Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 343 Please enter the urn
Li Wuxiang accompanied Xu Pianpian back to the alchemy room. On the way, Xu Pianpian asked him what to do about the demon. Li Wuxiang immediately knew what she wanted to ask—she was afraid that he would go to the crocodile demon again and find out about her.

Li Wuxiang sighed and said to her, "Cultivators shouldn't always think about external matters. Cultivators face many tribulations, and demon cultivators face even more. If you still can't let go of her in your heart and insist on saving her or doing something else, it will affect your future fortune."

"She stole your Great Elixir, and you severely injured her. That's retribution. So we won't interfere with her affairs, and we won't go looking for her again. This way, we can try to sever all ties. Do you understand?"

Li Wuxiang then heard her say reluctantly, "I understand, Master."

She impersonated Hu Wei very well, but in Li Wuxiang's eyes, she could hardly hide her true thoughts. In reality, she was like a teenager who hadn't really grown up pretending to be mature. If you didn't know who she was, you might think her behavior was a little strange, but you wouldn't care.

But once he knew she wasn't human, wasn't Hu Wei, everything became clear. Besides, he had planted the seed of a karmic tribulation of lust in her. This tribulation in cultivators usually manifests slowly, taking at least several months. But in this demon, it seemed to be manifesting very quickly; Li Wuxiang could already feel it clearly.

For example, when the two were walking on the mountain path, if she lagged half a step behind him, Li Wuxiang could feel that she was secretly glancing at him from time to time, and her expression was slightly serious.

This seriousness and curiosity in her eyes were not something Hu Wei was putting on; rather, they were the natural expression of this demon.

Li Wuxiang still remembered that look in her eyes. In the dark night, by the Jinjiang River, he walked ahead, and another little girl walked behind. He could almost still hear the slight clatter of the loose chains on her body as she walked, and the swishing sound of her platform shoes dragging on the ground.

In the city where he used to live, it was almost never windy, so the colorful lights of the bar street on the other side of the Jinjiang River were reflected on the river. He could see the two of them in the water with just a slight turn of his head. That's how the little girl was looking at him.

She seemed puzzled as to why someone who had been so ruthless just moments before had become so peaceful and why he had let her go—and thus, she became curious.

Not knowing what their future held, or whether they should run away immediately—so they became serious.

Li Wuxiang guessed that the demon behind her was thinking something similar. Everything here was new and exciting to her, something she had never experienced before. She felt like a child, having just escaped an environment filled with violence, insults, and threats, and now she felt relaxed and happy. However, unfortunately, she herself had already been tainted by that dark undercurrent.

If she were truly a child, and given enough time, Li Wuxiang felt he might still be able to try observing her. But in just these few days, she had displayed extreme capriciousness and ruthlessness, thus losing his chance.

In a way, she was quite unlucky. But there were too many unlucky people like her in the world, and Li Wuxiang felt he couldn't save them all.

The two, or rather the two demons, walked for about half an hour on the mountain before arriving at the Pill Academy. Li Wuxiang watched her return to her room, then went back to discuss the matter of taking action with Xue Baoping.

This had been planned for a long time, and the location for the operation was chosen to be the Heavenly Pool at the top of Dapan Mountain.

This was, in retrospect, the first time Li Wuxiang had faced an opponent of similar skill level all by himself alone. He had been listening to E Meifeng's conversation, but hadn't caught every single word. However, their conversation sounded like children talking, so by connecting the dots, he managed to understand almost everything.

She was a powerful demon, truly at the Nascent Soul stage. She had only achieved Nascent Soul cultivation thirty years ago, which was exactly the same as the Nascent Soul stage of my Great Calamity Sword Scripture, which was inherently deficient. In terms of physique, she was somewhat similar to me—her self-healing ability was extremely strong. She had boasted to E Meifeng several times that she had only a head or a section of spine left, yet she had always survived.

Another point is her formidable physical strength. Her strength lies in her resilience and durability; she is rarely injured. In this respect, human cultivators are certainly inferior to demons. However, he isn't truly a human, but merely a layer of skin attached to the Golden Wrap. No matter how strong the Golden Wrap is, his physical body is roughly equal.

