Baili Qingmiao didn't notice that Yin Hanjiang had cut several gashes into her dress. She thought back on her memories of the past year, feeling like she had been controlled. Besides thinking that if her shixiong wanted to kill her, she might as well die, there had been no other thoughts in her head. She'd lost all will to live, her heart controlled by Hè Wenzhao. Occasionally another desire would surface within her, but quickly be crushed by the desire for death.
"No," she said decisively. "A normal cultivator wouldn't wish for themselves to go mad. Only when something is already wrong with them and their rationality is already destabilized by inner demons, so that only desire remains in their mind, can inner demons take advantage of their weakness."
Yin Hanjiang moved his gaze very slowly from the Army Crushing Spike to Baili Qingmiao. He laughed silently. "You're right. I'm the one who let it happen."
"Huh? You?" Baili Qingmiao blinked innocently.
Yin Hanjiang stood up slowly. "I'm not sure which is true. Since I can't tell, I might as well not worry about it."
"Worry—worry about what?" Baili Qingmiao faintly felt that something was wrong. She wanted to escape, but the moment she tried to use her spiritual essence, she felt a sharp pain in her dantian and was powerless to do so.
She could only slowly shrink to the other side of the bed, huddling in her blanket, looking pitifully weak and powerless.
The smile on Yin Hanjiang's face hadn't vanished. "Now that I think about it, there's no need for me to figure out what's true and what's false. Because one thing doesn't change—the fact that my Venerable is already..."
He couldn't continue, unwilling to say it.
"Senior Wenren was trying to save me. It's all my fault..." Baili Qingmiao began to sob, unable to stop her tears from flowing upon hearing his words.
"In that case, there are only two things I need to do. The first is to take vengeance, and the second is to send something he might like down to accompany him." Yin Hanjiang's gaze landed on Baili Qingmiao. "Once I send it to him, the Venerable can decide whether or not he likes it. What do you think?"
As he spoke, he gradually raised the Army Crushing Spike. The cold light reflecting off the steel hurt Baili Qingmiao's eyes.
"I don't think it's a good idea," said a voice from the doorway.
Yin Hanjiang remained in his stance of holding the weapon in the air, turning his head to see Wenren È standing at the doorway, with white hair and a blindfold, smiling slightly at him. He knew it was Zhongli Qian, but he couldn't recognize him.
A head poked out from behind Zhongli Qian's back, revealing itself to be Su Huai. He glanced at Yin Hanjiang's face and said, "Sect Leader Yin, your eyes are injured, so I asked Mister Zhongli to look at your eyes."
"I see." Yin Hanjiang rubbed the now-dried blood at the corners of his eyes. "It's no problem," he said lightly. "It'll heal soon."
"At least let me wipe the blood," Zhongli Qian said calmly. He took out a handkerchief and, seeming to not notice that Baili Qingmiao had woken, sat at the bedside. With Su Huai's pointers, he gently wiped away the dried blood, applying medicine at the same time.
When he was about to bandage them, Yin Hanjiang stopped him. "If my eyes are covered, I won't be able to see him."
Zhongli Qian didn't ask who "he" was, just changed the subject. "Xuanyuan Sect's historical records are long, so I still need a few more days to take my position at the Main Hall. Su Huai is a clever child, and he enjoys the atmosphere of Xuanyuan Sect, so I thought of having him help out there. I hope Sect Leader Yin will approve."
"Su Huai belongs to Shang..."
Baili Qingmiao barely opened her mouth when Zhongli Qian tossed a jade slip into her hand, interrupting her. "Baili Qingmiao is the disciple of Protector Qiu, so she counts as half a member of Xuanyuan Sect. Since her heart is linked to mine, after she recovers, she could also help me out there. What does Sect Leader Yin think?"
"I don't agree," Yin Hanjiang said. "I have use for her."
Use? What use? In what way? Zhongli Qian's eyebrows rose. He couldn't see, but it was obvious to him that Yin Hanjiang was in a bad state.
He arrived in time to save Baili Qingmiao only because, as Su Huai brought Qiu Congxue to him, he happened to mention his encounter with Yin Hanjiang, as well as briefly going over their conversation and Yin Hanjiang's eye injury. Zhongli Qian sensed something was off upon hearing that. It was fortunate that flight was allowed within Xuanyuan Sect, and Yin Hanjiang seemed to have some hesitation, allowing Zhongli Qian to arrive quickly enough to prevent disaster.
In order to placate Yin Hanjiang, Zhongli Qian said, "Aside from the work at the Main Hall, there's something else I wanted to report to Sect Leader. You've said before you were keeping me at Xuanyuan Sect to prevent you from throwing the cultivation world into chaos and disrupting Sir Wenren's plans. Is that right?"
"Yes." As they spoke, Yin Hanjiang's gaze never moved off Baili Qingmiao, and he didn't put down the Army Crushing Spike.
Yin Hanjiang was powerful enough that, if he wanted to kill Baili Qingmiao, no one would be able to stop him. His words and actions contradicted each other, showing there was still conflict within him.
Zhongli Qian couldn't force him. After some thought, he said, "Does Sect Leader remember that Sir Wenren had always wanted to solve the mysteries surrounding Baili Qingmiao?"
"Not too clearly."
