The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 27

Ling Xin did not miss Feng Luan’s little movement. He stared at him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
Feng Luan rubbed his warm ears. “Nothing. I gave My Lord a book to ease her boredom.”
“Heh.” Ling Xin gave a cold laugh and turned to Wuzhi. “I knew this had to be your idea. It definitely was not anything good.”
“Qi San, I assume you know the truth too.” Ling Xin broke free of the two people restraining him, his eyes full of threat.
Qi San was silent for a few seconds. He tugged at his black robe and betrayed the other two. “An erotic picture book.”
The expected rage and scolding did not come.
Ling Xin suddenly quieted. He wore an expression that said, That is all? Then he casually said, “Oh.”
Wuzhi poked his arm. “What kind of reaction is that?”
“What are you worrying about?” Ling Xin rolled his eyes at them. “Almost every demon has one of those.”
“…”
Yin Wu, who had fallen behind, sucked in a breath. She snatched the book away. In her mind, Li Lingjiang should have slowly learned to read such things, not flipped through them now with a bored face. Yin Wu quickly skimmed the whole book, and her expression gradually twisted. This book covered a very wide range. It seemed determined to draw the romantic affairs of every major race. Later on, there was even a human-and-beast plot.
Yin Wu snapped the picture book shut. Without expression, she tossed it into her storage pouch. Then she took out One Hundred Ways to Cook Rabbit and solemnly handed it to Li Lingjiang. “My Lord, I have already read this book and learned every method in it. Whether you want it braised or steamed, I can do it.”
Li Lingjiang glanced at the title. “…”
She paused, then pressed her lips together and explained helplessly, “I already finished reading those books. A very long time ago.”
Yin Wu answered without thinking, “I know-”
Then she frowned as she understood. “You have read them all?”
Li Lingjiang nodded. There was a little weariness in her eyes. “Yes. I received this kind of education when I was very young. I have also read all the storybooks you shared with them before. Ling Xin does not like these things and even finds them hard to accept. But he is often the one who finds storybooks for me.”
Her gaze seemed to drift away. “At some point, the news that I had read those books spread. People often brought me original, unedited versions, because the demon clan has rules. When a book is widely circulated, many things must be cut. They even asked me to be an adviser.”
Yin Wu fell silent for a moment. She forced herself to accept this fact and destroyed all the scenes and plans she had imagined before. Looking at Li Lingjiang, who accepted it so calmly, she suddenly asked, “My Lord, has anyone written stories about you?”
Li Lingjiang thought for a moment. “Probably not.”
Yin Wu’s hands tightened quietly at her sides.
“At that time, I was the Demon Venerable, the master of the Demon Realm. Naturally, no one would dare write little stories about me. Some once spread around, but Shuang Zixing and Ling Xin went after the writers with blades and settled accounts. Later, these unspoken rules slowly formed.”
Yin Wu lifted the corner of her mouth. “That is for the best.”
Like a sulking child, she drooped her head. “I thought you had never read them. I even hid them away like a fool.”
Li Lingjiang lightly curved her lips but did not speak. She returned the book in her hand to Yin Wu and breathed out slowly. “Hide it well. Do not let Feng Luan see it, or he will come looking for trouble.”
Yin Wu obediently said, “Oh,” but she was already thinking of when she could secretly take it out and flip through it.
Beside her, Li Lingjiang saw through her thoughts from the corner of her eye and bent her eyes faintly. She seemed to breathe out with some effort. Lowering her head a little, she pressed her dry lips together. The tip of her tongue showed for an instant as she licked them, then she touched them lightly with her fingertip. She lifted her eyes and felt a gaze fall on her, burning and intense.
She turned her head. Yin Wu looked straight at her without fear. Naturally, she took a water flask from her storage pouch and handed it to Li Lingjiang. “My Lord, are you thirsty?”
Li Lingjiang gave her an extra glance and accepted it. She did not drink much, only wetting her lips.
The young immortal took it back at the right time. She raised an innocent smile at Li Lingjiang and sternly told her to say so if anything felt uncomfortable. Yin Wu’s eyes darkened. She thought Li Lingjiang just now had looked especially like her true form, and the beast ears on both sides had even twitched. She silently rubbed her fingers together, her eyes unreadable.
The road was not hard to walk. In fact, it was too calm. The group had roughly a hundred people, and all of them stayed together, not daring to scatter. Their pace was not fast. Seeing that nothing had happened by noon, they gradually grew bolder, and voices began to spread.
Li Lingjiang’s beast ears drooped as she tried to block out the outside noise. She was not surprised that nothing had happened on this stretch. A little farther ahead was Beiluan Mountain. Only after crossing it would the danger truly begin. In the past, after crossing Beiluan Mountain, people would go only a short distance farther before refusing to go deeper. But the mountain was not easy to cross. Unless one used special methods, one could only climb the thousands of stone steps.
Yin Wu seemed to see what Li Lingjiang was thinking. She moved close and called to her in a low voice. Li Lingjiang’s sensitive beast ears instantly stood up, and she glanced over.
“My Lord, are you worried?”
Li Lingjiang tilted her head slightly. Her eyes were lowered, and her tone sounded no different from usual. “A little. There are many of them. Although they have people to help one another, I am still afraid of sudden accidents.”
Yin Wu did not seem concerned. She comforted her. “Do not think so much. Life and death are ruled by fate. What about you? There are too many steps, and there are many demon creatures above. What if you suffer for it?”
