fingers were now entirely coated in crimson.

“Any last words? Do you regret it?”

Jin Ruyun knelt on the ground, clutching her bloodied neck as she coughed up thick, dark blood. ” I regret it. From that day onward, I’ve regretted it every single moment.”

Lan Ting sneered, her smile twisted and cruel, before stomping on Jin Ruyun’s head. “Kneel properly! Don’t you dare look at me with those filthy eyes!”

The kick left yet another gaping wound.

Beside them, Jin Hua remained sprawled on the ground. With the innocence of a child, she didn’t understand what was happening to her mother, only maintaining her position as she quietly wiped away her tears.

One of the demonic cultivators watching from the sidelines seemed unable to bear it any longer and stepped forward, whispering, “Guardian Lan, this is someone under the Right Envoy’s command, assigned to a mission. You should still exercise some restraint, lest you provoke the Right Envoy’s wrath.”

“Provoke the Right Envoy?” Lan Ting turned her head as if she had heard a hilarious joke. “Hahahaha! You don’t actually think this pig-like waste is the Right Envoy’s confidant, do you?”

“What is she worth? That madwoman, the Right Envoy, only cares about strength, only whether we have value. With Miaojiang gone, what worth does this barely breathing dog have?”

“But the Right Envoy has warned you before.”

“Let me say it again.”

Lan Ting let out a cold laugh. “This traitor betrayed Miaojiang she could just as easily betray our Divine Sect. Do you think the Right Envoy sent me on this mission for no reason?”

The demonic cultivator lowered his head and murmured an obedient “As you command,” before retreating silently to his post, standing guard over the area.

“Jin Ruyun.”

Lan Ting returned to the kneeling woman and delivered another vicious kick. Jin Ruyun, caught off guard, was sent rolling backward in a full arc, blood splattering across the ground like a wretched, beaten dog.

She hooked Jin Ruyun’s chin with the tip of her shoe. “I almost forgot, you’re here on a mission, aren’t you? Tell me, what did the Right Envoy send you to do? If you answer well, I might even grant you a quicker death.”

“Let me find a red temple where wishes come true, and then wait for her news. I, I’ll go in and try first.”

“Oh, wishes come true? How can there be such a good thing? Everything in this world follows its own course, with cause and effect cycling endlessly. Is this red temple truly so miraculous that it can grant people enormous benefits for nothing?”

“It can,” Jin Ruyun gasped heavily. “It can but the wish might not turn out exactly as expected. My daughter wished to regain her life, but now sob she’s become a child with the mind of a toddler. But she’s still alive!”

Seeing that Lan Ting’s expression seemed to soften slightly, she hesitated before saying, “Guardian Lan are you satisfied with this answer? You can flay me a thousand times, but my daughter is innocent. Could you please.”

“Heh.” Lan Ting’s eyes flickered as she let out a cold laugh. “Satisfied? But—”

She stomped on Jin Ruyun’s knee. With a sickening crack, scorching blood splattered across the hem of Jin Ruyun’s robe.

“I never promised you that I’d spare Jin Hua, the mastermind behind all this.”

Lan Ting suddenly reached out with her right hand, exerting just a fraction of her strength. Jin Hua, who had been silently weeping on the ground, was suddenly yanked up like a ragged sack and pulled into Lan Ting’s grasp!

Her elongated nails dug viciously into Jin Hua’s neck as she tightened her grip and lifted her up.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Jin Hua seemed to realize what was coming and began clawing at Lan Ting’s fingers, struggling desperately.

“No!” Jin Hua whimpered weakly. Her strength wasn’t enough to stop Lan Ting’s actions, and her resistance grew fainter and fainter. Before her last ounce of strength faded, she let out a feeble cry, “M-Mother save.”

“My darling!”

In that fleeting moment, just an insignificant sliver of time, Jin Ruyun, despite her mangled limbs, erupted with a surge of desperate power and lunged at Lan Ting’s raised arm!

The next second, Jin Hua was flung onto the stone floor, her head hitting the ground with a heavy thud. Clutching her bleeding skull, she lay motionless, seemingly knocked unconscious by the pain.

