CBGC - ch160

Chapter 160: Telling Stories

"Do you like me?" The person in his arms smiles, her eyes squinting into slits. There’s a dimple that appears as bright as sunlight. Her hand remains around his neck.

Bai Su's limbs stiffen. He wants to toss the person in his arms away, but... He feels reluctant.

After laying her flat on the bed, Bai Su sits by the bedside, quietly looking at her. "You are seriously injured. Rest well."

At this moment, the sky is filled with rolling dark clouds, as if someone has splashed ink on it. The room is dimly lit. After speaking, he rises and walks to the table, lighting a lamp.

The lamp, taken from his storage treasure, has a plain antique bronze base with a wick made from grass leaves. It looks ordinary, but once lit, the faint light illuminates the room, casting shadows throughout, accompanied by a subtle, exotic fragrance.

Bai Su then takes out a qin and says softly, "The wind is strong and the rain is fierce. Let me play a piece for you." His slender fingers press against the strings, and for a moment, a warlike melody resonates.

The sound is grand, like the clash of iron cavalry and weapons; the sound is high, like the clear wind, the bright moon, and the cranes crying in the sky. The melody's fierce aura becomes apparent, and Bai Su's face turns pale, with blood seeping from his fingers.

Su Tingyun, unable to control her body or speak, knows Bai Su wouldn’t do this without reason, but she can't stop him at this moment. She can only sigh in her sea of consciousness, "Life is unbearable."

"Then why don't you die?" Xuanyuan Wentian sneers, his gray shadow arrogant and hideous.

"You’d really kill yourself over such a small matter?" His voice changes as he shouts, wishing he could crush Su Tingyun into pieces. How can there be someone so shameless! He can suppress her and make her suffer, but he can't stop her from dying because this is her Dantian sea of consciousness, and he currently has no body to reside in. He’s only able to stay in her Dantian sea of consciousness.

Xuanyuan Wentian claps his hands, then leans half on the bed. "Stop playing. The melody is good, but you’re too naïve to think that you can bind my soul."

"You silently lit the soul-drawing incense and paired it with a soul-binding artifact. In this lower realm where the power of the strong is limited, even a high-level cultivator's soul cannot withstand it. But unfortunately, I am not a high-level cultivator."

After speaking, she shifts over and sits up. Since she’s positioned away from the edge of the bed, only her calves and feet are outside of it. Suddenly, Xuanyuan Wentian remarks, "Your legs are really short."

His memory has become blurry. The pressure of the heavenly rules on his soul causes it to weaken bit by bit and his memory to fade. Yet he desperately tries to remember that person's name, remembering she was also short. And he thinks he’s also told her, "Your legs are really short."

"What do you want?" Bai Su turns, speaking coldly.

"Not much. I’ve only been staying in this vessel for a few days. How did you find out?" Xuanyuan Wentian crosses his arms over his chest, feeling something is wrong, while Bai Su's expression grows colder. "I can't drive your soul out of her body, indicating your soul's strength far exceeds mine. In that case, you could easily destroy her soul."

Bai Su coughs, "And the fact that you haven't done so means you need this vessel and can't let her die. Am I right?" He smiles faintly, "So, you have no reason to be arrogant."

Xuanyuan Wentian suddenly coughs and speaks in a low voice, "Bai Su, how did you know? He doesn't dare kill me."

Su Tingyun: "..."

Xuanyuan Wentian's soul is strong enough to fool anyone, so now he plans to disguise himself as her. Others definitely won’t be able to tell the difference. Unfortunately, she can't warn them and has no idea what excessive actions Xuanyuan Wentian might take.

"These people are very important to me. If you dare harm them, I'll die just to spite you," Su Tingyun says fiercely.

Xuanyuan Wentian simply walks up to Bai Su, saying anxiously, "Your hand is still bleeding. You can’t use your spiritual energy. Let me help stop the bleeding."

Bai Su frowns, "Stop pretending. You're not her."

Xuanyuan Wentian is slightly stunned, then steps back half a step, "How exactly can you tell?"

Su Tingyun is curious too, but feels a bit touched. She didn't expect Bai Su to be able to discern which soul was controlling the body.

At this moment, she suddenly finds that she can move. She channels her spiritual energy to regulate her body and says, "Bai Su, I'm temporarily fine. The one inside my body is a great demon. If I die, it dies too."

"You are seriously injured. Quickly take some medicine and recuperate. Uncle Bai is even more badly hurt. The sect master and the others can't handle his injuries. Go check on him."

After speaking, Su Tingyun takes a tired breath. At this moment, Bai Su nods, "I'll go see Uncle Bai first. Take care of yourself."

"He really can tell us apart," Xuanyuan Wentian says, puzzled.

Su Tingyun sits down on a chair. Although the pill Bai Su gave her is good, it requires the circulation of spiritual energy to work. Her soul is even more severely damaged, and even though the demon energy nourishes her, it only prevents her soul from dissipating. Su Tingyun takes the soul-stabilizing pill and slowly descends the pavilion.

"I need to greet my master and the others. Don't cause any trouble. As I said, living is hard, but dying is easy. You can use my body to hide from the Heavenly Dao, but if you cause trouble and do evil, we'll die together."

Su Tingyun slowly goes down the pavilion stairs, saying, "You've been fleeing for millions of years. You must be tired. Now you have a safe haven. I believe you're a smart demon and know what to choose."

"Heh, you're trying to threaten and entice me?" Xuanyuan Wentian has been outside, dissipating bit by bit, even losing his memories. Only inside this body can he truly be at peace. So he knows Su Tingyun is right.

