Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 326 My Dear Sister
Instead of going under the alchemy room, she used a trick to head straight for the west side of the Heavenly Pool at the mountaintop, intending to pass under the pool. If Li Wuxiang wanted to intercept her at the entrance of the alchemy room, in the middle of the waterway, he could have detected it beforehand.

Concealing her presence, she rushed straight to the sky above the Heavenly Lake. Instead of immediately diving into the water, she first released her divine sense to scan the surroundings in case of an ambush… and then discovered that there seemed to be an ambush!

Each sect has different cultivation methods and different routes for circulating true energy, resulting in slight differences in their auras. At her Nascent Soul stage, she was very sensitive to such things, and thus immediately detected that it was an extremely faint Sword Sect true energy hidden in a red maple forest on the west shore of the great lake.

Well, Li Wuxiang really made the right bet—he might leave from the alchemy room, or he might leave from here, and he just happened to be waiting here!

Before seeing him today, Tong Xu would have gambled one more time on whether he had discovered her. But having witnessed his methods before, she was too lazy to even gamble—he must have realized she was on the lake.

She paused briefly in mid-air, gave a cold laugh, and revealed herself, landing beside the red maple forest with her back to the white sandy shore of the lake. She called out loudly, "I guessed right. Some things are better left unsaid. Li Wuxiang, with your cultivation level, is there any need for you to hide your true colors?"

Her shouts revealed their location, and the people in the maple forest indeed came out.

Tong Xu was slightly taken aback… It wasn’t Li Wuxiang inside, but the little girl beside him—the maple forest by Tianchi Lake was made of dwarf maples, their leaves as red as fire. And this little girl, dressed in a gray Taoist robe, walked out from there and stood only three or four steps away from her, as if she had emerged from fire. She smiled at her: “Sect Leader Tong, I am not Li Wuxiang.”

Tong Xu didn't speak, but instead released his divine sense again, but he didn't find anyone else around the girl.

She knew Li Wuxiang must be nearby, but she didn't know why she had summoned this young girl. Knowing she couldn't leave today, she gave a cold laugh: "Li Wuxiang, why don't you say what you have to say yourself, instead of having her do it?"

Xue Baoping stood still: "He's not nearby; it's just me here. Sect Leader Tong, you've lost too much blood, shouldn't you get it bandaged?"

What's going on? Are they using this "playing hard to get" tactic?
She often used this tactic herself, but she never expected that one day someone would use it on her.

Tong Xu stared coldly at Xue Baoping, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "What, do you think that by getting you close to me, you can capture me alive?"

Xue Baoping shook her head: "I just wanted to bandage you up. He really isn't here."

Tong Xu was too lazy to say anything more. After a moment, he suddenly took a step back and sat on a rock by the lake: "You two are really in high spirits. Since you're in such a good mood, I'm not in a hurry. Alright, little girl, do you dare to come over?"

Xue Baoping did not hesitate and slowly walked behind her. Tong Xu turned her body slightly to the side and looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

Nascent Soul cultivators are no longer afraid of heat or cold; clothing is merely for covering their bodies. Tong Xu, being beautiful, pays a little more attention to her attire, and today she wears a light yellow robe.

When Yin Yi stabbed her in the back, her internal energy circulated and her flesh and blood condensed on their own, allowing her to push the blade out while dodging to the side. As a result, the blade left a long tear in her clothing. The subsequent use of her supernatural powers to create a gust of wind further widened the tear. Therefore, when Xue Baoping approached from behind, she saw the wound—it was quite deep; she wasn't sure if she had reached the shoulder blade. However, this large wound wasn't turned outwards but remained tightly closed, with blood slowly seeping from it.

She took out a small jade bottle from her bosom, uncorked it, and said, "This is Golden Jade Elixir. Sect Leader Tong should be able to smell it, right?"

Tong Xu said, "Now, with just a thought, I can kill you instantly."

Xue Baoping smiled and said, "I don't think you can do it—Sect Leader, don't be nervous, I'm going to apply the medicine."

As she spoke, she slightly tilted the jade bottle, from which a drop of golden, mercury-like liquid rolled out. Upon landing on the wound, it seeped inwards and formed a thin film on the outside, instantly stopping the bleeding.

Xue Baoping plugged the cork and walked up to Tong Xu, saying, "Alright. Sect Leader Tong, you may leave now."

