Chu Yusheng entered the room proudly, almost with his nose in the air. The bandages on his hands had just been removed. He seemed to have finally remembered his lifesaver only after the documents for the change in Young Master were issued.
Pushing open the door, Chu Yusheng smiled: “I’ve come at the right time. Cousin Jinglan is awake, isn’t he?”
The servant also just realized the person was indeed awake. The news still needed to be reported to the elders. He retreated, incidentally giving Chu Yusheng space to talk.
There were chairs in the room, but Chu Yusheng didn’t pull one out to sit. He just put his hands behind his back, striding to the bedside with his head held high, looking at Chu Jinglan’s face.
Even though Xiao Mo had fed him grade-two spirit medicine for a few days, Chu Jinglan’s body was still severely depleted. His complexion was pale. He had always been cold, but now he looked like a real ice cube, though more like frost that could crumble at a touch rather than solid ice – not intimidating at all.
Chu Yusheng felt no gratitude towards his lifesaver in his heart. He didn’t even try to hide his smug expression, feeling utterly delighted. Finally, it was his turn to step on Chu Jinglan’s head.
Genius? Ha.
Cripple!
“Cousin, you’ve just woken up. I’m afraid no one has told you about your condition yet. I care about you and remember everything, so I’ll tell you.”
Chu Jinglan couldn’t be bothered to look at him and simply closed his eyes to rest.
Chu Yusheng took this as avoidance and smiled even more broadly: “Although the broken meridians have been reconnected, they’re stagnant and difficult to pass through. If there were spiritual energy to nourish and circulate, they could be healed. But the most troublesome part is that your dantian is shattered beyond repair. The dantian can’t hold spiritual energy. There’s no cure.”
“For the rest of your life, you’ll be able to maintain at most the cultivation of early Qi Condensation stage.”
He was eager to see Chu Jinglan’s broken expression. What would it look like when a heaven’s favored son fell into the mud? Would he weep uncontrollably or curse the heavens? Would he cry helplessly or beg for pity like a fool?
He looked eagerly, staring at Chu Jinglan’s face, unwilling to miss even the slightest expression. But—
But Chu Jinglan showed no expression at all.
The smile on Chu Yusheng’s face gradually faded.
This wasn’t how he had imagined it.
Chu Jinglan remained unmoved, which made Chu Yusheng anxious instead.
Chu Yusheng: “Don’t you have anything to say, cousin?”
Chu Jinglan seemed to have fallen asleep again, but Chu Yusheng knew he was awake.
“Say something, Chu Jinglan!”
He used to be so high and mighty, relying on his cultivation, right? Now he’s crippled, crippled! No different from an ant. Why isn’t he in despair? How can he remain as calm as ever!
“Also, also the position of Young Master is mine now,” Chu Yusheng racked his brains for something else that could provoke him, “Oh, right, the Su family, the Su family is already discussing breaking off the engagement! Su Baimo will soon no longer be yours. How do you feel about that, Chu Jinglan!”
Chu Yusheng was anxious and agitated, constantly raving at the silent Chu Jinglan, unaware that a pair of red eyes in the room had been staring at him for a long time.
Xiao Mo’s pitch-black eyes were now completely covered in dark red, demonic yet beautiful. He stared at Chu Yusheng and suddenly spoke softly: “Chu Jinglan, how about I kill him for you?”
Chu Jinglan, who hadn’t reacted to Chu Yusheng’s ranting for so long, opened his eyes at Xiao Mo’s single sentence. He gave Chu Yusheng a glance from the corner of his eye. He didn’t answer Xiao Mo, but responded to Chu Yusheng’s long tirade with a single word: “Leave.”
Chu Yusheng’s eyes reddened with anger. He reached out to grab Chu Jinglan’s shoulder: “Who do you think you’re talking to? You’re a cripple now, Chu Jinglan. I’m the future master of the Chu family!”
But his hand had barely touched the bedding, not yet reaching Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, when it was suddenly knocked away. It was as if someone had slapped him, with great force. Chu Yusheng staggered backward, confused by the sudden change.
“What, what’s going on!”
It was Xiao Mo.
He had struck Chu Yusheng away, leaving only a red mark on Chu Yusheng’s hand. But Xiao Mo’s own hand was burning up entirely. Xiao Mo frowned and looked down. His fair hand had been directly burned into black mist, unable to maintain its form.
Xiao Mo pressed his lips together. Although he understood that the rules restricted him from harming others, he hadn’t expected such a strong backlash from just a slap.
…It really hurt.
Xiao Mo flexed his wrist, reforming the black mist back into fingers. He didn’t make a sound, but when he lowered his hand, his fingers were trembling involuntarily from the pain.
Chu Jinglan saw this, but his words were directed at Chu Yusheng: “The little protective mark I left is enough to deal with you. Now leave.”
Chu Yusheng clutched his reddened hand, looking around the room uncertainly, an inexplicable chill running down his spine. He gradually retreated: “Fine, fine, let’s see how long you can keep up this tough act!”
