Transmigrated as the Little Concubine of a Paper-Thin Man - Chapter 39

But what good would it do for me to stay here any longer?

This thought suddenly flashed through Shi Yunjii’s mind.

She was very clear that she truly hated to leave right now, because Yan Ling was still engaged in a desperate fight with the demonic forces inside the Jade Bell Palace. At this critical juncture, if she chose to kill Jiang Shu and escape this world, she would feel like a cowardly deserter—

She was the one who had brought these demons, like Huan Zhu, here, yet now she was planning to escape and leave Yan Ling to clean up her mess.

But then again, Shi Yunjii deeply realized her own powerlessness.

Staying here, she couldn’t help at all.

However, if she returned to the real world, she might be able to help Yan Ling, increasing her chances of victory through actions like “cashing in” (using real money to buy in-game advantages) and other means.

She shouldn’t hesitate!

With this thought, Shi Yunjii’s flickering gaze instantly firmed up.

Yes! She had to return to the real world immediately. Only by becoming the “deity” in Yan Ling’s heart again could she save Yan Ling. As for the matter of never seeing Yan Ling again after leaving this world… that was no longer something she could consider right now.

Shi Yunjii gripped the dagger tightly, and the razor-sharp blade immediately pierced through Jiang Shu’s chest. Along with the gushing blood came Jiang Shu’s miserable shriek. At first, he cried and begged for mercy, but realizing that the Shi Yunjii before him had no intention of sparing him, his pleas gradually turned into unbearable curses.

“You damn woman, I should have killed you, this little slut, after killing your father!”

“You, ha, do you know how your father died by my blade? He didn’t even believe I did it until his death!”

“Your Yun family is hypocritical! You are all utterly hypocritical beasts! The position of Sect Master, your father owed it to our Jiang family, I was just taking back what originally belonged to me!”

“I’m not wrong! I’m not wrong!!! The one who deserves to die is you—”

Perhaps because he was a cultivator, Jiang Shu’s vitality was incredibly tenacious. Shi Yunjii watched helplessly as she plunged the dagger halfway into him, yet Jiang Shu still had the strength to bark curses at her.

She grit her teeth, intending to put him out of his misery with one final push.

But at that moment, a sudden loud crash came from outside the courtyard.

Shi Yunjii hesitated for a moment. The next instant, the gate exploded open, and a ghostly red figure darted to her back with lightning speed.

The next thing Shi Yunjii knew, she felt herself being lifted off the ground by the neck. She struggled to open her eyes, but unable to turn her head, she couldn’t see who was restraining her. But soon, she saw Yan Ling following close behind.

Yan Ling’s lips were bleeding, and she had some minor injuries on her body, but her condition was not too bad.

Her brows were tightly furrowed as she looked at Shi Yunjii, whose throat was being squeezed. Although she tried to hide her emotions, the tension and concern in her eyes were difficult to suppress.

For some reason, seeing Yan Ling at this moment made Shi Yunjii feel like crying.

“You are indeed here, hehe.” The person gripping Shi Yunjii’s neck spoke.

The voice was so familiar that Shi Yunjii even felt a sense of absurd “of course” about it. Huan Zhu smiled, leaned close to her ear to tell her to “behave,” and then looked at Yan Ling: “It seems that this time, Sect Master Yan won’t be able to completely defeat me either.”

Yan Ling kept her hands behind her back: “Is that all you’ve got?”

Huan Zhu didn’t care, retorting sarcastically: “I am a demon, so I’ll resort to any dirty trick.” She even used her other hand to pinch Shi Yunjii’s cheek: “Besides, I and Yunjie are old friends.”

“Isn’t it proper for friends to help each other out with a little favor?”

Yan Ling’s expression grew colder: “Release her.”

Huan Zhu raised an eyebrow: “That depends on whether Sect Master Yan can be ‘sensible.’”

Yan Ling frowned: “What do you want?”

“I want you to kill yourself,” Huan Zhu blurted out almost without thinking.

Hearing this, Yan Ling showed no immediate reaction, but Shi Yunjii began to struggle violently first.

She was certain that Huan Zhu wouldn’t dare to kill her, so she struggled fiercely, even using her elbow to forcefully attack the person behind her. But soon, Huan Zhu hit her hard in the stomach. The intense pain slowly brought Shi Yunjii to her senses.

