Reborn as a Human Cauldron, But I'm the Top - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Jealousy, Venerable One, Would you like more?

Ah! What in the world was that thing!

Shen Yirong almost fainted. When she calmed down and looked again, it seemed somewhat familiar.

She swallowed hard, patted her overly active heart, and looked once more—the thing was still there.

Shen Yirong gripped a ghost-dispelling spell, wanting to get out of bed, but as soon as she moved, the hand on her waist pulled her back. She was back on the bed.

She had only focused on Song Yin when she woke up. Only now did Shen Yirong realize she was being held by Li Xiu.

Rationality returned. Shen Yirong tried to pry the hand off her waist, but despite great effort, she couldn’t even bend a single finger.

Shen Yirong’s face turned red. Finally, she had to call out, “Guardian Li! Li Xiu!”

Li Xiu remained motionless.

Both the adult and the young one showed no movement, with zero vigilance of a cultivator. Shen Yirong was completely out of options. By the time she looked back at the window, the pair of eyes was gone. Through the slit, all she could see were continuously falling snowflakes.

Shen Yirong didn’t think she was mistaken. She stared at the window, unable to sleep all night.

When morning came, Song Yin woke up first. She rubbed her neck with a small hiss and muttered the word “Master.”

She quickly realized something was wrong. Turning her head, she saw Shen Yirong’s tired face and tumbled off the bed in fright, then, because her legs were weak, she performed a grand kowtow towards the outside of the room.

Shen Yirong was instantly flustered to see her head hitting the floor. The hand around her waist was no longer restraining her, so she quickly got out of bed to help Song Yin up.

Song Yin’s head had a red mark and was dusted with dirt. Shen Yirong raised her sleeve to wipe away the dust and asked gently, “Immortal, does it hurt?”

Seeing the distress on Shen Yirong’s face, Song Yin froze and didn’t answer. A moment later, she pushed Shen Yirong away, her serious face completely red, “I’m fine. I apologize for yesterday’s incident.”

After hastily saying this, Song Yin rushed out of the room as if Shen Yirong were some kind of monster.

“Heh heh.”

Shen Yirong heard a slightly mocking laugh from behind. She turned and glared fiercely at Li Xiu, “Why are you in my bed?”

Li Xiu lay sideways on the bed, smiling, looking somewhat aggrieved, “There’s only one bed here.”

Shen Yirong was speechless. She instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Although she wasn’t particularly familiar with Li Xiu, she could tell the person was very disciplined. Her previous unusual behavior wasn’t overly extreme, but this time was different—straight onto the bed!

Could it be? No way, right?

Shen Yirong cautiously hid her scrutinizing gaze. Regardless of whether her guess was correct, she decided to be extremely cautious in the coming days.

She glanced at Li Xiu and forced herself to stop thinking about it. After washing up and getting dressed, she opened the door, only to find someone already standing outside.

Shen Yirong was slightly surprised, “General Ling, is there something you need so early?”

Ling Minzhi was dressed in sky-blue clothes today, and her snow-white hair was simply tied up. “Immortal Shen, have you seen the divine statue worshipped in the main hall?”

Shen Yirong recalled the pair of eyes by the window last night, and the Central Yue legends Li Xiu had mentioned.

She pondered for a moment before nodding, “The statue seemed to be outside my window last night, but when I looked again, it was gone.”

Hearing this, Ling Minzhi walked to the window. The accumulating snow hadn’t covered this spot. She crouched down and saw a long drag mark. The dragged object seemed very heavy, leaving marks on the ground.

However, those marks disappeared right at the window.

Afraid of misunderstanding, Shen Yirong quickly explained, “To cultivators, this statue is useless. If the General doesn’t believe me, you can search the room.”

A soft cough suddenly came from inside the room. Ling Minzhi lowered her eyes.

She stood up, moved away from the window, and closed it tightly.

