Chapter 19: She Loves Me So Much!

“These two aren’t very strong in cultivation—only the woman in white is slightly better, while the one in red is weaker. No danger. They should have some very powerful treasures on them. You can befriend them.” As Mo Zhenfeng retreated into the distance, he sent a Sound Transmission to Ji Shuling.

Ji Shuling had encountered Mo Zhenfeng not long after entering the secret realm. His premonitions were usually very accurate and had helped them avoid danger several times. So, without any other trusted confidants at her side, Mo Zhenfeng was the person she trusted most.

“I feel an affinity for them too.” Ji Shuling sent a Sound Transmission back to Mo Zhenfeng, then walked over to Huo Zhi smiling cheerfully and supported her.

“Elder Sister, are you feeling better?” Ji Shuling asked with concern, grasping Huo Zhi’s fair, slender hand. Her hand was slightly cool to the touch, like a summer-heat-dispelling tool in this scorching environment, feeling extremely comfortable.

“A little better. Thank you for your concern, Younger Sister…” Being held by the little cutie’s hand actually made Huo Zhi quite happy. But no sooner had the words left her mouth than she heard 006’s terrible news about Linlang’s Happiness Value dropping. Her whole mood soured.

After so much effort these days, it had finally climbed to over -3000, and now it dropped by 500 in one go.

When Huo Zhi turned her eyes to look at Linlang, she saw Linlang had folded her arms and turned her head to the side. From the direction, she seemed to be looking towards Mo Zhenfeng.

“Let’s move forward first; this isn’t a good place to rest.” Huo Zhi pulled Ji Shuling over to Linlang’s side and grabbed Linlang’s arm to lead her forward.

“Linlang, I’m fine. I was just pretending earlier. I just didn’t want to travel with that man. Do you know who he is? That’s the Mo Zhenfeng I told you about last time. He’s not a decent person. We’ll find a chance to shake him off. Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” Huo Zhi sent a Sound Transmission to Linlang. The drop in Linlang’s Happiness Value—Huo Zhi guessed it might be because she was worried about her, or perhaps she’d been charmed by Mo Zhenfeng’s male lead aura?

“I’m fine.” Linlang sent back just two words before falling silent. The smile that had been on her lips moments ago beneath the veiled hat had long since curved down into a deep frown. Through the veil, her eyes were fixed on Huo Zhi’s hand holding Ji Shuling’s.

Her mood was extremely bad.

Why was Huo Zhi so close to Ji Shuling, whom she’d only just met?!

Huo Zhi hadn’t even held her hand before!

These feelings felt familiar.

Linlang remembered.

In her previous life, when she saw Mo Zhenfeng being good to other women, being close to other women, it had been a similar feeling.

Heart-burning, suffocating, painful…

The difference from her previous life was that back then, she had only wished for Mo Zhenfeng to treat her a little better. Now, she wanted Huo Zhi to treat only her well, and ignore everyone else…

She, towards Huo Zhi…

Damn that Love Poison Talisman. She would not succumb to its effects again.

What was so good about that woman Huo Zhi?

Love was nothing but gut-wrenching poison. In this life, the one needing to cultivate the Dao of Ruthlessness and sever all seven emotions and six desires should be her.

Nothing else mattered; increasing her strength was most important.

The Love Poison Talisman: she would completely eradicate it, and then she would naturally no longer be plagued by this.

Everything happening now was an illusion!

Her current goal was singular: go to the secret realm’s Underground Palace and increase her strength!

“Elder Sister, with this ailment of yours, how do you manage at home? Can your father and brother not get close to you at all?” Ji Shuling looked at Huo Zhi, curious. Her father and brother were the best to her, and they were both male, so she cared a lot about this, and also felt worried for Huo Zhi.

“I don’t have a father or brothers, only one Master. And that Master, let’s not even mention him. Younger Sister Ji, you’re from the Artifact Talisman Sect. Are you particularly skilled at making Talisman Artifacts?” Ji Shuling had started talking to Huo Zhi, so Huo Zhi temporarily put aside the questions she had for Linlang.

“I’ve only just started learning. I can only make some simple accessories, like this pearl hairpin…” Once the Artifact Talisman Sect was brought up, Ji Shuling naturally had much to say.

From the original novel, Huo Zhi knew a bit about the Artifact Talisman Sect. Their specialty was drawing talismans onto materials that could conduct and store spiritual qi to create weapons and the like, mostly using jade, metal, spirit wood, and Demon Beast spirit bones.

Compared to Talismans made from Demon Beast hide, Talisman Artifacts were more durable. They could be used repeatedly by simply injecting spiritual qi and stored more of it as well.

