The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 8

In her previous life, A’Ling cultivated from the lowest loose demon in the Demon Realm, enduring many life-and-death situations, to reach the God-Demon Realm. Those arduous years honed her ability to perceive danger. If not for this ability being deeply ingrained in her bones, she would certainly not have been able to dodge that whip, and by now her eyes would likely have been whipped blind.

Such a ruthless heart, such a cruel tactic.

Sun Juhao, who was watching the terrifying scene from the nearby kitchen, could no longer bear the fright and fainted.

This time, Aunt Sun surely wouldn’t naively believe that Huo Zhen had even a sliver of father-daughter affection for her anymore, would she? A’Ling thought.

Wherever the Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip swept, it left a charred black mark. No matter how A’Ling dodged, she was, after all, just an ordinary person. She gradually lost strength, her movements slowly slowed down, and several times she failed to avoid the incoming whip. Where she was struck, her clothes instantly turned to ash from the heat, and the skin and flesh felt like they had been branded with a hot iron. Her fair skin immediately turned bright red.

A’Ling convulsed in pain, large beads of cold sweat dripping from her forehead. From the indented tooth marks on her tightly bitten lower lip, blood seeped out, staining her small, white teeth red. She gritted her teeth and looked at Huo Zhen, who still showed no sign of stopping, then angrily spat out a mouthful of blood.

If it weren’t for the face opposite her, which was strikingly similar to her own, she would truly suspect if there had been a mistake. How could Huo Zhen be her father? The father she imagined since childhood would never be a ruthless and arrogant individual like Huo Zhen.

Huo Zhen saw that A’Ling showed no sign of yielding, her gaze towards him cold, sharp, and fierce. Huo Zhen sneered, “A stubborn one indeed. Too bad I hate stubborn ones who don’t know their place the most.”

Huo Zhen gripped the Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip, infusing it with spiritual energy, and whipped it towards A’Ling swiftly and violently. A’Ling was covered in wounds. She could only protect her vital points as much as possible. These few whips struck directly on her back, ripping her flesh open. The air was filled with a mist of blood, which seeped into her eyes, turning everything a bloody red.

A’Ling pressed down on the back of her hand, which had just been struck by the Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip. The back of her right hand was a bloody mess, her knuckles dangling precariously, looking as if the bones had been broken. Excruciating pain surged up her fingers and into her chest in waves.

Her steps faltered, and A’Ling collapsed straight to the ground. The corners of her eyes were wet, but not with tears; it was blood from her forehead, trickling down her temples and into her eyes. She painfully blinked hard. Time seemed to pass extremely slowly, second by second, so slowly that A’Ling felt her re-lived life was about to come to a halt in the next second.

A’Ling didn’t want to die. She gazed at the only tree in the courtyard, forcefully blinked away the bloodstains from her eyes, and pondered if she could use this tree to escape.

Huo Zhen looked down at A’Ling on the ground. The Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip beside him flickered with dark flames, as if a bloodthirsty demon, having tasted blood, was still not satisfied.

“Rebellious child, do you admit your wrongs?” Huo Zhen spoke like a clan elder disciplining a junior, still needing to hear the other party willingly submit.

A’Ling struggled to lift her head. Her face was already unrecognizable. She forced a smile and said with difficulty, “If I say I know my wrongs, will you let me go?”

Huo Zhen slowly withdrew the Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip in his hand. His face grim, he pulled out two Sound-Devouring Birds from his spatial pouch and, with a wave of his hand, tossed them to two corners of the roof. “Wrongdoing must be punished. This is a rule of my Huo family. Today, I’ll make sure you learn your lesson well, so you won’t commit it again in the future.”

A’Ling’s heart went numb. What was she expecting? Hadn’t she known all along?

She lifted her dirty face and saw Huo Zhen summon another magic artifact. The last flicker of light in her eyes faded. A Blazing Curse Spider Web scooped her up, her body moving backward uncontrollably, finally pinning her against the jujube tree.

Huo Zhen looked at A’Ling, trapped against the tree. He had expected to see fear and remorse on her face, but he didn’t expect that even after all this, with his arm aching from whipping her, A’Ling hadn’t shed a single tear.

“Good, very good! Even like this, she’s still unrepentant!” Huo Zhen raised his right hand, palm facing upwards. Clusters of flames slowly rose from his palm. These flames gradually gathered, forming a special pattern.

