A Clear Dao Heart

After Liu Kui died, the labels switched back.

Fang Huai was dizzy and nearly fell. After taking a long while to steady himself, he walked toward the three people caught in the Human-Catching Trap.

Stopping in front of Liu Xiange, Fang Huai's sleeve twitched. The Blood Gu Centipede quickly crawled out, scurried along his arm and back onto Liu Xiange, then immediately began sucking out the poison.

During the fight, Fang Huai had planned to swap [Blood Drain] and [Paralysis Toxin] onto the Liu Brothers separately, making them suffer the consequences of their own actions. But something unexpected happened.

[Paralysis Toxin] was white. He didn't have enough points left to swap it.

Even so, he had a backup plan.

Before the fight, he'd held an Antidote Pill in his mouth, and Liu Xiange had secretly hidden the Blood Gu Centipede in his sleeve. But the poison coating the Wooden Arrow had been far stronger than he expected, and it had still knocked him down.

If not for some inexplicable force suppressing the poison, he would already be dead.

After they treated them, Zhang Zhu and Liu Xiange were in no serious danger, and Shen Yuan's life had also been saved.

On the way back to Servant Valley, Liu Xiange supported him while Zhang Zhu carried the still-unconscious Shen Yuan.

They walked in silence, all of them tacitly refraining from speaking. Only after they reached Servant Valley did Liu Xiange and Fang Huai exchange a glance. Then she began:

"Senior Brother..."

She had barely said two words when Fang Huai cut them off. "If there's a next time, I won't save you!"

Back in his Stone House, Fang Huai finally let his taut nerves relax.

The Liu Brothers had died without revealing who was pulling the strings, but he didn't need to think twice to figure it out. It could only be Pei Long.

Though he'd been badly injured, he'd still gained quite a bit:

Six bottles of Killing Intent, a number of pills for healing, detoxifying, and warding off miasma, an assortment of concealed weapons and deadly poisons, and the two withered stalks of Clear Spirit Grass that had been used as bait.

Before parting ways with Liu Xiange and Zhang Zhu, he'd picked out some healing and detoxifying pills and handed them over, telling them to take the pills and look after Shen Yuan.

He knew the truth all too well. Though Shen Yuan's greed had caused this mess, the Liu Brothers' blades had clearly been meant for him.

The blade was already hanging over his head. If Shen Yuan hadn't triggered the trap this time, someone else would have triggered it sooner or later.

For the next few days, Fang Huai stayed behind closed doors to recover. He absolutely wouldn't leave before he was back in shape, lest the Pei Family set their sights on him.

He had plenty of Wild Grass and Wild Yam stored away, but without Poisonous Grass to season them, the food always seemed tasteless.

Fortunately, Liu Xiange and Zhang Zhu were worried about him and often came to visit. He asked them to bring along a jumble of Poisonous Grass, which finally satisfied his cravings.

As the visits added up, he gradually grew closer to the two of them. They were no longer so stiff and formal around each other, and every so often they would chat about the valley's strange and amusing stories.

People were social creatures. In a demonic sect where death lurked around every corner, having a few friends to talk to was a rare blessing.

One day, near dusk, Liu Xiange was sweeping Fang Huai's room when several soft knocks sounded on the wooden door, followed by a woman's gentle call:

"Senior Brother Fang, please open the door."

Fang Huai had just called, "Coming," when Liu Xiange set down the broom and opened the door. Standing outside was Shen Yuan, dressed in elegant, refined clothes.

When Shen Yuan saw Liu Xiange at the door, her face immediately flushed bright red. "Senior Brother Fang, Senior Sister Liu, you two..."

"Junior Sister Liu came to clean the room."

Afraid Shen Yuan might misunderstand, he hurried to explain why a man and a woman were alone together in the same room.

At his words, Shen Yuan looked a little more relaxed. She held up what she was carrying and gave it a shake. "Senior Brother, look what I brought!"

Somehow, Shen Yuan had found rabbit meat and Clear Wine, letting the three of them indulge their appetites.

It was Fang Huai's first time drinking wine from this world. The Clear Wine tasted sweet and mellow, smooth going down, without a trace of sourness. He couldn't help having a few more sips.

After several rounds, the sky had grown dark. Liu Xiange was already flushed red from drinking. Bracing a hand on the table, she stood and took her leave. "Senior Brother Fang, I'll come visit again tomorrow!"

As she spoke, she reached for Shen Yuan beside her, but Shen Yuan didn't move. "Senior Sister, you go on ahead."

Liu Xiange paused briefly, then quickly regained her composure. "Then I'll be off, Junior Sister."

