Chapter 40

Tan Ye woke up at some point, his eyes meeting hers directly. She could see the shock in those dark pupils.

What should one do when caught doing something bad?

What to do?

Of course, see it through to the end!

Since she had already been discovered, she might as well continue while he was unable to resist!

Her lips and teeth pressed against his skin again, intimately nestling together. She suddenly felt a slight tremble in his body. Su Heng suddenly remembered his condition.

Their posture at this moment was indeed a bit ambiguous. She pondered for a moment, then reached out and turned his face to the side. “If you need to vomit, do it this way.”

Vomiting while lying on one’s back risked choking, not to mention it would dirty his own body and of course hers as well, which was the most intolerable.

She lowered her head and continued to clean up the flowing blood. The blood was sweet, lacking the usual fishy smell, and even had a faint fragrance. She couldn’t quite distinguish if that fragrance emanated from his flesh or was the taste of the blood itself.

The wound had stopped bleeding. She carefully cleaned up the blood bit by bit until the wound area was clean and pale white. Only then was she satisfied and pulled his lapels closed. Tan Ye’s complexion was truly not good. He stared at her tightly, his lips pressed together.

“I am a demon, and since I’m a demon, I naturally have demonic habits.” She patted his shoulder teasingly, “Don’t tell me you really thought that eating those desserts in front of you day after day meant I had gone vegetarian. Anyway, since your blood flowed out, let’s not waste it. I didn’t endanger your life.”

Tan Ye’s eyes remained fixed on her, but in the end he said nothing. His face was pale as he coughed, his body retreating back a small step.

Half of Tan Ye’s white clothing was already stained red with blood. Su Heng wasn’t sure if he had any other hidden injuries on his body.

She wrapped an arm around his waist, taking him down to the ground.

The dragon in the sky landed on the ground and transformed into human form. Tan Ye let out a small sigh of relief as his tense body relaxed.

“Who are you!?” came Ling Mao’s frightened voice from the corner.

Ling Mao stared at her with both eyes.

Without looking down, Su Heng knew her current appearance was truly not ladylike. She glanced at Ling Mao and smiled charmingly, then raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face from a distance. The force was truly great, directly turning Ling Mao’s face to the side.

The other disciples with Ling Mao stared at her in panic. Their feet were tied up, bound together on a single rope.

When she had been dealing with those dragons earlier, she hadn’t considered letting them escape with their lives.

If those dragons had succeeded, everyone would have died. Releasing them or not made no difference, except releasing them would allow them to die slightly more convinced. But since the end result was death either way, what did it matter if they were convinced or not.

Ling Mao being slapped from a distance silenced the other disciples. They saw Tan Ye’s pale face, yet his waist was being held by that red-clothed woman. From their perspective, Tan Ye seemed to be completely nestled against the woman.

The woman’s arm wrapped directly around his waist. Like a tycoon doting on a lover, her movements naturally exuded a bold aura.

“Can you stand now?” She felt Tan Ye was able to stand and directly released him, stepping back.

Tan Ye was suddenly pushed away by her, standing there in a slight daze. When they landed on the ground, the clouds pressing on the horizon instantly dispersed, revealing the truest dusk of late spring.

The setting sun’s afterglow carried the bloody smell on the wind, blowing against Tan Ye and pulling his thoughts back.

He glanced at the people lying on the ground.

After hitting the ground, they had all transformed into human form, still bearing some resemblance to the one they had slain earlier.

He walked over, sword in hand.

Apart from being devoured from the inside out by the red threads, the others hadn’t fully perished yet.

Sword in hand, he walked to the middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader. The man looked at him with shock and fear in his eyes.

Tan Ye gazed down at the man’s face, his own countenance cold as water. Suddenly, he smiled, a trace of good mood even discernible.

That delight spread across his face, completely enveloping it.

Su Heng was slightly curious. She had just seen his face full of cold detachment, and now this joy – she didn’t know where it came from.

“I do not desire to kill,” Tan Ye said softly, his voice melodious and ethereal. “But you sought your own death.”

