Why Is The Demon Lord Unhappy? - Chapter 3

Live long enough, and you’ll encounter anything.

Xuan Song raised his hand to fan away the steam wafting towards him, his lips pressed into a straight line, conveying an air of solemn authority.

Even just sitting cross legged on a meager rush cushion, his back was straight, his posture was excellent, and his temperament was absolutely transcendent.

If only… it weren’t in such a ridiculous setting, it would surely be a beautiful, picturesque scene.

Today, Xuan Song had broken his own rules many times.

And this moment was no exception.

He did not leave but remained seated on the rush cushion, watching the mistress and servant frantically put out the fire, actually finding it quite entertaining.

The two of them busied themselves for a full quarter of an hour before the fire on Gu Jingmo was finally and barely extinguished.

She walked out of the small stream, and after two steps, the moisture on her Dharma robe dissipated, turning into a mist that she scattered with a flick of her sleeve.

It seemed her Dharma robe was specially crafted for her single Fire Element spiritual root, possessing fire resistant properties, completely unharmed by the burning.

She shook her sleeves, stretched, and walked back into the cave dwelling, standing not far from Xuan Song, chin in hand, muttering to herself, “Why did I lose control and spontaneously combust?”

Xuan Song naturally wouldn’t answer her. He felt that this pair of mistress and servant, along with those disciples and grand disciples, were all a bit eccentric. Were they perhaps bored, thinking he had lived too long, and decided to entertain him?

Huang Tao, however, approached Gu Jingmo cautiously, carefully examining her body, and transmitted a secret message to her: “Did your injury cause your spiritual power to go out of control again?”

Xuan Song sighed with helplessness again.

Just now, Gu Jingmo had sealed the Dao Companion mark on him, effectively including him in the “confidant” category. This meant that even when Huang Tao was using secret voice transmission, he could hear it clearly, without needing to use spiritual power to eavesdrop it was no different from normal speech.

Gu Jingmo didn’t seem to realize this either.

Both the mistress and the servant seemed a bit slow-witted.

Soon, he heard Gu Jingmo’s secret voice transmission reply: “If I cultivate dual techniques now, can I heal my injuries?”

“Mhm, he’s already agreed, of course, you should try. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Huang Tao replied and quickly scurried out of the cave dwelling, leaving only Gu Jingmo and Xuan Song behind.

Gu Jingmo hesitated for a moment where she stood, cleared her throat to compose herself, finally clenched her fists, and seemingly having made up her mind, walked towards Xuan Song again.

Xuan Song was already numb. He sat on the rush cushion, watching Gu Jingmo approach, and squat down in front of him, saying, “I’ll be gentle.”

Having experienced so much, Xuan Song was no longer surprised.

Seeing no reaction from him, Gu Jingmo slowly raised her hand, wanting to touch Xuan Song’s finger.

Xuan Song’s hand was extremely pale, his fingers slender and long, his joints well-formed, and his fingertips as smooth and round as white jade. When he held the umbrella, the tips of his fingers, pressing down, bore a faint pink hue.

The moment she saw the hand holding the umbrella when Xuan Song appeared in the rain, she had already harbored ill intentions. That scene was seared into her mind like a brand.

This was undoubtedly a hand that inspired covetousness.

She wanted to touch it.

Their fingers drew closer and closer. Gu Jingmo was so nervous that she swallowed hard, her heart pounding again. Her heart was like a drumstick, beating haphazardly against her eardrums, making her own heartbeat sound deafening.

Xuan Song was also watching her, a murderous intent surging again, ready to strike.

However, the moment Gu Jingmo tentatively brushed her fingertip against the back of Xuan Song’s hand whether she touched it or not a flame abruptly ignited on her fingertip, followed by her body.

She was burning herself up again, jumped back one step, and frantically ran towards the small stream, shouting, “Huang Tao! I’m on fire again!”

Xuan Song looked at the retreating figure of Gu Jingmo, engulfed in flames, and made a guess.

Could this female fiend… lose control of her spiritual power and even set herself on fire when she was extremely shy and nervous?

Shy?

Could it be that this female fiend… had never experienced romantic affairs before?

Despite her utterly seductive appearance, was she pure at heart?

He couldn’t help but think of the useless Divine Slaughter Palm, wondering if Gu Jingmo was truly as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

But if she truly hadn’t committed any evil deeds, how could she have accumulated the Five Major Sins that shocked the cultivation world? And why would she have drawn three thousand cultivators to plead with him to kill her?

