Chapter 12: If the Former Senior Brother Is Angry Again, Then Let Him Be

The rats’ shrill, ghostly shrieks reached an unprecedented pitch, piercing Lingxi’s eardrums and burrowing deep into her mind. Lingxi frowned, a surge of irritation rising within her. She grabbed the red thread binding her wrists, pulling at it with the desperate intent to tear the wretched thing apart.

Why should she be tethered by such a piece of junk? That madman had been the one to try and kill her first. It was just a murder, after all!

Suddenly, a trace of warmth rose from her dantian. The irritability and madness in her heart gradually subsided, and her mind cleared. She realized her emotions had been manipulated by something just moments ago.

"Hey! Stop spacing out. If you die, I’m not responsible," Jiang Ziwen’s haughty voice echoed in her mind.

"Thank you."

As Lingxi spoke, she flicked her fingers, pulling the red thread taut. When the blade’s tip met the thread, it emitted an ambiguous crimson glow. As the red waves of energy clashed with the white, sparks flew from the point of contact, accompanied by a tense, harsh sizzling sound.

A scarlet hue flickered in Wen Jue’s eyes. His gaze was devoid of clarity, fixed intensely on Lingxi in a deeply unsettling manner. He stood three paces away, surrounded by a circle of empty bottles at his feet. As the rats shrieked and swarmed toward him, the bottles collided, producing a cold, hollow sound.

Wen Jue’s pale fingers lifted slightly, and a flurry of silver needles flew from his sleeves. Enveloped in spiritual light, the needles—dark with glints of white—exploded with force upon contact, blasting the rats’ flesh and blood across the ground. Seeing the viscous red blood, a flash of excitement crossed Wen Jue’s eyes. A faint curve appeared on his lips. As he stood rooted to the spot, he turned his head and, seeing Lingxi still positioned to his front right, frowned slightly. A second wave of silver needles erupted from his palm, targeting her entire body.

Lingxi’s lips twitched uncontrollably. She frantically channeled the "Nether Shore" technique, pushing her speed to its limit. Behind her, the rats surged forward, devouring the dark, congealed blood on the ground; their deathly-pale fingertips were stained crimson, and scraps of flesh hung from their human-like faces. Within minutes, the ground returned to its original state, with ancient bone fragments resting silently on the black soil. The rats picked up the skulls with their hands, gnawing on them.

It appeared Wen Jue had arrived in this hellish place before her. Though he had been suppressing the malice in his heart, his psyche had clearly been compromised.

Lingxi ran madly, moving with such speed that she left afterimages in her wake. The poison needles pursued her relentlessly, and the human-faced rats let out piercing howls. After only a few minutes of using the "Nether Shore," her spiritual energy began to falter. If this continued, she would inevitably run dry and be devoured.

Lingxi stopped abruptly, turned, and flashed a smile at Wen Jue. "Before we left, the Master told me a secret concerning you. It is..."

She drew out her tone, mimicking the dramatic reveal of a dying spy in a television show, while her hand, hidden within her wide sleeve, tensed into a tight fist.

***

Hearing the word "Master," a look of struggle appeared in Wen Jue’s eyes. His needle-wielding fingers tightened, and he walked toward Lingxi in confusion. Before he could reach her, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and collapsed to the ground with a muffled thud. Lingxi looked at the bleached leg bone in her hand, having struck Wen Jue’s back a few times for good measure, and gave the little fox a thumbs-up.

...

Chu Xinghe awoke to find himself in total darkness. As he moved his arm, a tearing sensation of pain flooded his mind. He instinctively reached for the storage bag at his waist, only to find it empty; the jade pendant that usually hung there was also gone. *Did I lose them while being chased by the demonic beasts?*

Before the thought could fully form, something furry crawled over his fingers. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he looked down and saw a rat with blood-red eyes licking his finger. Resisting the urge to chop his own finger off, he unleashed a palm strike. A strange shriek erupted, and the rat was reduced to a bloody mess.

