Why is the Demon Venerable Like That? - Chapter 17

Lu Yuan said with regret, “It seems I can only go find Lu Mingzhu’s true form tomorrow.”

System: 【?】 Host, you are being swayed by lust! Host, you are neglecting your proper duties!

The system was driven to tears, its background processes chaotic; it was reading and replying nonsensically: Host, please wake up!

Lu Yuan watched quietly as the black mist was swallowed up by the divine blood. The puncture wound, as thick as a finger, was already slowly recovering, but the smell of blood lingered persistently in the cramped carriage.

Ling Chuandu had only momentarily lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a dark red collar enter his line of sight.

Then, he realized it was not dark red, but a moon-white lapel soaked through with blood.

The owner of the collar looked terrifyingly cold. Seeing him wake up, the expression softened slightly, “How are you?”

Ling Chuandu said hoarsely, “Not dead yet.” He straightened up, and although it pulled at his wound, his expression remained unchanged as he asked, “Why are you still here?”

Lu Yuan asked inexplicably, “Where should I be?”

The blood had slowly stopped flowing. Ling Chuandu stared at Lu Yuan without blinking, looking dissatisfied, “Jizhao Temple.”

Ling Chuandu had come specifically for a promise made by Lin Jiangxue. Every moment, every second, his heart was tormented by a single question.

For many years, he had lived only for the answer to this question, and now the path to that answer was close at hand.

However, Ling Chuandu never expected that Lu Mingzhu, who was deeply affectionate toward him in Lin Chuan’s memories, would harbor an intent to kill him.

Memories can deceive, and people can disguise themselves. This lethal blow completely interrupted his plan to leave the Partridge Dream as quickly as possible.

Lu Yuan leaned lazily against the carriage window, his voice languid, “Sect Master Ling, your words are truly hurtful. I was frightened to death by what just happened; my heart is still thumping wildly.”

Ling Chuandu had become numb to Lu Yuan’s flippant way of speaking. He frowned, “What is your actual relationship with Lin Jiangxue?”

“She is the Sect Master of my sect.” Lu Yuan looked at Ling Chuandu with apparent surprise, as if the latter had asked a strange question.

“Lin Jiangxue selected over 40 disciples to enter this secret realm for training. You alone have a cultivation base that is barely at the Foundation Establishment stage.” Because Ling Chuandu was enduring the pain, his mood became somewhat irritable, and he no longer wanted to engage in pretense with Lu Yuan. “This is not something that can be explained by just saying she is your Sect Master.”

Lu Yuan said earnestly, “Sect Master Ling, your words are wrong. Do we who lack innate talent not have the right to ascend?”

Ling Chuandu’s long, narrow eyes held a hint of scrutiny. He was weighing things; he was thinking.

Whether the person before him lived or died should have had no impact on him.

However, this person spoke endless lies and acted exactly as he pleased.

It was too strange.

Strange enough to make him feel a sense of unease.

Ling Chuandu had intended to spare the other’s life, but back at the Lu residence, the murderous intent on Lu Yuan had, for a split second, made his skin crawl.

He could not see through Lu Yuan’s identity or intentions, which left him feeling insecure.

Even if, on the surface, Lu Yuan was just a piece of trash at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Suddenly, Ling Chuandu struck.

Just as his fingers were about to touch Lu Yuan’s throat, and in the next second, this Lu Yuan was about to be strangled to death by him—

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and chuckled.

He naturally recognized the murderous look in Ling Chuandu’s eyes.

Lu Yuan grabbed Ling Chuandu’s wrist and said, “You want to kill me.”

He felt that what he was gripping was not a person’s hand, but a sharp blade; one slight carelessness, and his palm would be sliced into a bloody mess.

Ling Chuandu ignored him, pressing his palm ruthlessly against Lu Yuan’s throat, his knuckles tightening gradually.