Fang Huai continued savoring his wine, lingering over its sweetness. "Is there something else you need help with, Junior Sister?"

Shen Yuan lowered her lashes. After a long silence, she spoke. "Senior Brother, do you have a cultivation partner?"

"In the demonic sect, people live from dawn to dusk. Who has time to look for a cultivation partner?" There was a hint of self-mockery in Fang Huai's voice. "Besides, who would want someone as grotesque as me, covered in scars?"

Fang Huai wondered what was going through Shen Yuan's mind. She kept avoiding his eyes and saying things that made no sense.

"I would!"

Though Shen Yuan spoke softly, her words struck like a thunderclap. Fang Huai froze, spilling a good deal of the Clear Wine in his hand.

Before Fang Huai could react, Shen Yuan rose and knelt. Her eyes reddened as she spoke:

"Senior Brother, I've lived each day in fear for my life in the Corpse Sha Sect. It wasn't until I met you that I understood what it felt like to be safe.

"You risked your life to save me. I have no way to repay you, so I want to serve you for the rest of my life!"

As she spoke, she undid the buttons of her clothes with her fingertips, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Fang Huai sighed. In two lifetimes, he'd always been alone. The only two women he'd ever been involved with were both wicked women like Jin Xiaoxiao.

He'd already seen Shen Yuan's labels, and there was nothing special about her. She was destined to get nowhere on the path of cultivation, and sooner or later she'd vanish like a speck of dust in this chaotic world.

He'd saved Shen Yuan purely out of a sense of duty. If he let her words go to his head and took her, all he'd gain was another burden to protect, throwing his plans into disarray.

Besides, he had no feelings for Shen Yuan. If he acted on impulse, both of them would suffer later.

"Junior Sister Shen, it's late. Go back."

Fang Huai draped her clothes over her shoulders and helped her up.

"Senior Brother..."

"Nothing happened tonight. If you three run into trouble in the future, I'll still do what I can to help."

After Shen Yuan left, Fang Huai sighed.

People said that a heart full of love often ended in nothing but regret, but Fang Huai had never been the sort of man to lose himself in romance.

Just as he was feeling vexed, someone knocked on the door again.

Fang Huai frowned. Had Shen Yuan come back?

He didn't want to open the door, but with demons and monsters about to roam the night, he couldn't bear the thought of her dying outside.

"Junior Sister Shen, why haven't you left? Do you want to die in the Demonic Tide?"

Fang Huai frowned as he spoke. Only then did he realize that Liu Xiange was standing outside.

His expression turned awkward, but Liu Xiange took the opportunity to slip into the room. Seeing the empty bowls on the table, she asked, "Did you say yes to Junior Sister Shen?"

Fang Huai sighed. "Of course not. I'm no vulgar man. How could I think about lust before I'd even made progress in my cultivation?"

"Is that so?" Liu Xiange leaned close to him, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "I've heard that two Weakness-stricken senior sisters have walked out of your room before!"

"Those were matters of cultivation. Don't get the wrong idea. Your senior brother is pure-hearted and free of desire, with a Steadfast Dao Heart."

"What a Steadfast Dao Heart. Junior Sister Shen was here earlier, so we couldn't drink our fill. How about we keep going?"

"The demons and monsters will be out any minute..."

Just as Fang Huai said this, he heard monsters howling outside. He had no choice but to say, "Then let's keep going."

Each of them had things on their mind, and they drank in silence.

"Senior Brother, what did you do before?"

"Begged for food. Couldn't you tell?"

"Senior Brother, that day I bet you'd save us."

"You bet wrong. I didn't go there to save you. Those two had cut off my escape route."

"..."

The wine had a strong aftereffect, and his vision began to blur. It was Fang Huai's first time drinking wine from the cultivation world, after all, and he'd underestimated how much he could handle.

In a daze, he felt a soft body drape itself across his back, then heard a gentle murmur by his ear. "Senior Brother, I'm sleepy."

Fang Huai sighed. In his previous life, he'd heard countless stories of people losing control after drinking. Only now that he'd experienced it himself did he realize they were mostly excuses people made to fool themselves.

Even this drunk, he still had enough sense to stop himself.

After pushing Liu Xiange away, he stood and said, "I'll sleep on the floor. You take the bed."

Drowsiness swept over him, and Fang Huai closed his eyes. He hadn't expected a sudden, fiery kiss to cover his lips, followed by Liu Xiange's soft whisper in his ear:

"People who cultivate value a clear Dao Heart above all. We're both alone in this world. Why don't we take comfort in each other and share one carefree dream? When the sun rises tomorrow, we can forget what happened tonight."