A’Ling knew this was Huo Zhen’s other natal magic artifact, the Crimson Lotus Jade Rings. Besides being able to penetrate a cultivator’s physical body, it could also pierce a cultivator’s soul, and the wounds inflicted by these Crimson Lotus Jade Rings would never heal. For cultivators, this was not only damage but also an insult.

Huo Zhen infused spiritual energy into his right palm, and with a light wave of his left hand, formed hand seals. Activating these Crimson Lotus Jade Rings required a cultivator to use their cultivation. Cultivation was not easy, so cultivators wouldn’t use it lightly. Huo Zhen, however, was willing; he even used the Crimson Lotus Jade Rings on her just to vent his anger.

No wonder he needed to release the Sound-Devouring Birds.

In an instant, a soul-rending, earth-shattering scream erupted from the center of the courtyard, shattering the tiles on the surrounding eaves.

Suddenly, the door was opened from the outside. The Sound-Devouring Birds’ formation was broken, and this piercing scream, like a bolt of lightning, tore through the courtyard, passed through the gatehouse, and shot out in all directions. The sound was truly too harrowing and eerie. On the bluestone road outside the Huo Manor, passing carriages and horses all stopped in their tracks. All the oxen, horses, and livestock on the entire street wailed in unison. Pedestrians on the road were unconsciously affected by the agonizing scream, their eyes and noses stinging. Without understanding why, they all shed tears. No one knew what kind of injury the person making the cries had suffered to be able to scream so painfully and piercingly.

Shi Qingqian watched everything happening in the courtyard. For the first time, a look of shock and astonishment appeared on her usually expressionless face. Her cool eyes were filled with disbelief. She ran towards A’Ling with somewhat erratic steps. Seeing A’Ling tied to the tree, barely clinging to life, Shi Qingqian would barely dare to believe this was the person who had so spiritedly scolded her just recently, if not for those familiar eyes.

Her entire body was a sight too gruesome to behold. The most horrifying wound was a fist-sized black hole below her right shoulder blade, beneath her neck, from which wisps of white smoke emerged. The flesh around the wound was peeled back. The smell of burnt flesh stung Shi Qingqian’s eyes, making them suddenly red. It was this wound that had made her unleash such a soul-shaking scream just now.

Sun Juhao was also jolted awake by A’Ling’s agonizing scream. After waking and seeing A’Ling in such a wretched state, she was so startled that she fainted dead away again.

A’Ling, however, felt the unique presence of Shi Qingqian, a presence she found utterly repugnant. She held onto her last breath and barely pried open her eyelids, seeing that standing before her was indeed Shi Qingqian.

Shi Qingqian’s gaze remained fixed on the wound on A’Ling’s shoulder. Around the wound that pierced through her body, circles of red patterns, like soul-gathering crimson vines of a demonic path, spread across her shoulder. Shi Qingqian knew this was Huo Zhen’s natal magic artifact. Besides being able to harm the physical body, it could also shake the soul. That pain was a pain from the depths of the soul, a pain that could truly torture one to death. Her eyes suddenly reddened, and her gaze trembled violently.

“What are you looking at… you white-eyed wolf…”

Shi Qingqian heard a weak voice. Startled, she lifted her head to look, meeting A’Ling’s eyes. Her eyes were entirely bloodshot with dark red veins, and her gaze towards Shi Qingqian was filled with intense revulsion. After saying this, she violently spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.

Shi Qingqian wanted to bring her down, but reaching out, she found her hand trembling violently. She truly didn’t know where she could support A’Ling.

Huo Zhen had just been displeased to see someone intrude and was about to teach the intruder a lesson, but upon realizing it was Shi Qingqian, he reluctantly suppressed the displeasure in his heart. Just now, Shi Qingqian had broken the Sound-Devouring Formation, allowing the sounds from within to escape. Many people outside were already craning their necks to peer in, following the sound. He quickly resealed the door and released two more Sound-Devouring Birds.

“Qingqian, you’re back. I know all about what happened today. Look, I’ve already gotten satisfaction for you. From now on, she surely won’t dare to harm you again.”

Shi Qingqian heard the voice coming from behind her. She abruptly turned around, her eyes filled with utter disbelief as she looked at Huo Zhen.

“She’s your daughter!” Shi Qingqian couldn’t understand how he could be so ruthless.

Huo Zhen glanced at A’Ling. He seemed to think he had gone a bit too far. It wasn’t intentional; he just tended to get carried away once he saw blood. He felt a bit awkward and lightly coughed. “Wasn’t this all for you?”

