Chapter 15

Liang Yiman carried the mortal’s daily food, unhurriedly walking towards the Scripture Repository Side Hall.

She was probably the person within the Moon Shadow Devil Palace, besides Her Highness, who had the most contact with Li Jiangying. Sigh, there was no way around it. A fragile mortal required meticulous care; otherwise, she could die with a single slip.

Liang Yiman, wearing a noble and proper smile befitting a princess, walked to the room used for rest and knocked on the door. “Jiang—”

“Get down here!” An enraged roar erupted from inside the room, cutting Liang Yiman off.

She frowned slightly. Her subconscious told her to stay silent, and she quietly pushed the door open a crack.

Then, she saw it. That fragile mortal was standing on the ground, hoisting an ironwood chair high above her head, glaring up at the ceiling beam. And there, sprawled across the beam, was a Moon Shadow Devil Venerable.

“If you’ve got the guts, get down here!” the fragile mortal raged.

“No, no, no! The chair will break, and Jiangying will be sad!” said the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable.

“Sad my ass! It’s not even my chair!” The fragile mortal brandished her chair.

“But there’s only one chair left in this room,” the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable calculated with surprising wit. “If it breaks, Jiangying will only be able to sit with me— Huh? I wanna come down, Jiangying! I’m coming!”

The fragile mortal suddenly realized something, tossed the chair aside, and turned to run. Unfortunately, the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable leaping down from the beam was extremely agile and quickly tackled her to the ground.

The fragile mortal let out a miserable shriek, accompanied by the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable’s gleeful, cackling laughter. Liang Yiman silently shut the door for them.

She placed the tray by the doorway. Her princess-level smile vanished. She gazed up at the sky with a melancholic expression, fiddled with a stray strand of hair by her temple, and walked away.

It was another day of fruitless effort. Li Jiangying opened her eyes, her brow furrowed, and looked down to find her head resting on the lap of the little madwoman, who was sleeping on her leg, breathing heavily and soundly.

No wonder her leg had gone numb so quickly today.

She gently pushed the little madwoman’s head away and got off the bed. The moment she took a step, she felt a tug at the hem of her clothes. Looking back, she saw the little madwoman, still lost in sleep, had reached out and grabbed her garment.

Li Jiangying pursed her lips and pulled her hand away. She heard two unconscious, muffled hums from the little madwoman’s throat. Then, she restlessly furrowed her brow, rolled over, and hugged Li Jiangying’s pillow instead.

Li Jiangying walked into the small partitioned room at the back. She began to undress and shower. There was no helping it. Every time she finished cultivating, her body was drenched in sweat. At first, Li Jiangying wondered if she was expelling impurities from her body. But now, she was certain it was simply a cold sweat caused by the sheer agony of cultivation.

Even though the process of circulating Devil Qi within her body was practiced and smooth, every cycle felt like a fire burning inside her. Her meridians felt piercing, stabbing pain. After consulting Cui Yu, Cui Yu had said, somewhat uncertainly, that this was probably inevitable with a Pure Fire Spiritual Body.

Pain was one thing; Li Jiangying could endure it. What she couldn’t endure was the fact that nearly a week had passed since she’d learned to circulate Devil Qi, and to this day, she hadn’t managed to store a single strand of Fire Element Devil Qi in her Dantian.

Even if she was lopsided in her talent, it shouldn’t be this lopsided!

Li Jiangying wiped her face in frustration. After showering, she stepped out of the small bathing pool in the partitioned room and began drying her hair and changing her clothes.

Life in this cultivation world was quite convenient. This partitioned room, for example, had two simple small arrays set up. One triggered small bells in the four corners of the ceiling to spray water at a comfortable temperature. The other could emit a stream of hot air. They activated the moment a person entered the defined array’s range and stopped when they left. It was incredibly convenient.

Originally, this wasn’t here. But to accommodate Li Jiangying, that fragile mortal, Liang Yiman had personally built this bathroom for her. This way, Li Jiangying wouldn’t need to trouble Liang Yiman for every little thing.

While setting up the bathroom, Liang Yiman had been in a rather pleasant mood and explained, “These arrays aren’t much trouble. They just consume a few Spirit Stones. Mortal households with a bit of wealth also install them for use. Back in the day, my bedchamber had a set. With enough Spirit Stones embedded, the entire courtyard could be turned into a bathhouse.”

At the time, Li Jiangying had been curious and asked, “Your Highness’s bathhouse must have been extraordinarily beautiful, right? A Princess must have a luxurious bathing area.”

Liang Yiman had raised a hand to cover her mouth and laughed softly. “Ah, that’s all in the past. No point in talking about it now.”

Yes, a dignified princess of the past was now a mere Devil Cultivator in a fallen Devil Palace. No one knew what had happened in between, but presumably, she wouldn’t want to tell someone she’d only just met, like Li Jiangying.

Li Jiangying hadn’t pressed further.

Back to the present.

After tidying up her appearance, Li Jiangying stepped out of the partitioned room. Instinctively, she glanced at the bed. The little madwoman on the mattress had woken up sometime, sitting blankly in bed, clutching the pillow to her chest, motionless.

