The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 32

The Jade-Bone Fan struck exactly into the gap between bones. With a crack, a fracture appeared. Several eyeballs fell from it, dropped to the ground, and rolled to Qi San’s feet.
Li Lingjiang did not look back. She only hooked her fingertip. The Jade-Bone Fan loosened. Yin Wu casually stepped back two paces. As if by chance, she caught the falling fan and spun it nimbly in her palm. Her movement was light, not clumsy at all. Then, as if teasing, she handed it back to Li Lingjiang.
Yin Wu rolled up her sleeves and looked squarely at the skeleton before her. It was almost as tall as Qi San. Its body, which should have been empty, was covered in eyeballs. All of them looked in one direction. Whenever its mouth moved, sticky saliva flowed out and gathered on the ground, slowly forming an eye. It could move, and the view could shift through it.
This one was much livelier than the earlier ones. The skeleton opened its mouth and made a muffled growl. The sound did not draw attention. It stayed in place without taking a step forward. The direction of its eye sockets faced Li Lingjiang’s back, but there was no awe or submission in it. It was closer to probing and curiosity.
Qi San had set up an illusion in advance, so there was no fear that others would discover it.
Yin Wu looked the skeleton up and down. She could not see any trace of a demon ball’s shape. She lifted her head slightly, half narrowing her eyes as she watched it calmly. “My Lord, this does not look like a young form.”
Li Lingjiang had just been about to turn around when Yin Wu lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. The young immortal leaned near her ear. “Let me do it, My Lord. It is rather disgusting.”
“Wait-” Before Li Lingjiang could finish, wind brushed past her ear. Her beast ear folded inward. She quickly looked over and swallowed the words she had not said.
Yin Wu and Qi San seemed to have thought of the same method at the same time. Neither planned to waste much time. The skeleton sensed the change in the air. It did not retreat, standing in place while demonic energy gradually surged up around its body and covered it. The ball in its hands also gave off an unusual black sheen. It raised its hands, wanting to throw it.
But Yin Wu was faster.
Not a ripple appeared on her face. She moved quickly and seized the initiative. Without fear, she took the black ball in her hand, cleanly stuffed it back into the skeleton’s mouth, and in the next second struck it out with one palm. She pushed it smoothly toward Qi San. Then she glanced at Li Lingjiang and, without hiding it, covered her hand and pinched her wrist.
Qi San reached out. Ghost energy filled his already withered fingers. With opposing forces meeting, he twisted the skeleton’s head off in one motion. Its broken body was thrown aside. On the ground, it turned into a puddle of water, then slowly gathered again and became several small demon balls that rolled toward Li Lingjiang.
She shifted position and stopped the demon balls. Her robe lightly covered their heads, and their two eyes almost merged into one.
Qi San weighed the still-noisy head. He turned it left and right, then closed his hand and crushed it into fragments that returned to dust. Sticky liquid remained in his hand, but it was quickly absorbed by ghost energy.
“I thought it would be harder to deal with,” Qi San said as he restored his hand. “After all, the feeling of being stared at by that kind of gaze was rather oppressive.”
Li Lingjiang looked steadily at the black balls twisting at her feet. Her voice was calm. “This is the first time I have seen them appear in this form. A demon with an independent will, a clear purpose, and the ability to successfully leave its original form.”
She paused for a few seconds and revealed a barely visible smile. “But its strength is far weaker than I imagined. Its eyes, however, were very sharp. From so far away, Yin Wu and I could both feel them.”
Li Lingjiang turned her aching wrist. Lazily, she glanced upward, then withdrew her gaze with low energy. Her eyes stopped on Yin Wu, whose hand was hidden behind her back. She narrowed her eyes slightly but did not speak. Then she picked up the demon balls on the ground and held them level with her eyes.
Her fingers teased them now and then. The demon balls trembled comfortably, and tiny tails slowly stretched out behind them, pointed tips swaying back and forth. Li Lingjiang asked softly, “Why were you following us?”
The demon ball’s eyes were confused for a while. It made a very small whimpering sound, showing that it did not know. Its round body turned a circle in Li Lingjiang’s hands. Only then did it realize it had somehow ended up on the mountain.
Most of them lived below the mountain. There were things on the mountain that ate them.
Yin Wu moved closer to Li Lingjiang. She reached out and stroked the demon ball’s fur with no skill at all. Her movement could not be called gentle. It frightened the demon ball so badly that its whole body stiffened, its eye staring at her in terror without moving.
Li Lingjiang brushed Yin Wu’s hand away. “Do not play with it.”
“Their minds are too simple. We cannot ask much from them. For now, pay attention to the people in this group.” Li Lingjiang slowly loosened her hand and let the demon ball go. “The demon clan has records of a kind of tracking spell that uses a part of one’s own body to follow someone. But because it was too useless, it was abandoned long ago. I do not know how they turned into that shape and learned this spell.”
