Junior Sister, Don't Be Afraid-I'm Blind

"You're the true Evil Demon..."

True Man Ling stared blankly at You Su. Shock and fear warred across his face, and his legs stopped obeying him, trembling like sifting chaff.

The deepest darkness before dawn had passed. The sky was no longer pitch-black, and a hazy whiteness was taking shape on the distant horizon.

You Su was covered in blood and grime, a violent, evil aura constantly churning around him. He drew the Ink Pine Sword and aimed it at True Man Ling's heart, preparing to deliver his final judgment.

"Don't kill me... I'm begging you..." True Man Ling seemed as though his soul had been hollowed out. He pleaded woodenly, again and again. "I can give you anything. Tell you anything. Don't kill me..."

You Su stepped on the wound across True Man Ling's chest, grinding his foot against the raw, bloody flesh. True Man Ling curled up in agony, powerless to shove You Su's foot away.

"If you tell me how to separate the Evil Demon from a person, I'll let you live." You Su's tone was solemn as he offered his final mercy.

Hearing this, True Man Ling seemed to have seized a life-saving straw. Enduring the excruciating pain in his chest, he forced out a sycophantic smile.

"I know! I can save you! As long as you let me live, I can definitely help your junior sister and Mistress return to normal!"

You Su impatiently sighed and swung his sword, severing the tendons in True Man Ling's hand. "I said you speak first!"

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" True Man Ling shouted. "Give me the Universe Bag. I'll show you."

You Su furrowed his brows, hooked the Universe Bag hidden at True Man Ling's waist with his sword, and flung it into his face. After True Man Ling got hold of it, he pulled out the pitch-black Evil Warding Token and shakily held it out to You Su.

"Take it. You'll understand."

You Su still held his sword in his right hand, keeping True Man Ling at bay. Though hesitant, he extended his left hand and took the jade pendant.

In an instant, a vicious dog with a fish's head suddenly burst from the token and lunged at You Su! It was none other than the Lantern Ghost!

You Su was badly startled and hurriedly raised his sword to slash, but the Lantern Ghost was astonishingly nimble. It clung to You Su's arm and dodged the strike.

Just as it was about to bite into You Su's shoulder, it met his ink-black eyes. Like a condemned minister paying court to an emperor, it froze on his arm, no longer moving, and lowered its head in trembling submission.

True Man Ling stared in astonishment at this sudden turn of events.

He had been different from ordinary people since childhood, fond of strange and uncanny monsters. The Lantern Ghost had been the first Evil Demon his master had bestowed upon him. He had treasured it deeply, raising it until he considered it his most trusted companion.

But when he saw the Lantern Ghost baring its fangs and slowly crawling toward him, his heart turned completely to ashes.

You Su also failed to understand the sudden change. He had been about to continue questioning him, but True Man Ling muttered in a daze:

"It can't be saved. Don't even think about saving them... What's inside their bodies is an Evil Demon of that level... Anyone it sets its sights on can't escape..."

"Explain yourself!"

But True Man Ling seemed not to hear You Su. He continued muttering the same four words over and over:

"Divine Revelation Chuyun, Divine Revelation Chuyun..."

Even when the Lantern Ghost began feasting on him, it could not wake him. Blood splattered across the grass, staining it red, yet he let it tear into him as though he had lost all sensation of pain.

You Su's face was filled with confusion. The Lantern Ghost had clearly been brimming with hostility toward him just moments ago, so why had it turned on True Man Ling after merely meeting his gaze? Could this also be the effect of that piece of rotten flesh? And what did True Man Ling mean by Divine Revelation Chuyun? Did Chuyun refer to Chuyun City?

Unexpectedly, True Man Ling suddenly raised his head. Both of his eyeballs were pulled loose by inertia and fell out, yet he stared fixedly at You Su through his empty sockets, forcing out a hoarse, grating voice:

"My master has fused with the True Lord. You will all die! And I will crawl out of hell and send you down there! That day will come soon. You must... live well!"

As soon as his voice fell, the Lantern Ghost opened its bloody maw and bit through True Man Ling's neck.

