“Gulu, gulu, gulu…”
The stone screen was pushed into the water, and because it was too heavy, it kept sinking, sinking, sinking…
Sinking all the way to the bottom of the jade pool.
“You wicked fish, this small demon will always remember you!” Kui Cha shrieked like steam escaping a kettle, “When my companions come to save me, this small demon will not let you off! This small demon will always, always, always keep an eye on you!”
Imitating the words Xin Hexue had used, “This small demon will always peep at you!”
It shouted as if this counted as some sort of revenge.
Xin Hexue: “…”
It seems he had taught the stone screen demon something bad.
………
The entrance to the water dungeon was guarded by two demons.
Most of the members of this bandit stronghold appeared to be snake demons. Fortunately, after taking human form, apart from their distinct vertical pupils, they didn’t reveal any other obvious snake-like traits.
Xin Hexue placed the grass carp he had been holding into the stream beside the water dungeon, whispering, “Swim quickly, get out of here.”
The grass carp had been scooped out of the jade pool earlier when he left the palace. It possessed a bit of spiritual awareness, so it cooperated well with Xin Hexue’s plan and swan away down the stream, passing right under the noses of the two guards at the water dungeon.
The two guards saw a fish swimming away, but it swam so fast that they couldn’t even see its color.
The tall guard hesitated and asked, “Was that a fish? The person Master Dan Sheng brought back… I heard his true form is also a fish?”
The short guard paused in hesitation, clearly having reached the same guess as the tall guard. “…It shouldn’t be, right?”
The tall guard thought of the recent mood swings and unpredictable temper of Master Dan Sheng and broke out in cold sweat. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. If Master Dan Sheng returns and finds that person has escaped, will he… will he…”
The more the tall guard spoke, the more frightened he became. It was as if he could already see Master Dan Sheng going on a killing spree and swallowing all the small snakes in the village. A terrifying scene of a flood drowning everything and a sea of blood engulfing Mount Buzhou emerged before his eyes.
He quickly said to the short guard, “I’ll go after it and check, just in case.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the tall guard rushed off at full speed.
The short guard stayed behind, looking anxiously into the distance, hoping to receive reassuring news from his companion.
But in the very next moment, he was struck hard on the back of the neck.
The short guard’s vision went dark and he collapsed with a heavy thud. Xin Hexue nudged his leg with his foot, cautiously confirming that he was completely unresponsive and had fallen unconscious before he turned and entered the water dungeon.
Zhou Shanheng had probably passed out from his heavy injuries.
He didn’t find a key to the water dungeon on the guard outside, so the key was likely with Hen Zhen.
But the gap between the bars was wide enough for him to reach in and place a hand on Zhou Shanheng’s wrist.
Sure enough, due to the festering wounds and infection, Zhou Shanheng’s entire body was burning with a high fever.
As a koi of fortune and blessings, no matter how much Xin Hexue cultivated, he basically had no attack power. At most, he could pull off a few tricks. His strength wasn’t even enough to break the lock on this water dungeon, and most of his abilities were focused on supportive spellcraft.
All of the blessings and spiritual power of a koi demon is stored in the danxin. After calming his mind and looking into his danxin, he sensed the blessings flow like a gentle stream, passing through the meridians of his body, then along the part of his palm that touched Zhou Shanheng’s wrist, and poured into the other party’s body.
The gentle blessing and spiritual power were very nourishing for mortals.
Under sufficient supply, it could nearly bring back the dead and regenerate flesh from bones.
But the blessing itself was a companion element residing in the koi demon’s danxin. Once depleted, it was like the water source had run dry, with no possibility of being replenished.
Once the blessings were fully exhausted, the danxin would also wither without its nourishment.
Zhou Shanheng’s deathly pale face gradually regained some color, and the vitality that had left him slowly returned.
The lamps on the walls flickered, and outside, the moon seemed to have risen. It just happened to hang in the sky directly above the dungeon skylight, like water, silver and bright, cascading over Xin Hexue and spreading out silently.
Half of the young man’s originally jet-black hair slowly turned snow-white, and the white strands lay scattered down his back.
He was clearly wearing a thick crane cloak, but at this moment, he looked as if he couldn’t bear its weight, and his whole body appeared extremely frail and thin.
Xin Hexue exhaled slowly, and used a handkerchief to wipe away the dried, winding bloodstains on Zhou Shanheng’s face. The blood had flowed from his eyes and had already crusted over.
But he looked even worse than Zhou Shanheng, who had just been on the brink of death. Over half of his blessings had been consumed, and much of his spiritual power had also been drained. He needed one or the other to recover properly.
The moonlight was as cool as water, and the nighttime temperature dropped. Xin Hexue couldn’t help but cover his lips and cough.
