Chapter 12

The gray sky seemed to collapse.

As if a dam had burst, great swathes of snowflakes drifted down, as though they meant to cover everything in the mortal world.

Blackness came over Xu Yizhuo’s vision in waves. In her sight, Miss Yang and the blood-robed person walked farther and farther away, gradually becoming nothing but a black dot. Xu Yizhuo felt dizzy. She instinctively held her forehead, and when her legs went weak, she was about to fall forward.

She did not fall to the ground. Instead, someone wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a soft embrace.

Someone seemed to be speaking by her ear, but Xu Yizhuo did not hear clearly. She turned her head and stared blankly at Jun Yu’s face.

Jun Yu frowned slightly and said softly, “Pardon me.”

Then she raised her hand and pressed her index finger against the space between Xu Yizhuo’s brows. She guided her spiritual sense into Xu Yizhuo’s sea of consciousness. She had already prepared herself to be blocked outside, but unexpectedly, there was no obstruction at all.

Jun Yu was startled. Even [Read on BaiLianTales]among Dao companions, very few could easily enter each other’s sea of consciousness.

This was a cultivator’s most vulnerable place. If the physical body were destroyed, one could still reincarnate or seize another body to cultivate again. But if the sea of consciousness were destroyed, then one would completely disappear from this world.

Xu Yizhuo was completely unguarded toward her.

Jun Yu’s feelings were somewhat complicated. She did not dare remain in Xu Yizhuo’s sea of consciousness for long. She quickly explored it, confirmed that the sea of consciousness was intact, then withdrew. Even in that brief moment, Jun Yu discovered something unusual.

Xu Yizhuo had no cultivation.

Not long ago, Xu Yizhuo had used an utterly ordinary round fan to block the blood arrow shot by the blood-robed person. Jun Yu had seen it with her own eyes, so Xu Yizhuo was definitely not a mortal.

But even after entering her sea of consciousness, Jun Yu still could not sense her cultivation.

If it could not even be detected in her sea of consciousness, then it would be even more impossible through any other method.

At this moment, Xu Yizhuo came back to herself.

In her daze, she still had not realized that she had returned to the attic. Meeting Jun Yu’s complicated gaze, she instinctively asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jun Yu was silent for only a moment. “You fainted for a short while just now.”

“Ah, that…” Xu Yizhuo said dryly. “Maybe I’m physically weak.”

She was still being held in Jun Yu’s arms. Jun Yu had to half-kneel on the ground to properly hold Xu Yizhuo. She weighed her slightly, then said with complete sincerity, “You are indeed light.”

Xu Yizhuo was so startled by Jun Yu’s action that she let out a cry of surprise and hurriedly grabbed Jun Yu’s arm. After realizing that her reaction had been too exaggerated, she was so embarrassed that she almost wanted to cover her face.

Xu Yizhuo ran out of Jun Yu’s arms and took a few steps back, almost bumping into someone else. As she apologized and looked back, she discovered that it was the foolish young girl she had met in Willow Alley.

Only then did she realize that several more young men and women had appeared in the attic. They were gathered around the corpses of Miss Yang and the blood-robed person.

The young girl did not care at all that Xu Yizhuo had almost bumped into her. It was Xu Yizhuo who asked, “What are you doing?”

“Researching.” The young girl glanced up at her, then lowered her head again.

Xu Yizhuo was a little confused.

“They are studying the Twin Demon,” Jun Yu walked over and said. “Twin Demons are extremely rare, with very few records about them. I did not expect to see one here.”

Xu Yizhuo pointed at the siblings’ corpses and asked, “Were they not human?”

Jun Yu said, “Miss Yang originally was, but by now, she no longer was.”

“Some women give birth to a peculiar kind of fetus. The two infants are born with their bodies connected, and they are often treated as demons. Sometimes both infants are alive when they are born. Sometimes one lives and one dies. The latter is called a ghost-bearing infant.”

“Ghost-bearing infants rarely live past ten. Even if they are not killed by their relatives, they usually die young because of congenital defects.” Jun Yu looked at Miss Yang’s corpse, her gaze calm and without ripples. “The eldest Yang son died inside the mother’s womb. In the womb, he grew together with Miss Yang. She was born carrying a corpse on her back. The resentment of the dead fetus gave birth to a demon. Miss Yang was burdened by congenital defects and harmed by the intrusion of demonic energy. She originally should not have lived past ten.”

Xu Yizhuo said softly, “But the demon wanted her to live.”

Jun Yu lowered her eyes. “The demon fed on human blood and used it to nourish Miss Yang in return. Over time, Miss Yang also became a demon.”

Xu Yizhuo thought of the relieved look in Miss Yang’s and the blood-robed person’s eyes when they killed themselves. Perhaps in her heart, Miss Yang also had not wanted to harm innocent lives.

But she wanted the demon to continue existing, and the demon wanted her to live.

Miss Yang was not innocent, but Xu Yizhuo could not say whether the complicated emotion in her heart was sympathy or not. In any case, things like this always made people sigh.

