Chapter 36

Shen Qing frowned. She was startled by his almost intimate gesture and instinctively wanted to wipe her lips, but saw Li Daoxuan lower his head and raise his index finger in a silent gesture.
“Drip”
In the near-dead silence, where even a falling pin might be heard, a single drop of water broke the stillness, its echo lingering.
They followed the sound upward and saw a massive red lotus clinging to the stone wall. Its core opened and closed rhythmically, as though mimicking human breathing.
The lotus core was lined with dense, tiny teeth, one bite would be enough to swallow a human head whole.
If the lotus demon on the painted boat earlier had been nothing more than an unaccomplished junior, then the lotus demon before them now was an ancestor-level old monster among lotus demons.
Judging by the petals’ deep crimson, almost purplish hue, it was impossible to know how many people it had devoured to reach such a state.
Shen Qing finally understood why Li Daoxuan had acted as he did earlier. Had she truly bitten her lip until it bled, the lotus demon, extremely sensitive to the scent of blood, would have awakened instantly. By then, it would likely take turning the entire underground palace upside down to subdue it.
Under normal circumstances, Li Daoxuan wouldn’t have thought much of it. But trapped as they were in the underground palace, with no exit yet found, any violent struggle risked damaging the mechanisms. If they ended up sealed inside with no way out, it would be disastrous.
Thus, the two of them fell silent in unspoken agreement, careful not to awaken the creature.
Shen Qing mouthed silently to Li Daoxuan, “Guard dog.”
Li Daoxuan stared at her lips for a moment, then shook his head, signaling he didn’t understand.
Shen Qing: “…Guard. Dog.” She mouthed each word distinctly.
This time, Li Daoxuan understood.
She gestured for him to search the surroundings for mechanisms, while she pulled out the talismans she had earlier “confiscated” from him, spreading them out one by one to look for something useful.
Thankfully, Li Daoxuan carried plenty of talismans. After some picking and choosing, she found several she could use. At the same time, Li Daoxuan returned empty-handed, shaking his head to indicate he’d found nothing.
That left only one possibility, the spot where the red lotus rested was very likely the exit they sought.
Shen Qing formed seals with both hands. Five talismans rose into the air, spinning rapidly in a circular formation. A faint golden glow radiated from the paper, not glaring.
Soon, a delicate golden net formed at the center of the talismans. Shen Qing guided it slowly toward where the red lotus lay. The net’s edges fit perfectly into the triangular seams of the wall. The golden light gradually dimmed, and before long, the visible net vanished completely.
Only the caster herself knew what purpose that seemingly fragile golden net truly served.
After finishing all this, Shen Qing wiped away the cold sweat beading at the bridge of her nose and her forehead. She let out a breath of warm air. Her body felt terribly uncomfortable, so she leaned against the wall and squatted down, giving herself a moment to catch her breath.
Li Daoxuan walked over slowly and stood before her, sword cradled in his arms. “This formation can at most block sound. Trying to trap it would be difficult.”
Shen Qing said, “Being able to talk is enough.” She lifted her head and asked, “Don’t you find it strange? The way we came was a dead end. We walked for so long without encountering a single fork, and now we’ve reached another dead end.”
“Or rather,” she continued, “the fork is actually behind this door. For some reason, the tomb’s owner erected this door to block the passage.”
Li Daoxuan simply looked at her, as though waiting to hear her conclusion.
Unexpectedly, Shen Qing truly had no strength left to speak. She waved her hand weakly. “Forget it. I’m not some Tomb-Raiding Commander. Why bother thinking so much? Just figure out a way to get rid of this lotus demon. I suspect it’s a guard dog, maybe it’s blocking the exit.”
Li Daoxuan had thought the same. But luring it away would not be easy. Still, when his gaze fell on Shen Qing’s lips, now flushed red from fever, an idea suddenly took shape in his mind.
He immediately drew his sword and sliced off a corner of his sleeve. The palm-sized piece of cloth was stuffed into Shen Qing’s hand.
Shen Qing looked confused and was just about to ask what he was doing when a sharp pain suddenly shot through her fingertip. A cry tore from her mouth, and she nearly doubled over from the pain.
“Ah, Li Daoxuan, you bastard!”
Li Daoxuan precisely seized her hand, using the dark cloth to greedily soak up the blood continuously spilling from her fingertip. Shen Qing curled into herself in pain, but one arm was still yanked upward by him, unable to pull back. She looked utterly pitiful.
Only when the cloth was sufficiently soaked did Li Daoxuan finally show mercy and release her.
Shen Qing immediately spread her fingers to look. A wound nearly half a finger long ran vertically along her index finger. The flesh on both sides was curled outward, pale from excessive blood loss, hideous to behold.
The bleeding was no longer as fierce as it had been at first, but beads of blood still welled up one after another without stopping.
Furious, Shen Qing already guessed what he was planning. She shoved her finger into her mouth to prevent the scent of blood from spreading, and in the meantime shot him a glare, her eyes brimming with tears.
She thought: even when drawing blood talismans, she had always been extremely careful, only making a tiny cut on her index finger. Afterward, she’d tended it meticulously until it healed without leaving a scar. Injuries to the fingertip were already hard to heal and prone to scarring, now that he’d done this, with such a large gash, it would surely scar.