Enduring the pain, Shi Yunjii looked at Yan Ling and repeatedly mouthed two words: [Don’t… don’t…]

“Have some self-awareness as a hostage, will you?” Huan Zhu applied a little more pressure to the hand gripping her neck. “If you don’t want to die, behave yourself. If I can’t escape today, I will definitely drag you down with me!”

Shi Yunjii didn’t focus on her threat. Her eyes were on Yan Ling, and she used her eye movements to draw Yan Ling’s attention to Jiang Shu at her feet—

Jiang Shu had a silver dagger stuck in his chest, and blood continuously flowed from the wound, but he was still stubbornly clinging to his last breath and had not yet died.

Yan Ling clearly understood Shi Yunjii’s hint.

Kill Jiang Shu! If Jiang Shu was killed, she could be freed and leave this world, and Huan Zhu would naturally lose the bargaining chip to threaten Yan Ling!

But Yan Ling’s gaze flickered for a moment. Then, she completely ignored Shi Yunjii’s hint, looked at Huan Zhu, and said, “You know that’s impossible. Ask for something more practical.”

Huan Zhu let out a cold laugh.

She was silent for a moment, seeming to contemplate what exchange terms to use. After a short while, she calmly spoke: “Let me and my subordinates leave. Use a restraining spell to hold the others for at least two hours.”

“After two hours, you come to Hongtong Village, sixty li away, to pick her up.”

Yan Ling negotiated: “I’ll let you go, and I promise not to pursue you for two hours. But you must safely hand her over to me before you leave.”

“Sect Master Yan, I don’t think you have room to bargain here, do you?” Huan Zhu said contemptuously.

Yan Ling spoke calmly: “Do not assume that everyone is a treacherous villain like you. I have cultivated for decades and have never broken a promise. But you are a demon; I cannot trust you.”

Huan Zhu laughed: “You cultivators are the most hypocritical! Why would I believe you?”

She suddenly looked at Shi Yunjii: “Let alone anyone else, this supposed Dao Companion of yours led me around in circles before.” She patted Shi Yunjii’s cheek: “You acted so convincingly, I genuinely thought Yan Ling had developed an inner demon.”

“Little Yunjie, I’d have to blame eighty percent of my poor start this time on you.”

Shi Yunjii turned her face away in disgust, refusing to look at her.

Yan Ling spoke up to defend her: “She didn’t deceive you.”

She took a deep breath: “She misunderstood. She always misunderstood that I had developed an inner demon, which is why she made that deal with you. If she truly wanted to deceive you, why would she actually coax me into drinking that cup of medicated wine at the Grand Ceremony?”

With the past brought up again, tears welled up in Shi Yunjii’s eyes as she looked at Yan Ling.

Her emotions were truly complex—on one hand, the fact that Yan Ling had never developed an inner demon was a huge shock, making her realize that all of Yan Ling’s actions during this time were based on her true inner feelings; on the other hand, she felt incredibly ashamed for letting the wolf into the house.

Huan Zhu raised her voice: “She misunderstood that you had developed an inner demon?”

Saying this, Huan Zhu sneered: “Doesn’t that just prove that you deceived her? If you deceive even your own supposed Dao Companion, how can I possibly believe you?”

Yan Ling pursed her lips, and after a moment, spoke: “The Heavenly Dao governs, and cultivators who make a heart oath cannot violate it. I am willing to turn the conditions mentioned above into a heart oath. If I violate it, I will be tormented by inner demons for life and unable to ascend to immortality.”

Upon hearing this, Huan Zhu and Shi Yunjii both looked at her in unison.

Huan Zhu confirmed: “Are you really willing to make a heart oath?”

Shi Yunjii, however, only shook her head at her, looking anxiously at the dying Jiang Shu on the ground—

There was clearly a simpler way! She could have just eliminated this demoness Huan Zhu! Why, why was she making things so complicated?!

On the other side, Yan Ling had already raised her hand: “Yan Ling, I swear to the Heavenly Dao with my Dao Heart—”

In an instant, patches of thunderclouds appeared in the sky, a symbol of the Heavenly Dao taking notice. Seeing the thunderclouds, Yan Ling continued: “As long as Huan Zhu does not harm Yunjie and safely hands her over to me, I promise to let her and her demon army subordinates leave, and to restrain myself and the guests of the Flying Immortal Sect from pursuing them for two hours.”

