Chapter 54 – Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

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Chapter 54 – Unstable mind

After reading the book, Yin Hanjiang had been in a daze for a long time. He didn’t remember what he was thinking back then.

He suddenly remembered his Venerable had once said he had a debt toward Baili Qingmiao, which he could only repay by helping her attain godhood. He also remembered how Zhongli Qian had told him that Wenren È had faced danger to save Baili Qingmiao, not because he didn’t care about his own life, but because he had a plan.

Sitting at the desk, he cocked his head slightly, not quite certain whether these memories were real or his own imagination.

He turned toward the Wenren È sitting at his left side and said, “Does the Venerable like Baili Qingmiao?”

“Don’t you remember what this Venerable has told you?” said that Wenren È.

Yin Hanjiang turned his head to the Wenren È sitting on his right. “What do you think, Venerable?”

“This Venerable has told you that these books record fate, and fate is difficult to change,” said that Wenren È.

With both Wenren È’s repeating his Venerable’s words by his ears, Yin Hanjiang’s thoughts felt disordered. He didn’t know whose words were correct, and didn’t even know if the two people next to him really existed.

He lifted his hands, wanting to cover his ears, but now that he was able to listen to his Venerable’s voice, he was loath to seal his hearing.

Yin Hanjiang shook his head a few times, feeling that something was wrong with him.

He put away the book and sat cross-legged on the bed, reciting the Clear Mind Spell, trying to calm his heart and quiet his unruly thoughts.

But the two Wenren È’s sat next to Yin Hanjiang, pressed against his sides. “Is Sect Leader Yin reciting the Clear Mind Spell because he no longer wants to see this Venerable?”

Yin Hanjiang felt his meridians were clogged and he couldn’t even circulate his spiritual essence though his body. He forcibly tried to open his meridians, but spat up a mouthful of blood. There was a piercing pain in his dantian, and he was unable to circulate any spiritual essence.

“False, all false.” Yin Hanjiang brought out Wenren È’s robe. Holding it to his chest, he felt much better.

Clutching it tight, he closed his eyes. He was uncertain if he fell asleep or lost consciousness.

Vaguely, he seemed to have a dream, though it also seemed to not be a dream, and instead something that really happened. He dreamed that, after the Great Sect War, his Venerable had been saved by a woman of the righteous sects. His Venerable favored that woman very much, and at last, died saving her at the Blood Hell.

At the moment before he fell into the Blood Hell, his Venerable had thrown that woman, wrapped in his own robe, at Yin Hanjiang, along with a blood-red stone. His last words were, “Protect her for this Venerable.”

The pain that seemed to split his heart woke Yin Hanjiang. He looked at his arms and saw only a robe, but no woman.

Hm? Odd, how did his Venerable die?

Yin Hanjiang shook his head. He seemed to have trouble remembering.

There were two series of events in his memories. In one, his Venerable was good to him and treated him warmly. He retrieved the Snow Flame for him, forged a bonded weapon for him, and gave him his robe. In the other… in the other, he quietly looked on as his Venerable treated a woman kindly, kindly enough to make his heart ache, kindly enough that time after time, he put on the ghost mask in the dead of night, carving that woman’s figure out of wood with his sword, after which he would gouge her face out with his fingernails, bit by bit, and slowly reduce the figurine to wood chips.

Which was real?

Yin Hanjiang dug through his storage belt and found many wood figurines of Wenren È, which he had carved secretly. They all looked unsightly, and he didn’t dare show them to his Venerable.

Wood figurines? So his Venerable liking that girl was true, and his Venerable treating him well was just a fantasy created by his inner demons?

“Protector Yin, your body is cold. Drink some of this Venerable’s blood.” A Wenren È stood before Yin Hanjiang, holding out his hand, offering Yin Hanjiang his blood.

Yin Hanjiang ignored him. He extended two fingers, digging them deep into his eyes. If he gouged out his eyes, then he would no longer see the illusions.