At the same time, the materials were more expensive, and the success rate was even lower than for Talismans. Without considerable savings, one wouldn’t dare to make Talisman Artifacts.

The patterns for the talismans shared the same lineage as those for Talismans; whatever pattern was drawn determined the effect.

Huo Zhi learned more about the Artifact Talisman Sect from Ji Shuling, and the two became more familiar with each other.

“Younger Sister Ji, is there anyone you have feelings for?” Huo Zhi chatted with Ji Shuling, and when she felt the time was right, she asked her a question.

“Someone I have feelings for? I… I don’t know. Does Elder Sister have someone?” Ji Shuling unconsciously glanced back at Mo Zhenfeng, who was following behind them, a slight flush appearing on her face.

Ji Shuling’s expression already gave a clear answer. Huo Zhi cursed inwardly: the male lead aura was indeed formidable.

“Not yet. However, I have thought about what makes a good partner. That person would definitely only like me, have eyes only for me, and would not like anyone else. If he says he likes me but then goes and says the same thing to another girl, then he’s definitely a playboy, a shameless liar. Because a person’s heart has room for only one; it’s impossible for it to be split among different people. How wonderful it is to have one pair for a lifetime.” Huo Zhi said.

“Yes, yes! That’s right! Elder Sister speaks so well.” Ji Shuling nodded repeatedly.

Seeing Ji Shuling nod, Huo Zhi felt the child might still be saved.

“That person would definitely be very good to me. If he had something good, he’d think of me. He’d treat me well when I have a powerful background, and also treat me well when I’m poor and destitute. If I’m in danger, he’d be able to save me, instead of just turning tail and running…”

“That would be true love, wouldn’t it? Naturally, if I liked that person, I would also wholeheartedly treat him well, or even better. Let me tell you a story. In our sect, there was a female cultivator…” Huo Zhi spoke a lot more, even fabricating some immortal sect gossip stories as examples.

Ji Shuling listened with rapt attention.

At the side, Linlang’s expression subtly shifted.

This woman was actually giving Ji Shuling a lesson, talking about true love?!

In the previous life, these two had also been love rivals. Ji Shuling had a direct and wilful personality. When her jealousy flared up, she would even fight with Huo Zhi.

Although they gained Mo Zhenfeng’s favor, they weren’t necessarily happy about it.

In Huo Zhi’s mind, “one pair for a lifetime” was the ideal love. And whose wasn’t?

So, saying this, if Huo Zhi liked someone, she would only like that person and no one else?

The person she liked—she would give good things to them, share hardships with them, and save them in times of danger…

Hadn’t Huo Zhi done all of these things for her?

“Careful!” As Huo Zhi was talking, her Spiritual Sense hadn’t relaxed, constantly monitoring the surroundings. When she discovered the red fireball suddenly shooting towards them, she immediately pulled Linlang over to shield her.

On Ji Shuling’s side, a protective barrier automatically activated, deflecting the fireball back.

“Who’s so shameless, ambushing us!” Ji Shuling put her hands on her hips and looked around. She pulled a whip from her waist and lashed out, slicing a rock not far ahead clean in half. A cultivator ran out from behind it. Seeing how formidable Ji Shuling was, he scrambled away in fright.

“We’ve run into quite a few such shameless scoundrels along the way, only knowing how to sneak attack!” Ji Shuling said angrily, puffing out her cheeks. When she looked back at Huo Zhi, she was all smiles and adorable again.

“Elder Sister, what happened next with that fairy you were talking about? He used sweet words—she didn’t actually believe them, did she?” Ji Shuling eagerly asked Huo Zhi, still wanting to hear her stories.

Huo Zhi was dazed for a moment. Ji Shuling had been so fierce just a moment ago, and now she was so obedient and cute again. That gap moe, so adorable!

Huo Zhi continued telling Ji Shuling the story.

Beside them, Linlang watched Huo Zhi with furrowed brows. She could still feel the cold touch of Huo Zhi’s hand on her shoulder from earlier. Did this person ever stop to think that she herself possessed a Fire Attribute and wasn’t afraid of fire, while it was Linlang, with her Ice Attribute, who feared fire!

Linlang was still unhappy, but now the reason for her unhappiness had shifted to verifying Huo Zhi’s true love theory.

According to what Huo Zhi said, was Huo Zhi’s love for her true?!

Linlang shook her head, unwilling to dwell on these thoughts. Once the Love Poison Talisman was completely removed, these wouldn’t be troubles anymore.

The Fiery Trees and Silver Flowers Zone was almost within sight. Linlang’s mind was highly focused, and everything around her was under the surveillance of her Spiritual Sense.

