The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 68

Even though Li Lingjiang had left no room in her words, Li Jiushi did not care at all. Without the slightest embarrassment, she sat down beside them and propped up her chin. “Fellow Daoist Li truly has character.”
Li Lingjiang’s fingertips were exposed. She rolled her sleeve inward to hide the bloodstain, then looked straight at Li Jiushi. “You may as well speak plainly. I am a little tired.”
Hearing this, Li Jiushi laughed. She shook her head and met Li Lingjiang’s gaze frankly. “I really do not mean anything else. In truth, I only think you resemble an old friend of mine.”
“Is that so?” Li Lingjiang lowered her eyes. “Unfortunately, I am not her.”
Li Jiushi agreed. “That is true. You are very different from her, and you do not look alike either. It is only your manner that is similar.”
Li Lingjiang slowly closed her eyes.
“Suddenly, I feel like talking.” Li Jiushi curled a strand of hair around her finger. There was no love in her eyes. “That old friend of mine was someone I picked up from among beggars and brought home. She was not much different from you in height, and she looked very thin and small. She could cook and sing songs. She knew many rules of etiquette that we were not familiar with. Later, after asking carefully, I learned her family had fallen from wealth.”
“I let her follow me, and she was willing. After going back and forth like that, different feelings grew.”
Li Lingjiang suddenly opened her eyes. She looked ahead, but her gaze was not very focused. “Is that so?”
Li Jiushi gave a low laugh. “Of course. But that kind of love, condemned by the world, naturally could not have a good end. My father discovered our relationship and insisted on beating her to death no matter what.”
“To keep her, I thought of many methods. I even thought of eloping. But after carefully planning it, I found we would not be able to live for long. Later, my father asked whether I was willing to enter a sect or marry someone. Of course, I wanted neither.”
Li Jiushi lightly patted dust from her robes, as if mentioning it casually. “She was unwilling too. If that happened, the two of us would be completely broken apart. I also wanted to bring her home and give her my surname. Sadly, I could not give her the grand wedding procession, the phoenix crown and red wedding robes. I could not even decide my own fate.”
She suddenly laughed softly and asked mysteriously, “Why don’t you guess where she went in the end, Fellow Daoist Li?”
Li Lingjiang said, “I do not know.”
Li Jiushi nodded in satisfaction. “After I entered the sect, my father beat her to death with staffs. I do not even know where her body was thrown. After that, I never mentioned love again.”
“Fellow Daoist Li need not feel nervous either. I simply cannot bring a person home. After all, a woman should still be married home in glory. This road is too hard to walk.”
Li Jiushi’s tone was matter-of-fact. Smiling, she looked sideways at Li Lingjiang.
“Married home…” Li Lingjiang repeated softly. Her eyes lowered, then lifted. “If feelings can be measured by a sedan chair and a red wedding robe, then they truly are not worth mentioning.”
“It is not that you could not give it. It is that you did not want to. Form is only a process. Whether the heart is there is the hard thing to say. I do not know what happened between you two, but I truly feel that you…” Li Lingjiang raised her eyes. It was as if she were looking down at Li Jiushi. “are also not worth mentioning.”
“I do not know why you brought up your past to me. Whether I resemble her or not, you had better control yourself. Rather than saying our manner is alike, it would be more accurate to say my body’s condition is enough to attract you.” Li Lingjiang’s eyes cooled. “No matter how poorly I am doing, killing you would still be as easy as turning my hand. You have disturbed me for a long time. Please let me rest properly. Thank you.”
Li Jiushi had never expected Li Lingjiang to react like this. Li Lingjiang had very easily struck the shameful little secret in her heart. Li Jiushi clenched her hand and still wanted to say something to regain a little face, but when she turned her head, she met a wide-open bloody mouth.
Her heart jumped. The black dragon’s tail rubbed back and forth near the back of her neck. That icy touch sobered her quite a bit. She gritted her teeth, but still stood. She forced out a smile. “The story is not over. I hope Fellow Daoist Li and I can have a proper talk next time.”
Li Jiushi took a deep breath. Seeing Li Lingjiang remain silent, she finally turned away unwillingly.
Li Lingjiang sighed. She frowned faintly and felt as if she had used up a great deal of strength. Her whole body was soft and weak, with no strength or interest left. “Yin Wu, what do you think?”
“What do I think?” Yin Wu knowingly asked back. Her finger settled on the back of Li Lingjiang’s hand. “Li Lingjiang can only be Li Lingjiang. There is no second one in this world.”
“Yin Wu.” Li Lingjiang called her, then could not help laughing in the next moment. “That is not what I was asking.”
But when those words fell, Li Lingjiang could not deny that some unknown emotion in her heart had leaped.
Yin Wu also laughed. She stood, hands on her waist, and looked down at Li Lingjiang. Even the moonlight seemed to favor her.
Li Lingjiang was fully covered beneath it, as if a layer of light had been cast over her. The patterns on her deep blue robes faintly reflected the glow.
She looked over, her brows and eyes gently lowered.
Yin Wu froze for a few seconds. The words came from her heart before she could stop them. “If it were me, I would certainly bring her home in full glory.”
“My Lord.”
“Mm?”