He raised his hand, aiming the tip of his sword an inch below the throat. He pierced it in, slowly puncturing through just as he had done to that dragon’s son. Giving no chance for a quick death.

A sharp scream burst from the middle-aged man’s throat, then abruptly ceased.

The next few met the same fate.

Tan Ye’s white robes were stained with blood. The setting sun’s afterglow shone on his face, casting it in a cruel sanctity.

Su Heng glanced at Ling Mao to the side. She had no intention of stopping this. Those destined to die – letting her little darling eat a couple and Tan Ye dealing with the rest as he pleased was fine by her.

Ling Mao and the other disciples watched with pale faces as Tan Ye dealt with those dragons, piercing a spot on their necks. Screams were shrill as they perished.

Tan Ye’s methods sent chills through those on the ground. Ling Mao and the others had always thought Tan Ye was weak and easy to bully, seeming to endure everything silently no matter how they mistreated him.

They had long assumed Tan Ye was that kind of person. In private, they ridiculed him, saying outsiders called him a rare prodigy, but he was actually useless.

Now, this useless man’s methods made their blood run cold. Recalling everything they had done, they couldn’t help but tremble.

Tan Ye killed all the dragons one by one.

“Your technique this time was different from before,” Su Heng said, appearing behind him.

“That spot is the reverse scale.” Tan Ye held his sword far away to avoid splattering her dress with the filthy blood.

“The reverse scale of a dragon?” Her interest was piqued upon hearing this.

Her original form was of flowers, grass, and vines. From the moment she gained awareness, she was in remote mountains and forests. The aquatic races were unconnected to her and she was too lazy to visit their territories.

She couldn’t even recognize many of the aquatic races. Otherwise she wouldn’t have mistaken a dragon’s tail for a hairtail.

“How did you know?” She watched the dead dragons on the ground fully revert to their original forms, clearly deceased. “I heard the location of a dragon’s reverse scale is generally unknown. After all, anyone who touches that spot is certain to die.”

“I came across it while reading texts in the sect,” he said, gesturing for her to stay further back. The reverse scale on the dead dragons’ necks had been forcibly pierced open. Blood pooled on the ground in several places. Her feet were bare and stepping in it would inevitably dirty them.

“So to say the technique is different is actually the same.”

After Tan Ye patiently explained to her, he looked at Ling Mao collapsed on the ground. The vines on Ling Mao and the others had imperceptibly receded.

“Immortal!” Prefect Chen rushed over with others. Seeing the utterly dead dragon corpses on the ground, he nearly couldn’t catch his breath from fright.

Earlier, the celestial signs had changed. Thunder and lightning suddenly struck. Even if the weather was shifting, there would normally be signs beforehand, not this abrupt transformation. Someone had also reported seeing serpentine shapes in the sky. In all likelihood, it was those demons and monsters. The immortals fighting each other on normal days was headache-inducing enough, and now all sorts of monsters were joining the fray too.

He hurriedly brought people to find the Immortal and Immortal Maiden. Fortunately, they hadn’t left yet. If they were gone, he truly wouldn’t know what to do.

Prefect Chen saw the several massive corpses on the ground, his face paling.

Initially, he had only seen a severed head. Now, entire bodies lay before him.

Seeing the prefect arrive, Su Heng was all smiles. “You’ve come at the right time. Things here are just about wrapped up.”

She nodded her chin at the mess on the ground, signaling Prefect Chen to take a look.

“Right, toss the corpses deep in the forest. Don’t take them out to scare people this time. Mortals are fainthearted after all. Once is fine, but too much will frighten them.”

Prefect Chen’s mouth moved a few times before he nodded. Last time was one thing, but this time several had come. Keeping these inauspicious things around wasn’t good. Following her words was the better choice.

Ling Mao was about to say something when Tan Ye placed a hand on his shoulder. “Senior Brother and fellow disciples have been here for quite some time. It’s about time to return.”

He looked over the filth on Ling Mao and the other disciples. “And change into clean clothes.”

He gripped Ling Mao’s shoulder and lifted him up, then glanced at the other disciples. “Are you juniors able to walk?”

