PID Chapter 21

With the collapse of the Mu Mountain Secret Realm, only a tenth of the hundred-odd young disciples survived. The remains of the others were obliterated, not even ashes left to collect.

 

Mu City was shaken.

 

Overnight, the great families were draped in white mourning clothes. The old were burying the young, wails of grief echoing everywhere. The heavy loss of young disciples left countless people fainting by coffins containing only clothes, a truly miserable sight.

 

The Chu family had four survivors, with three of the deceased being from the main branch. They suffered the least loss among the main branches of the great families. The front courtyard was covered in white, with those who had lost children wailing loudly. Upon seeing Chu Yusheng, Chu Wumei, or Chu Xiaoshi, they would rush over howling, demanding to know why they didn’t save their children!

 

“Chu Jinglan, yes, it’s all Chu Jinglan’s fault! Even you could survive, why didn’t he save my child!”

 

At this moment, Chu Jinglan wasn’t disturbed by them, only because there was no room left in his chamber.

 

The family head, elders, and medical cultivators were coming and going in Chu Jinglan’s bedroom, creating a noisy commotion. The unconscious Chu Jinglan was oblivious to it all.

 

“Dantian completely shattered, only a thread of spiritual essence left to sustain life.”

 

“Meridians severed, even if reconnected, future progress will be nearly impossible.”

 

“Young Master Chu… he’s crippled!”

 

“Find more medical cultivators! Seek help from the Huanjian Sect in the Middle Realm, he can’t be left crippled like this!”

 

Amidst the anxious and exasperated voices, with so many people crowded in the room, no one noticed the beautiful figure sitting at the foot of Chu Jinglan’s bed.

 

Daylight shone in, yet he cast no shadow. A red lotus blazed between his brows, his eyes captivating. At this moment, however, he was quietly gazing at the unconscious person.

 

He sat curled up at the foot of the bed, hugging his knees, like a bewitching soul or a porcelain doll.

 

Today was the third day of Chu Jinglan’s coma, and Xiao Mo had been watching him for three days.

 

The only light source in Chu Jinglan’s sea of consciousness had shattered. When Xiao Mo awoke in the sea of consciousness, his first action was to rush to the edge of the moon lake and the withered tree, desperately trying to salvage the shattered moonlight.

 

The firefly-like glimmers kept extinguishing, impossible to catch up with. Even when he managed to cup some in his hands, he could only watch helplessly as they turned to sand and slipped through his fingers.

 

Xiao Mo’s heart trembled, but he struggled to keep his hands steady, not daring to let his fingers shake. He used all his strength to save what he could, barely managing to piece together a small fragment, which he sent up into the sky.

 

The fragment in the sky only weakly coalesced into a pale white shape. Rather than a moon, it was more like a silver thread on the verge of being extinguished.

 

This tiny crescent was also the last fragment of Chu Jinglan’s dantian, leaving him with that bit of spiritual essence.

 

From the peak of the Golden Core realm, he had fallen in an instant. Apart from this tiny bit of spiritual essence, he was now injured inside and out, weaker than even an ordinary person.

 

Yet ironically, Xiao Mo had soared upwards, breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm.

 

When the host’s cultivation rises, the inner demon naturally follows suit. But when the host’s path is destroyed, the inner demon doesn’t suffer along with them.

 

Unless faced with death, the relationship between the inner demon and the host allows them to share in the good times, but not necessarily the bad.

 

How ironic.

 

Xiao Mo buried half his face against his knees, leaving only a pair of melancholic eyes exposed.

 

He wore a set of water-colored gauze robes, looking beautiful and well-behaved as he sat at the foot of Chu Jinglan’s bed.

 

The burst of spiritual energy Chu Jinglan released at the spirit crystal, combined with Xiao Mo’s own recent cultivation, had directly propelled him to the Nascent Soul realm, without even needing to exchange points.

 

Now Xiao Mo could maintain a normal human form outside, finally able to stretch his limbs in sunlight and breeze. By covering his body with spiritual energy, he could also touch things in the outside world.

 

But Xiao Mo’s face showed not a hint of joy.

 

When achieving a goal, one should be elated. Xiao Mo had been confined to the mist ball and tiny figure for so long, finally lifting the cage a little, but the sense of relief he had once imagined was nowhere to be found.

 

The system’s cheerful congratulations sounded like a scheduled template greeting, failing to stir even a ripple in Xiao Mo’s heart.

 

All Xiao Mo could see was the blood Chu Jinglan had coughed up in front of the spirit crystal, and his now deathly pale face.

 

Chu Jinglan now slept obliviously, undisturbed by the outside world. But when he wakes up, he will have to face everything.

