Reborn as a Human Cauldron, But I'm the Top - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Don’t Touch Me

The Hall of Devouring Peace was lined with rows of bookshelves, made of thousand-year-old spiritual wood. The material was sturdy, resistant to insects and decay, and most importantly, expensive.

The fire from this kind of spiritual wood was the most suitable for artifact refinement. A piece the size of a palm could make ten sword cultivators from the Great Peace Sect  give up their lives for it.

Shen Yirong roughly calculated that the wood here could probably cause the entire Great Peace Sect to defect.

Hiss! The Demonic Palace is truly wealthy. In comparison, her former employer was far too poor.

Shen Yirong’s eyes were practically green with greed. She nearly lost control and clutched the nearest bookshelf.

She touched and stroked the bookshelf, completely forgetting the purpose of her visit today. Fortunately, a jade slip falling on her head brought back a shred of rationality.

Shen Yirong picked up the jade slip from the floor, clutching her aching head. The moment she touched it, the contents of the slip unfolded in her mind.

The commissions within the Demonic Palace, like those in the Great Peace Sect, were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. This mission was Profound-grade, requiring at least the Golden Core stage to accept.

Shen Yirong quickly read it: the mission was to catch a ghost, and the reward was a thousand high-grade spirit stones. Shen Yirong’s breathing grew heavy. She didn’t dare to look further, afraid of cultivating undesirable wicked thoughts.

Emerging from this corner, she could see Demonic Palace disciples moving between the bookshelves. Loud noise was prohibited in the Hall of Devouring Peace. Everyone kept their gaze on the jade slips on the shelves, and no one paid attention to Shen Yirong.

The Yellow-grade commissions were in a more peripheral location. Shen Yirong searched the shelves and found that all the Yellow-grade missions combined were still worth less than the Profound-grade commission that had hit her head.

Shen Yirong couldn’t help but sigh, but then she suddenly heard someone scoffing.

“Oh, isn’t this the favorite in front of the Venerable One?”

The favorite in front of Song Yin? Who?

Shen Yirong was excited, thinking there was some drama to watch. She looked up only to realize that everyone in the hall was looking at her and another male cultivator.

Seeing the contemptuous look the demon cultivator gave her, Shen Yirong caught on. She pointed at her own nose and asked blankly, “You mean me?”

Seeing her reaction, the male cultivator who had scoffed grew even angrier. “Stop pretending. The Venerable One’s favor toward you is just a momentary novelty. Don’t get too carried away.”

Shen Yirong: ?

She didn’t quite understand the mindset of these people. If Song Yin truly cherished her, she wouldn’t have been withholding her spirit stones.

The more Shen Yirong thought about it, the angrier she got. She frowned and cursed, “Lunatic.”

She didn’t want to get tangled up with him. She casually grabbed a jade slip from the shelf and headed toward the duty attendant in the hall to register, but the man snatched the jade slip from her hand just as she was about to hand it over.

Shen Yirong looked at his smug smile, her eyes growing cold, but this was the Demonic Palace after all. She was just a cultivation vessel, and it was best to act discreetly for now.

She turned to look for another slip on the shelf, but the moment she turned back, it was snatched away again.

But that wasn’t enough for the man. He shouted, “I’ll take all the Yellow-grade commissions here today!”

The crowd, who had been watching the show, instantly grew discontent. Many low-ranking disciples in the Demonic Palace relied on completing commissions to earn cultivation resources. How could they accept having them mockingly taken away?

“Nonsense! If you take all the commissions, what are we supposed to do?”

“Exactly! Don’t listen to him!”

The male cultivator smirked disdainfully and said arrogantly, “My father is the Twelfth External Protector. If you have any complaints, go talk to him!”

The hall instantly fell silent after he said this.

It took a moment for people to start whispering again.

“The son of the Twelfth External Protector, so he’s Xu Lang?”

“No wonder…”

Shen Yirong closed her eyes. The Demonic Palace was divided into the Inner and Outer Palace. The Inner Palace had five Great Protectors, and the Outer Palace was managed by ten minor Protectors, with subsequent numbers being substitutes.

The Twelfth Protector might not sound impressive, but for ordinary disciples, it was more than enough.

Suppressing the anger in her heart, Shen Yirong opened her eyes again and said coldly, “There are penalties for not completing a commission. Why go to such lengths just to make trouble for me?”

Xu Lang saw her furious but daring-not-to-speak expression and became more certain that the Venerable One didn’t actually favor her.

He grew even smugger. Snapping his folding fan shut, he sized Shen Yirong up and down and smirked contemptuously, “Do you think I’m as poor as you? A few spirit stones are nothing to me. And who do you think you are, that I would need to make trouble for you?”