As the words fell, a clap of thunder exploded in the sky. Only then did the thunderclouds slowly dissipate.

Seeing this, Huan Zhu smiled with satisfaction.

She lowered her head and leaned close to Shi Yunjii: “I never thought that you, little thing, would actually be somewhat useful. It’s a good thing that although I had many thoughts of killing you directly before, I never actually acted on them.”

After speaking, she pushed Shi Yunjii toward Yan Ling: “The heart oath is made, I will trust you this once. Go, restrain those frantic cultivators. I need to take my subordinates back.”

Yan Ling supported Shi Yunjii. She first checked her nervously, making sure she was alright before letting out a sigh of relief.

Huan Zhu urged her again, and she nodded: “Let’s go.”

But Shi Yunjii pushed Yan Ling away, shaking her head to indicate that she was unwilling to follow them.

Indeed, the crisis on Yan Ling’s side was temporarily resolved. What was the point of her going with them?

She lowered her head, looking at Jiang Shu who was still breathing shallowly on the ground, and mouthed: [You go alone, I want to stay.]

Yan Ling grabbed her hand: “Come with me.”

Shi Yunjii angrily shook her off.

Her eyes were filled with anger and accusation, accusing Yan Ling of why she hadn’t followed her hint just now.

[I, am, not, going.] She took a deep breath. [Sect Master Yan, you should go fulfill your oath. I wish you, and your Flying Immortal Sect, plain sailing from now on.]

She mouthed these sentences very deliberately, her lip movements exceptionally clear, like words slamming onto Yan Ling’s heart one by one.

Yan Ling lowered her head, her shoulders seemingly trembling slightly, but soon, she straightened up again.

She looked at Shi Yunjii: “I’ll leave first.”

Shi Yunjii didn’t respond, turning her head away, her gaze fixed on the void, not knowing what she was looking at.

Yan Ling gave another bitter smile, then turned and slowly walked out of Bamboo Retreat Courtyard.

However, compared to when she arrived, she seemed to have completely lost her vitality. Even just from her back, one could tell her current scattered consciousness and weak state.

Shi Yunjii walked back to Jiang Shu’s side.

The cultivator’s powerful physique allowed him to still cling to life. In fact, the wound caused by the dagger even showed signs of healing. If left unchecked, Jiang Shu’s injuries might improve.

She needed to deal the final blow for him to truly die.

Shi Yunjii reached up to grasp the dagger and took a deep breath.

Having already resolved to leave, a pang struck her heart. She couldn’t help but turn her head to look towards the doorway. It was this glance that nearly made her heart stop—

Huan Zhu, who had walked behind Yan Ling, also noticed Yan Ling’s spiritless, ashes-of-the-heart mental state when she turned around.

Although she didn’t know why Shi Yunjii merely refusing to leave with Yan Ling could cause an effect a thousand times stronger than her poison, corroding Yan Ling’s spirit, Huan Zhu didn’t want to delve into the details.

She simply realized that this was an excellent opportunity to attack Yan Ling.

And a cold-blooded demonic hunter never easily misses an opportunity!

So, after deciding to strike, she quickly chose the best spot—under the shade of a huge green tree outside the Bamboo Retreat Courtyard.

The leaves were thick, completely blocking the sunlight streaming down from above. In the shadow, nothing could expose her movements. And at the exact moment her shadow disappeared from the ground, Huan Zhu raised her right hand, clutching a short blade.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down.

Shi Yunjii stood up, using all her strength to shout towards the two of them.

But as the word “Yan” came out, she immediately realized that she couldn’t make a sound at all!!! And Yan Ling was currently facing away from her, making it impossible for her to see her lip movements.

But even in despair, she didn’t give up.

“Yan——Ling——”

At some point, Shi Yunjii felt an intense pain in her throat. But at this moment, her mind and eyes were focused entirely on Yan Ling and Huan Zhu ahead, leaving her no time to notice the changes happening to herself.

The severe pain from her throat was directly ignored by her.

She had only one thought in her mind—

Warn Yan Ling!!!

“Yan Ling—be careful of Huan Zhu—”

At that moment, Yan Ling and Huan Zhu both turned their heads simultaneously.

