Chapter 27 Part 1

To maintain her masterful image, Li Jiangying calmly moved her hand away from Li Yueying’s mouth, placed it near her neck, and reached up to scratch her chin.

Li Yueying immediately narrowed her eyes and pressed herself softly against Li Jiangying’s hand.

Li Jiangying smiled at Jiang Sujin and said, “You seem very tired. Why don’t you rest here for a while?”

Jiang Sujin said gratefully, “Thank you for your understanding, Senior… not Sister Ying Suanli.” Her voice grew quieter, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

The three found a gentle slope sheltered by a massive boulder to rest. Naturally, the Gray Rhino Beast wasn’t spared. Jiang Sujin, aware she was the weakest and needed to curry favor, proactively took on all the menial tasks.

She skillfully dismantled the Gray Rhino Beast. For the most valuable parts, the Demon Core and the rhino horn, she first asked Sister Ying Suanli if she wanted them. Sister Ying Suanli shook her head indifferently. “Keep them with you.”

Jiang Sujin couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: As expected, a master looks down on such things.

Li Jiangying smiled but said nothing. Where exactly am I supposed to put them?

After that, Jiang Sujin began processing the Gray Rhino Beast’s meat. Li Jiangying realized that traveling with Jiang Sujin was the best decision she’d made since arriving in this world. Not only could she help provide water and process food, but she even carried seasonings on her!

Heaven knows how much torment Li Jiangying’s tongue and stomach had suffered since separating from Cui Yu. Now, eating roasted meat seasoned with salt, oil, and sauce, she couldn’t help but tear up with emotion.

After a few bites had temporarily appeased her palate, Li Jiangying looked up, attempting to salvage her image. “Ah, it has been too long since this old one has eaten like a human. I lost my composure for a moment; forgive me.”

“Not at all, not at all. As long as Sister Ying Suanli likes it,” Jiang Sujin thought. It seems the old senior has lived a very austere life before this. Among Devil Cultivators, she is truly a breath of fresh air!

After eating a few bites of roasted meat, Li Jiangying tore off a piece to feed Li Yueying. She didn’t know why, but Li Yueying always harbored a faint hostility towards this young Devil Cultivator girl. Could she still be jealous?

She wasn’t trying to be a peacemaker and make them get along. However, the three would be traveling together for a long time, and they couldn’t maintain this animosity forever.

“Want a taste?” Li Jiangying held up a slice of roasted meat wrapped around a wild fruit. The fruit was provided by Li Jiangying. Although Jiang Sujin treated her as a senior and willingly took on many tasks, she wasn’t so shameless as to completely exploit her.

Li Yueying bit her lower lip, narrowed her eyes, and suddenly wrapped her arms around Li Jiangying’s waist, pressing her face against her back. She quietly felt Jiangying’s warmth in her arms, saying nothing.

“It’s very delicious.” Li Jiangying coaxed her, “Be good. Don’t you like it when I feed you?”

The Snake Demon draped over her back suddenly darted forward, opened her mouth, and bit down on the roasted meat. Li Jiangying smiled and fed it into her mouth. Seeing her expression soften slightly after a couple of chews, Li Jiangying couldn’t help but smile with relief.

Unfortunately, her relief didn’t last long. The little madwoman denied everything after eating, licking (Li Jiangying’s) fingers and shooting eye-daggers at Jiang Sujin.

Jiang Sujin, glared at for no apparent reason, felt a little wronged.

Then the Snake Demon went even further, hugging Li Jiangying tightly, pressing her into her embrace almost hard enough to break ribs, her chin resting on Li Jiangying’s crown. Li Yueying grinned coldly at Jiang Sujin, as if saying: She is mine. Don’t even think about taking her!

“Sujin.” As the campfire crackled and burned, Li Jiangying watched the dancing flames and suddenly called out to Jiang Sujin, who was sitting opposite her.

“What is it, Senior… no, Sister Ying Suanli?” Jiang Sujin looked up, puzzled.

“I left the mountain in too much of a hurry this time and didn’t bring extra clothes. Do you have any spares I could borrow?” Li Jiangying stroked Li Yueying’s head. The crazy Snake Demon was currently lying on her lap, resting with her eyes closed. Two powerful arms, ending in sharp claws and covered in hard ink-black scales, domineeringly encircled her waist.

