Seeing no response from him, Yingran opened her eyes in confusion: “What’s wrong?”
Her actions were too natural, too familiar, too intimate, as if she had done this countless times with someone.
If this was an act, Xu Liling was willing to play along for three more days.
He pinched her chin, pushing her away, and casually wiped the spot she had kissed with the back of his hand, looking down at her: “You’re really drunk. Do you even know who I am?”
Yingran, pushed back onto the seat, turned her face in disbelief: “You’re Huaizhen…”
Seeing his black robe, martial attire, and purple-silver crown, Yingran gradually sobered up.
She had slept for so long that the alcohol had mostly worn off, and she fully understood her current situation.
He was Huaizhen.
But the Huaizhen from a thousand years ago.
Xu Liling chuckled lightly: “No wonder Xuandao sent you after two major defeats. You do have some skill.”
Yingran caught the mockery in his tone and felt wronged, frowning unhappily: “What do you mean?”
Xu Liling: “I’m praising your acting skills.”
Yingran glared at him unconsciously: “What am I acting?”
Xu Liling, too lazy to argue with her, gestured for her to get up from the seat.
Yingran stood up angrily.
He sat down leisurely, resting his elbow on the armrest and propping his chin to look at her: “Tell me, what game are you playing this time to save the people of Moyiju?”
Yingran muttered to herself: If this were the Huaizhen from a thousand years later, he would never make her get up so he could sit!
But remembering she was on a mission, she tried to control her emotions. Still, she couldn’t help asking: “Last time, were you punished?”
Xu Liling was silent for a moment: “Of course.”
The anger and resentment in her expression instantly turned to worry and heartache: “You were really whipped a hundred times with the Demon-Scolding Whip?”
Xu Liling, expressionless: “Yes.”
Yingran: “Did it hurt when you were whipped?”
Xu Liling, as if it were obvious: “Yes.”
Yingran frowned, at a loss: “How could that be? I clearly…”
She had asked Big Flower to use her reward energy to shield him from pain.
Xu Liling: “Clearly what?”
Yingran didn’t answer immediately, turning to ask Big Flower: “Were you lying to me?”
Big Flower felt deeply wronged: “I really used the reward energy on him to block his pain!”
Yingran trusted Big Flower, comforted her briefly, but kept wondering: What went wrong?
She thought for a moment and asked Xu Liling: “After I left, before you were whipped, did you get injured again?”
Xu Liling’s gaze darkened, but he didn’t answer, instead asking: “Why?”
Yingran: “You said you’d be punished, so I used a secret technique on you. It could block one injury. If it was already used, it couldn’t block the pain of the Demon-Scolding Whip.”
“I said I’d take you away last time, but I disappeared suddenly. Now, appearing after three years to save others does sound hypocritical.”
Yingran wanted to gently touch his face but held back, her hand resting helplessly on her chest: “But I really didn’t abandon you. I genuinely wanted to help you leave the Demon Path.”
Xu Liling remained silent.
He did recall an anomaly from three years ago:
That night after she left, when the Spirit of the Holy Demon consumed his soul again, he didn’t feel the usual agony of every inch of his body being torn apart or his head exploding.
Every night was like that, forcing him to endure from midnight to dawn.
But that one night… that one night…
The curve of Xu Liling’s lips widened, and he looked at Yingran with appreciation: “So that was the contingency you left behind three years ago? No wonder you, a ghost cultivator, were accepted into Ya jing. With such cunning, given time, you’ll surely become a Ghost Immortal.”
Yingran didn’t feel joy at this praise, realizing he didn’t believe a single word or action of hers, nor that she cared for him.
Naturally, he wouldn’t leave the Demon Path because of her words.
Helpless and frustrated, she didn’t want to talk to him anymore. But thinking of the Huaizhen from a thousand years later, she clenched her fists: “Fine. Tell me, what will it take to let Moyiju go?”
Xu Liling said leisurely: “Maintaining a false identity even after being exposed is a virtue. But negotiating with me requires a different attitude.”
Yingran gritted her teeth: “Please, what does Xuandao need to offer to exchange for the lives of Moyiju’s disciples?”
Xu Liling could tell she was genuinely angry.
Normally, he’d find it amusing. But now, he suddenly felt bored.
He closed his eyes, resting, and said lazily: “Releasing all of Moyiju’s people? Impossible. Ya jing only cares about protecting Duan Yushan.”
That was true.
The mission specified that Duan Yushan must be saved; the others were optional.
Saving everyone was Yingran’s own idea.
Not just for those people, but also to prevent Huaizhen from committing more bloodshed.
Thinking of her husband from a thousand years later, the teenager who once turned back to save a crying child despite his own injuries, Yingran took a deep breath.
She tried to stay calm: “What will it take to save everyone? Name your terms.”
Privately, she said to the Goddess: “Is there a traitor among the demons in Ya jing?”
Goddess: “Why?”
Yingran: “The Demon Path knows that Ya jing must protect Duan Yushan.”
Goddess: “It’s likely the Demon Path knows Duan Yushan is a pillar of Xuandao’s Confucian Sect. If he dies horribly at their hands, it’d be a huge blow to the Confucian Sect. If the Holy Demon uses Duan Yushan to forge a demonic weapon against Xuandao’s Confucian Sect, their future would be grim.”
Yingran, troubled: “So, keeping Duan Yushan benefits the Demon Path greatly. If I were them, I’d never let him go.”
