Into The Sea

Ji Lingyue pursed her lips. When tears threatened to fall, Lan Wu roughly wiped them away with her sleeve. “Seriously, your eyes are like two little lanterns. They get even brighter when you cry.”

“…”

The emotion she had been feeling instantly vanished. Ji Lingyue was adept at controlling her emotions. Aside from the lingering tears at the corners of her eyes, her face was calm, showing no signs of distress.

She said with a straight face, “I’ll take you up first.”

“Take me up?” Lan Wu asked, puzzled. “Aren’t you coming?”

Ji Lingyue shook her head. “My friends are still trapped down there. You’ve probably heard that there’s another group of demons here who don’t like us very much.”

“Then the ones who ran away just now…”

“They were just small fry on the other side.”

“Is that so?” Lan Wu pondered. “If those were just small fry, then their leader… might have some powerful artifacts, like talismans or something?”

Ji Lingyue paused. “Maybe. Do you want something like that?”

Lan Wu hummed. “My spiritual power is weak now. I can set up defensive formations, but I can’t attack. If I had a suitable artifact, I might be able to do more.”

Ji Lingyue nodded thoughtfully. “I can go take a look.”

Lan Wu said, “I’ll go with you…”

“No, you go up,” Ji Lingyue said without room for argument. After thinking for a moment, she sent two more wisps of black mist flying out from her palm, wrapping around Lan Wu’s waist.

Lan Wu’s expression changed. “If I go up, how will you know what kind of weapon I need?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Lan Wu tried to protest. “How will you figure it out? Are you afraid of scaring me? I already told you, I’m not scared…”

“I’m scared.”

A voice suddenly came from Lan Wu’s chest. Danqing poked her fluffy head out and chirped. “We’re too weak. It’s better if we don’t go down and cause trouble.”

Lan Wu: “…Weren’t you not coming out?”

Before Danqing could reply, Ji Lingyue frowned. “Why are you here?”

She unceremoniously pulled Danqing out of Lan Wu’s arms, wrapping her in demonic energy and tying her to Lan Wu’s waist. “You two go up together.”

Lan Wu was startled. “What kind of person are you? You don’t listen to me, but you’re so bossy. I’m telling you, if you keep this up, I’ll get angry. Really angry!”

Ji Lingyue looked at her lively face, her eyebrows raised in anger, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lan Wu paused, staring at her with wide eyes. “What are you laughing at?”

Ji Lingyue didn’t answer. Instead, she cupped Lan Wu’s face and gently kissed the corner of her lips. “Be good.”

Lan Wu was speechless.

Her long lashes fluttered as she avoided the woman’s gentle gaze, muttering, “I’m not a child. It’s not like you can just coax me like that. I hold grudges.”

“Is that so?” Ji Lingyue replied, tilting her head. “Then I’ll apologize when I get back.”

Lan Wu: “Wha—”

Before she could finish, she was dragged upwards by demonic energy. Her trembling voice was left behind for Ji Lingyue to hear. Lan Wu, enraged, waved her arms in the air. “You… just you wait!”

Ji Lingyue watched her fly away with a smile. When she could no longer see her, she lowered her head, looking at the endless abyss below. Without hesitation, she fell into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Lan Wu, who had been dragged back to the surface, was soon covered in sweat again. Her face flushed as she coughed a few times.

After finally freeing Danqing from her body, her ankle was suddenly pulled, and she slid down.

Lan Wu: !

Her falling body landed in a cool, cotton-like demonic mist. Then, another wisp of mist flew over her head, spreading out to shield her from the sun.

Forced to lie down, Lan Wu remained silent for a moment, then said sarcastically, “You’re quite considerate.”

“Yep.” Danqing replied without any hesitation, spreading her wings and rolling around in the soft, cool mist. “It’s like a cloud. Ah Yue is so nice.”

Lan Wu closed her eyes and sighed. She turned her back to her. “I can’t talk to you.”

Danqing huffed, swaying as she climbed onto her shoulder. “Danbai likes to listen to me. She even praises me.”

“Danbai?” Lan Wu paused. Remembering that Danqing had said she had stayed alone in Haochen Mountain for many years, she understood. “Oh, what did she praise you for?”

“She praised my spirit.”

“Spirit?” Lan Wu frowned. “What else?”

“And, hmm… and…” Danqing thought hard for a moment, her eyes suddenly lighting up. “Oh, that’s right! She also said I’m lively and that my voice is as pleasant as cicadas!”

Lan Wu was silent for a moment before slowly turning back around. “Is that a compliment?”

Danqing tilted her head, confused. “Isn’t it?”

“Do you like the sound of cicadas?”

Danqing replied instinctively, “No, they’re too noisy. In the summer, they always make me…” She suddenly trailed off, her eyes widening as they filled with tears.

