The demon race, the demon race—always the demon race, why is everything always about the demon race?
A great demon is standing right in front of you—how is it you never notice?
Cheng Xueyi watched Fu Xiaoran in bewilderment. He was furious, visibly on edge—though he stood rooted in place without moving, his small fidgeting motions never stopped, and just watching him made her anxious on his behalf.
Then she looked at Shen Nanyin. No matter how urgent the situation, he remained the same—neither warm nor cold, neither grieving nor rejoicing.
She thought she was starting to understand why Yu Buran disliked this Eldest Senior Brother of his.
He was a little too composed.
His unhurried, unruffled manner, present at every moment, made the person burning with anxiety beside him look like a fool by comparison.
But no one would take that to mean he didn’t care, or didn’t take the matter seriously.
Soon Shen Nanyin spoke. “I’ll keep the sleeve. I’ll be the one to search for her. Saint Son and Senior Brother Ye have been exhausted for days now—rest at Qiantian Sect for a few days.”
At those words, the tension in Fu Xiaoran’s body eased at once—that was pure trust in Shen Nanyin’s personal ability.
But he had no intention of resting. “I’m going with you. I can’t rest. As long as I don’t see Jinghua, as long as I have no news of her, I won’t have a moment’s peace.”
Shen Nanyin didn’t refuse. “Very well. Then Saint Son will set out with me.”
He swept his gaze over the disciples of the various sects gathered there. “Those of you who should cultivate, go cultivate. Those who should rest, go rest. Disperse.”
Cheng Xueyi was standing among the crowd, one of those his gaze passed over.
His mild eyes swept past her without lingering a moment longer than on anyone else—as if, in his mind, she was no different from anyone else present.
…This man really did have a habit of making her feel just the tiniest bit defeated.
But she would absolutely never doubt herself over it.
The disciples gradually dispersed. Time was pressing—Fu Jinghua had already been missing for days. Shen Nanyin didn’t go in person to report to Jingci Fazong; he sent a transmission talisman to inform them, then set out at once with Fu Xiaoran.
Cheng Xueyi immediately chased after them. “Eldest Senior Brother!”
Shen Nanyin’s steps paused, but he didn’t turn around. Fu Xiaoran, however, looked over, his bloodshot eyes unfriendly.
He’d left his sister’s side for the sole purpose of sending her to Water Cloud Expanse.
She’d kicked him off Water Cloud Expanse, and it had taken him a long while to climb back up, delaying his return to his sister’s side.
And he’d already fulfilled the promise the two of them had made at the cliff’s edge—yet she was still hovering around Shen Nanyin, and now she was even blocking his path. Was she trying to stop him?
Fu Xiaoran was just about to speak when he heard Cheng Xueyi say, “Something’s happened to the Saintess. I want to help search too!”
Shen Nanyin’s brow furrowed.
Fu Xiaoran said at once, “What use would you be going? Just dead weight. Stay here—I’ll settle accounts with you when I get back!”
As for what accounts exactly, only the two of them knew.
Nothing more than the debt of Cheng Xueyi going back on her word.
Shen Nanyin glanced at Fu Xiaoran, not privy to whatever this debt was. He only said, “This concerns the demonic race—the road ahead is dangerous. Junior Sister Cheng has only just formed her core. Stay and cultivate within the sect. The Saintess will be fine.”
Fu Xiaoran couldn’t help but say, “Jinghua had better be fine. Otherwise you won’t be able to escape responsibility.”
Shen Nanyin showed no sign of intending to escape anything. This man really did say a lot of useless things. BlackLotus Novel Translations · Black Lotus
Cheng Xueyi wasn’t about to give up so easily. She spoke up eagerly. “The Saintess invited me to ride her flying boat—I’d be grateful if Saint Son would escort me to Water Cloud Expanse. What happened to her came right after Saint Son went to help me, so however you look at it, I bear some responsibility. If I can’t help, I won’t be able to cultivate in peace back at the sect either.”
Her righteous, high-minded manner left Fu Xiaoran momentarily speechless. He held back for a moment, then said with difficulty, “So you do have a shred of conscience.”
“I have plenty of conscience!” Cheng Xueyi said at once. “Just let me go along with Saint Son. One more person is one more pair of hands. Stop always looking down on my cultivation level—I’m not brainless, you know, my head works just fine!”
