“Miss A Chu, rest assured, we’ll go eliminate that demon right away,” Chang Fei gripped his sword confidently.
The enemy in this level was certainly the demon who bewitched hearts and broke up others’ marriages.
A Chu stood up and bowed to everyone, “A Chu thanks you all in advance, young heroes.”
Her demeanor was dignified and elegant. She wore fine silks and satins, clearly from a wealthy family, obviously well-bred.
Song Yuan Yuan and the others thus had little suspicion and followed her to meet Yuan Lang.
A Chu led the way at the front, walking through the bustling market streets to a quiet residence. She stopped in front of an exquisite courtyard where lights were still lit inside. They heard a maid passing by the door call softly: “The young mistress is cooking personally today, quickly go call the young master over.”
A Chu’s expression darkened upon hearing this.
Chang Fei gestured with his hand, “What now? Go-in directly?”
“Let’s look first,” Xu Shen said, “Confirm it’s a demon before taking action.”
A Chu asked timidly: “This young hero… do you not believe me?”
Xu Shen was caught off guard by the question. Being young, and with her situation evoking pity, he immediately clasped his hands and said seriously: “I have no such intention. Please don’t overthink, Miss A Chu.”
“Right, right, we just fear harming the innocent,” Song Yuan Yuan nodded in agreement.
A Chu lowered her head and said softly: “That demon is extremely beautiful and can bewitch hearts. Her methods are sophisticated, making people afraid. A few days ago, a Taoist priest came to exorcise the demon and pasted many talismans at the door, but Yuan Lang angrily drove him away. That woman cried pitifully in Yuan Lang’s arms, arousing sympathy.”
She smiled bitterly: “No one believes she’s the demon.”
These words made everyone sigh with sympathy.
Song Yuan Yuan said: “Don’t fear, Miss A Chu. This time we’ll make that demon reveal its true form!”
They climbed over the wall while the guards weren’t paying attention.
During this, Ling Luo asked: “What happened to the Taoist priest afterward?”
A Chu said: “Yuan Lang protected her and wouldn’t allow it, so the Taoist priest gave up and left.”
They came to an open courtyard where they saw a slender woman in green clothing arranging bowls and chopsticks, chatting and laughing with the maid beside her.
“My wife,” Yuan Lang called as he entered from outside the courtyard. The green-clothed woman turned around, her smile coy, her eyes full of spring charm—truly a beauty.
“She’s not beautiful enough to bewitch hearts,” Chang Fei muttered quietly from the bushes.
“What do we do now?” Song Yuan Yuan asked. “Go up directly?”
Ling Luo smiled and said: “Just go ahead. Isn’t this level to see your performance? What’s there to fear about a demon that specializes in bewitching mortals and absorbing male essence? Go, make her reveal her true form first.”
Song Yuan Yuan gripped his sword, full of energy: “I’m going!”
He jumped out from the bushes with his sword, shouting: “Demon! Take my sword!”
Both the green-clothed woman and Yuan Lang were startled. The maid even screamed. Just as Song Yuan Yuan drew his sword to stab, white mist passed by.
The five of them were sent back to the gate.
Song Yuan Yuan widened his eyes: “Why?!”
“Where did we go wrong?” Chang Fei was also completely confused. “Do we need to make her reveal her true form first before we can fight, like before?”
“Let’s try again!” Song Yuan Yuan wasn’t convinced and pushed open the gate again.
Again at the familiar riverside, once more they failed to stop A Chu from jumping into the river with a splash.
Xu Shen said: “I already saved her once.”
Chang Fei pushed Song Yuan Yuan in instead. Song Yuan Yuan: “Fuck—”
After rescuing A Chu, to save time, Chang Fei said: “I know! We all know! Miss A Chu, you have a childhood sweetheart who was bewitched by a demon. We’ll help you rescue him right away!”
A Chu was stunned by their words but obediently led the way.
They arrived at Yuan Lang’s home again.
Looking at the two people by the stone table in the courtyard, Song Yuan Yuan pondered: “How do we make her reveal her true form?”
“First let’s go up and talk,” Chang Fei said as he rushed out from the bushes, saying, “Yuan Lang! Do you know that the woman you married is a mountain demon who specializes in absorbing men’s essence? She’s on an evil path!”
