“Small body, big heart.”
That was Chu Yi’s assessment of her.
Ling Luo smiled with curved lips, splashing water to cool herself. “Then tell me, Senior Brother, isn’t it good to carve mountains and build roads?”
“Of course it’s good,” Chu Yi looked at her. “I’m just surprised to hear you suggest it. So my junior sister is this kind of great benefactor. But I’m afraid you’ll need to cultivate for several decades before you can split mountains and create roads. For now, let’s focus on how to deal with the wind demon.”
Ling Luo calculated the time—it was almost the day—and said, “It will appear the day after tomorrow.”
Chu Yi asked, “How do you know?”
“Just a guess,” Ling Luo said. “Why don’t we make a bet?”
Chu Yi tilted his head back to drink water: “No betting.”
Ling Luo: “…”
This was the second person to refuse to bet with her, after Yue Liangze.
The result unfolded as she had predicted.
The wind demon, having hidden for nearly two months, finally couldn’t bear the hunger anymore. In broad daylight, as people were crossing the mountain to attend the market, it whipped up gusts of black wind. Flapping its black wings, it flew into the swirling vortex, opening its mouth to bite off human eyes.
But Ling Luo was hiding among these villagers heading to market. When the wind demon appeared, the black wind howled in, blowing away the headscarf and concealing her face.
“Immortal Master, save us!”
A villager blown off the cliff by the wild wind screamed.
Chu Yi flew on his sword to rescue them, with the wind demon following closely behind. But it was forced to turn away by a sharp sword energy from behind.
In its blood-red eyes was reflected the image of a young girl standing on the mountain wall with a sword. Infuriated, it flapped its massive wings, making the surrounding black wind thicker, cutting into people’s skin. The scent of blood further stimulated the wind demon’s savagery.
Ling Luo executed a sword flourish, once again slashing at the wind demon, leaping to engage it in battle.
She didn’t concern herself with the villagers swept away by the black wind, because Chu Yi was there. Her senior brother had never failed or made a mistake, except for that night at Qishan Mountain.
In her previous life, she had used Yingxi to fight the wind demon. Today, she used only sword techniques.
Chu Yi observed the battle while rescuing people.
His junior sister’s technique in handling the wind demon was practiced. She completely blocked all of its movements, forcing it to dodge into her advantageous positions and sword techniques.
Calm, steady, relentless, decisive in killing.
And merciless.
Chu Yi sensed it.
His little junior sister’s killing intent was too strong.
But since her blade was directed at a demon, he didn’t pay much attention to it, focusing again on her sword techniques.
Indeed, her strength was extraordinary.
Even against a wind demon, she had more than enough power.
Seeing Ling Luo sever the wind demon’s neck without a scratch herself, Chu Yi thought that next time, he should find a more challenging training opportunity for her.
Perhaps battling a demon king or something similar.
“Thank you, Immortal Masters! We have no way to repay this life-saving grace!”
At the foot of the mountain, the rescued villagers knelt, crying with gratitude.
“This wind demon has plagued us for years. Every day passing through here filled us with fear and unbearable suffering. Today finally… We will forever remember the great kindness and virtue of the two Immortal Masters!”
Ling Luo stood to the side, holding her sword and listening.
Chu Yi wasn’t one who enjoyed handling these matters, so he said, “You say something.”
Ling Luo: “You should speak, Senior Brother. I only handle demon elimination.”
Chu Yi: “…”
He began to miss his considerate, thoughtful second junior brother.
The villagers wanted them to stay a few more days, but were refused: “We’ve been away too long. Now that the evil demon has been eliminated, it’s time for us to return to our sect and report.”
That same day, Chu Yi took Ling Luo and left.
Before departing, Ling Luo used her sword to level the steepest slope of the mountain wall, then built some railings with mountain stones to lower the risk for future travelers.
This was something she hadn’t been able to do in her previous life.
Seeing her surprising proficiency in construction, Chu Yi said to Ling Luo: “Junior Sister.”
Ling Luo turned back.
Chu Yi asked: “Could it be that after you retire from cultivation, you plan to become a construction worker?”
Ling Luo: “…”
“I have no thoughts of retirement,” Ling Luo said expressionlessly. “But I know what Senior Brother wants to be after you retire.”
Chu Yi raised an eyebrow and said with a half-smile: “Do tell.”
Ling Luo pointed at the item hanging at his waist and said provocatively: “A gourd.”
Chu Yi: “…”
What did she mean?
He couldn’t understand.
Ling Luo snorted lightly, then flew away on her sword to the mountain’s end.
Sword flight consumed significant spiritual energy. During these two months, Ling Luo and Chu Yi had spent long hours flying on swords to protect the villagers, so on the return journey, they tacitly agreed to conserve energy.
By the time they reached East Sea City, it was already evening, and they happened to arrive during the Yulan Festival. The streets were filled with flower carriages, song and dance performances, wine tasting, and poetry competitions—extremely lively.
The two silently agreed not to return to Tianji that night, staying in East Sea City instead.
At first, Ling Luo walked together with Chu Yi, but later, during the Yulan Festival’s song and dance performances, they were separated by the crowd and each went their way.
The shops were selling packaged folk pastries. Seeing some that Song Yuanyuan and the others would like, Ling Luo went in and casually bought a few boxes.
After following the performance carriages through half of East Sea City, Ling Luo yawned and returned to the pre-arranged inn first.
The inn wasn’t crowded at that moment. As soon as she entered, she heard the cook shouting to the waiter: “I’m not seeing things! There’s a ghost in the back courtyard! Black as coal with an unclear face—if it’s not a ghost, it’s a demon!”
Ling Luo stopped in her tracks and tilted her head to look.
She vaguely recalled some events from her previous life.
