Chapter 39 Part 2

Gu Qinglin sat collapsed on the ground, covering her face and coughing violently. Her hands, body, and head were covered in black ash. At some point, Jiang Sujin had emerged, carrying a bucket of water as she rushed over. “Masterrrrrr…”

Splash! The water was dumped unceremoniously over Gu Qinglin’s head.

Her hands, pressed against the ground, slowly curled into claws. Gu Qinglin gritted her teeth. “Jiang… Su… Jin!”

Jiang Sujin threw herself in front of her master, cupping Gu Qinglin’s face and looking left and right. “Master, are you alright?!”

“Get lost!” Gu Qinglin shot to her feet, grabbed Jiang Sujin by the collar, and with a surge of strength threw her upwards. Jiang Sujin flew screaming into the distance.

At this moment, Li Jiangying felt a subtle sense of sympathy for Gu Qinglin. She felt that… they were quite similar in certain aspects, weren’t they?

Gu Qinglin coughed twice, wiped her face, and her eyes lit up when she saw Li Yueying. She immediately strode over and whipped out a small knife. “Moon Shadow Devil Venerable, just in time. Give me a bit more of your blood.”

Li Jiangying protectively hugged Li Yueying. “Wait, you can’t just do that recklessly. Our A’Yue is still injured.”

“I know my limits,” Gu Qinglin said impatiently. “Her blood is genuinely useful, no wonder with the Azure Dragon Bloodline. The Divine Beast Clans are extinct now. Finding someone with such high purity is truly rare.”

“Then what about mine?” Li Jiangying was a little curious.

Gu Qinglin looked at her silently. “Yours is also decent, but there’s a bit too little. I haven’t been willing to use it for medicine refinement yet.”

Li Jiangying sucked in a breath of cold air. “Exactly how much of A’Yue’s blood have you drawn?!”

“Her skin is thick and her flesh tough. What’s a little bloodletting!” Gu Qinglin was very displeased.

Li Jiangying had no choice but to pull Li Yueying off her and push her forward, conveniently handing a medicine bottle to Gu Qinglin. She said, “These are two Yin Wood Water Essence Pills. Doctor Gu, you promised me you would heal A’Yue.”

Gu Qinglin took them, a flicker of astonishment crossing her face. “I didn’t expect you to actually succeed.” The moment she learned of Li Jiangying’s deal with the Tao Clan, Gu Qinglin had guessed how Li Jiangying would treat the other party. After all, she was the doctor who understood Li Jiangying’s condition.

But knowing was one thing; Gu Qinglin hadn’t anticipated it going so smoothly. Right then, she pressed on Li Jiangying’s acupoints to examine her once more. After checking, she muttered quietly, “What a rare demon core.”

It had even completely absorbed the Fire Affliction from Flame Mountain. Moreover, Li Jiangying’s body and meridians appeared completely unaffected by the Fire Affliction, as if still intact.

Could this be the miraculous property of a Pure Fire Body?

Gu Qinglin couldn’t figure it out either. She turned around, preparing to take Li Yueying to the Medical Hall. “Based on my experience, one more Yin Wood Water Essence Pill would be ideal. But now that we have two, we can begin treatment. As for the time… do not disturb us before I let her out.”

“Alright.”

Li Jiangying agreed very readily. Li Yueying, however, sensitively detected something. She lifted her tail and coiled it around Li Jiangying’s waist. “Yingying stay with me!”

Li Jiangying patted her tail, raising an eyebrow fiercely. “Not obeying again?”

Li Yueying mumbled, “No… I’m just afraid Yingying will be lonely.”

Li Jiangying gave a dry laugh. “How could I be? With the male fox spirit and the bad woman for company, and Cui Yu around too, I definitely won’t be lonely. Oh, right, and Sister Sujin as well.”

Li Yueying shrieked, “No!!!” Tears welling in her eyes, she wanted to throw herself back, vowing to death not to yield her Yingying to the fox spirits.

Li Jiangying reached out and pressed against her forehead. Her expression straightened into a stern scolding. “Behave!”

Li Yueying was startled by her. A breath got stuck in her chest and couldn’t come out smoothly. “Urp…”

She was foolishly silly, sometimes driving people half to death with anger, yet other times inspiring involuntary affection. Li Jiangying stroked her hair, unable to help but smile. “Don’t you always say you want to protect me? Soon you’ll be able to defeat everyone. Then no one will be able to snatch me away from you. What, don’t you want that?”

The more she spoke, the brighter Li Yueying’s eyes became. Finally, the snake demon nodded frantically. Mid-nod, she suddenly felt something was wrong and shook her head just as frantically. After shaking, she still felt it wasn’t right and miserably held her head, biting her finger. “Mmm… Yingying is mine, no one can steal her away!”

“In that case, obediently listen to Doctor Gu and let her help heal your injuries.”

Li Jiangying’s attitude was firm, so Li Yueying could only reluctantly let go of her. She was about to follow the impatient Gu Qinglin away, but before leaving, she kept brushing the tip of her tail against Li Jiangying’s calf.

“I’ll be very good.” Li Yueying looked at her pleadingly. “Yingying must wait for me, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll wait for you.” Li Jiangying promised her.

“Really?”

“Really, I’m not lying to you.” Li Jiangying swore.

Li Yueying sniffled, bravely holding back her tears. She turned and walked slowly toward the inside of the Medical Hall, turning back three times with every step. “When I’m not here, Yingying must not play with the fox spirit.”

“Fine, fine, fine.”

“And you can’t play with the bad woman either.”

“Got it.”

“Not the dumb woman either!”

“??? Who is that even?!”