Besides that, she possessed a supernatural power: the ability to blow wind. She boasted that she could blow a mountain bare in one breath. Li Wuxiang thought this was probably not an exaggeration, but something she could truly do—similar to the ability to control clouds and rain, or stir up storms.

Then there's the string of beads around her neck. That's not just for show; it's probably a magical artifact. This artifact is likely extremely powerful, because even when they were talking about it, she hadn't mentioned it to E Meifeng.

The unbridled actions of two Nascent Soul cultivators would undoubtedly bring immense disaster, so the best place to escape would be far from Mount Dapan. However, Li Wuxiang's goal was not to injure or drive her away, but to capture her. Mount Dapan has a protective array that, once activated, would be difficult even for him to break out of. If this demon were seriously injured, she would have no chance of escape, so he had to stay within the array.

At the top of Tianchi Lake—the vast lake can act as an excellent buffer, perhaps minimizing the extent of the disaster.

The two discussed until late into the night. Li Wuxiang kept an eye on Hu Wei's movements, and Xue Baoping went to Xie Qi to tell him about the matter. Xie Qi immediately went to inform the disciples on the mountain that night, asking them to stay away from the top of Dapan Mountain under the pretext of preparing for the sect's grand ceremony in a few days.

When dawn broke and Xu Pianpian woke up, everything had become quiet.

Before she attained enlightenment, she was very fond of sleeping. After becoming a demon, she no longer needed to sleep as much, but she still regarded sleeping as a kind of enjoyment.

In the past few days, she had to be on guard against Li Wuxiang day and night, and she was awake all night. But last night, it was as if a worry had suddenly disappeared, and she was able to sleep soundly.

She didn't even need to wash up; she opened her eyes, jumped out of bed, and pushed open the door in the blink of an eye. The moment her left foot stepped across the threshold, she had already decided where to go for the day—

But then he saw Li Wuxiang sitting in the courtyard drinking tea.

Xu Pianpian's heart skipped a beat, wondering if he had changed his mind. But then she saw Li Wuxiang smiling at her: "Where are you planning to go today?"

She didn't dare to speak immediately, but carefully observed Li Wuxiang's expression—because if Xu Zhen was sitting there, she might not be able to answer well, and his smile would turn cold the next moment.

"I...I'm going to the mountaintop..."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Going to the top of the mountain is a good idea. You've been on the mountain for so many years, you probably haven't been to the Heavenly Lake much, have you? The scenery there is beautiful. Go there to relax, forget about yesterday, and don't let it ruin your mood."

A sense of ease and joy spread through her heart like a thin mist filling the courtyard, and Xu Pianpian breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Wuxiang is such a good person. She slowly realized that she didn't need to worry about him the way she worried about Xu Zhen. When he smiled, he was smiling; when he frowned, he was frowning. She didn't need to guess or be afraid.

Feeling relieved, she grew bolder and blurted out, "I...I still want to go find, that..."

"That little demon from yesterday?"

Xu Pianpian's heart skipped a beat. But seeing Li Wuxiang put down his teacup, think for a moment, and then nod, she said, "It's a good thing that you still want to find it. It shows that you have a soft heart and are not inherently bad. But you must be careful to protect yourself. After all, the nature of demons is different from that of humans, especially cruel. Don't provoke it."

He even agreed to this. Xu Pianpian felt an even greater sense of ease and joy in her heart. As it increased, it intensified, and as it intensified, it settled down and transformed into a feeling of happiness.

She didn't leave the alchemy hall immediately, but walked up to Li Wuxiang and said, "Master."

"Ok?"

"You... um... do you have a grudge against Sect Leader Tong of the Qingpu Sect?"

Would Hu Wei ask such a question? Xu Pianpian wasn't sure. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't, but she just wanted to ask.

Li Wuxiang didn't seem surprised, and thought for a moment: "It's a bit of a stretch. If I say it is, I ruined her plans by coming to your Dapan Mountain. If I say it isn't, she hasn't harmed anyone I care about without reason, and I haven't harmed her without reason either, so I can say it isn't."

Li Wuxiang glanced at her again as he said this: "But I killed her husband and children—do you know that?"

Xu Pianpian knew this. Yesterday, that little demon called her "Mistress," so she could be considered her child. As for her husband, Xu Zhen was currently her brother, and he said that once she achieved spiritual enlightenment, he would become her husband.

She nodded.