System: 【Ding! Security threat to the host detected! Two emergency side quests are now available for you to choose from.】

【1. Defeat the disciple of Fengcong Pavilion, Gu Qingjue, who is currently ranked 500th on the cultivator leaderboard, 0/1】

Lu Yuan was already furious with his junior brother, who had turned hostile, and the next second, this system with its failing intelligence sent his anger to the threshold.

He was inside a dream; how was he supposed to go and fight a living cultivator, especially someone he had never even heard of!

Not to mention anything else, Lu Yuan couldn’t even remember people ranked beyond the top fifty from his past life, nor could he match their faces.

【2. Obtain praise from Master Liaowu of Jizhao Temple, Xichong Mountain, 0/1】

Did that old bald donkey ever praise me?!

Before Lu Yuan could even finish the thought, the system sobbed with joy: 【Side quest 2: Obtain praise from Master Liaowu of Jizhao Temple, Xichong Mountain, completed! Based on the current situation, a high-tech gift of the future is granted: a set of ultra-strong tranquilizers.】

【Product introduction: The dosage is just right, makes you dazed without hurting your brain!】

As soon as the system finished speaking, Ling Chuandu immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked at Lu Yuan with suspicion, “You…”

Before he could finish the sentence, he collapsed straight onto Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan clutched his shoulder, which had been bruised by Ling Chuandu’s chin, in pain. “Wait, when did that old bald donkey from Jizhao Temple ever praise me?”

System: 【Is that what you are worried about?!】

When Shen Qiuxin saw the two bloody figures appear, she nearly lost her soul in fright.

“How did this happen?!” Shen Qiuxin wanted to reach out and examine Ling Chuandu’s wounds, but was afraid her clumsy touch would worsen them. She trembled while supporting the maid beside her, “Where is the doctor?! Quickly, call a doctor!”

The sedan bearers beside them hurried over, “The young mistress has already told us to call for one! We have already invited the best doctor in the city; they are on the way and will arrive soon!”

The servants quickly carried Ling Chuandu to his bedroom to lie down. In an instant, people from the Yongkang Prince’s mansion rushed in and out like a tangled mess, exceptionally crowded.

The doctor directed a group of people to bring basins and change bandages, everyone rushing around frantically.

It was not until the doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and said the young master was out of danger that Shen Qiuxin walked out of the mansion gate, thanking the doctor all the way.

The bedroom fell silent for a moment. The maids looked at their own noses, ignoring everything else, and tactfully retreated.

Lu Yuan sat in the corner of the bedroom. At this moment, he looked exactly like a wife who was truly worried about her husband’s impending death, but his face was as gloomy as water.

“Why is he so inexplicable?” Lu Yuan knew Ling Chuandu had not woken up yet because of the system. He crossed his arms and asked the system, “Does he have a brain problem?”

The system was confused: 【Ah? Do you think so? He killed you in his past life, after all. It is normal for such a person to suddenly kill someone.】

Lu Yuan stood up abruptly, startling the system.

He walked to the agarwood incense that the doctor had just burned to calm Ling Chuandu’s spirit and relieve his pain, and tossed a brown object into the burner.

System: 【What is that?】

Lu Yuan: “The Voice of the Heart.”

The system realized: 【So it is not for eating. But you inhaled it too, what will happen to you?】

Before it could study how to use the item carefully, it heard its host’s deep voice: “Wake him up.”

System: 【Oh.】

Half a second later: 【Ah?】

Lu Yuan shot it a casual glance and said, “If you don’t wake him up, how can I ask him questions?”

The system felt its “scalp” go numb under Lu Yuan’s gaze, and it obediently began searching for the antidote in the set it had just provided.

Ling Chuandu’s eyelashes fluttered, and he saw a figure radiating intense displeasure standing before him.

“What did you do?” Ling Chuandu was silent for a moment before stiffly propping himself up.

Lu Yuan’s lips curled up, but his eyes held deep-seated anger. He sat to one side, composed, and replied, “There is ‘Voice of the Heart’ in the burner.”

“Now, I ask, you answer.”

Ling Chuandu’s eyes sharpened, his voice hoarse: “I should have killed you that night.”

