Chapter 65 – Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

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Chapter 65 – A blow to the head

Within Wenren È’s room, Yin Hanjiang’s emotions were hidden behind his mask.

His finger ran under the four words, “This Venerable is alive,” many times, and gradually, a wild joy rose within him.

His memories were still chaotic, difficult to distinguish from fantasy, but what he had seen last night told Yin Hanjiang that Wenren È was still alive, and Shi Congxin said he’d seen him, and even this book which he took as truth told him his Venerable still walked the earth.

This was more important than anything else, a thousand times more important than whether or not his Venerable returned his love.

He wanted to see his Venerable immediately. Even though such fierce emotions made the blood roil in his veins and strengthened his inner demons, he didn’t care.

Yin Hanjiang picked up the note. Right, his Venerable said he was at Zhongli Qian’s place. Clutching it in his hand, he flew to the meeting room in the Main Hall, finding Zhongli Qian working on his own. Surrounding him were four or five Wenren È’s, each holding the divine blood.

Seeing such a scene, Yin Hanjiang stopped in his tracks. Why were things like this? He knew his Venerable was alive, but the inner demons would hardly vanish so easily. He was now unable to tell which was the real Wenren È.

Sensing Yin Hanjiang’s arrival, Zhongli Qian calmly left the meeting room, giving the two their space.

His departure made Yin Hanjiang more anxious, though. Without anyone around to help, he couldn’t distinguish the illusions.

At this point, one Wenren È spoke up. “This Venerable will be solid when holding the divine blood.”

Yin Hanjiang rushed forward, gently clasping that man’s hand, and found it could be touched.

“Venerable!” He got to one knee, his voice choked. “You’re still alive. I…”

For a moment, Yin Hanjiang was unable to speak. Blood welled up in the back of his throat, but, not wanting his Venerable to notice, he swallowed it back down.

He had neglected propriety last night. He absolutely could not let his Venerable see him in such a state today.

Wenren È pulled him to his feet, saying solemnly, “Yin Hanjiang, I don’t like to see you kneel.”

He slowly took off Yin Hanjiang’s mask. With a soft smile, he said, “Did you see my words?”

“Yes—” Yin Hanjiang only got out one word before blood poured from his mouth. He pressed a hand over it, but it dripped between his fingers.

“Yin Hanjiang!” Wenren È hadn’t expected their next meeting to go like this. He assumed they could at least have contact normally, but Yin Hanjiang was too good at repressing, and he nearly hadn’t noticed his pain.

He put a hand to Yin Hanjiang’s chest, pouring chaos energy into his body, finding that his spiritual essence was a mess. He had treated him last night, but their meeting today had hurt Yin Hanjiang further.

“Venerable, your subordinate is fine,” Yin Hanjiang said. “Your subordinate is just happy, I…”

Seeing how he pushed himself, Wenren È quickly placed the mask back on his face. With that barrier, Yin Hanjiang relaxed a bit.

He berated himself inside. It should be a joyful reunion, yet he…

“Don’t force yourself.” Wenren È placed a hand over Yin Hanjiang’s eyes, so he no longer needed to look at him.

In the darkness, Yin Hanjiang heard Wenren È speak. “I was hasty yesterday and damaged your foundation. If your mind is disrupted, it will aggravate your inner demons. In this realm, you don’t have immortal essence to sustain yourself, so if your inner demons are not resolved, your recovery will be difficult.”

“This subordinate is useless,” Yin Hanjiang said, clenching his fists.

“Who says you’re useless?!” Wenren È said. “During this Venerable’s departure, you’ve done very well. You subjugated the two Protectors and four Altar Masters, gained their confidence, and kept Xuanyuan Sect from falling into chaos. You also reformed the Message Carriers, uncovering those with ill intentions toward Xuanyuan Sect. No one could’ve done better than you.”

With his eyes covered, Yin Hanjiang didn’t need to distinguish Wenren È from a crowd of illusions, and with the mask covering his face, his expressions were hidden from Wenren È. These two shields helped him settle his emotions. He spoke the question he was most concerned about. “Venerable, why do you need the divine blood to solidify your body?”

