Chapter 32 Part 2

“Yingying needs good rest. I need to train and protect Yingying.” Li Yueying flicked her tongue, looking utterly earnest. She reversed direction, preparing to slither back to the training room. As she passed by Jiang Sujin, who was collapsed and fast asleep over the table, her tail tip flicked out and retracted with lightning speed.

Thump! In her sleep, Jiang Sujin, dazed and confused, fell to the floor. It was only after she woke with a start that she realized… her chair had somehow moved behind her rear end?!

Was she really such a restless sleeper? Puzzled, Jiang Sujin scratched her head. Turning, she saw Li Jiangying lying on the bed, fast asleep and fragrant. So she simply went and lay down on the soft couch to sleep too.

Who cares! Sleep first, figure it out later!

Finally, that day arrived. Li Yueying happily slithered up to Li Jiangying and extended her claw right in front of her. “Yingying, Yingying! Look quick!”

“Look at what?” Li Jiangying was still confused when she saw Li Yueying grit her teeth, her little face flushing red as she exerted force. “Hnnngh…”

Li Jiangying: “People are going to misunderstand this so easily, you know!”

Pop!

The longest of the five sharp claws suddenly transformed. It had actually… turned into a human middle finger!

Li Yueying’s eyes curved in a smile. “Yingying, am I awesome?”

Li Jiangying: “Why… can’t you transform the other four at the same time?”

Li Yueying: “Hehe!”

“Hehe, my foot!” Li Jiangying rapped her on the forehead with a knuckle. After the knock, she lightly and casually blew on her finger, as if blowing smoke from a gun barrel.

She observed that the fine scales at Li Yueying’s elbows and collarbones had receded slightly downward. But to recover even more… relying solely on Li Yueying’s painstakingly slow self-healing was simply too slow. They were out of time.

The feeling of unease in her heart had almost climbed to its peak. Intuition was screaming at Li Jiangying to run, now. Thus, she made her decision: tonight, they would leave through the water!

At dusk, Li Jiangying stood at the window facing the direction of Jiang Sujin’s small courtyard. Once Jiang Sujin spotted her, Li Jiangying silently made an “OK” gesture from afar. The meaning: Watch for the right moment; be ready to run at any time.

Jiang Sujin nodded firmly and returned the same gesture.

After that, the two ceased communication, careful not to alert any hidden observers. When night had fully fallen, around the early morning hours, Li Jiangying nudged Li Yueying and told her to bite her middle finger and drip a bit of blood onto the talisman.

Li Yueying looked utterly wronged. “Yingying… that’s not what fingers are for.”

Li Jiangying gave her a sidelong glare. “What are they for, then?”

“They’re for—”

“Alright, alright! Save the nonsense and hurry up!”

Pitifully, Li Yueying bit into the human middle finger she had so laboriously managed to transform. She smeared the blood onto the talisman. Li Jiangying took a lit candle, ignited the delivery Flight Talisman, took aim at the location of the Beast Garden, and hurled it with all her might.

This Flight Talisman was one Jiang Sujin had been carrying with her. It only needed to be ignited to activate. Without Devil Qi to control its direction, it would simply fly in a straight line until it hit something or the Devil Qi within it was exhausted.

Closer. Almost there. Li Jiangying watched as the talisman slammed into the invisible barrier above the Beast Garden. Once the Flight Talisman burned out, the flame traveled down its connecting line to the Array-breaking Talisman. A moment later, a violent blast of fire and light erupted with a deafening boom. The Beast Garden descended into chaos.

Li Jiangying grabbed Li Yueying’s arm. “Move!”

Under cover of darkness, the two quietly descended the tower and slipped into the water. Hearing the distant roars of Demonic Beasts and the panicked shouts of humans, Li Jiangying pressed a hand over her heart, took a deep breath, and pulled Li Yueying underwater, swimming straight for the cave entrance she’d discovered earlier.

The path was smooth and unimpeded. They entered the Secret Passage and swam forward. The water grew shallower and shallower. As soon as her head broke the surface, Li Jiangying took several ragged, gasping breaths. Thank goodness my lung capacity is decent… otherwise, I would have truly suffocated!

The Secret Passage was profoundly silent, making the sound of Li Jiangying’s breathing stand out with stark clarity.

“Yingying.” Li Yueying cupped her face, looking at her with worry.

Li Jiangying soothed her in a low voice. “I’m fine. Let’s keep moving.”

The terrain of the Secret Passage was complex, riddled with branching forks. The Flame Devil hadn’t drawn a detailed map of this place. He had simply stated: Continue heading northeast. Gradually, you will see a wide, circular cavern up ahead (later converted by me into the altar). Pass through it and continue forward. When you see faint, shimmering light, you will have reached the exit.

Following his instructions, Li Jiangying advanced in the northeast direction. Encountering forks was no problem, because the place was like a labyrinth. As long as the general direction was correct, even if they took a wrong turn occasionally and had to double back, they would find their way out eventually.

The water grew shallower still, and finally, dry land appeared. Li Jiangying bit her lower lip and pulled Li Yueying forward. As they walked, Li Yueying suddenly said, “Yingying… there’s a strange sound.”

“What sound?” Li Jiangying asked, alarmed.

Li Yueying thought for a moment, then imitated: “Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh… boom-boom-boom… tap-tap-tap…”

Could she be hearing the water sounds from outside? Li Jiangying nodded and pulled her forward, continuing onward. There was no other choice. A bizarre, inexplicable unease coiled around her heart, urging her to hurry. Faster, faster, faster.

Someone like Zhu Yue… she might have connected the trouble in the Beast Garden to Li Jiangying the moment it started. They absolutely could not let her catch up!