Although Linlang’s cultivation was weak, her Spiritual Sense range was greater than that of the others. Soon, Linlang detected the edge of the Fiery Trees and Silver Flowers Zone.

The surrounding Fire-Type Spiritual Qi was extremely dense, having reached a vaporized state, forming a thick barrier so intense that Spiritual Sense couldn’t penetrate it, making it impossible to see inside.

Could it be… the Underground Palace had already been opened?

“My Sound Transmission Talisman Artifact finally has a reaction! My brother and the others must be up ahead!” Ji Shuling said, somewhat excitedly holding a palm-sized jade ruyi scepter.

The ruyi emitted static; no words could be clearly heard, but it was much better than the complete silence from before.

“That’s good then. Let’s go take a look. We must be careful, though. I don’t know what reason prevents them from using regular Sound Transmission Talismans.” Huo Zhi nodded.

“It might be spiritual qi interference,” Ji Shuling said. She had many Talisman Artifacts on her and wasn’t particularly afraid.

The group continued forward. Just as they were nearing the edge, a tremendous force suddenly appeared, sucking Ji Shuling, who was walking in front, and Huo Zhi towards the crimson barrier.

“Danger! Linlang, don’t come any closer!” Sensing the increasingly scorching airflow and having a bad premonition, Huo Zhi shouted towards Linlang.

She and Ji Shuling were completely unable to resist this force.

Linlang watched as the two were swept inward, her brows tightly knit. But her hand was already activating a Binding Talisman Huo Zhi had given her earlier, using a Spiritual Qi Rope to tie them and pull them outward.

However, Linlang’s cultivation was weak and her strength wasn’t great; she couldn’t stop them from being pulled in.

“Senior Brother Mo!” Ji Shuling cried out anxiously for Mo Zhenfeng. Mo Zhenfeng was still some distance away. As he walked towards Ji Shuling, hesitation flickered in his eyes.

His Fortune Guiding Talisman was glowing red. This force was definitely not a good omen—a sign of great peril!

While Mo Zhenfeng hesitated, that force grew stronger, pulling even Linlang inside.

“Linlang, let go now!” Huo Zhi screamed urgently at Linlang. Linlang didn’t let go and was swept in together with them.

Feeling the increasingly intense and violent Fire-Type Spiritual Qi, Linlang stopped resisting the force. Instead, she went with the flow and chased after them, immediately shielding the unconscious Huo Zhi and activating a Protective Barrier to block the dense Fire-Type Spiritual Qi.

As the spiritual qi vortex hurled them into the unknown, Linlang used her own body as a meat cushion. Her back slammed painfully against the ground, her head went numb, as if something had been forcibly poured into it, making her thoughts sluggish.

A soft, cool, and smooth sensation came from her embrace. Linlang glanced down at Huo Zhi, who was lying on top of her, eyes tightly shut, her tail and ears having emerged again. A wave of regret washed over Linlang. She should have been like Mo Zhenfeng—more rational.

This was the last time, the very last time!

Once the Love Poison Talisman was removed, all this chaotic mess would end!

“End what?” A soft, cottony voice suddenly sounded. Linlang looked at Huo Zhi, who had opened her eyes and woken up.

“Nothing,” Linlang said. She wanted to get up and pull Huo Zhi to her feet, but then she felt a pair of cool arms wrap around her neck. Huo Zhi’s face, which looked elegant and ethereal, was now extremely close to hers, the breath she exhaled spraying onto Linlang’s face, like the scent of an iceberg snow lotus she had smelled before.

“You’re lying. You clearly could have run, yet you still chose to save me. Just how much do you like me?” Huo Zhi said, drawing even closer to Linlang. A smile appeared on her lips, her refined features gaining a touch of seductive charm.

“Absurd! You… don’t you forget, you swore a Blood Oath!” Linlang wanted to retreat, but there was no place left to retreat.

“What use is that thing to you? Why not live according to your heart’s desire?” Huo Zhi’s voice, laced with a light laugh, had barely faded when Linlang felt something placed in her hand. Milky-sweet, soft, fuzzy… wrapping around her palm…

“Can you really not feel it? Or have I not done enough? What I said to Ji Shuling… that’s what I wanted to say to you. Linlang… if you like me, then kiss me.” Huo Zhi spoke with a tone tinged with a hint of resentment, her voice soft and sweet. Her eyes stared intently at Linlang. After she finished speaking, she licked her lips, coating her pink lips in a transparent sheen that made them look extremely delectable.

The fuzzy tail in Linlang’s palm trembled slightly. Looking at Huo Zhi, the color of Linlang’s eyes gradually deepened, her throat dry and tight.