Scars were so ugly.
The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Combined with her illness, she was on the verge of crying.
Seeing her about to cry, Li Daoxuan said bluntly, utterly lacking in tact, “It’s just such a small wound and you’re already crying? I really don’t know what kind of pampered life you’ve lived at the Xuanji Pavilion.”
He thought to himself: what kind of people must General Shen and Lady Jinxiu be, to raise such a fragile daughter? She was nothing like General Shen’s bright, forthright bearing, nor had she inherited even a shred of Lady Jinxiu’s indomitable spirit.
Truly delicate.
Shen Qing wiped her face messily. “My parents are willing to spoil me, my senior brother indulges me, and I live my life however I want, what business is it of yours?!”
But when her gaze landed behind Li Daoxuan, it suddenly froze. She fell silent at once, lowered her head, and quietly sucked on her injured finger.
From Li Daoxuan’s angle, all he could see was her small head bowed, her shoulders trembling slightly, as though she were crying.
At that sight, a strange trace of guilt rose in his heart, prompting him to explain, “I have a Pure Yang body. My blood repels demons and evils. If the lotus demon smells my blood, it would either flee three li away instantly or go berserk on the spot. Only your blood can lure it.”
Shen Qing continued to bury her head in the crook of her arm, saying nothing. Only her exposed earlobe slowly shifted from jade-white to pink, whether from crying, or something else, it was impossible to say.
Seeing this, Li Daoxuan fell silent as well. He pressed his lips together and turned away. As he moved, the clear chime of silver bells rang out behind him, and Shen Qing’s shoulders trembled even more violently.
When Shen Qing secretly lifted her head from her arm, her almond-shaped eyes peeking out, aside from the lingering moisture of tears, all that remained in them was laughter. And when she saw the two ribbons dangling behind his head, she quickly buried her face again, afraid her laughter would give her away.
By the time her mirth finally subsided, much of the grievance and anger from her injured finger had also faded.
She saw the figure with his back to her pacing around on the ground, picking up a small stone between two fingers, then wrapping it tightly in the dark cloth.
When he was done and turned around, he found that the person who had seemed so aggrieved earlier had already retreated obediently into a corner. She looked at him with innocent almond eyes, the corners still faintly damp, tears shed from laughing.
But in Li Daoxuan’s eyes, those were merely traces of her earlier crying.
He turned back around, murmured an incantation, withdrew the soundproofing golden net, then waved the blood-soaked cloth in front of the red lotus.
The red lotus abruptly ceased its breathing. Then layer upon layer of petals bloomed open, exposing the fanged core within. It lunged at Li Daoxuan’s hand with its gaping maw. Taking advantage of the moment, Li Daoxuan secretly applied internal force and flicked his fingers, sending the stone wrapped in cloth flying backward.
The seemingly clumsy red lotus suddenly sprouted several tendrils, using them like legs. It forcibly tore itself out of the wall where it had been rooted and darted across the ground at astonishing speed, chasing after the cloth.
At the spot where it had once been anchored, a pitch-black opening was revealed.
Seeing how swift the lotus demon was, Li Daoxuan frowned. “That rag won’t distract it for long. Move, now.”
Shen Qing understood that perfectly. The problem was, the opening was overhead. And she didn’t know whether the passage was vertical. If it was, with such a small opening, how were they supposed to squeeze out?
Before she could think it through, Li Daoxuan had already acted.
He had initially intended to grab her by the back of the collar, but an image of her reddened eyes flashed through his mind. A rare pang of conscience struck, and instead he wrapped an arm around her waist and leapt upward.
Unluckily, the pasage truly was vertical. Fortunately, the opening was slightly larger than it appeared to the naked eye, large enough to accommodate two people.
Li Daoxuan’s method was to plunge upward, then, just before they began to fall, drive his sword into the wall. Using momentum and assisted by lightness skill, they managed to ascend bit by bit.
Just as Shen Qing thought they would make it out this way, Li Daoxuan suddenly plunged his sword deeply into the wall. The force was so great that the blade sank three cun into the stone. He stepped onto the sword, pressed his back against the wall, and clutched his abdomen.
One of Li Daoxuan’s arms was tightly wrapped around Shen Qing’s waist. Her feet were cleverly placed atop his shoes. They were nearly face to face, pressed together without any space between them.
In the darkness, nothing could be seen, only felt.
Shen Qing brushed against his other hand, the one pressing his abdomen. His palm was damp, slick with sweat.
Then came a piercing shriek from below, accompanied by the sound of frantic scuttling. Shen Qing immediately knew, the red lotus had failed to catch the cloth, realized intruders had passed through its lair, and was now pursuing them.
“Li Daoxuan, what’s wrong with you?” Shen Qing asked urgently.
But Li Daoxuan was in too much pain to speak. He could only grit through it with his eyes closed. In his hazy state, he leaned forward, pressing his nose to Shen Qing’s neck and inhaling softly, like a cold snake flicking its tongue, searching for the place to strike.
