Ren Yijue rushed back to Jingyuan and abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood. The spirit spring was clear; the red spread through it in threads like spider silk.
He gazed at his reflection and saw that the figure in the water no longer had his familiar handsome face, but a terrifying demonic appearance: dark skin covered in scales. Most absurdly, the demonic body that had been imprisoned for so many years was far taller and stronger than his human one.
The demonic qi that had once tormented Ren Yijue now surged freely through every part of his body, bringing enormous strength.
And little by little, consuming his humanity—
Ren Yijue’s head felt ready to split. He threw back his head and howled, struggling to remember what had happened before, refusing to let the demonic qi swallow him entirely.
At Shadowed Spring that day, the Demon-Slaying Sword had responded to Ren Yijue’s sincere devotion and agreed to let him wield it for a time.
But wielding an immortal artifact was no simple matter.
The Demon-Slaying Sword had almost drained Ren Yijue of all his spiritual power. Toward the end, Ren Yijue no longer knew whether he was wielding the sword or the sword was wielding him.
Ren Yijue vaguely remembered grievously wounding White-Jade Skeleton, who fled when he saw the situation turn against him. Afterward, an azure dragon arrived and carried Lord Pu away. He wanted to stop it, but he was too exhausted to catch up.
And as his spiritual power ran out, the Demon-Slaying Sword’s influence over him grew ever deeper.
When Ren Yijue finally released his grip, the sword had burned the flesh of his hand almost to the bone.
After that, most of Ren Yijue’s consciousness was devoured by the demonic qi within him. He did not know where he wanted to go or what he meant to do. All he knew was that he did not want the person in his arms to die, and something deep within Liuyanzhu seemed to be guiding him.
Thus, in his dazed state, Ren Yijue left the Demon-Slaying Sword at Shadowed Spring, lifted Qian Xuelang in his arms, and ran into the boundless mist. Afterward, he lost consciousness completely.
When Ren Yijue finally managed to recover some clarity, he found himself and Qian Xuelang in a wholly unfamiliar underground cavern.
The cavern was enormous, with no sign of ever having been swept or cleaned, yet it was spotless. Sunken into its floor was a pool only slightly smaller than the chamber itself, a pool resembling a womb.
It resembled an egg, sheathed in a glimmering layer of water that formed a thin membrane and pulsed constantly as if alive. Several babies floated curled up in the liquid, calling to mind the inside of a woman’s womb.
When Ren Yijue struggled awake in the warm water, he discovered Qian Xuelang floating beside him, sleeping soundly. His face had the innocence of a newborn, without any visible trace of poisoning.
The wakeful babies frolicked around them, crawling over the two men as though they were bridges, babbling ceaselessly. After playing to their hearts’ content, they lay on the men to rest.
One demon infant had tiny hands and feet and moved with clumsy charm. Ren Yijue could not help lifting it up, tapping its nose with a finger, and smiling. “Were you the ones who brought the Jade Beauty and me here?”
He would have been better off doing nothing. The moment he moved, the other demon infants turned toward him. Their innocent, adorable faces suddenly blazed with jealousy and hatred, and they all rushed forward, grabbing Ren Yijue to claim the place in his arms. Their cries filled the cavern as snowy, lotus-root-like little arms shoved and struck one another in fierce competition within the womb pool.
Ren Yijue hurriedly released the baby in his arms and let it drift in the pool. Only then did the others loosen their grasp and sink back into peaceful sleep.
The entire affair baffled Ren Yijue. He had been stubborn since childhood: when he encountered something he did not understand, he had to investigate rather than let it pass in confusion. All the more so now, when lives were at stake.
So Ren Yijue struggled out of the womb pool and stood on solid ground again.
The moment Ren Yijue left the pool, dizziness swept over him. Something inside his body seemed to have awakened anew and begun spreading through him, but he could not tell what it was. He decided to inspect the surrounding area first.
Ren Yijue had barely reached the cave entrance when the dense demonic qi forced him back. The turmoil within his body grew worse, although he could find no cause. He sat beside the pool to steady himself, and only then discovered that its contents were neither pure qi nor turbid qi…
Ren Yijue remembered his master once mentioning places like this. When heaven and earth first emerged from primordial chaos, the world divided into pure and turbid. But a few extraordinary places retained the most ancient primordial Hongmeng qi, which assumed ten thousand different forms according to the terrain.
Some of this Hongmeng qi absorbed the pure and turbid qi around it and gave rise to immense storms. Some hid deep within the earth, becoming beneficial earth qi when conditions were favorable, or poisonous fire and raging flames when they were not.
While Ren Yijue was pondering this, he suddenly heard a delighted giggle. A demon infant floated behind him, kicking its legs and waving its hands. He shook his head helplessly and reached to pinch its little cheek. “What a wicked-minded child. Have you come to tease me—”
His voice stopped. His hand had passed straight through the baby; it was as if he could not touch the womb pool at all. He stared in surprise.
The infant opened its eyes wide, glanced at him and then at the water, giggled, and reached out a tiny hand to seize Ren Yijue.
Only then was Ren Yijue pulled into the pool. For some reason, as soon as he entered, his heart grew calm and his mind settled. A hazy desire to sleep washed over him. Startled, he struggled to rise.
After half a day of effort, Ren Yijue finally understood the situation.
These infants within the womb pool were less properly demon babies than infant spirits. Most had died in the womb through misfortune, or perished shortly after birth, but had already developed spiritual awareness.
Some of their bodies had been delivered and buried; others had died together with their mothers. Yet their newborn awareness did not recognize that they were dead. Their souls wandered the world in a daze until they were drawn here by Hongmeng qi. Mistaking it for a mother’s body, they immersed themselves in it and slept.
