Chapter 4

The air in the Lower Realm was foul. There was not the slightest trace of spiritual qi, and sunlight was a rarity all year round. Every demon beast that survived on this harsh, barren land had been tempered by the environment into something terrifyingly powerful.

Under such one-sided oppression, the territory left for humans to inhabit was pitifully small.

Yu Tai leaped down from her flying sword.

Rather than rushing in, she first swept the shabby, fully exposed thatched hut with her spiritual sense.

Shu Li was not there.

Had he escaped?

She rejected the idea the moment it arose.

After the once-lofty genius was banished to the Lower Realm, ordinary cultivators who had once been able to do nothing but look up to him went mad. They descended to the Lower Realm for the express purpose of humiliating him.

Senior Brother Shu Li had always been mild and courteous. He had never made an enemy, and even rivals who regarded him as their greatest opponent could not bring themselves to hate him.

Yet after such a man was framed as a demonic cultivator and had his entire Dao foundation destroyed, everything changed.

The brothers who had once drunk and laughed with him, the junior disciples he had watched grow up, and even servants who had once waited on him with perfect obedience all cast off their former deference. Like beasts whose masks had been ripped away, every one of them longed to grind him into the mud.

Through all that humiliation, Shu Li never once tried to flee or hide. He remained here in silence, living in misery for decades until the heroine appeared and saved him.

The thatched hut did not even have a door.

The wide-open entrance seemed to tell every visitor to smash whatever they wished. Perhaps he was alone in the world and feared nothing.

Or perhaps he simply no longer cared.

Yu Tai was hesitating over where to look for him when something stirred inside her.

Something on the mountain to her left seemed to be calling to her. A sweet, delectable scent made her throat dry with thirst. The change in her body frightened her for a moment, but she quickly understood.

Shu Li was there.

Bamboo leaves swayed in dappled shadows across the mountain, and their clean fragrance drifted by on the breeze.

This mountain was Xia Mo’s territory. Only the heroine’s presence had kept Shu Li, a cripple without the slightest cultivation, from becoming a meal for the other vicious beasts.

A cultivator’s five senses were exceptionally keen. When the faint sound of water reached Yu Tai’s ears, she changed direction without hesitation.

Shu Li was still wearing the bloodstained dark teal robe he had left in.

Yu Tai doubted the garment would survive the day.

Assuming he did.

She had no idea what he had done, but a strange creature with tiger eyes and a fish’s body had sunk its teeth into half his shoulder. Its huge tail thrashed violently in the water. Blood spilled into the current, fading as the rapids carried it away. From where Yu Tai stood, she could clearly see Shu Li’s bloodless lips and the elegant brows drawn tight as he endured the pain.

After taking a single bite, the creature released him. Shu Li covered the wound and climbed ashore, but his strength had already deserted him. He made it only a few steps before dropping to one knee on the stony bank, gasping for breath.

Yu Tai thought that even if he had enough strength to run, it was probably too late.

Drawn by the scent of his blood, the ravenous creature propped itself up on its enormous, powerful tail and lurched awkwardly onto land.

The demon beast opened its stinking maw, ready to swallow him whole. Yet Shu Li remained utterly calm. On his pale, handsome face, there was not the slightest fear of death.

Yu Tai clicked her tongue in irritation.

That heroine of yours is supposed to be your life-saving talisman, yet it always drops the ball when it matters. In the end, don’t you still need me?

She formed a hand seal and struck at the creature. Having survived under Xia Mo, the ruler of this mountain, for so many years, it was exceptionally vigilant. Its fishlike body twisted, and it darted back into the river.

Shu Li’s eyelids fluttered.

Yu Tai walked over and looked down, leisurely admiring the sorry state of the battle-worn beauty. Only then did she take out a restorative pill and offer it to him.

Once, you could have cut down a low-level monster like that with the lightest stroke of your sword. Now it can take your life with ease. Doesn’t the difference bother you at all?

Yu Tai held an emerald-green pill between pale fingers, but Shu Li merely turned his head away.

She did not miss the brief flash of disgust in those perpetually tranquil eyes.

Only then did Yu Tai finally acknowledge a fact she had unconsciously ignored.