As Chu Yusheng fled, Xiao Mo’s gaze remained fixed on him: “I can help you kill him.”
Chu Jinglan: “With your hand that damages itself by eight hundred points just from touching?”
“With your body.”
Xiao Mo turned his head, and Chu Jinglan saw clearly his blood-red pupils. The inner demon had no expression, but his words carried a naturally bewitching power: “If I possess your body, I can exert the cultivation of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. It would be more than enough to kill him.”
Chu Jinglan’s hand under the quilt gripped tightly. He stared at Xiao Mo’s eyes without blinking and sneered coldly: “What use would it be for you to seize this useless shell of mine?”
It was unclear whether he was mocking the inner demon or himself.
Xiao Mo’s expression tightened: “I said it’s not seizing, it’s possession.”
Seizing a body means eradicating the original consciousness. When the inner demon completely fuses with the shell, the cultivation level becomes the same as the original body, refining the original body into its own demonic form, transforming from a spiritual entity into a real existing person.
Possession, on the other hand, is occupation. The inner demon pushes the original consciousness into a corner without destroying it. The two coexist. At this time, the inner demon can use the original body as a medium, temporarily infusing its spiritual power into the dantian and exerting its own abilities.
The demon race is different from demonic cultivators. The spiritual power they accumulate can be used even without transforming into demonic energy, though it affects the power slightly.
However, if the inner demon forcibly seizes control of the body, it will cause considerable damage to the original spirit and body. Unless the original consciousness willingly gives way, every struggle for control of the shell, regardless of who takes over the body, results in mutual harm.
Chu Jinglan clearly knew the difference, yet he still spoke this way. Xiao Mo’s entire body tensed up.
Chu Jinglan: “I will never let someone else control my body.”
Even if he was crippled and broken, at least he was still himself. If even his body was controlled by someone else, what would he be? A lonely soul that shouldn’t linger in this world?
It’s harder to make someone with extreme wariness easily hand themselves over than to kill them with a sword.
Xiao Mo’s hand clenched into a fist: “It’s not just Chu Yusheng who treats you like this. You should have guessed the attitude of the entire Chu family. They use you with both carrot and stick, holding your lifeline, and discard you like trash when you’re no longer useful. Don’t you feel angry about how they treat you?”
When Chu Yusheng rushed in earlier and said those things, anyone who heard would have their blood pressure rise to 180. Could the person involved really have no reaction?
“Why aren’t you angry?”
Chu Yusheng had ranted for so long earlier, and Chu Jinglan didn’t want to say a word. But when Xiao Mo asked for the second time, Chu Jinglan’s hand under the quilt had already drawn blood.
He took a deep breath, his chest hurting like a broken bellows being pulled. He struggled to raise his head slightly, his eyes bloodshot, looking at Xiao Mo coldly and suppressed: “What good would anger do?”
The dark red light in Xiao Mo’s eyes flowed with his words: “Take revenge, avenge yourself! Why should you be the one to suffer? If you can’t do it, let me. Give me your body, let me take over!”
“I said, I will not let an inner demon control me.”
Chu Jinglan was struggling to prop himself up, his forehead already sweating from the pain, but he managed a cold smile: “Trying to lure me into mental collapse and then completely control me? Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m not!” Xiao Mo felt it was absurd and also became angry, “I said it’s not seizing!”
“Trust an inner demon who was born to kill me?” Chu Jinglan laughed while coughing, “Believe that you’re looking out for me? Do I need an inner demon to help me?”
He deliberately emphasized the words “inner demon,” and Xiao Mo angrily grabbed his collar: “Chu Jinglan!”
The moment Xiao Mo lifted Chu Jinglan, the emotions suppressed in his chest finally reached their peak and burst out uncontrollably: “What’s left for you to covet in a cripple’s shell!”
The birds outside seemed to be startled by the roar, flapping their wings and hurriedly fleeing. The calmness and composure were just a facade, merely out of necessity, merely the true feelings that had nowhere to vent after years of wearing a mask.
Xiao Mo grabbed his collar, too close to him, seeing clearly Chu Jinglan’s shattered frost, seeing the rolling magma underneath, seeing his broken but still existing pride.
Since waking up, Chu Jinglan had never asked if he had truly become a cripple. Not seeking a definite answer from others doesn’t mean he doesn’t care in his heart.
Chu Jinglan was more distressed than anyone else.
A strand of Xiao Mo’s hair fell beside Chu Jinglan’s ear. For a moment, only Chu Jinglan’s labored and heavy breathing remained in the room, along with the cough stuck in his throat.
“I thought you were going to keep everything bottled up inside, hurting yourself to death.” Xiao Mo’s anger disappeared from his face, and he said softly, “See, you can say it out loud.”
Xiao Mo let go, gently laying him down.
As soon as his back touched the bed, Chu Jinglan’s cough became unstoppable, coughing earth-shatteringly. Xiao Mo sat on the ground by his bedside, hugging his knees, leaning against the bed, leaving only a quiet back to Chu Jinglan.
