After the two had chatted for a while, Qian Xuelang’s replies remained cool and detached. Fortunately, Bai Wujin had lived alone for so long that he did not find the conversation dull.
Thus they went back and forth for an unknown number of hours. Perhaps the demon had finally sensed that Bai Wujin meant no harm, for a light gradually returned to his vacant eyes. The consciousness belonging to Ren Yijue awakened once more.
“He really did wake up.” Bai Wujin had been dividing his attention, talking idly with Qian Xuelang while keeping an eye on the demon. The instant he saw the change in his expression, he understood, and his face lit up. “You really weren’t lying!”
After all their conversation, Qian Xuelang had known next to nothing about any of the things Bai Wujin wanted to ask. The crucial answers would ultimately have to come from the demon before them. Naturally, Bai Wujin was delighted to see him regain consciousness.
Qian Xuelang frowned slightly. “Why would I lie?”
Bai Wujin waved a hand, ignoring the question. Qian Xuelang had not yet expelled all the poison, and he had also interrupted the two demons’ deadly attacks earlier. His spiritual power was now in turmoil. He decided to say no more and simply closed his eyes to rest.
When the demon truly came to his senses, he discovered that he had somehow returned to the Earth-Mother Womb Pool. Before he could recover from that shock, he found an unfamiliar person before him as well. After one surprise upon another, he almost no longer had the energy to be surprised. He glanced at Qian Xuelang and the infant spirits. None had been harmed, and they were still sleeping peacefully. He felt somewhat relieved, only for a new worry to rise in his heart.
Could I have come back to the Earth-Mother Womb Pool while I was unconscious? Then… that other me… surely he didn’t do anything improper to the Jade Beauty?
The demon could feel that ever since his body had become demonic, many of his emotions and thoughts had been impossible to suppress. That was exhilarating, certainly, but he did not want to force the Jade Beauty to do anything merely to satisfy his own desires.
At the thought, a chill suddenly rose in the demon’s heart.
“Hey, hey…” An unfamiliar hand suddenly appeared before his eyes, blocking his view of Qian Xuelang. Its owner then leaned in and studied him curiously. “My friend, looking at that little Daoist a few times less won’t kill him, you know.”
The demon said, “…You… Who are you?”
“Bai Wujin.” Bai Wujin looked puzzled. “Interesting. That Daoist didn’t even know this was the Third Veil, yet he recognized me. You’re a demon yourself, and you don’t recognize me. How does that make any sense?”
The demon’s expression shifted slightly. He studied Bai Wujin and said, “May I ask what brings the Demon Lord here?”
Bai Wujin froze, then hurriedly turned toward Qian Xuelang and shouted, “Wake up, wake up! Stop sleeping, Qian Xuelang! You never told me that when he woke up, he’d have lost all his memories!”
How was I supposed to know? Qian Xuelang thought.
Ever since they had met, the demon had never once forgotten him. At the suggestion of memory loss, the Daoist opened his eyes as well. He had not yet decided whether he ought to spare this mad, senseless demon. He saw two tall figures before him, both with equally dense demonic qi, and could not distinguish them. He gave up trying to look and said coolly, “Demon, do you remember me?”
Bai Wujin muttered something under his breath, then dragged the newly awakened demon directly before Qian Xuelang and smiled. “That’s better. You can’t see, and talking without facing the other person looks rather awkward. By the way, your cultivation is clearly strong. Even if you can’t see, why don’t you use your spiritual consciousness?”
A mortal who lost his sight could only rely on hearing to tell where people stood. Cultivators were somewhat better off, as their spiritual consciousness could distinguish the people present. Unfortunately, Qian Xuelang had not yet recovered from the poison. Whenever he circulated his power, his chest felt blocked and stifled. Besides, he generally spoke to the demon alone and had no reason to expend the mental effort. Thus the idea had never occurred to him.
Qian Xuelang could not be bothered to explain, but the demon said slowly, “He has been severely poisoned. He cannot use his spiritual consciousness lightly.”
Bai Wujin clicked his tongue at this. He could not resist looking Qian Xuelang over repeatedly, filled with admiration for how calm he remained.
A powerful cultivator had lost his sight, been struck by a deadly poison that sealed his spiritual consciousness, and ended up in a perilous place thick with demonic qi. On top of that, there was a deranged demon before him, watching him hungrily and coveting his beauty. Even Bai Wujin himself would probably have been beside himself with panic, trying every possible way to escape.
Yet Qian Xuelang remained utterly unruffled, as though nothing could trouble him. Bai Wujin finally understood why he had asked that question earlier.
And what if everything comes to nothing? For this man, perhaps the prospect of everything coming to nothing truly meant little.
But that only made him unbearably dull. Earlier, while talking with Qian Xuelang, Bai Wujin had not found him especially boring. Now that he had glimpsed something of that placid indifference, he was thoroughly bored.
“It seems he still remembers me,” Qian Xuelang said coolly. “He has only forgotten you.”
Bai Wujin was perplexed. “How does that work? He attacks someone and then pretends it never happened? What a bargain. Does the world really allow such a thing?”
By now Bai Wujin had roughly understood the demon’s condition. With some exasperation, he recounted how they had met. The demon considered the story carefully, then asked, “Is what he says true?”
“I don’t know. But when I arrived, you two really were fighting.”
The demon froze slightly. “Jade…” He stopped, paced back and forth a couple of steps, then turned to look at them. “In that case, you came outside to look for me?”
