Chapter 17: Hold him in the dark

Injured.

The hall suddenly trembled, with debris falling like a shower.

A dull sound of a massive stone moving came from behind.

Ying Ran turned and saw the giant stone tablet inscribed with “Immortal’s Tomb” slowly rising.

A figure stood in the darkness outside, his silhouette graceful as a crane.

The eternal lamplight in the hall spilled onto the hem of his robe, revealing a green garment soaked in blood.

The books on the shelves and the paintings on the antique racks turned to stardust, scattering as specks of light when the door opened.

The book in Ying Ran’s hand began to fade as well.

She had read earlier that its first page stated:

[This book is a catalog of all texts in the hall, used to find specific accounts of immortals’ deeds.

Due to worldly intolerance and to evade court searches, this place is protected by a mystic array.

If one day the tomb door is opened,

everything here will turn to ash.

Descendants, tread carefully, navigate the array, and do not open the tomb door…]

And now, the tomb door was open.

Ying Ran’s hands were empty as the stardust dispersed, watching the figure enter the hall.

In a daze, she could almost see the spirited young man from the portraits.

He approached her step by step, passing those paintings, crossing a thousand years.

The same face.

Time hadn’t diminished his beauty; it had only carved his features into something more captivating.

But his face no longer held the youthful vigor of the portraits.

Ying Ran remembered their first meeting in the light rain.

He gazed at the world silently, his eyes calm like a frozen sea, untouched by ripples.

As they grew close, she felt his warmth, patience, and care. Yet his eyes remained that same tranquil calm.

She once thought he was just a reserved, serene person.

Only after seeing the portraits did she realize—he once drank and recited poetry in his prime, danced with a sword in the mountains with abandon.

He approached, glancing at the tombstone behind her.

Ying Ran could smell the heavy scent of blood on him, the stench of slaughter nearly overpowering his usual clear, snow-like fragrance.

The hall was now empty.

Ying Ran looked back; the tombstone had become blank.

Steadying herself, she checked him with concern: “Are you hurt?”

Xu Liling stopped her: “I’m fine.”

Ying Ran didn’t believe him, grabbing his blood-soaked collar to inspect.

Xu Liling blocked her: “This is others’ blood.”

Ying Ran: “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

She pulled him to sit by the fire. Xiao Huang, Da Hua, and Guan Yi were still unconscious.

She undid Xu Liling’s robe.

His skin was pale, making any mark stand out.

His body wasn’t covered in wounds, but large patches of bruises and mottled blood spots along his veins were shocking.

He was clearly at his limit.

It was others’ blood, but he wasn’t much better off.

Ying Ran glared at him, helpless to do anything.

They’d fled in a hurry, bringing nothing.

Ying Ran: “Did you escape those cultivators to get here?”

Xu Liling: “Sort of.”

Ying Ran: “Are they still in Yunshui County?”

Xu Liling: “They’ve gone home… except one.”

He nudged Xiao Huang with his foot.

Xiao Huang groggily raised its head.

Without hiding from Ying Ran, he asked Xiao Huang: “Did you kill that cultivator?”

Xiao Huang snapped awake, whimpering pitifully.

Xu Liling: “Then why are you still here?”

Xiao Huang whined, trembling.

Ying Ran realized Xu Liling had ordered it to hunt the female cultivator and not return until she was dead. She quickly said: “Enough, it’s already injured protecting me.”

Xu Liling glanced away from Xiao Huang, casually saying to Ying Ran: “Then one got away.”

Seeing Ying Ran defend it, Xiao Huang relaxed, lying back down to sleep.

Ying Ran shot Xu Liling an annoyed look, then pondered: “I’ll go back to pack. We’ll hide here for a while until this blows over, then leave…”

Xu Liling: “Go where? Stay in Yiwangzhou?”

Ying Ran: “Why not?”

Xu Liling shook his head.

Ying Ran understood.

This had caused too much trouble. No matter how long passed, the Yiwangzhou court wouldn’t forget.

To avoid conflict with Yunzhou, she and Xu Liling would become fugitives in Yiwangzhou.

But they’d also made enemies in Yunzhou.

The vast world had no place for them.

