Chapter 264 Undying Body, Exposed

Lian Mu lay on the bed and rested for a while. During that time, Ying You came in carrying a food box and set it down on the table beside her bed.

He had calmed down. Without saying a word, he put the food box down and turned to leave.

Lian Mu felt awkward too, but she still had to say something. Their relationship could be distant, but it could not be frozen stiff, or things would get troublesome if they ever needed to work together in the future.

“Team Leader Ying actually carries food around with him. Your friends must be very blessed on a daily basis.” Lian Mu said with a smile.

Ying You: “… Sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things to you just now.”

“It’s fine. I’m guessing Team Leader Ying has never said those words to anyone else, right? When you’ve bottled things up for too long, you naturally need somewhere to vent. You helped me just now. If you have something weighing on your mind, you can come to me.” Lian Mu happened to be hungry as well. She picked up a pale yellow pastry and put it in her mouth.

Floral fragrance and sweetness spread across her tongue. Lian Mu suddenly felt that food made with flowers was not as bad as she had imagined.

“I was being presumptuous,” Ying You said. “You were injured, but I only cared about talking about myself, I lost control for a moment.”

“I already said it’s fine. I’m used to it. My friends are always chattering away too.” Lian Mu replied.

Ying You’s eyes lowered. His fingertips curled slightly and pinched at his sleeve. “…”

After finishing one piece of pastry, Lian Mu glanced at him still standing there without moving and suddenly said, “That cyan color doesn’t suit you.”

From now on, he really ought to weld his team uniform to his body.

She did not voice the second half, just gave a tactful reminder.

Ying You understood what she meant. Earlier, when she had been unconscious, it was her Spirit Pet that had brought her out. She must have given it instructions in advance.

It did not know him, yet it still delivered Lian Mu to his place. It must have mistaken him for someone else.

He fell silent for a moment, then said, “I won’t wear it again.”

Lian Mu smiled slightly, satisfied in her heart. Not bad, he was still fairly obedient.

“When did you come to the Shifang Nether Soil? Have you seen my fellow disciples?” Lian Mu finally asked about serious matters. “Have Xu Xianxing and the others all come out?”

“They are all safe, but Chief Disciple Xu’s condition does not seem very good. I don’t know the details.” Ying You answered truthfully. “They pooled their money and hired someone to go in and look for you.”

Lian Mu’s ears twitched. “They paid? How much?”

“As far as I know, just to hire Tang Clan’s Young Mistress, the deposit alone is at least several million. Tang Clan’s Young Mistress has already gone in. That was an hour ago.”

Lian Mu had no idea who Tang Clan’s Young Mistress was, but as soon as she heard that figure, her chest tightened and she felt short of breath, miserable all over.

Several million, and she went in an hour ago.

Which meant that if she had come back earlier, they could have saved several million?

Her vision went dark for a moment. Even though it was not her money, her heart still ached terribly.

“By the way, that ‘demon screening’ you mentioned earlier, what is it exactly?” Lian Mu asked.

“Illusory Heaven Pool Water, used to test for Demonic Qi.” Ying You said. “Anyone who comes out of the Shifang Nether Soil has to be screened. If someone is hiding Demonic Qi in their body, it will flare up when they touch the Illusory Heaven Pool Water.”

Lian Mu’s heart sank. She suddenly thought of Xu Xianxing. He still had a Demonic Seed in his body. If…

“Do the injured have to go too?” Lian Mu asked.

Ying You thought she was worried about herself. “They have already gone. You may have to wait for the next round. The injured before also had to go, but your sect has one exception… Chief Disciple Xu was taken away by your Elder Murong.”

Lian Mu let out a breath. “So that’s how it is.”

She was not worried about herself. She knew perfectly well whether there was a Demonic Seed in her body or not. Besides, even if there had been one, it had just been devoured by the Red Lotus Fire Seed inside her.

The only person she was worried about was Xu Xianxing. The Demonic Seed in his body was buried too deep for ordinary people to detect, but precisely because of that, he was the most dangerous one.

By her count, that Demonic Seed had already been in him for five years. Once it erupted, he might die on the spot, without even a moment to wait for death.

After that time she had her identity tested in public, she had gone back and looked into Illusory Heaven Pool Water. That water came from the Illusory Heaven Pool in Azure Dragon East, a naturally blessed spiritual land that tolerated no filth. When it came into contact with Demonic Qi it would heat up, and for those harboring a Demonic Seed, it would lure the Demonic Qi into erupting.

Demonic Qi Invasion was already beyond the reach of medicine. Illusory Heaven Pool Water only brought the eruption forward to warn others in advance.

Rather than wait for a natural eruption that would harm others, it was better to deal with the person on the spot.

As for people like Ji Mingyue’s family, who had Demonic Qi in their bodies yet were still allowed to live until now, that was purely because their clan was in a remote place and never associated with other families, so the Immortal Sects did not interfere.

The fact that the Ji Family’s patriarch had Demonic Qi in his body was known to the Immortal Sects only because Ji Xiuyuan leaked it. Ji Xiuyuan had originally been from the Ji Family. Later he went to the Wen Family and never returned.

Because Ji Xiuyuan revealed that the Ji Family had someone tainted with Demonic Qi, the three sects aside from Returning Immortal Sect were all deliberately avoiding Ji Mingyue. Crimson Sky Sect had even clearly stated in this year’s entrance trial that they would not accept anyone from the Ji Family.

However, Ji Mingyue had never planned to go to any other sect in the first place. She chose Returning Immortal Sect directly, so Crimson Sky Sect’s targeting had no impact at all.

