After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 56

Luo Qingyi had been waiting in the inner room of the guesthouse for a long time.

After Wu Ruo stormed off, she had wanted to chase after her, but then she recalled the other’s earlier words and hesitated, her raised foot retreating once more.

Had she done something wrong?

A dull ache throbbed in her chest. She forcibly suppressed the strange, explosive spark within her, and Wu Ruo’s parting words resurfaced in her mind.

The other was clearly angry, yet she didn’t know the reason only hearing the demand: “This time, I hope you won’t follow me.”

Did Wu Ruo feel that she was controlling her freedom by following her every move?

Logically, that made sense, but deep down, she felt there was a deeper reason.

Luo Qingyi took a deep breath and silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra. Once her mind had calmed somewhat, she sat by the bed and began to meditate quietly. Suddenly, a phrase flashed through her thoughts, a promise she had made to Wu Ruo back when they were still at Zhiyuan Immortal Sect.

Wu Ruo had said: Don’t keep things from me anymore.

But now, once again, she had failed to keep that promise.

It was her fault. If only she had been more careful, she could have avoided it. So, she must not get angry. She must not blame herself. She must not,

“Cleanse the heart like water, clear water is the heart. No breeze arises, no ripples stir.” 【1】

She pressed her hand down hard, her fingers like iron claws digging fiercely into the bedding. The bones on the back of her hand protruded, veins bulging.

After reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra several times, she finally regained some composure. The deep, bloody red in her eyes faded from her irises, restoring her usual serene and elegant demeanor as an immortal elder.

A wisp of pale black energy unconsciously escaped from her fingertips, only to dissipate into the air as the color of her pupils returned to normal.

“As long as I listen to her, she won’t leave me.”

Luo Qingyi repeated this to herself several times, finally suppressing the violent sprout in her heart.

She decided to empty her mind and observe Wu Ruo and Spring Grass from afar just a distant glance.

Where are they?

Unconvinced, she expanded her spiritual sense, scanning the entire inn from the first to the third floor. There were chattering medical cultivators and hurried rogue cultivators, but not a trace of the person she longed to see.

Extending further, within a radius of a hundred meters still nothing.

She sprang to her feet. The moment she reached the door, the other’s parting words abruptly echoed in her mind like a heavy slap, leaving her torn and unable to proceed.

She couldn’t go out. If she did, Wu Ruo might truly leave her for good.

But what if something happened to the other?

Two conflicting voices warred in her mind. The redness she had just suppressed resurfaced in her eyes. She hung her head in agony, gripping the doorframe so tightly it nearly deformed.

No, I can’t. I mustn’t, mustn’t, mustn’t…

I want to… I really, really want to.

Her face pale, she bit her tongue hard. The thick, metallic taste of blood spread in her mouth, finally restoring a sliver of her sanity. The redness in her eyes faded once more.

Ever since she visited the Wish Temple, she had become like this her hair turned completely white, demonic energy spreading and festering within her body, planting a rotten seed in her heart that could not be healed.

“Senior Sister! Senior Sister, are you having another episode? Where’s Wu Ruo?”

Jiang Qingbei caught a whiff of something and quickly rushed over from the adjacent room, skillfully weaving a spatial barrier to prevent any further disturbances from Luo Qingyi’s condition.

“It’s nothing,” Luo Qingyi said, releasing her tight grip on the doorframe and straightening her posture once more. “Dispel it. I haven’t had an episode.”

“Didn’t you say that as long as Wu Ruo is by your side, you remain stable and don’t have episodes.” Jiang Qingbei muttered, peering into the room. “Wu—Huh, where is she?”

“She went to gather spring herbs.”

Jiang Qingbei nodded thoughtfully, then pondered aloud, “I accidentally dozed off earlier, and when I checked the sundial, a full four hours had passed! Senior Sister, during that time, you didn’t.”

“Four hours?”

Luo Qingyi’s expression darkened. She hadn’t realized that suppressing the delusions in her heart had taken so long, and Wu Ruo still hadn’t returned!