The green-clothed woman was frightened by this sudden appearance. Yuan Lang rose from his seat and angrily said: “Where did this reckless child come from, daring to talk such nonsense? Don’t you dare slander my wife!”
Song Yuan Yuan also came forward and said: “Stay calm, don’t get excited. Let me try a spiritual technique to make her reveal her true form.”
“How dare you!” Yuan Lang shouted angrily. “Get out, all of you!”
Then a burst of white mist passed by.
Song Yuan Yuan stared at the gate in disbelief.
Chang Fei grabbed his hair: “Why?!”
Ling Luo walked past him and said leisurely: “Since passing the hundredth floor, you seem to only know how to say this one phrase.”
“Have you discovered anything?” Xu Shen asked her.
“Don’t be deceived by preconceptions,” Ling Luo said. “Think carefully about why we’re sent back to the gate every time we identify someone as a demon.”
Chang Fei thought for a moment, then widened his eyes and asked: “Why?!”
Xu Shen: “…”
You really can only say ‘why’ now.
“She’s not a demon,” Yue Liang Ze finally couldn’t bear it anymore and wanted to end this quickly to leave, so he spoke up, “A Chu is.”
These words stunned everyone. Song Yuan Yuan had just opened the gate when he heard this and turned back in shock.
With a splash, A Chu jumped into the city river again.
“A Chu is the demon?! How did you figure it out?” Chang Fei asked with an incredulous face. “She doesn’t look like a demon at all!”
“Yuan Lang’s wife doesn’t look like a demon either. How can you be sure she is? Isn’t it just because of what A Chu said? But is what she said necessarily true?” Ling Luo countered.
Xu Shen said: “So do we save the person first or clarify everything before acting?”
“Save her! Save her and then talk! It’s your turn now!” Song Yuan Yuan turned to glare at Chang Fei.
Chang Fei held up his hand to block him: “Don’t kick me! I’ll jump myself!”
While Chang Fei went down to fish her out, Song Yuan Yuan asked Yue Liang Ze: “Little Daddy, how did you see through this?”
“She said a Taoist priest passed many demon-repelling talismans at the door a few days ago. The power of those talismans remains, but she was reluctant to enter through the main door,” Yue Liang Ze said. “The second time we went to Yuan’s home, she asked Chang Fei if he could dispel the remaining talisman power at the door.”
Song Yuan Yuan clapped his hands and said: “That fool Chang Fei! He didn’t even think of this!”
Ling Luo glanced sideways and said: “And then you said you could and helped her dispel the power.”
Song Yuan Yuan: “…”
When they saw the remaining talisman power on the door, they all chose to believe what A Chu said was true, but Ling Luo and Yue Liang Ze became suspicious of A Chu at that moment.
“When asked how she knew the other was a demon, A Chu said it was because the other revealed her true form before her eyes, gloating about how she had bewitched Yuan Lang. So we just need to have A Chu make the other reveal her true form.”
After hearing Yue Liang Ze’s explanation, Song Yuan Yuan had a sudden realization and clapped his hands again, thinking this method was feasible.
Xu Shen also said: “If A Chu is lying, then she should be the one to reveal her true form.”
With a splash on the river’s surface, Chang Fei rescued the drowning A Chu.
She led the way to Yuan’s home again.
When passing through the main gate, A Chu said again: “Could the young hero possibly dispel the talismans on this door? I fear that if the demon is injured, she will absorb Yuan Lang’s essence, making his already frail body even worse.”
Song Yuan Yuan said solemnly: “Absolutely not. The power of these talismans remains and might help us.”
“Alright,” A Chu bit her lower lip, looking at him pitifully.
Song Yuan Yuan shouted inwardly, the beauty’s tactics don’t work anymore!
They came to the open-air courtyard again and saw the green-clothed woman arranging bowls and chopsticks and Yuan Lang who had just entered.
“Miss A Chu, when you see that demon, please go forward and talk to her, try to provoke her to reveal her true form,” Ling Luo smiled and said to her. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from the side. Once the demon reveals herself, we’ll take her down immediately.”
“Me?” A Chu was stunned, her eyes immediately filled with tears. “But I’m afraid… I’m terrified of her!”