After almost an entire day without rest, Xu Yizhuo felt tired. She pounded her legs and sat down on a chair at the side, watching Shiwai Tower’s disciples gather around the demon corpses to study them. After studying for a while, they suddenly broke into an argument, then began debating endlessly about things Xu Yizhuo could not understand. One by one, the young men and women argued until their faces flushed red.

In the end, even the helpless-looking Jun Yu was dragged into it.

Xu Yizhuo watched the chaos over there, and a smile could not help appearing in her eyes.

The next day, heavy rain began to fall, as bailiantales.com if it wanted to wash clean the blood that had flowed across the ground during the night.

Xu Yizhuo was already walking very carefully, but with one careless step, she still stepped into a puddle, soaking her delicate embroidered shoes. She stomped her foot in annoyance, but the splash of water affected the innocent Old Li beside her.

Old Li said, “I told you not to come out in such heavy rain!”

Xu Yizhuo was bending down to take off her shoes. Hearing this, she turned her head and glared at Old Li. “The doctor said you had to come back for a follow-up today and pick up medicine along the way. Which is worse, getting wet in the rain or being sick?”

“Both are bad,” Old Li said. “My illness is already cured!”

Xu Yizhuo had always listened to doctors. What she hated most was people like Old Li, who thought they were fine and refused to follow medical advice. With a fierce expression, she said, “If the doctor says to go, then you have to go. You don’t understand medicine!”

The little girl was too fierce, and Old Li sighed repeatedly.

After Xu Yizhuo threw her shoes into her inventory, she walked barefoot on the ground. Qingping Town’s drainage system was actually quite good, but with rain this heavy, even the river water had overflowed. Most homes in town were built along the river, and as a result, more than half the town had been affected by the downpour.

Water flowed everywhere, streaming over the dark stone slabs.

The dirt on the ground had also been almost completely washed away. Even after Xu Yizhuo walked for a long time, her feet remained clean. Her rounded toes were fair and tender, their tips touched with a petal-like pink.

Most households had trees planted in their courtyards, their branches reaching over the courtyard walls. The leaves had been beaten into a sorry state by the rain. Some trees had accumulated quite a lot of water, and once it reached a certain point, it would suddenly fall onto the oiled-paper umbrella, making the umbrella surface shake with a heavy sound.

Xu Yizhuo had to use both hands to steady the umbrella.

The courtyard gate of a residence ahead suddenly opened, and a familiar group of people walked out. Xu Yizhuo freed one hand and waved hard, then called out the name of the person at the front. When her voice passed through the curtain of rain and reached that person’s ears, it carried a faint haziness.

Jun Yu looked over, her brows and eyes holding a smile. “Miss Xu.”

Seeing the disciples of Shiwai Tower all neatly heading out together, Xu Yizhuo asked in confusion, “Where are you going?”

Jun Yu said, “The matter here is over. It is time for us to return.”

Xu Yizhuo let out an “ah.” Although she was a little surprised, she did not ask them to stay.

“Safe travels.”

Jun Yu nodded. Then, suddenly, she called her again. “Miss Xu.”

“Hm?” Xu Yizhuo looked at Jun Yu in confusion as she reached out to her, but did not avoid her.

Jun Yu raised her hand and brushed a wet leaf off Xu Yizhuo’s shoulder. It was unknown when it had fallen onto her.

Jun Yu said, “The road is difficult to walk on rainy days. Be careful.”

“I will!” Xu Yizhuo answered briskly. “You too!”

The people of Shiwai Tower did not need to care about the rain at all. Although they were holding umbrellas like Xu Yizhuo, the umbrellas were more like decorations to keep themselves from attracting too much attention. An invisible barrier surrounded them, blocking out every strand of rain.

Only when Jun Yu and the others’ backs were about to disappear from her sight did Xu Yizhuo [bailiantales.com]and Old Li start moving again.

Old Li asked Xu Yizhuo, “Are you very familiar with that young lady?”

Xu Yizhuo nodded, then shook her head. “We’re friends.”

Perhaps she would never meet Jun Yu again in the future, but she would certainly remember these few days they had spent together for the rest of her life.

Jun Yu had treated her very well. That night, after learning that Xu Yizhuo was not an ordinary person, she had not questioned her, nor had she distanced herself because of it.

Jun Yu’s departure made Xu Yizhuo a little reluctant to part with her, but both of them had places their hearts longed for.

After leaving Qingping Town, the river channel became broad, and the rushing river surged toward the distant mountains.

The young girl looked back from time to time.

Jun Yu patted her shoulder and called her name. “Xiaowu.”

Xiaowu hurriedly turned her head back and said obediently, “Tower Master.”

Jun Yu asked her, “Are you reluctant to leave?”

“No!” Xiaowu quickly shook her head, afraid she would be left behind here. After hesitating for a while, she said, “Tower Master, are we really leaving just like this?”

Jun Yu gave a faint hum.

Xiaowu hesitated. “But the person you wanted to find…”

Jun Yu lowered her eyelashes.

“I have already found them.”