Love & Redemption
Chapter 115: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji - 22 This Love Must Ask the Heavens (10)

Chapter 115: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji Chapter 22 This Love Must Ask the Heavens (10)

"Ah!" Xuanji suddenly sat up, only to see the white canopy of the inn’s room. Her heart thumped wildly, and she couldn’t help but touch her lips with her hand. The sensation was fiery hot. It was not a dream, but reality.

What should she do next? She was dazed for a while, scratching her head almost to the point of tearing the scalp without coming up with a solution. As the sky grew brighter and the sounds of the inn opening to attract business drifted up, she knew she couldn’t stay in bed all day, as there was important work to be done.

Ah, how did things turn out this way! Helplessly, Xuanji got out of bed to wash up. In the mirror, a beautiful young girl appeared, her cheeks burning like fire and her eyes shimmering like water. Was this really her, Chu Xuanji? Was it truly her?

After dawdling upstairs for a while, she finally went downstairs hesitantly. Zhong Minyan and the others were already sitting in the hall having breakfast. She caught sight of that azure figure, and something seemed to strike her heart, trembling violently, and she instinctively wanted to flee.

But Zhong Minyan saw her and immediately called out, "We’ve been waiting for you for a long time! Why are you just getting up now!"

She had no choice but to walk over, not daring to lift her head to glance, and said hesitantly, "I... woke up late..."

Zhong Minyan pressed her down to sit, ordered another breakfast for her, and then said, "We’re just discussing going to the Zhou Residence today. Brother Liu severely wounded the Snake Demon last night, so she probably wouldn’t dare to make a move today. We’ll take the chance with the residence having a demon to rescue Zi Hu and Ting Nu."

She nodded, but didn’t take in a single word. When the waiter brought over a bowl of soy milk, she picked it up to drink and almost dropped the bowl because it was so hot.

"Why are you so distracted, little girl..." Liu Yihuan teased deliberately, leaning over to touch the girl’s cherry lips that were reddened from the heat, but was immediately pushed away by Yu Sifeng.

"Have some cold water." He squatted in front of her, handing her a cup of cold tea and naturally touching her lips with his finger, adding, "It’s not burnt, it’ll be fine in a while."

Her gaze flickered, clutching the cup of cold tea in her hands, and finally, as if she’d made up her mind, she looked up at Yu Sifeng, but he got up and walked away.

For some reason, she felt a wave of loss and hung her head low, not speaking again.

"So, the situation is like this," Liu Yihuan said, stuffing dough sticks into his mouth while speaking indistinctly, "In Qingyang City, I also have a bit of fame as a Demi Immortal. So I’m humbling myself and making a trip to the Zhou Residence this time. As for you guys, you’ll pretend to be my subordinates and follow my orders, got it?"

His first glare was directed at Zhong Minyan, who was the least obedient. Zhong Minyan rolled his eyes and replied, "Got it, got it... When are we leaving?"

Liu Yihuan snapped his fingers, "Now, right now, immediately—let’s set off."

But, early in the morning, rumors had already spread throughout Qingyang City, saying that ghosts had made a ruckus at the Zhou Residence the previous night. First it was a green light, then a white one. The commotion had so terrified the second young mistress, still waiting for marriage, that until now she dared not leave her room, lying in bed waiting for the doctor.

Upon hearing this, everyone knew the signs of last night’s fight had been discovered, and the Snake Demon, injured by the Heavenly Eye, could only pretend to be sick. After a discussion, everyone was too lazy to expose the truth that she wasn’t really the second young mistress. Because Liu Yihuan said the real second young mistress of the Zhou family had passed away due to illness a few years ago, and somehow, the Snake Demon had taken a liking to possessing her. Over the past few years in Qingyang, she hadn’t done much evil; in fact, she often helped with praying for rain and such, earning some merit. Lord Zhou and his wife were old and frail, their eldest daughter married far away, and their only son also died young due to illness, leaving them only this second daughter to rely on. If they were to know the truth, it would undoubtedly be unacceptable to the old couple.

Indeed, because of the previous night’s "haunting", Liu Yihuan merely mentioned there was a demon in the residence posing a threat to the second young mistress’s life, and he was readily invited by the older couple into the second young mistress’s boudoir.

"Please ask Lord Zhou to wait at the door, and by no means let anyone barge in. This demon is very cunning; a single escape would bring disaster to Qingyang," he said.

Liu Yihuan was quite convincing in his pretense as a Demi Immortal, even adopting an affected, flowery way of speaking.

The grey-haired Lord Zhou, knowing of his modest fame in Qingyang, became even less suspicious and directed his servants to lock the door and wait outside.

Liu Yihuan walked into the inner chamber cheerfully with Yu Sifeng and the others, where they saw a refined boudoir with sheer curtains layered upon each other, dreamy and illusory. Behind the curtains lay a beauty, and in a copper tripod, a bunch of greenwood incense was burning, unable to cover the stench of demon energy emanating from her.

"Second young mistress, are you willing to release them now?" Liu Yihuan laughed heartily, striding over confidently to draw back the curtains and sit beside her.

Normally, men were not allowed into the private quarters, but since she was a demon, naturally, they did not need to maintain such protocols, and Yu Sifeng and the others entered without any qualms. The second young mistress lay on the bed, pale and languid, her eyes burning with rage as she stared at Liu Yihuan.

"Come on, if you glare any harder, your eyeballs might fall out; what a pity for such a beautiful face. Now speak up, where have you confined the Merfolk and Zi Hu?" Liu Yihuan teased.

The second young mistress gave him a long look and then a trace of a cold smile appeared on her lips; she said softly, "You made quite an effort to obtain that Heavenly Eye, didn’t you? Did you steal it from somewhere? Aren’t you afraid the immortals above will come after you?"