When her eyes landed on Shen Yirong again, they held a hint of reproach, “The winter wind is harsh. The Immortal should pay more attention to the health of your companion.”

Shen Yirong finally understood why the room assigned to her and Li Xiu only had one bed. She wanted to explain.

Suddenly, the coughing inside the room grew louder, sounding as if the person wouldn’t stop until their lungs were entirely coughed out.

Looking at Ling Minzhi’s deepening frown, Shen Yirong felt a bitter taste in her throat.

What was wrong with these Ling sisters? One suspected her of being a two-timing heartbreaker, and the other accused her of being inconsiderate.

Shen Yirong was going crazy. Li Xiu had been slaughtering demons on the rooftop yesterday. How could she possibly be so fragile that a little wind would render her unable to care for herself?

Shen Yirong explained weakly, “Cultivators have strong bodies.”

Ling Minzhi disagreed, “No matter how powerful she is, you cannot neglect her.”

Ling Minzhi had never been so stern since they met. Shen Yirong was actually taken aback, and she stammered, “Oh, oh.”

That wasn’t the end of it. Ling Minzhi seemed unable to tolerate Shen Yirong’s attitude. She took out a prescription from her sleeve and handed it to Shen Yirong.

“This medicine is very effective for coughs. If it is inconvenient for the Immortal, I can bring the medicine for you.”

Shen Yirong woodenly accepted the prescription, “N-no need. I’ll handle it myself.”

Ling Minzhi only left after seeing Shen Yirong carefully fold the prescription, looking satisfied.

Once the sky-blue figure disappeared into the heavy snow, Li Xiu’s coughing also stopped.

She did it on purpose!

Shen Yirong entered the room, grinding her teeth. She saw Li Xiu sitting by the window, fully dressed. She was leisurely flipping through a book, her posture incredibly relaxed.

Feeling wrongfully accused, Shen Yirong rushed over and pressed down on the book, pinning it down. “You did that on purpose.”

She didn’t pay attention and pressed down on both Li Xiu’s hand and the book, causing Li Xiu to frown slightly.

Shen Yirong hastily released her hand.

She looked at the facial features of the person before her and felt that she was definitely not Li Xiu. Perhaps she had been played from the very beginning.

The anger of being pranked and the fear of being exposed entangled in her heart, finally boiling down to frustrated resentment.

Once suspicion arose, she began to rethink every detail along the way.

She remembered Li Xiu’s emotional reaction when she mentioned her peanut allergy, something the Song Yin of her past life, who had spent years with her, knew about.

When Song Yin came down from the mountain, she would bring her snacks and interesting little things. Once, Shen Yirong had an allergic reaction because of peanuts.

Shen Yirong still remembered Song Yin’s eyes turning red with panic, and how she stumbled several times when landing the sword too quickly while rushing to fetch a medical cultivator.

Shen Yirong originally didn’t know these things, but Senior Sister Mei was honest. If she asked, Senior Sister would tell her.

Recalling the past, the anger in Shen Yirong’s heart quietly faded. She silently lowered her head to look at the book’s title.

It was still the same fox demon book.

“Mistress is interested?” Li Xiu smiled and pushed the book toward her.

For some reason, Shen Yirong felt that the other person’s remark was full of teasing.

Shen Yirong picked up the book and flipped through it a few times.

The book wasn’t about romance, but rather the story of an oppressed fox demon who slowly fought back and eventually became the King of the Fox Clan.

This story was somewhat similar to Song Yin’s.

Shen Yirong handed the book back. But looking closely at Li Xiu’s face, it was indeed overly pale.

Shen Yirong remembered Song Yin’s heart demon. She asked with a hint of concern, “Are you truly feeling unwell?”

Li Xiu coughed softly, looking even weaker, “I exerted myself too much last night, and my body has suffered a bit.”

One had to admit that Song Yin’s acting skills were good too. Shen Yirong watched her and actually started to believe her.

Shen Yirong felt a bit of distress, “If your body can’t handle it, don’t overexert yourself.”