“What are you afraid of? We have so many people protecting you,” Ling Luo reached out her hand and passed Yingxi to her. “This is a high-grade weapon, keep it for self-defense.”
“No, no! I don’t dare!” A Chu kept backing away.
“You dared to deceive us all the way, what else don’t you dare!” Chang Fei said angrily. “I almost believed you!”
“What do you mean, young hero? I haven’t deceived you at all!” A Chu shook her head.
Xu Shen threw a binding talisman at her, but A Chu’s form flashed as she avoided it. “Young hero!”
“Still pretending!” Song Yuan Yuan raised his sword to block her retreat, and at this moment, black mist emanated from A Chu’s body. When she raised her head again, her eyes were hollow and terrifying, with black ink flowing out of them.
A Chu flew toward the green-clothed woman in the courtyard, her voice sharp and harsh: “Kill her! I am the one Yuan Lang loves most!”
Song Yuan Yuan and Chang Fei flew forward with their swords to intercept.
This time Ling Luo didn’t take action, just watched them fight.
She held Yue Liang Ze’s hand, and though she had never let go, she felt the temperature of his palm growing colder.
Ling Luo tilted her head to look at him. “What’s wrong with you?”
Yue Liang Ze only said: “Hungry.”
Ling Luo: “How hungry do you have to be for your hand to be this cold?”
Yue Liang Ze lowered his eyelids: “Very hungry.”
Ling Luo: “…”
She opened Yingxi in her hand, infused it with spiritual power, and sent it flying to strike A Chu’s vital point. A Chu let out a miserable scream, black light erupted from her body, and her entire being transformed into a pool of black ink that fell into a blank scroll on the ground.
Chang Fei stopped and sheathed his sword, scratching his head: “So she was a painting demon.”
Song Yuan Yuan turned back to look at Ling Luo: “Didn’t you say this level was for me?”
Ling Luo mocked: “Your little daddy is about to starve to death if he doesn’t go out to eat!”
Yue Liang Ze listened with an impassive face.
Xu Shen retrieved his flying talismans and said: “Let’s go out. It should be very late outside too.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. The evening dining hall is probably closed. Senior Brother, you don’t mind if we eat together, right?” Chang Fei approached Yue Liang Ze. “I can help you. I’m good at chopping wood and tending the fire!”
“Little Daddy certainly won’t mind if I eat with you,” Song Yuan Yuan said.
Yue Liang Ze didn’t mind who ate with him; he only minded if the food wasn’t made by himself.
Just as the group exited the Heaven-Devouring Tower, still discussing what to eat for dinner, a fierce wind arrived. Hall Master Fan sat on his velvet mat with two people from the Discipline Hall beside him.
Song Yuan Yuan immediately put away his playful expression and said solemnly: “Master.”
The others also bowed: “Greetings, Hall Master Fan.”
But Hall Master Fan only looked at one person and said in a deep voice: “Ling Luo, come with me to the Discipline Hall.”
What did this mean?
Why did Ling Luo have to go to the Discipline Hall?
Song Yuan Yuan and the others were all full of questions.
Ling Luo was stunned at first, then understood.
She had made different choices in this life, had interacted with Song Yuan Yuan and the others, and had almost forgotten that the time had come.
Ling Luo didn’t say much, nor did she resist; she just silently followed Hall Master Fan.
After they flew away on their swords, Song Yuan Yuan patted his chest and said: “What has Ling Luo done wrong?”
Chang Fei opened Yuting and looked, puzzled: “I don’t see any big news.”
“Senior Brother?” Xu Shen saw Yue Liang Ze walking down and was somewhat confused.
Yue Liang Ze said: “I’ll return to the outer sect first.”
Chang Fei: “But Ling Luo—”
“I’ll go prepare food. When she’s done, she can come directly to eat,” Yue Liang Ze said.
Song Yuan Yuan also said: “That’s right. You go help my Little Daddy first. I’ll go to the Discipline Hall to see. Maybe she’s just being brought over for a few words of admonishment, nothing serious.”
Hearing this, Chang Fei put away Yuting and walked out with Yue Liang Ze, nodding: “That’s right. Besides, Ling Luo has the Third Hall Master protecting her, there’s nothing to fear.”