Chapter One Hundred Eighty-One: A Girl Like You
Blood moon hanging high.
A thick odor of blood permeated the entire mountain peak.
Everywhere were cries of despair, the sounds of severed limbs and shouts of slaughter.
A baby still in swaddling sat quietly on a high platform. She gnawed on her finger with her baby teeth, her bright eyes blinking as she gazed at the scene around her.
She couldn’t understand what was happening.
She merely mumbled incoherently while nibbling her finger.
Beside her stood an enchanting lady in a dark purple figure-hugging dress, accentuating her sexy and curvaceous body.
Her beautiful eyes sparkled with amusement as she calmly watched the slaughter fest unfolding in front of her.
On the square, a group of blood-soaked cultivators hurled corpses into a small pool in front of them.
The pool filled with blood suddenly flowed upward, back along the groove to the altar beside the baby.
Thick red mist gradually enveloped the baby.
“Master, it’s done.”
“…Is there any left?” the alluring woman said softly.
“No.”
The demon cultivator grinned savagely, “Eighty-nine disciples, all blood relatives, are here.”
“Very good.”
The woman slowly knelt down, her long, jade-like fingers brushing against the baby’s delicate skin, her face alight with a gentle smile.
“Lian’er, be good.”
“Look more, and you won’t be afraid in the future.”
“Mom knows you will step into the highest realms earlier than anyone else and achieve true immortality.”
“Don’t worry. Mom will pave the way for you.”
“Everything belongs to you.”
“…Mom’s life is also yours.” She smiled like a blooming flower.
——
——
Hua Jianglian slowly opened her eyes.
The morning dew was cool, and the dense fog of the early hours began to envelop the forest.
Glancing at the time, she noticed it was almost time, so she got up and shook off the dew and dust from her cloak.
Pulling up her hood, she leaped down from the tree and walked slowly towards the mountain path.
At the end of the road lay the mountain gate of the Fierce Tiger Sect.
The path was quiet; she seemed not to encounter any members of the Fierce Tiger Sect.
Her petite figure was nestled in the cloak, and from afar, only a dark shadow could be seen wandering the mountain road.
Her gaze was calm, showing no signs of fear.
However, halfway through her journey, she suddenly stopped.
A figure stood on the mountain path.
The person, with a respectful demeanor, deeply bowed to her.
“Sect Leader, are you really not going to think it over again?”
“…What?” Hua Jianglian slightly lowered her beautiful eyes, pouting, “I thought you were trapped inside and couldn’t get out.”
Young Master Sang shook his head, “I value my life. Without any means of self-preservation, I wouldn’t recklessly venture into a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair.”
“Unlike the Sect Leader. Are you really confident you can come back unscathed today?”
Hua Jianglian frowned and pouted, “Why do you care?”
“This is my own private matter; it’s not for you to butt in. Hurry back; don’t you still want to be the head of the Punishment Department?”
Young Master Sang quietly watched her.
Hua Jianglian bit her cherry lips and walked slowly past him.
As she brushed past him, Young Master Sang suddenly spoke:
“Thirteen years ago, the leader of the Ruthless Blood Hall, Hua Xue Mei, ordered her disciples to practice the ‘Ruthless Blood Technique’ and gathered all their blood relatives to slaughter them at the mountain gate, resulting in hundreds of lives lost and shocking the cultivation world.”
Hua Jianglian’s footsteps halted.
“This incident aroused dissatisfaction among several righteous sects, which joined forces to besiege the Ruthless Blood Hall, nearly exterminating all its members.”
“The leader, Hua Xue Mei, led several remnants to escape, but her corpse was subsequently found in the snow, suspected to have taken her own life out of guilt.”
“However, it is said that Hua Xue Mei had a newborn daughter, who went missing with the remnants of the Ruthless Blood Hall.”
Hua Jianglian slowly turned around, coldly gazing at him.
“…How do you know so much?”
Young Master Sang sighed, turning his head helplessly, “As a qualified and excellent employee, one must understand something about the company’s culture and business philosophy.”
“Although our demonic path basically lacks employee training or team-building culture.”
“Still, these matters can hardly be considered secrets. If one wants to investigate, it can be done.”
Hua Jianglian seemed a bit unhappy.
She pouted slightly, looking somewhat annoyed at Young Master Sang.
But Young Master Sang continued as if he hadn’t seen her annoyance:
“After the massacre at the Ruthless Blood Hall, various major sects exploited the pretext of hunting the remnants of demon cultivators to eliminate their enemies and wage war against one another.”
“Back then, the best excuse and reason was ‘your sect is hiding demon cultivators.’”
“Many innocent people were labeled as demon cultivators, forced to flee for their lives, eventually gathering together under a young girl who appeared from nowhere.”
“No one knows the girl’s origins. But her talent was terrifyingly exaggerated; her cultivation was as easy as eating or drinking, and in just a few short years, she reached the Crossing Tribulation Stage.”
“Those people gradually banded together for warmth and formed a sect.”
“The sect was named… the Demon Path.”
“What exactly do you want to say?” Hua Jianglian seemed a bit annoyed, but her pouting expression combined with her still somewhat juvenile face made her appear quite adorable.
Young Master Sang thought for a moment and said:
“I just wanted to say.”
“That missing young master of the demonic sect is quite pitiable.”
“A girl her age should be learning to speak, enjoying a carefree childhood by her mother’s side.”
“As she grows up a few years, she should be in that innocent age, just like children her age, liking to play, to be spoiled.”
“Enjoying interesting and romantic girl comics.”
“Acting fearless and unbothered.”
“Hiding her childlike side from everyone else.”
Young Master Sang watched as Hua Jianglian’s little fists gradually tightened.
But he continued, undeterred:
“Ah, if only she had a normal mother.”
“Then she wouldn’t have to live in the abhorrent smell of blood from the moment she was born.”
“No more hiding everywhere.”
“No more roughing it.”
“Being treated as a heinous demon cultivator.”
“Having no place to call home, wherever she went, as if from birth, the whole world was her enemy.”
As Young Master Sang concluded, suddenly his throat was grasped tightly by a pair of small, pink hands.
But it didn’t hurt at all.
On the contrary, her petite figure standing on tiptoes to grasp Young Master Sang’s throat looked somewhat comical and adorable.
“…I don’t need your pity.” Beneath her cloak, she hung her head low, her little tiger teeth biting down hard on her lip.
Young Master Sang silently watched her, then suddenly smiled gently:
“Sect Leader, look up.”
“…No.”
She preferred to keep her head down rather than let Young Master Sang see her face.
But Young Master Sang crouched down voluntarily.
He gazed at her slightly reddened, moist eyes, her nose twitching unsteadily, and her lips pressed tightly together.
Then.
He pulled out a book from his arms.
Hua Jianglian felt a gentle warmth on her forehead, as if being tenderly stroked.
She stared blankly at what was in Young Master Sang’s hand.
The next moment, she felt a pang of grievance in her nose.
…It was the new comic from Fusa Pavilion.
“This one, I still haven’t had the chance to read with the Sect Leader,” Young Master Sang said.
“After we finish reading.”
“Let’s go chase after the next update together.” Young Master Sang chuckled lightly.
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