Ying Ran frowned, glancing at the wounded: “Fine, we’ll figure it out later. I’ll go get our things.”

Xu Liling adjusted his collar and stood: “Get what?”

Ying Ran saw he meant to go and stopped him: “You stay and heal. I’ll ride the flying steed… Is it still alive?”

“Outside.”

Ying Ran: “I’ll ride it; it’ll be quick. Everything’s already packed.”

She instructed Xu Liling to watch Guan Yi and headed out.

Halfway, she turned back, seeing Xu Liling resting with closed eyes. Pretending to grab a gauze wrap, she woke Da Huaand signaled it to follow.

Outside the tomb, she picked up Da Hua, mounted the flying steed, and headed home.

Da Hua, exhausted, asked: “Why’d you call me? To bind with me?”

Ying Ran: “Haven’t you received part of the plot? Is there a character who was an immortal lord and later fell to a demon?”

Da Hua: “Yes, six immortal-demons in the demonic path.”

Ying Ran’s heart tightened: “What are their names?”

Da Hua: “You haven’t bound with me, so I only see a plot outline. I don’t know these side characters’ names. And I haven’t received the full plot yet…”

Its last words were barely a whisper.

Ying Ran: “How did they fall to the demonic path? Is it possible for them to break free and return to their immortal status?”

“Let me see…”

Da Hua: “The six were renowned immortals a thousand years ago, but by a twist of fate, they fell into the hands of the Holy Demon. After enduring inhumane abuse and humiliation, in despair and a life worse than death, they were gradually brainwashed by the Holy Demon, coming to accept demonic ideology. Thus, they fell to the demonic path…”

Ying Ran’s brows furrowed tightly.

A thousand years ago, renowned… Xu Liling was likely one of these six.

After summarizing the six immortal-demons, Da Huasaid: “Immortal-demons can return to their immortal status. But the greatest challenge isn’t like ordinary cultivators who can’t remove their demonic roots; it’s that they are already enlightened beings.

Their fall to the demonic path means they’ve rejected the righteous immortal ways in their minds, finding new purpose in the demonic path. Convincing an enlightened being to deny their established path is difficult. Making them reaccept the path they once rejected is even harder.”

Ying Ran: “As long as it’s possible…”

Difficulty wasn’t the issue.

Ying Ran’s gaze was resolute: “I’m willing to bind with you for the tasks, but I have a condition.”

Da Hua, overjoyed: It didn’t even have to wait for Xu Liling to die to bind with a host!

Ying Ran: “After completing the tasks, I’ll leave this world, right?

My reward must be that Xu Liling doesn’t die miserably because he’s a demon. He should live well in this world, safe and happy.”

She knew clearly that once bound, she’d have many tasks and rewards in the future.

This was just her first task.

But it was Xu Liling’s entire life.

She was willing to give her first task’s reward to him, as a gift for their meeting.

The sky was dark and greenish-black, the Immortal’s Tomb door tightly shut.

The mountain air was damp and cold, but it was midsummer, not too chilly.

The campfire crackled in the tomb, heating water, with dry rations set nearby to warm.

Ying Ran had returned with their things and was sorting through the bundle.

Xu Liling and the other wounded leaned against the wall, eyes closed.

Da Hualay by the fire, nibbling a dry bun, its cat eyes watery as if it had cried.

In truth, after binding with Ying Ran that day, it nearly did cry.

Not because it finally bound.

But because, after binding, Ying Ran didn’t gain system energy to become a Goddess, only awakening a spiritual root.

It carefully checked the system interface, and after the plot progress bar fully loaded, it understood why—

This world already had another tasker.

That tasker had obtained the Yaoting Goddess status, received the full plot, and was the main agent of the [World-Saving] task.

Da Hua’s plot remained incomplete.

It and Ying Ran could only assist, waiting for the system to assign side tasks to aid the Goddess tasker in completing [World-Saving].

It felt it had let Ying Ran down.

It had chosen her to be a sweet, pampered heroine living a happy life, yet she became a side character, married to a demon.

Ying Ran finished sorting, passed by Da Hua, patted its little head, and covered it with a small blanket.

Da Hualooked up at her, eyes still teary.

