The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 40

Once exposed to the air, the blood quickly cooled and clotted. Dried color even stained Li Lingjiang’s white hair. She parted her lips slightly, raised a hand, and slowly touched it. One wipe spread the color over a larger area.
Li Lingjiang turned her head. Zhang Wu still held the posture of trying to pull Wang You. A dagger had pierced through his neck. From the back, one could even see the shape of the blade tip.
Wang You’s eyes were full of fear, but it was definitely not because he had killed someone. With trembling hands, he pulled the knife out. Then he began to laugh madly for no reason. “You monsters. I will kill you one by one!”
He waved the knife with no pattern. Blood still dripped from it. Once the drops sank into the ground, they could no longer be seen. He muttered nonstop, “It was you following me all this time, talking by my ear. I will kill you. I will kill all you demon creatures!”
Li Lingjiang stood from the ground. Yin Wu immediately protected her behind herself. Her gaze was dark as she watched, and red thread hooked out from her fingers. She silently pulled it taut, ready to end him directly if he moved again.
“Yin Wu.” Li Lingjiang placed a hand on her shoulder. Her breath brushed Yin Wu’s ear. Blood dotted her brows and face, adding an unexpected vividness without hiding her coolness. “His sachet. Go look.”
Yin Wu did not hesitate. She sent red thread around Wang You’s waist and pulled tight.
The other person was still sunk in his own world. His hands trembled harder than anyone’s, yet his grip was tighter than anyone’s. He muttered Zhang Wu’s name again and again, telling Zhang Wu to protect him. But everyone understood. The person who had still been worrying about him moments earlier had died with shock and concern in his eyes.
Yin Wu stepped back several paces, her grip tightening. The moment Wang You confirmed a direction, she pulled backward. With force from her toes, her light body shifted aside. Wang You, yanked away by the enormous force, landed exactly where she had first stood. The red thread returned to her hand in an instant.
She moved very quickly and bent to take the sachet, nearly having her hand injured by the crazed Wang You. Yin Wu paused slightly and looked at her own hand. Only then did she properly regard the man climbing up from the ground. She opened the sachet and handed it to Li Lingjiang. After they looked inside, both were silent for a few seconds.
It was Allure Flowers.
There seemed to be quite a lot, and no one knew when he had found them. Li Lingjiang pulled the sachet closer, then tossed it into Ling Xin’s arms without turning her head. “With such a large dose, someone bewitched by it will be very hard to draw back. Did Wen Si not tell them not to touch things randomly?”
Wen Si also heard this. His face was not good. Holding back anger, he clenched his teeth. “I warned them. It is also my fault. I should have noticed something wrong with him sooner.”
He drew his sword, took a deep breath, and walked forward. Facing Wang You with difficulty, he turned his head and asked, “Is there a way?”
Li Lingjiang shook her head. She pressed her brow with a headache. “He wore it for too long. Allure Flowers are demon plants with very strong hallucinatory power. Also…”
They still were not sure whether something unexpected had happened.
“Even if his mind clears, his head is already damaged. If he is not foolish, he will be mad,” Ling Xin added from behind.
Wang You was still waving the knife everywhere. Tears streamed from his eyes as he kept telling them to go away. The others had not moved yet. They wanted to wait for a chance to hold him down first. Forcing him might provoke him, and they could deal with him afterward. Suddenly, he froze. Slowly, he crouched down hugging his knees and choked in pain. The knife was held against his own neck.
He murmured, “It is fine. I will not let you succeed.”
The sharp blade drew a blood line without much force. Zhang Wu’s blood covered his neck. Wen Si tightened his grip on his sword, found the right moment, and threw it. He successfully knocked the knife away, then rushed over and grabbed Wang You by the collar. Looking into those clouded eyes, he roared, “Wake up! There is no danger here. We are all here.”
Wang You seemed to use great effort to recognize Wen Si’s voice. He laughed lowly and lifted his head to look at him with a strange face. In an instant, suffocating demonic energy surged from his body. His form twisted within it. “The danger is right here.”
“They are all here.”
Wen Si’s pupils shrank. He reacted quickly, released his hand, and retreated into the crowd. His eyes stayed fixed ahead. Wang You was quickly surrounded by demonic energy. He spoke broken words. “So many voices. They are coming to catch me. Zhang Wu…”
Li Lingjiang was not surprised. She shifted her gaze to Ling Xin, and both of their eyes showed the same meaning. When Wang You picked the Allure Flowers, he had probably drawn demonic energy into his body. Now what should appear had appeared.
They would not interfere too much with people’s fates. This time was different from the demon dragon sacrificing human lives. This was closer to voluntary.