“Clang!”

There was a sound of something falling to the ground outside the door. Shen Yirong was startled, “Who is it?”

She opened the window and peered out. She saw the young Song Yin standing outside the door, with a bowl lying at her feet, which was likely the cause of the noise.

Shen Yirong hadn’t yet realized anything was wrong. Seeing Song Yin’s shocked expression, she quickly ran out to check her up and down.

“Immortal Song, what’s wrong?”

Song Yin’s face was filled with wounded betrayal. She stared wide-eyed at Shen Yirong, then turned to look at the window.

The person by the window, seeing her look over, waved at her in a friendly manner, with an air of satisfaction.

The young Song Yin’s composure shattered. She pushed Shen Yirong away, her voice trembling terribly, “What were you two doing around me last night!”

Shen Yirong was shoved and couldn’t help but inwardly grumble: Why is this child so jumpy?

Last night, she was obviously just sleeping next to them.

So, Shen Yirong replied naturally, “Sleeping, of course.”

Only after saying this did Shen Yirong realize something was amiss. Why did this child look like her Dao heart had been shattered?

She waved her hand in front of Song Yin, “Immortal Song, come back to your senses.”

The young Song Yin pushed her again, making her stumble. Her eyes were filled with tears, “Master was right. Demonic cultivators are demonic cultivators. I misjudged you!”

Looking at the running Song Yin, Shen Yirong was full of question marks.

She picked up the bowl Song Yin had dropped. The bowl was warm, but the porridge spilled on the ground had already cooled.

It seemed Song Yin had brought her porridge.

Wait!

Shen Yirong finally realized what was going on, belatedly.

“Clang!”

The bowl fell onto the snowy ground again. Shen Yirong crouched down and slowly covered her face.

Why did she, such an honest person, constantly fail to preserve her virtue? When she said sleeping, she just meant sleeping!

Shen Yirong couldn’t bear to imagine her image in others’ eyes; it must be as bad as it could possibly be.

Li Xiu rested her head on her hand, watching the show, but snow started falling from the sky again. The snow accumulating on Shen Yirong’s black hair was conspicuous.

Remembering how in the past life, Master almost lost her life just by grabbing a handful of snow, she frowned slightly. Finally, she took the cloak hanging in the room and went out to put it on Shen Yirong.

Shen Yirong looked up at her, feeling as though the other person was laughing at her expense.

She did feel cold, however, and didn’t dare to throw the cloak off.

In the distance, Ling Minzhi walked over, carrying a herbal package and a small medicinal stove.

Seeing the strange atmosphere between the two, she couldn’t help but break the silence, “Do the two Immortals wish to have any breakfast?”

These matters were usually handled by the servants in the residence, but given the current dangerous situation, Ling Minzhi had prevented them from moving around.

Shen Yirong might have been hungry earlier, but now she was too full of exasperation. She shook her head and refused, “No need, General Ling. What is our next course of action?”

The spiritual energy here was thin. Shen Yirong hadn’t cultivated for quite some time. Her weakness kept her nerves constantly tense. If she could resolve these issues quickly, she could leave this place.

Ling Minzhi frowned, looking somewhat sad, “The Grand Ruler said to wait for Immortal Mei to return first.”

Mei Xin hadn’t returned all night, and Shen Yirong also found it strange. The strength of these demons was truly nothing to Mei Xin.

She frowned, contemplating everything she had encountered here. When they first entered the Central Yue Kingdom, they saw the people of Central Yue sleeping under a dense curse energy. Then, they followed Zhai Wenxu’s search until night. In a blink of an eye, they were sent back four hundred years, helping the Central Yue Kingdom of the past solve its demon scourge.

The sword couldn’t fly out of Yuexi, the moving divine statue, and that bronze mirror.

Shen Yirong felt like she was trapped in a fog, but because Mei Xin and the person presumably wearing Li Xiu’s skin (the adult Song Yin) were present, Shen Yirong didn’t feel overly afraid.