She smiled at Da Hua, comforting it through their unique host-system link: “It’s okay. I don’t want to be the heroine either. If I were, and had to develop something with another man, what would happen to Huai Zhen?”

Da Hua’s mouth drooped, and it lay back down.

Ying Ran smiled lightly.

Approaching Xu Liling, she dipped a cloth in hot water to wipe his body.

Xu Liling tried to do it himself.

But seeing his alarming bruises, Ying Ran pressed his hand down: “Let me do it.”

Xu Liling’s dark eyes, deeper in the firelight, watched her. Suddenly, he said: “I’m a demon.”

Ying Ran paused while wiping the bruise on his shoulder, then continued: “I know.”

Xu Liling chuckled.

Ying Ran: “Aren’t you curious when I found out?”

She realized her question was redundant. When he arrived, she hadn’t asked anything, acting as if she already knew, which said enough.

Xu Liling’s tone was flat: “The day those twenty-five Yunzhou cultivators died.”

Ying Ran was surprised.

Xu Liling gazed at her, silent.

Ying Ran thought it over and understood.

That day, she was so shaken that she didn’t notice how odd it was that Xu Liling hadn’t come for her long after dark.

He’d likely sensed her watching from the mountain, unconcerned for her safety, so he didn’t rush to find her.

Only when it got too late did he act like he was going to look for her, forcing her to go home.

So calculating.

Ying Ran deliberately pressed harder on his wound.

He seemed unfazed by the pain, a hint of amusement on his face instead.

Ying Ran gently blew on the spot she’d pressed: “Where do we go from here?”

Xu Liling: “What do you think?”

Ying Ran: “I don’t know.”

She was unfamiliar with the outside world, never having left Yunshui County.

Unlike him, who’d traveled far and wide and knew much.

Xu Liling: “We could go to Yunzhou.”

Ying Ran looked worried: “You’ve made enemies with Yunzhou’s major sects, and they might recognize me. Can we go there?”

Xu Liling: “Yunzhou isn’t like Yiwangzhou. There’s no unified dynasty; it’s every sect for itself. Though some sects and families hold sway, there are many free-spirited wandering cultivators, and even some sects defy major powers, acting rebelliously…”

Ying Ran washed the bloodstained cloth in the basin, imagining the world he described: “Like the martial world in storybooks.”

Xu Liling: “Mm.”

He got up to change into clean clothes behind the bookshelf.

Ying Ran poured out the water, packed the utensils, and sat by the fire, gazing at the darkness behind the bookshelf.

She couldn’t see him, but the firelight cast his shadow on the stone wall—slim back, narrow waist, long straight legs. His movements tightened his waist and arms, revealing strong, graceful lines.

She watched his shadow, thinking of him, then of the boy in the portraits: “Have you been to Yunzhou before?”

She knew he had.

Xu Liling: “A long time ago.”

Ying Ran: “Can you tell me about your time in Yunzhou?”

He’d opened the tomb door, letting that boy’s past scatter like mist.

Then he should tell her that boy’s story himself.

Ying Ran thought, watching his shadow.

“It was a long time ago,” Xu Liling began, then recounted: “I went to Yunzhou for serious business, so I didn’t have much time to go out…”

Ying Ran imagined from the catalog that he was only five then.

Xu Liling: “But at night, I snuck out to the night market down the mountain. That market…”

Ying Ran listened to his first visit to a night market, picturing a five-year-old Xu Liling, eyes full of wonder, exploring the bustling stalls, trying everything, dodging patrolling disciples.

Her heart softened, and she let out a gentle laugh.

But watching his silhouette, a trace of bitterness welled up—

What kind of torment had he endured to turn from such a carefree, spirited young immortal lord into the demon he was now?

Ying Ran approached him, stepping into the darkness where he stood, and hugged him from behind.

Her arms encircled his waist.

Xu Liling held her hands, his fingertips brushing over the back of her hand.

Ying Ran pressed her face against his lean back, whispering softly:

“Then let’s go to Yunzhou. Find a small city full of mortals, with a night market.

I’ll join a sect, become a disciple, and train as a cultivator to protect you, Xiao Huang, and Da Hua. You can be a mortal, find a shop, and work as an accountant again.”

In the darkness, Xu Liling chuckled lightly: “Alright.”