The pain shocked him back to his senses, and he managed to regain some reason.

Yin Hanjiang put away the robe and figurines. He pushed open the door and immediately ran into Su Huai, who was carrying a skeleton and looking for Zhongli Qian. When the skeleton saw Yin Hanjiang, all of its joints started clattering. Who knew if it was scared or cursing out Yin Hanjiang.

“Stop moving!” Su Huai grabbed Qiu Congxue’s bones, preventing her from speaking. “If your bones were shattered and the essence of the Flesh Mushroom flowed out, you’d really be done for!”

Seeing Yin Hanjiang walk directly toward him, Su Huai rushed to kneel down while holding the skeleton still. “This one greets Sect Leader Yin.”

“Who are you?” The corners of Yin Hanjiang’s eyes were bleeding, as he stared at Su Huai.

Su Huai said frantically, “I’m Baili Qingmiao’s disciple and Zhongli Qian’s student. At this point, I haven’t yet entered the Xuanyuan Sect and am still on Shangqing Sect’s roster. I don’t know if I count as a member of Xuanyuan Sect, but if possible, I’d like to enter the Hellfire Altar, hehe.”

Xuanyuan Sect was a major sect for ghost cultivators, and people like Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang were legendary figures of the kind it took three lifetimes of fortune to meet once. Qiu Congxue had originally also been in this class, but he had known her for too long. With how well Su Huai knew his martial ancestor’s tendencies, he really couldn’t respect her.

“I don’t remember you.” Yin Hanjiang stared at Su Huai, unsure if his memory was faulty or if they really hadn’t met before.

“I had the honor of meeting Sect Leader Yin at the Violet Spirit Pavilion. I’m such an insignificant person that it makes sense for Sect Leader to not remember me,” Su Huai said, scratching his head.

“You’re Baili Qingmiao’s disciple?” Yin Hanjiang lifted a hand. He remembered that Baili Qingmiao was the girl his Venerable favored. Even if he couldn’t kill her, could he not kill a disciple?

Su Huai, not sensing the danger, replied honestly, “Yes. My master and I were victims of Shangqing Sect’s schemes and have much gratitude toward Sect Master Wenren for saving us. Su Huai is willing to join the Xuanyuan Sect and serve Sect Leader Yin for life.”

“The Venerable… saved Baili Qingmiao? At the Blood Hell?” Yin Hanjiang withdrew the hand that had almost reached Su Huai’s body.

“Yes. It was really dangerous. The righteous cultivators are all scum, and that Hè Wenzhao, *******…” Su Huai started cussing again. Since Zhongli Qian and his master weren’t here, he took the opportunity to cuss the righteous cultivators out so hard their ancestral tablets would be smoking.

Yin Hanjiang had never even heard some of the words he used, but he understood perfectly well. After listening for a bit, he clapped Su Huai on the shoulder. “Good cussing.”

“Hehe.” Su Huai chuckled awkwardly. “Master and Sir Zhongli both don’t like to hear me cuss. If Sect Leader likes it, I could sneak over and cuss for you to hear.”

“Sounds good,” Yin Hanjiang said. “Where’s Baili Qingmiao?”

“Protector Qiu’s quarters. It’s rich in spiritual energy, which Sir Zhongli said would help master recover,” Su Huai said a bit doubtfully. “After master returned from the Blood Hell, her mental state hasn’t been right. Sir Zhongli said it wasn’t just heartbreak, but that something seems to be influencing her soul.”

“Mm.” Yin Hanjiang said nothing more to Su Huai, flying directly toward Baili Qingmiao’s room.

No one in Xuanyuan Sect would dare to stop him, so Yin Hanjiang entered Qiu Congxue’s room without any obstacles. Inside, he saw a beautiful girl lying on a bed, her brows knitted, seeming to be trapped in some nightmare.

He sat at Baili Qingmiao’s bedside, staring down at her. She really was very beautiful.