Before Li Lingjiang could answer, Little Black suddenly poked its head out from behind her. It whimpered twice, then flew a few circles around them, showing that it was capable.
Warmth appeared in Li Lingjiang’s eyes. She lifted her arm to let Little Black rest. Then she lazily lifted her eyelids and glanced at Yin Wu, somehow stirring the heart.
Yin Wu raised one brow. Her gaze suddenly sharpened, and coldness appeared in her eyes. When she walked away, she tugged Li Lingjiang’s robe corner, drawing Li Lingjiang’s gaze after her.
The young immortal used red thread to slice apart many stones. Her movements were clean and quick, completed in only an instant, and did not draw much attention. Instead, the four people walking at the front turned back.
When Li Lingjiang saw the many Allure Flowers hidden behind the stones, her expression grew solemn. She walked over, bent down, and plucked one with two fingers. After smelling it, she exchanged a knowing look with Yin Wu. Her fingers suddenly tightened. “When you found them before, were there this many?”
Yin Wu silently raised her head. “I picked all of those and brought them back. Also, those Allure Flowers had been blooming for some years. These look newly grown.”
It was hard for life to grow on No-Return Mountain, and Allure Flowers were rare. Such a large patch was enough to make anyone uneasy. For ordinary people, flowers that caused illusions were far too dangerous.
Li Lingjiang steadied herself. “Destroy them.”
She had sensed that the situation was beginning to leave the range of control. If this truly could change the fate of thousands of years, then even if she had to risk her life, she would end this chaos.
Yin Wu’s breath lightened. Unhurriedly, she wound the red thread around her fingers, thinking of something unknown. With force, she cut through the flower stems. A tiny spark lit at her fingertip, and with a casual flick, the flowers burned clean in an instant.
Without looking back, she followed Li Lingjiang. Her originally innocent air had changed into something that faintly made the heart tremble.
They were not far from Beiluan Mountain. The mountain was shaped like an upside-down V, completely unlike a normal mountain. It blocked the road ahead, so climbing over it became the only path.
Wen Si helplessly swept his gaze around. It was too steep to climb directly. Only a natural staircase remained, stretching so far up that the end could not be seen.
The stone steps were dark, built from black rock. They looked ordinary from the outside, but the blocked road and almost sealed surroundings pressed down until people could hardly breathe.
Someone called loudly to Wen Si, “Senior Brother, what do we do?”
Wen Si looked at the silent few and understood there was no other way. He flicked his sleeve and said in a deep voice, “Take the stairs.”
“But why do I have such a bad feeling?”
“Yes. This mountain looks dangerous, and it even left a road for us. Could it be waiting for us to go up?”
“Then what do we do? I am a little scared.”
“…”
Tang Wusuo, caught in the crowd, cast an omen. He looked at the complex result and did not know how to read it. He picked only the good part to say. “There is a chance to turn things around. If you are so afraid to die, why did you come?”
The person he spoke to sneered. “You talk about me, but how many times has your fortune-telling ever been right?”
Tang Wusuo wanted to argue, but Wen Si cut him off with a sharp scolding. “Enough. What is this noise? If you do not want to go, then get lost and go back.”
After saying this, he walked to Ling Xin. His attitude was nothing like before. “I have made everyone witness a joke.”
Feng Luan answered. He looked straight at Wen Si. “There is no need to mind our feelings. After all, we understand what these people are like. Beiluan Mountain is not easy to climb. Be prepared.”
Wen Si answered, “Yes,” smiling in a pleasing way, though a cold light flashed in his eyes.
Li Lingjiang did not care about these minor matters. She was the first to walk to the stone steps. She looked deeply upward and was about to step on them when someone stopped her. “Wait. I will go first.”
She said nothing else. She withdrew her foot, stepped aside, and tucked her hands into her sleeves as she waited for the other person to go up.
Li Lingjiang remembered this person. It was the female cultivator whose face she had ruined earlier.
The other woman snorted, glanced at her with disdain, and stepped onto the first stair with her sword in her arms, looking as if she feared nothing.
The next second, she felt a huge pressure. Before she could react, her legs went soft. She dropped to her knees on the stone step and stared blankly at herself.
Embarrassed, she tried to stand, only to find that her feet seemed to weigh thousands of pounds and would not lift at all.
Female cultivator: “…”
She tentatively looked at Li Lingjiang’s expression, but did not find the mockery she had imagined. There was more helplessness and tolerance than anything else.
Li Lingjiang did not care much about such things. She reached out to help the female cultivator up. When Yin Wu saw this, she said nothing and directly wrapped her arms around the woman, dragged her down, and thoughtfully set her upright.
The movement was smooth from start to finish.
Li Lingjiang withdrew her hand. She bent a finger beneath her lips and smiled. Then she shook her head, as if she had no way to deal with Yin Wu’s behavior.
The smile vanished in an instant.
Li Lingjiang lightly lifted the hem of her robe and stepped onto the stone stairs as if it were easy. Her steps were steady, landing firmly one after another. Wind suddenly poured down from the mountain, blowing her hair into disorder. Her sleeves billowed with it, but her steps did not stop at all.
That figure pulled at every watching eye.
Ling Xin stood still and watched her. Suddenly, he remembered the year Li Lingjiang had led the demon clan and carved open a path. It had been like this too.
Her strength had been unstoppable. Only, what a pity.
Li Lingjiang in white had stepped into a river of blood without staining herself with dust or filth, yet that person from back then would never be seen again.