The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 81

The dragon kept shrinking. It lowered its head and rubbed its nose against Li Lingjiang’s back, making anxious whimpering sounds.
Li Lingjiang knelt on the ground. Her body could not stop trembling. Her pupils slowly lost focus. Blood soaked into her collar and soon blended with the fabric. The feeling of suffocation kept filling her nerves. Around her was only a barren scene. Dark clouds pressed down from the edge of the sky. Her once-straight back kept bending, and dust stained her robe.
She fell to the ground. Cold sweat covered her forehead. Curled up, she lost all awareness.
The black dragon lifted its head and gave a long cry. The dragon roar cut through the cover of the sky and echoed for a long time above the Demon Realm.
Shuang Zixing had just finished handling affairs when his steps suddenly stopped. He looked toward the direction of the sound. Ling Xin, who was beside him, murmured, “My Lord.”
The elders behind them also grew serious. Shuang Zixing’s brows tightened. In a heavy voice, he said, “I will go look. Wait here.”
Everyone knew Li Lingjiang had returned, but no one dared go see her, even though they had watched her grow little by little. The human heart was hard to judge and hurt people most deeply.
Ling Xin wanted to follow, but someone pressed his shoulder. In the end, he could only stand there in defeat and wait unwillingly.
Shuang Zixing appeared very quickly. When he saw Li Lingjiang lying on the ground, his eyes shrank. His heart tightened, and he moved forward quickly to check her injuries. In the next second, he sensed an aura that made him tremble against his will. His steps stopped, and he looked at the newcomer warily.
He had no impression of this person. After lifting Li Lingjiang, the person only gave him a faint glance. Just one glance made cold sweat instantly seep from Shuang Zixing, and waves of fear rose in him. Still, he forced himself to hold on. “Who are you?”
The other’s gaze was arrogant, as if she did not want to give him too much attention. Her whole heart was on Li Lingjiang. Hearing him, she only lifted her eyes. “Shh.”
“You do not need to know who I am. You only need to know that Li Lingjiang was taken away by the dragon, and you came up empty. Understand?”
The other person’s voice drifted strangely, impossible to catch. Shuang Zixing’s vision spun. The light left his eyes, and his memory was altered in an instant. He nodded blankly and answered like a machine, “Understood.”
“Good child.”
Yin Wu carried Li Lingjiang back to the wooden house. Pressure hung around her. The white dragon dragged the black dragon away quickly. Even the faint pressure around Yin Wu was enough to make them shiver with fear.
She placed Li Lingjiang on the bed. To avoid trouble, Li Lingjiang was still wrapped in ordinary bandages. Her fingers were already covered in blood. Yin Wu did not understand how Li Lingjiang had ended up in such a miserable state after being out of her sight for only a short while.
Yin Wu touched Li Lingjiang’s brow. She forced out blood from her own heart and fed it to Li Lingjiang. The person before her had a high fever that would not fall. Her lips were almost pale purple. From time to time, soft groans escaped her, making the viciousness in Yin Wu’s expression grow stronger. Yin Wu activated the blood bead in Li Lingjiang’s body and carefully protected the meridians that had split again.
The marks she had left on Li Lingjiang burst out one after another with Yin Wu’s aura. Every place was carved with Yin Wu’s name.
Yin Wu stood, eyes lowered. Li Lingjiang’s figure filled her gaze. A huge mass of spiritual power slowly gathered in her palm. When she turned her hand over, light shone across her face. The room was covered by night. Her words seemed to arrive before Li Lingjiang after many years.
“By my oath, I grant you my name. As night falls, may a hundred blessings guard only you.”
Spiritual power surged from every side, then entered Li Lingjiang’s body very gently to repair her meridians. Yin Wu stood there for a full two hours before stopping. She brushed aside the loose hair on Li Lingjiang’s forehead and wiped away the blood at the corner of her mouth. Then she turned to fetch water and wipe her body.
Yin Wu tapped the air, and candlelight instantly lit the room. She wrung out a towel and wiped away the blood and dirt from Li Lingjiang little by little. She untied half the bandages. Blood had already soaked through and dried on Li Lingjiang’s hands. Yin Wu’s face tightened. She took a deep breath and carefully cleaned them. Feeling Li Lingjiang’s burning temperature, she gently lifted her hand and pressed it to her own forehead.
She sighed. “My Lord.”
Dawn broke, and Yin Wu had sat by the bed all night.
Li Lingjiang seemed to have had a strange and dazzling dream, but when she woke, she remembered nothing. She only felt dizzy and heavy. She struggled to open her eyes. Through the blur, she could make out Yin Wu’s figure. Just as she was about to speak, she could not help coughing. Most of the pain in her body had lessened, but her lower abdomen still pulled painfully.
Yin Wu lifted her and fed her water. Li Lingjiang did not know if it was an illusion, but she felt the young immortal was extremely angry now. The air was very heavy.
“Yin Wu.” Only after Li Lingjiang spoke did she know how hoarse her voice was. She raised her hand, wanting to grab Yin Wu’s clothes, but Yin Wu blocked it.
Yin Wu’s voice gave no clue to joy or anger. “My Lord, how did you get the injury on your lower abdomen?”
She was not even using respectful phrasing anymore?
Li Lingjiang realized the seriousness of the situation. She was silent for a while, then still tried to wrap her arms around Yin Wu’s neck. This time, Yin Wu did not refuse. “It was Shuang Zixing. We fought.”
Yin Wu gave a cold laugh. “Is that so?”