“Yes.” Qian Xuelang did not quite understand why he needed to ask again.
After a moment’s silence, the demon asked, “How is your body?”
“I still need a few more days of quiet recovery.”
“Oh,” the demon said. He fell silent, glanced at Bai Wujin, and considered for a moment before saying, “Let us go outside to talk. We shouldn’t disturb his rest.”
Bai Wujin naturally agreed.
The two returned to the surface. Bai Wujin noticed that the demon wore an expression somewhere between joy and sorrow. Unable to guess what was on his mind, he grew curious. “You’re a fine grown man. Cry when you need to cry, laugh when you want to laugh. Why do you look like you want to do both? He left that place because he was worried about your life. You should be happy. What are you so miserable about?”
There were plenty of half-demons who grew foolish and awkward over love. Bai Wujin had met one himself in years past. The thought suddenly struck him: Don’t tell me that just because that ice-block Daoist came out for his sake once, he thinks the man has treated him so well that he’s overcome with shame and is about to go mad over it.
The very thought made Bai Wujin shudder all over.
Fortunately, the demon had not gone quite that far. He gave Bai Wujin a long, distant look and finally said, “There used to be someone named Ren Yijue at his side.”
Bai Wujin had not expected that less than half a day after meeting this demon, he would already be playing matchmaker. Fortunately, he was bored anyway and did not mind the trouble. “Oh? What about him?”
Unable to fathom the demon’s intentions, he kept puzzling over it. There’s another person? Could this Ren Yijue be the ice block’s Dao companion, and this little lunatic abducted the fellow’s husband… hm… wife… no, forget it. They can call each other whatever they please.
“…The person inside was separated from him. That was when I saved him.”
Bai Wujin was completely baffled. “Well, you saved him. That’s a good thing. Why make it sound so difficult to admit? They were separated, not murdered by you… Wait. You didn’t actually set some trap and then… and afterward…”
He made a motion of cutting his throat.
The demon looked at him coldly.
Bai Wujin sighed in relief. “Good, good. At least you aren’t quite that despicable. I nearly had to uphold justice on Heaven’s behalf.”
The demon sighed and murmured, “I must have gone mad myself to talk to you about any of this. Forget it. I won’t say any more. I imagine you have a great many things you want to ask me…”
“Hold on!” Bai Wujin interrupted. “You’ve started the story, and now you’re stopping? How is that different from torture? If you’re going to tell it, tell it all. Besides, I’m not in any hurry. Aside from going mad from time to time, you don’t seem to have any pressing business either. We can finish talking about Ren Yijue before we get to the important matters.”
The demon stared straight at him for a while, but in the end he relented. “He and Ren Yijue were together day and night, practically inseparable, and never had any serious disagreements…”
Bai Wujin brightened. “How would you know? Were you hiding up on their roof and spying on them?”
The demon was silent for a moment. Ignoring the question, he continued, “Sometimes I felt that he treated Ren Yijue very differently from everyone else.”
Bai Wujin found a rock and sat down, crossing one leg over the other as he thought. “Well, if even you noticed it, that ice block must really feel something special toward this fellow Ren. What is it? Do you want me to help get rid of this Ren lad? Let me say this first: I don’t much like getting mixed up in matters of love. Besides, we may both be demons, but we hardly know each other well enough for me to kill someone for you.”
“No.” The demon turned his face away, his expression darkening. “I was only wondering why he would come looking for me…”
Bai Wujin was completely lost. “What do you mean?”
“I saved his life, but I have taken liberties with him several times. He said he would kill me.” The demon gazed blankly into the distance. “By stopping our fight, he effectively saved my life. So whether he likes Ren Yijue or despises me, does he treat us exactly the same, without making any distinction at all?”
The demon was unhappy at the thought that Qian Xuelang made no distinction between Ren Yijue and himself. Yet if Qian Xuelang did make such a distinction, he would probably be equally unhappy. Love was a hopelessly tangled matter, and he himself could not tell what answer he wanted.
Now Bai Wujin understood. Clicking his tongue, he said, “And here I thought you were fighting injustice on behalf of a love rival. I was about to say that level of madness is rare, only a little less than that sworn brother of mine. So that’s what you mean! That really is troublesome. Wait, I’ve just thought of an excellent solution!”
“What?”
“Go fall in love with someone else.”
The demon: “…”
For some reason, Bai Wujin thought he saw a trace of cold disdain in the demon’s face. He said awkwardly, “If you insist on hanging yourself on that ice block, what can I do? Suit yourself. Just don’t come asking me. Let’s get to the important business.”
The demon had not intended to ask him anything in the first place. At heart, he had merely been talking to himself because he could not settle his feelings. Bai Wujin’s meddling had made it seem as though he were demanding an answer. He sighed deeply. “I don’t know where to begin. You ask.”
Seeing that he was not angry, Bai Wujin suddenly smiled and offered a few words of comfort. “You may be a little mad, but you’re refreshingly straightforward. I don’t think you need to be upset. That pretty little Ren fellow may be as considerate and understanding as you please, but he’s not the one who saved anyone this time. I’ve seen plenty of people who spout baskets of sweet words and then disappear when they’re needed. You, on the other hand, are openhearted and dependable, a fine young half-demon. You’re far better than that pretty boy.”
The demon, who happened to be that very same pretty boy surnamed Ren, had absolutely no idea whether he ought to thank him or simply remain silent.
The demon: “…”