A’Ling listened to their conversation, and another mouthful of fresh blood gushed out, her mouth filled with the taste of blood. A’Ling looked at Shi Qingqian. “You’re wrong,” she said. “In his heart, you are his daughter. What am I to him?”

Huo Zhen’s heart grew displeased upon hearing this. He felt that A’Ling was still unrepentant and had even grown to hate him. “What nonsense are you talking? Father is doing this to make you change your stubborn personality and get along well with Qingqian in the future, so sisters can look out for each other and help each other.”

Shi Qingqian’s brows furrowed tightly, and for the first time, the revulsion in her eyes spilled out unchecked.

A’Ling sneered, disgusted by Huo Zhen’s hypocrisy and despising Shi Qingqian’s pretense. She furiously spat out the blood that had welled up in her mouth again. “I don’t have a sister like that.”

Huo Zhen saw that A’Ling still wasn’t subdued despite the beating and felt humiliated, so he was about to summon the Crimson Lotus Hellfire Whip again.

Shi Qingqian swept a gaze as cold as an ice stone from a frigid abyss, filled with warning.

Huo Zhen’s body stiffened. He didn’t know why, but he was always intimidated by Shi Qingqian these days. Could this be the power of a pure immortal physique? Thinking that he would still need her in the future, Huo Zhen took a step back.

“Rebellious child, remember today’s lesson, and get along well with Qingqian in the future. Take these spiritual stones; go find a medical cultivator to treat yourself.” Having said that, he returned through the connecting door between the two compounds to the other side of the Huo Family Manor and re-established the barrier.

When he left, he silently removed the Blazing Curse Spider Web. A’Ling was caught off guard and almost fell to the ground, but Shi Qingqian caught her at the first moment. Touched by Shi Qingqian, A’Ling felt a wave of nausea. She forcefully pushed Shi Qingqian away.

“Get away! Don’t touch me!”

A’Ling stumbled to the ground, landing at Shi Qingqian’s feet, and saw that Shi Qingqian was standing firmly on both feet.

Sure enough, so much for ‘broken legs’! That was all a lie to trick her into carrying her down the mountain, and then to frame her for hitting her. What was happening now? Huo Zhen playing the ‘red face’ and Shi Qingqian the ‘white face’? What else did Shi Qingqian want to do? What else did she want to harm her with? A’Ling felt that she had truly wasted this hard-won chance at reincarnation. She had actually trusted Shi Qingqian, that white-eyed wolf, leading to herself becoming like this now. A’Ling felt intense hatred, hating her own foolishness. She hadn’t expected that Shi Qingqian, at her current age, was already more ruthless and unscrupulous than the most vicious ghost cultivators in the Demon Realm, so malicious and vicious.

A’Ling, her hands trembling, clutched the money pouch Huo Zhen had thrown onto the ground. She wanted to crawl up, but found that she couldn’t exert any strength in her legs. She looked down: her two legs were twisted together in a grotesque manner.

She was truly the one with broken legs.

A’Ling laughed in furious rage. This was the price of her foolishness.

Shi Qingqian saw that she seemed about to get up and reached out to embrace her, but A’Ling pried her fingers away one by one. A’Ling stubbornly lifted her head, forced a smile uglier than a cry, and said, “Get lost.”

“Even if my legs are broken, I will crawl.”

She didn’t need Shi Qingqian’s hypocritical kindness. She only wanted to get away from these disgusting people now and quickly find a medical cultivator to treat her wounds. She didn’t want to die, nor did she want to be crippled like this.

A’Ling crawled slowly, inch by inch, outwards. She couldn’t die. Absolutely not. She had to heal her wounds. If she didn’t die today, in the future, she would watch them all die with a smile.

She crawled across the courtyard filled with shattered tiles, crawled over the cold stone steps, crawled over the threshold that she could only reach by lifting her head, and with the last shred of her strength, pushed open the tightly shut main door.

Shi Qingqian’s gaze was like shattered glass, following the figure on the ground. She saw that wherever A’Ling crawled, fresh blood stained the spot. Each trail of blood was like a divine punishment from the nine heavens, striking her heart. Her knees suddenly buckled, and she knelt on the ground. The fresh blood on the ground, not yet congealed, soaked into her dress. The plain white fabric was stained with streaks of crimson, a searing sight.