Chapter 43 Part 2

Li Yueying slowly nodded, then shook her head. “With Jiangying here… I’m not cold.”

Look at that pitiful way of speaking. Li Jiangying’s heart softened, and she smiled. “Alright, with me here, you won’t freeze.”

Then she settled into her horse stance again, took a deep breath, closed her eyes solemnly, and reached into the bathwater to warm it up!

A moment later…

Glug glug glug…

Li Jiangying opened her eyes and checked—she saw a boiling bathtub, and a bright red, utterly bewildered Li Yueying.

Li Jiangying: “Ahhhhh! Get out of there!”

Whether it was due to her Pure Fire Body or the fire-element Body Tempering Technique, Li Jiangying was now extremely, particularly, extraordinarily resistant to high temperatures. She reached in with both hands and directly scooped Li Yueying out of the tub.

“Can’t you cry out in pain?” Li Jiangying was utterly exasperated. She again ordered Li Xiangshui to transmit Water Element Devil Qi to her, then condensed water to rinse Li Yueying off.

Li Xiangshui, who had just stood up, darkened her face and sat back down.

“Doesn’t hurt.” Li Yueying held Li Jiangying’s wrist in return and said, “Jiangying… I like it.”

Li Jiangying could only sigh and glare at her. She watched as Li Yueying’s skin, reddened from the heat, gradually returned to its pale color. Only after checking and confirming there were indeed no burns did she finally relax.

“Scared me to death. I thought we’d be having snake soup tonight.” Li Jiangying shook her hands and stood up to survey the room. The place was now soaked. After all that rough handling, at least Li Yueying’s body was clean now.

Li Jiangying told her to wait and went to rummage through the wardrobe for clothes. “Mm, the color on this one is too gaudy, doesn’t suit her. How does this one still have pink little flower patterns? No good, too maidenly. This outfit is too ugly! Oh, this set isn’t bad!”

In the end, she picked out a set interwoven with grey-purple and light purple hues. Its style was simple, elegant, and clean. Li Jiangying carried the outfit towards Li Yueying, only to see her looking down slightly, staring at her own hands in a daze.

“What’s wrong, A Yue? Here, change into these clothes.” Li Jiangying put the dry clothes on a screen to the side and reached out to touch Li Yueying, preparing to give her a one-stop bath-and-dry service.

But before her hand could touch Li Yueying’s wet clothes, it was grabbed firmly.

Li Yueying tightly clenched her wrist, her expression cold. “Li Jiangying, who gave you permission to be so presumptuous?”

Li Jiangying: “You did.”

Li Yueying choked, lifted her chin, and put on a disgusted expression as she flung Li Jiangying’s hand away. “Shameless. From now on, without my permission, you are not to approach me on your own. Now, get out!”

“And what if I don’t?” The corner of Li Jiangying’s mouth twitched. She was in a foul mood and felt like provoking her. Knowing what she knew now, she might as well have eaten snake soup earlier!

Li Yueying lowered her gaze and secretly clenched her fist. In a hoarse voice, she said, “I don’t want to kill you right now.”

Li Jiangying forced a smile, gave her a cupped-fist salute of admiration, then turned to walk out. But Li Yueying suddenly spoke again: “Return to Moon Shadow Devil Palace. This Venerable One said I would make you remember everything.”

“But I still have matters to attend to.”

“What matters?” Li Yueying frowned.

“My agreement with the Tao Clan to heal them isn’t finished yet.” Li Jiangying shrugged. “Going back on one’s word is unacceptable.”

As soon as she finished, she heard a scoff from behind her. “Fine. I truly do want to see just how trustworthy you can be.”

Li Jiangying didn’t feel like talking to her.

But soon, she was forced to talk to her. Because on another night, as the busy little bird returned to her nest, Li Jiangying habitually went to harass Li Xiangshui.

But before she could go over, she saw Li Yueying leaning diagonally against the doorframe, looking at her coldly.

That gaze was almost palpable, making it impossible for Li Jiangying to ignore it. But Li Jiangying stubbornly pretended not to see it and, with her back straight, continued walking towards Li Xiangshui.

Li Xiangshui’s lips trembled and she winked frantically at Li Jiangying: “Look behind you!”

Li Jiangying grinned at her, calm and collected. “No need to pay her any mind!”

Li Xiangshui couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped forward first, gave Li Jiangying a shove with both hands, and stopped her outside her own door, lowering her voice to say, “I don’t want to die yet!”

“Coward.” Li Jiangying scorned her. Then, as if forced by circumstance, she tugged at her collar and turned to face Li Yueying. “Lord Devil Venerable, may I ask why you have been staring at this humble one? What business do you have?”

Li Yueying’s gaze was dark and heavy. Coldly, she said, “Ridiculous. Since when has this Venerable One been watching you?”

Li Jiangying: “Fine then. It’s late, I’m going to—”

Li Yueying interrupted her. “This Venerable One was merely pondering whether all homeless curs wag their tails and beg for pity from others.”

For a moment, dead silence fell. Li Jiangying couldn’t even tell which of the three people present she was mocking. In the distance, Cui Yu silently shut her window, pretending she didn’t exist.

Li Xiangshui thought for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and cleverly proposed: “How about I give you my room, and I go stay with Yueying!”

Li Jiangying: “You wish.”

The corner of Li Jiangying’s mouth twitched into a smile. She strode towards Li Yueying. “It’s too late. I should go back to my room and rest. Lord Devil Venerable, if you’re not sleepy, feel free to continue pondering the meaning of life right here.”