That left Fu Xiaoran somewhat at a loss for how to respond.
He hesitated, glancing repeatedly at Shen Nanyin, unsure how to handle this.
Shen Nanyin had been staring at Cheng Xueyi this whole time. Though he said nothing, his gaze carried unmistakable presence, and its meaning was clear enough.
Go back.
Behave.
But Cheng Xueyi simply wouldn’t listen—she wouldn’t even meet his eyes, as if by avoiding his gaze, his silent warning simply ceased to exist.
“Don’t dawdle and waste time. Let’s go, Saint Son!”
Cheng Xueyi swept Fu Xiaoran along and left directly.
“Wait—”
Fu Xiaoran turned back to look at Shen Nanyin. Shen Nanyin gave Cheng Xueyi one last glance, then said flatly, “Let’s go.”
Excellent.
It had worked.
What Cheng Xueyi was best at was shameless persistence and twisting black into white. As a child, she’d matched wits time and again with her father and other members of the demonic race—losing at first, but winning most of the time later on. Even the demonic race couldn’t handle her, let alone a gentleman like Shen Nanyin.
The moment you turned truly shameless, the only option left to him was force—and there was nothing else he could do.
And with Fu Xiaoran right there watching, he could hardly resort to force.
She had him exactly where she wanted him.
She’d long wanted to find out more about the demonic race, and this was too good a chance to pass up—she could get a close-up look at what this so-called “demonic race” in the present world actually was, where they’d come from, and at the same time find an opportunity to needle Shen Nanyin into another trip to Heart-Devouring Valley. Simply perfect.
And besides, she genuinely was worried about Fu Jinghua. The Saintess wasn’t a bad person, and if something had really happened to her, Cheng Xueyi would truly feel guilty about it.
She herself was a demon—if Fu Jinghua’s disappearance really did have something to do with the demonic race, she could definitely help.
The only tricky part was that Shen Nanyin was, once again, angry.
To move faster, they set out this time by sword-flight. As a disciple of Qiantian Sect, Cheng Xueyi naturally had to follow Shen Nanyin. Fu Xiaoran’s sour expression changed nothing—was he supposed to pull her onto his own sword instead?
…That actually didn’t seem entirely out of the question.
Just as he opened his mouth to suggest it, Shen Nanyin had already set off.
He hadn’t even said where they were searching, and yet he’d already departed. He’d only just received the news himself—how could he already have a plan?
She’d always heard Yu Buran grumble sarcastically about how this direct disciple of his always “went it alone” and schemed everything out ahead of time. Looks like it was true.
Fu Xiaoran chased tightly after Shen Nanyin, but still couldn’t quite keep pace.
Even at his level of cultivation, there was still a gap between his sword-flight and Shen Nanyin’s. Before long he could only track the other man’s direction by the trailing sword intent he left behind.
Faster was better, though—the sooner they found Jinghua!
Cheng Xueyi also thought there was nothing wrong with Shen Nanyin going fast, though he flew ahead of her, leaving her behind, neither looking at her nor acknowledging her—how to put it… he really had learned well from her own playbook!
“Eldest Senior Brother.” Cheng Xueyi caught up to fly beside him, trying to smooth things over. “Don’t be angry anymore, all right? I really am worried about the Saintess. That’s why I wanted to come along.”
Shen Nanyin gave no reaction at all, his expression blank as he flew his sword onward.
Cheng Xueyi tried again. “Eldest Senior Brother, I know it’s dangerous, but isn’t that exactly why you’re here? And I’m not as weak as you all think—I just absorbed a Spirit Dragon Pill, I feel like I could take on ten people!”
Shen Nanyin’s sword-flight only sped up further.
Not good—since when did coaxing someone backfire like this?
Cheng Xueyi leaned in close, hanging onto his shoulder to get near his ear. Shen Nanyin had positioned her behind him; for her to keep her footing she had to lean against him, so none of this contact could really be refused.
Not until Cheng Xueyi got close to his ear and said, low, “Keep being angry, and I really will kiss you.”
Shen Nanyin turned to look at her at once. Their eyes met, and in his gaze she saw the same calm coldness as always, plus a trace of bone-deep exhaustion—and the teasing, dismissive urge in her slowly faded away. — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Translation | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
“…I’m worried about you.”