Wenren È went roughly over his time in the Blood Hell. Yin Hanjiang immediately understood. It was equivalent to those righteous cultivators having destroyed Wenren È’s flesh body, so that without it, Wenren È could only cultivate his soul. Even though absorbing the chaos energy had increased his powers immensely, he was still inconvenienced.

Learning of Wenren È’s experiences over the past year and a half, Yin Hanjiang’s hate for Hè Wenzhao deepened. Underneath the mask, his expression grew twisted.

“The power of the divine blood must be saved for helping Baili Qingmiao merge with the divine nature, so I cannot use it as I please. For a time, you still need to manage Xuanyuan Sect. As for the matter of the Blood Demon, you can do whatever you feel like,” Wenren È said.

From the soul communion last night, Wenren È knew Yin Hanjiang had a lot of built-up frustration, having always lived in Wenren È’s shadow. If he didn’t stand alone before others and gain confidence, he couldn’t overcome his inner demons. He could only let Yin Hanjiang vent his feelings, for which Hè Wenzhao and the Blood Demon were the best targets.

Hearing that Wenren È was relying on his protection, Yin Hanjiang straightened up. Yes, he could not let the members of Xuanyuan Sect discover his Venerable’s weakness. He must protect his Venerable!

Seeing Yin Hanjiang regain his spirit, Wenren È said, “Last night was an urgent situation, so I had to use the soul communion technique to temporarily calm your soul. This technique can only be used once in fifteen days, and must be repeated several more times for you to fully recover. Are you… willing for me to enter your soul again?”

“It is this subordinate’s privilege to have the Venerable expend his power to save him, so how could I refuse?” Yin Hanjiang said.

Wenren È sighed lightly. “Yin Hanjiang,” he said helplessly, “I don’t want you to call yourself a subordinate, or me Venerable.”

Yin Hanjiang froze. He was supposed to call Wenren È’s name directly? How could he?

Wenren È didn’t want to pressure Yin Hanjiang. “It’s fine for now,” he said. “If after your inner demons are cured, you continue to refer to me this way, I won’t be happy.”

Wenren È knew Yin Hanjiang was tormented by not being able to tell him apart from illusions, and also didn’t want him to see his more vicious side. “I need to cultivate to stabilize my soul, so I’ll be at the spiritual spring for the next few days. You can act on your own. When the time comes for the next soul communion… or when you want to see me, come to the spiritual spring.”

Of course, Yin Hanjiang wanted to see Wenren È at every possible moment, but he knew he was in an unstable condition, and if he pushed himself, he would cause his Venerable more trouble. He nodded, then felt a warmth in one of his palms as it came into contact with something soft.

After gently kissing Yin Hanjiang’s palm, Wenren È took Abusive Romance from his lapel and vanished.

After a long while, Yin Hanjiang slowly removed his mask. He stood alone in the hall, his expression chilling, sometimes smiling and sometimes dark.

He thought about a lot of things, but also seemed to have thought nothing at all. He walked up to a desk, which still held the information about the Message Carriers that Zhongli Qian hadn’t had time to handle.

Yin Hanjiang had previously ordered the Message Carriers to investigate the whereabouts of the scum who had slandered Xuanyuan Sect. Having just gotten their ranks cleaned up by Yin Hanjiang, the Message Carriers showed impressive work ethic and had sent reports about more than a dozen people in just one day’s time. Yin Hanjiang picked up the list and left, brushing past Zhongli Qian, who was standing in the doorway.

Zhongli Qian: …

Three days later, Yin Hanjiang returned, overflowing with murderous intent, dragging a few righteous disciples behind him. He tossed them to Zhongli Qian. “I’ve brought the people. Soon I’ll get Hè Wenzhao here too. You come up with a way to lure out those experts. I’m going to unmask the Blood Demon before the masses!”