Moving up the arms, the scales above the elbows gradually thinned, transitioning into human skin. Further up were round, snow-white shoulders, a neck, and a beautiful face. Below her neck, past her collarbone, the skin also transitioned into scales like above her elbows, but still presented the form of a female body wrapped in ink-black scales. Only below the waist did it fully become a snake’s tail.

She hadn’t had the means before, but now, Li Jiangying wanted to put some clothes on her. The dignified Moon Shadow Devil Venerable, even if mad, Li Jiangying had no intention of deliberately humiliating her.

Jiang Sujin was very cooperative and immediately found a plain-colored top. “Will this do? But I’ve already worn it. I don’t have any brand-new clothes.”

Li Jiangying certainly didn’t mind. She took it and said, “Thank you.” She shook out the garment and nudged the Snake Demon resting on her lap. “A Yue, get up!”

“A Yue?” Li Yueying and Jiang Sujin both twitched their ears at the same time. Jiang Sujin was curious, hearing the Snake Demon’s name for the first time. Li Yueying was excited by the intimate address.

She darted upright, grabbed Li Jiangying’s hand, and was about to bring it to her lips to kiss. “Yingying, you like me, right?”

Suddenly, the Snake Demon stopped her excitement. A questioning look clearly appeared on her face. She looked at the clothes in Li Jiangying’s hand, her lips murmuring, “What is this?”

Li Jiangying draped the clothes over her and said, “This is a top Sujin lent you. Put it on quickly.”

It was Jiang Sujin’s! Belonging to that shameless woman who called Yingying her sister! In an instant, the Snake Demon’s expression changed. Ferocious and evil, as if ready to devour someone, she ripped the garment off, tore it in half with a ripping sound, and threw it into the fire. A beast-like growl rumbled in her throat. “Why wear another woman’s clothes, A Ying…”

Her eyes grew colder and colder, as if she had completely reverted to bestial nature. “Cannot… A Ying, cannot be like this…”

“Alright, alright, we won’t wear other people’s clothes.” Seeing her descending into madness again, Li Jiangying felt a pang of fear and quickly coaxed her. She reached out, cupped her face, and gently stroked it over and over. “Be good, I’m right here.”

A moment later, the Snake Demon calmed down. She was pressed back down onto Li Jiangying’s lap to rest. She seemed very tired and soon fell asleep. Only then did Li Jiangying secretly breathe a sigh of relief. She looked up to meet Jiang Sujin’s somewhat frightened and puzzled gaze and explained:

“This child suffered some trauma before. I took pity on her and took her in, also to prevent her from harming others or being hunted down herself in her confused state of mind. Perhaps no one was ever kind to her before, so she’s particularly clingy with me.”

“So that’s how it is. Sister Ying Suanli is truly kind-hearted.” Jiang Sujin was very moved. Just because she was a Devil Cultivator didn’t mean she was necessarily a bad person.

“Right, do you have any more clothes?” Li Jiangying asked Jiang Sujin for another piece. This time, she didn’t give it directly to Li Yueying to wear, but put on Jiang Sujin’s clothes herself.

As for what Li Yueying would wear? Since she didn’t want to wear another woman’s clothes, she’d have to make do with Li Jiangying’s beggar’s outfit.

While she slept hazily, Li Jiangying slowly slipped her own ragged clothes onto her. In her sleep, the Snake Demon sensed a reassuring presence, and her tightly furrowed brows unconsciously relaxed. She nuzzled against that warm hand, and in her dream returned to a peaceful past—one of their few times together, undisturbed by outsiders.

However, happiness was always fleeting. When the Snake Demon woke up, she was devastated to find that those hateful other woman’s clothes, though not on her own body, were now on her Jiangying!

Intolerable! How could Jiangying betray her? The Snake Demon plunged into madness once more, her dark red vertical pupils as if sinking into a sticky quagmire of blood, falling endlessly, unable to break free.

So she extended two sharp claws. Riiip!

After that sound, heaven and earth fell silent, leaving only the crackling of the campfire. Pop… crackle…

Immediately after—

“AAAAAAAAAHHH! I’ll kill you! Go to hell, you bastard!!!”