When applying the medicine, Tong Xu had already circulated his inner energy, knowing it was genuine Golden Jade Elixir, without any additives. Hearing Xue Baoping's words, he was momentarily stunned, but his face remained calm, uttering only one word: "Leave?"

Xue Baoping sighed: "We didn't mean to stop you, nor did we mean to kill you. He really isn't here. I was the one who told him that perhaps he could persuade you."

Tong Xu stared at Xue Baoping for a while, then looked around and suddenly smiled slightly: "Oh, I understand."

"What do you unserstand?"

She looked Xue Baoping up and down again, then shook her head: "What, do you think that taking a risk and doing something for him like this means I'm no longer a furnace cauldron?"

Xue Baoping remained calm: "I don't understand what you mean by 'furnace,' but I know it's not a good thing. Whatever it is, Sect Leader Tong, you've probably misunderstood."

Tong Xu looked at her with a slightly mocking smile: "You've cultivated to the Qi Refining stage for several years, even more than a decade, of hard work. Don't you understand what a furnace/cauldron means? Little girl, if I were you, I would have given up on this idea as soon as possible. I would even hope that he could find someone prettier and more talented than you soon. Otherwise, if a few more years pass, I'm afraid your fate will be worse than that of an ordinary person dying of old age or illness."

Xue Baoping suddenly laughed: "He's right. Sect Leader Tong, you're not only not bad, you might even have originally been a good person."

Tong Xu sneered: "Stop playing tricks. A good person? You've met me twice, and you even heard me say I was going to send the sect's disciples to be refined into corpse demons, and you still think I'm a good person? Don't give me that. Little girl, whatever your intentions, since I accepted a drop of your Golden Jade Elixir, I'll spare your life for now. But if you utter another word of nonsense, I'll kill you first!"

She stood up after speaking and started to walk into the lake.

But then she heard Xue Baoping say behind her, "When I told him I was coming, he was naturally worried, so just now, before I told you that I was here by myself, he really was here."

“But he told me, ‘I’ll wait for you here. If you attack me when you see me, or even ignore me and ask where I am, it means you’re not very murderous.’ ‘If I offer to bandage your wounds and you don’t immediately refuse, then he’ll be truly relieved and can leave me here alone.’”

Tong Xu suddenly turned around, as if about to attack, but then held back. His cold laugh held a hint of disdain: "What, does he really think he's become an immortal, able to predict the future?"

“It’s not that he was prescient…” Xue Baoping sighed, “Sect Leader Tong, now you should believe that he really won’t stop you, right? Then can you listen to a story?”

"I'm not in the mood—"

"Li Wuxiang's story begins when he met a cultivator from the Tianxin Sect in Deyang," Xue Baoping said.

Tong Xu hesitated for a moment before finishing his sentence, glancing around before saying, "Alright. Since you insist on doing something for him, then tell me. Just don't be afraid of being beaten to death by him when you get back."

Xue Baoping told her about Cheng Peixin's experiences in Deyang. She was quick-witted, articulate, and spoke rapidly, so she quickly explained what happened after Li Wuxiang arrived in Deyang.

Tong Xu listened attentively, hoping to glean something useful from the conversation.

Li Wuxiang is a very mysterious person. His name became known to the public and he reached the Nascent Soul stage in just a few months. However, before that, almost no one had heard of him. This is very strange, considering that he cultivates the Sword Sect's techniques. It would be difficult for such a level of cultivation not to attract the attention of the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect, yet he had remained hidden all along.

However, when Tong Xu heard this little story from Deyang, she knew that the girl must have lied about Li Wuxiang. She didn't mention Li Wuxiang's cultivation level at the time, but judging from the behavior of the Tianxin disciple named Cheng Peixin, she must have thought that Li Wuxiang's cultivation level wasn't high.

But the little girl said that it was something that happened this year—how could anyone become an infant in a year?
After Xue Baoping finished speaking, Tong Xu looked at her calmly: "Are you trying to compare me to Cheng Peixin and advise me not to be like her? Humph, what do you take me for?"

"Ah...no, Sect Leader Tong, what I want to talk about is that you are a good person." Xue Baoping smiled at her. "Don't be in a hurry, listen to me—Li Wuxiang said that when he saw Cheng Peixin using the lifespan of that child in Deyang to invite the true spirit, he knew that he and the Thirty-Six Sects were not on the same side."