“Yeah. Hey, Senior Sister, why do you look so serious? Could it be that she abandoned you and ran off.”

Jiang Qingbei, as usual, spoke without thinking, and his words only added to Luo Qingyi’s irritation. She pinched her palm hard, forcefully extinguishing the budding turmoil in her heart.

She expanded her sensory range once more, letting her spiritual awareness roam through the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But no matter how far she extended her perception, even stretching it across the Five Continents, she could not sense the other’s presence.

Nothing, nothing at all.

“No,” Luo Qingyi said, pinching her fingertips. The Clear Heart Mantra cycled repeatedly in the depths of her consciousness, forcibly restoring her calm. “If she’s not in the Five Continents, where could she be?”

Jiang Qingbei hesitated. “Could she have gone to find that friend of hers? The Demon Realm?”

It was obvious.

Where else would Wu Ruo go, if not to the place where her clan resided?

But her mental state was unstable. If she went to the Demon Realm and was exposed to demonic energy again, her inner demons.

“Let’s go,” Luo Qingyi said. “Qingbei, accompany me to the Demon Sect’s main headquarters.”

The Demon Sect’s First Purgatory was located directly beneath the main headquarters, built into the ground with seven layers of iron prisons below, and further down lay water dungeons and other terrifying structures that struck fear into people’s hearts.

The prison was gloomy and horrifying. At the entrance to the fourth level stood two jailers, each wearing 280-catty shoulder armor and holding black iron chains tethered to hundred-catty iron balls.

Wu Ruo and Lan Ting remained silent. A red spider crept noiselessly through a narrow crack, crawling onto the faces of the two jailers and quietly spinning transparent threads.

“Rise,” Lan Ting said.

In an instant, the transparent threads shifted their formation, twisting at a visible angle and tightening around the jailers’ necks their only weak point leaving faint blood marks.

Thud. The two jailers collapsed.

“Are you sure this is alright?” Wu Ruo asked. “The fact that you breed red spiders is widely known.”

“It’s fine. Their bodies are incredibly resilient. Even fatal wounds can heal completely within three hours. As for my little tricks, they’ll only think they dozed off for a nap.”

Wu Ruo nodded and said no more. She retrieved the key to the fifth-level solitary cell from one of the jailers and, following the prison map she knew, avoided several hidden weapon compartments before finally leading Lan Ting to the entrance of the underground fifth level.

A large bronze lock stood silently before them, separating the fourth level from the fifth. And they had no key.

Lan Ting looked at Wu Ruo. “The jailer doesn’t have it?”

“No.” Wu Ruo tapped the dark bronze lock before her and said slowly, “But I can sense that the keyhole mechanism is driven by demonic energy rather than physical mechanics. Can we forge a key using demonic energy?”

The other nodded. “I’ll try. But using energy here will likely alert the Right Envoy. We must be quick.”

Lan Ting placed her hands over the keyhole, channeling demonic energy into it. Her expression grew tense, lips pressed tightly together as she held her breath.

Click. The lock opened.

Lan Ting collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat. A mere bronze lock had drained such an immense amount of her demonic energy that she was nearly exhausted to the point of collapse.

Wu Ruo lifted her head, glancing toward the top of the fifth-level prison. The moment the lock opened, she seemed to feel an almost imperceptible vibration so fleeting it might have been an illusion, yet she didn’t dare ignore it.

“Let’s go.” She helped Lan Ting up as the other’s red spider swiftly crawled to the ground, rapidly enlarging before scurrying off in one direction.

Supporting Lan Ting, Wu Ruo immediately followed. After navigating seven or eight turns behind the spider, they reached a tightly shut door.

A haggard figure stood motionless in a corner of the cell, gazing blankly at the grimy prison lamp. Their light green robe with bamboo patterns was stained with crimson blood, and the stench of filth and decay fermented in the room.

Yet, the person’s back remained straight and unyielding.