It had been the same back then.
She had returned early, heard the cook telling the waiter about a ghost in the back courtyard, and gone with him to investigate, discovering a spirit demon that couldn’t yet solidify its form.
Now, Ling Luo made the same decision as in her previous life and went to the back courtyard with the cook.
The spirit demon fled upon seeing her. Ling Luo wasn’t worried at all. She jumped over the wall, entered a secluded alley, and easily trapped it with a spiritual technique.
This spirit demon was somewhat foolish, not fierce. It hid from people and desperately suppressed its demonic nature.
It was just a mass of black energy, about the height of an adult, with a vague human form that wasn’t fully formed.
The spirit demon was trapped in the corner by the formation, its black energy dispersing and regathering. It struggled in vain. Seeing Ling Luo approach, it desperately tried to retreat further. If there had been a crack in the ground, it probably would have desperately tried to squeeze into it.
In her previous life, Ling Luo had seen that compared to other spirit demons, this one was like a breath of fresh air, and she had pitied it. Instead of killing it, she had taken it outside East Sea City and warned it not to harm people.
Looking at it now, she found it somewhat adorable.
Ling Luo swiftly unfolded Yingxi, from which fell a pinkish-white cherry blossom that landed on the spirit demon.
“Come on, I’ll escort you out of the city,” she said. “If other cultivators or spiritual weapons in the city spot you, I won’t be able to protect you.”
The chaotic black energy surrounding the spirit demon suddenly stopped moving, as if it were stunned.
The cherry petal, formed from spiritual energy, concealed the spirit demon’s aura.
Ling Luo sent out a spiritual thread from her finger to bind the spirit demon and led it toward the city exit.
“Being a spirit demon, why are you afraid of people?” she asked on the way.
The spirit demon, led by her spiritual thread, had retracted much of its black energy.
It remained silent.
Ling Luo shook the spiritual thread between her fingers. “If you don’t explain yourself, I won’t take you out of here.”
Only then did the spirit demon answer: “Humans are frightening.”
Its voice was chaotic and hoarse, mixed with a demonic accent.
Ling Luo had found it difficult to understand before, but after being reborn following her descent into demonic cultivation, she now had no trouble understanding.
“How are they frightening?” she asked.
Spirit demon: “In every way.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“No.”
“I see your demonic energy is so heavy, it must be hard to suppress the heart of savagery,” Ling Luo walked ahead with the spirit demon behind her. Neither could see the other’s face clearly. “Yet you run at the sight of people and are so afraid of them. You’re a disgrace to spirit demons.”
The spirit demon didn’t know what her stance was.
Spirit demon: “I don’t want to kill people.”
“From my perspective, you’re a spirit demon trying to be a good person,” Ling Luo laughed. “That’s simply not knowing your limits.”
The spirit demon fell silent.
After walking for a while, Ling Luo complained: “Why aren’t you talking?”
Spirit demon: “…What should I say?”
“Anything at all.”
The spirit demon remained silent.
Ling Luo turned back to look at it once, and the spirit demon froze, standing still, not daring to move.
Ling Luo couldn’t help but laugh.
She felt this creature was genuinely afraid of people.
She escorted the spirit demon to the outskirts of East Sea City.
In the night, the mountain breeze gently blew, surrounding flower branches trembled, and with ancient music faintly heard from the city, Ling Luo said to it: “Go now.”
She withdrew the spiritual thread from her finger, and the cherry blossom concealing its demonic energy dispersed.
The spirit demon stood in place, black energy spreading, but didn’t move.
Ling Luo looked at it and said softly: “Although I just mocked you for not knowing your limits, you’re quite good.”
She repeated what she had said in her previous life: “If you choose the path of not killing people, then persevere. Don’t give up halfway.”
“I believe you can do it because you’re a special spirit demon unlike any I’ve seen before.”
Ling Luo walked back toward the city, waving her hand: “Go now. I’ll be traveling far and wide. If you harm people, don’t let me catch you. Otherwise, I’ll regret letting you go, and I won’t show mercy next time.”
The spirit demon stood under the flowering tree outside the city, silently watching the young girl disappear into the night.
Thinking back, Ling Luo had to admit that in her previous life, she had been sincere when saying these words.
She had pitied this unusual spirit demon and encouraged it to stick to its chosen path, not to abandon its original intention halfway.
But now, her mindset was completely different as she spoke these words.
It was like playing with a cute pet.
All that talk about persevering on one’s path and not abandoning one’s original intention—they were just pretty words.
A spirit demon choosing the wrong path from the start—it would be strange if it could persevere.
Ling Luo herself didn’t believe it.
Yet curiously, in both her previous life and now, the spirit demon had believed her.
Ling Luo returned to the inn and slept well through the night. The next day, she was awakened by Chu Yi, and the two prepared to return to Tianji to report.
During this time, Chu Yi asked: “Sword flight or ship?”
Ling Luo: “Sword flight.”
Chu Yi examined her: “Can you manage?”
Ling Luo snorted: “How about a bet? If I reach there before you on sword flight—”
Chu Yi: “No betting.”
Ling Luo: “…”
In the end, the two flew on their swords, constantly racing to see who was faster. When one took the lead, the other would speed up to overtake, and this continued back and forth, causing them to return to Tianji very quickly.
Entering Tianji, Ling Luo realized that since they had to pass through the outer section first, she would go find Yue Liangze to leave the pastries she had bought, otherwise Yun Shouxi would lecture her again about not eating them.
Chu Yi teased her: “I see you’re not polite when you scold him, but you get along well?”
Ling Luo was about to retort when she froze at the sight of withered flowers and grass in the courtyard.
This small courtyard seemed to have been abandoned.
Everywhere showed signs that no one had lived there for some time.