“Has the divine statue been found?” Shen Yirong looked up and asked.

Ling Minzhi’s brow furrowed slightly, “It has been found. For some reason, it returned to its original place, but there were signs of water soaking the area beneath the statue. I assume it was snowmelt.”

A sound of a sword cutting through the air came from above. Everyone looked up and saw that it was Mei Xin returning.

In the next moment, Mei Xin landed in front of them, holding an unfamiliar woman in her arms.

The purple clothing the woman wore belonged to Zhai Wenxu, but her appearance was entirely different. Her left arm was injured and hung limply. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and she bit her lip to suppress the pain. Her lips were bruised blue, indicating she had been poisoned.

Zhai Wenxu and Mei Xin working together, and they still ended up like this?

Looking at the unfamiliar face, Shen Yirong asked with some uncertainty, “Is this Senior Sister Zhai?”

Mei Xin’s eyes were expressionless, “Yes. Her name is You Runing.”

Shen Yirong had no recollection of that name.

Mei Xin looked at Shen Yirong’s face, “The name, you gave it to her.”

Shen Yirong was startled, but she immediately reacted, “Venerable Immortal is joking. I am not the Sword Venerable, nor have I ever given her a name.”

Mei Xin seemed to want to jog Shen Yirong’s memory. She continued, “Below the Divine Peak. You saved her. Have you forgotten?”

Shen Yirong truly didn’t remember any Divine Peak. All she could feel now was the increasingly dangerous gaze coming from beside her.

She immediately denied, “Venerable Immortal, I am truly not the person you know.”

Fearing Mei Xin would keep pressing this point, Shen Yirong quickly inquired about the other person’s injuries, “What happened?”

Mei Xin looked at Shen Yirong, her expression still indifferent, “The demons in Yuexi have reached the Nascent Soul realm. The highest cultivation is at the peak of Nascent Soul.”

Shen Yirong gasped. She truly hadn’t expected the situation to be this serious.

Ling Minzhi, standing nearby, seemed to have figured something out. She silently left the General’s Residence and headed to the Imperial Palace.

The ground floor of the Imperial Palace was already in ruins, but fortunately, there was an underground section. Carrying a lantern, she easily found the Grand Ruler.

The stone chamber where the Grand Ruler was temporarily staying looked more like a study. The bronze mirror was placed on a stack of books. The Grand Ruler coughed twice and straightened her posture when she saw Ling Minzhi.

“Grand Ruler.”

“What do you need me for?”

“One of the Immortals has been injured. The situation in Yuexi seems dire.”

The Grand Ruler’s face was unreadable upon hearing this. She looked at the bronze mirror. This morning, no matter how she called, she received no response from the mirror.

She reached out, picked up the bronze mirror, and called softly, “Immortal Ci of the Nexus.”

Still no response.

The Grand Ruler’s eyes grew dimmer, but she quickly regained her composure, thinking of ways that didn’t rely on the bronze mirror.

As she focused on thinking, the bronze mirror suddenly lit up. Two words abruptly appeared in the mirror: “What is it?”

The Grand Ruler felt relieved, “Can the disaster in Central Yue be quelled?”

The red words in the bronze mirror slowly disappeared, and another line of text floated up: Offer your body.

Mei Xin treated You Runing’s wound, but her method was still rough. She mercilessly pulled the bandage, causing the already semi-conscious You Runing to pass out from the pain.

Shen Yirong broke out in a cold sweat watching. Then, Mei Xin’s gaze landed on her.

Mei Xin: “This place is strange. Leave with me.”

Shen Yirong hadn’t spoken yet, when Li Xiu chuckled, “She doesn’t want to.”

The air was thick with tension, but Mei Xin couldn’t sense it. She just felt that this black-clothed demonic cultivator gave off a very familiar yet unconquerable feeling.

She stared at Li Xiu, then tilted her head, “Are you the Demonic Venerable?”

