The Tale of the White Snake

True Man Ling looked down at You Su, who was unable to break free, and walked over unhurriedly.

He looked at the young man's defiant eyes, extended his foot, and ruthlessly stepped on You Su's face, as if crushing an insect.

True Man Ling bent down and whispered into You Su's ear:

"You just stay here and wait for me to bring back your Junior Sister and Mistress to keep you company."

Hearing this, You Su clenched his fists, blood seeping from his palms. He struggled desperately, but it was all in vain. He could only watch True Man Ling leave.

You Su was a cautious person. He had noticed something amiss the first time True Man Ling appeared, because his appearance was too coincidental.

How could someone who harbored Malevolent Spirits, someone who treated others' lives as a game, possibly be here to rescue his Junior Sister and Mistress?

And who could save them? Was it that foolish Junior Sister? Or the Mistress, who had no cultivation and had turned to evil, whom even he would have to kill? Or would they risk everyone knowing they had been corrupted by evil and beg for help?

They had only me to rely on!

You Su felt as if the blood in his chest was about to boil. He felt a terrifying vibration within him, a vibration that grew faster and faster, surpassing the rhythm of his breathing, surpassing the beat of his pulse.

His vision began to darken, becoming clearer and clearer. This was not the familiar chaos he knew, but a night sky studded with starlight.

You Su greedily took a deep breath of the pre-dawn air. The wounds on his body healed at a visible rate. Under his torn robes, lumps of varying sizes bulged, resetting his broken right arm.

You Su could feel that all of this was the power of that rotten flesh!

The scarlet liquid that bound him began to evaporate, turning into a thick, ink-like blood mist. You Su slowly stood up within it, like a demon crawling out of hell.

True Man Ling had long since noticed something was wrong. His face no longer held its previous composure. He had seen many monsters, but none had felt as oppressive as You Su did at this moment.

"Damn it, what the hell are you?!" His pupils contracted into pinpricks. This was the first time he had felt the urge to retreat.

You Su's gaze locked onto the trembling True Man Ling. For the first time, with his vision restored in reality, he realized how fortunate it was to be able to see. How regrettable it would be if he couldn't personally witness True Man Ling die with a look of panic on his face.

"Don't come any closer!" True Man Ling watched You Su advance step by step, unconsciously taking small steps backward. Suddenly, he formed a hand seal and launched a surprise attack, "You're asking for death!"

A sky-piercing fire talisman lunged at You Su, exuding formidable power. But You Su neither dodged nor retreated, because he found he could clearly see the flow of Mystic Qi within the fire talisman, seeing its weak point at a glance.

With a mere casual sword stroke, the fire talisman vanished into nothingness.

True Man Ling stared at all this in astonishment, then continued to press his fingers together, constantly forming hand seals:

"Cloud-Turning Rain-Covering!"

"Wind-Fire Confluence!"

"Bone-Melting Silk-Entwining!"

"Hold him!"

But none of this could hinder You Su in the slightest. He had already seen through them before they could take effect.

True Man Ling felt as if he were facing a demon, trembling and constantly retreating. He accidentally tripped over a stone and fell to the ground, shaking his head.

He was filled with extreme regret. Why was his soundproofing formation so effective? He used to torment others inside it at will, but now the tables had turned, and he was about to die here silently.

There was a real demon here! Where were those damned people from the Evil Warding Department? Someone save me, I'm fake!

Don't panic, I can run! I have the Ruyi Wind-Controlling Technique! My realm is higher than his, I can definitely escape!

Just as he was secretly channeling Mystic Qi to his feet, a sword light flashed, and a gaping wound suddenly appeared on his withered ankle, dark red blood flowing out.

The flow of True Man Ling's Mystic Qi was like white blood vessels, all clearly visible to You Su.

Enduring the intense pain, True Man Ling crawled with difficulty, swallowed by despair. He wanted to run, he wanted to survive!

He was not a talented person; the Condensing Water Realm was his limit. But he was fortunate. In the great battle to purify evil on the Divine Mountain, only he and the Lord survived from their sect.

He had waited fifty years for the Lord, not out of loyalty, but because the Lord was his only chance to rise. He had been an outcast since childhood, an evil cultivator whom everyone in the righteous path wanted to eliminate. Only by following the Lord could he trample all these people underfoot!

He was about to become a ruler of the Five Continents with the Lord, how could he die here!

A sword was plunged into True Man Ling's withered hand, pinning him firmly to the ground, and interrupting his fantasies.

True Man Ling cried out in agony, trying to cover his profusely bleeding wound, but was intimidated by the sharp sword light.

"Speak, why did you target us?" You Su asked the question he most wanted to ask.

True Man Ling's lips moved, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. You Su had to lean closer to hear more clearly.

