Chapter 37: He’s Not Human Anymore
Rain began to fall into the pitch-black night, deepening the desolate chill of the mountain.
Xiao Yunhe, soaked to the bone, looked down at the figure lying on the ground with a flicker of surprise.
“Senior Brother Wang?”
He crouched down, reaching out to check the man’s breath. It was faint.
Is he dying?
The man lying in the grass was covered in scratches, looking utterly wretched—a far cry from his usual high-and-mighty demeanor.
Xiao Yunhe frowned, channeling a bit of spiritual energy to inspect him, only to be shocked: the man’s meridians were all severed, and his spiritual roots were shattered.
That is severe damage.
He stood up and scanned the surrounding mountain range but found nothing unusual, which only made the situation stranger.
Although Lin Mountain was rumored to be His stronghold, it hadn’t been confirmed. Xiao Yunhe had followed the compass here, yet aside from a few small animals, there was nothing odd.
And certainly, he hadn’t found the Crescent Moon Fish.
It’s dark. I’ll search again tomorrow.
Xiao Yunhe glanced down at the dying Wang Huan one last time, thought for a moment, and decided to turn and leave.
The rain continued to beat against the earth; the deep night held a certain quietude.
“S-save… save… me…” A few pained groans cut through the silence.
Xiao Yunhe paused, his heart conflicted.
His Eldest Brother always taught him to be a kind person, to not be petty or hold grudges, and to uphold righteousness.
But he really didn’t want to save Wang Huan. For two reasons.
First, they were enemies. If this man could rally the other disciples to drive Xiao Yunhe out of the sect, what else was he capable of?
Second, Wang Huan had lost his cultivation. Although Xiao didn’t know what had happened, if he saved him, would Wang turn around and accuse Xiao of being the one who crippled him?
Xiao Yunhe wrestled with his thoughts until the image of his Eldest Brother’s gentle teachings surfaced in his mind.
He clenched his fist.
He turned back, looking down at the pathetic Wang Huan. Consider yourself lucky, he thought silently.
Xiao Yunhe crouched again, raising his hand to cast a barrier against the rain, and examined the man seriously.
His expression grew grave.
While the external wounds didn’t look like much, Wang’s life was hanging by a thread. Even if Xiao acted now, he could likely only save Wang’s physical vessel—his life as a cultivator was over.
“Who on earth did you provoke?” Xiao Yunhe muttered to himself.
He raised his hand to heal the external wounds of his fellow disciple, lowering his eyes to observe the progress.
Wang Huan’s fingers twitched, seemingly regaining a sign of life.
But a moment later, the fingers went still again.
Xiao Yunhe uttered two indifferent words:
“Serves you right.”
Reluctantly, he fed him some more spiritual energy until Wang finally started coughing.
Xiao Yunhe immediately stood up, backing away warily, and secretly cast another spell on the man on the ground.
He pursed his lips and looked away, feeling a twinge of guilt.
Soon enough, Wang Huan, who had just groggily come to, barely took two breaths before vomiting a mouthful of blood.
His recovery was practically non-existent.
Xiao Yunhe glanced at him and asked in a routine tone, “Senior Brother, did something happen to you? I just happened to run into you, so I—”
Wang Huan immediately gritted his teeth, straining with all his might to cast a spell to kill this brat.
He must have ambushed me! And now he’s pretending to be nice!
But after straining for a long time, there was no reaction.
Xiao Yunhe studied the hand seal Wang was trying to form and felt a silent exasperation.
Figures. He tried to use a lethal strike.
Good thing the man had no spiritual power left.
I saved him, and he tries to murder me?
Is he blind? I don’t have the leisure time to ambush him.
Xiao Yunhe suddenly felt he was meddling where he shouldn’t. He decided to simply turn and walk away.
In passing, he casually intensified the spell he held in his palm.
Sure enough, Wang Huan’s groans behind him became much louder…
“Xiao He! Xiao He, don’t go, don’t go!” Wang Huan seemed to finally realize his misunderstanding and shouted desperately.
But Xiao Yunhe was out of patience. He prided himself on not violating his Eldest Brother’s teachings.
Benevolence? I used it. It’s all used up.
So, he was still a good Junior Brother.
Yup!
“Xiao He! There’s… a powerful enemy on this mountain! If you wander off, ha… you—you’ll surely get hurt too! Then how will you see your precious Eldest Brother?!” Wang Huan panicked, his voice weak and stuttering, fingers digging into the muddy soil as he yelled toward the retreating figure.
Xiao Yunhe paused but did not turn around.
Seeing an opportunity, Wang Huan immediately added:
“I didn’t mean to cast that spell in front of you! I misunderstood you! I didn’t see anything strange when I first fled here, but I was instantly hit by a heavy blow and fainted…”
“T-therefore, this mountain must… must be full of danger. Xiao He, if you act alone, you will surely—”
Before he could finish, Xiao Yunhe turned and walked back, looking at him expressionlessly. Then, he suddenly smiled gently.
“Oh. Is that so?”
Wang Huan was instantly speechless.
Xiao Yunhe felt he had met his “kindness” quota for the day and turned to leave again.
Why save an enemy in the middle of nowhere?