Li Xiu smiled, “If Venerable Mei doesn’t want her eyes, she can donate them to the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.”

“You are the Demonic Venerable.”

After being insulted, Mei Xin’s question turned into a statement of certainty.

Mei Xin’s shoulders slumped. She looked at Shen Yirong with a slight regret, then said to Li Xiu, “We are trapped here. Let’s cooperate and escape.”

Li Xiu scoffed, “Only you are trapped here. You should be begging me.”

Mei Xin: “I beg you.”

Li Xiu: “…”

Shen Yirong was also somewhat speechless. So many years had passed, and many people and things had become unrecognizable, but only Senior Sister remained as she was.

Shen Yirong couldn’t help but look at her Senior Sister a few more times.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed. Shen Yirong was pulled by Li Xiu and walked towards the outside. They walked all the way out of the General’s Residence.

There was nothing on the bustling streets. Everyone was staying indoors, afraid to come out. Li Xiu walked very fast, and Shen Yirong had trouble keeping up with her pace.

Looking at Li Xiu’s back, Shen Yirong felt that the person’s mood was very foul right now.

When they were close to the city gate, Li Xiu slowed down. She suddenly turned around and tightly embraced Shen Yirong, as if she wanted to ruthlessly fuse the person into her own flesh and blood.

Li Xiu gritted her teeth, “How can so many people covet you?”

Shen Yirong didn’t answer. Although the person was still wearing Li Xiu’s appearance, Shen Yirong knew her guess was correct.

Her heart sank, “I won’t run away.”

Then she suddenly remembered that this was the past, so the other person might know about her attempt to escape Central Yue.

Cold sweat poured down. Shen Yirong frantically searched for a countermeasure in her mind.

“No, you want to escape. You tried yesterday, but failed.”

Shen Yirong’s heart sank to the bottom, “Did you know everything about yesterday’s events?”

Li Xiu’s face slowly reverted to Song Yin’s appearance. She realized that if she was Song Yin, this person would be much more compliant, wouldn’t smile at others, and wouldn’t constantly think of running away.

She found that she was neither that generous nor that patient. She released Shen Yirong.

Then, she quietly looked at Shen Yirong’s overly calm face.

Thinking back on everything over the past few days, this person was always showing kindness to others. She would assist Ling Yingzhi’s arrows with wind, show extreme care to the Song Yin of four hundred years ago, and just now, she was concerned about You Runing’s injuries.

Even a dull person like Mei Xin was receiving her attention.

Heh. Really.

Song Yin sneered, “You are clearly afraid of me, yet you are very enthusiastic towards the four-hundred-year-old me, even willing to run away with the four-hundred-year-old me. Why?”

“Do you think the four-hundred-year-old me is better?”

Shen Yirong was speechless, looking at the crimson color in Song Yin’s eyes.

This person’s possessiveness had reached an absurd level, to the point of being angry at her past self. She suspected that if she said the past Song Yin was better, she would be subjected to various punishments in the future.

But in that short time, Shen Yirong had already found a justification for herself. She changed her expression to a smile, a smile that was so close that it made Song Yin momentarily stunned.

Shen Yirong took a deep breath, “I was running away for you, Venerable One.”

Song Yin’s gaze sharpened, “For me?”

Shen Yirong’s eyes were full of deep affection, “Since this is the past from four hundred years ago, I thought that by going to the Great Peace Sect, I might be able to persuade you to come out, so you wouldn’t have such painful memories.”

Song Yin didn’t believe her. Her eyes became dangerous, “Then why go alone?”

Shen Yirong sighed, “Guardian Li is a Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivator. Even with a disguise, she would easily be discovered by the people of the Great Peace Sect. Furthermore, the four-hundred-year-old you has a prejudice against demonic cultivators.”

“The Venerable One seems to dislike Venerable Mei very much, so I did not seek her help either.”