Li Yueying cried out loudly, “Yingying must think of me and wait for me!”

Li Jiangying couldn’t take it anymore. She bent down, picked up a stone, and hurled it over. “Get lost already!”

Huh? Why did that sound somewhat familiar?

After Li Yueying was taken into the Medical Hall, she never came out again. It seemed this treatment’s effects would definitely be much stronger than before. She wondered what Li Yueying would be like when she came out.

Li Jiangying lowered her eyes, somewhat distracted.

“What’s wrong with you?” Li Xiangshui looked coldly at the woman sitting cross-legged on her bed, meditating. Normally at this hour, Li Jiangying should be flushed all over. But now she was actually daydreaming. Truly a rare sight.

“Nothing.”

Li Xiangshui forced the corners of her mouth to curve into a smile. “I said, when exactly are you moving out of my room?”

Ever since Li Yueying and Gu Qinglin had been locked together for healing treatment and hadn’t come out, Li Jiangying had forcibly moved into Li Xiangshui’s room under the pretext of supervising her cultivation.

But with a contract in place, where was the need for her to come supervise in person? Now, even she herself was distracted and not cultivating.

Li Xiangshui suddenly thought of something and warily raised her hands, slowly crossing them over her chest. “I say, you wouldn’t be so desperate as to go that far, would you?!”

Li Jiangying was baffled. “Huh?”

Li Xiangshui retreated a step, looking at her as if she were a pervert. “Yueying has only been away from you for how long? I’m telling you, don’t even think about making a move on me!”

Li Jiangying silently stood up and walked toward Li Xiangshui. A flicker of panic crossed Li Xiangshui’s face as she hastily retreated several steps. It wasn’t that she, a coward, was afraid of this weakling. It was essentially that with the contract upon her, she would be utterly powerless to resist if this woman wanted to do something to her.

Li Jiangying walked up to her, raised her hand, and patted Li Xiangshui’s head. Sadly, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Li Xiangshui was stunned. The disgust, hostility, and panic on her face actually dissipated slightly. “What… what are you saying that for? Don’t think saying that will make me forgive you.”

She would never, in her entire life, forgive this woman who had turned her life upside down!

Li Jiangying looked at her with pity and said, “When I absorbed your cultivation back then, I must have taken your brains along with it. I’m truly so sorry.”

Li Xiangshui: “I’ll kill you!”

Li Jiangying smiled, walked out the door, and waved her hand behind her, telling Li Xiangshui not to see her off.

Late at night, she wandered alone to ease her mind. The air was full of refreshingly fragrant scents of grass and trees. A soft, whimpering sound of wind arose. Shi Yanran, hiding in the shadows, quietly appeared.

Jiangying’s ethereal breath-like voice drew Li Jiangying. If she hadn’t called out on her own, Li Jiangying wouldn’t have been able to find her at all.

“Good evening. How goes the investigation?” Li Jiangying walked to her side and found a clean stone step to sit on.

“I’m sorry.” The white-boned skull gently swayed. She said, “I’ve been away too long. The outside world is very unfamiliar. I haven’t been able to find a direction for the investigation yet.”

“No matter, take your time.” Li Jiangying consoled her.

“Jiangying, are you unhappy?” The neck bones twisted, the two pitch-black eye sockets burning with soul fire turned toward Li Jiangying. The faint, ghostly wind arose. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” No matter who it was, facing the matter of possibly becoming their own ancestor’s substitute wouldn’t make anyone happy.

Li Jiangying didn’t want to discuss whether she was happy or not. She said, “You should know about me treating the Tao Clan elder’s injuries, right?”

Shi Yanran nodded. Click-clack. Li Jiangying couldn’t help but rub her ears. Although she had met her many times, sure enough, the sounds and appearance still had quite an impact on an ordinary person like herself.

Li Jiangying continued, “The process went very smoothly. I can probably completely purge the Fire Affliction within him by tomorrow. Today, Elder Tao invited me to become a Guest Elder of the Tao Clan, saying they are willing to support me with the entire clan’s resources.”

She smiled. “It’s all thanks to the demon core inside me. Before, with its existence, I couldn’t cultivate. And now, it’s become my basis to turn my life around.”

Shi Yanran asked, “Did you accept?”

“Not yet.”

“Do you want to go?”

“I do.” Going to the Tao Clan meant no more wandering outside. They had plenty of money; she could live a good life of wealth and glory. Even if her identity as a Descendant of the Divine Phoenix was exposed, they wouldn’t easily make a move against her considering her ability to purge Fire Affliction. And besides, there was still Shi Yanran, wasn’t there?

Shi Yanran would also protect her. With the two combined, if she went to the Tao Clan, Li Jiangying could completely turn her fortunes around. She wouldn’t have to fear being kidnapped and eaten by some random person, nor fear the little madwoman waking up and killing her, the imposter.

But…

“Why not go, then?” Shi Yanran quietly looked at her and asked.

Why…

Tao Sanyu had also asked this question. At that time, Li Jiangying’s answer to him was: “I want to give one person one last chance. If she can seize it, I won’t leave. If she can’t, then I will abandon her and run toward a bright future.”

At this moment, Li Jiangying shrugged. “It’s not important. I still need to consider it further.”

“Alright.” Shi Yanran had no objection. “Jiangying, I will protect you.”

One after another they all said this, yet one was a madwoman who would want to kill her upon waking, and the other was a skeleton who vanished during the day. Li Jiangying was very helpless. “I appreciate your kindness.”

Perhaps discerning the hidden meaning in Li Jiangying’s words, Shi Yanran added, “I have something to give you. It’s at the Moon Shadow Devil Palace.”