Chapter 8: Taking Action

Su Heng watched from the shadows as the two martial brothers left. She casually found a tree branch and lazily lay down on it, closing her eyes. With her eyes closed, she could see everything around Tan Ye.

A red thread from her was attached to him, merging with his own aura and undetectable by others. As long as it was on him, even if he was a thousand miles away, she could track his whereabouts.

Su Heng pinched the end of her long hair and lightly flicked it a couple times.

After returning to the sect, Tan Ye should have rested first before going to see Dao Zhen. But as soon as he arrived, he was immediately summoned by a disciple sent by Dao Zhen.

Tan Ye went to the tower where Dao Zhen was. Upon seeing him, Dao Zhen said extremely coldly, “You’re back?”

Tan Ye replied with a simple “Yes.”

“I heard that on the way back, you and your fellow disciples suddenly encountered the Demon Sect and suffered casualties on both sides. But what I’m curious about is that you disappeared without a trace. All of your other martial brothers and sisters, injured or not, remained at the scene. Only you…”

Tan Ye couldn’t help but look up at Dao Zhen in shock. “Master, I did not abandon my fellow disciples.”

Dao Zhen let out a snort of disdain, the sound not loud but weighing heavily on one’s heart.

“At that time, I…”

Dao Zhen raised a hand to stop him. “No need to explain. What happened has already been reported by the disciples. Further explanations are useless.”

“Go and accept your punishment.”

Tan Ye lowered his head. “I boldly ask Master to please specify my crime.”

“Must you make me spell it out and humiliate you?” Dao Zhen was a bit surprised that Tan Ye dared to ask.

“In the face of a great enemy, you actually fled the battlefield and left your fellow disciples in danger. Is that not enough?” Dao Zhen’s voice suddenly rose.

“I did not. I…”

“Silence!” Dao Zhen was furious. He sent a palm strike directly at Tan Ye.

Unable to circulate his energy, Tan Ye took the blow head-on, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.

“There is no room for you to make excuses here!”

“Since you took me as your master, you should know the meaning of respecting your teacher!”

Tan Ye clenched his fists hidden in his sleeves and fell silent.

“For your earlier insolence in talking back to me, the original punishment will be doubled as a warning to others.”

“Yes.”

Disciples were already waiting outside. Seeing him come out, they directly took him to receive his punishment. Dao Zhen sentenced him to twenty lashes, then doubled it. Ordinary disciples of shallow cultivation would struggle to endure even ten lashes, let alone twenty. Now doubled, it was not just physical punishment, but would also damage Tan Ye’s reputation in the sect.

After forty lashes, Tan Ye’s back was a bloody mess. His face was deathly pale without a trace of color.

Throughout the punishment, he did not utter a word. The whip carried a trace of heavenly lightning, incomparable to the soul-destroying power of true lightning, but each lash felt like being flayed by a thousand knives while being scorched by raging flames. Most disciples would have passed out from the pain long before the end.

This punishment was meant to humiliate more than just inflict physical pain.

Tan Ye endured all forty lashes. When the disciple administering the punishment said it was over, he gave a slight nod and stood up, not showing the sorry state of those disciples punished before him. But his forehead was covered in cold sweat and his steps were slightly slow.

Tan Ye turned and saw the person who had been watching behind him the whole time. He lightly greeted, “Senior Brother.”

Besides sending Tan Ye to be punished, Dao Zhen had also dispatched the head disciple Ling Mao to oversee it. From start to finish, Ling Mao did not hear a single cry of pain from Tan Ye. He made no sound at all, and his back remained perfectly straight.

The dreaded punishment whip couldn’t make Tan Ye show the slightest weakness, earning Ling Mao’s admiration.

“Since the punishment is complete, I shall go report to Master.” Seeing Tan Ye’s pale face, nearly drained of all color, and his white lips, Ling Mao spoke.

But his back was straight. Even weakened to this state, he didn’t allow others any chance to mock him.

Ling Mao gave him a few cold glances before leaving with the other disciples.

After they left, Tan Ye slowly made his way back to his dwelling. Having been punished and the demon poison not fully purged, he could only walk back step by step. Many disciples saw him along the way, but none came to help. They either pretended not to see him or avoided him from afar.

From the tree, Su Heng saw Tan Ye finally stagger back to his dwelling and immediately collapse on the bed. She gasped and muttered, “He wouldn’t just die like this, right?!”

She sat up and activated the red thread hidden on him. Right now he was not much different from a mortal. Taking such a beating, he very well could have died.

The concealed thread slid to his heart and detected that his heartbeat was very fast and erratic.

She immediately leaped down from the branch, her casual playfulness from earlier mostly gone.

“Hey, seems he’s not doing well?” She called out in her mind to that unknown being.

No response. She asked again, “Your deity is about to die. Let him die or not?”

Still no reaction besides her own thoughts.

That damn thing was always like this, so elusive that even she, a non-human, had to curse it as a dog. The few times she needed it, it rarely showed up.

To save him or not?

Su Heng tilted her head back in thought. Being a good person wasn’t her style. Good people don’t live long, but demons live for a thousand years. She was that thousand year old demon.

So, she would just be a wicked demon through and through.

In the next moment, Su Heng gracefully jumped from the branch. Her slender figure was so light that the thin branch she had been lying on remained completely still.

