The Immortal Lord of the Path of Ruthlessness Bends for Me - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Zhuang Jinfu’s Past

The person before her was curled quietly in her embrace. Zhuang Jinfu had intended to keep watch over her, monitoring for any late-night fever, so she had never planned to sleep. She remained fully awake.

When Ling Shu had whispered her name earlier, she hadn’t answered. Zhuang Jinfu didn’t want the girl to know she was intentionally staying awake to guard her.

This little fox was rebellious and untamable, possessed of a temperament that would take an axe to the world’s chaos. She seemed to have no moments of weakness, always projecting a fierce exterior to protect herself. Yet, she actually craved recognition and kindness—and when she finally received them, she became plagued by the fear of losing them.

Thus, rather than feeding that anxiety, it was better to let her know less.

Zhuang Jinfu felt that her own kindness was minuscule. As the only demon whose existence the world officially acknowledged, Ling Shu would always receive far more harm from this alien society than benevolence.

When that kiss had landed on her collar, Zhuang Jinfu was acutely aware of the entire process. She knew how Ling Shu had approached with such youthful awkwardness, how she had chosen reverence over offense, and how the girl was currently caught in the throes of a shy, maidenly crush. She knew it all.

Yet, her heart didn’t stir in the slightest.

There wasn’t even a hint of confusion or being caught off guard. She simply paused, needing a moment to process.

Can a withered, dead tree be brought back to life by spring water? The answer in Zhuang Jinfu’s heart was “no.”

She still remembered vividly why she had chosen the path of Emotionlessness.

Zhuang Jinfu was born into the prominent Zhuang family. Today, she was the sole remaining bloodline; the family seal had been tucked away on a high shelf, untouched since she left home. The Zhuangs were a clan of high officials and nobility.

During the Human-Demon War four hundred years ago, the capable died in battle, and the incapable could barely save themselves. Her great-grandmother had fled with her daughters into the deep mountains, living alongside low-level demons.

Her childhood was filled with the presence of demons. They took her tree-climbing, fishing, and wood-gathering. They gave her the happiest years of her life. Back then, she felt humans and demons were no different. They were friends. She thought those days would last forever.

Until one day.

A snake demon arrived at their door and slaughtered her entire family. Zhuang Jinfu was shielded by another demon and managed to escape.

The snake demon had come for revenge. On the battlefield, the Zhuang family had killed her kin. Killing the combatants wasn’t enough to sate her hatred; she hunted the survivors until she overheard a demon praising the beauty of the women in the mountains.

Eight-year-old Zhuang Jinfu fled across the vast, desolate land. She was eventually cornered at a cliff and fell.

She didn’t die. She got caught in the branches of a “Ginseng Spirit.” This ginseng had transformed into an ancient pine hanging off the cliff to enjoy the mountain breeze, only to be interrupted by a falling brat. It began to curse at whoever was so blind, but when it saw a dying little girl, its heart softened.

The Ginseng Spirit fed her one of its root hairs, and she woke up. For cultivators, a Ginseng Spirit is a top-tier foundation-building ingredient; a whole one can upgrade the quality of a spirit root. Under such dangerous conditions, this ginseng lived quite comfortably.

Because she had found herself a powerful patron.

At that time, Wang Lifu was already the designated heir of the Wang family. She advocated for human-demon peace. The Ginseng Spirit trusted her and sought her protection. Wang Lifu took the spirit in.

When the Ginseng Spirit brought the eight-year-old Zhuang Jinfu to Wang Lifu, she said: “I found this wild brat in the mountains. I fed her a root—hey, she lived! I don’t know how to raise kids. You’re seventeen, she’s eight; you’re basically the same age. You’re raising me, might as well raise her too.”

Wang Lifu roared, “How are we the same age?! And is raising a human the same as raising a demon spirit?”