 

Xiao Mo’s fingers dug tightly into his knees.

 

It was as if, in his previous life, someone had torn up his college acceptance letter in front of him, telling him the school actually didn’t want him, that his dozen years of study were wasted, that all his hard work had been for nothing. For an abandoned orphan who had nothing to begin with, to have his most relied-upon academic career collapse in an instant, his future turning to dust.

 

Just imagining it was enough to make one want to die.

 

Not to mention that for Chu Jinglan, the situation was far more devastating. Xiao Mo had been alone, but Chu Jinglan’s mother’s life was tied to his fate.

 

Medical cultivators from the Huanjian Sect in the Middle Realm soon arrived, but in the end, they too could only shake their heads, at a loss.

 

And so, the bustling little courtyard gradually quieted. The important figures stopped coming, leaving only a few servants.

 

Outside the room, a gentle breeze blew, the scenery at its prime. Inside, thick curtains cruelly rejected the birdsong and fragrant flowers, leaving only the bitterness of medicine.

 

Fortunately, when it was initially unclear if Chu Jinglan could recover, the Chu family had treated his external injuries and barely reconnected his severed meridians, so he wasn’t left lying there in a broken state.

 

However, the masters’ attitude of giving up was too obvious, and the servants below dared to be negligent. Chu Jinglan’s medicine went from several doses a day to just one or two, barely keeping him alive. If the nourishing and healing medicines couldn’t keep up, his body’s recovery would certainly be hindered.

 

Xiao Mo exchanged points for spirit medicines in the system’s shop. When no one else was in the room, he secretly fed them to Chu Jinglan to help him heal.

 

In the cultivation world, spirit medicines are ranked from grade one to nine. Xiao Mo had saved up a thousand points so far, which was only enough to exchange for one grade-three healing pill. But the system said Chu Jinglan couldn’t handle the potency of grade-three medicine now, so Xiao Mo exchanged for grade-two instead.

 

Grade-two spirit medicine nourishes qi and marrow. One bottle costs a hundred points and is only enough for three doses, requiring one bottle per day.

 

Xiao Mo thought he had been accumulating points quite quickly, but didn’t expect to spend them even faster. The points flowed out like water, but he didn’t hesitate or feel the least bit of regret.

 

Lower realm medicines are mostly grade-one or mortal medicines. Grade-two is already considered excellent spirit medicine and quite rare. Chu Jinglan was able to use it for the first three days after being brought back, but afterward, he was only given cheap medicinal herbs.

 

Thankfully, there was an inner demon secretly feeding him medicine.

 

Even the servants noticed Chu Jinglan’s once bloodless face gradually improving, and muttered in surprise: “He’s actually recovering quite well? Are heaven’s favored ones physically superior to ordinary people even in this state? But…”

 

But it’s a pity, his extraordinary talent will forever be a thing of the past. The servants shook their heads, now daring to show pity towards Chu Jinglan.

 

It was sympathy, but also mockery, and a sense of superiority in kicking someone when they’re down.

 

Xiao Mo pinched his finger bones, wanting to drive the servants out directly, but he now had rules restricting him from easily harming others.

 

Ordinary inner demons have no ability to touch anything other than their host, but Xiao Mo was an exception. By covering himself with spiritual energy, he could touch other things, perhaps one of the cheat abilities from his transmigration. But such a special ability required restrictions.

 

He could wield a sword or touch pills, but if he tried to use the sword to harm someone or poison them, heavenly lightning would strike him, leaving him charred outside and tender inside.

 

To do these things, unless he occupied Chu Jinglan’s body, the world’s rules would never spare him.

 

These were the rules limiting him that Xiao Mo naturally understood upon advancing to the Nascent Soul realm.

 

After improving his cultivation, Xiao Mo also unlocked the inventory function, but currently, the inventory was small. The panel only had ten slots, each slot could only hold one type of item, with a limit of twenty.

 

Based on the common unit for each item, for example, gold could hold twenty taels, not twenty tons. Silver could also only hold twenty taels, treating all items equally.

 

On the seventh day, after consuming four hundred of Xiao Mo’s points, Chu Jinglan opened his eyes.

 

The daylight was just right, and there were no servants in the room. Servants would only come to feed him medicine once in the evening. As soon as Chu Jinglan’s fingers twitched, Xiao Mo immediately leaped down from the foot of the bed, standing at Chu Jinglan’s bedside, watching him nervously.

 

He was no longer a tiny inner demon figure, but a tall and handsome youth. Standing by the bedside, his perspective was naturally looking down.

 

Xiao Mo paused, then slowly lowered himself, changing to lying prone at the edge of Chu Jinglan’s bed, intently yet gently gazing at his pale and weak face.

