Chapter 25
Before Yu Tai left, Senior Sister Li called out a great deal of advice from a safe distance.
Most of it concerned how to prevent infection and how to let Xia Mo die with less suffering.
Yu Tai gave her a grateful smile. The other Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters all had red-rimmed eyes as well.
They did not want to watch Yu Tai walk to her death, but they had no choice.
If Yu Tai refused to abandon that demon beast, none of them would survive.
The instant Yu Tai stepped outside, the raging wind nearly swept her away.
She stroked Xia Mo’s head. “Be good. I’ll let you out again once we find somewhere safe.”
With that, she put it into the demon-beast pouch.
Yu Tai shielded herself with spiritual qi, pulled Shu Li over, and mounted her flying sword.
Honestly, riding a sword through winds that seemed capable of tearing the whole land apart was extraordinarily unpleasant.
Fortunately, she was not the ornamental-vase Yu Tai that the Qingshan Sword Sect disciples believed her to be, but a powerful demonic cultivator.
Once she covered the sword and the space around it with demonic qi, the flight became reasonably steady.
Yu Tai was not actually worried that they would fail to find shelter. How could the Heavenly Dao possibly mistreat its own beloved daughter and son?
Just as the thought occurred to her, Shu Li suddenly raised a hand and pointed somewhere.
His clear, springlike voice reached Yu Tai through the howling wind. “Go there.”
Without thinking, she turned the sword and flew straight toward it.
The instant they entered the cave, a deafening peal of thunder erupted outside. Then, as though someone had overturned a basin in the heavens, rain came crashing down so violently that even the ground seemed to tremble.
Yu Tai sighed in relief and began inspecting the cave.
Whatever demon beast had once lived here appeared to be gone, its scent now extremely faint.
The cave sat at an astonishing height, even higher than the treehouse they had built. Yu Tai had little skill but plenty of nerve, flying high as though she had no fear of being struck by lightning. Otherwise, even Shu Li’s sharp eyes would not have spotted this place.
Yu Tai held the little panda, which was convulsing in pain, against her shoulder. As though unafraid of infection, she looked up at Shu Li, who had not said a word since this began. “Is there a solution?”
A long silence passed before Shu Li answered. “Why is Junior Sister so certain I know of one?”
Yu Tai curled her lips. He had most likely confirmed by now that she was not the original character, so she simply said, “I’m not certain. But when I was suffering after swallowing the qilin inner core, Senior Brother found a way to stop my pain, so I thought I would ask.”
Shu Li did not sound surprised in the slightest. “So Junior Sister was still conscious then.”
The cave was damp and cold. Considering Shu Li’s wretched body could develop a fever from the slightest rain, Yu Tai forcefully pulled him down beside her. She took a thick quilt from her ring, wrapped it around him, and even stuffed a warmth-emitting pearl into his hands as a makeshift hand warmer.
Shu Li remained still and let her bustle around him. Then he said, “Everyone knows that no medicine can cure Black Plague poison. What they do not know is that the blood of one particular demon beast naturally counters it.”
Yu Tai looked at him.
“An illusion beast.”
“!”
Yu Tai shoved Xia Mo into his arms and immediately rose to leave.
Shu Li asked, “Where are you going?”
She looked back. “To where we were before. I’ll bring that demon beast here. I’ll be right back, so don’t wander off.”
Perhaps the words “don’t wander off” struck Shu Li as funny, because he actually laughed softly.
Yu Tai glared at him. “Are you laughing at me, Senior Brother?”
Shu Li shook his head, though the laughter remained in his eyes. Those clear, luminous eyes were as beautiful as a sky filled with stars. “It is my demon beast and has nothing to do with you. Why go this far, Junior Sister?”
“Besides, Abandoned City never remains in one place. It moves constantly. Even if you return to where we were, it will have vanished long ago.”
Yu Tai countered, “You’re right. It’s your demon beast. So are you going to do nothing and watch it die in agony?”
If this had been the Shu Li from the original novel, he would have acted exactly as Yu Tai had. Even knowing there was no hope, he would have stubbornly continued searching.
He had been so kind, so pitiful, and so powerless.
What exactly had happened to the man before her to change him this much?
The System suddenly understood. [So you were testing him, Host! I thought you had finally seen the light and planned to become a better person for the heroine’s sake. Waaah!]
At Yu Tai’s words, Shu Li lowered his eyes and stroked the suffering Xia Mo. “Rather than abandon it and leave, I would prefer to stay here beside it until the end.”
“Dying alone after waiting for hope that never comes is far crueler than death itself,” he sighed softly.
Deep compassion mingled with a trace of indifference in his voice.
[Check whether Shu Li has been reborn.]
Yu Tai had read enough novels to know that something about this was deeply wrong. One thing was certain: the Shu Li before her was definitely not the original.
The System reached another revelation. [Give me a few days.]
That glimpse of emotion lasted only a few seconds. In the next instant, Shu Li raised his head and said, “Rather than search for a place that has already vanished, why doesn’t Junior Sister check her demon-beast pouch? Perhaps hope is waiting inside.”
Yu Tai blinked in confusion.
Her demon-beast pouch?
Since Xia Mo was outside, the pouch should have been empty.
Though puzzled, she opened the demon-beast pouch at her waist with some skepticism and looked inside.
One glance nearly made her hurl the entire pouch away.
The ugly creature poking its head out and smiling shyly at her was unmistakably the illusion beast they had encountered underground!
The last time Yu Tai had been this speechless was the last time.
While she was unconscious, just how much random junk had this man stuffed into her personal storage?!
And he had not even told her afterward?!
Realizing that he had been toying with her, Yu Tai released the illusion beast with a thunderous expression.
After so many days, the illusion beast finally met its new master for the first time-only to be greeted by an awful scowl.
It felt somewhat aggrieved. Had its ugliness frightened its new master?
Looking at the inexplicably pitiful illusion beast, Yu Tai said, “I don’t know why you’re in my demon-beast pouch, but I need some of your blood. If it works, I promise I’ll reward you generously afterward.”
The illusion beast nodded with great generosity. It even spoke to ask whether Yu Tai wanted some of its fur as well. Its fur was very useful too.
Yu Tai looked at the sparse, patchy fur on top of the ugly illusion beast’s head and refused.
It should keep what little it had for its old age.
Utterly disappointed, the illusion beast donated some blood, had its offer of fur rejected, and returned to Yu Tai’s demon-beast pouch.
Following Shu Li’s instructions, Yu Tai fed the illusion beast’s blood to Xia Mo.
Sure enough, half an incense stick later, Xia Mo-previously convulsing and vomiting black fluid-coughed up a large mass of black matter and quickly became lively again.
Yu Tai sighed in relief, then smacked its furry bottom hard. “Have you learned your lesson this time? Stop eating random things!”
The spanked Xia Mo burrowed pitifully into Yu Tai’s arms, looking as though it had truly learned its lesson.
Seeing Xia Mo restored to health, Shu Li pushed the small amount of remaining blood toward Yu Tai. “Junior Sister should drink this as well. It will effectively prevent infection.”
Yu Tai looked at the flawless hand extended toward her and slowly smiled, mischief stirring in her eyes. “All right. Feed it to me.”