She said, suddenly serious, “How long has it even been since you got back from Wangmu Mountain? To avoid suspicion about me, you won’t even go to Bishui Palace for treatment—you’re bearing it alone, and your injuries still haven’t healed. On top of that, the whip wounds on your back are still raw and torn open, and you’ve been running yourself ragged for days on end without rest. How could I possibly feel at ease letting you go face unknown dangers all by yourself?”
As she spoke, Cheng Xueyi’s eyes reddened.
She pressed her lips together, drew a soft breath, and said, “Even if you keep rejecting me, you really have been so good to me. I can’t make myself let go of you—I can’t help worrying about you. I can’t just sit at the sect waiting for you. I only feel at ease when I’m by your side.”
She looked like she was about to cry. Shen Nanyin gazed at her quietly, waiting for the tears to fall.
Cheng Xueyi’s hand, gripping his shoulder, paused for a moment, tightening without her realizing it, her reddened eyes quickly brimming with tears.
But she tilted her head back, putting distance between them, refusing to let the tears fall after all.
“Eldest Senior Brother, I won’t slow you down. Please don’t hate having me around, okay?”
That wronged, choked tone finally made Shen Nanyin close his eyes, then turn his head back around.
Cheng Xueyi silently counted a few beats in her head before she heard him say, slowly, “I’ve never looked down on you. And there’s no way I’d think you’re dead weight.”
“Junior Sister Cheng, you have no idea what dangers we might face—it could be far worse than anything you saw at Wangmu Mountain. You’re young, and you’re a woman. A matter like this shouldn’t drag you into it.”
It was for this same reason that he held some resistance toward Fu Xiaoran as well, which was why he’d left the man far behind, leaving only a trace of sword energy to mark the direction.
Cheng Xueyi bit her lip and said nothing. Shen Nanyin went on, “You don’t need to put on an act of being so upset either. I know you’re not the type to cry over something like this. There’s no need to force yourself.”
“…” Had she been seen through?
Cheng Xueyi looked up, but Shen Nanyin had already turned his gaze forward again.
“You’ve already come this far, I’m not about to send you back halfway. From here on, Junior Sister, you’ll need to keep up with me closely. However I brought you out here, that’s how I’ll bring you back.” He paused, then said quietly, “As for those insincere words—you don’t need to force yourself to say them either.”
What did he mean by “insincere words”?
The words of concern for him? Or the words of worry for Fu Jinghua?
Cheng Xueyi fell silent for a moment, then said, “I really do want to help find the Saintess. And I really can help.”
Shen Nanyin acknowledged that much. “I know.”
Neither of them spoke again after that.
So that part was real. Then what was the fake part?
Nothing but those choked-up words about him.
Shen Nanyin’s brow stayed knit tight as he searched the ground below the clouds with focused attention, the half-sleeve still in hand.
Cheng Xueyi stood behind him. After a long while, she finally said, “I also really do want to be with you.”
Shen Nanyin’s spine went rigid.
Words that were completely, utterly true—Cheng Xueyi said them calmly and directly. “Right now there isn’t a single moment I want to be apart from you. If I could shrink and grow at will, I’d want to become as small as a peach, so you could keep me tucked away in your pocket, by your side day and night.”
But what exactly she was trying to accomplish by clinging to him like this—that was another matter entirely.
“We’re here.”
Shen Nanyin’s two words cut off their exchange. Cheng Xueyi didn’t mind in the least, and turned her attention seriously to the place they’d arrived at.
An endless expanse of snow-covered mountains, white as far as the eye could see.
?
This place was—
“Why did you bring us back to Desireless Heavenly Palace?” Fu Xiaoran caught up, asking in bewilderment. BlackLotus Translation — Black Lotus Novel
So this was Desireless Heavenly Palace?
The snowy mountains stretched on without end. Though it wasn’t snowing, there wasn’t a single palace or tower in sight—not a single person, either.
Where was the heavenly palace?
Cheng Xueyi found out soon enough.
Golden light rippled across the edge of the sky, and a ladder to receive them descended from the heavens. Shen Nanyin walked in front, his steps steady, giving off a powerful sense of reliability.
“The Saintess is here,” he said, tossing the half-sleeve back to Fu Xiaoran. “Saint Son searched the entire cultivation world, lacking only a trip into Heart-Devouring Valley to find her—never once suspecting the Saintess might be within the Heavenly Palace itself. Naturally you never came back to check.”
