Chapter 41 Part 2

She had only just received Li Jiangying’s order and came rushing with the rock to save her. Thus, she’d missed the scene of Li Jiangying’s butt getting beaten. Otherwise, she could have used that to mock her for the rest of her life.

Naturally, Li Jiangying wouldn’t reveal her moment of disgrace. She said flatly, “What, you want to experience it too?”

Li Xiangshui shut her mouth.

However, before they could even run out of the small courtyard, the madwoman recovered. It seemed that since her injuries had greatly improved, her skull had also gotten harder.

She kicked the door open and rushed at Li Jiangying like a tornado. Li Jiangying was startled badly. Fortunately, someone arrived at the critical moment—Skeleton Sister appeared from the shadows and placed herself between them.

Li Yueying was far less polite toward Shi Yanran. She summoned her blade with a backhanded grasp and slashed down wildly. “Shi Yanran! This Venerable One warned you not to appear again!”

That slash shattered heaven and earth, carrying undisguised killing intent. It carved a deep gash into the ground, but it failed to cleave Shi Yanran, because a faint crimson light had risen around the skeleton’s body, guarding her like a pillar of light.

Though the light pillar protected her, it also frightened Shi Yanran. She instinctively lowered her head, looking at her own toes, and urgently vibrated the wind. “Yueying… calm down… she’s not…”

“She is.” Seeing she couldn’t cut the skeleton frame with one strike, Li Yueying calmed down slightly. Leaning on her blade, she stated decisively.

“But she’s an ordinary person,” Shi Yanran said, bewildered.

Li Yueying stared fixedly at Li Jiangying, who was hiding behind the skeleton. It seemed as if the moment she dared move, she would charge over and hack her to death.

Staring at her like that, Li Yueying said, “This Venerable One naturally confirmed it before concluding.”

“It… it’s actually true…” Shi Yanran stirred, wanting to turn her head and take a careful look at Li Jiangying.

Li Jiangying muttered under her breath, “Who the hell knows if it’s true.”

“Li Jiangying,” Li Yueying’s voice was eerily calm. “Come here. I’ll let you die a quicker, less painful death.”

Li Jiangying: “Only a fool would come over!”

Hearing this, Shi Yanran urgently vibrated the wind. In her haste, the wind sound was distorted, exceptionally eerie. “Yueying, please don’t be like this…”

“Shut up!” Faced with Shi Yanran, the skeleton frame, Li Yueying’s loathing was even more undisguised. She said coldly, “Don’t think that just because you rely on the treasure on your body, I can’t kill you, you can act recklessly before This Venerable One! And don’t think that just because This Venerable One wants to kill Li Jiangying, I’ll overlook everything you ever did!”

Helplessly, Shi Yanran emitted a few click-clack sounds. Facing Li Yueying, she was ashamed and powerless.

Li Yueying let out a light laugh, even tinged with self-mockery. “Truly, This Venerable One must view you with new eyes. One, two, all traitors. But…” She continued darkly, “This Venerable One never expected… You betrayed Li Jiangying back then, yet now you want to protect her. Amusing… In the end, it’s only This Venerable One who was played for a fool by all of you!”

Li Jiangying: “Eh?”

Shi Yanran trembled, shaking her head slightly, unsure how to refute with this clumsy wind sound.

Finally, she pleaded, “But… even if she is Jiangying… she doesn’t remember anymore. She knows nothing.”

“She’s lying.”

Li Jiangying couldn’t hold back anymore. Leaning sideways from behind Skeleton Sister, she poked her head out and shouted in her own defense, “I’m not! I really remember nothing!”

“Liar.” Li Yueying looked at her hatefully.

Li Jiangying was also furious. “You’re the liar! You clearly remember everything from when you were sick! You know I’m innocent, you know I remember nothing! You’re just using this as an excuse to take your anger out on me! Despicable!”

Li Yueying: “I am not.”

“You are so!”

Her brows furrowed deeply. Li Yueying gripped the blade handle and slammed it down further, the edge sinking deep into the soil. “This Venerable One does NOT!”

Seeing she had at least somewhat regained her sanity, on an impulse, Li Jiangying stepped out from behind Shi Yanran.

Ah, this damn competitive spirit.

Spreading her arms wide in a gesture of great righteousness, she stomped right up to Li Yueying. Tilting her neck up and closing her eyes, she shouted, “Fine! Since you insist, come and kill me then! Come on, come on! Let me die knowing nothing! Anyway, I’m alone and single with no ties, dying ignorant is pretty blissful. Come on, kill me!”

