The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 38

They all looked at Li Lingjiang. She had her head half lowered and did not move, as if thinking about something.
Ling Xin said, “Yin Wu said she was preparing medicine for you. She is outside.”
Qi San did not listen any further. Keeping his tone measured, he said quietly, “Then why has she not returned? Could something have happened?”
“How could that be?” Ling Xin clicked his tongue in displeasure. Seeing Li Lingjiang finally react a little, he spoke very quickly. “I will go look for her.”
He turned to go out, but Li Lingjiang suddenly called after him. “No need. She is back.”
Ling Xin stopped in surprise. He focused his senses and, sure enough, heard quick approaching footsteps, each step rather heavy. Yin Wu had always seemed to walk like this.
“My Lord?” Yin Wu walked in carrying a charm demon that looked nearly beaten to death. She looked anxiously at them, then relaxed. “It tangled with me just now and wasted a lot of time. Is everything all right?”
The charm demon pretending to be badly beaten quietly lifted its head. Wanting to cry but having no tears, it thought, This is all a lie!
“Nothing is wrong. Come in and speak.” Feng Luan stepped aside to let her in.
Yin Wu casually tossed the bundled charm demon aside. She looked at Li Lingjiang’s sitting posture and the shoes on the ground, then naturally walked to Li Lingjiang’s side and stood there. Her hands folded in front of her, looking well behaved.
“Are you hurt?” Li Lingjiang asked.
Yin Wu turned and laughed. “No. I still have enough strength to deal with it.”
The young immortal was not lying. The moment she came close, Li Lingjiang smelled a very strong scent of medicine mixed with the special cold air of No-Return Mountain. Her throat hurt again, but she clenched her teeth and endured it. “It is good that you are fine.”
They had all discovered the charm demons long ago. Since the demons were weak, they had not bothered with them. Charm demons could hide their forms for a short time. That was why their success rate in absorbing life energy was so high.
But they had not expected them to act as a group.
“Since you know the rules that were set and still broke them, you must be punished.” Li Lingjiang finally turned her gaze to the charm demons huddled together. “But if you cooperate well, your punishment can be lighter.”
Ling Xin nodded. He understood Li Lingjiang’s meaning. He drew the blade at his waist and drove it hard into the ground. “Has there been anything unusual on No-Return… on Beiluan Mountain recently?”
The charm demons looked at the sharp blade as if it were cutting into their own bodies. They shrank closer together. They also vaguely guessed Li Lingjiang’s and Ling Xin’s identities, and their hearts grew colder.
The charm demons exchanged looks and muttered, “Unusual…?”
The leading charm demon clearly thought of something. Its expression visibly brightened. It was so excited that it wanted to crawl toward Li Lingjiang. Its face twisted strangely, and its eyes were full of worship. “My lords, yes! Look at us. We are only little hundred-year demons, but now we are completely different.”
It giggled. “Because we all heard Heaven’s Mandate!”
Heaven’s Mandate.
Everyone’s gaze focused on it. It was still lost in its own world, its pupils shrinking to a point. “Heaven’s Mandate told us we can defy heaven and change fate. That way, we will no longer have to be despised charm demons. It is not only us. Most demons on No-Return Mountain have heard the guidance of Heaven’s Mandate. Their strength has increased greatly. Even unimportant demons like us have felt power we never had before.”
“My lords, this should not count as a bad omen. It should be a blessing!”
The charm demon grew so absorbed in speaking that it even stood up, looking at Li Lingjiang with burning eyes. The little followers behind it were not infected by this excitement. Seeing that their leader had completely failed to notice the expressions of these important figures changing, they simply bit the charm demon and forcibly dragged it back to the ground.
Only when the surroundings suddenly fell silent did the charm demon realize something was wrong. The anger it had just built up vanished at once. It crouched on the ground, wishing it could press against the wall and hold its head. It laughed dryly twice. “I did not mean it like that.”
Leaving aside whether Heaven’s Mandate was true or false, helpful or harmful, their reactions showed they knew nothing about this.
The few of them exchanged a look of silent understanding. Li Lingjiang asked, “How did Heaven’s Mandate find you?”
The charm demon thought carefully and checked with its companions before unifying its answer. “It was a sudden moment of understanding. We heard a voice tell us we were people chosen by Heaven’s Mandate. Some demons received it through dreams.”
It carefully asked, “My lords did not know about this?”
Ling Xin pressed its head down. His voice grew much heavier. “Do not ask what you should not ask.”
Li Lingjiang lifted her hand, telling them not to rush. Her gaze was very calm and soothing, and her words did not carry the pressure of someone above them. “Do you know how many demons have received Heaven’s Mandate?”
“This…” The charm demon also sensed something unusual. It lay on the ground and honestly answered, “Among those I know, almost all of them.”
As soon as it finished, everyone heard Li Lingjiang take a long breath. It struck every heart, neither light nor heavy.
Li Lingjiang did not stop for long. The strength in her fingers kept increasing. “What demons used to live here?”
“Several powerful demons of uneven strength. A few days ago, for some reason, they fell into conflict. After killing each other, they all died.” Remembering that bloody scene made the charm demon’s hair rise.
“All dead.” Li Lingjiang lowered her eyes. “Ling Xin, let them go.”