They hurried forward, weaving through the natural limestone tunnels of the Secret Passage. Suddenly, a faint, shimmering glow appeared ahead. At the same time, Li Jiangying also heard the exact sounds Li Yueying had described.

Had they already reached the exit?! Wildly elated, Li Jiangying and Li Yueying moved forward and turned the corner.

The space ahead suddenly opened up. A vast, empty cavern, lit by a soft, phosphorescent glow, spread out before them. In the center of the cavern, the ground had been reshaped into a round, altar-like structure. An enormous turtle shell rested upon it. Five thick, black iron chains extended from five holes in the shell, disappearing deep into the stone walls. Around the altar, five streams of water jetted upward from below, crashing together to produce the “swooshing” sound they’d heard.

So this is the place the Flame Devil transformed into an altar to trap the turtle demon.

Instinctively holding her breath, Li Jiangying scanned the perimeter. No matter which tunnel I take to continue forward, I have to cross into this clearing.

Clutching Li Yueying close, Li Jiangying hugged the stone wall and cautiously entered the cave.

But she had barely taken a few steps when a figure gracefully emerged from behind the enormous turtle shell. Li Jiangying and the figure faced each other. Simultaneously, their expressions became masks of pure shock.

“Li Yueying?!” The person was actually Zhu Yue! She called out in surprise. She paused, then suddenly burst into exaggerated laughter. “Ahaha! Wonderful! Truly wonderful! This Venerable One was just planning to tie you two up, and here you are, A-Yue and Little Ying Suanli, delivering yourselves right to my doorstep!”

Li Jiangying: Just as I thought. No wonder I felt so uneasy! So today was simply not a good day to escape…

“Yingying?” Li Yueying looked between Zhu Yue and Li Jiangying, utterly confused. She had a distinct feeling they had reached some strange, silent understanding behind her back.

“Go!” Li Jiangying had no time for explanations. She grabbed Li Yueying and dashed for one of the tunnels. But Zhu Yue was faster. The Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable slapped her hand against the turtle shell. A deep, resonating hum filled the cavern. Instantly, a pale blue barrier flickered into existence across the surrounding stone walls, completely sealing Li Jiangying, Li Yueying, and the altar clearing within it.

Caught off guard, Li Jiangying crashed into the springy blue film. It felt cold, soft, yet resiliently elastic. She bounced backward. Li Yueying caught her in her arms just in time.

The snake demon held the human tightly, baring her fangs at Zhu Yue, who stood atop the altar, and hissed a threat.

Zhu Yue looked down upon them from her high position. Her voice was cold and mocking. “You truly startled This Venerable One. Li Jiangying… you must have seen that copy of the Flame Devil’s Handbook, yes? Did you never once stop to wonder… who placed that book in the Scripture Pavilion?”

“You?!” Li Jiangying asked, stunned.

“Indeed. This Venerable One.” She looked toward Li Yueying with an expression approaching nostalgia, only to be met with the snake demon’s hostile glare. “I once wished to stand by your side and rebuild the Moon Shadow Devil Palace to its former glory. Sadly… you rejected my goodwill.”

Li Yueying: “Hssss! Bad woman! Move!” The snake demon lashed out with her tail furiously, striking the pale blue barrier with all her might. Yet the barrier, soft and elastic, dispersed the force of the blow. It could not be shattered so easily.

Seeing this, Zhu Yue laughed arrogantly. “Li Yueying… do you think I am still that weak little girl who could only seek protection from a madwoman? Now, I am your equal! I am Zhu Yue, the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable of Chasing Moon City! Thousands bow before me! Countless souls tremble in fear! I dared to tolerate you, to endure you, for the sake of past kindness… but now… I have finally come to my senses.”

The woman’s voice abruptly turned sinister. The look she fixed on Li Yueying and Li Jiangying was brimming with absolute, ruthless determination. Her words, slow and deliberate, slithered out. “I have realized… I am no longer the me of the past. Yet you, your sickness has only deepened. Li Yueying…”

Zhu Yue trembled slightly, her voice thick with a sickly longing and self-validation. “I no longer wish to endure this. Since you refuse to accept my goodwill and stand by my side… then become a plaything in the palm of my hand!”

The moment her words fell, dark purple Devil Marks erupted from beneath her feet. They spread at an alarming speed across the ground, up the stone walls, across the ceiling. The patterns connected through the iron chains to the turtle shell, swiftly covering the entire space. Suddenly, five-colored light burst from the five corners of the chamber: azure in the east, white in the west, crimson in the south, black in the north, yellow in the center. The lights rose into the air, intertwining into a form of eerie harmony.

The reverse-flowing water streams abruptly stopped. Then, they reversed direction, rushing into the turtle shell. The Fine Iron Chains shot out with the speed of thunder, wrapping themselves around Li Yueying’s neck, wrists, tail, and waist before she could even react.

Li Yueying let out a pained grunt. The dark purple Devil Marks traveled along the chains and spread onto her body. In an instant, it felt as if thousands of needles were piercing her. Li Yueying’s body went rigid, her neck arching back, and she let out a horrible scream.

“A-Yue!” Terrified, Li Jiangying reached out to grab her. But the chains swept Li Yueying into the air, carrying her over to the altar. The turtle shell rumbled, flipping over like a giant bowl and trapping Li Yueying inside. The five streams of water rotated along the rim of the overturned shell, forming a prison wall of swirling water.

It was only at this moment that Li Jiangying realized… beneath the turtle shell, the turtle demon’s physical body was long gone. All that remained… was a pile of white bones.