After a flurry of chaos, Jiang Sujin leaned back, not daring to move a muscle. She watched in terror as Sister Ying Suanli picked up a rock and knocked the Snake Demon unconscious. Suddenly, she understood: So even an old senior could get angry.

Li Jiangying turned her back to Jiang Sujin, adopting an attitude of transcendent detachment, seeing through the mortal world. As the saying goes, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. She straightened her own ragged clothes, turned back, and smiled slightly at Jiang Sujin. “Sorry about that. Lost my composure. This old body is occasionally angered by this child’s mischief too.”

The newly formed group consisted of an old senior returning to simplicity to experience life, the old senior’s personal Devil Pet Snake Demon, and a lucky rescued junior—that was how Jiang Sujin saw it.

But in Li Jiangying’s eyes, the group was this: a liar + a madwoman + a fool.

But regardless of each other’s ulterior motives, at least they got along decently on the surface. Another three days passed. The road ahead gradually became flat, then suddenly rose. Li Jiangying raised an eyebrow; at the end of her line of sight, what appeared to be buildings emerged.

“What’s ahead?”

“Ahead is Chasing Moon City.” Jiang Sujin showed an expression of adoration. “The Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable is beautiful and elegant, gentle in temperament, and generous to guests. Everyone in the Devil Domain wishes to befriend her. Senior, with your strength, the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable will certainly want to be your friend.”

“No, no, no, that won’t be necessary.” Li Jiangying said seriously, “We must keep a low profile.”

Jiang Sujin expressed understanding. “Sister Ying Suanli truly disregards fame and fortune! However, there’s a very famous place in Chasing Moon City called Bright Moon Lake. It’s the largest lake around here, with pleasant scenery. The water is sweet and delicious, and travelers often come to fetch water. Would Sister like to go see it?”

The name Bright Moon Lake sounded a bit familiar. Thinking about it, Li Jiangying remembered reading records about Bright Moon Lake in the Flame Devil’s Handbook. There were also descriptions of other places the Flame Devil had visited, though she didn’t know if they had changed by now. And, if she remembered correctly…

Li Jiangying couldn’t help but ask Jiang Sujin, “Was this place once Foothill Lake Capital?”

“Indeed. Over three thousand years ago, this place was precisely Foothill Lake Capital. Later, the City Lord changed several times. Now that the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable has ascended to the position, it was renamed Chasing Moon City.”

No wonder it felt somewhat familiar. Li Jiangying stroked her chin pretentiously.

Jiang Sujin was very curious and tilted her head to look at Li Jiangying, but she didn’t dare get too close because Li Jiangying was still being carried on the back of that alluring Snake Demon. The moment she got slightly closer, the Snake Demon would glare at her as if wanting to eat her.

“Has Sister Ying Suanli been secluded from the world for three thousand years? You must be an incredible master of arduous cultivation.”

“Something like that.” Just off by about three thousand years.

“But Sister looks very young. One can’t tell at all that you’re so old.” Jiang Sujin began to flatter her. “As the saying goes, an old steed in the stable still aspires to run a thousand li. Sister Ying Suanli has cultivated arduously for three thousand years. Emerging this time will surely shock the world.” Suddenly remembering the senior’s desire for a low profile, Jiang Sujin hastily corrected herself. “No, no, I mean you will surely achieve your wish.”

Li Jiangying couldn’t help but look back at her, a hint of pity in her eyes. “Sujin.”

“Yes!”

“If you don’t know how to speak, you can just… not speak.”

Jiang Sujin: Bewildered. Why would Sister Ying Suanli say the exact same thing as Master?

They continued advancing towards Chasing Moon City. The city’s territory was vast; bypassing it would mean wasting half a month, so it was better to just pass straight through.

Along the way, Jiang Sujin couldn’t forget her earlier embarrassment. Fearing she might say something wrong and anger Sister Ying Suanli, she racked her brains trying to make amends.

“Sister Ying Suanli, I’m half a Devil Medical Cultivator, but I’m too stupid. Master only taught me to identify herbs, gather and process them, and refuses to teach me more. What does Sister Ying Suanli cultivate?”