Ling Xin did not speak. He raised two fingers and lowered his brows. His voice seemed to come from very far away. “Shackles.”
Several binding runes gradually wrapped around the charm demons’ ankles. Darkness filled his eyes. “Bind.”
The runes tightened suddenly and vanished in an instant. These runes had a long history. The charm demons knew their cultivation would not grow for a long time now. One by one, they lowered their heads in despair and walked out.
Feng Luan swept a glance over them from the corner of his eye. With one silent step, he appeared behind them. White light gathered in his palm, curling into a vortex like a tiny world. He murmured, “Wait. Since this goes against the rules of heaven, you should leave behind what does not belong to you before you go.”
The charm demons’ eyes widened. They began rushing madly toward the exit, but the barrier stopped them. In the next instant, white light covered them. The spell stripping away cultivation was like cutting out the heart and scraping bone. Their roars and screams, however, were hidden so cleanly that they were hardly noticeable.
Feng Luan calmly gathered back the white light. It had already turned into a suffocating black mass. He lifted his head slightly and looked down at them. “If you feel this is unfair, you are very welcome to come to the Immortal Realm to find me.”
“Leave.”
Those words finally released them. The charm demons rushed out in panic, wiping tears as they ran. Soon, they disappeared.
Ling Xin leaned against the wall. Irritated, he took the demonic power from Feng Luan’s hand and crushed it hard, absorbing it completely.
“My Lord,” he called.
Wuzhi and Qi San also stood straight and looked toward Li Lingjiang together.
She was still deep in thought. After a long while, she spoke hoarsely. “If that is so, are the people from the Immortal-Entering Sect also chosen by Heaven’s Mandate?”
Li Lingjiang curved her lips in a mocking smile. “But if that is the case, why are most of these people average in talent, even timid, and making no progress? Yet the demons are the exact opposite. Not only has their strength increased, they are killing one another, and all of them believe in the so-called fate-changing magic artifact.”
“What thoughts do you all have?”
Feng Luan was silent for a moment. Then he said, “We should ask the king why he noticed nothing. No-Return Mountain is connected to the demon ring. As Demon Lord, knowing nothing about this is dangerous. This kind of crooked method can create great chaos!”
Li Lingjiang pressed her lips together. She was no longer as gentle as before. Her gaze sharpened. Without moving, she stared at Feng Luan. “Are you blaming the king? Blaming the demon clan?”
“That is not what I mean. My Lord, you should understand.” After saying this, Feng Luan flicked his sleeve and turned his back. “We still do not know the reason. I only hope it can be solved smoothly.”
Wuzhi squeezed his shoulder. “We still need to draw the truth out of Wen Si before the full picture can appear.”
“Besides, this is only what those demons said.”
Li Lingjiang pinched the bridge of her nose. She breathed out heavily, then could no longer hold back and coughed hard. She covered her mouth. Her face was flushed red from choking, yet she still gave the illusion that she might become as pale as her white hair.
She steadied her breathing. “Ling Xin, tell Shuang Zixing about this.”
“And also-” She paused, clearly with some regret. “Tell the elders as well.”
In these few short days, Li Lingjiang had kept thinking. If she had handed more things over to Shuang Zixing back then, would this matter have been discovered earlier? Or perhaps the demon clan would not be as passive as it was now.
Even if the demon clan knew nothing about this and could not have noticed it, they would still have to bear this undeserved disaster.
She thought of the demon balls she had seen in the daytime. They had likely also received strength from Heaven’s Mandate. They simply could not control it and lost consciousness after being backlashed.
Li Lingjiang tapped the stone slab with her fingers again and again. Countless thoughts passed through her mind, but in the end she closed her eyes. She said softly, “Go out first. This cannot be rushed.”
The four exchanged looks. They said nothing more, half bowed, and left one after another. At some point, the firelight had grown much smaller, making Li Lingjiang’s white hair even more obvious.
She felt sore and weak all over, yet she was not sleepy at all. Her temples throbbed, sometimes stabbing like needles. Li Lingjiang pressed her lips together and prepared to put on her shoes and walk around.
Yin Wu had been waiting beside her the whole time. Seeing this, she crouched down and very naturally took Li Lingjiang’s shoes. She looked up from her crouch. “My Lord, let me put them on for you.”
“No.” Li Lingjiang drew back her feet. Her ankles were hidden beneath her robe. Even wrapped in layers of gauze, they did not look bulky. She lowered her brows and refused Yin Wu.
Yin Wu was silent for a moment. She tried hard to squeeze out a sweet smile. Behind her, the fire crackled. The firewood they had specially brought was nearly dry and spent.
“My Lord.” She directly reached out, caught Li Lingjiang’s ankle, and pulled with measured strength, drawing a small startled sound from Li Lingjiang.
Li Lingjiang unnaturally pressed the tip of her foot against Yin Wu’s knee. This felt different from the previous two times. Yin Wu held her ankle and put the shoe on for her, her expression serious.
Li Lingjiang braced both hands at her sides, turned her head slightly, and frowned. Her voice lowered. “I can do it myself.”
Yin Wu smiled. At this moment, her eyes seemed full only of Li Lingjiang. “My Lord, I will stay by your side.”