Li Wuxiang laughed: "I didn't know their relationship with Tong Xu when I killed them, and they deserved it. If Sect Leader Tong can be more open-minded, he shouldn't hate me."

Xu Pianpian seized on the second half of the sentence and asked eagerly, "Real person, are you okay with this?"

"What's there to be so optimistic about?"

"Exactly, if someone killed the people around you, could you handle it?"

Li Wuxiang laughed heartily: "Of course he'd be unable to accept it. Everyone around me is a good person; how could he possibly accept killing the good people around him?"

Xu Pianpian only started hearing the terms "good person" and "bad person" frequently after arriving in the Central Plains. However, Xu Zhen told her that good and bad are merely terms used by the weak to distinguish between friend and foe; such concepts are meaningless to the strong.

She had always trusted Xu Zhen's words; at least in the Eastern Continent, everything he said was true. But after coming to the Central Continent, especially after arriving at Dapan Mountain, she felt that some of Xu Zhen's words seemed to have a problem.

Li Wuxiang was considered a strong person, but he called himself a good person. Was being a "good person" really a good thing? She thought so. Because talking to and being with him, this "good person," was very comfortable.

As Xu Pianpian thought this, she noticed Li Wuxiang staring at her. Her heart skipped a beat, wondering if she had given herself away.

But then Li Wuxiang asked, "Hu Wei, do you want to be a good person or a bad person?"

"What a kind person! I'm a good person!"

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Everyone wants to be a good person, and so do bad people. It's easy to be good, and it's easy to be bad; many times it's just a matter of a single thought."

Xu Pianpian felt uncomfortable. Not because of his gaze or tone, but because she didn't know how to respond to Li Wuxiang—even Hu Wei didn't know how to respond. She quickly said, "Um, Master, I'm going up the mountain to play."

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "Go ahead. If you encounter any problems on your way up the mountain, come back and find me."

"Great, it's a real person."

Xu Pianpian immediately left the alchemy room, letting out a huge sigh of relief. She had felt a little unwell earlier, but that discomfort was immediately forgotten after thinking of the little crocodile demon.

Because she had come up with a better way to play—not the way she played in the Eastern Continent, but something similar to what Li Wuxiang did.

She now understood why she wanted to stay by Li Wuxiang's side more—because he wouldn't change his mind. Xu Zhen had some supernatural powers that could make people obedient, and she could do that too. But it was different with Li Wuxiang; he made her feel comfortable, and she didn't want to get angry with him or cause trouble for him.

Now she wanted to test that little demon. She wouldn't treat her the way Xu Zhen treated her, but rather like Li Wuxiang treated her. That way, perhaps she wouldn't care about what happened last night—she had many ways to make herself indifferent, but she wanted to try this one.

She reached the top of Dapan Mountain and ran wildly through the forest the whole way. When she emerged from a patch of maple leaves, her hair and body were covered with colorful leaves and petals.

Finding that little demon isn't difficult at all—last night I blew a breath of "good fortune" into her belly to help her form her core, and now she's blessed. Since she's hiding in the waterway, I'll start searching from the bottom of the Heavenly Pool; I can smell her scent when I get close.

But things were even easier than she had imagined—as soon as she reached the shore, she saw a little girl on the water in the distance and immediately recognized her as the little demon who had been punched by her yesterday.

The crocodile demon's human form was that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old. When she was a demon, her head was long and unlike a human's, so she always wished her head could be rounder. So, after transforming, her head really did become rounder—her two large eyes were slightly spaced apart, somewhat like fish eyes. Her nose was small and slightly upturned, and her mouth was large with slightly upturned corners. Each feature looked rather strange on its own, but when combined and arranged on her face, it actually looked quite cute.

Now she's swimming around on the surface of the water, using both her hands and feet, looking clumsy and stupid, as if she's forgotten how to swim.

Xu Pianpian chuckled at her foolishness and jumped into the water, rushing towards her and splashing two white waves high on the surface: "Hey! Hey! I'm here! Come here, I won't hit you anymore!"

But as soon as she heard her voice and saw her face, the little demon plunged into the water with a splash.

Xu Pianpian smiled even more happily.

While thinking about how to act like a "good person" like Li Wuxiang in front of the little demon, he chased after her.

(End of this chapter)