She had decided: it was her room, why shouldn’t she stay in it? Anyway, that madwoman probably… maybe… perhaps (?) wouldn’t strangle her in the middle of the night. Sleep! Boldly and soundly, sleep!

Behind her, Li Xiangshui revealed a regretful expression, which instantly transformed into one of proud indifference. She hugged her arms and retreated into her own room, swiftly shutting the door, then leaned against it, panting softly.

Terrifying, terrifying, terrifying. Li Yueying’s gaze was truly enough to scare a person from Chasing Moon to death!

Li Jiangying brushed past Li Yueying and entered the room. This long-suffering chamber still smelled of dampness and looked somewhat messy, but the bed was clean enough. Li Jiangying tidied it up a bit, then lay down on her side, deciding that no matter what craziness the madwoman pulled, she was staying right here.

In the end, Li Yueying actually did lean against the doorway and ponder life for the entire night.

This pattern continued for the following days. Li Yueying would absolutely not cling to Li Jiangying like she did during her episodes. When Li Jiangying slept, she was either contemplating life or drinking alone under the moon.

A few days later, Li Jiangying fulfilled her promise to the Tao Clan and agreed that in the future, they could send patients and payment to Moon Shadow Devil Palace, where she would treat them as agreed.

After that, it was time for the return journey. Bidding farewell to Gu Qinglin, Liu Ruyi, and Jiang Sujin, the Moon Shadow Devil Palace group set off back, taking Li Xiangshui with them. Of course, Shi Yanran was secretly following the whole time.

The return trip was so smooth it was unbelievable. So much so that Li Jiangying pinched Li Xiangshui several times. “That’s strange. No one’s coming to cause trouble?”

Li Xiangshui kicked her away. “You want someone to cause trouble?”

“Not really.” Li Jiangying looked a bit regretful. “But the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable is strong now. Catching a few more unlucky bastards would let me absorb a lot more.”

Li Yueying instantly glared at her.

A thousand miles of crimson sand, scorched stones, withered trees—this was the scenery near Moon Shadow Devil Palace. Standing before the palace, a look of dazed reminiscence flashed through Li Xiangshui’s eyes. “It’s already become like this…”

She hadn’t returned since leaving nearly two thousand years ago. The current Moon Shadow Devil Palace… was really too dilapidated!

Just then, Li Yueying grabbed Li Jiangying by the back of her collar and lifted her off the Demonic Beast. The beasts they were riding now had been bought in Flying Swallow Capital for travel, costing quite a few Devil Stones. Luckily, Li Yueying had earned a lot from that hunting trip, so they still had quite a bit left.

It had to be said, although her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, Li Jiangying was still as weak as a baby chick in Li Yueying’s grasp.

She glared with dead fish eyes. “What are you doing?”

Li Yueying set her on the ground, let out a light snort, and said sinisterly, “Did this Venerable One not say I would make you remember everything? Li Jiangying, look at this Moon Shadow Devil Palace. Do you remember anything now?”

Li Jiangying thought carefully, then said, “I remember now…”

“Oh?”

“I remember… this place really is poor.”

Li Yueying: “…” She snorted coldly, flicked her sleeve, and was the first to enter the tattered, broken-down Moon Shadow Devil Palace. The others followed behind her.

Li Jiangying rubbed her nose and muttered under her breath, “It’s true.”

She had thought that once they got home, they could relax properly or receive a welcome from the people who had stayed behind. But instead…

The only one to come greet them was Jiang Xiaohong. Jiang Xiaohong’s form was like a mountain. She walked over calmly, bringing with her an almost suffocating pressure.

She was extremely tall; even Li Yueying had to look up at her. Li Yueying frowned and said, “Move aside!”

But Jiang Xiaohong dropped to her knees with a thud in front of her.

The moment she knelt, the very earth trembled. She said in a voice as thin as a child’s, “Save my mother.”

“Your mother?” Li Yueying had no impression of this. She said coldly, “What does that have to do with me?”

“Save my mother.” Jiang Xiaohong said. “My mother… Liang Yiman… A’gou… were taken.”

At these words, everyone except Li Xiangshui was stunned, because that was practically half of Moon Shadow Devil Palace’s people.

Li Jiangying asked anxiously, “Explain clearly, what exactly happened?” Moon Shadow Devil Palace had only a handful of people in total. Losing half of them at once—what were they to do? Was Li Yueying going to become a general without an army?!

With a somber expression, Jiang Xiaohong recounted the sequence of events. It turned out that just a few days ago, the Solitary Mountain Devil Venerable had suddenly paid another visit. He had forcefully broken through the Palace Protection Grand Array and taken the three people, leaving only Jiang Xiaohong behind to deliver a message to the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable.

He wanted Her Highness to bring the Descendant of the Divine Phoenix to exchange for the hostages.

“Preposterous!” Li Yueying sent a stone pillar flying into pieces with a palm strike, gritting her teeth. “The sheer audacity! If he wants to fight this Venerable One for someone, he can come here and seek his own death!”

Li Yueying’s face was full of cold disdain. She turned to walk deeper into Moon Shadow Devil Palace, seeming not to care about Liang Yiman and the others at all.

Li Jiangying frowned and grabbed the hem of her robe. “Wait!”

“What is it?” Li Yueying looked back at her. “What business do you have?”

“Is this about whether it’s audacious or not?! Your subordinates have been taken and held hostage; their fate is unknown!” Li Jiangying’s brow was tightly furrowed as she said angrily, “An entire Moon Shadow Devil Palace this big—without them maintaining it, it would have long become too ruined to live in. Now that something’s happened to them, do you not care at all?!”