“What… what happened to him?” someone asked blankly. In only a few seconds, Wang You had already been completely swallowed by demonic energy. His body also began to change. It swelled. His face turned blue-green. Sharp teeth kept appearing in his mouth, and he let out whimpering roars.
Ling Xin looked around. Quietly, he retreated to the back of the crowd. The hand hidden behind him gathered magic and struck hard behind them. With a cracking sound, the space around them shattered like a broken wall. Gathered darkness immediately covered their surroundings and kept closing in.
He calmly withdrew his hand and pretended nothing had happened. Those greater demons did have some strategy. They knew to work together to scheme against them. Unfortunately, it was still not enough.
Li Lingjiang stood in the center of the night, obvious and eye-catching. At this moment, she calmly and slowly wiped the filth from her face and hair. Zhang Wu’s body lay beside her. Beneath her feet, liquid had gathered into a puddle.
Yin Wu played with the red thread, watching all of this with interest. Several demons that had fallen into demonic madness hid themselves in the demonic energy. The cramped surroundings made people uncomfortable. From the corner of her eye, she kept watching Li Lingjiang’s expression and could easily see the other woman’s weariness.
She laughed under her breath and tilted her head. “My Lord is tired?”
Li Lingjiang looked at her, then quickly turned her gaze away. She only said, “No.”
With a strong flick of her wrist, the Jade-Bone Fan shot out like split bamboo and accurately pierced a moving demon. With a roar, the demon’s figure also appeared.
It no longer looked like the earlier creatures they had met. Three demons could all take human form, and their faces were quite proper. Now their eyes were blood-red, clearly without basic reason. Together, they twisted their stiff necks, and their forms began to change: one lion and two rabbits.
The huge demon creatures circled everyone and watched them hungrily. The one struck was a gray rabbit. The wound made by the Jade-Bone Fan could not heal. Black liquid streamed continuously from it, giving off the same foul smell as before.
The gray rabbit stared fixedly at Li Lingjiang. It opened its mouth and let out nauseating liquid. Suddenly, it darted in front of her and lifted a forepaw to strike. The huge difference in size made many people hold their breath. Some disciples drew swords and threw them hard at the rabbit, but it was too fast. In the blink of an eye, it swept up dust across the ground.
Some people watched nervously. That figure only turned aside, just brushing past the sharp claw.
Li Lingjiang lifted her eyes to it and curved her lips in a meaningless smile. The Jade-Bone Fan had already returned to her hand, while red thread was wrapped tightly around the gray rabbit’s neck. Yin Wu had appeared behind it at some unknown time, her expression clearly showing she had already calculated this. She tugged the red thread and gave a soft snort through her nose.
“Truly reckless.”
The red thread trembled for no reason, and the gray rabbit began struggling. Li Lingjiang did not look at it more and turned to walk elsewhere. She said softly to Ling Xin, “Do not waste time.”
Ling Xin accepted the order silently. He drew his blade and spun it nimbly in his palm several times. Then he focused on dealing with Wang You and the gray rabbit together with Yin Wu.
Feng Luan and Wuzhi also drew their weapons. They chose the nearest target. When they passed Wen Si, Feng Luan bent near his ear and said, “The remaining one is yours.”
Wen Si lowered his eyes and nodded. Then he looked at his fellow disciples. More than a dozen people gathered in silent understanding, forming a sword formation with practiced harmony. His eyes lowered, and he called loudly, “It is time to temper yourselves.”
In the next second, several powerful sword energies gathered into an illusory sword. With the force of splitting a mountain, it struck hard toward the demon lion before them. Their expressions were serious, and they did not dare relax as they watched ahead.
The demon lion roared. Bearing the pain of ten thousand swords, it walked toward Wen Si and the others step by step, its eyes full of curiosity. Wen Si pressed his lips together. He was the first to borrow force and fly out, stabbing hard at it. But the sword tip only scraped a little fur, making a metallic clang. His eyes widened. Danger passed by his side, nearly tearing his clothes.
The others exchanged looks. They gritted their teeth and forced their courage up, charging forward. In an instant, the cries of swords mixed with roars. The demon lion was not weak. Its body was like hardened steel, hard to pierce. Wen Si was struck by a powerful air current and slid several yards on one knee. He saw many people already fallen to the ground, covering their bodies as they slowly climbed up.
The gap in strength made cold rise in all their hearts. They looked at the other battlefields, and the situations there were far better than theirs. Wen Si forced himself up and looked at Shen Duoyi rushing over. In a solemn voice, he said, “We gamble once. We cannot always count on others.”
Everyone’s desire to win rose. They answered together, “Good!”