Yin Hanjiang brought out the Army Crushing Spike, bumping Baili Qingmiao’s face a few times with its cold hilt. He aimed its point at Baili Qingmiao’s nose, wondering if he should gouge her face out. Where should he start? The nose?

No, she wasn’t a carving, he couldn’t gouge her up. His Venerable wanted him to protect Baili Qingmiao.

He had thrown over a blood-red stone along with her. What had that been? Where was it? On Baili Qingmiao?

Yin Hanjiang appeared calm, but the thoughts in his mind had repeated themselves a thousand times. His murderous intent fluctuated, and, sensing it, Baili Qingmiao finally opened her eyes.

The moment she did, she saw the Army Crushing Spike right next to her face. Baili Qingmiao took a deep breath, saying weakly, “Sect—Sect Leader Yin, w—what are you going to do?”

Yin Hanjiang could act as crazy as he wanted in private, but in front of other people, he had to be a flawless Sect Leader in order to gain their confidence.

“I’m here to see you.” Yin Hanjiang spoke very slowly, each sentence requiring a lot of thought.

As he spoke, the Army Crushing Spike still hovered above Baili Qingmiao’s face. She had originally thought that this wasn’t a bad way to die, but the moment she saw Yin Hanjiang, all her hairs stood on end. Somehow, she found the strength to prop herself up on her arms and shift bit by bit to the other side of the bed, trying to get herself out of the spike’s range.

Seeing her move, Yin Hanjiang shifted his weapon so it still pointed at her nose.

A deep chill ran through Baili Qingmiao’s body. She said in a trembling voice, “S—Sect Leader Yin, I want to sit up. Can you please move your weapon?”

“Oh.” Yin Hanjiang looked at the Army Crushing Spike, as if he had just noticed it. He said in realization, “This is the bonded weapon my Venerable forged for me, using the Shattered Mountain Meteorite.”

“Right, right!” Baili Qingmiao said frantically. “Senior Wenren, Sect Leader Yin, Master Qingxue, and I worked together to get the Shattered Mountain Meteorite!”

“Then this is real.” A slight smile appeared on Yin Hanjiang’s face, and he moved his weapon away.

Baili Qingmiao sat up, gasping roughly for breath, feeling like she had escaped a terrible fate.

She watched as Yin Hanjiang waved the Army Crushing Spike in front of her eyes, like a child showing off a toy. “This is the near-immortal artifact the Venerable forged for me from the Shattered Mountain Meteorite. It’s a powerful bonded weapon that suits me perfectly.”

“Yeah. Senior Wenren also retrieved the Snow Flame in order to drive out the yin energy within your body. It’s all my fault, that Senior Wenren is now…”

She remembered now. At the Blood Hell, she had seen Hè Wenzhao attack her without mercy. Instantly, her heart had frozen over. She had thought that since her shixiong wanted to kill her, maybe it was best that she just die.

That thought burrowed into her brain like a parasite, which she couldn’t get rid of no matter what. At that moment, Baili Qingmiao couldn’t feel anything else besides the desire for death.

“What’s wrong with me?” she said, looking at her hands. “This isn’t me. Even if I wanted to die, I wouldn’t be so selfish. Brother Zhongli and I are connected by the heart-linking parasite. Before we can remove the parasite, how can I let Brother Zhongli’s mind be affected?”

It was now, under Yin Hanjiang’s murderous intent, that Baili Qingmiao seemed to wake from her dream. Thinking back on the last year, a shudder ran through her.

“Am I crazy? Or is something controlling me? Inner demons?” No one else was around, so Baili Qingmiao could only ask Yin Hanjiang.

“I don’t know.” Yin Hanjiang wiped the Army Crushing Spike’s blades with Baili Qingmiao’s skirt. “All I know is that if a cultivator goes mad, it’s because they themselves want to.”

The cold surface of the Army Crushing Spike reflected Yin Hanjiang’s twisted expression.

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Thank you for reading. If there are any mistakes, I hope my fellow cultivators will offer guidance.

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