Chapter 63: You Have No Love or Hate, Temple Master…
“You planted something useless, so why keep fussing over it?”
Yun Wuxiang was certain he never had a sudden feeling of heart palpitation. Song Yilou’s Love Gu had no effect on him.
“Because I never succeeded,” Song Yilou said self-righteously. His face moved close to Yun Wuxiang, nose tips almost touching, as if he would lower his head and lock lips in the next second.
“Temple Master, feel anything?”
The object directly in front of his vision zoomed in rapidly. Yun Wuxiang’s pupils contracted physiologically. Hearing Song Yilou’s words, he felt baffled. Feel what?
Frowning slightly, he raised his hand to push the person away. Song Yilou moved his face away a step ahead, burying his head in Yun Wuxiang’s shoulder, muttering unhappily, “Failed again.”
Yun Wuxiang’s half-raised arm accelerated, grabbing the back of someone’s neck and pulling him away. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Just now, you planted a Love Gu on me again?”
Song Yilou leaned back with the force, propping one hand on the ground and sitting crookedly in front of the cross-legged Yun Wuxiang. His other hand crawled onto Yun Wuxiang’s leg. “Temple Master, do you still think there’s nothing wrong with you?”
“Love Gu can be planted as long as there is emotion, be it love or hate. Even if the emotion is for someone else, it doesn’t matter; the Love Gu can graft it all onto me. But you have nothing.”
Yun Wuxiang slapped away the paw drumming on his knee. “I do. I have never lacked joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.”
“But you have no love or hate, Temple Master.” Song Yilou grabbed the hand that shooed him away with a backhand grip. Ghost pupils instantly appeared, surging with turbulent and scorching emotions deep within, like volcanic magma suppressed to the extreme before a total eruption.
In a gap less than a blink, the ghost pupils vanishedâso fast Yun Wuxiang almost suspected he was seeing things.
“The two strongest human emotionsâyou don’t have a shred of them, yet you always think you are human.”
With every sentence Song Yilou spoke, his fingers exerted more force, gripping Yun Wuxiang’s fingers until they hurt. The heavy strength felt like it wanted to crush his hand.
Yun Wuxiang tried to pull back but couldn’t. Song Yilou suddenly advanced in rank, and his strength was much greater than before. “Are you trying to cripple my hand at a time like this?”
“Temple Master, look! How fragile the human body is!” Song Yilou stared at that hand dissatisfiedly. After staring for a long while, he still let go. “Why must you insist on being human?”
Yun Wuxiang cast a Rejuvenation Spell on his hand. Only after a while did he answer Song Yilou’s question: “Habit.”
Since his appearance, he was an Inner Demon for less than a year before Yun Xinyang died. He inherited everything from Yun Xinyang, guarding the other’s obsession, living through decades in chaos, always believing he was a humanâan ordinary person who transmigrated from the modern era.
But he was not Yun Xinyang after all. His nature was diametrically opposed to Yun Xinyang’s.
The constant discrepancy between memory and reality caused a sense of fragmentation. Amidst confusion and distortion, amidst obsession and boredom, he even generated an Inner Demon.
The newborn Inner Demon was too weak and rigid in front of him. Later, it even became a tool for him to maintain the persona of his “original self.” Its threat level was basically zero.
The appearance of the Inner Demon made Yun Wuxiang even more convinced he was human. Didn’t you see I even got an Inner Demon?
Even when he remembered later that he really wasn’t human, he didn’t plan to discard his human identity to become a demon. Just as he said, habit.
After passing the Inner Demon Tribulation, Yun Wuxiang distinguished the difference between himself and Yun Xinyang. Yun Xinyang was human; he had a strong sense of belonging to his race.
Yun Wuxiang actually didn’t care what race he was, as long as he lived satisfactorily.
Later, a big reason he remained firm in his human identity was…
Yun Wuxiang looked at the Ghost Gu in front of him.
Why should I satisfy Song Yilou’s wish? Song Yilou wants me to become a demon, so I won’t!