"Because he felt that Cheng Peixin had no qualms about using lifespan, treating it as normal and not finding anything wrong with it. But you, I just said you were a good person, yet you asked me if using sect disciples to refine corpse ghosts also makes you a good person? Sect Leader Tong, the fact that you asked that means you know this is wrong. Since you know that, it means you know in your heart what is right and what is wrong."

“Li Wuxiang rarely calls anyone smart; he almost always calls everyone he meets stupid. But today he said twice that you are very smart. Sect Leader Tong, you are a rare smart person, and you know what is right and wrong. So why did you insist on joining the Blood God Cult? I think you must have your own reasons. You haven't actually done it yet, so there's still a way back. Can I ask you what your reasons are?”

Tong Xu suddenly burst into laughter, then stopped laughing and looked at her: "Little girl, do you think you can know what kind of person I am just because you've met a few people? Do you think you can help Li Wuxiang persuade me? Let me tell you, what you're doing right now is stupid! Do you know why it's stupid?"

Xue Baoping shook her head: "I don't know."

Tong Xu wanted to sneer again, but for some reason, she suddenly felt like she didn't want to laugh anymore.

In her eyes, the young girl before her possessed a naive foolishness, which in turn gave rise to a stubbornness. Yet, no matter what she said, the girl remained unmoved, as if she genuinely wanted to do her best to accomplish this task, to win over Li Wuxiang, or to truly care whether she would "turn back."

Tong Xu was somewhat annoyed by her calmness, yet he couldn't bring himself to be angry. He stood there silently for a moment, then finally shook his head: "Stupidity. Now I know what you're so afraid of. You said you wanted to come? And he actually let you? Do you think he'd let you have your way in something this important?"

“Now that you’ve come, I know he truly won’t kill me. Back in that courtyard, I said that if Li Wuxiang were to kill me and Zheng Jingxi without cause, it would definitely bring trouble to the Taiyi Sect. But at that time, I wasn’t entirely sure about his character. Now that you’re here, I understand—he’s even more afraid than I thought, otherwise he wouldn’t have even used you. Go back and tell him—”

Xue Baoping interrupted her: "Sect Leader Tong, you are a smart person, but I think sometimes you think too much... and you're a bit presumptuous."

If she had said that when they first met, Tong Xu knew her anger would have flared up. But now, just as she was about to explode, looking at the young girl in front of her, she found herself unable to muster any anger.

She was standing right in front of me, her brows furrowed slightly, as if the words "being too clever for one's own good" she had just said weren't meant as sarcasm or criticism, but rather as genuine concern.

The setting sun shone on her eyes, turning one of her pupils a yellowish-brown. The shadows of her eyelashes fell on her cheeks like butterfly wings. Strands of her hair gently brushed against her clean, white face and full, moist lips in the breeze…

Tong Xu suddenly sighed inwardly, remembering herself at that age. Looking at her, at the autumn colors covering the mountains, at the fiery red maple leaves, she finally softened her voice: "How could I have been so presumptuous?"

"I'm seventeen this year, almost eighteen," Xue Baoping said. "Actually, I've only been cultivating for a few months, practicing the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter of the Sword Sect. The reason I was able to refine Qi so quickly is because I ate 'Three Flowers Gathering at the Top'—that kind of spiritual medicine that can make a person's aptitude better. It was found for me by Li Wuxiang, and he himself didn't use it."

Tong Xu smiled and shook his head: "He seized the treasure of the Tianxin Sect, and he was quite generous. But the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top medicine is probably nothing to him—anyone who can cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm has consumed countless such rare and precious herbs."

“He’s about eighteen years old too. Maybe a little younger than me… sixteen or seventeen? Senior Sister Tong, I really don’t know what you mean by ‘furnace’, but I guess you think I was used by him to practice his skills. But that’s not the case—I saved his life, so we’ve been relying on each other and keeping each other company in this world.”

“It’s true that I came because I wanted to. It’s also true that he didn’t want to kill you… It’s not that he was afraid, but that he didn’t want to. He said there are few smart people and few good people in this world, and he guessed that you, Senior Sister Tong, were infatuated with the word ‘love.’ That’s why I wanted to come and ask you for advice.”

Tong Xu heard Xue Baoping's next few words. But only the first sentence remained in her mind—

Around eighteen years old? Sixteen or seventeen?
What does that mean? Is this "age" the same as the "age" she understands?

(End of this chapter)