Stealing an Immortal Back to the Demon Realm Chapter 42

Shang Ningye was lost in that smile for a moment.
When she looked up again, Mu Qiuhan was already walking towards the other end of the courtyard.
Over there, the few rooms where Shang Ningye was temporarily staying were still intact.
It was a stark contrast to the miserable state of this side.
Mu Qiuhan walked to the door of Shang Ningye’s study and glanced back.
Seeing that the person behind her hadn’t followed, she lowered her eyes and sighed softly in her heart.
“Did Ruili Pavilion have someone deliver the items?” she asked, facing the direction behind her.
Shang Ningye nodded subconsciously.
She hesitated for a moment, then followed Mu Qiuhan.
“They were delivered this morning. You didn’t say what to do with them before, so I took the liberty of putting them away.”
Mu Qiuhan hummed softly in acknowledgment.
She pushed open the door and entered the room.
Since these rooms were given to Shang Ningye to live in, she had only been here once.
Looking at it now, the furnishings in the room seemed to have remained the same, without the slightest change.
Mu Qiuhan clicked her tongue softly.
It seems Shang Ningye still sees herself as an outsider.
She glanced towards the couch in the inner room, her lips pressing together slightly.
Shang Ningye didn’t notice.
She found the mechanism in the study, took out a brocade box from a hidden compartment in the wall, and handed it to Mu Qiuhan.
But Mu Qiuhan didn’t take it.
She knew what was inside without needing to open the box.
This pair of crystal bracelets was made in the likeness of her pair of red jade bracelets.
A teleportation formation was set inside the bracelets. If one of them was destroyed, the formation could instantly teleport the items within that bracelet to the other one, minimizing any loss.
Unfortunately, only one of her red jade bracelets remained now.
Mu Qiuhan gestured for Shang Ningye to take the items out of the box.
“Put them on, let me see?”
Seeing Shang Ningye just staring at the box in her hand without moving, Mu Qiuhan had to step forward, take the box, and open it.
Pure spiritual energy overflowed from the box.
Shang Ningye felt a slight fluctuation in the beast core within her body at that moment. She quickly circulated her spiritual energy to suppress the faintly rising beast power in her dantian.
Mu Qiuhan took out the bracelets and slipped them onto Shang Ningye’s wrist.
She lifted Shang Ningye’s fair wrist closer to look, and hummed in satisfaction.
Seeing Shang Ningye looking down without a word, Mu Qiuhan placed the brocade box aside.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like them?”
Shang Ningye shook her head.
It was hard for her to ignore the fleeting disappointment in Mu Qiuhan’s eyes, so she didn’t immediately take off the bracelets that were disturbing her internal energy.
“No, they’re very beautiful,” she said.
Mu Qiuhan glanced at her doubtfully.
The admiring expression Shang Ningye had when she first saw the bracelets didn’t seem fake.
But when she put the bracelets on her wrist, Shang Ningye indeed didn’t seem as happy as someone who had received a cherished gift.
For a moment, Mu Qiuhan couldn’t quite understand what the problem was.
Still, a faint shadow fell over her heart because of this.
She briefly explained the use of the bracelets to Shang Ningye in a few simple sentences.
After that, she walked towards the inner room, lost in thought.
“Let me borrow the innermost room for a few days. I’ll move back once I have people repair my own room.”
This request wasn’t unreasonable at all.
Let alone the innermost room, this entire place was hers.
Shang Ningye had no reason to refuse.
She watched Mu Qiuhan’s figure disappear behind the curtain, feeling the demonic power within her becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Perhaps I should go find that shopkeeper from Ruili Pavilion, she thought. Since she’s from an immortal sect, she should be able to get the ingredients for the Nine Flowers Jade Dew.
Mu Qiuhan was quietly regulating her breath in the room.
Although the lightning tribulation hadn’t harmed her body, refining the pill had already consumed a huge amount of spiritual energy, and everything that followed had come so unexpectedly. At this moment, the spiritual energy in her dantian was still somewhat chaotic.
She regulated her breath for a while. When she came out again, Shang Ningye was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps because she was still in this room, Shang Ningye hadn’t put the brocade box back into the hidden compartment; instead, it was neatly placed on the desk.
Mu Qiuhan opened the box and glanced inside. Seeing both crystal bracelets placed neatly within, her heart sank.
Thinking of Shang Ningye’s usual homebody nature, never stepping out of the house, she felt a trace of annoyance.
Mu Qiuhan forcibly cut off her thoughts. With a cold expression, she took out the Lord’s Seal and summoned Wu Ling.
Shang Ningye, following her memory of that night, arrived at Ruili Pavilion.
It was daytime, and Ruili Pavilion was bustling with people coming and going.
She searched around the pavilion but didn’t see Perfected Yu Chengjun.
Just as she was hesitating about whether she should come back another time, a young attendant from the pavilion appeared before her.
“Please follow me, guest. The Pavilion Master is waiting for you upstairs.”
Shang Ningye hesitated and glanced behind her.
The hidden guards Mu Qiuhan had arranged were currently spread out evenly within the pavilion.
If I go upstairs as invited, will these people follow? Wouldn’t that be a bit rude?
The young attendant had probably been instructed beforehand. She also followed Shang Ningye’s gaze and glanced at those people.
“Please rest assured and follow me, guest. With the Pavilion Master here, even if two great generals came to Ruili Pavilion, they wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.”
This was an assurance of her safety.
Since Mu Qiuhan felt at ease letting her come here, Shang Ningye no longer hesitated and followed the young attendant upstairs.