Xu Xianxing did not come from an Immortal Sect clan to begin with. The Xu family’s financial power overshadowed most noble families, but they only had money. Aside from the sword cultivator patriarch of the clan, he was the only Immortal Sect disciple in his family.

If he were found to have Demonic Qi, then either Returning Immortal Sect, under pressure from the other sects, would expel him and leave him to live or die on his own, or… they would execute him on the spot.

The Immortal Sects had always taken an absolutely intolerant stance toward the demon race. If a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator was polluted and willingly accepted Demonic Qi, it would only strengthen the demon race. No one wanted to see that happen.

Xu Xianxing had escaped this time, but who knew when the next round of demon screening would begin. By then it would truly be too late.

She had to clear the Demonic Seed from his body before that.

Lian Mu’s gaze darkened slightly and she immediately said, “Team Leader Ying, I have something to take care of. Could you step outside for a bit?”

Hearing this, Ying You turned around without hesitation. “Rest well. While the salve is taking effect, it’s best not to move around too much.”

Fast-healing medicine emphasized one thing: speed.

Of course, it had its drawbacks. Because the flesh grew too quickly, if you moved around during the healing period, the new flesh could grow crooked.

“There might be one more thing I need to ask of you.” Lian Mu said.

Ying You waited for her to continue. He heard her say, “Guard the door for me. Don’t let anyone, or anything, come in.”

She pulled a talisman from her bloodstained clothes and handed it to him. “Use it to set up a barrier around here.”

As soon as his fingertips brushed the bloodstained talisman paper, the mark at his wrist grew faintly hot.

Lian Mu lifted her eyes and met his gaze. “I’ll have to bother you.”

Ying You blinked and turned his head slightly to the side. “… It’s fine.”

After he left, Lian Mu used her spiritual power to probe the surroundings. Only after she sensed the barrier had settled over the area did she finally relax.

She got out of bed, found an empty spot, took out her alchemy furnace, and drew a deep breath.

The conditions were a bit crude, but this was the best she could do.

She did not know when the others would return. Worried that she would be interrupted halfway, she had asked Ying You to keep watch outside.

Refining a new Demon Cleansing Pill could not be delayed. The wounds on her body were still knitting together, and she did not want to go all the way back to her own quarters, so she decided to deal with it right here.

…

…

Outside the camp, once the barrier was raised, Ying You took up guard at the entrance.

He sat down with his sword in his arms on a patch of open ground, letting the cold wind blow over him, looking rather desolate.

The Flying Swan Sword Spirit, which had been peck, peck, pecking about outside, caught sight of him and came running over. It stretched out its long neck, bit the lock of hair hanging down, and gave it a tug.

Ying You pinched its long neck and said coolly, “Do not mess around today.”

The Big White Goose tilted its head and gave two loud honks.

Listening to its rough, ringing calls, Ying You sounded a bit helpless. “You are not like this in front of her.”

A low sound rumbled in the Big White Goose’s throat. Ying You was naturally attuned to his sword, so he understood perfectly what it was saying.

“I know, you like her a lot.” Ying You gathered the big goose into his arms and stroked its wings. “But she is my master, not yours.”

The Big White Goose’s eyes went wide. “Ga!”

“…Enough.”

Man and goose chatted away as if no one else existed, completely unaware that a large scorpion was approaching.

Green Bean was stopped by the barrier. With a bundle strapped to its back, it sprawled blankly in front of the shimmering boundary.

Unable to force its way in, it could only turn its gaze to Ying You. Not far away, the Big White Goose stretched out its neck and spotted it.

In an instant, its feathers puffed up. It opened its beak in a show of dominance.

Green Bean ignored it completely. Its pincers tapped at Ying You, then turned toward the barrier, signaling for him to let it through.

Only then did Ying You notice it when he turned around. He frowned. “…”

When did it get here?

Impossible. He had not sensed it approaching at all just now.

For something to slip past his senses, the only possibility was…

Ying You could not help studying it as he said, “She said no one and nothing is allowed inside. That includes you.”

Green Bean clicked its pincers together. Ying You noticed the bundle on its back and took it off. “Wait here for a while.”

Seeing that he refused to let it pass, Green Bean flicked its tail stinger and went to knock on the barrier itself.

Ying You did not stop it. On the contrary, he watched it intently from beginning to end.

The next moment, Water Spiritual Power surged in his hand. A bead of water shot toward the Black Scorpion.

The Black Scorpion paused for a breath. Sensing the danger at its back, just as the water bead was about to strike, a patch of its black carapace suddenly turned to mist, and the bead passed harmlessly through.

With a sharp pull of his will, Ying You recalled it. The bead exploded just before the barrier, shaking the ground and blasting out a massive crater.

The Black Scorpion looked at him. The red eye on its back slowly opened.

The scattered Water Spiritual Power silently wrapped around the Black Scorpion and condensed into tiny droplets on its surface.

The dewdrops showed no reaction. In his arms, the Big White Goose’s feathers fluffed up into a ball, and it honked shrilly.

Ying You’s brows knit slightly. “You are… a Demonic Creature?”

The Black Scorpion said nothing. It raised its tail stinger at him in a warning. After the black mist drifted apart, it gathered again and reformed its original shell.

An immortal body. That was a trait only high-rank Demonic Creatures possessed.

The doubt in Ying You’s eyes grew heavy. Once he was sure it was not an ordinary demonic beast Spirit Pet, he drew his sword from its sheath.

“You have been staying at her side as a Demonic Creature, yet no one noticed. It seems you have been hiding your Demonic Qi very well.”

Even he had only just realized that something was wrong.