Yun Wuxiang’s eyes suddenly moved, gaze shifting slightly. “Demons are coming down. Southeast direction.”
“How many?” Song Yilou picked up the conversation. Both detached from the previous topic simultaneously, the atmosphere becoming harmonious again.
“Two, ten… all of them. And some Green Tree clansmen.” Yun Wuxiang couldn’t leave the cage, but Song Yilou could take his formations out. This rift valley was already full of his formations.
“You were discovered when you came down earlier.”
“It’s all the Black Mist Bird’s fault. Those Green Tree clansmen didn’t dare come near here before.” Song Yilou stood up, tilting his head with a smile. “It’s good that there are many people. More people make it lively.”
…
“The Fallen Rainbow Qi at the bottom of this valley is so thick.” Man She sealed his magic power, daring not to use a single bit. Beneath his feet was the teleportation array built by Lu Tu; he didn’t take a step outside the array’s range.
“Sister, you are usually cautious. Why did you come down with them?”
Lu Tu wore a cold expression on her pretty face. “This time, we have no retreat.”
“The ghost scorpion is protected by the Master of the Illusion Tower. To kill the ghost scorpion, one must confront him. The opponent is extremely proficient in talismans and formations. Without the help of an Array Master, His Highness Mu Mian might lose. He is the only Demon Lord present. If he loses, we low-level demons have no chance of winning and will only be trapped to death here.”
“Man She, with your astuteness, impossible you didn’t think of this. Asking me thisâis there some retreat I haven’t thought of?”
Lu Tu looked down at the Incubus. That look made Man She’s heart skip a beat. Bad. He trusted Lu Tu too much and actually let slip a hint.
Lu Tu scanned his expression but didn’t press further. “You didn’t stop me, fearing that even you aren’t certain about that path. I will continue on this path. If I fail, I rely on you.”
“Sister, this Secret Realm is not where we should have come right now.” Man She lowered his eyes, hiding the bitter smile within.
Lu Tu: “We didn’t plan to come here to begin with.”
Their goal from the start was the Illusion Tower. Result: a Master of the Illusion Tower suddenly popped up, and another entity of unknown depth came to kill the Master of the Illusion Tower.
They knew this was the opponent’s battlefield, and they knew they were being used as pawns. But they could only act according to the other party’s will. Leaving aside the cultivation level of the owner of that voice and what would happen if they didn’t comply, just the words “Demon Venerable Inheritance” were enough for them to risk everything to fight.
Lu Tu sealed her emotions; she could remain rational at a time like this.
She also knew that apart from her and Man She, the other demons here had already gone mad.
“Kill!”
“Roar!”
The roars of mad beasts mixed with the bugle of slaughter. At first listen, the two were extremely similar.
Illusory shadows flickered in and out of the chaotic battlefield, passing silently by a demon. A faint fragrance was quickly masked by other scents at the bottom of the valley where auras mixed.
A few breaths later, a demon fell. The companion beside him hesitated and didn’t help. After a brief gap, a mad tiger pounced. Driven by the hunting instinct from its life, it bit the demon’s throat and tore forcefully.
The companion swung his blade to chop off the mad tiger’s head, but it was too late. As the tiger’s body fell, the companion looked down.
The demon who was just talking to him lay on the ground, eyes wide, blood gushing from mouth and nose, neck shattered, chest pierced by tiger claws, tattered from heart to dantian.
The thick scent of blood rushed into his nose. The companion’s brain went into a trance for a moment; he even thought he was hallucinating.
“Hey, no way. It’s just a mortal tiger, and you are a True Demon at least…”
How did he just die?
Seeing someone familiar die miserably before his eyes without warning extinguished the fire of excitement ignited by the Demon Venerable Inheritance in the companion’s heart instantly.
Demon Venerable Inheritanceâwas that something True Demons like them should dream of? Picking up scraps by luck required waiting for the big shots to finish fighting. Now that the battle had just begun, what were they rushing over for?
