The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 28

Ling Xin looked up at Li Lingjiang’s back. She did not walk quickly, but her figure was steady. He had originally wanted to walk in front. Beiluan Mountain strongly rejected outsiders, so outsiders would feel great pressure, while demons had it much easier by comparison. The person leading the group could share some of the pressure for those behind. Although Li Lingjiang had offset part of it, he was still faintly worried she would struggle.
His brows furrowed slightly. With strength from his waist, he lightly leaped over several steps and landed steadily behind Li Lingjiang. He heard what seemed to be a faint sigh from her, but she did not turn back.
Ling Xin almost never walked shoulder to shoulder with Li Lingjiang. He kept to his place. He lifted his eyes to her back, then lowered his head again. He could even clearly sense the faint sound of her clothes rubbing together and the steady presence that, as always, made people feel at ease.
Li Lingjiang’s shoulder blades rose and fell with her movements. She rubbed her aching wrist. The invisible resistance pressed against her wounds until they hurt faintly. She did not struggle to lift her legs. Her brows and eyes were cold. Wind that was not very fierce came up from the winding stone steps. She half narrowed her eyes. The fine fur of her beast ears was blown backward, and the ears twitched twice beyond her control.
She recognized that the person behind her was Ling Xin. The two of them followed one in front and one behind, almost as they had in the past.
In the blink of an eye, mist surged over Beiluan Mountain, nearly covering the road ahead. The stone steps turned back and forth with a gloomy sheen. The whistling from above grew clearer. Something dense seemed to surge from every direction, and the silent valley suddenly became frightening enough to make the skin crawl.
Li Lingjiang lifted a hand to lightly block the curling wind. Her hair almost blew into her eyes. People below were climbing up one after another. Her fingers tightened. Her lips pressed together. Most of Beiluan Mountain’s rejection landed on her body. She tilted her head slightly upward and parted her lips to steady her breath, pressing down a muffled cough bit by bit.
She suddenly stopped on the stone steps and tilted her head back. Ling Xin’s voice fell clearly by her ear. “My Lord.”
Li Lingjiang turned around. This time, because of the steps, she stood a little higher than Ling Xin, yet she did not seem oppressive. Her gaze was cool and clear. She lowered her eyes and made a soft sound from her throat. “Mm?”
Ling Xin stopped. The feelings in his eyes instantly became chaotic. He looked up at Li Lingjiang with utter devotion. This person seemed never to have changed.
He had been picked up by Li Lingjiang.
A thousand years ago, he had suffered thunder punishment and been thrown onto No-Return Mountain to wait for death. Every day, he lived only by clinging to one breath. She was the one who turned him out from among the corpses. She did not use any demonic power. Bit by bit, her sleeves became stained with nauseating blood. Her hands were covered with terrifying dark red.
Li Lingjiang moved very gently and carried him out. His true form was a demon cat. His whole body had been wounded, and he had not been large. At the time, he had forced his eyes open and vaguely seen her face, and the pity revealed in those eyes.
It was pity.
He would never sense it wrong. After Li Lingjiang picked him up in both hands, she held him against her chest, carefully wiped his body with a handkerchief, briefly treated his wounds, and stopped the bleeding. He remembered lifting his head back then. Because he could not steady it, his head kept knocking forward. She reached out to support his head, half asking and half murmuring, “How did you get hurt this badly?”
After that, Li Lingjiang took him back. Ling Xin followed her for the next thousand years.
He thought again of the day Li Lingjiang left the Demon Realm for No-Return Mountain. She leaned against the door, almost unable to stand. Bandages were tied around her in a glaring white. She was battered and fallen, yet still carried the pride that belonged to her. That day, she still wanted nothing. She took only the black dragon. Ling Xin had only then learned that even after following her through countless days and nights, Li Lingjiang still carried that distance and cool indifference.
When she left, she wanted no one.
He had watched Li Lingjiang continuously lose demonic power. He had seen her once collapse when she could find no solution. But in only an instant, she hid all her feelings again and remained the Demon Venerable worshiped by countless people.
On the day she left, Ling Xin knelt on the ground and begged her to take him with her. Li Lingjiang only turned back to look at him and said nothing. He knelt there blankly. The weather that day had been too good. The winding mountains behind her spread into a great road. Endless warm sunlight blurred her entire figure. She bathed in that open light, and one more step forward would have taken her into the abyss.
In truth, they all knew. Li Lingjiang herself knew even more clearly.
But no one spoke, and she stopped every word anyone might have said.
Ling Xin watched her go far away. Only then did he suddenly discover that he had followed her and somehow lost her.
Li Lingjiang heard him call out but did not speak. She quietly waited for him. After a long while, Ling Xin finally came back to himself. He smiled at her, moved his lips, and finally seemed to fold halfway in on himself. He only said, “Nothing. I just wanted to call you.”
Li Lingjiang did not blame him for this. Instead, a little gentleness appeared in her eyes. She withdrew her gaze and looked at the people still climbing upward. Wuzhi and Feng Luan were both beside them. When they noticed her gaze, they both nodded.
Qi San and Yin Wu were at the rear of the group. Li Lingjiang shifted slightly before she found the little immortal, whose face was full of gloom.
Yin Wu walked beside Qi San, face sullen and arms crossed. Her fingers tapped on her arm, and the irritation around her was obvious to those nearby.
“What is wrong?” Qi San had a good impression of Yin Wu. Because he was a ghost, it was even less suitable for him to force his way to the front. The other two could take the pressure.
It was just right to leave someone at the rear.
Yin Wu took a deep breath. She stared at Li Lingjiang standing high above and impatiently ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth. Feng Luan and Wuzhi had said her magic was weak, so she would not be of much use if she went up. It would be better for her to guard the rear with Qi San. If something unexpected happened, they could deal with it in time. There were too many people, after all, and they could not afford to be caught unprepared.
But she was not very willing to be arranged like this, truly separated from Li Lingjiang by a sea of people.
Yin Wu noticed Li Lingjiang looking over. On purpose, she twisted her fingers together. Her sense of loss could be felt without searching for it.
Li Lingjiang parted her lips slightly. She quickly guessed the reason and had just been about to ask what was wrong. After thinking about it, she held back. If they parted one day, what then? This was only being a little farther away.
How is she so clingy?
Li Lingjiang breathed lightly, withdrew her gaze, turned around again, and continued upward. No one noticed the small exchange between her and Yin Wu. It was hidden and open at the same time.
Yin Wu stood below the flow of people and watched Li Lingjiang’s thin figure. For a moment, she said nothing. She thought for a while, wondering if she had shown too much dependence on Li Lingjiang. It was possible that it had backfired. She lowered her eyes in thought, then curved her lips with unclear meaning. She rolled up her sleeve, revealing the red thread wrapped around her wrist.
Then she caught Tang Wusuo, who was climbing upward. She raised her brow and asked softly, “Do you still have copper coins? How about giving me a few?”