He muttered under his breath.
But just as he was about to leave, Xiao Yunhe felt a drag on his leg. He looked down.
He was speechless.
“Senior Brother, why so polite now? You made my life hard back at the sect, and you tampered with things during this downhill trial, didn’t you?” Xiao Yunhe said nonchalantly.
When the other didn’t react, he added patiently:
“I’ve already controlled myself.”
Wang Huan’s words were choked back in his throat, confused by the statement.
“Controlled myself from finishing you off.” Xiao Yunhe’s eyes showed a trace of disgust as he curled his lip and shook off the dirty hand clinging to his hem.
Terror like never before rose in Wang Huan’s heart. He couldn’t use spiritual power. If Xiao left now…
Then… then he…
No!
Using every ounce of strength he had left, Wang Huan lunged forward, his fingers tightly twisting into Xiao’s clothes.
I absolutely cannot let this little thing leave.
Once I recover, sooner or later I will—
Xiao Yunhe didn’t shake him off this time, because he noticed something strange.
Is this… a cave?
Directly behind where Wang Huan was lying appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Because it was night, he hadn’t noticed it until now.
Xiao Yunhe studied it for a moment, lost in thought.
It was already past midnight. He had originally planned to go down the mountain to rest in town, but he hadn’t expected the rain, nor meeting this unlucky person.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yunhe suddenly frowned, realizing something was wrong.
He looked down.
“Where are our people? Why are you the only one left?” Xiao Yunhe asked, dropping the honorifics.
The title “Senior Brother” was reserved only for his Eldest Brother.
Meanwhile, Bai Xuci’s entire rabbit body was held in Fan Yue’s hands, rendering him immobile.
“Why do you not speak?” A flat, questioning tone.
Hearing the question, Bai Xuci truly didn’t know what to say.
W-what can I even say?
His ears pinned back against his rabbit head instinctively, and his two dangling legs folded over each other tightly.
Visibly nervous.
Fan Yue raised a brow and manually pried the two pinned ears apart, then uncrossed the little legs.
Manual relaxation.
Bai Xuci: “!!”
Although he didn’t know what the Demon Lord intended, his ears instinctively tried to pin back again, but—
“Stand them up.” Fan Yue shifted his gaze toward him, his tone flat.
“…”
Bai Xuci immediately recalled some vivid memories and slowly, bit by bit, raised his ears upright.
Very obedient.
“Why are you afraid of This Seat?” Fan Yue asked genuinely.
He was truly puzzled. Why did this little demon often not dare to look at him?
Is my face that repulsive?
Bai Xuci fell silent for a moment, but he couldn’t stay quiet, so he said weakly:
“N-not scared.”
Obviously, this carried no persuasive power.
Fan Yue lowered his eyes to stare at the little demon, pondered for a moment, and then asked:
“Are you afraid of This Seat, or are you afraid of the words This Seat just spoke?”
His tone was even, pupils glinting with pale gold, radiating an unintentional oppressiveness.
His face betrayed no emotion.
Bai Xuci swallowed, his heart skipping a beat.
His ears started to droop involuntarily, but upon seeing Fan Yue’s gaze shift, they shot back up.
Very “alert.”
“It’s what you just said.” Bai Xuci answered with lightning speed, then bowed his rabbit head just as fast.
A nervous wreck.
Fan Yue was satisfied with the answer, but seeing the drooping little head, he felt slightly dissatisfied.
He forced the head up.
But because the chin was too fluffy, his finger slipped… and poked right into the rabbit’s mouth.
Wet.
“…”
Bai Xuci blinked his red eyes, carefully leaned his rabbit head back, and… spat the noble finger out.
Fan Yue pursed his lips, saying nothing.
Silence ensued.
Bai Xuci looked at that finger, especially the somewhat wet sheen on it, and felt unbearably uncomfortable.
His paws twitched, but since only his head was free, he couldn’t reach it.
In a moment of madness.
He stretched his rabbit head forward and meticulously licked it.
Fan Yue’s pupils dilated slightly; his Adam’s apple bobbed.
But in the end, he didn’t stop it.
It just felt… soft.
Perhaps driven by animal instinct, Bai Xuci simply thought: The finger is dirty. Not good, not good.
He just wanted to clean it.
He licked away earnestly, putting in real effort.
Until a spark of realization hit his brain’s central processing. Bai Xuci froze.
H-his soul is human, right?
Right?
His tongue didn’t even retract; it just hung there, as if his soul had taken a critical hit.
Fan Yue glanced down, suppressed the curve of his lips, and bent his knuckle to push the little tongue back in.
“Hm. Not bad.”
He set the rabbit, now doubting the meaning of life, down on the bed and smoothed the fur on its head.
Quite soft.
Bai Xuci was in a state of massive internal shock. He looked down.
Two furry rabbit paws.
He shook his head; the ears had a lot of presence.
He took two steps on the bed—a standard rabbit gait—and even did an involuntary little hop.
“…”
Bai Xuci suddenly felt a stinging acid in his nose, that same wave of misery from three years ago crashing over him.
He slowly lay flat on the bed and buried his head in his paws.
He didn’t make a sound.
He’s not human anymore.
Wuwuwuwu…
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