Shen Yirong’s fists clenched unconsciously at her sides. She had never encountered such an arrogant and hateful person in her two lifetimes, and she encountered one in this third life.

She couldn’t help but look at the attendant on duty in the hall. Seeing the person’s shifting gaze, she knew she couldn’t avoid this today.

With the Yellow-grade commissions gone, her only choice was the Profound-grade. Shen Yirong thought back to the jade slip that had fallen on her head, but after careful consideration, she gave up on it.

She was barely at the Foundation Establishment stage, too far behind the Golden Core stage. Taking that mission was simply too dangerous.

If I can’t take the mission, I’ll figure out another way. But…

Shen Yirong looked at Xu Lang’s passable face and suddenly smiled. She started to leave, but Xu Lang blocked her way again.

Having been tormented by Song Yin recently, she was already filled with pent-up rage. Now, being treated like this by someone else, even Shen Yirong’s good temper couldn’t hold up.

The courteous smile and weakness slowly faded from her face. Her eyes were filled with coldness, and her voice, still gentle, carried a distinct force: “Move.”

Xu Lang wanted to continue harassing her, but the current Shen Yirong was completely different from before. Although the opponent was just a useless Foundation Establishment-stage cultivation vessel, an inner voice told him that if he blocked her again, he would die.

He even averted his eyes, afraid to look into hers.

Realizing what had happened, anger surged back into Xu Lang’s heart. He shouted, “How dare you command me!”

Shen Yirong showed no fear, still staring at him with those emotionless eyes, as if the person standing before her was not a living being.

Xu Lang was furious. He raised his hand high, preparing to teach her a lesson.

“So lively.”

A lackadaisical voice interrupted the farce. Following the sound, they saw a person leaning against the hall entrance. Dressed in black, a matching hood covered one eye, and a dimple curved by their lips as they smiled.

The newcomer was Li Xiu, the Fifth Protector of the Outer Palace. Li Xiu had a good relationship with the Twelfth External Protector, so Xu Lang was overjoyed.

He dropped his arrogance and, acting as the wronged party, complained, “Protector Li, this person spoke disrespectfully to me. I was just about to teach her a lesson.”

Li Xiu smiled, “That certainly needs a lesson.”

With that, she entered the hall. A powerful sense of pressure washed over them. Shen Yirong immediately judged the person’s cultivation level—at least Nascent Soul.

Shen Yirong was instantly on guard, but the Protector named Li Xiu walked right past her.

“Slap!”

A crisp slap echoed in the hall. The previously arrogant Xu Lang rolled several times on the ground. When he stopped, he covered his face and spat out several blood-soaked teeth.

Xu Lang clutched his face, confused. His words were slurred with his missing teeth, “P-Protector, I’m X-Xu Lang.”

Li Xiu opened her eyes slightly, seemingly only just recognizing him, and then she squatted down.

“Slap!”

Xu Lang rolled even further away.

Looking at the continuously spitting blood, Xu Lang, Li Xiu’s dimples deepened, looking quite sweet, but the words she spoke were chilling.

“What do you think you are, daring to lecture the Venerable One’s person? Forget that this time you fabricated the story; even if she genuinely bullied you, all you can do is thank the Master for her grace.”

“Consider this a slight punishment today. If you dare to do it again, I will kill you and your father together.”

She then turned to look at Shen Yirong, her smile changing, “Mistress Shen, Protector Qi has ordered me to assist you.”

The woman’s smile before her was so sweet. Shen Yirong secretly took a step back, but the rage in her heart was finally smoothed out.

However, the address “Mistress Shen” sounded strange, as if she and Song Yin had already done something, when in fact, nothing had happened.

Looking at Xu Lang, whose face was swollen like a pig’s head, the swelling squeezing his eyes into slits that leaked malicious cold light.

Shen Yirong felt that now was not the time to be modest. She straightened her back and accepted the title of Mistress Shen.

She glanced haughtily at the pig-headed man. Seeing that he was about to explode with anger, she raised her head and said, “I want to take a commission.”

“Li Xiu understands.”

Shen Yirong only intended to make the pig-headed man cough up the Yellow-grade commissions. She didn’t expect Li Xiu to directly retrieve the Profound-grade commission that she had put back.

Before Shen Yirong could speak, Li Xiu explained, “Your subordinate will accompany you.”

Shen Yirong’s eyes lit up. Wasn’t this a free gift of a thousand high-grade spirit stones? So that was what Protector Qi meant! What a great person!