Lan Wu was startled. She quickly picked her up. “Oh, maybe she didn’t mean it that way.”

Danqing sniffled. “I didn’t say anything. How did you know what I was thinking? You must know that’s what she meant.”

“You’re so sharp now,” Lan Wu muttered, watching as Danqing buried her head in her wings, heartbroken.

She sighed and held Danqing up to her face. “So what if that’s what she meant? Her words don’t matter…”

“They do.” Danqing curled up in her hand, her voice muffled. “I really like her. I even caught fish for her. How could she say that about me?”

Lan Wu couldn’t bear to hear that “You caught fish for her, but did she ever catch fish for you?”

Danqing thought about it and became even more upset. “She’s never caught a fish for me! Waaah!”

Lan Wu hadn’t expected this reaction. She panicked, stroking Danqing’s feathers to comfort her. “Oh, don’t cry. When we go back, I’ll help you teach her a lesson, okay?”

Danqing shook her head. “Your cultivation might not be enough to beat her. Waaah—”

That stung. Lan Wu poked Danqing coldly. “Am I so weak that I can’t even beat a bird?”

“After she transformed into a human, Qin Yu took her as his disciple,” Danqing sniffled, choking back tears. “She had already absorbed the spiritual energy of Haochen Mountain for many years. As soon as she transformed, she was already at the Nascent Soul stage…”

That was about the same as Lan Wu.

Lan Wu was speechless, her face clouded with worry as she, too, fell into a melancholic mood.

After a moment, she stroked Danqing’s head and sighed. “It’s okay, it’s just starting over. I’ll work hard on my cultivation. One day, I’ll teach her a lesson for you.”

Danqing rubbed her head against her palm, wiping away her tears before looking up with a sniffle. “But just a little lesson. Danbai is only a hundred years old. You can’t bully her.”

Lan Wu was exasperated. “Do you really like her that much?”

Danqing whispered, “She’s the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen.”

“Who said that?” Lan Wu put on a serious expression, holding her up and shaking her. “You’re the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen.”

Danqing giggled shyly, flapping her wings and falling into Lan Wu’s arms.

Just as Lan Wu was embracing her, a loud crash sounded. The ground beneath them suddenly trembled. A dozen or so layers of rock shattered in the violent shaking, sending out scorching pillars of fire.

Even though it was night, the sky was ablaze with red light, casting everything in a scorching glow. Lan Wu held Danqing tightly as the demonic mist beneath her lifted them into the air, hovering high above to survey the sea of molten caves below.

Danqing was quickly drawn to the scene. “What’s happening?”

Lan Wu shook her head, worried. “It’s probably Ah Yue and the others causing trouble down there.”

As soon as she finished speaking, countless wisps of black energy poured out of the caves, heading in all directions. At the same time, several streaks of sword light shot out, pinning the slower black demons to the lava-filled ground, where they were quickly reduced to ashes.

Ji Lingyue stepped into the air, her feet resting on a black lotus.

With a wave of her sleeve, the sword shadows merged into one, obediently returning to her hand. Her long hair flowed freely, and the fiery red in her eyes hadn’t yet faded. Behind her fluttering robes, several injured figures gradually appeared.

One of them wiped the blood from his cheek and laughed. “Even if you hadn’t come, I could’ve fought my way out.”

Another one scoffed. “Yeah right. You were already thinking about your last words down there.”

“It’s because they set a trap and outnumbered us! If it were a fair fight, I wouldn’t be afraid.”

Ji Lingyue didn’t speak. She blinked. When the light in her eyes dimmed, she looked up, searching for Lan Wu.

Seeing Ji Lingyue emerge, Lan Wu reached out to take her hand but then remembered she was supposed to be angry. She awkwardly redirected her hand to pat Danqing’s head instead. “You’re back?”

Danqing tilted her head, confused.

Ji Lingyue nodded obediently. Seeing that Lan Wu had a stern expression and refused to look at her, she took the initiative to stand in front of her. “I brought back the weapons.”

Lan Wu scoffed, turning her body to the other side. “You don’t even know what I want.”

Ji Lingyue turned to face her. “That’s why I brought everything.”

Lan Wu paused, finally frowning at her. “What do you mean by everything?”

Ji Lingyue smiled, opening her arms towards Lan Wu. Suddenly, a pile of dark shadows fell down, all caught by the demonic mist. “Here, take whatever you like.”

Lan Wu looked down, stunned by the dense pile of weapons. Swords, talismans, everything was there, as disorganized as a street vendor’s stall.

When she looked up, Ji Lingyue was staring at her intently, her cold face deliberately calm, though the slight curve of her lips betrayed her pride, as if waiting for praise.

Lan Wu was silent for a moment before finally reaching out to touch the gleaming weapons, asking cautiously, “Did you… rob them?”