“And those eyes give me a very uncomfortable feeling of invasion. What does it want to do by following this group?” Li Lingjiang breathed out. She did not let herself think too much and forcefully cleared her thoughts. “We will take one step at a time.”
“Yin Wu,” Li Lingjiang suddenly called.
Yin Wu instinctively straightened. She bent a finger against her lips. Her palm was already bright red. Even a light touch made her tremble.
Li Lingjiang took her hand and looked at it. With a helpless sigh, a coolness slowly came from Li Lingjiang’s palm. It very effectively drove away much of the burning sting. “Why did you not use a spell to cover it? You grabbed it directly?”
“I thought it was too weak, so I forgot. At first, I thought it was some fierce thing.” Yin Wu’s voice grew smaller as she spoke. From the corner of her eye, she watched Li Lingjiang’s expression.
“A fierce thing would not need you either.”
Yin Wu was unconvinced. “I do not accept that. I may not be especially strong, but I can still help. As long as I work a little harder, I will soon catch up to the lords.”
“But-” Qi San had lowered his presence as much as possible, yet he still could not help speaking. “That requires daily, constant cultivation. At least in these past two days, I have not seen you…”
Yin Wu cast him a gloomy look. Her eyes held undisguised resentment. “Lord Qi San, if you do not speak, I can pretend you are not here.”
Qi San closed his mouth and pulled his black robe lower. “We should go. Otherwise they will grow suspicious.”
Yin Wu was still pouting, her head lowered in frustration. Li Lingjiang’s hold on her hand tightened a little. She said softly, “Let us go.”
“Oh.” Yin Wu obediently followed, nothing like she had been moments earlier.
They had not fallen very far behind. A few quick steps would catch them up. Li Lingjiang let go of Yin Wu’s hand. She looked down several times. The demon balls had just rolled away, and there were no more traces of them. A flash of dark malice crossed her eyes, but she quickly hid it.
The warmth and breath behind her slowly drew near. The young immortal tugged at her robe corner, worriedly pulling her inward, yet not daring to use force. She was half-stiff with tension over Li Lingjiang. “My Lord, be careful.”
The mist surging through the mountain blocked Li Lingjiang’s view. The rising cold air made her cough twice. The stabbing pain in her throat brought out tears by instinct, and the difficult rust taste made her frown.
Li Lingjiang covered her mouth and held back the sound of coughing. When she lowered her hand, she saw specks of red in her palm. Without a word, she hid them with her sleeve. After wiping the corner of her mouth with her fingertip and leaving no visible trace, she turned back.
Yin Wu pretended not to see the movement. Her gaze only briefly stopped on Li Lingjiang’s lowered hand. Worry showed on her face as she tightened Li Lingjiang’s collar inward. “My Lord.”
“Let us go.” Li Lingjiang shook her head to show she was fine. Her gaze went into the distance, and her voice flowed only between the two of them. “No-Return Mountain is indeed changing. The rumors did not come from nowhere. Demon balls originally had almost no attack power, but now they can merge into one and cause harm. That alone is enough to take seriously.”
Her steps quickened. “I feel that the whole of Beiluan Mountain has begun to show hidden changes. It is not only its own defense. Something is controlling it. It can influence all of No-Return Mountain, yet I know nothing about it. The so-called fate-changing magic artifact may also be a cover.”
Yin Wu lowered her eyes. Without showing it, she thought for a while. Behind her back, she waved a hand. White points of light silently fell where they had just stood. She quickly sorted her thoughts and followed Li Lingjiang’s words. “My Lord, do you think someone is doing this on purpose?”
Li Lingjiang denied it. “I do not know. But who could bypass the entire Demon Realm, me, and Shuang Zixing to make such a large move? The Six Realms balance and counter one another. This has already involved humans, and the disturbance is not small. I truly cannot think of anyone with that ability.”
Yin Wu did not answer. Her steps fell half a pace behind Li Lingjiang. Magic surged from her fingertips and silently probed in. She frowned, then relaxed.
No. It was not it.
The two of them walked side by side again. They had just caught up with the group when cries and screams came from ahead. The wind at the bend had become even stronger. Someone had nearly lost their footing and fallen off the cliff, only surviving because Wen Si barely managed to pull them back. The people at the front were still shaken. Their hair was blown into disorder until they could barely see the road ahead. They could only press tightly against the person in front and move one small step at a time.
The wind pushed outward from the stone wall. The formation could easily scatter if someone could not endure it, and beside them was a height that meant death or serious injury.
The people at the back began to hesitate, as if this was a border between two worlds. Qi San stopped those who could not help retreating. His voice was heavy. “Move forward.”
“But what if we fall?”
Someone could not help turning back and swallowing in fear.
Yin Wu’s eyes were full of sharp cold. She took a deep breath, hooked up the red thread, and exchanged a look with Li Lingjiang.
Behind them, the creeping liquid slowly climbed upward, only to be burned clean in an instant by sparks. It vanished without a trace, and no one knew.