“We shouldn’t have come.” The companion felt like retreating. At this moment, the tragically dead demon on the ground moved. The companion was overjoyed. “You’re still ali…”
Halfway through, the smile that hadn’t fully formed froze on his face. The demon on the ground stood up with twisted movements. The broken neck couldn’t support the head, which lolled to one side. In this grotesque posture, he pounced on him.
The companion gritted his teeth and took a hit, swinging his weapon to chop off the opponent’s head, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Dead people turn into monsters and revive!”
By this time, the number of demons who died “accidentally” had reached a certain amount.
In a hidden corner, Song Yilou, with a Concealment Talisman on his body, played with a spatial talisman between his fingers. “I told you, it’s lively with more people.”
Bang!
A thorny whip swept over, smashing into the rocky ground.
The long vine retracted into the sleeve. Mu Mian withdrew the whip and flicked his sleeve, snorting coldly. “Let that ghost scorpion escape again.”
Mu Miao walked out from behind him. “Our target isn’t him. Find the Master of the Illusion Tower, and that ghost scorpion will naturally appear.”
The long vine swept through like a giant python, flinging the crazy beasts away and clearing an empty space.
“Lu Tu, are there any formations nearby?”
The demon crowd behind the two parted. The Deer Horn Demoness walked out slowly, arriving in front of the demons. Her gaze swept from left to right over the scenery before raising her hand to point somewhere. “Northwest side…”
…
“Temple Master, those demons started grouping up. Hard to kill now. They hit me as soon as I went over. Look at my arm.” Song Yilou displayed his arm to Yun Wuxiang.
Yun Wuxiang, sitting cross-legged in meditation, opened his eyes. Song Yilou’s clothes were tattered, and one arm bore wounds caused by six or seven different weapons and spells.
Showing wounds like thisâif a normal person did it, they would be acting coquettishly, seeking comfort, or playing the victim to get someone to stand up for them.
Little Song Yilou in the Inner Demon Tribulation had done this too. Back then, Yun Wuxiang gave him three Gu worms and sent the little thing away.
Now, Yun Wuxiang raised his hand to cast a Rejuvenation Spell on him and threw over a Tianqing Fruit. “Eat it and wait on the side.”
“I don’t want to eat the monk fruit.” Song Yilou’s mouth turned down, face full of disgust.
Eyes rolling, another idea popped into his head. He squatted in front of Yun Wuxiang and proposed, “Temple Master, if you become a demon now, then agree to marry me, and we consummate our marriage sweetly, we can definitely piss that dead bird to death!”
The intention couldn’t be more obvious. Yun Wuxiang didn’t even bother to refuse verbally, because the word “refuse” had no meaning to Song Yilou.
Yun Wuxiang simply said one sentence: “Guard my body well.” His eyes closed again.
When he opened his eyes, his consciousness transferred to another talisman clone. In front of him was a giant, verdant ancient tree.
This was the Divine Tree of the Green Tree Clan. Tianqing Fruits were produced by this tree. When he came before, there were many Green Tree clansmen guarding it. Now, those people had gone to hunt down Song Yilou.
Palm touching the ancient treeâas Yun Wuxiang expected, the Tianqing Qi contained within the ancient tree was far greater than in the Tianqing Fruits.
Switching cultivation techniques, he ran the Tianqing Record. As soon as the technique started running, the Tianqing Qi in the ancient tree acted like wanderers away from home for a long time discovering the door to return, rushing into Yun Wuxiang’s clone, then transmitting from the clone to the main body.
Meridians were stretched to the point of bursting. The technique accelerated, guiding the endless stream of Tianqing Qi into the dantian.
Yun Wuxiang still had the Demon Phoenix’s demonic energy in his body. The Tianqing Qi he cultivated before wasn’t much and was only stored in the dantian, while the Demon Phoenix Qi was sealed in the meridians; the two hadn’t met.
But now, the Tianqing Qi from the ancient tree poured into his body, rapidly occupying the meridians. Upon meeting the demonic energy, they started fighting without a word.