She's ruthless to herself, so ruthless that he concedes.

If it were before, Xuanyuan Wentian wouldn't lose. However, with a name he doesn't want to forget in his heart, he now has a weakness. The once fierce and high demon now fears and dreads.

Fears forgetting, fears not being himself anymore.

Xuanyuan Wentian remains silent. Although he doesn't agree to cooperate, he also doesn’t forcibly control Su Tingyun's body anymore.

Every now and then, he would suddenly say, "A mere Human Immortal, an ant, not worth a strike."

Su Tingyun ignores him, letting the demon lord have his verbal victory. It’s better than him seizing control and doing disgusting things.

Previously, lightning struck the pavilion directly. Liu Feizhou tries to approach but finds a barrier outside the pavilion, preventing him from getting through. Now, seeing Su Tingyun emerge from the pavilion, he breathes a slight sigh of relief.

However, upon noticing her pale face and exhausted expression, with her soul weak, he becomes worried again. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How is Uncle Bai?" Su Tingyun waves her hand, indicating she is okay, and then asks about Uncle Bai's condition.

"He is seriously injured," Liu Feizhou replies. Beyond that, he doesn't know much. Although he is the best alchemist here besides Su Tingyun, he is indifferent to others. The sudden appearance of the Uncle from the Bai family is of little concern to him, as they have no connection.

Therefore, Liu Feizhou doesn't stay by Uncle Bai's side but remains guarding Su Tingyun's pavilion, worried about her safety.

"I'll go take a look."

Su Tingyun, with her weakened consciousness, cannot use her divine sense to scan, so she slowly walks over. Seeing Uncle Bai lying on the grass, covered in blood, makes her heart skip a beat.

Xuanyuan Wentian comments, "He won't die. Although the Heavenly Dao is powerful, he hasn't done anything to seriously violate the laws, and he stopped in time. That lightning was just to remind him of the rules. Though he's heavily injured, it's not fatal." Xuanyuan Wentian knows best about defying the Heavenly Dao.

Su Tingyun responds, "But he looks terrible."

He is covered in blood, and his clothes are in tatters. There‘s a deep wound on his back, as if slashed by a divine sword—deep enough to see his bones.

"He has already used medicine. Such a small injury is nothing," Xuanyuan Wentian snorts. He’s endured daily torture and doesn't find this situation pitiful by his standards. He's never felt so relaxed.

These human cultivators are so useless. If he were human, he would be a deity by now.

Su Tingyun doesn't know if Uncle Bai has woken up. She sees Bai Su frowning, instructing everyone to move Uncle Bai to the base of the Divine Tree, and telling the Sect Leader to take good care of him. Only then does he glance at Su Tingyun and nod to her.

Xuanyuan Wentian supplements, "He woke up and told Bai Su to exaggerate his injuries so the Sect Leader would take better care of him."

Uncle Bai and Bai Su communicated through sound transmission, which Su Tingyun couldn't hear. However, these secret transmissions are completely transparent to Xuanyuan Wentian.

The Sect Leader can't bear to place Uncle Bai directly on the ground of the Divine Tree, so she fetches a soft mat to lay him on. She doesn’t strip Uncle Bai’s clothes herself but calls Zhan Yu and others to help— as a direct result, Uncle Bai wakes up weakly and says, "Thank you, I'll do it myself."

Su Tingyun: "..."

Seeing that Uncle Bai is fine and Bai Su is not badly injured, Su Tingyun decides to go back and rest. Her injuries are the most severe, making her dizzy and unsteady. Others can't help much, so Liu Feizhou returns to his cultivation after seeing her go inside. He has been cultivating tirelessly for the past ten years, but it still isn't enough.

Even though he's about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, he still feels distant from her.

Back in the pavilion, Su Tingyun returns to her ring to cultivate, closing her eyes to rest while her spiritual energy slowly circulates within her.

Now, Big Bai and Little Bai are no longer suppressed. Big Bai cries out and pounces at Xuanyuan Wentian. Then, the remant soul of the young dragon rushes at him and persistently bites him. Xuanyuan Wentian simply lies on the ground, letting them attack him. Finally, the gray mist flickers, "Have you had enough?"

He’s been enduring daily torment from the Heavenly Dao, so these attacks from the Word Spirit and a Sword Spirit are like a gentle tickle, causing no harm.

Big Bai tires out and flattens out like a puddle. After a while, Little Bai suddenly speaks, "Are you an ancient demon god?"

"Yes."

"Is a demon god just mist? Don't you have hands, feet, or a body?"

Who says I don't! Xuanyuan Wentian manifests a form, but the surroundings remain pitch black. Although tall with hands and feet, his features are indistinct, still like a shadow.

"You've lived so long, you must know many stories, right?" Little Bai continues. As it speaks, Big Bai chimes in, "Yeah, tell us a story."

Xuanyuan Wentian: "Get lost."

Littlle Bai: "I can trade stories with you."

Xuanyuan Wentian: "Keep being noisy, and I'll destroy you." He can't kill the Word Spirit, but destroying the young soul of the Orchid Tongue Grass would be easy.

Little Bai laughs wickedly, "I'll tell you the story of E Changguang."

Xuan Yuan Wentian: "..."

He snorts coldly, "You first."

After Su Tingyun completes a cycle of spiritual energy circulation, she discovers Big Bai and Little Bai sitting together with the demon Xuanyuan Wentian… chatting?

Is she seeing things...