After a while, Chu Jinglan’s coughing slowly subsided. His already limited strength was almost completely exhausted by the coughing. He lay on the bed, weakly gazing at the ceiling beams, taking half a moment to catch his breath.
Who knows how long it had been when two faint voices sounded simultaneously in the room.
Xiao Mo/Chu Jinglan: “…Sorry.”
Both of them flinched and closed their mouths at the same time.
This had happened before. Why were they always in sync at strange moments?
Chu Jinglan suddenly wanted to raise his hand to cover his eyes, but he could only move his fingers now, unable to move his entire arm. He was forced to accept this dazzling daylight: “…What are you apologizing for?”
“When I provoked you earlier, my tone was a bit harsh.”
When Xiao Mo had provoked Chu Jinglan to speak earlier, it was because he saw Chu Jinglan’s strong endurance and knew he must be suppressing his pain and hatred in his heart. So he wanted to give Chu Jinglan an outlet to vent. But as he spoke, his own emotions also got a bit heated.
After all, he was only seventeen, not some thousand-year-old spirit. How could he handle everything perfectly?
Xiao Mo hugged his arms, his fingers curling and uncurling: “I just wanted to do something… What are you apologizing for?”
The light fell on Xiao Mo’s water-colored robe. Chu Jinglan recalled Xiao Mo’s every move since he opened his eyes, thought of the look in his eyes towards Chu Yusheng, and more so of every moment
they had spent together until now. He remained silent for a long, long time, so long that Xiao Mo thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, from behind, Chu Jinglan’s voice finally came.
“…You seem to really be worried about me, so I’m sorry for some of the things I said earlier. I really couldn’t control myself.”
Xiao Mo’s eyes widened slightly, and a mix of indescribable grievance and comfort simultaneously rushed to his heart, causing his shoulders to tremble.
He knew their identities, knew the vast gulf between an inner demon and its host, and constantly reminded himself that no matter how much Chu Jinglan despised him, it was justified.
But the human heart is indeed the hardest to fathom. No matter how good one is at self-deception, when you spend day and night with someone, open your heart to them, and have a period of carefree and happy days, if in the end it only earns you killing intent and wariness, it would be a lie to say it doesn’t hurt at all.
Xiao Mo hugged his knees and hummed softly: “Who cares about you? After all, I’m just the heinous inner demon.”
Surprisingly, Chu Jinglan heard a hint of grievance and a touch of complaint in his voice, the kind of small complaint that only close people would express.
Amidst all the devastation, he actually wanted to laugh, but regrettably, he really couldn’t.
It hurt, everywhere hurt, both physically and emotionally.
Yes, he was crippled, so others dared to look down on him, dared to kick him while he was down, everyone could come and trample on him.
Chu Jinglan’s clenched hand under the quilt slowly relaxed: Even as a cripple, he still had to live on.
If he were to give up from now on, others would be laughing, while he would be in hell.
After being provoked by Xiao Mo to vent the pent-up frustration in his heart, although Chu Jinglan’s heart was still bleeding, his mind finally forced itself to move forward and think normally: “How long have I been asleep?”
“Seven days.”
Chu Jinglan drew in a sharp breath, almost coughing again: “I- cough- my mother…”
“She’s not in immediate danger. There are leftover medicines in the courtyard. The entire Chu family is in chaos because of you, no one has remembered her. There’s a maid who has been attentively taking care of her. The news about you hasn’t reached your mother’s ears yet.”
Chu Jinglan opened his eyes slightly. Without turning his head, Xiao Mo knew his expression and gently rested his chin on his knees: “My range of activity is now within a twenty-li radius. I knew you would be worried about her, so I went to check.”
Chu Jinglan’s anxious heart eased a little.
“…Thank you.”
“…Don’t thank me.”
This wasn’t Xiao Mo being petulant. He just felt he hadn’t done anything to deserve Chu Jinglan’s thanks.
The red light in Xiao Mo’s eyes receded, returning to a pair of clear pupils. At his angriest moment, he had thought about throwing caution to the wind, but he also knew that scoundrels like Chu Yusheng could live because of their Chu surname. Xiao Mo was only at the early stage of Nascent Soul, while the Chu family had two elders at the early stage of Nascent Soul and one at the middle stage. He could kill Chu Yusheng, but not the elders.
Chu Jinglan had endured until today because of the restrictions the Chu family placed on his mother.
But Chu Jinglan’s mother, Wan Yu, was about to…
Xiao Mo’s clothes were tightly wrinkled by his own grip.
save her at least! being abandoned by those scums is enough as blackened material!
thanks for the chapter!
Unfortunately, the system says it’s inevitable. I hope he at least had the chance to see her for the last time. Tho, it’d be great if there could be other alternative like the one in ORV (shin yoosung).
crying rn why does our ml have to suffer so much😭😭😭😭