The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 64

When Li Lingjiang opened her eyes, she found herself lying inside the wooden cabin on No-Return Mountain. She had only just moved when she sensed something wrong with her body. She was about to raise her hand when a forceful power caught her wrist and lifted it above her head. Before she could speak, her breath was stolen away.
Between each breath, all she could hear was a racing heartbeat.
Her legs bent unconsciously. The sound of cloth being lifted was especially clear. The touch of fingers made Li Lingjiang instinctively lean closer. Her vision was blurred. Her hand hooked around the other person’s neck. She clearly knew none of this was right, but her body was far more active than her mind.
“Who… is it?”
Yet she still sank into it again and again.
“My Lord.”
Li Lingjiang’s beast ears moved slightly. She struggled to open her eyes. Before she could see clearly, she could not help turning her head and coughing. Her hand was held tight, and she was pulled back into someone’s arms, unable to struggle.
Her hand pressed against Yin Wu’s chest. It took a long time before she came back to herself. Yin Wu’s fingertip brushed the blood at the corner of her mouth, then carefully wiped it with a handkerchief.
“Yin Wu.” Only after Li Lingjiang spoke did she realize how hoarse her voice had become. She looked around. It was already night. They were sitting behind a rock, away from the wind. The temperature had dropped a lot. An outer robe covered her, and Yin Wu was holding her in her arms.
Had they already gotten out?
Yin Wu frowned as she looked at Li Lingjiang. This person had been unconscious for a full day and night. After they smoothly dealt with those annoying things, the desert vanished. They had walked inward for half a day before finding a place to rest. Everyone’s strength had been heavily drained.
She had checked Li Lingjiang’s injuries. Most of them had been caused by her. Even after she used spiritual power to nourish them, they had not improved much. Holding Li Lingjiang gave her almost no sense of weight.
In only a few days, she had grown much thinner again.
Li Lingjiang did not struggle. She only felt terribly weak. Her body was soft, with no strength to lift. Just as she was about to speak, she began trembling lightly. She nearly fell to the ground. Before she could recover, she vomited a mouthful of blood. She coughed hard, as if she were going to cough herself apart.
Yin Wu knelt on the ground and held Li Lingjiang from behind. Without realizing it, a trace of helplessness appeared in her eyes. She could not deny it, and did not dare deny it. All of this was because of her.
“My Lord.” The end of Yin Wu’s voice floated. She held Li Lingjiang completely, buried her head in the hollow of Li Lingjiang’s neck, and showed only her eyes as she passed the handkerchief over. “Sleep a little longer.”
Li Lingjiang took much longer to recover. Yin Wu picked her up, and she did not struggle through the whole process. She was silent for a long time before her eyes moved. “I cannot sleep.”
There were gaps in her memory. Her whole body ached faintly, especially her lower abdomen, where the pain had grown worse. Even her breathing trembled. She asked softly, “Did I do something at the time?”
Yin Wu gave a vague sound. Her expression was a little odd. She instinctively licked her lips and brushed it off. “You just… lost your true self and fought with me.”
Li Lingjiang clenched Yin Wu’s sleeve and frowned. “Were you injured?”
She remembered that in the moment before her awareness vanished, Yin Wu had wounds on her body. Seeing Yin Wu not answer, Li Lingjiang felt more and more that their current posture was too awkward. She had never been held in someone’s arms like this before, and she did not know whether it was inconvenient.
Li Lingjiang took a deep breath. She showed no pain on her face. Both hands braced lightly on Yin Wu’s shoulders, using them only as support. Her hair fell beside Yin Wu’s ear, making Yin Wu turn her head to avoid it. Li Lingjiang’s steps were light as she touched solid ground. The instant she left Yin Wu’s arms, Yin Wu caught both of her arms.
“My Lord, what are you doing?” Yin Wu still did not meet her eyes. This feeling made her a little excited and made her want to look deeper, but when her gaze could not help locking on Li Lingjiang’s lips, guilt made her afraid to look again.
But clearly, this person had offended her first.
Li Lingjiang gently pulled her hands free. “I am tired. I want to stand for a while.”
She could not bear No-Return Mountain’s cold for the moment. Her body trembled slightly. After several days of shifting day and night temperatures, even someone as cold-bodied as her felt chilled. Besides, she was still wrapped in an outer robe. It must have been warmed by Yin Wu, because the warmth lingered for a long time.
Li Lingjiang had just lifted her foot when, before she could react, she lost her support and fell forward. Her eyes widened slightly, and she had no time to respond. Her whole body fell into Yin Wu’s arms. She was straddling Yin Wu now, very close to the young immortal, close enough to see every tiny detail of her face. Li Lingjiang breathed heavily and pressed her dry lips together.
“I…” Before Li Lingjiang could finish, Yin Wu pushed at both her shoulders and pulled them apart.
Li Lingjiang froze at the action, but only for a brief moment.