A flush spread at the corners of Li Daoxuan’s eyes. The scent at her neck surged toward him all at once, making him dizzy. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he held that position, motionless, for a long while.
Bone-rending pain first bloomed in his chest, then slowly spread to his organs, tearing through his dantian as well. The overwhelming agony threatened to numb his mind entirely.
His body swayed slightly. His pale lips finally moved away from the curve of Shen Qing’s neck, but the warm breath he left behind sent waves of heat across her skin.
Shen Qing reacted as if startled, pushing him away forcefully. She then rubbed her neck over and over, trying to wipe away that strange sensation that had seeped into her skin.
But that push was almost flirtatious in effect, they didn’t widen the distance at all. As she lowered her head to rub her neck, she instead exposed her shoulder directly to him.
Her expression darkened. What was he doing? Trying to disgust her on purpose? Retaliating against her? When had Li Daoxuan become so childish?!
This thought lasted only a moment before being shattered by Li Daoxuan’s ragged breathing. Recalling his sweat-soaked palm, a doubt surfaced in Shen Qing’s heart.
What… was wrong with him?
“What’s going on with you?” she asked softly.
Today was already bad enough. And at this critical moment, one of Li Daoxuan’s meridians had been blocked by the gu, cutting off his internal strength for the time being. That meant that in this perilous underground palace, his chances of getting out unscathed had dropped significantly.
His black sleeves pooled along his well-defined forearms as he panted lightly, trying to ease the discomfort. Perhaps because he was holding a fresh, tempting person in his arms yet couldn’t touch her, the gu was acting up far more violently today. Li Daoxuan was dangerously close to losing control.
He held that position, unmoving for a long time, like a corpse.
Seeing that he wasn’t responding, unease inexplicably surged in Shen Qing’s heart, her thoughts racing.
So much time had passed, yet the owner of the underground palace still hadn’t appeared, despite all the noise they’d made. There was only one explanation.
The owner wasn’t home.
That was why no matter how much these guardian demons stirred, the real master never showed himself.
It was highly possible that at this very moment, the palace’s owner was elsewhere harming civilians, and before long, another demon would begin wreaking havoc on the Shen household.
In the encroaching darkness, images of her family estate awash in blood from her previous life flashed through Shen Qing’s mind. Fear and dread surged violently. Looking again at Li Daoxuan’s half-dead state, she acted on impulse, grabbing his collar and shaking him back and forth.
At that moment, she no longer cared about schemes, sharp words, or decorum. She wanted nothing more than to drag him back to the Shen residence on the spot.
No matter how you die, let’s first go to the Shen residence and deal with the great demon!
“Li Daoxuan! Li Daoxuan! Can you hear me? Look at me!” She patted the boy’s face. In her panic, she didn’t know her own strength, soon a faint red mark bloomed on his porcelain-white cheek, though she herself could not see it.
Li Daoxuan frowned. Just as he was about to speak, another palm came flying toward his face, slapping his words straight back down his throat. Even a clay figure has three parts temper, let alone someone like him who was in the midst of a gu outbreak.
He forcefully suppressed his killing intent and grabbed her wrist in one swift motion. “Shut up.” With his fingertips, he pinched out a fire talisman and lit it.
In the narrow space, a small cluster of warm light flared to life, just enough to clearly reveal the other’s expression.
And when he opened his eyes, he froze.
The girl before him was covered head to toe in dust and ash, utterly bedraggled. Even the tip of her nose was smudged gray, like a little calico cat. Her clear, bright eyes were brimming with tears, filled with undisguised worry and fear.
What was she worried about? What was she afraid of?
Shen Qing sobbed, “You can’t die. Come out with me…”
He couldn’t die.
So, had she suddenly found her conscience and begun worrying about him?
Li Daoxuan was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected that someone who always seemed so carefree would actually spare him a bit of concern. It made him feel awkward instead.
Little did he know that in Shen Qing’s eyes, Li Daoxuan’s lips were deathly pale, sweat poured down his face, and he looked no different from a half-dead man. She was afraid, afraid that if something happened to him here today, she herself wouldn’t make it out alive.
So Shen Qing grabbed his hand again and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong with you? Where does it hurt? That lotus demon is almost here, don’t scare me!”
So it turns out she’s just afraid of dying herself. No conscience at all.
Li Daoxuan thought bitterly.
Suddenly, a slick green vine snared both of their ankles and yanked downward. The lotus demon shrieked as it twisted its bloated body, climbing upward.
Their situation was perilous in the extreme, either they would fall, or the lotus demon would climb up and swallow them whole.
Hearing the movement, Shen Qing instinctively grabbed a corner of Li Daoxuan’s sleeve. At that very moment, the only fire talisman burned out completely.
Li Daoxuan leaned close to her ear and sighed softly. “Bad luck. Today just happens to be the day I’ve completely lost my internal strength. The two of us… I’m afraid we’ll be buried here.”
Shen Qing’s pupils shrank violently. “Your internal strength, where did it go?” she asked in disbelief.
Li Daoxuan replied, “No idea. Ever since Lady Shen poisoned me, my internal strength has been unstable. I don’t know if it’s because of that drug.”