 

Even having lost his spiritual energy, Chu Jinglan’s face was still handsome and cold. There was still a last trace of youthful innocence on his cheeks. It wasn’t hard to imagine how incomparably handsome he would be when fully grown, captivating hearts like a jade mountain.

 

If he were to smile, surely young ladies would throw fruits and silk flowers at him wherever he went.

 

But Chu Jinglan was in a cage, and even his smile was cold. Xiao Mo had only caught a glimpse of his light smile once, on a casual afternoon.

 

It seemed like an illusion.

 

Chu Jinglan struggled several times in his dream before slowly opening his eyes.

 

He stared at the ceiling beams, his blurry vision gradually becoming clear. He remembered everything that happened before he passed out, and now, having been awake for a while without hearing servants shouting, he could figure out his situation.

 

— If he hadn’t truly become useless, the Chu family wouldn’t have left him unattended like this.

 

His dantian was empty, with only a thread of energy barely clinging to life. Since he began cultivating, his spiritual energy had always been abundant. He had never felt such an empty body before, and for a moment, he felt strange to himself.

 

Every part of his body was screaming in pain, but he could still move his limbs, indicating that his meridians had been reconnected. The pain was due to stagnation, every broken inch and every wound telling the story of how broken this body now was.

 

Chu Jinglan stared fixedly at the ceiling beams. He didn’t become agitated or enraged at being crippled, nor did he cry in despair. He seemed to be thinking about many things, yet also thinking about nothing.

 

After a long while, Chu Jinglan slowly turned his head, looking out from his pillow.

 

There was a gaze that had been quietly waiting for him for a long time, he knew.

 

The inner demon’s red lotus between his brows was vivid. His face, originally seven parts similar to Chu Jinglan’s, was now even more beautiful and alluring. Because of his extreme bewitching beauty, even if others could see the inner demon, they would never mistake him for Chu Jinglan.

 

An evil demon was now quietly lying prone at his bedside.

 

The closed window shutters couldn’t keep out the light. Daylight filtered through the window paper, hazily gilding the inner demon’s body, giving this scene an indescribable air of tender affection.

 

Chu Jinglan quietly looked at him, not speaking.

 

Xiao Mo also silently looked at him for a while. Knowing he was fully awake, he got up and went to the table, skillfully pouring a cup of water.

 

Chu Jinglan’s gaze followed his movements: The inner demon could now move about in the outside world in human form and freely touch other things, looking no different from a living person.

 

If not for the complete lack of breath and heartbeat.

 

Xiao Mo held the water with one hand and supported Chu Jinglan’s head with the other. Chu Jinglan’s neck instinctively stiffened in resistance. Xiao Mo’s eyelashes trembled slightly, but he pretended not to notice. He brought the water to Chu Jinglan’s lips without urging.

 

Chu Jinglan didn’t struggle, but he also didn’t move.

 

After a moment, he finally opened his mouth and slowly drank all the water in the cup.

 

After feeding him a cup of clear water, Xiao Mo took out a jade bottle and poured a little medicine into the cup, diluted it with water, and fed it to him. As soon as it entered his mouth, the essence of the spirit medicine smoothly flowed down his throat. The pain throughout his body seemed to ease for a moment. Chu Jinglan’s pitch-black eyes moved slightly.

 

After Xiao Mo set him down, Chu Jinglan spoke with a hoarse voice: “The Chu family wouldn’t give me such good medicine anymore.”

 

His voice was particularly raspy and deep after sleeping for so long, and he spoke slowly. Xiao Mo waited for him to finish before saying: “I secretly hid some when they came in the first three days.”

 

This was their first conversation after many days. Both seemed very calm. Xiao Mo didn’t mention his cultivation, and Chu Jinglan didn’t talk about being crippled. It was calmer than any of their previous interactions, as if they weren’t enemies – an inner demon and its host – but rather gentlemen friends sharing tea.

 

But only they knew that this false and suppressed facade couldn’t withstand even the slightest disturbance.

 

Even the weight of a feather would shatter it instantly, revealing the snarling beneath.

 

This spark soon arrived at their door.

 

From outside came the sound of servants’ footsteps and flattering laughter: “Young Master, why have you come? Young Master Jinglan hasn’t woken up yet.”

 

A red light flashed in Xiao Mo’s pitch-black eyes. His porcelain-like face expressionless, he tilted his head slightly, looking gently towards the door: Young Master?

 

Chu Jinglan was inside, yet the servants were addressing someone else as Young Master.

 

Chu Yusheng’s smug voice rang out: “I should come see him. If he happens to wake up, news like the change in Young Master and Su family’s withdrawal from the engagement should be told to him by me, the new Young Master, right away.”

 

 

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