Amid the three chaotic fights, Li Lingjiang stayed with Qi San. She lifted her robe a little and walked past the corpse. She was not worried about Yin Wu and the others. Her attention was fixed fully on Wen Si’s side.
“Humans really are interesting creatures.” Qi San lifted his black robe back a little. Loose hair on his forehead covered his eyes.
Li Lingjiang did not agree with him. “Unfortunately, they chose the strongest one. With their current strength, they probably cannot beat it.”
Aside from Wen Si’s group, many people still hid to the side. There was no lack of skilled fighters among them, and they were also watching the situation, ready to move.
Li Lingjiang’s words shifted again. “Then again, perhaps not.”
Qi San looked at them struggle again and again, expressionless. “Does My Lord not regret it? Following them all this way has brought no benefit. Instead, there is only one worry after another.”
“How could I?” Li Lingjiang’s voice was very low. “Anyone else would do the same.”
She half opened the Jade-Bone Fan. “We have not yet caught the one provoking the Demon Realm. Whatever is pretending to be divine and playing tricks should vanish from this world without a trace. Everyone has worries. I am not the only one. Compared to that, I am more curious what it wants these people for.”
Li Lingjiang had guessed many possibilities. One rumor had drawn out a so-called fate-changing magic artifact, and even divination pointed to it. Such a powerful treasure had supposedly come from the Demon Realm. Not only that, the first to receive the news had been humans, who had grandly brought over a hundred people. Estimating from what she had seen, most had very poor foundations.
She was too tired to waste effort guessing what they intended. Along the way, No-Return Mountain had kept showing strange changes. First came the demon dragon. Then came fresh Allure Flowers. Then the chosen demon balls and charm demons. Their strength had risen directly without effort. She had also learned that many demons had been favored by Heaven’s Mandate, directly passing beyond the Demon Lord’s range of control.
How interesting, if it were true.
Coldness pressed out from Li Lingjiang’s eyes. The thing controlling all of this was on No-Return Mountain. How could it reach its hand to their side? Wang You’s abnormal state had reminded her that danger could enter through any gap and had to be guarded against everywhere.
She lowered the fan that had covered her, pressed a fingertip to it, and opened it fully. She reached out and caught someone blown toward her, steadied them, then did not greet Qi San. She directly sent the fan to strike the demon lion’s eye. In an instant, blood flew.
The demon lion lifted its head and roared, shaking its head in pain. Its voice shook the mountain. “You… deserve death!”
Wen Si seemed to understand from Li Lingjiang’s hint. He immediately shouted, “Attack its eyes and face! Aim for the weak points in the five senses!”
They seemed to finally find the trick. Using the demon lion’s body for leverage, they leaped onto its face and thrust their swords in hard, then pulled them out. Even when they rolled to the ground, it felt satisfying.
They were not many, but they took turns wearing it down. Its face was soon covered in wounds. The demon lion was completely enraged. Unable to step on anyone, it gradually calmed down and unexpectedly changed back into human form. Its original face was a miserable sight. Both eyes had been stabbed blind. It tilted its head in a trembling way. “Restrain me?”
A strange sound came from its throat. Blood poured continuously from between its eyes, and its whole body swelled several times larger.
Li Lingjiang tapped Qi San with the ribs of her fan. “Trouble you.”
Qi San laughed lightly. “Since My Lord has asked, naturally I accept.”
He did not wait for the demon lion to finish transforming. In a flash, he appeared before it, grabbed its neck, and lifted it hard. Endless ghost energy forcefully suppressed it. He looked it over with disdain. “It seems stolen things have made you forget how high the sky is and how wide the earth is.”
He flung the demon lion out. Shen Duoyi seized the chance and placed his sword against its neck. Covered in dust and panting, he told it, “Perhaps now it is your turn to deserve death.”
The chaotic battle did not last long, but it still exhausted everyone. Some were injured and being bandaged. Some lay on the ground catching their breath. One excitedly kicked the air. “I really helped kill a demon lion!”
A female cultivator laughed at him. “Enough. Clearly, we did it together. Check if you have wounds.”
“I do. In my heart.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“…”
Li Lingjiang found a place to sit. Yin Wu and the others had not struggled much. Although Ling Xin and his side had suppressed their strength, they had clearly fought more freely than when dealing with the demon dragon, even if they seemed to have suffered losses on the surface.
“I think Zhang Wu’s body should be burned here,” Wen Si said with some self-blame. His face was flushed, but his eyes carried a defeated look.
Li Lingjiang said, “Burn it.”
Qi San stood to the side. He hissed and suddenly asked in a low voice, “Um, does No-Return Mountain allow open flame? After all, this is not inside a cave…”
Wuzhi looked as if he could not bear to watch. He pulled Qi San over, disappointed in him. “Shut up.”