Li Xiangshui: “…When you’re courting death, could you think of me for a moment?”

Desperately, she reached out a hand, trying to beg for mercy for that scoundrel master. “Yueying… a vile, shameless villain like her isn’t worth dirtying your hands…”

But Li Yueying didn’t pay her any attention whatsoever. She silently gripped her blade tighter, looking deeply at Li Jiangying, as if trying to brand her image into the depths of her heart, never to be forgotten.

Li Jiangying kept her eyes shut. After the impulse passed, feeling the silence in the air… she actually regretted it a bit, felt a bit cowardly. Cough… Was it too late to back out now?

Shing—

A sharp sound of a blade scraping rang out.

Li Jiangying shuddered violently, sure it was Li Yueying drawing her blade, ready to slice her. But death didn’t come. Instead, she heard Li Yueying’s deep, venomous words:

“You’re right. You’ve reminded This Venerable One.”

Li Jiangying couldn’t help but open her eyes and saw that under the pale yellow moonlight, the great blade had vanished. Li Yueying suddenly reached out. Conditioned, Li Jiangying covered her neck, but the hand didn’t grab her throat. It pinched her face.

The pretty girl’s mouth was forced into a pout, her cheek meat squeezed into a comical shape. Li Yueying looked right at Li Jiangying and said, “Dying in ignorance would be too cheap for you. This Venerable One will definitely make you recover your memories, and then… let you slowly die amidst terror!”

That last sentence was ground out through clenched teeth, her determination fully evident.

Li Jiangying shuddered all over and suddenly felt the road ahead was utterly bleak.

After finishing her vicious threat, the madwoman flung Li Jiangying’s face away. She turned to leave, took one step, then glanced back sideways with a cold laugh. “Go ahead and keep hiding behind her back. See when she betrays you again. And one more thing—if you dare try to run, This Venerable One will hunt you to the ends of the world and scatter your ashes!”

With that, she strode away, free and unrestrained, as if trying to wash away the humiliation of fleeing tearfully before. This time, her back was held unusually straight as she departed.

Once the madwoman had completely disappeared from sight, Li Jiangying finally let out a long, deep breath. Her legs gave out, and she plopped down onto the ground.

Then—

“OWWW!” Li Jiangying leaped up, clutching her butt.

“You… what happened?” Shi Yanran was startled and asked worriedly.

Li Jiangying held back her tears and smiled bravely. “Nothing, really. Damn you, Li Yueying… just you wait!”

She turned to go back inside and rest. Shi Yanran hesitantly called out, “Jiangying, I…”

Li Jiangying waved dismissively without looking back. “I know nothing. Good night.”

“Good night…”

The soul-shaking night passed. The next day, Li Jiangying put her mask back on as if everything was normal.

But it wasn’t. Her butt hurt.

After slinking back into the house last night, she secretly checked in the mirror. It was seriously injured! She couldn’t sleep well all night. Early the next morning, she went to Jiang Sujin and asked for some injury ointment for her neck… cough… and also secretly applied a bit elsewhere.

Jiang Sujin was shocked by the injuries on her neck. She’d also heard about Li Yueying turning hostile. Li Jiangying comforted her slightly but was too embarrassed to tell her the other place was hurt even worse.

After leaving Jiang Sujin, she ran into Tao Buluo, who had come looking for her.

Seeing her, he rushed over excitedly, grabbed her shoulders, and looked her up and down. Fanning himself, he asked with concern, “That Moon Shadow Devil Venerable is truly terrifying! Daoist Ying, she didn’t do anything to you, did she?”

Li Jiangying touched her neck uncomfortably. “It’s nothing, just… minor injuries.”

Tao Buluo’s look at her grew even more sympathetic and ashamed. “Unfortunately, my father couldn’t defeat her either. Otherwise, we would have definitely taken you back to Flame City.”

“Let’s… not talk about that for now.” Li Jiangying smiled bitterly.

“Very well. As long as you’re alright. Right, I came to you to give you these.” Saying this, Tao Buluo tossed over a storage bag. “So few people practice Body Refining Methods, I wasn’t sure which type was suitable. So, I just brought all the related cultivation methods I could find.”

“This is perfect!” Li Jiangying received it with delighted surprise. “If you need my help in the future, let’s trade in this form. Not just Body Refining Methods—any cultivation methods, techniques, spell formations, or talismans… the newer and more advanced, the better.”