“Then let’s go quickly!” Shen Yirong excitedly tugged at Li Xiu’s sleeve and rushed out the door.

They traveled all the way out of the Demonic Palace. The sky inside and outside the Palace was no different, but watching the black outer wall of the Demonic Palace recede further and further from her sight, and thus further and further from Song Yin.

It should have been a moment of relief, but for some reason, it carried a touch of melancholy.

Hiss! Does this mean I can run away?

The moment this thought arose, the back of her neck suddenly felt hot, and it felt as if many spiders were crawling on her brain.

She didn’t dare to think further. All the anomalies quickly vanished. She looked up and saw Li Xiu smiling at her, the smile enigmatic.

Shen Yirong kept her expression steady. As she walked forward, she made small talk, “Will that Xu Lang cause you any trouble later?”

“Mistress doesn’t need to be so formal. There’s no need to worry about Xu Lang.”

“I wonder why he provoked me?”

Li Xiu’s smiling eyes held a hint of sarcasm: “Nothing more than a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh.”

Shen Yirong understood. Sure enough, the smaller the brain, the bolder the audacity. He actually dared to lust after Song Yin.

Li Xiu intended to fly on her sword, but the moment the sword was unsheathed, her body stiffened. After a moment of surprise, she put the sword away. “It’s getting late. Shall we find a place to rest first?”

Shen Yirong looked at the scorching sun overhead. She felt she wasn’t dreaming, but for some reason, she genuinely felt sleepy.

She yawned, “Alright then.”

Wobbling, she sat down in the shade of a tree. Shen Yirong leaned against the trunk and quickly fell asleep.

A crimson butterfly landed by her feet. The butterfly was enveloped in red demonic energy and eventually transformed into Song Yin’s appearance.

“Venerable One.” Li Xiu knelt behind her.

“Let’s go,” Song Yin said indifferently.

“Yes.”

Li Xiu transformed into a black wind and disappeared.

Song Yin’s gaze carefully swept over Shen Yirong’s face. She had seen her confronting Xu Lang in the water mirror and also saw her secretly placing a curse on Xu Lang. Xu Lang’s leg would probably be rotten for half a month.

Song Yin reached out a hand, tracing her finger from Shen Yirong’s forehead down, past the high bridge of her nose, and finally resting on her lips.

The tactile sensation of her fingertip was similar to that of her Master. She had traced it thousands of times in the dead of night.

“A-choo!”

The disturbed person sneezed and then hugged her long sword tightly. The face that Song Yin was so familiar with showed a slight look of dissatisfaction.

Song Yin closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had taken on Li Xiu’s appearance.

She withdrew her hand. The spell was removed, and the person before her slowly opened her eyes.

“Let’s go. It’s time to set off.”

Shen Yirong was still groggy and felt a bit numb in her legs. Unable to stand up, she reached out with a smile, “Protector, give me a pull.”

Song Yin looked at the other’s palm. There were no calluses from holding a sword. Her fingers were slender and jade-like, showing she hadn’t endured much hardship.

Shen Yirong looked at her, puzzled, then wiggled her hand, her smile bright.

Song Yin’s eyes darkened. She pulled the person up, then quickly let go.

Shen Yirong nearly stumbled. She stabilized herself by holding the tree and mumbled inwardly.

I only dozed off for a bit, why is this Protector Li not smiling anymore?

Thinking that Protector Qi had given instructions from behind the scenes, Shen Yirong grew bolder. She reached out and fiddled with the face of the person in front of her until the corners of the other’s lips were forced upwards.

Her eyes were cold, but her mouth was pulled into a stiff arc. It looked utterly ridiculous.

Shen Yirong released her hand and laughed out loud, holding her stomach.

As she laughed, Shen Yirong felt the wind around her turn much colder. She quickly stopped her antics, her voice meek, “I’m sorry, Protector.”

Song Yin raised her hand to touch her cheek. She walked past Shen Yirong, silently moving forward.

“Protector, wait for me!” Shen Yirong rushed to catch up.

Shen Yirong caught up, panting heavily. Just as she was about to apologize, a chilly voice came from ahead, “Don’t touch other people’s faces casually.”

“S-sorry!”

Just as Song Yin’s agitated heart calmed slightly, the next sentence from the other side came again.

“Protector, your skin is really good. What do you use to maintain it?”

Song Yin turned around, her eyes fixed on Shen Yirong’s face. She raised her hand and stroked her jaw, “Naturally, human skin.”

Shen Yirong’s face instantly went white. She felt a desire to retreat, but she was grabbed by the back of her collar. In the blink of an eye, she was on a sword.

The long sword carried the two, turning into a stream of light, disappearing instantly.

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