The Ginseng Spirit squinted at her. “Why aren’t you the same age? In demon years, a hundred-year gap is nothing. You’re only nine years apart! And how is it different? You talk about equality all day, but when it comes down to it, you say it’s different. You’re a hypocrite!”

Caught in her own rhetoric, Wang Lifu kept Zhuang Jinfu to maintain her perfect image.

At age ten, Zhuang Jinfu was tested and found to have a Heaven-grade Ice Spirit Root. She didn’t believe she was a natural genius; she suspected the Ginseng Grandmother had “grown” the root for her. Fearing the girl wouldn’t grow up, the grandmother fed her ginseng roots constantly.

Five-hundred-year-old refined spirit ginseng is a miraculous medicine that can raise the dead. It fed her so much that Zhuang Jinfu had constant nosebleeds and internal “heat.” Wang Lifu had to spend every day regulating her energy just to keep her body from exploding.

Wang Lifu finally took her as a disciple to manage her training properly. When Zhuang Jinfu turned eighteen, she was sent out into the world for experience.

The Zhuang Jinfu who first touched the outside world collapsed emotionally.

She didn’t know the way. Seeing a grass demon, she approached with childhood joy to ask for directions. The grass demon shrieked, “Don’t catch me!” and vanished. She stood frozen, not understanding why demons feared her.

Aren’t humans and demons best friends?

Later, while sleeping in a tree by a river, she was woken by cultivators chasing a little fox. The fox hid in a tree near her. The cultivators landed and searched but missed it. When they were gone, Zhuang Jinfu rustled the leaves. “Hey, why were they chasing you?”

The fox saw her indigo cultivator robes and screamed, “Don’t kill me!”

“There it is!” “Kill!” A sword light flashed, piercing the fox’s heart. Zhuang Jinfu watched in horror as they cut the fox open to take its core.

She broke down. She felt she had killed the fox. She began to oppose those who hunted demons for cores. But her heart was too kind. She couldn’t bring herself to kill humans who hunted demons, nor could she kill evil demons who slaughtered humans. She sympathized with the dying demon race, so the humans tried to kill her, and the evil demons—hating all cultivators—didn’t spare her either. Even though her hands had never touched blood.

Eventually, she was hunted until she had only one breath left. She wandered the wilderness with a wooden stick, looking for a place to die.

She met a cowherd boy. The child asked, “Priestess sister, why do you look like you’re dying?”

Zhuang Jinfu licked her cracked lips. “I am dying.” “Little one,” she asked hopelessly, “if everyone hates you, what should you do?”

The boy played with a blade of grass. “Then just don’t pay attention to them.” “How do I ‘not pay attention’?” “Hmm… that’s a hard question,” the boy thought. “I guess… be a person without feelings.”

Zhuang Jinfu repeated, “A person without feelings.” She coughed, seeing the blood in her palm. “You’re right, kid.”

Two years later, a brilliant female cultivator with a Heaven-grade spirit root appeared in the Shangqing Mountains. She wore a veil and white robes embroidered with plum blossoms. Everywhere she went, she killed cultivators who slaughtered demons indiscriminately.

The demon race, hunted to the brink, found a moment to breathe. This woman was branded a traitor and a “filthy thief.” The Shangqing Sect cast her out. But when evil demons turned to slaughter humans, she cut them down just as ruthlessly. People then called her a spineless “fence-sitter.”

Eventually, she killed all who caused chaos—human or demon. she followed only justice, regardless of origin. Her reputation transformed, and she became known as the “Traveler from Beyond the Dust.”

She followed her justice until her path of Emotionlessness was complete, and she ascended.

The person in her arms must have been having a beautiful dream; fuzzy red fox ears popped out of her head. In her deep sleep, Ling Shu was quiet, her fierce defiance against Wang Lifu completely gone. She looked peaceful.

Zhuang Jinfu’s hand, which had been resting lightly on the blanket, moved toward the girl’s head. Very gently, she touched a fox ear.

Her eyes were filled with the tranquility of one who has let go.

The little fox… she had saved her.

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