” …Previously, Sect Leader gave me a month. Right now, only three days have passed,” said Zhongli Qian. “Even if you’ve captured these disciples, I’ll need time to control them, have them infiltrate their own sects, and sabotage them from the inside.”

And he also needed to be Wenren È’s relationship coach, and act oblivious even though he had already seen through everything—it was truly exhausting. Yesterday, Shu Yanyan had dropped in and picked up a white hair from the floor, distastefully saying that Crane-Haired Wanderer had such a nice ring to it, but he better not become the No-Hair Wanderer.

After getting implanted with the heart-linking parasite along with Baili Qingmiao, he’d sold himself to Xuanyuan Sect and gone too deep to pull back.

He was respected in the Zhongli clan, with no one even daring to raise their voice to his face and the scholarly guests also holding him in utmost esteem. Yet in Xuanyuan Sect, he had been ordered left and right by the two successive leaders and forced to bury his conscience in order to help clean up the righteous sects, occasionally dealing with the Right Protector’s flirting, getting a migraine looking after the Left Protector and her two disciples, as well as being Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang’s relationship counselor.

The strange thing was that he had no desire to escape, just dealing with the headaches and accepting all these complicated tasks.

Perhaps in comparison to the hypocritical cultivation clans who acted noble to your face and did lowly acts behind your back, he preferred these kinds of straightforward and open attitudes.

“I’ve given the people to you,” Yin Hanjiang said. “If the Altar Masters and Protectors don’t listen to your orders, come find this Lord. This task must be completed soon. Don’t keep my Venerable waiting.”

Running a hand through his hair, Zhongli Qian agreed helplessly.

Yin Hanjiang went looking for Shi Congxin immediately after. Barging into the Hellfire Pavilion, his vicious aura scared a flock of ghost cultivators into hiding.

“Has Yao Jiaping been skinned?” he asked impatiently.

“Cough cough, yes, it’s done!” Shi Congxin offered up a neatly folded skin with both hands, teaching the incantation to Yin Hanjiang.

Yin Hanjiang accepted the skin with distaste. Picking up Shi Congxin, he returned to the main hall and dumped him in Baili Qingmiao’s bedroom. “Take back her sickness qi. This Lord needs to bring her back to Shangqing Sect, and she’ll be a hassle if she’s sick.”

Baili Qingmiao knew Yin Hanjiang wanted to use her as bait to lure out Hè Wenzhao and said in a small voice, “I heard Brother Zhongli’s explanation. It wasn’t shixiong trying to kill me that day, it was the Blood Demon possessing his body. Can you possibly…”

Yin Hanjiang didn’t have the same patience toward Baili Qingmiao as Wenren È. He grabbed her neck to prevent her from speaking, and said threateningly, “It’s indisputable that Hè Wenzhao is colluding with the Blood Demon. Even if he’s being used, heaven will place the karma on him. If you don’t want to cooperate, this Lord can always break Shangqing Sect’s wards and slaughter the whole sect. It’s your choice, the Shangqing Sect or Hè Wenzhao.”

He tossed Baili Qingmiao aside, then, remembering how in the ending of Abusive Romance, Baili Qingmiao dared to reject Wenren È, he suddenly sneered. “You were willing to give up everything because Hè Wenzhao taught you to value mortal lives. Now that those lives and Hè Wenzhao are placed side by side, which will you choose, Baili Qingmiao?”

He was too blunt, directly giving her this question. 

“I…” Baili Qingmiao opened and closed her mouth, but was unable to answer.

“Does this warrant hesitation?” Yin Hanjiang said, looking at her intensely. “If it were me, there could be no other answer besides my Venerable. Baili Qingmiao, you claim to love Hè Wenzhao with all your heart, willing to betray my Venerable’s kindness for him. Now it’s just the Shangqing Sect against Hè Wenzhao, but you’re unable to decide? Do you actually love Hè Wenzhao, or are you just intoxicated by the feeling of infatuation? Figure it out!”

His words were like a blow to the head, reaching straight to Baili Qingmiao’s heart.

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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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