The Immortal Lord and the Demon Venerable Are Both My Vests - Chapter 23

A living person—just gone like that.

All three present knew that Yan Guihe had escaped using a secret technique that greatly harmed the body, but what use was knowing? If they couldn’t stop him, everything else was just empty talk.

Hu Yunu’s expression was the ugliest. He immediately turned and ran toward Ming City.

Hua Tinglan was equally displeased. He had been dragged into this calamity through no fault of his own, expended so much effort only to come up empty-handed—who could stand that?

He looked toward Shen Muxuan, only to see Tianji Daojun steadily sheathing his sword, his movements flowing smoothly, no different from when he had drawn it. The other’s demeanor showed true calm, not forced indifference.

Hua Tinglan was utterly perplexed.

Shen Muxuan made a sound of acknowledgment. “There’s nothing to be angry about, is there? This one attacked Venerable Yan solely to vent his own anger, not out of desire for any material gain. Since there’s no actual loss in any practical sense, why should one be upset about it?”

Hua Tinglan felt like an arrow had struck him right in the head.

Watching Shen Muxuan retrieve the God-Binding Lock and turn to leave, he hurriedly followed. “Is Daojun returning to Taihua Immortal Sect?”

“No.” Shen Muxuan gave him an odd look. “This one’s battle with Venerable Yin isn’t finished yet, so naturally I must return to continue. If the task isn’t completed, how could I have the nerve to return to the sect to collect…cough, to report to the Sect Master.”

“……”

You were about to say ‘collect payment,’ weren’t you?

When the person and demon returned to Ming City, Hu Yunu was maintaining a soundproof barrier with a dark expression, fiercely arguing with ‘Yin Lang.’ Jiao Yuyu crouched nearby looking anxious, bewildered, and at a loss, wanting to intervene but not quite daring with either of them.

Monk Chan Xin stood ten meters away with a Buddha-like smile. The moment Hua Tinglan returned, he looked at him, his smile like a spring breeze. “Has the Elder been injured? Should you return to the sect?”

Not asking a single extra question about what this chaotic battle had been about.

Hua Tinglan’s heart, which had been tormented and riddled with holes throughout this journey, finally felt the tiniest bit of warmth.

Actually, raising a human cub might not be out of the question…

“Did Fellow daoist Hu erase Xiao Chan Xin’s memories?” Shen Muxuan was more perceptive and quickly noticed something amiss.

Hua Tinglan started. Looking more carefully, he realized Chan Xin’s expression wasn’t quite right.

Too gentle, too calm—just like the satisfied and relieved look he had after helping those in need each time before.

Looking again, Chan Xin’s eyes held no reflection of the three people at all.

A blocking barrier.

“……Hu Yunu!” Hua Tinglan ground his teeth.

Then he had no choice but to face the amnesiac Chan Xin and the mountain of trouble about to descend.

Rationally, he understood Hu Yunu’s actions were correct. This chaotic battle had exposed far too much information. Just the revelation of the jade fragment alone would bring them endless scheming individuals.

But in reality… If you have the ability to erase memories, at least have the backbone not to dump this mess on me, will you?!

After Chan Xin’s memories were blurred, his impression of Shen Muxuan only included their previous meeting at the tavern. He joined his palms and bowed respectfully, saying warmly, “I did not expect to meet Senior again in this place. The killing intent in Senior’s heart has completely vanished—your long-cherished wish must have been fulfilled. This junior is most gratified.”

Though he called himself ‘junior,’ his tone was that of an elder. If one didn’t already know that those mysteriously enigmatic old monks of Tiantai Buddhist Sect all acted this way, one might think Chan Xin was deliberately being irritating.

Shen Muxuan smiled. “Worthy of Xiao Chan Xin with the Glazed Buddha Heart indeed. This one’s troubles have been completely resolved.”

Chan Xin was deeply gratified. “In that case, all is well. This junior takes his leave.”

Using the ‘appointment for battle’ as an excuse, he successfully rescued his pitiful disciple from Hu Yunu’s hands—Hu Yunu, who wanted to refuse but couldn’t find a reasonable excuse to do so, terrified that Shen Muxuan would discover the flaws. Yin Lang leisurely returned to the Eighteenth Hell.