Fu Xiaoran stood frozen for a moment, then snapped back to himself and pressed, “Daoist Lord True Martial, I told you—whoever took my sister should be from the demonic race. This half-sleeve I found has demonic energy on it.”
Shen Nanyin stepped onto the heavenly ladder and turned back amid the shimmering golden light. “The Saintess’s presence is right here. I would never be mistaken about that. If Saint Son doesn’t believe me, you’re welcome to go to Qiantian Sect, request the token from Master, and personally make a trip into Heart-Devouring Valley yourself—see whether the demonic race trapped in there could possibly get out, and whether they’d have the strength left to act against anyone even if they did.”
Fu Xiaoran said, somewhat agitated, “You shouldn’t have built something like Heart-Devouring Valley in the first place! Why not just kill every last one of that demonic race and be rid of the trouble for good?”
Cheng Xueyi turned her head sharply to look at him. Fu Xiaoran flinched under her gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Cheng Xueyi said flatly, “You’re supposed to be the Saint Son, and yet the moment you open your mouth it’s ‘kill them all’ and ‘be rid of the trouble for good’? With that kind of talk and temperament, you’re nowhere near living up to the word ‘Saint.'”
“Compared to you, my Eldest Senior Brother looks a good deal more ‘saintly.'”
“…” Fu Xiaoran frowned. “I’m not the only one who thinks so, either—plenty of people think Qiantian Sect’s Demon-Suppressing Tower and Heart-Devouring Valley are pointless overreach. Forget it, I don’t want to argue this with you.”
He caught up to Shen Nanyin. “Daoist Lord True Martial, you said my sister is in the Heavenly Palace—are you serious? Doesn’t that mean there’s a demon inside our own Heavenly Palace?”
Shen Nanyin said, “Anything said before we’ve found her is only speculation, not to be taken as fact. Saint Son needn’t press me on this for now—finding her comes first.”
Fu Xiaoran accepted that, and this time moved even faster than Shen Nanyin.
But after only a few steps, he turned back and said, “Daoist Lord True Martial. Whatever happens with my sister this time, whatever the outcome, you bear responsibility for it. Do you admit that?”
Given that Fu Xiaoran had indeed entrusted her to his care, and he had indeed entrusted her further to Ye Ruobing, leaving with Fu Jinghua’s own consent—and that something had happened to her after that—Shen Nanyin did not deny that he bore some responsibility.
So he nodded once.
Fu Xiaoran said at once, “Since you admit you bear responsibility, then once this is resolved, you need to take responsibility for it.”
Shen Nanyin’s steps stopped. Cheng Xueyi, catching the intent behind his words as well, turned to look along with him.
Fu Xiaoran kept his eyes fixed only on Shen Nanyin. “My sister was kind enough to help you disciples of Qiantian Sect—I even escorted her there myself, and helped her finish the mission Qiantian Sect assigned. And yet you failed to protect her. She got hurt, went missing, and to this day we still don’t know how she is.”
“Even if you save her in the end, she’ll still have suffered wrong and fright—and maybe worse.”
Just the thought of it left Fu Xiaoran unable to forgive either himself or Shen Nanyin. Even as he blamed himself, he was furious at Shen Nanyin too. Of course he wanted his sister found immediately, and everything else could wait—but he also had to think further ahead than that.
He thought of the sacrificial rite for the Desireless Dao, three years from now.
So, suppressing his urgency, he said to Shen Nanyin, brooking no argument, “She’s a woman. It’s rare enough for her to leave the Heavenly Palace at all, and something like this happens the one time she does. She left to help repair your formation array for Qiantian Sect, and went missing helping your outer-sect disciples out of pure kindness. If anything else happened to her—”
“Just say what you mean, Saint Son,” Shen Nanyin said flatly. “Don’t waste time.”
Let alone keep dragging Cheng Xueyi’s part in this into it again and again.
Xueyi glanced at him, her hand resting on the silver bell at her waist.
She’d already guessed what Fu Xiaoran was about to say. There was no way Shen Nanyin hadn’t guessed it too.
Sure enough, Fu Xiaoran soon said, “You and Qiantian Sect both owe my sister a debt. Once we find her — whatever state she’s in, whatever may have happened to her — I want you to marry her immediately, and take true, full responsibility for her for the rest of her life.”