Yin Wu turned her head and did not look at her, giving an explanation. “My Lord… you are too close.”
Li Lingjiang blinked slowly. She lowered her eyes, then lifted them again and gave a weak mm. Her hands hung in the air for a long time, not knowing where to go. In the end, she only placed them loosely at her sides. Holding in one breath, she did not touch Yin Wu again and endured the pain as she stood back up.
She did not relax. She slowly walked to Yin Wu’s side and sat down. The icy feeling of the ground cleared her mind somewhat. She gathered the outer robe around herself before breathing out. “I will press on you.”
Yin Wu was about to say the ground was cold, but those words stopped her first. “My Lord, the night is too cold. Your body cannot bear it. And you really are not heavy.”
Li Lingjiang curled her legs up. She turned her head away from Yin Wu, buried it against her knees, and used both hands as a cushion, trying to shrink herself as small as possible. She did not answer. Yin Wu spoke for a long time, and only after Yin Wu finally gave up did Li Lingjiang ask, “Did something else happen?”
“No…”
“Are you lying to me?”
Li Lingjiang’s tone was muffled and heavy. It made Yin Wu unable to say even half a sentence. But how was Yin Wu supposed to explain? Just in case, she had checked the memories of the dragons and everyone else. What needed to be thrown away had been thrown away. Even if Li Lingjiang truly asked them, she would not learn anything.
Yin Wu did not hesitate anymore. “This matter is a little hard for me to speak about. My Lord, I do not want to say it.”
“Mm. I understand. Since you think it is not good, I will not ask.” Li Lingjiang was very easy to talk to. She almost never pressed people. When others spoke, she listened. Even if she knew it was a lie meant only to deal with her, she only said, I understand. I will remember it.
The black dragon crawled over her wrist. An action that usually caused no pressure now made her tremble uncontrollably.
Li Lingjiang thought of that dream and found it funny. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and stretched her arm out a little. Fog rose in the latter half of the night, thick enough to block all her sight. Behind her came Yin Wu’s steady breathing. Li Lingjiang kept her eyes open and looked at the black dragon.
The cold was about to swallow her whole. Even the tip of her nose had frozen red. For the first time, she faced the state of her own body directly. In truth, Ling Xin and the others had opened a steady road for her. All she had to do was find Yin Wu.
Li Lingjiang looked at her hand. It was so thin it was almost losing shape. It was not hard to imagine what she looked like now: a head full of white hair, all her magic power gone, and only this single breath left to keep her going.
She did not know what she had done, but it was likely not good. Otherwise, why would Yin Wu hide it from her like this? She had realized she had lost her true self. Her father had once told her, “When demons reach a certain point, there will be times when they cannot control themselves. At that time, please protect yourself and the people around you.”
Unfortunately, her father had died early. There were still so many things she did not understand.
She was also at a loss over how to handle this situation. She did not understand Yin Wu’s actions, but she had seen the panic in Yin Wu’s eyes when Yin Wu pushed her away.
Li Lingjiang drew her hand inward. Her frozen finger joints hurt sharply with even the smallest movement. She stiffly bent her fingers and wiped away a nosebleed, then watched it drip uncontrollably onto the ground. She took a deep breath. Her abdomen tightened inward with a painful, swollen feeling.
The black dragon had been watching her movements all along and could sense its master’s emotions. It carefully used its body to wipe away the blood, then pressed its head against Li Lingjiang’s forehead and stayed there for a long time.
Only after a long while did Li Lingjiang murmur faintly, almost inaudibly, “In the end, it is still only us.”
Coming or going, when had it ever changed?
She had magnified her own selfish desires. Now she should properly take them back. From the time she became Demon Venerable at four hundred years old, people had told her, “My king, you must keep the Demon Realm in your heart. Do not give birth to other thoughts. All our lives are held in your hands.”
“My king, do not think of romantic love. Do not think of those thoughts you should not have. That is not what you should do.”
“You are a genius the Demon Realm has not seen in ten thousand years. You are a blessing granted to us. If you fall, we are finished.”
“My Lord, your body can no longer support the Demon Realm’s barrier. You should consider what comes after.”
“My Lord, going to No-Return Mountain can be counted as a peaceful resting place. We hope your journey is smooth and safe.”
“My Lord, I have memorized all the flowers of the Demon Realm.”
“I truly came to repay your kindness.”
“You must live as long as heaven. I will always stay with you.”
The scattered memories almost became too much for Li Lingjiang to bear. She closed her eyes. She did not know whether it was because of her, but the warmth of the outer robe gradually faded too.
There was a rustle behind her. Yin Wu came closer. “My Lord, are you cold?”
Li Lingjiang’s fingertips moved. She opened her eyes. In the end, the ripples in them returned to calm, to dead silence.
Li Lingjiang was still Li Lingjiang. She had always been alone.
How had she forgotten?