Wu Ruo’s steps halted. The weight she supported suddenly grew heavier, then lightened just as abruptly the next moment.

Lan Ting stared dazedly at the distant figure, her hands trembling uncontrollably. Unconsciously clutching Wu Ruo’s sleeve, she froze, unable to step forward. Then, as if realizing something, she released Wu Ruo’s hand and gave a gentle push.

“You promised not to reveal my identity. Go on, save her.”

Wu Ruo wanted to pull her back but saw Lan Ting had already stepped a meter away, left hand hidden behind her back. Turning toward a vacant wall, she quietly straightened her collar.

“…” Wu Ruo wanted to call out again but said nothing. Steadying herself, she walked slowly inside.

“Chun Cao,” she called softly as she opened the door.

The figure inside shifted slightly but didn’t turn around, only replying coldly, “If you’re here to persuade me to surrender, don’t bother.”

A spark of inspiration struck Wu Ruo. She immediately dispelled her disguise pill and called again, “Chun Cao.”

“…?” Du Chun Cao didn’t even respond this time. Her form remained still, eyes fixed on a crack in the wall as she muttered to herself, “Another auditory hallucination. How could I hear my teacher’s voice?”

“Chun Cao, it’s me. Wu Ruo.”

Without another thought, Wu Ruo rushed straight in, forcibly turning the other to face the cell door. A gentle energy stream flowed from her fingertips, circulating through the other’s inner sea to confirm only superficial wounds nothing life-threatening.

“You!”

Du Chun Cao’s eyes widened, her mouth hanging open as she could only repeat the same syllable, unable to stop for a long time.

“Are you?”

She suddenly closed her eyes, raising an arm to rub them fiercely before opening them again, closing, and rubbing once more.

Bean-sized tears slid from her eyes, her lips trembling. A sentence she had been brewing for a long time ultimately dissolved into a soft, barely audible address.

There was no direct confrontation, no accusations as vehement as Lan Ting’s, no storming off in anger, and no refusal to meet with silence.

The graceful woman merely bent down, enduring the discomfort of her bleeding wounds, and whispered softly, “Teacher.”

“It’s been a long time,” Wu Ruo said. “Chuncao, I’ll explain what happened back then to you later. For now, I and a friend here have come to rescue you. Keep quiet, we must hurry.”

Du Chuncao was no longer the impulsive girl she once was. Without hesitation, she took Wu Ruo’s hand. “Alright. Let’s go, Teacher.”

Wu Ruo adjusted her grip, shifting to a more comfortable position and supporting the other’s weight against her to make the long journey ahead easier.

“Lean your weight on me. You’re injured, don’t strain yourself further,” she said, suddenly remembering something. She retrieved a modified healing pill she had once bought from her Qiankun pouch and pressed it into Du Chuncao’s hand. “This might help you.”

Du Chuncao accepted it without hesitation and swallowed it immediately. A faint warmth seemed to flow through her body, which had been holding on by sheer will, soothing her damaged flesh and blood.

“…”

A faint sound seemed to come from behind. Du Chuncao turned her head but only saw a shadowy figure hiding in a corner, turned away from them. When she asked about it, Wu Ruo explained, “She’s the friend I mentioned earlier, the one willing to help us. Well, a demonic cultivator doing something like this could face punishment. She doesn’t want you to know her name. Let’s go.”

Du Chuncao nodded, and the three of them moved forward quietly. Wu Ruo cast a concealment spell to ensure they wouldn’t run into any patrolling jailers.

Just as they passed through the gate of the fifth level, Lan Ting, bringing up the rear, closed the copper lock and prison door exactly as they had been. While focusing on her task, her ears unconsciously caught the conversation between Wu Ruo and Du Chuncao a few steps ahead.

“Yes,” Wu Ruo said.

What was Wu Ruo talking about?

She held her breath, ears perked up, and finally heard Chuncao’s words.

“Lan Ting, do you really not want to see me?”

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