After what had just transpired, no one would continue to think Tan Ye was truly a pushover.

The disciples rose silently. The blood stains covering half of Tan Ye’s body had dried by now, making it difficult to distinguish which were his and which belonged to the dragon.

“The souls of those dragons…” Ling Mao uttered.

Dragons, although not true dragons, were still of the dragon race. Dragons were considered divine beasts, and their bodies and souls were precious and rare.

“Senior Brother jests. They are already obliterated in both body and soul, so where would their souls come from?”

Tan Ye’s expression was as gentle as ever. “Rest assured, Senior Brother, they have already dispersed.”

Ling Mao, in his current state, clearly no longer possessed the ability to sense if souls were lingering. He looked at Tan Ye’s unchangingly gentle eyes, but before he could speak, Tan Ye had already sent him back to the inn.

Tan Ye had slain all the evil dragons. He left the rest to Prefect Chen, who, following Su Heng’s instructions, disposed of the dragon corpses in the forest outside the city.

These things, even in death, had a fierce and malevolent appearance. The yamen runners, after completing their task, hurried away, fearing that staying longer would attract something foul. They left immediately.

Night fell unhurriedly. The forest today was eerily devoid of even the chirping of insects. A figure intruded into the woods. Su Heng stepped on and snapped the twigs underfoot without hesitation.

The night was fine today. Despite the great battle in the evening, true night brought a high-hanging bright moon. Beautiful and clean.

This time she had expended quite a bit. These few dragons had cost her a considerable amount of red thread.

Since it cost her a lot, naturally she had to make up for it.

Su Heng took out a ball of red thread from her sleeve. The thread was wound into an ordinary ball, and indeed it was the most common red thread. She lightly tapped it with her fingertip, pulling out a long line. Her fingertip slid across it.

The red thread, where her fingertip passed, snapped section by section, floating in the air and flying to the few ferocious, blood-reeking corpses.

The souls that had not yet dispersed from the corpses were instantly drawn out from the heads and infused into the red threads.

These red threads of hers were all nurtured with souls and flesh and blood.

Although a demon, she also had principles in her thievery. She would not learn from true demons and ghosts, tempering magic tools with the souls of boys and girls born on completely yin days.

Since it was something used for fighting and killing, naturally it had to be nourished with the most noxious energy. These things were the most suitable.

The red threads floated in mid-air, continuously absorbing the residual souls from the corpses.

Dragons were rarely seen. Even for her, she had not encountered them many times over the years. Since they were hard to come by, there was even less reason to let them go.

Tan Ye stood on the windowsill for a while. Outside had already been cleaned by someone, but the dragon blood had soaked into the ground and the bloody smell would not dissipate anytime soon.

There was only him in the room. This time, she had directly revealed her form in front of everyone, clearly no longer satisfied with her previous concealment. Since she had already revealed her existence to everyone this time, even if she would not speak of her origins, she would not let her existence be known only to him as before.

His thoughts were known only to himself, those hidden, secret thoughts that could not be seen by others.

To be seen only by him, to be known only by him.

He only wanted to be the only one to see her, to possess her completely.

Perhaps he had never truly owned anything of his own since childhood. What others gave him were handouts. He had no choice but to accept these unsolicited offerings. How could he truly consider something he was forced to accept as his own?

No matter what it was, it left no trace in his heart. Since he never thought of obtaining it, even if he lost it, he would feel nothing.

But this time was different. He felt that he genuinely wanted to completely occupy, to belong only to him. Only him.

He didn’t know when this thought arose. He had noticed it but dismissed it with a smile, leaving it there to take root and sprout without his awareness, until this notion grew stronger and stronger, to the point where he himself was now willing to comply with it.

He had never fantasized about anything, nor had he ever obtained anything. Just this once.

Outside, the moonlight was like frost. Reaching out, one could scoop a handful of moonlight into the palm. It was what she liked, but he was not there. When she left, she had already told him that she would not return tonight, and possibly not for the next two days. She told him to stay put, and if he didn’t want to, it didn’t matter. It was up to him.