Both their faces showed obvious shock. Fortunately, Yan Ling quickly noticed the short blade in Huan Zhu’s hand, aimed at her.

She narrowed her eyes, immediately reaching out to grip Huan Zhu’s right wrist, and then struck Huan Zhu.

Huan Zhu also reacted, counter-attacking. But her strength was already inferior to Yan Ling’s. Having come to the Bamboo Retreat Courtyard to find Shi Yunjii as a hostage, she was already at the end of her rope, and her strength hadn’t recovered much since then.

The two fought. After just a dozen or so moves, Huan Zhu was tightly bound by the chains that Yan Ling had transformed from her bell.

She struggled constantly, even trying to deceive her: “Have you forgotten the oath you made? Yan Ling! You will suffer the wrath of Heaven!”

Yan Ling said coldly: “You struck me first; the heart oath is already broken.”

She tightened the silver chains, causing Huan Zhu to cry out in pain: “It’s over.”

Shi Yunjii stood at the entrance of the Bamboo Retreat Courtyard.

Seeing Huan Zhu captured, her heart finally settled. Only now did she belatedly realize something, covering her throat in disbelief.

Yan Ling also walked towards her.

The two looked at each other. Shi Yunjii was stunned for a long time, then spoke: “I, I just…”

After only three or four words, she covered her mouth in surprise—she, she actually heard the sound that escaped with her lip movements!

Yan Ling reached out, taking her hand that was covering her mouth into her palm.

She nodded, her eyes filled with encouragement: “Yes, you just… spoke.”

“I, I…” Shi Yunjii was incoherent, feeling as if she didn’t know where to put her tongue in her mouth.

After panicking for a while, she slowly calmed down, taking a deep breath before speaking: “My, my voice, is back.”

Yan Ling smiled: “Your voice is very pleasant.”

Shi Yunjii looked at her, her face slowly turning red.

Remembering the main business, she looked at Huan Zhu: “You, you capturing her, doesn’t count as breaking the heart oath, right?”

Yan Ling shook her head: “It doesn’t.”

“That’s good.” Shi Yunjii felt relieved, looking at Huan Zhu: “Evil deeds will eventually be repaid.”

Huan Zhu surprisingly still had the mood to joke: “You were waiting for this moment, weren’t you? You didn’t speak earlier or later, but you spoke just now, startling me so much I forgot to stab the knife down.”

Yan Ling glared at her in distaste, and simply sealed her mouth so she couldn’t speak anymore.

Without Huan Zhu’s voice, the two seemed to not know what to say either, and the scene became eerily quiet.

After silently looking at each other for a moment, Shi Yunjii looked at Yan Ling, thinking that there needed to be a conclusion.

“You should go back quickly. The main hall… needs you.”

“The main hall only has some demon generals and soldiers; they can handle it,” Yan Ling replied.

She looked past Shi Yunjii at Jiang Shu in the courtyard, and said: “Are you… leaving?”

Shi Yunjii forced a smile: “It’s time to leave, isn’t it?”

She looked at Yan Ling, wanting to imprint the other person deeply into her mind: “This isn’t a farewell. In the future, I will still ‘accompany’ you, just like before.”

“Heh.” Yan Ling let out a bitter laugh, “Mm.”

She looked up: “I shouldn’t be too greedy, should I?”

Although these were simple words, without any hint of begging or suggestion, Shi Yunjii could still read a thousand unspoken words in her eyes.

Reluctance, pain, sadness, struggle, and a certain helpless resignation.

Shi Yunjii tried hard to curve her lips: “Yan Ling, you are the chosen Child of Heaven by me. You will get better and better.”

Yan Ling also maintained a smile on her face but didn’t speak again.

Seeing the sorrowful yet unspoken expression on the other person’s face, Shi Yunjii clearly knew that if she delayed any longer, she might not be able to leave.

She resolutely turned and returned to the courtyard, walking back to Jiang Shu.

But this time, Yan Ling actually left Huan Zhu outside the courtyard and followed closely.

Shi Yunjii thought she was going to go back on her word and stop her, but unexpectedly, she spoke: “Let me do it.”

She pushed Shi Yunjii aside and stood in front of Jiang Shu. Looking at the dying man, she said: “The first time I saw him, I should have killed him, but I let him go.”

“This time, it should be me who ends his life.”

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