Chapter 37 Part 3

Li Yueying frowned. “This Venerable One is the one who is clear-headed right now.”

Li Jiangying nearly burst a blood vessel in anger. “Bullshit! Take a good look around! Where is this?! Who the hell climbed into your bed?!”

Li Yueying raised her head and looked left and right. A dumbfounded expression flickered across her icy face. She couldn’t help but release Li Jiangying. Her expression rapidly morphed into one of agony. She raised her hands, clutching her head, and began to struggle.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Jiangying crawled out from under her and ran outside without looking back.

“Li Jiangying! You dare run!” The person stumbled off the bed and barked fiercely. “Get back here right now!”

Li Jiangying almost exploded with rage. She turned back, raised a middle finger at her. “Only a fool wouldn’t run!”

Not only did she run, but she also pulled the door shut behind her and locked it. From inside the room came a series of crashes and bangs, followed by the dull thud of something heavy hitting the floor and soft, pained groans. Li Jiangying sneered from behind the door.

“If you’ve got the guts, hold out until you can catch me. Li Yueying, tonight you stay inside and think about what you’ve done! If you dare come out, I’ll never pet you again!” The last sentence was directed at the little idiot. After saying that, she felt like something was slightly off, so she added two more words: “…your head.”

But the current Li Yueying was definitely not the silly one. Hearing these words, she cried out in furious indignation, “Li Yueying! How dare you?!”

Before any more nonsense could be said, Li Jiangying turned and ducked straight into Li Xiangshui’s room.

Li Xiangshui was lying in bed pondering how to kill Li Jiangying without implicating herself, ideally managing to reverse this damned master-slave Contract. Unfortunately, much thought yielded no solution. Just as she was getting a headache, the woman she least wanted to see flipped the blanket off her head and forcibly crawled into her bed.

“What are you doing?” Li Xiangshui stared at her in alarm.

“I’m sleeping with you tonight.” Li Jiangying sat cross-legged, baring her teeth in a smile. “And keeping an eye on your cultivation.”

Li Xiangshui: Must kill her, absolutely must kill her!!!

“By the way, how’s the wound on your back?” Ever since Li Xiangshui had gotten a bit better, she refused to let anyone else help apply medicine. Each time, she secretly hid in a little corner to do it herself.

Li Jiangying hadn’t forced the issue. But a wound in that position… she couldn’t see its recovery progress herself. As her master, one must have a sense of responsibility, so she needed to check on it.

Li Jiangying tugged at the corner of Li Xiangshui’s clothes. “I mean, why do you even wear these clothes to sleep? All wrapped up in that black robe like a thief.”

Li Xiangshui curled her lip in a cold sneer. “None of your business.”

Li Jiangying didn’t waste words. She directly pulled her up and forcibly tried to strip off her black robe. Li Xiangshui, both ashamed and angry, clutched her chest and shrieked, “Shameless! Li Jiangying, don’t you dare violate this Venerable One!”

Li Jiangying: “??? Wait, who was it that first suggested I marry you?”

Li Xiangshui: “You really are a lecher! Yueying will definitely abandon you!”

Li Jiangying: “I’ll take that as a blessing.”

Li Xiangshui was utterly grief-stricken and indignant. I knew it. With this Venerable One’s beauty, this cunning and shameless woman would never easily let me go. Tears welled in her eyes as she was forcibly stripped of her black robe. “My heart will forever belong only to Yueying!”

Li Jiangying: Pfft.

“What are you laughing at??”

“Nothing. I just thought of something amusing.”

“What?” Li Xiangshui asked suspiciously.

“I was thinking… your Yueying probably hasn’t remembered your name yet.”

Li Xiangshui: “I’ll kill you!!!”

What was revealed after the black robe was stripped off was a set of tattered clothes. Through the large hole in the back of her garment, Li Jiangying could see that the wounds on her back were already very faint.

But…

“Why are you still wearing these?” Li Jiangying asked, bewildered. “Do you love this outfit that much?”

Li Xiangshui: Kill her kill her kill her…

Li Jiangying rubbed her chin. “Well, whatever. Though you’re fond of them, to avoid others saying I mistreat you, you’ll obediently change into new clothes for me.”

Before Li Xiangshui could say anything, Li Jiangying turned, hopped off the bed, and went out to ask Jiang Sujin for some clothes. Jiang Sujin lived in another courtyard not far away. Her courtyard was vast, filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs she was tending meticulously.

After getting the clothes, Li Jiangying picked out a set and tossed it onto Li Xiangshui’s head. She herself walked outside and tiptoed cautiously over to the front of the original room.

She listened carefully. Inside, it was very quiet now, broken only occasionally by a soft rustling sound, like something long and wide sweeping across the floor.