The Goddess sighed: “That’s why I urgently sought you to handle this. I heard last time the Demon Path captured the Xuandao cultivators meant to be rescued, and you mediated, giving them a chance to escape… By the way, why bring this up suddenly? Do you have a plan?”
Yingran sighed: “I’m still waiting for the Demon Path to name their terms.”
Just as she replied to the Goddess, Xu Liling spoke: “If you want to save everyone, fine. Hand over the technique you used on me last time.”
Yingran blurted out: “You want that… Did you really get injured again before the Demon-Scolding Whip? Those hundred whips… Did they hurt?”
Xu Liling chuckled, as if praising her acting: “Hand over the technique, and I’ll release half of Moyiju’s disciples.”
Here is the translation from Chinese to English, with a line break (shift + enter) between each line:
Yingran was troubled: “I can’t teach you the technique. But I can cast it on you a few more times.”
Xu Liling wasn’t in a rush: “One casting for one disciple. Moyiju currently has 1,282 disciples. How many do you want to exchange for?”
A technique that could be cast on him without being detected and could block the soul-eroding pain of the Holy Demon’s Spirit was no ordinary skill. It was normal for her to refuse to teach it.
Yingran froze.
It wasn’t about how many she wanted to exchange for, but how many she could.
She hurriedly asked Big Flower: “How much energy did it take to shield Xu Liling from pain last time?”
Big Flower: “One-tenth of our total energy.”
Yingran was shocked: “That much?”
Big Flower, equally shocked: “Is that a lot? He’s your husband, after all. I thought you were really worried about him and didn’t know how powerful the Demon-Scolding Whip was, so I used a tenth. I’ll use less next time.”
Yingran: “No, that’s not what I meant. You can’t use less.”
Using less wouldn’t hold up. Otherwise, Xu Liling wouldn’t have had no protective energy left by the time he faced the Demon-Scolding Whip.
But what now?
Her energy was only enough to exchange for nine more people, and she needed to save some for emergencies.
Helpless, Yingran consulted the Goddess.
The Goddess sternly questioned: “Why would you use system energy on someone from the Demon Path?”
Yingran: “He and I, a thousand years later, are…”
Big Flower screamed in her mind: “Don’t tell her about your relationship with Xu Liling! She’ll interfere!”
Yingran quickly corrected herself: “Friends.”
She quietly asked Big Flower: “Why? Does headquarters forbid taskers from falling in love in mission worlds? Isn’t it supposed to be humane?”
Big Flower: “Headquarters is humane, but that doesn’t mean taskers are. This Goddess is notorious at headquarters… I’ll explain later.”
Big Flower stopped talking.
The Goddess said gravely: “Then don’t save the others. I only want Duan Yushan.”
Yingran couldn’t believe her ears: “But… there are over 1,200 people. What about them?”
The Goddess was cold: “Our mission is to save the world. Only key figures who impact the mission must be saved. The others are worthless to the mission and must be sacrificed if necessary.”
Yingran was stunned.
Noticing her hesitation, the Goddess’s tone grew stern: “The mission clearly states to save Duan Yushan!”
Yingran didn’t respond and asked Xu Liling: “That technique consumes a lot. Can I exchange for more people with one casting?”
Xu Liling: “How much does it consume? Does one casting make you disappear for three years?”
Yingran said dejectedly: “Maybe…”
It wouldn’t make her disappear, but she couldn’t say when she’d return next.
Xu Liling fell silent.
After a moment, he said: “Tell me the name of the technique, and I’ll release half the disciples.”
Yingran was surprised.
She knew that exchanging just the name of a technique for so many people was a huge concession.
But it wasn’t a technique and had no name.
She also knew he wanted the name to investigate it. If she made one up, she’d be exposed, and the next time they met, she’d be branded a liar.
Yingran said honestly: “It’s a foreign technique from a thousand years later. It has no name.”
Xu Liling suddenly sneered.
If it were someone else, he’d have killed them on the spot.
To refuse such a generous offer and keep playing the “thousand years later” game was utterly shameless.
But one casting required three years of her time?
He wouldn’t easily believe that, but he also knew that suppressing the pain of the Holy Demon’s Spirit was no simple feat.
Xu Liling, bored, propped his forehead: “I’ll give you one more chance. Show me something to make me believe your ‘thousand years later’ story.”
Yingran knew that no matter what she said, he wouldn’t believe her.
He just wanted her to do something entertaining enough to make the deal worthwhile.
But Yingran couldn’t think of any amusing game.
Using the same escape ploy a second time would likely only bore him.
Yingran thought it over and decided to try shaking his disbelief: “A thousand years later, I spent over two years with you. If there’s anything to prove it, it’s that I know you fairly well.”
Xu Liling, uninterested: “For example?”
Yingran: “For example, you like green bamboo. Every time I embroidered headbands or waist sashes for you and asked what pattern you wanted, you chose green bamboo. And you love the hundred-flower candied fruit from the back street of my family’s home, and you like…”
“Tch.”
Xu Liling scoffed, cutting her off.
Yingran was confused.
His expression was hard to describe—displeased, yet with a trace of indescribable interest.
Just as Yingran was about to ask what was wrong, he suddenly said: “Someone, come.”
A demon guard responded immediately.
Xu Liling ordered: “Bring the person sent by the Four Life Palace last time.”
“Yes.”
The demon guard withdrew.
Yingran was puzzled: “What’s this about?”
Xu Liling: “No rush. You’ll know when they arrive.”