Qin Xun resumed his true appearance and took the attack magic tool, now replenished with demonic qi, from Yin Lang’s hands. He asked in confusion, “Don’t you need to explain things to Jade Fox?”

“Explain what? Why I let Yan Guihe escape?” Yin Lang showed a surprised expression: “Disciple, you mustn’t speak nonsense. Your master was already exhausted at that time—how was I to know three Tribulation stage cultivators would be so useless that three chasing one would still let him get away.”

He said disapprovingly, “This Venerable hasn’t even held them accountable yet. Is it their turn to express dissatisfaction to me?”

“……”

Qin Xun was dumbstruck.

I’ve always known you were ruthless, but I never imagined you’d be ruthless enough to curse even yourself when it came down to it.

No words.

The disciple was so shocked by this exquisite blame-shifting technique that it took him a long while to recover. “Earlier, time was pressing and I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the intelligence I gathered in Jiuyou City.”

“The First Venerable already suspects that his failure to advance to Dao Integration back then was due to sabotage.”

After saying this, Qin Xun closed his mouth and carefully observed his master’s expression.

“Oh.”

“I knew you’d already prepared for this. Such a major matter… ???”

Three question marks slowly appeared above his head.

Such—such a major matter, and all you say is ‘oh’? Does this mean you knew or you didn’t know?!

“When did you become so cautious and hesitant?”

Yin Lang tapped his temple and turned around. “No secret can be hidden forever. If it’s exposed, just find a way to deal with it.”

“The First Venerable is also at the Great Perfection Tribulation stage. At most, he won’t be much stronger than Yan Guihe. If your master could scheme Yan Guihe to death, I’m equally unafraid of another First Venerable.”

“But… but the First Venerable is someone who once touched that level.” Qin Xun still couldn’t bring himself to put these two on equal footing.

Yin Lang laughed. He laughed boldly and without restraint.

Wearing such a smile, he asked Qin Xun proudly, “Then who made the First Venerable fail his advancement?”

Qin Xun stared at him blankly. “It was… you.”

“That’s right, it was me.” Yin Lang raised his hand and tapped his own chest, slowly repeating his words. Under Qin Xun’s dawning comprehension, he suddenly raised his voice. “I, Yin Lang, could make him fail advancement the first time, and I can make him fail a second time! A third time!”

“And as my only disciple, what do you have to fear?”

Qin Xun froze.

Yin Lang directly raised his hand and slapped him, lifting his chin with a cold, severe expression. “Get your ass to the Thirteenth Hell. When you’ve regained your clarity, then you can come back!”

“…Yes!”

‘White Impermanence’ Li Sun was slightly surprised when he received this news.

The Eighteen Hells, sharing the same name as that place in the Underworld, was the Eighteenth Hell’s unique training ground, divided into eighteen levels, imprisoning the most vicious and evil people from both righteous and demonic paths. The deeper one went, the higher the cultivation.

The Thirteenth Hell was full of Spirit Transformation stage cultivators. With Qin Xun’s cultivation level, it would be very easy to fail!

However, seeing the Venerable’s expression, he wisely swallowed back his words of persuasion. His eyes rolled as he brought up another matter.

“Venerable Wu is truly worthy of being one of the Ten Venerables alongside the Venerable. Though she cannot match the Venerable’s ability to command awe throughout the Eighteenth Hell with a mere wave of the hand, her whip technique is also unparalleled in its severity. During the days the Venerable was away, quite a few who dared to cause trouble were beaten half to death by Venerable Wu and thrown into the Eighteen Hells.”

He smiled broadly. “Venerable Wu specifically instructed us not to praise her too much in front of the Venerable, but Venerable Wu has been of such great benefit to the Eighteenth Hell—if these words aren’t spoken, this subordinate would truly feel guilty.”

Yin Lang stared at him steadily.

Li Sun maintained his smile.

“Ha—this Venerable understands.”

Standing in place to respectfully see Yin Lang off, Li Sun’s smile gradually widened.

“Yin Lang! Come fight me!”

The person hadn’t arrived but the voice came first, along with a bright red, fierce long whip.