Zhou Shanheng was still unable to see. The blessing Xin Hexue had infused into him needed to circulate through his bloodstream for two days before he could fully recover.
Just as Xin Hexue was about to leave before Hen Zhen returned, the moment he tried to get up, Zhou Shanheng grabbed his wrist.
Zhou Shanheng’s voice was hoarse, “Hexue… you’re a demon, right?”
Even in his unconsciousness, he had sensed the changes in his body.
To have his beloved endure the humiliation of the bandit leader for his sake, and still come to heal him…Zhou Shanheng’s emotions surged so much he could hardly breathe. His throat felt like it was filled with shattered, icy shards, and his heart ached beyond words. “Why did you still save me? I’ve already dragged you down like this, it would be better if I just died!”
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +20]
It was just that Zhou Shanheng couldn’t see that his hair had turned half white, otherwise the heartbreak value would’ve increased even more.
Xin Hexue silently made the calculation in his heart. Gently brushing aside Zhou Shanheng’s hand, he smiled slightly and said, “Ziyue, don’t say such foolish things.”
Xin Hexue gave a final reminder: “You must take care of yourself in the water dungeon. I will look for a chance to get you out.”
Zhou Shanheng leaned against the stone wall of the water dungeon. Tears slid down the side of his face, and his hand clenched tightly in his palm.
………
He managed to return to the hall before Hen Zhen came back.
But the stone screen demon was no longer in the room. Most likely, it was really rescued from the water by its companions.
There was no telling where it had gone now. But what was certain was that after being saved, the stone screen demon would immediately send word to Hen Zhen and expose his movements.
And just as Xin Hexue had predicted…
Hen Zhen came back with a gloomy look on his face, as if a storm was about to break. He strode up to Xin Hexue with big strides.
Xin Hexue smelled the damp scent unique to the water dungeon, which meant that Hen Zhen had already gone to check on the situation after he left.
Hen Zhen gnashed his teeth. “Do you really like that poor scholar that much? Even after forgetting about him, you went out of your way to search for him. And now, for him… for him…!”
Hen Zhen’s tightly clenched jaw was trembling from restraint. He looked at Xin Hexue’s long hair, and the half-white hair stabbed painfully into his eyes.
It was like having a bucket of ice water dumped all over him. The rage in his heart was instantly doused, and in its place surged a bitter, tangled mess of love and hate.
Hen Zhen crouched down and reached out to touch Xin Hexue’s hair, but his hand was trembling.
“Can’t you not like him? Just look at me more. Just pity me, okay?”
Xin Hexue was neither moved by soft words nor threats. He even casually averted his gaze, acting like the person in front of him didn’t exist at all.
Hen Zhen couldn’t stand this the most and immediately snapped again.
Xin Hexue only saw a flash of cold light out of the corner of his eye. When he suddenly turned his head, he saw Hen Zhen had unexpectedly bitten through the tendon in his wrist, and blood was gushing wildly from the wound.
Xin Hexue was horrified and raised his voice. “What madness are you up to now?!”
Hen Zhen shoved the bleeding wrist toward Xin Hexue’s lips, which scared him so much he stepped back.
“Drink.”
“You’ve used up so much spiritual power. If you don’t replenish it, are you planning to turn me into a widower?”
Xin Hexue turned his face away and even held his breath, unwilling to smell the strong scent of blood.
Hen Zhen’s broad shoulders tensed in silence. His eyes were dark and cold as he spat out chilling words: “If you ever hurt yourself again…”
He enunciated clearly, hating iron for not being steel. “If one strand of your hair turns white, I’ll chop off one of Zhou Shanheng’s fingers. However much spiritual power you lose, I’ll cut off that much flesh and blood from him to feed you.”
[Hen Zhen heartbreak value +15]
Xin Hexue finally spared him a glance, only to find that the man’s vertical pupils had turned red, nearly engulfing all the whites of his eyes. He decided it was best to first calm down this mad dog’s emotions.
Perhaps it was Hen Zhen’s deliberate arrangement, but the temperature inside the hall was as warm as spring, and Xin Hexue only had a thin shirt on his upper body, which was more than enough.
And precisely because of the absence of the thick cloak and crane robe, the snow-white fishtail on his lower body was exposed the moment he transformed.
With a slight sway and flick, it became a fatal allure to Hen Zhen.
“I don’t drink blood, and I don’t eat meat. Don’t you know about dual cultivation?”
Xin Hexue’s tone was light.
With just one sentence, he played Hen Zhen like a ball of yarn under a cat’s paw, making the other party’s thoughts a chaotic mess.
The beautiful koi demon curled the flexible and strong fishtail.
Xin Hexue hinted in a seductive tone, “Don’t you enjoy getting slapped?”