The result of the fight manifested on Yun Wuxiang: his throat tightened, and blood flowed uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.
A hand instantly appeared under his chin, trying to catch the string of red beads. But the amount of bleeding this time wasn’t something Song Yilou could wipe away with a finger, so Song Yilou switched to another container at light speed.
Yun Wuxiang looked down at the bronze wine vessel. The pain of twisting meridians seemed diluted.
He really wanted to ask: Why use a wine vessel to catch my blood? Do you want to drink it?
But if he opened his mouth, more blood would flow out.
Yun Wuxiang couldn’t speak, but Song Yilou’s mouth had no restraint. “How can the Temple Master bleed so much? I told you human bodies have problemsâweak as anything, die so easily.”
A cold blade rested on his neck. Yun Wuxiang glanced at the saber. The saber-wielding ghost had a face full of innocent concern. “How about I just kill the Temple Master? You can leave this body after becoming a ghost. Temple Master can cultivate immortality or devilry; switching to ghost cultivation isn’t much different.”
“Temple Master, can you turn into a ghost after you die?” Song Yilou’s eyes were full of anticipation.
First Gu, then Demon, now wanting him to become a Ghost. This guyâhow much did he want him to change species?
Yun Wuxiang couldn’t speak with blood in his mouth. A long sword manifested in his hand, resting sideways against Song Yilou’s neck.
The meaning was clear: Dare to make a move, and I’ll deal with you first.
When Man She arrived, he saw the two in a posture of mutual destruction. His fragile little heart instantly jumped to his throat.
Song Yilou turned his head to glance casually at Man She, then turned back to smile at Yun Wuxiang. “Temple Master, look quickly, our mole is here~”
The Ghost Saber dispersed. Song Yilou’s hand holding the wine vessel didn’t move a millimeter. Except for the few drops that initially landed on his palm, every drop of blood flowing from the corner of Yun Wuxiang’s mouth was precisely caught by him.
Yun Wuxiang re-isolated the Tianqing Qi and Demon Phoenix Qi in his body. Blood stopped leaking from the corner of his mouth. His gaze fell on the wine vessel filled with bloody water. Just as the thought of destroying the evidence arose, Song Yilou retracted the hand holding the wine vessel and hid it.
Glaring at the grinning ghost, he covered his lips with his sleeve. A Cleansing Spell later, all traces of blood were gone.
Eyes turning slightly, he scanned the Incubus standing straight outside the cage with a tense expression. “Mole?”
“I have guided the other demons into the trap array.” Man She bowed his head to report his actions.
Yun Wuxiang spoke, “Are you my mole, or someone else’s mole?”
For example, those demons, or a certain Black Mist Bird.
Man She raised his head, revealing his eyes. “Yours, of course. You are the Master of the Illusion Tower. That voice appeared because of you; when has it ever placed us in its eyes?”
“I dare not hope for the Demon Venerable Inheritance; I only seek to survive.”
A head inserted itself between Yun Wuxiang and Man She, blocking the line of sight between the two completely.
“Temple Master, I’m better looking than him.” Song Yilou raised his chin, displaying his face in front of Yun Wuxiang, and even threw a wink.
Yun Wuxiang: “…”
Who gave you the confidence to compare beauty with an Incubus?
Song Yilou was just that confident. He reached out to grab Yun Wuxiang’s sleeve and started shaking it. “Temple Master, say it, am I the best looking?”
Yun Wuxiang yanked back his sleeve. “Childish.”
Man She, watching the two in the cage who seemed to form a world of their own, isolating everyone else, felt confusion for the first time as an Incubus who usually perceived emotions as naturally as breathing.
I remember you two were holding a saber and a sword to each other’s necks just now.
I clearly sensed killing intent.
So real.
So why can you get along so harmoniously in the blink of an eye with someone who wanted to kill you just moments ago?
Did something happen in between? No, right?
Author’s Note: Man She: I don’t understand.
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