Yin Lang tilted his head slightly, reached out and precisely caught the tail of the whip, injected demonic qi, pulled hard, and flung it.

“Damn it!”

Wu Mantuo was heavily thrown against the wall. She climbed up grimacing and watched the red-robed person playing with her whip, the excitement in her chest extinguished like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.

With dead fish eyes, Wu Mantuo ground her teeth and rushed forward to snatch back her weapon. “Stinking man!”

Yin Lang released his hand and said lazily, “Speak of serious matters, otherwise this Venerable has no time to spar with you.”

“……”

Wu Mantuo probed. “I heard you schemed Yan Guihe to death?”

“Half-dead, half-alive. Without heaven-defying level treasures, he won’t recover for decades or even centuries. Does that count as dead?”

“Of course it counts!” Wu Mantuo immediately excitedly clapped her hands, her eyes rolling cunningly. “Since the matter is settled, I’ll go back to my territory then?”

“Sure.” Yin Lang agreed readily.

He reached out and conjured a contract from thin air. “Sign this and you can leave.”

Wu Mantuo scanned through it, and the indignant anger in her chest skyrocketed.

She backhanded her whip and shattered a corridor pillar beside her, speaking word by word. “What is the meaning of this!”

“The literal meaning.”

Yin Lang smiled, his eyes containing mockery. “This Venerable has always known your strength isn’t particularly strong, but I didn’t expect your brain to be so useless too. That huge territory and power left behind by Yan Guihe—do you think it’s your turn to interfere as a Demon Venerable whose current sphere of influence is not even as large as Jiao Yuyu’s?”

“Jiao Yuyu himself isn’t strong and is stupid, but he has backing. What do you have? Moreover…”

His expression suddenly turned cold. “Yan Guihe was schemed to a cripple by this Venerable, the personnel who participated in the plan were found by this Venerable—what contribution did you make to deserve reaching out to divide this Venerable’s spoils of war?”

“Wu Mantuo, these days this Venerable has been busy with other matters and was too indulgent with you. Have I indulged you so much that you’ve forgotten even the basic rules of the demonic path?!”

Wu Mantuo was so angry at his overly blunt poisonous tongue that she stormed off.

Yin Lang said leisurely, “Satisfied?”

A white-robed young man silently emerged from around the corridor corner, smiling as he approached. “Venerable, should this subordinate dispatch personnel to Jiuyou City to fish in troubled waters?”

They didn’t have the appetite to swallow Jiuyou Court’s power in one bite, but fishing in troubled waters to bite off a portion should be no problem.

Li Sun silently sighed.

To put it bluntly, their own hard power still wasn’t enough. Otherwise, why would they need to watch helplessly as the vast majority of the spoils were divided up and given to others?

“Handle it as you see fit.” Yin Lang said, “For the next period of time, this Venerable needs to temporarily enter closed-door cultivation to heal. If there are major matters the Young Venerable cannot handle, use the magic tool this Venerable gave you to contact me.”

“Remember to act cautiously. Though Yan Guihe is crippled, the storm he’s stirred up has only just begun.”

Good things—everyone wants them.

****

In a dark, deep space, Yan Guihe lay on the ground, gasping for breath in great gulps.

This was an alternate dimensional space within Jiuyou Court that only he could enter—a backup route Yan Guihe had left for himself just in case. Today it came in handy.

Chan Xin’s Buddha light was like gangrene of the bone. Especially after losing the dispersing effect of demonic qi, it penetrated deep into his body through the small wounds, causing such pain that his hands and mouth were full of the taste of blood.

“Damn it…” He hatefully pounded the ground once.

Just what benefits did that surnamed Yin promise to actually get the Tribulation stage cultivators from the spiritual cultivation side to willingly cooperate with him? This point completely baffled Yan Guihe.

He knew that after he recovered from his injuries, how much of his external power could be preserved was completely unknown. But the situation was such—going out would be delivering himself on a platter. Other than preserving himself, there was nothing more he could do.

Just wait… just wait! When he emerged, it would be the end for that surnamed Yin!

Clang——

Something fell onto the ground out of nowhere, making a clear echo in the empty space.

Yan Guihe whipped his head around sharply.