Lu Yuan lowered his eyes. His expression was blank, but his fingers tightened abruptly, “Who killed Lu Lingyue?”

“Ha, and here I thought you were going to ask something else.” Ling Chuandu sneered, his voice laced with the scent of blood, “It was me.”

“It was me who killed him.”

“I witnessed his fall with my own eyes.”

“Even if Lu Lingyue had reached the rank of a demi-god, death was still inevitable.”

Ling Chuandu’s smile was filled with malice. Although he did not know why Lu Yuan would ask a question to which everyone knew the answer, seeing the man’s face turn incredibly ugly gave him an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

Lu Yuan’s fingers suddenly clenched and then loosened. He looked at Ling Chuandu with gloom, suddenly walked toward the bed in long strides, and violently gripped Ling Chuandu’s jaw.

Gilded light flashed through his eyes. The ancient god’s blood within Lu Yuan’s body responded to his summons, boiling and surging once more.

“Take me back to that day.” Lu Yuan’s pupils turned pitch black like the night.

Dark golden light and shadow intertwined, wrapping them both into Ling Chuandu’s memories.

Lu Yuan intended to borrow the other’s memory to shape an illusion, recreating the scene where life and death had intertwined.

The parts of his body touching Ling Chuandu gradually turned bone-chillingly cold, and this coldness slowly spread to his entire body.

Lu Yuan’s chest could not help but tremble uncontrollably. Once again, he saw a thin, narrow, sharp long sword pierce through his heart.

Suddenly, he felt a wet, cool sensation on his face.

He saw peach blossoms in full bloom, spring snow drifting down.

As it turned out, it was the time when Jiu Cang City was covered in falling peach blossoms and fine snow.

Snowflakes fell rustlingly, and everything in Jiu Cang City was white.

Warm blood dripped onto the ground, the sound barely audible, fading into a deep red stain.

Lu Yuan was in so much pain that his form became unstable, but the person across from him seemed to be in even greater agony.

Ling Chuandu’s hand, holding the sword, trembled. His eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his neck bulged, and his knuckles turned white from the force, as if he were the one with a hole in his chest.

Seeing his expression, Lu Yuan felt sad and wanted to walk over to smooth out the sorrow between his brows, but he was fixed in place by the long sword, unable to move.

Ling Chuandu’s expression was both painful and bewildered. He wanted to force an answer from the other loudly, but it seemed that as soon as he spoke, the last breath he was desperately holding onto would dissipate with his voice.

He simply opened his mouth, exhausting his entire strength, and his voice trembled uncontrollably, “Lu Yuan, why…”

Blood gushed out from Lu Yuan’s wound. Finally, he staggered back a few steps. As the blade was drawn from his body, there was a strange, tugging sensation against his flesh; at this moment, he felt that his relationship with his junior brother was held together only by this sword.

Snowflakes seemed to fall into Ling Chuandu’s eyes, turning into a pool of water at the bottom of his gaze.

The peach blossoms, stained with blood, bloomed even more brilliantly.

The sword in his hand seemed to have become a scorching piece of iron. With a shake of his hand, as if awakened from a dream, Ling Chuandu dropped the sword with a resonant sound.

Blood flowed incessantly from the corner of Lu Yuan’s mouth, which he wiped away casually, leaving a tragic streak of red on the side of his face.

He said, “…Junior Brother, hold the sword steady.”

Exhaustion surged with the blood loss, making every word he spoke difficult. His consciousness gradually became hazy and blurred.

He was, at last, tired. Unable to support himself, he fell from the skies above Jiu Cang City.

Ling Chuandu wanted to grab him, but a thousand words were left unsaid in an instant.

Only a hurried cry remained, sounding more like a sob passing through his throat.

“Lu Yuan!”

The sensation of weightlessness from the rapid fall made Lu Yuan snap back to reality.

So, it really was Ling Chuandu.

In that instant, Lu Yuan felt as if his heart were a withered wilderness, with only the lonely wind passing through.