She left carefree, tossing him to the back of her mind, and went off excitedly to do her own thing.

Tan Ye stood by the window, the night breeze gentle. He knew what she went to do tonight, and he couldn’t stop her.

His entire being melded into the moonlight. After a long time, he slowly smiled. “But it doesn’t matter. I finally know what you want from me.”

Saying this, he laughed again, his eyes lowering to look at his raised hand. The hand was exactly what a man’s should be, slender and delicate, the blue veins on the back slightly protruding.

So this was what she wanted most.

This was much more exciting to him than so-called enlightenment. Enlightenment was too ethereal, something he himself did not believe in. But if it was something from his body, then that was wonderful.

He had always been wary of outsiders having designs on him, but at this moment, he was grateful that she had designs on him. If she wanted nothing, then he would be at a loss.

Tan Ye’s wrist slowly turned under the moonlight, the pale blue veins under the skin also turning translucent white like the skin itself under the moonlight.

She was gone, but the things she used were still in the room. He sat down in front of the mirror, the window open, the moonlight outside shining in unhindered, illuminating the mirror surface and the person in front of it.

His hand traced the blue veins on the back of his hand, then moved to his neck, forcefully tearing open his lapels, and pressing on the nearly healed wound on his chest.

His fingertips exerted force, tearing open the wound that was almost fully healed.

The wound was forcibly torn open, blood flowing out, but he felt no pain, only a slight chill, followed by agony. Usually wounds and pain were inflicted on him by others, but this time, it was by his own hand.

Blood from the wound stained his fingertips.

“So this is what you originally wanted.” He examined the blood on his fingertips. After a moment, he laughed out loud. “Wonderful.”

Yes, wonderful. He finally also had something real, something she truly wanted.

No longer that illusory so-called Dao, but something real, something tangible from his body.

He laughed until his eyes grew hazy.

“This way, can I truly keep you?”

This question was met with only silence.

How nice.

Tan Ye trembled with excitement every time he thought of this.

The face in the mirror was deep and amorous. No matter how one looked at it, it was an extremely fine countenance. Lowering his head and eyes, deep affection flowed from his eyes and the corners of his mouth.

His gaze was mesmerizing, captivating.

He looked at himself in the mirror and laughed again and again.

Su Heng returned three days later. It was her first time refining the souls and flesh of dragons. Dragons were not true dragons, but they resembled them, with some similarities in certain aspects. Refining their souls was a bit tricky. But after three days, she had devoured all the flesh and souls.

Three days later, all that remained of the dragon corpses were white bones. Everything else had been used by her.

Su Heng walked out of the forest feeling refreshed. Every part of her body felt comfortable.

As a plant, she also needed fertilizer, and that flesh and blood was the best nourishment.

There were few people coming and going nearby. Everyone in the city knew that the authorities had dumped the corpses of the monsters here, so no one dared to approach. It was quite convenient for her to do her business.

When she returned to the inn, she went upstairs in a nonchalant manner, her fiery red dress drawing stares along the way.

Su Heng had no intention of continuing to conceal herself. It was more fun to directly reveal herself in front of others.

She headed to Tan Ye’s room and pushed the door open. The two people inside turned to look at her when they heard the sound.

Sitting in the room were Tan Ye and the other was Ling Yang, whom she had seen in Chaoyun Sect.

Ling Yang was talking to Tan Ye when Su Heng suddenly pushed the door open from outside, forcing him to cut off his words midway. He turned to look at the door and saw a red-clothed beauty standing there.

Su Heng sized up Ling Yang. Ling Yang was one of the few disciples in Chaoyun Sect who had respect for Tan Ye as a senior brother. Of course, apart from that, she had not seen Ling Yang provide any other assistance to Tan Ye.

But in the face of human warmth and coldness, being able to do as he did was not bad. One could not ask for more.

Ling Yang was a handsome youth. His eyes gazed at her with restraint and strength, and then the light in those eyes suddenly turned sharp.

Su Heng watched, her heart filled with infinite interest.

Oh, did this little fellow see through her true form?

This was truly fascinating.