Tao Buluo smiled. “My home has a dedicated library. If you came, I’d be willing to let you browse everything.”

“I’d love to go,” Li Jiangying said tragically. “I’m just afraid your family’s front gate isn’t sturdy enough.”

Tao Buluo recalled the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable’s great blade and felt deep sympathy. “Forget it. Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Afterward, Li Jiangying and Tao Buluo went to see the elder of the Tao Clan for the first treatment session. This treatment took half the day again. Then she returned to the small courtyard and faced the storage bag with difficulty.

She hadn’t used a storage bag before. She knew the method, but wasn’t sure if her current self could manage it. Standing in the room, she closed her eyes, mobilized the bit of Devil Qi stored within her body, then wrapped it with a Divine Thread to touch the storage bag.

A subtle sensation transmitted. Instantly, Li Jiangying felt she could completely control the storage bag. Just like inner sight, she could see the situation inside it—a pile of books.

With a thought, a book appeared in her hand. Overjoyed, she couldn’t wait and started flipping through it immediately.

Reading took her right until dusk. The sky was nearly twilight, the western sunset clouds dazzling and beautiful.

Li Jiangying put down the book, stood up, and stretched lazily. As expected, having someone guide the way felt completely different. After reading four or five books, she had a much deeper grasp of her cultivation direction.

Her stomach growled. She took a step, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her rear. Tsk, so busy she’d forgotten to reapply the medicine. Standing for so long had also stiffened the muscles. Any movement caused searing pain.

She walked to the mirror, took out the injury ointment Jiang Sujin gave her, and began applying it to her wound.

Creak—

“Li Jiangying! Where are you! Something huge happened!” Li Xiangshui, utterly disregarding manners, pushed the door open directly, shouting urgently.

Li Jiangying silently pulled up her pants. “What happened?”

Li Xiangshui eyed her suspiciously. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m not doing anything.” Li Jiangying replied magnanimously, meeting her gaze while tying her belt.

Li Xiangshui’s brow furrowed. She shot her a subtle look. But right now, she didn’t have time to investigate what despicable, shameless thing this hateful person was up to. She said urgently, “Something happened to Yueying!”

“What could possibly happen to her,” Li Jiangying muttered, curling her lip.

She was the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable, so powerful. Others were only afraid of her. How could anything happen to her?

Li Xiangshui stomped her foot anxiously. “It’s true! She, she… she’s trapped!”

“How do you know?” Li Jiangying arched an eyebrow.

A flicker of guilt crossed Li Xiangshui’s eyes. She coughed lightly. “It’s all because of you, you shameless liar. You upset her. I was worried, so… I went to look for her.”

Li Jiangying was silent for a moment, then said, “You wanted to use the chance to comfort her and then take advantage of her vulnerability, right?”

Li Xiangshui’s face darkened. “That has nothing to do with you. Cut the crap and come with me!”

She grabbed Li Jiangying’s wrist and started dragging her outside. Li Jiangying endured the pain of moving, rolling her eyes as she was pulled out onto the street outside the Gu Residence.

“Where exactly is she?” As they walked further and further, Li Jiangying couldn’t help but wonder where exactly Li Yueying could have run off to get trapped.

“Just up ahead,” Li Xiangshui answered vaguely.

Li Jiangying rubbed her aching neck and shoulders from reading. She asked, “Listen, finding me alone is useless. Someone who can trap her must be extremely powerful. We need outside help. Like Skeleton Sister, or Gu Qinglin, Tao Sanyu… someone like that.”

“No need. I already looked for some.”

“Huh?”

Li Xiangshui patted the small pouch hanging from her waist. “I went to get money from Jiang Sujin.”

“What do you need money for?” A sense of ominous foreboding rose in Li Jiangying’s heart.

Li Xiangshui kept her mouth tightly shut and brought her into a bustling street.

This street was lined on both sides with tall buildings, decorated with red lanterns and crimson silk. Exquisite flowers and plants were planted by the roadside, and the fragrance of rouge and powder floated in every corner of the air. The windows and doors of the intricately carved buildings were all wide open, from which wafted melodious laughter and song.

Even more, beautiful women and delicate youths dressed in light, revealing clothes were soliciting customers by the roadside. Li Jiangying’s eyebrows twitched madly as she saw the sign hanging high at the street entrance: Sleeping Fragrance Street.