She didn’t know that behind her, her aged mother had once again been seized by the throat by Lan Ting and then brutally slammed into the ground!

BAM!

“Agh!” Jin Ruyun was drenched in blood, her vision too blurred to see anything. She weakly covered her mouth, stifling the mouthful of blood threatening to spill out.

Then, like a tattered sack, she was hoisted up by Lan Ting once more only to be smashed down again with bone-shattering force!

“You’ve never experienced the Blood Gu Pool.”

Lan Ting bent down again, gripping Jin Ruyun’s throat, lifting her high, and smashing her back onto the ground.

“Then let me show you what real pain feels like.”

BAM. BAM.

BAM BAM BAM. Again and again, blow after relentless blow.

The floor was slick with blood. The elderly woman had been beaten beyond recognition, reduced to a grotesque mass of broken flesh, lying weakly on the ground.

“Mercy.”

Her body could no longer support her final plea. With the last of her strength, she turned her gaze toward her sobbing daughter in the distance and slowly closed her eyes.

“Dead?”

Lan Ting nudged Jin Ruyun’s corpse with her foot, confirming that all signs of life had fled. With a casual wave to her subordinates, she declared, “Blood-Drinkers, this one’s for you. He was a Miaojiang elder after all must have some cultivation to his name.”

Several demonic cultivators promptly stepped forward, kneeling in gratitude to Lan Ting before draining Jin Ruyun’s blood, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk on the ground.

“Guardian, what should we do now?”

Lan Ting lazily scanned the area, her gaze lingering briefly on Jin Hua before continuing her inspection as if she hadn’t noticed her. Her crimson nails traced the surface of a red spider before resting against her lips in thought. “Let’s return to the main hall,” she mused.

“Guardian!” The demonic cultivators protested vehemently, their expressions turning fierce.

Lan Ting chuckled. “Just teasing you. Since the Right Envoy tasked us with controlling Red Temple, let’s split up and scout the surroundings first.”

Under her command, the demonic cultivators dispersed like startled birds, vanishing swiftly into the shadows. Lan Ting walked among them, her figure swaying gracefully, exuding an alluring charm.

Only when the presence of the demonic cultivators had completely faded did Luo Qingyi finally lower the concealment barrier around herself and Wu Ruo. She released a pulse of spiritual energy to survey the area before speaking. “Alright, come down now.”

Wu Ruo leaped down from the tree branch. “Blood-Drinking Sect. I feel like I’ve heard of them before. Where was it?”

“A demonic cultivation method that enhances power by consuming the blood of others.” Luo Qingyi murmured. “If I recall correctly, Jin Hua died by this very method.”

Wu Ruo sighed, gazing at Jin Ruyun’s withered corpse. She let a few drops of blood fall onto it.

Insects, ants, and snakes slowly emerged from the cracks in the bricks and the earth, drawn by the scent of fresh prey. After lapping up Wu Ruo’s blood, they began gnawing at Jin Ruyun’s remains.

“This counts as.” Wu Ruo said softly, “administering the ancestral punishment for traitors. Elder Jin Ruyun, the debts of this life shall be judged by our ancestors. With karma settled, rebirth will not be hindered.”

“Mm.” Luo Qingyi nodded. “As the Holy Maiden, you’ve done well.”

Wu Ruo plucked a leaf from the tree and brought it to her lips, playing a slow, melancholic melody, a familiar soul-guiding tune. Though she had never played it before, the notes flowed naturally through her mind as if they had always been there.

Luo Qingyi said nothing, listening quietly with solemn reverence, standing as the lone audience in this desolate wilderness.

No, lone?

As the melody ended, Wu Ruo turned to Luo Qingyi, wanting to speak but finding no words. Nearby, Jin Hua, who had been knocked unconscious, stirred slightly. Rubbing the large bump on her head, she suddenly burst into loud, wailing sobs.

“She,” Wu Ruo approached hesitantly. “Jin Hua?”

Jin Hua continued crying, ignoring Luo Qingyi’s outstretched hand. She covered her face, then gingerly touched the red marks on her neck from being choked. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she whimpered softly, calling for her mother.

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