You Su looked at True Man Ling, who had been gnawed until great expanses of white bone and organs were exposed. He could only feel that the Heavenly Dao truly allowed karma to run its course. In the end, this beast who had befriended Evil Demons had died at their hands.

Only after True Man Ling had been gnawed down to a ghastly skeleton did You Su take up his sword and walk toward the Lantern Ghost, which was cowering where it stood.

The Lantern Ghost seemed to know its fate. It offered no resistance as You Su cut off its conspicuous fish head. Its entire body then dissolved into a pool of sticky blood, mingling with True Man Ling's blood as it seeped into the earth.

At last, everything had settled. You Su's mind finally relaxed.

He looked toward the whitening horizon. The sun had yet to rise, but the world already held light.

He had too many questions in his heart, but now was not the time to dwell on them. The mess covering the ground still needed to be dealt with, and True Man Ling's unfinished Formation Technique had to be destroyed.

He felt somewhat exhausted. After going through such a fierce battle, he still had to clean up his own mess. Yet he also felt somewhat happy. He had not broken his promise; he would protect everything belonging to the sect.

He would not be frightened by True Man Ling's dying words. He would certainly find every possible way to purge the Evil Demons from his junior sister and Mistress.

Even if he failed to purge them, it did not matter. He had just accomplished the most thrilling feat of his eighteen years of life, and at that moment he was brimming with pride. You Su felt that even if the whole world stood against him, it would not matter.

You Su picked up the bloodstained Universe Bag and the Evil Warding Token, weighing them in his hand.

He did not rush to celebrate inwardly. Instead, he put away this unexpected windfall, rose, and walked into the dim mist.

"Where's Senior Brother?"

The girl, her hair arranged in a hanging bun and fastened with an orchid hairpin, furtively leaned over the windowsill and peered inside through a paper hole barely a finger's width across.

She wore a willow-green and peach-red dress of fresh jade green, standing on tiptoe with slender ankles and delicate joints.

She had spent the entire night writing until her hands were nearly broken before rushing out the second half of Legend of the White Snake. Thinking of her senior brother, that hands-off shopkeeper, made her angry, so before fetching water to bathe, she could not resist coming over to peek at his ugly sleeping face and vent her frustration.

She could swear to Heaven that she was absolutely not a repeat offender. She had only looked a few times at most. And she definitely had not poked this hole; it had broken open on its own.

"What did he sneak off to do behind my back? Could he have... secretly gone to visit a brothel?" Ji Lingruo's pretty little face instantly flushed crimson. She stamped her foot angrily, planning to give her senior brother a thorough interrogation once he returned.

Then she went to fetch the hot water that had been heated for her bath.

Inside the bathing room.

Ji Lingruo undid her white undergarment embroidered with fine cloud patterns and a pair of thin embroidered pants. She first tested the water temperature with her toes. Finding it just right, she slowly lowered herself into the water.

She pursed her thin lips. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Senior Brother had only just reached adulthood two days ago, and he was already so impatient? To throw away his path to immortality like this, he truly was a fool overcome by lust. As expected, one could know a person's face but not their heart.

Only when the water had gone cold did she remember that she had been so absorbed in thinking about Senior Brother that she had left her undergarments outside without bringing them in.

She could only curse You Su again under her breath before draping a thin gauze bathrobe over herself and going outside to retrieve her clothes.

The morning wind brushed past her. Though it was late summer, Ji Lingruo, her body covered in droplets of water, still shivered.

Just then, the gate of the Sect Residence was gently pushed open.

You Su slipped inside, his entire body smeared with blood and mud. He looked around at everything in the sect and felt an indescribable warmth and familiarity.

Then he saw the body at the center of his vision, seemingly carved from white jade and piled with creamy flesh. Both of them froze where they stood, gazing at each other from afar.

"Ah!"

The girl's scream echoed through the mountains and valleys.

"Junior Sister, don't be afraid. I'm blind..."

The young man's defense was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. Then his vision went black, and he toppled to the ground.