She was the vicious female supporting character who had framed Shu Li. She was the culprit who had destroyed the grand cultivation journey that should have carried him beneath sweeping winds and a solitary moon toward the Great Dao.

Yu Tai withdrew the pill, clarity gradually returning to her eyes.

A person had to know her place. Otherwise, she was no better than a whore pretending to be a saint.

Yu Tai lifted one foot and expressionlessly kicked the barely breathing Shu Li flat onto the ground. Then she swung a long leg across him and straddled his body.

The System watched in silence.

[(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)]

What happened to even villainesses turning over a new leaf!?

Th-this-this-this was outrageous! Had its host turned out to be a problem child!?

Shu Li froze for an instant, but whatever thought had crossed his mind was soon driven away by what the woman atop him did next.

Yu Tai put the pill into her own mouth. Her pale, bonelessly soft hand clamped down hard on Shu Li’s cheeks and forced his lips apart. Then she bent down and sealed his mouth with hers.

She kept her eyes open, watching his expression without blinking. The moment she saw the fury restrained in his gaze, the corners of her lips curled in delight.

Only then did she straighten at an unhurried pace.

Hating me won’t help you. A proper vicious female supporting character should charge straight at the man. I’ll do whatever I want to you. It isn’t as though you have the strength to fight back, is it?

After forcing Shu Li to swallow the pill, Yu Tai watched the sluggish trickle of blood clot within moments. Satisfied, she rose and walked toward the riverbank.

The creature had long since recognized the danger and hidden at the bottom of the river without daring to move. It wanted to flee, but feared that the disturbance would alert the cultivator and give her a chance to kill it. Better to remain hidden. Perhaps she would forget it was there, leaving it a sliver of hope.

If Yu Tai could have heard its thoughts, she would certainly have laughed at the fool.

How could she possibly spare it?

You dared covet my prey. Die.

One palm strike blasted the creature out of the water. Since Shu Li was watching, Yu Tai saw no reason to hide her cultivation. She suspended the creature in midair and crushed it into pulp.

After rinsing off the orange beast core, she tossed it into her mouth as casually as if it were a piece of candy.

Yu Tai turned her attention back to Shu Li. At some point, he had gotten to his feet and was dragging his weakened body away on unsteady legs.

She was in no hurry to catch up. Strolling idly behind him, she watched with cold detachment as he collapsed and struggled upright again.

Perhaps the original owner had always possessed such sharp instincts. When an aura carrying overwhelming killing intent hurtled toward the back of her head, Yu Tai did not even bother to look around. With practiced ease, she flung a rope behind her.

Something heavy struck the ground.

Only then did Yu Tai turn.

Sure enough, a plump little panda lay trussed up on the ground, baring its teeth at her.

“Honestly, you couldn’t even get to a pile of shit while it was still warm.” Yu Tai shook her head helplessly.

She looked around, snapped off a particularly tender length of bamboo, and stuffed it into the shouting panda’s mouth.

Caught entirely off guard by the sudden feeding, the panda began chewing on instinct before it could react.

Yu Tai gathered it into her arms. Ignoring its struggles, she patted its furry little bottom and continued following Shu Li.

Humiliation flashed through the panda’s eyes after having its bottom fondled. But the bamboo in its mouth was far too delicious.

It could finish eating before fighting back.

Shu Li’s thatched hut, Yu Tai had to admit, contained exactly as much as its exterior suggested:

Nothing.

Bare walls and grinding poverty described it perfectly.

When Yu Tai entered, Shu Li stopped and turned to her. “Junior Sister Yu, I need to change my clothes. Please avert your eyes.”

His voice was as gentle as ever, as though no conflict had ever occurred between them.

Still holding the panda, Yu Tai dropped onto the straw-covered bed and stared at him without the slightest intention of looking away.

She said nothing. Her actions made her intentions clear enough.

Shu Li had never expected her to obey. When she showed no inclination to give him privacy, he calmly began removing his clothes before her, every movement elegant and unashamed.

No matter how miserable his circumstances, he always carried himself with the radiant grace of sunset clouds and a bright moon.

And the sight left Yu Tai… deeply irritated.

Come to think of it, she had almost forgotten why she was here.