“Are you angry?” Li Lingjiang asked directly. She watched Yin Wu’s expression. The young immortal’s jaw was tense, and her brows carried gloom. It seemed she did not even want to spare Li Lingjiang a glance.
Yin Wu placed the teacup aside. Even her tone cooled. “What do you think?”
Li Lingjiang gave a soft “ah.” She lowered her head in silence. Only after a moment did she raise it again and ask, “Do you not want to see me?”
“Why would I not want to see you?” Yin Wu could not help looking at her and asked back while pressing down her anger.
Li Lingjiang coughed a few times, but a smile clearly appeared in her eyes. Leaning against Yin Wu, she said softly, “I am so tired. Perhaps I should not have gone back.”
Hearing this, Yin Wu’s anger vanished at once. Heartache appeared on her face. “My Lord, this is not your fault.”
“Then what are you angry about? Angry that I did not take care of myself?” Li Lingjiang laughed softly, yet sleepiness rose again.
Yin Wu lost all temper. She kissed Li Lingjiang’s brows and eyes, her voice pressed low. “What do you think? You did not bring me, and you got yourself covered in injuries again. Your fever lasted most of the night before your temperature fell.”
Li Lingjiang touched her face. “You worked hard.”
“How did I come back?” Li Lingjiang could not detect where the problem was. She also did not know what state her body was truly in. This made her heart uneasy. Back then, she had dared to be with Yin Wu because she thought she could hold on longer.
But why did the phrase “things do not go as wished” seem to favor her so much?
Yin Wu gripped her hand. “The dragon brought you back. Next time you go anywhere, you must bring me. I really… was very afraid.”
The end of the young immortal’s voice trembled. Li Lingjiang’s gaze softened. She answered lowly, “All right.”
“Yin Wu,” Li Lingjiang suddenly said. She was clearly weak, but still wanted to hold Yin Wu. “I did not take care of your feelings. I am sorry.”
Yin Wu suddenly stopped answering. She lowered her eyes and studied Li Lingjiang carefully, then gently lifted her head. Their gazes met, and Yin Wu unexpectedly fell into those eyes that had already returned to calm.
She lowered her head and kissed Li Lingjiang.
Yin Wu held Li Lingjiang’s face, pinching her mouth slightly forward. Li Lingjiang looked steadily at the young immortal. Beside her ear was a gentle breath. Her heartstrings seemed to be plucked, and even the air moved with it.
She heard Yin Wu ask seriously, “My Lord, what are you thinking?”
What would Li Lingjiang think about? Nothing more than other people, the demon clan, and a pile of small matters that filled her life to the brim. When it was finally her turn to leave time for her own matters, even if she broke them apart, they were still those unimportant things. Turning them over again and again had little meaning. Only after Yin Wu appeared did she start finding a few whole things among the waste.
Then she carefully picked away the dirty, broken pieces and left the best to hand to Yin Wu.
As for the rotten things that remained, Li Lingjiang took them back as they were and carefully kept them. From the outside, everything looked whole. But only she knew whether the things she gave Yin Wu would one day become useless too.
Li Lingjiang separated feelings very clearly. If she could live, she wanted to be with Yin Wu. But if she could not live, what then?
Being alone was too bitter. Enduring the days was too tiring. In only two thousand years, she had nearly worn herself down several times to the thought of “forget it.” But Yin Wu was different. Once a true heart was given and a piece was missing, even if it was stuffed back, it would always be different. Li Lingjiang did not want that and was unwilling to let it happen.
Li Lingjiang’s first thought after waking was Yin Wu. Her second thought was, what should she do? What should she do? Short-lived joy seemed to have muddled her mind. She had rushed into a relationship without turning back and dragged another person into struggling with her. If she left first, she would leave the other person drifting like duckweed.
She could not bear it. She thought, perhaps she should end it.
But the moment that thought moved, she felt sad. Such fierce emotion told her that from beginning to end, she had already fallen into Yin Wu’s hands.
Yet Yin Wu asked her what she was thinking. This person clearly knew, but still wanted Li Lingjiang to cut herself open and hand herself over completely.
So bad.
So hateful.
Li Lingjiang breathed out, pulling at the pain in her wound. She rested her head against Yin Wu’s shoulder. Yin Wu patted her back lightly and waited for her to speak.
“Yin Wu, I was thinking about how long I can still stay with you, and how long you can hold on.” Li Lingjiang knew there was nothing especially lovable about herself. As those people had judged, she was beautiful but boring, dry and plain. She usually ignored such words after hearing them, yet inevitably remembered them.
There was nothing about her that pleased people. Her love for someone was direct and warm, but in the end, she was still afraid and worried.
At two thousand four hundred years old, she was still only a child who had just entered adulthood.
Yin Wu held her even closer. Only now did she realize Li Lingjiang lacked a deep sense of safety. Her heart ached as she pinched Li Lingjiang’s fingers. “My Lord, I like you. I want to be with you. Please believe me, all right?”
Li Lingjiang said nothing, and Yin Wu stayed quiet too. The two held each other, leaving the whole room stunned into silence.
Only after a long while did Li Lingjiang draw in a breath. She moved her neck and changed posture, lying against Yin Wu. “I want to go to the human world.”
Yin Wu tightened her grip on her hand. Thinking of the strange thing she had sensed before, she closed her eyes. “All right.”
Li Lingjiang listened to her heartbeat, steady and rhythmic. She slowly closed her eyes and sank into sleep.
Their two breaths tangled together, as if each other’s names had been carved into their blood.