Perfected Yu Chengjun was examining a pile of crystals that had just been delivered.
Seeing Shang Ningye, she turned around and patted non-existent dust off her clothes.
Shang Ningye saw her stop what she was doing and nodded slightly at her.
She looked at the woman who was sizing her up with a scrutinizing gaze and said, “Lord Yu Chengjun, I apologize for my presumptuous visit and any impoliteness.”
The woman smiled at her for a long moment, then asked teasingly, “Lord Yu Chengjun? Did she not tell you my name?”
Shang Ningye was taken aback.
Last night, Mu Qiuhan had clearly told her that if she was bored in the future, she could come find Lord Yu Chengjun. Could it be that she had misremembered?
Seeing the expression on Shang Ningye’s face, the woman deliberately leaned closer to her.
She whispered in a tone that made Shang Ningye uncomfortable, “A’Wan. She usually calls me A’Wan.”
Shang Ningye’s brow furrowed slightly.
She didn’t notice the fleeting teasing glint in Perfected Yu Chengjun’s eyes, but instead slowly pondered the address that made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Fortunately, the person opposite her didn’t continue to dwell on the matter of address.
Perfected Yu Chengjun took in Shang Ningye’s expression completely. Feeling she had seen enough of the “show,” she finally asked, “Why have you come to find me? Are you dissatisfied with the bracelets that were sent over today?”
Shang Ningye noticed that the person opposite her didn’t ask about Mu Qiuhan’s intentions.
Could it be that she already knew the bracelets were for me?
She tried hard to push these strange thoughts out of her mind.
“It’s not about the bracelets. I have something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Oh?”
Hearing this, Lord Yu Chengjun became interested.
When Shang Ningye told her about needing the ingredients for Nine Flowers Jade Dew, a peculiar expression clearly appeared on Perfected Yu Chengjun’s face.
“You haven’t told her about looking for these medicinal ingredients?”
Shang Ningye was silent for a moment.
“Perhaps it’s not convenient for her, but I thought you might have a way.”
Lord Yu Chengjun’s lips curved into a smile.
“Indeed, it’s not difficult. You can send someone to the pavilion to pick them up tomorrow.”
She glanced at Shang Ningye.
“Although this prescription can help one clear their mind and reduce desires, drinking it long-term will also suppress your demonic power. You probably know this better than I do.”
Seeing Shang Ningye nod without any surprise, Lord Yu Chengjun asked curiously, “I previously felt that the spiritual energy on you was a bit strange. I didn’t expect you to actually be from the demon race. Why did you choose to cultivate the techniques of an immortal sect?”
Shang Ningye didn’t answer.
She looked at the woman opposite her. “What about you then? You’re clearly from an immortal sect, so why did you come to the demon realm?”
A flicker of unease crossed Perfected Yu Chengjun’s face.
“The demon realm has many crystals,” she answered casually.
Shang Ningye didn’t want to press further.
She thanked Lord Yu Chengjun and left Ruili Pavilion.
When she returned to the demon palace, Shang Ningye bumped into Wu Ling, who was walking out of her room.
“It’s you.”
Wu Ling glanced at Shang Ningye who was nearby and was about to leave, but Shang Ningye grabbed her arm.
Shang Ningye’s gaze flickered.
She glanced at the closed door and lowered her voice, “Where is Elder Xuankong?”
Wu Ling chuckled softly upon hearing this.
Does she really think the Lord can’t hear her if she does that?
Wu Ling gently exerted some force and pulled her arm out of Shang Ningye’s grasp.
She curtsied slightly towards the direction behind her.
“As for that, you should ask the Lord yourself.”
Shang Ningye froze for a moment.
When she looked up, the door had opened at some unknown point.
Mu Qiuhan was standing there quietly.
Mu Qiuhan’s gaze landed lightly on her, and Shang Ningye inexplicably felt a chill.
She pressed her lips together, feeling somewhat at a loss for a moment.
Seeing Shang Ningye standing there, neither speaking nor approaching, Mu Qiuhan beckoned to her.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to find Elder Xuankong? Follow me.”
Mu Qiuhan led Shang Ningye through the grounds of the demon palace to a place guarded by demon soldiers.
Shang Ningye saw that the entrance was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see anything clearly, and a sense of unease arose in her heart.
The people of the demon realm hate the Taiqing Immortal Sect. Elder Xuankong is imprisoned here alone… can he be okay?
Before she could think further, Mu Qiuhan had already walked into the dense fog.
Shang Ningye hesitated for a moment, then followed her in.
As soon as she stepped into that area, Shang Ningye felt as if the spiritual energy in her body had been completely drained.
Her dantian felt completely empty, and her vision was a vast expanse of white, unable to see anything.
Shang Ningye was suddenly alarmed.
At that moment, a hand reached out and took hers.
Mu Qiuhan’s familiar voice sounded by her ear, dispelling the sudden unease that had welled up in Shang Ningye.
“Stay close to me. No one can use spiritual energy in this Tu Mi Mystic Realm. Be extra careful.”
Shang Ningye felt as if the hand holding hers was like a silken thread, tightly wound around her heart, pulling her into a dream.
She followed Mu Qiuhan like a string puppet for about five hundred meters, but the fog still hadn’t dispersed.
The impulse in her heart grew stronger and stronger, until it became impossible to ignore.
Shang Ningye stopped, tightened her grip, and pulled Mu Qiuhan closer.
“What’s wrong—”
Before Mu Qiuhan could finish speaking, Shang Ningye had already sealed her lips with her own.