Li Jiangying knew the silly Li Yueying had returned. Smiling with satisfaction, she heard Li Yueying’s excited voice from inside. Swish, the person inside plastered herself against the door, both claws raised high. She wanted desperately to break down the door but didn’t dare. “Uuuh, Yingying! Wanna be with Yingying!”

Li Jiangying straightened up and gave a cold snort. “Behave yourself.”

“Yingying…” Through the door panel, Li Yueying’s voice was drawn out and full of grievance. “Miss you.”

“Missing me already, so soon?” Li Jiangying scolded. “Missing me is useless. Just stay inside obediently and reflect.”

“When will Yingying come back then?” Li Yueying asked quietly.

“When my anger subsides,” Li Jiangying said coldly. “Alright, I’m leaving.”

After walking a few steps, she looked back. The silhouette pressed against the door hadn’t moved an inch, as if even through the door, it greedily sought to imprint everything about her into its mind.

Steeling her heart, Li Jiangying didn’t look back again and re-entered Li Xiangshui’s room.

Li Xiangshui had already changed her clothes. Her expression was impassive, as if she had accepted her fate. She sat cross-legged on the bed cultivating.

Li Jiangying sat down beside her, adopting the Five Hearts Facing the Sky posture. She took a deep breath and said, “I plan to attempt body tempering today. I don’t want to delay any longer.”

“Starting so soon?” An inner wave of emotion stirred in Li Xiangshui, but her face remained cold, as if she wasn’t the least bit interested.

Li Jiangying continued, “Although you don’t cultivate this path, you’ve lived so long after all. Your breadth of experience and insight is substantial. Cultivating beside you puts me more at ease.”

Li Xiangshui acted as if she hadn’t heard, still indifferent. “You have good judgment.”

Li Jiangying said nothing more. She closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and began cultivating.

She recalled the countless cultivation manuals she had read, picking out the sections related to body tempering. She carefully pondered whether her meridians were different now from the start. Then, she attempted to send Fire Element Devil Qi into her flesh and bones…

So painful… so painful… so painful… What was the point of cultivation if it was this agonizing? She’d have to suffer for however long she lived? She didn’t want to cultivate anymore! With a ragged gasp, Li Xiangshui stopped cultivating. Sensing her internal Fire Element Devil Qi and the small amount of other Devil Qi being drawn away bit by bit, she slowly opened her eyes.

Upon opening her eyes, she jumped in fright. Li Jiangying’s entire body was as red as a cooked shrimp, steam radiating off her, her brows tightly knitted in pain.

“Ha, Li Jiangying, don’t mess around recklessly. It’s fine if you die, just don’t implicate me!” Li Xiangshui muttered under her breath, unable to describe exactly what she was feeling.

But Li Jiangying gave her no response.

Li Xiangshui pressed her lips together, watching coldly. Sensing via the Contract bond that the situation wasn’t extremely dire, she cursed, “Asking for trouble!”

Then she closed her eyes and resumed cultivating. She absolutely refused to be outdone by her. If others learned that the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable, who had lived for three millennia, had less perseverance than a mere mortal, it would be utterly humiliating!

Li Jiangying felt intense heat and pain. But suddenly, a coolness came over her. Her first reaction was that Li Xiangshui was up to something. Was she starting to cultivate that water element method again?

That wouldn’t do. She was currently pressing Fire Element Devil Qi into her physical shell and was already seeing some gradual results. Adding Water Element Devil Qi would scramble everything.

Li Jiangying opened her eyes. Just as she was about to call out to Li Xiangshui, she saw a large skull face in front of her.

This time, Li Jiangying was much calmer. She quickly scanned her surroundings and found she was no longer inside the room. The area was desolate and barren, its specific location unknown.

“Why have you abducted me? If there’s nothing urgent, I’ll be returning now.” Li Jiangying stood up. Though appearing composed, she had secretly gripped the hilt of her short sword.

Although she had seen this skeleton lady before in the Moon Shadow Devil Palace, and she knew Yueying, judging by Yueying’s attitude, it was hard to say if she was friend or foe.

The night wind stirred, ruffling the Tomb Guardian’s clothes. She suddenly reached out and grasped Li Jiangying’s wrist, calling out with the ethereal sound of the wind: “Jiangying, I’ve finally waited for you.”

Startled, Li Jiangying instinctively grabbed the hand-bone back. She wanted to intimidate her with her Star Absorption Great Art but was frustrated to discover she had no idea how to absorb something from a skeleton.

Damn! The Star Absorption Great Art met its nemesis!

Li Jiangying had no choice but to awkwardly shake her wrist. “Hello, hello. Nice to meet you. But I really don’t remember anything. May I ask how I should address you?”

“Shi Yanran.” The skeleton let her hold her wrist bone and spoke softly. “It’s okay if you can’t remember… Jiangying, it’s enough that I remember you.”