What was with her? Still half-asleep? Li Jiangying shrugged and walked towards the door. Li Yueying swiveled her head abruptly to look at her. “Jiangying.”

Of course. There was no way she could escape her.

The corner of Li Jiangying’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, I’m going out to find Cui Yu. I’ll be back soon.”

Li Yueying: “Oh.”

Li Jiangying: “Just an ‘oh’?”

Li Yueying tilted her head, looking dazed, then slowly opened her mouth wider. “Oh-oh?”

Li Jiangying: “…”

Forget it. Free time was precious. Li Jiangying hurriedly left the Side Hall and walked outside. As she walked, she suddenly slapped her forehead. “Damn.”

She didn’t know where Cui Yu usually spent her time!

Adding to the problem, the Moon Shadow Devil Palace was vast and sparsely populated. Looking around, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. Only a stretch of overgrown green weeds and small trees sprouting from the cracks in the brick walls.

Having no other choice, Li Jiangying stood on her tiptoes, threw her head back, and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Cui Yu! Princess! Your Highness! A’gou! Is anyone there?”

She hadn’t shouted more than twice when she suddenly felt the ground tremor. She instantly lowered her hand, her guard up.

What was going on? Was the Moon Shadow Devil Palace unsafe too?

Just then, a massive shadow slowly emerged from behind a wall.

Li Jiangying couldn’t help but gape at the figure before her. She blurted out, “You’re the one from that night!”

The night of her escape, Li Jiangying had accidentally run into two mysterious people. One of them was the silent woman of immense size, silent as a mountain. The exact person now standing before her.

The mountain woman quietly approached. Her shadow completely enveloped Li Jiangying, who couldn’t help but flash a sheepish, ingratiating smile. “Hello, I’m looking for Cui Yu. Do you know her?”

The mountain woman nodded at Li Jiangying. Then she reached out a thick, strong hand and, without warning, seized Li Jiangying by the waist.

Li Jiangying only had time to let out a confused, questioning yelp before the mountain woman hoisted her up. It was like an eagle snatching a chick. Not content with just snatching, she placed the little chick on her own shoulder.

It wasn’t until Li Jiangying was perched on the mountain woman’s back, looking down at the dizzying height and being smoothly carried along, that she fully registered what was happening.

She felt a moment of disorientation. She actually felt incredibly small and powerless compared to this mountain woman. This piggyback-ride game was something only seven- or eight-year-old kids were allowed to play, right?

Li Jiangying steadied herself against the mountain woman’s head and, a bit embarrassed, thanked her and asked her to take her to find Cui Yu. It wasn’t that she liked pretending to be a child. It was just that this honest-looking, silent older sister was so tall that when Li Jiangying looked down, a hint of vertigo and fear of heights set in, so she didn’t dare voice any protest.

She found Cui Yu within a Peach Wood Grove, carving a wooden figurine. She sat beneath a peach tree, a few pieces of wood laid out beside her, wholly focused on carving the small wooden figure in her hands.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Cui Yu instantly shoved the little wooden person into her sleeve. Turning her head and seeing who it was, her delicate, pretty face broke into a smile. “Jiangying, Xiaohong, what brings you two here?”

Xiaohong? Was she referring to this mountain sister carrying her?

Li Jiangying braced against Xiaohong’s shoulder, testingly trying to climb down, but Xiaohong scooped her up and gently set her on the ground.

Li Jiangying once again expressed her gratitude, sighing inwardly: What an honest and gentle woman. Xiaohong simply nodded at her and turned to leave.

“Jiangying, what did you seek me out for?” Cui Yu asked, tidying up her wood-carving materials. Li Jiangying then explained the difficulty she was facing with her cultivation.

“Eh?” Cui Yu retorted, baffled. “You haven’t stored even a trace of Devil Qi?”

Li Jiangying nodded, her expression melancholic.

Cui Yu stroked her chin, lost in thought. After pondering for a moment, she grasped Li Jiangying’s wrist and said, “Jiangying, your innate talent is extraordinarily high, practically unheard of. It shouldn’t be like this. Let me examine you.”

A moment later, Cui Yu awkwardly let go of her hand. “Jiangying, I can’t find anything. Your Fire Spirit Body is too pure. The moment my Devil Qi enters your body, it’s affected. I apologize. My ability is insufficient.”

Even Cui Yu didn’t know the reason. What were they to do now? For a moment, both of them sank into deep thought.

Just then, a small head tentatively poked out from behind a tree. “Jiangying~… what are you two… doing?”

Li Jiangying followed the voice, then jumped in fright. “When did you follow me here?”

The little madwoman clung to the tree, biting her lower lip, looking utterly wronged. Her gaze fixed intensely on Cui Yu’s hand on Li Jiangying’s wrist. “Jiangying! How could you do this!”

Sensing danger, Cui Yu whipped her hand back in a flash, swallowing nervously.

Li Jiangying was still baffled. “What did I do?”

Li Yueying began to sob. “You haven’t held my hand to look at the peach tree with me! Jiangying, that’s not fair!!!”