Yin Wu suddenly asked, “Have you ever worn red?”
Li Lingjiang raised her brows and tilted her head to ask back, “Why ask that all of a sudden?”
“I just suddenly feel that you would look very good in it.” Yin Wu crouched before Li Lingjiang. Their gazes crossed and changed places. “I think everything Li Jiushi said was false. She did not love that person at all.”
“It was not all false. At least two people being together truly is not easy.” Li Lingjiang’s fingers moved slightly, hooking her sleeve.
Hearing this, Yin Wu grinned. “That is not true. How could outside obstacles break feelings that were already there? Even if they separate in the end, they still think of each other. Those are only worldly prejudices. They do not count.”
“You still have not answered me.” Yin Wu’s little finger touched Li Lingjiang’s leg.
Li Lingjiang was silent for a few seconds. “Very rarely. I do not wear such bright clothes. They draw too much attention.”
Yin Wu carefully rested her head against Li Lingjiang’s leg, lifting her cheek. “I want to see it.”
“You will.” Li Lingjiang’s fingertips lifted faintly. After thinking for a moment, she put them down again. “Yin Wu.”
“I am here.”
Li Lingjiang shook out her sleeve. “I got blood on my clothes. I thought if you were going to discover it anyway, I might as well say it myself.”
Yin Wu immediately stood. She looked at the bloodstain that had almost blended with the color of the robe and frowned tightly. “Does your body feel unwell?”
“Not for now.” Li Lingjiang told her to sit first. “Do not be nervous.”
Yin Wu thought in confusion. In the end, she mentioned nothing. She only told Li Lingjiang to rest first and see whether a fever rose in the latter half of the night. If there was movement, she would call her.
Li Lingjiang did not refuse. Her eyes were half lowered. “Mm. I truly am tired.”
She did not lean on Yin Wu’s shoulder. Instead, she rested her head against the ice behind her, closed her eyes with a slight frown, and tried to keep her breathing steady. Yin Wu sat at her side, her gaze fixed on Li Lingjiang without blinking.
Wuzhi bumped Ling Xin with his elbow. “I told you. They can solve it themselves.”
“My Lord truly disliked that cultivator this time.”
Wuzhi smiled. After not hearing an answer for a long while, he turned to look. Ling Xin’s brows were tightly furrowed, and his face was grave.
Wuzhi withdrew his smile. “What is it?”
Ling Xin breathed out white mist and looked toward Li Lingjiang. “I only feel My Lord has suffered so much these years. Just a few words can move her. Yin Wu, she…”
“I am always afraid. What if My Lord truly develops thoughts she should not have? Whether this young immortal can accept them is another matter.”
Wuzhi was quiet for a few seconds. He squeezed Ling Xin’s shoulder and patted it hard twice. “Sometimes attraction goes both ways. Yin Wu does not feel as sincere to me as My Lord, but you have to think. This is Li Lingjiang.”
“How can you not trust her?”
Ling Xin froze. Then he pressed his lips together and nodded. “Yes. She is Li Lingjiang.”
Their indestructible My Lord would one day be pulled down from the altar and sink with someone else.
“Did you hear something?”
“Yes. What is that sound?”
“Shh. Keep your voice down. Do not wake them.”
A few people gathered together and bent low as they slipped outside. The person in front turned back and glared at them. “Heaven’s Mandate said it is outside.”
“What exactly is it, in the middle of the night?”
“Yes. It feels creepy. Maybe we should not go.”
“Right. What if something happens?”
The person in front still did not want to give up. “If you want to go back, go back yourselves. It finally fell on my head. How can I give up?”
The others looked at each other, and all of them began to retreat in their hearts. Just as they were about to go back, they felt a force tugging at them. At some point, many faint little lights had floated in. Against the moonlight, they lit the ground. They rose and fell together, brushing against these people’s cheeks as if guiding them.
“This is Heaven’s Mandate! What did I tell you? You should believe me.” The male cultivator in front grew excited and almost could not control his voice.
Someone was still suspicious. “Could it really be telling us to go together?”
“Then how do you explain these lights? Why don’t we follow them out? If anything feels wrong, we run back.”
“But…”
The male cultivator scolded in a low voice, “No buts. If you will not go, then do not go. I am telling you, Heaven’s Mandate told me there is something good here. It said if I get it, it will definitely not treat me poorly. I was thinking this must be a test for us.”
He continued, “Do you not want to see it?”
One sentence made everyone waver. In the end, after looking at one another, they still decided to go out. Only the person who had kept doubting turned and walked back into the cave.
She ignored the others’ low curses. As soon as she turned, she was shocked by the sight before her. Countless little lights had linked into lines, hooking around the wrists of several people. They seemed to be using force to wake them. She swallowed dryly and could not react at all.
Yin Wu had not slept at all. Proudly, she curved her lips slightly, then pretended to know nothing and opened her eyes. She looked at the scene before her in surprise, then lifted her head toward the crowd that had woken. She moved her wrist.
She could not shake them off.
Was it already unable to wait?
“What happened?” Yin Wu mouthed to the other person, pretending not to know. But the hand hidden behind her back lightly scraped Li Lingjiang’s palm in a small movement.