He had met Venerable Xiuzhu a few times. Venerable Xiuzhu also possessed the cultivation level of the Soul Transformation stage. How many people in the entire cultivation world could kill him?

If not Gu Jingmo, then who could it be?

Could it really be a coincidence? But how could it be such a coincidence that every single incident was connected to her, and she never denied any of it?

Later, Gu Jingmo came back to Xuan Song, circled him three and a half times, and tentatively tried to touch him again, only to spontaneously combust once more.

This time, she had learned her lesson. Her steps towards the stream were unhurried, and she wasn’t as frantic when extinguishing the fire. The walking torch even moved with the composure of someone out for a stroll.

After three attempts where she couldn’t touch Xuan Song, Gu Jingmo didn’t dare to act rashly anymore. She stood side by side with Huang Tao, staring at Xuan Song, utterly bewildered.

Xuan Song heard Gu Jingmo’s secret voice transmission to Huang Tao: “This monk is a bit strange…”

“Is he incompatible with your fate, or are your elements mutually exclusive?”

Gu Jingmo channeled spiritual power to investigate him for a while, sighed softly, and then transmitted to Huang Tao: “Huo, he’s a single Earth Element spiritual root, but his cultivation is unstable. He looks like he just reached the Foundation Establishment stage not long ago. With such good aptitude, he must be a treasure in Qingyou Temple. If he suddenly disappears, will Qingyou Temple search for him with all their might?”

“Then let him go. You can’t touch him anyway, and he might bring trouble. It would have been fine before, but now you’re injured and shouldn’t fight. It’s better to avoid unnecessary complications.”

Gu Jingmo hesitated slightly.

She stared at Xuan Song’s face, unable to look away for a long time. Just then, Xuan Song raised his eyelids and looked at her, his gaze gradually moving up until their eyes met.

His eyes were gentle, like the wind passing through the treetops and the sun warming the earth—light and comforting.

Yet, even such a casual glance felt like a lightning tribulation striking, causing Gu Jingmo to panic. Scattered sparks began to appear on her body again, and she quickly slapped them out with her hands.

She confirmed it: she couldn’t bear to let him go.

Such a handsome monk, even if she just kept him around to look at sometimes…

Gu Jingmo did not truthfully reveal her sordid thoughts, but righteously replied: “Letting him go is even more impossible. What if he goes back to Qingyou Temple and tells those three thousand cultivators, or that old man Jia Jing? That would undoubtedly be letting the tiger return to the mountain.”

Huang Tao immediately widened her eyes: “You’re right! Demon Venerable, you’re so smart!”

Xuan Song: “…”

Old man Jia Jing?

Since she had made a decision, Gu Jingmo no longer wrestled with the matter, only puzzled over why she was experiencing this situation.

She took out a piece of paper from a very simple storage bag, and, fearing that she might uncontrollably catch fire and burn the paper, she even placed a protective barrier around it.

She held the paper and examined it carefully, no longer using secret voice transmission, but openly muttered: “Why can’t I touch him? Could my injury have a restriction against touching men? If that’s the case, why did old man Xiuzhu write me this list?”

This sentence undoubtedly caught Xuan Song’s attention.

Venerable Xiuzhu wrote her a list?

He raised his hand and extended it toward Gu Jingmo, palm open, and said, “If you don’t understand, I can help you look.”

Gu Jingmo did not doubt him and handed the paper directly to Xuan Song.

Xuan Song took the paper and examined it.

It was a prescription, listing several herbs, all extremely precious, each one very difficult to obtain.

The difficulty lay in the fact that they were likely the guardian treasures of certain sects, impossible for a female fiend like her to acquire, or were protected by spirit beasts nearby.

The effect of these herbs combined was detoxification, with a bizarre addition: the medicine might carry the risk of dissipating one’s cultivation.

It was indeed Venerable Xiuzhu’s handwriting.

He had once received an invitation personally written by Venerable Xiuzhu and recognized his script.

He could even tell that Venerable Xiuzhu had no spiritual power when writing this list, his grip on the brush was unstable it was likely his final message before his life force was completely exhausted.

Why would Venerable Xiuzhu write such a list for Gu Jingmo?

Did he intend to use this list to make Gu Jingmo dissipate her cultivation and die? Why would he think Gu Jingmo would listen to him, actually seek out these herbs, and use them on herself?

While he was contemplating, Gu Jingmo carefully leaned closer, making sure not to touch Xuan Song, and pointed a finger at the prescription, saying, “Look, it says here that it needs dual cultivation with a Buddhist.”