Ignoring Yin Hanjiang's questionable state, Zhongli Qian continued. "I've traveled with Baili Qingmiao for thirty years and noticed two odd things about her. The first is that she seems to draw all kinds of heavenly treasures and spiritual lands to her, and be able to escape any kind of danger she finds herself in. The second is that, though Sir Wenren and I have labored hard to free Baili Qingmiao of her infatuation, and her condition was good when leaving Shangqing Sect, she would regress whenever she met with a heavenly tribulation. It was only because I had a heart-linking parasite and could sense her emotions that she managed to stay away from her sect for thirty years."
"What about those?" Yin Hanjiang reached out and grabbed Baili Qingmiao's leg, about to drag her over.
"At the Blood Hell, both changed."
Hearing "Blood Hell", Yin Hanjiang finally reacted. He let go of Baili Qingmiao, focusing on Zhongli Qian.
"Now that I think about it, this was something I overlooked. When Hè Wenzhao brought Baili Qingmiao to the Blood Hell, I was long aware of it, and had made a plan with Sir Wenren beforehand. I approved of that plan because I knew of Baili Qingmiao's special characteristics, and believed that she wouldn't be hurt in the Blood Hell, and might actually obtain an opportunity. I never imagined that she would be injured to such a degree and lose her bonded weapon."
Zhongli Qian sighed, his face filled with regret. "I also never imagined that, after returning from the Blood Hell, Baili Qingmiao would want to die with a single-minded obsession as if possessed, to the point that I couldn't even restrain her. This doesn't make sense."
Yin Hanjiang listened intently.
Baili Qingmiao also spoke up. "I also feel that something isn't right. Previously, my mind was hazy, as if it wasn't me acting at all."
"I believe that something in the Blood Hell must've affected Baili Qingmiao," Zhongli Qian said. "Sir Wenren probably entered it despite the risk not only to resolve his blood cultivation, but also to investigate something."
"When I touched your leg just now, your skin was burning," Yin Hanjiang suddenly said. "Do you have a fever?"
"That would be my fault," Zhongli Qian said. "I asked Altar Master Shi to give some of his sickness qi to Baili Qingmiao, so that she would be unconscious from fever and unable to seek death."
Baili Qingmiao: ...
She knew Zhongli Qian had good intentions, but it felt so awkward.
When it came to Altar Master Shi, Yin Hanjiang remembered perfectly clearly. His muddled memories were all concerning Wenren È.
Hearing that Altar Master Shi had transferred sickness to her, Yin Hanjiang shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. There's no way Altar Master Shi's sickness qi could affect her."
"Why?" Zhongli Qian had no knowledge of this.
Acting without warning, Yin Hanjiang extended a finger and tapped Baili Qingmiao's blindfold. Zhongli Qian slipped a bamboo scroll out of his sleeve in alarm. If Yin Hanjiang jabbed his finger in, Baili Qingmiao would really lose that eye.
Fortunately, Yin Hanjiang's finger stopped at her blindfold. "Shi Congxin was unable to curse Baili Qingmiao, stopping after only one eye. How could he transfer sickness qi to her, and leave her bedridden for over a year at that?"
Zhongli Qian wasn't clear on what he was referring to, and after hearing Yin Hanjiang's explanation, told Su Huai, "Go find Altar Master Shi."
"No need." Yin Hanjiang scribbled out a message talisman, with the message, "Get your ass over!"
Zhongli Qian: ...
The Yin Hanjiang he was looking at seemed to be a completely different person from the Yin Hanjiang he had first met.
Altar Master Shi rushed over upon receiving the message. After fearfully hearing Zhongli Qian explain everything, he said, "Truthfully, when Altar Master Zhongli told me his request, I was in quite an awkward position. During that night, I never approached her, and sat in a corner the whole time."
He pointed at the corner of the room furthest from Baili Qingmiao.
"If you didn't transfer sickness qi to her, how come she developed fever the next day?" said Zhongli Qian.
Altar Master Shi trembled harder. "She took it herself! She'd been knocked out by Protector Qiu that evening, and suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. She walked over to me and sucked away my sickness qi!"
"What?" Baili Qingmiao said in disbelief. "I don't remember that at all."
"I—I don't understand it either!" Altar Master Shi said, pulling his cloak tighter. "Haven't you noticed that I haven't coughed much lately? You took most of my sickness qi and made me lose a lot of power. I can't have anyone notice, so when Altar Masters Miao and Ruan roped me into their fights, I didn't dare do anything!"
Everyone was puzzled by Altar Master Shi's words, but unbeknownst to them, as they spoke, great changes occurred at the Blood Hell.
Being the place where the primordial gods had sealed 180 thousand demonic gods, the atmosphere above the Blood Hell was influenced by demonic energy and always overcast. The grey sky wasn't covered with clouds, but a corrosive mixture of primordial chaos and demonic energy, which blocked sun and rain and ensured the weather in a hundred li around the Blood Hell hadn't changed in a million years.
But now, the clouds of a heavenly tribulation attempted to form in the sky above the Blood Hell. It tried several times to gather, each time being devoured by the chaos energy. Eventually, it powerlessly released nine tiny sparks before vanishing.
The moment it vanished, a whirlpool appeared on the ocean surface. A man holding a black halberd flew out.
Ignoring the restriction on flying above the Blood Hell, he landed on the top of the cliffs in one move.
That man closed his eyes, as if taking in the experiences and memories of the past days. After twenty-four hours, he slowly opened his eyes.
He wore only a white inner robe, covered with holes made by magical weapons. With a wave of his hand, a grey robe draped itself over his body. Along with the robe appeared three books and a blood-red stone.
He first opened God of Annihilation: Volume 1. Flipping through it, he said quietly, "A year and a half has passed. It seems I was late."