Hongmeng qi has neither beginning nor end, neither purity nor turbidity. It is the Dao in its most primordial form.
A fetus growing in its mother’s womb, suspended in amniotic fluid and not yet distinguished by pure and turbid qi, likewise exists in that most primal state.
No one knew how long these infant spirits had slumbered within this current of Hongmeng qi. Even inside the Third Veil they had not dispersed. Presumably the qi had bonded with them, changed under their influence, and eventually become their shared earth-mother, transforming into the womb pool before him: a place that would forever nurture children who would never grow up.
The infant spirits usually played in the pool but occasionally went outside and became tainted by demonic qi. That made them especially jealous and combative. The pool was so closely connected with them that ordinary people could not even touch it without their permission.
Ren Yijue could not help wondering, Does Bai Wujin know about this place?
He had only just emerged from the pool, but could feel that its Hongmeng qi was a miraculous aid to healing. Not only had his strength returned, even his wounds had completely healed.
Yet for some reason, a faint sense of dread kept rising in his heart, and he could not explain why.
Ren Yijue subsequently lost a short stretch of memory. When he next awoke, he had somehow returned to Jingyuan. His appearance had changed completely: he had become a hideous demonkin.
Over the next few days, Ren Yijue suffered two more episodes of missing memory. He could only vaguely recall meeting someone a few times and being given certain instructions. What those instructions were, or even who that person had been, he could not remember at all.
There were many urgent matters he ought to think about, but the violent emotions and fierce loves and hatreds brought by his demonic nature nearly overwhelmed Ren Yijue’s mind. He was far more restless, quick-tempered, jealous, and combative than before. Unable to spare a trace of thought for anything else, he could only attend to whatever lay immediately before him.
A few times, while he still had some clarity of mind, Ren Yijue tried to cultivate the mental method his master had taught him. Demonic qi surged within him and caused unbearable pain. His anger flared, killing intent rose, and an unbearable restlessness seized him until he wanted nothing more than to slaughter everyone around him.
He had no choice but to stop cultivating for the time being.
The only good news was that his demonic body was remarkably well adapted to demonic qi. He could enter and remain within the Third Veil for long periods. After searching for several days, Ren Yijue found the Earth-Mother Womb Pool again.
But Ren Yijue’s strange condition had left him reeling for days. Afraid he might hurt the infant spirits or Qian Xuelang, he visited the pool only when his mind was reasonably clear.
He did not know how powerful Silver-Ring Sheng had been, but Lord Pu had triggered the Heart-Guarding Needles several times in life-and-death battles, and his opponents had dissolved into pools of blood. He knew their venom was extraordinarily deadly.
That Qian Xuelang could still speak and even swing his saber after being struck already surpassed Ren Yijue’s expectations. But however capable the injured man was, once such venom entered the vessels of his heart, they would have to find a way to neutralize it.
The Earth-Mother Womb Pool nurtured new life like a womb. Ren Yijue knew it could heal wounds, but not whether it could purge poison. However frantic he was, he could only wait for its effects. Fortunately, Qian Xuelang’s complexion improved day by day. With a few more days of nurturing, he would surely recover from the poison completely.
Just then, several infant spirits climbed over Ren Yijue, tugging playfully at his hair and clothes.
Ren Yijue looked at the infant spirits, and several questions suddenly occurred to him. Why did I run toward the Third Veil back then? Why are these infant spirits so affectionate toward me? They enjoy playing with me, but they have little strength. There is no way they could have dragged me here against my will. I must have brought the Jade Beauty into this pool myself.
But how did I… how did that other me know about this womb pool within the Third Veil?
As Ren Yijue’s head throbbed with pain, Qian Xuelang finally awoke.
Seeing him awake, Ren Yijue was beside himself with joy. He had been alone for so long, so terribly lonely. He could scarcely contain the happiness that rose in him and wanted nothing more than to clasp him tightly in his arms.
But when Ren Yijue approached Qian Xuelang, he found the other’s eyes unfocused and brow faintly furrowed, plainly enduring pain. He could not stop looking at him, his heart aching even as a strange, secret delight stirred. When the other man gave him no acknowledgment, sudden savagery erupted in his chest. He seized the other man’s hand and demanded, “What are you looking for?”
No… something is wrong.
He had only wanted to show the Jade Beauty concern, yet whenever Ren Yijue spoke to Qian Xuelang, he could not control himself.
Ren Yijue released his hand and retreated two steps, forcing down the resentment burning inside him. The Jade Beauty didn’t recognize my voice. He didn’t recognize me. He cannot even see me.
He could not name what he felt. He stood there dazed as an unexpected sadness seized him. It had been a very long time since he had felt such sorrow.
Ren Yijue’s chest felt unbearably constricted. He struck the cavern wall with his palm, frightening the infant spirits into scattering and hovering helplessly in midair. They knew nothing of anger or grief; the tremendous crash had merely scared them.
Seeing them retreat too only deepened Ren Yijue’s misery. He struck the wall several more times. A few of the spirits timidly tried to embrace him, but Ren Yijue’s mind was in such disorder that he dared not let them close. He drove them away, struggled to explain the situation to Qian Xuelang, and then fled.
Calling it an explanation would be generous. It had sounded more like a threat.
You Pingsheng was an exceedingly refined gentleman, and Ren Yijue had been raised under his instruction. Though he was naturally playful and liked to tease people now and then, he had never been so rude.
Ren Yijue felt his heart pounding. He had been full of feeling since childhood, but apart from when he was very small, he had never experienced emotions as overpowering as these.
His seven emotions and six desires seemed to have slipped their restraints entirely, utterly out of control.