Xuan Song: “…”

Xuan Song watched Gu Jingmo point horizontally at a line of text, saying those words with utter seriousness.

However, the original text was:

Xiuzhu writes: Dual draw the Mountain-Veil Clear Grass, the Buddhist Grotto’s Submerged Bl00d Divine Lotus, and mix with the Rain Trickling Pavilion’s Evening Light Amidst Flowers until

Since there was no space to write, the text continued on the next line:

it reaches a glutinous consistency, then it can be made into medicine.

Thus, Gu Jingmo was looking at the first character of each phrase and mistook the character “glutinous” (糯 nuò) for the character “needs.”

Not only was this person barely literate, but she also didn’t know how characters should be read.

Xuan Song finally understood the reason Gu Jingmo suddenly appeared at Qingyou Temple and abducted him.

The reason was truly… absurd.

Gu Jingmo was also seriously following along on the list, saying, “I don’t understand the rest. Does it say why I can’t cultivate dual techniques with you?”

“No,” Xuan Song folded the list after reading it and returned it to Gu Jingmo.

“Then what does the rest mean?”

“We need to go to Jijun Manor to seek the medicine,” Xuan Song lied with the most indifferent expression, “I am only a medicinal catalyst. We need to gather the remaining herbs listed afterward for our dual cultivation to be effective.”

Jijun Manor, the location of Gu Jingmo’s First Major Sin.

The exact herbs on the list were not there, but there were alternative herbs with similar effects, albeit less potent.

Legend had it that over a hundred people at Jijun Manor were slaughtered overnight by Gu Jingmo, from the elderly down to infants in swaddling clothes, leaving no one alive.

Afterward, she supposedly absorbed the vital essence of all the people for her own use, accelerating the rapid advancement of her cultivation. Everyone said that the reason she reached the Soul Transformation stage so quickly was because she relied on killing and soul-snatching for cultivation such an evil method naturally resulted in quick progress.

That night, silver bells had rattled, their sound pleasant to the ear, but the sacrifice was one of bl00d.

The ringing of the bell marked the beginning, and the river of bl00d marked the end.

The Silver Bell Bl00d Sacrifice earned its name this way.

He wanted to test her, to see Gu Jingmo’s reaction upon mentioning this place.

The Gu Jingmo in the rumors was a ruthless killer, but the one he had encountered seemed not to be, raising intense doubts in him.

He was very eager to know what exactly was going on, whether there was another story hidden beneath the surface.

“I see!” Gu Jingmo suddenly understood. Hearing the name Jijun Manor, she wasn’t surprised but rather indifferent. Squatting beside him, she asked excitedly, “And then?”

Xuan Song kept observing Gu Jingmo’s expression, then mentioned another location: “Next, we go to Suiliuguang Valley.”

This was the location of Gu Jingmo’s Second Major Sin.

With two consecutive locations related to her, she should realize something, right?

This time, a crack finally appeared in Gu Jingmo’s expression.

Xuan Song slightly narrowed his eyes, as if he could finally confirm that Gu Jingmo was a fiend, yet he heard Huang Tao, who was tidying up the scorch marks, look up and ask, “What? Are we going to my home?”

Xuan Song looked at Huang Tao, momentarily taken aback, but quickly figured it out.

Huang Tao had only managed to take human form by seizing another’s body. Perhaps Gu Jingmo had chosen a good-looking body for her spiritual pet to possess after the slaughter at Suiliuguang Valley.

In this way, Gu Jingmo’s crime was indirectly verified.

Gu Jingmo had indeed massacred orthodox cultivators at Suiliuguang Valley.

However, the conversation that followed deviated from Xuan Song’s speculation again.

“Going to your place, that cheap elder brother will bully you again,” Gu Jingmo felt annoyed whenever she thought of Yun Suling.

“He… he’s not a bad person.”

“Forget it, the two elders of the Yun family are quite nice. It’s fine to stay at your place for a while. It’s about time you missed home anyway.”

“Mhm! I miss them too!” Huang Tao became cheerful, but soon wilted again, “But finding your medicine is more important. We’ll leave as soon as we get the medicine, and I can go back later when I have a chance.”

“I won’t die easily, don’t worry.”

Listening to their conversation, Xuan Song was confused again.

Gu Jingmo should be the mortal enemy of the Yun family of Suiliuguang Valley. How did their conversation make it sound like their relationship was rather good?

Xuan Song grew even more curious.

He wanted to personally investigate the truth.