She was on the main path leading into Ruchao Cloud Sect. When a few disciples passed by, she directly attached herself to the back of a female disciple, using her aura to completely conceal herself.

That female disciple was chatting and laughing with her fellow disciple beside her. She suddenly felt a cool sensation rise up from her face, a bit unexpected but not uncomfortable, even a little pleasant.

The feeling quickly faded. The group joked and laughed all the way into the sect. After entering, that cool sensation rose up again, so comfortable it made one feel light.

After parting with her companions, the female disciple headed in a different direction with few people around. Tan Ye’s dwelling was located in a rather remote area, rarely passed by anyone besides himself.

She made the female disciple stop at the door of his dwelling, then leapt out from between her brows.

Standing before the door, Su Heng glanced around. She pointed her finger at the air a few times, discovering no protective formations. It was completely empty with nothing, not even a warning mechanism just in case.

It seemed Tan Ye was truly gravely injured.

The red thread she left on him, attached to his heart, could feel his heartbeat growing more and more erratic, and faster and faster.

When a mortal body nears death, the heartbeat actually races to its peak before plummeting until it stops beating and the person is thoroughly dead.

She could feel his heartbeat getting more disordered.

She was no good person, but he was someone she had spent effort to find and time to get involved with. For him to die like this before she had her fill would be a shame.

Moreover, it was an effortless matter for her.

It was just odd – that thing seemed to care a lot about successfully completing this trial, but at this critical juncture for Tan Ye’s life, no matter how she called for it, there was no response at all. Was it not afraid he would die and the trial would end in failure?

She arrived at his dwelling, unobstructed, and pushed open the door. Immediately, the thick stench of blood assailed her.

The bloody smell was heavy, showing the forty lashes were harsh indeed. But it didn’t make her nauseous like ordinary blood. Entering her nose, it smelled very sweet.

That saccharine scent was almost unbreakably sticky, many times more cloying than any sweet fruit or pastry she had eaten before. It evoked a long-dormant craving and hunger, along with an instinctive bloodthirst.

The human-like canine teeth in her mouth tingled, gradually elongating into fangs. She was born of the spiritual energy of vegetation, but that didn’t make her truly harmless. On the contrary, she was every bit the demon she should be.

Noticing her own changes, Su Heng furrowed her brow and entered directly. The fragrance of Tan Ye’s blood was truly sweet. She gulped.

Reaching the bedside, she saw Tan Ye already passed out and unconscious.

A rich fragrance wafted from him, not just blood but something else she couldn’t identify, unlike any scent given off by flowers or trees.

Succumbing to this temptation, she lowered her head. “Tsk, too skinny.” Seeing his body, she commented with apparent disdain. A moment ago, she wanted to devour him whole, but he seemed a bit too thin, and she feared he might make her teeth ache.

Of course, another reason was that if she really swallowed him in one bite, that thing might come after her with a vengeance later on. Plus, there was the matter of the deity who had failed the trial for ten lifetimes. If they went crazy and caused trouble for her, that would be terrible.

It was said that the longer someone lived, the more formidable they became when they went mad.

She wasn’t afraid of lunatics and even particularly enjoyed watching them go insane. The crazier they were, the more excited she became. However, if a madman directed their insanity at her, that wouldn’t be so great.

Su Heng suppressed the bizarre hunger that surprised even herself. She pointed her finger at his belt.

Suddenly, the unconscious man on the bed stirred, and a soft moan escaped his cracked lips.

Without hesitation, she took action and stripped him. Only after removing his clothing did she discover that his seemingly thin body was actually extremely masculine, with distinctly defined and firm muscles covered by porcelain-white skin, exuding a faint luster that coalesced into an overwhelming masculine aura.

It was a completely different sensation from a woman.

“Sorry, I underestimated you just now.”

His loose clothing had deceived her.

She flipped him over, and the crisscrossing wounds on his back were a shocking sight. Placing her palm over them, she could feel the residual power of heavenly lightning.

After probing, she determined it was something she could handle. If it were too strong, she would have no choice but to watch him die.

Countless tiny vines sprouted from her palm, drawing out the remaining heavenly lightning from the wounds. She felt a slight numbness in her palm, which was somewhat uncomfortable.

After a while, she lowered her hand and looked down at Tan Ye. His brows had already fully relaxed.

In such a short time, she had already intervened three or four times. Indeed, he was worthy of the trial, having far more opportunities to die than others.

Su Heng suspected that his failures in the previous nine lifetimes might have been due to this unlucky fellow dying early.

As she pondered, she noticed the blood flowing from his wounds again.

That thing hadn’t mentioned any rewards for her after the matter was settled, but she couldn’t work for others for free. Putting in both effort and energy, how could she not reap some benefits?

She was getting restless.

At this moment, the man who had been lying face down turned over, his eyes opening to look at her.

Having interacted with Tan Ye for some time, Su Heng knew that although he appeared gentle, he was actually not easy to get along with. He had a strong sense of wariness and guard against everyone except himself.

It was fine when he was unconscious, but now that he was awake, it would be even more troublesome for her to approach him if she didn’t conceal her form in time.

Thinking of this, she threw caution to the wind and placed one hand beside his ear, looking down upon him from above.

She pinched his chin. “You’re awake. How is it, beautiful? Are you satisfied with what you see?”

She sniffed the sweet scent of blood wafting in the air.

“You are fatally delicious.”

Her face was full of sincerity.