*Squeak, squeak, squeak—*

The sound of rats billowed from ahead, as noisy as a tidal wave, mixed with the sound of breaking bones that struck straight at the soul. An inexplicable irritation took root in Chu Xinghe’s heart.

"Lingxi!!!"

Lingxi, who was dragging the unconscious Wen Jue along, reached a fork in the road. She had intended to go left, but upon hearing someone call her name from the right, she felt a sudden sense of warmth and familiarity, and veered sharply in that direction.

A man sat on the ground, back against the wall. His face was bruised, eyes burning with fury, and veins pulsed on his forehead. Though he looked somewhat disheveled, it was clear he had a strong foundation.

"Hi~ Long time no see, Senior Brother~" Lingxi said, her tone brimming with excitement. She hadn’t expected to run into Chu Xinghe, but he was a perfect helper. She had ambushed him, knocked him out, and even swiped a few valuables earlier, but she remained completely unfazed.

Upon hearing that "Hi," Chu Xinghe shuddered. He stood up immediately, pressing his back against the wall, and watched the front with vigilance.

A slab of black rock obscured the cave entrance. A slightly dirty face peeked out, eyes sparkling with surprise. Her two braids bounced on her chest, her bangs were damp with sweat, and she wiped her brow before running quickly toward Chu Xinghe. Having him solve their problems would be ideal.

***

Lingxi was at the early stage of Qi Refining, and Wen Jue was a peak Qi Refining cultivator with a damaged dantian; they definitely couldn't hold off that swarm of monsters behind them.

After seeing exactly what was chasing Lingxi, Chu Xinghe’s mouth twitched, and he took a deep breath.

Lingxi widened her eyes and asked tentatively, "Surely Senior Brother isn't... incapable, are you?!"

Before Chu Xinghe could answer, she tossed a white jade bottle toward him and raised her fist in a gesture of encouragement. "A man must never say he is incapable."

"Don't forget to take the Heart-Clearing Pill. Those rats affect one's emotions and pollute the spirit."

After her brief explanation, Lingxi dragged the half-dead Wen Jue behind Chu Xinghe.

As he took the jade bottle, the rage in Chu Xinghe’s eyes dimmed slightly. However, when his gaze fell upon the hands of the two, which were still tightly gripped together, a cold sneer curled his lips. His pale green robes stirred without a breeze. His slender fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword; as the blade slid from its scabbard, the sharp light of the sword intensified.

He struck with a single slash. The sword glow formed a crescent arc, and the sword qi whipped up a storm of dust and stones, shaking the cave. The squeaking, ghostly rats stopped their shrieking, folding their hands over their chests as their blood-red eyes filled with terror.

Before they could even think to turn and flee, the spiritual energy within the sword qi erupted. Thousands of tiny, sharp spiritual filaments slashed diagonally, slicing the rats into fragments. The entrance was cleared of rats in an instant, leaving a floor of minced flesh and a snow-white blade dripping with blood.

Chu Xinghe frowned and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the tip of his sword.

Lingxi’s eyes glowed with admiration, her resolve to stop being a layabout only strengthening. She didn't have to fight to be a hero, but she couldn't afford to lack the strength to be one.

Chu Xinghe kept his eyes on his sword, his displeasure deepening. "There are plenty of empty places in this secret realm; you didn't have to choose a graveyard just to avoid suspicion. Next time you want to anger me, know your limits. Break the contract."

His tone was matter-of-fact, carrying the air of a command, as if he were certain Lingxi would comply with his demands.

Lingxi froze. She raised her arm slightly, and the red thread wrapped around their wrists tangled together, tightly binding their fingers. A pink spiritual glow refracted from the thread, making the way their hands were joined seem somewhat ambiguous.

A strange expression crossed Lingxi’s face. She let go, and with a *clatter*, Wen Jue’s head hit the wall, his eyes instantly clearing.

A flash of surprise crossed Lingxi’s eyes. They shone with a brilliance that surpassed even Columbus discovering the New World. She would never have to worry about her Senior Brother’s spirit being infected again.

Pain-based spiritual purification!