Liu Yihuan didn’t even bat an eyelid, replying with a chuckle, "Good things should be shared with everyone. If the immortals don’t make use of it, why shouldn’t they give it to me?"

It seemed the second young mistress had no way to deal with his shamelessness, so she pursed her lips tightly together, acting mute.

"Don’t force us to use ugly means, cooperate a little. Where is the Merfolk after all?"

Liu Yihuan impatiently tapped his fingers on the headboard, the Second Miss closed her eyes in silence for a while, before she coldly said, "You can’t even find out where I’ve hidden someone, yet you delusionally expect me to hand them over. To think that I lost to someone like you!"

Liu Yihuan cracked a slight smile, about to banter with this beauty some more when he suddenly heard a series of urgent birdcalls from the window. Ruo Yu hurriedly went to open a crack in the window, and Qing Geng slipped through the gap, flapped its wings, called crisply, and after circling twice in the room, landed behind the incense-burning copper tripod, squeaking noisily.

Liu Yihuan laughed heartily, "How could I not find them? Just watch me search!"

He signaled Yu Sifeng with his eyes, who immediately understood. Together with Zhong Minyan, they moved the copper tripod, revealing a secret door behind it. With a forceful push, the door opened, and there was Ting Nu, whom everyone had strenuously been searching for, locked up inside. Clutching a barely breathing Zi Hu in his arms, at his feet lay a small demon, resembling a pig, emitting a green light that enveloped him, looking to be something like a Barrier.

"Ting Nu!" Xuanji rushed over upon seeing him. Although Ting Nu looked pale and worn out, he was in good spirits. Upon seeing her, he cracked a slight smile. The Dangkang at his feet immediately retracted the green light, and together with Qing Geng, it circled around him affectionately before gradually disappearing.

"Ah... they!" Xuanji exclaimed in surprise.

Ting Nu said softly, "They are just exhausted and went down to rest."

Xuanji examined him from head to toe, and asked, "Are you... are you alright? Are you injured? Did this demon bully you?"

He shook his head, slowly pushed his wheelchair out, thanked everyone for the rescue, and then said, "She is a Snake Demon close to becoming a Dragon. This was her last shedding, and she captured me hoping to use my demon power to help her become a Dragon sooner... Shedding is always an uncomfortable affair for snakes."

Zhong Minyan asked in amazement, "But we heard that you were being forced into a marriage..." He glared fiercely at Liu Yihuan, clearly, it must have been him spreading lies!

Ting Nu chuckled softly and explained, "When she captured me, the Zhou Residence’s people saw us. She had no choice but to come up with such a lie. Later, she falsely claimed that I had slipped away from the Zhou Residence at night, and thus this so-called marriage naturally fell through."

Seeing Zi Hu in his arms with her eyes tightly shut and motionless, Xuanji couldn’t help but exclaim, "What’s happened to her? Is she..." Could she be dead?!

Ting Nu petted Zi Hu’s fur and chuckled, "She barged in last night, trying to rescue me, but was bitten by the Snake Demon and poisoned. But no worries, she will be fine in a couple of days."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief seeing no casualties, and Zhong Minyan laughed, "That went rather smoothly. Now everything should be fine. We can proceed to Buzhou Mountain with peace of mind!"

Ting Nu was momentarily taken aback, "What are you going to Buzhou Mountain for?"

Liu Yihuan said, "This isn’t the place for idle chatter. There’s a back door over there, you take the Merfolk and exit through it. Leave the fox here, I need to give Lord Zhou an explanation."

Zhong Minyan and Ruo Yu wheeled Ting Nu out the back door, while Liu Yihuan, holding on to Zi Hu’s tail—she was motionless like the dead—laughed heartily, "Rare to see her this listless. After all, she’s a Millennial Fox Demon, not even afraid of snake venom."

Yu Sifeng asked, "Shall we leave now? I’m worried if we stay too long, something might happen."

Liu Yihuan nodded, turned around, and walked out. The Second Miss was somewhat surprised and croaked hoarsely, "You... you’re not going to kill me?"

Liu Yihuan snorted twice, "Why should I kill you? Would I want Lord Zhou to treat me like a criminal and arrest me? You’ve done some good over the years in Qingyang. Such a small mistake... Immortals would overlook it as well. Just don’t harbour any delusions of becoming a Dragon by slacking off, the true reward is right before your eyes."

The Second Miss was left speechless, and after a long while, she said, "Humans and demons follow different paths. Today, you show kindness to demons, but that doesn’t mean others will appreciate it tomorrow."

"Tch! Who needs the favor of you demons! I remain true to my name and never change my identity; the great Liu Yihuan of Qingyang that is. Any demon who finds me disagreeable, just bring it on!"

Petting Zi Hu’s fur again, he did not bother with further banter and pushed the door open to leave.

"Lord Zhou, I’ve captured the demon." He dangled Zi Hu by the tail in front of everyone, causing them to back away in shock.

"This... Immortal... Is this the fox demon causing the trouble?" Lord Zhou asked, trembling, not daring to get too close.

Liu Yihuan nodded hastily, stuffed Zi Hu into his sleeve, and said, "Your daughter was a bit startled but fortunately, she wasn’t harmed by the demon energy. Next... it’s the doctor’s job. Having eliminated the demon, we shall take our leave."

Without heeding Lord Zhou’s earnest invitation to the banquet, he left with an air of detachment, possibly resembling a real Immortal. Many years later, the tale of Liu Yihuan the Immortal vanquishing the Fox Demon still circulated in Qingyang, in which he was depicted as a handsome and lofty Immortal, riding on a cloud. As for whether this tale made Liu Yihuan laugh his head off, that remained unknown. (To be continued. For further updates, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)