He wasn't afraid of True Man Ling's surprise attack. As long as he detected any anomaly in True Man Ling's Mystic Qi, he would react immediately.

Suddenly, the dejection in True Man Ling's eyes vanished, replaced by a terrifying glint. His lips moved, chanting obscure incantations, and he took out a rusty bell, shaking it incessantly, a victor's smile on his lips.

But he was shocked to find that You Su did not react as he expected. You Su, not understanding what was happening, quickly reached out and grabbed True Man Ling's throat to stop him from speaking further.

True Man Ling stared at You Su's neck, his expression shifting from shock to terror, then to laughter, even coughing violently as he laughed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Damn it, your entire sect are good people, hahaha!" True Man Ling laughed hysterically. "I thought you were all righteous, and I even wanted to use Malevolent Spirits to control you and bring about your own destruction. I never expected I was mistaken!"

"Was it you who put the evil on my Junior Sister and Mistress?" You Su's rage flared. True Man Ling's eyes bulged, almost popping out, from You Su's grip.

"Cough... I didn't do anything to them... I only targeted you... The Dream Centipede infiltrates the target's neck, causing the host to have extremely vivid dreams. I originally just wanted to drive you mad, to make you kill your entire sect with your own hands. Now I realize I was terribly wrong..."

You Su vaguely guessed something and frowned, "Explain clearly!"

"Don't you understand yet?" True Man Ling's tone was pitying, and he spat out another mouthful of dark blood. "I just tried to control the Dream Centipede to control you, but found no reaction at all. That's when I realized the Dream Centipede on you had already been removed."

"You haven't seen the dreams the Dream Centipede gave you, yet you can see the Lantern Ghost. This only proves one thing."

"Your Junior Sister and Mistress have long been afflicted by malevolent spirits! And they're more poisonous than the spirits I've raised. The malevolent entities you've seen weren't fake dreams I made for you, they were real! Yet you're still foolishly trying to save them out of wishful thinking. It's hilarious, cough cough... Now look at you, you've been corrupted by them too! What a pity, it's too late to regret it now..."

True Man Ling let You Su choke him, his eyes filled with malice. He feared death, but he feared his enemies living well even more. Now that he knew the truth, he felt an unparalleled sense of exhilaration.

But to his surprise, he saw no confusion on the face of You Su, who seemed like a god or demon. Instead, You Su looked like he was barely holding back laughter.

Feeling increasingly exasperated, True Man Ling said hatefully, "Are you insane! All of you are corrupted by malevolent spirits!"

You Su released his grip, smiling brightly.

"Do you know, I told my Junior Sister a story. A man named Xu Xian married a snake demon. Even when an immortal told him the truth, he paid no mind and continued to love his wife deeply. They went through countless trials, yet their feelings remained as strong as rock."

"So, does it matter if they're human or malevolent? I only know they've been good to me and never harmed anyone. That makes them the most important people to me. Even if they're corrupted now, I won't abandon them. I will find every way in the world to save them."

"Now that I'm corrupted too, I'm not angry at all, not sad at all. On the contrary, I'm happy that I can understand their pain more intimately. I'm so glad that my most important people... have always been my kind!"

The first climax has ended. I feel there are still many areas that could be improved. Let me briefly outline the plot: True Man Ling was ordered to secretly kill the three of them, so he planned to use the Dream Centipede to confuse You Su between dreams and reality, ultimately leading him to self-destruction with a formation. However, the Dream Centipede was actually killed by the Mistress in the first chapter (that sword strike wasn't meant to kill You Su). You Su was unaware of this, and because he saw the Mistress, who possessed sufficient authority, he was able to see the Lantern Ghost, who was later associated with the Dream Master. True Man Ling thought his plan was proceeding smoothly, but unexpectedly, You Su had seen through it long ago and began to counterattack. You Su daring to challenge True Man Ling wasn't a suicide mission. Firstly, cultivation doesn't equal combat power, as introduced before. Secondly, You Su was very confident in his swordsmanship. Lastly, it was a desperate choice; he had no better option than to face him head-on. He relied on the meat his Junior Sister gave him to awaken his malevolent power and turn the tables, which is also one of You Su's important cheat abilities. True Man Ling then realized his entire plan had failed. You Su's Junior Sister and Mistress were actually corrupted long ago, and by very powerful malevolent spirits. In fact, there was a very obvious detail in the previous text: the Mistress doesn't eat, but she lied to True Man Ling saying she would. This already showed she didn't trust him and was hiding things from him. She wanted True Man Ling to consider them easy-to-deal-with, low-cultivation individuals so he would let his guard down, giving her an opportunity. Conversely, the protagonist's personality doesn't believe in absolute good and evil. Within the basic framework of morality, he only gets close to the people important to him. Of course, things are far from that simple~ In short, I will continue to work hard. Please leave more comments and follow-up votes!