Shen Yirong’s explanation was absolutely flawless, and Song Yin couldn’t find fault with it for a moment.

After a long pause, Song Yin finally chuckled softly, “Changing the past? Did you think I haven’t tried to change it?”

Shen Yirong’s heart jolted, but Song Yin didn’t continue. She merely adjusted Shen Yirong’s hood, and her voice became gentle again, “Do not act on your own. Remember, there won’t be a next time.”

Song Yin didn’t change back into Li Xiu’s appearance. The other person’s mood seemed much better.

However, Shen Yirong truly felt like she had PTSD from Li Xiu’s face.

Shen Yirong shook her head. She still had many questions she wanted to ask Song Yin, “Venerable One, do you know what’s going on here?”

Song Yin stopped walking, then smiled faintly, “You want to know?”

Looking at Song Yin’s meaningful smile, Shen Yirong had a feeling of walking into the lion’s den.

She swallowed hard, “No.”

“The Southern Territory was once the battlefield of ancient cultivators. The spatial instability of Central Yue is a problem left over from the cultivators’ battles at that time. The former Demonic Venerable sent people to repair it, but after she was killed, the newly succeeding Demonic Venerable only sought pleasure and didn’t care about the lives of the people in Central Yue.”

Shen Yirong knew a little about this pleasure-seeking Demonic Venerable. After all, she had pulled a trick on the person before she died in her past life.

The system’s final mission at the time was to make her collude with the demonic cultivators and betray Song Yin.

The system’s focus was on betraying Song Yin; the rest was not too important.

So, Shen Yirong lied to the Demonic Venerable at the time, saying that Sect Master Liu and Senior Sister Mei were not in the sect and that now was the perfect opportunity to take over the Great Peace Sect, and so on.

The cultivation world at the time believed that she was psychologically warped after her injury, and the Demonic Venerable also deeply believed in her corrupted character.

Then that idiot attacked the Great Peace Sect with her people without asking any further questions.

The idiot’s cultivation was mostly fake. She was probably chopped into minced meat by Senior Sister Mei.

Shen Yirong couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl up slightly.

“What are you happy about?”

Shen Yirong’s smile subtly disappeared. She lied without batting an eyelid, “I’m happy because the Venerable One is by my side.”

After saying this, seeing Song Yin looking at her, Shen Yirong felt a little guilty and added, “Now that you are the Demonic Venerable, the Southern Territory is much more stable.”

Song Yin: “Are you happy for the Southern Territory?”

“I think you are brilliant and awe-inspiring, so I feel proud.”

Shen Yirong felt like she had been zapped by the young Song Yin. Her head was tingling. She prayed that Song Yin wouldn’t ask any more questions.

Song Yin suddenly smiled, making Shen Yirong jump.

“This Venerable one never does a losing business. So, are you prepared with the corresponding compensation?”

Shen Yirong held her breath. She hadn’t even asked a question. This wasn’t “use first, pay later”—it was forced buying and selling!

Looking at the faint smile in Song Yin’s eyes, Shen Yirong resignedly took out her spirit stone pouch, then painfully pulled out two spirit stones and placed them in Song Yin’s palm.

Song Yin looked at the spirit stones in her hand. The smile on her lips gradually deepened, looking strangely eerie.

Shen Yirong’s eyes, directed at the spirit stone pouch, were full of deep affection and agony, as if she were enacting a dramatic farewell scene of agonizing love and separation.

She trembling pulled out two smaller ones from the pouch and put them in Song Yin’s hand.

Song Yin: “…”

Does this person think I’m a beggar?

Just as she was about to laugh angrily, she suddenly heard the sound of a sword cutting through the air behind them.

Song Yin knew who was coming, so she leaned close to Shen Yirong’s ear and whispered, “How about you kiss me?”

Before she finished speaking, she was kissed on the cheek.

Song Yin stared blankly at the excited Shen Yirong.

Shen Yirong: “Venerable One, would you like more?”