When He Turned the Trap—and Bet Everything on Her Tears

The Greenbeard Fiend looked at Li Wangyan with appreciation.

“Your idea is quite interesting, lad.”

“You should have long ago taken action to lure the frontier army through the pass and proceed with the slaughter!”

“Had you done so, this old fiend would have perished at your hands long ago.”

“But because of your senior sister here, you only acted today, already a step behind.”

“However, this old fiend admires you greatly.”

His face was filled with a smile.

“With your disposition and natural talent, were it not for your senior sister holding you back, you truly have the makings to achieve the Dao.”

“But no matter. If you are willing to hand over your secret treasure, once this old fiend breaks through to Nascent Soul, it wouldn’t be impossible to take you as a disciple.”

“As for your senior sister here, why not bestow her upon you?”

“Women only hinder one’s cultivation.”

He spoke with apparent sincerity.

“This old fiend has roamed both the righteous and demonic paths for so many years, yet this is the first time I’ve encountered a lad so to my liking.”

“In the past, I never thought of taking a disciple, but for the first time, I genuinely feel the desire to nurture talent. So I can give you a choice.”

Li Wangyan took two steps forward, shielding Chu Jiao behind him.

“Old thing, don’t make it sound so good.”

“Aren’t you just wary that I might still be able to activate the treasure at the cost of my life, destroying your current, barely-restored-to-Foundation-Establishment strength? You make it sound so noble.”

The Greenbeard Fiend, however, said with a smile, “Those aren’t mutually exclusive, are they?”

“Even if you still possess such power, the two of us would only perish together.”

“But if we act according to my proposal, cooperation benefits both, does it not?”

“You are a natural for the Demonic Path. You don’t want to die here.”

“You are the type of person who would sacrifice anything to survive. So I’m quite clear—even if your treasure could kill me, you wouldn’t do it.”

He and Li Wangyan confronted each other.

Chu Jiao watched Li Wangyan’s back, her heart a turmoil of mixed feelings.

She was merely a burden to Li Wangyan.

To the Greenbeard Fiend, she was just a trophy.

If Junior Brother agreed to his idea, then he would bestow her upon Junior Brother…

No, the words of such an old fiend could not be trusted.

But for Junior Brother, this might be the only choice.

So what could she do…

She slowly reached her hand into her sleeve.

There, she had her weapon.

After losing their cultivation, they had both prepared weapons.

After all, as mortals, even for martial arts masters, having a weapon or not made a world of difference.

If she were to die… then the Greenbeard Fiend would have no reason to fight Junior Brother to the death.

Junior Brother did not dare to die, and would the Greenbeard Fiend truly dare to die?

Perhaps the two could maintain a delicate balance.

With Junior Brother’s courage and wisdom, free from her burden, he might not necessarily lose to this Greenbeard Fiend.

As for whether Junior Brother would later use cruel methods… if she were dead, she couldn’t worry about that.

Right. She just needed to die.

Her being here would only put Junior Brother in a passive position.

She just needed to die!

Her hand slowly reached into her sleeve.

The Greenbeard Fiend and Li Wangyan were in a standoff; neither noticed Chu Jiao’s small movement.

Yes, she just needed to take out the short sword, then pierce her own throat.

It was simple, extremely simple. Just do it.

It was so simple, it didn’t even require any sword technique. With her martial arts, it was impossible to fail…

Why was her hand shaking?!

“Clang!”

The short sword fell to the ground; she hadn’t managed to grasp it firmly.

Both Li Wangyan and the Greenbeard Fiend seemed startled.

Li Wangyan quickly pulled Chu Jiao back, while the Greenbeard Fiend also retreated several steps, adopting a defensive posture.

Clearly, both thought the other had made a move.

Then, Chu Jiao knelt on the ground.

Before her lay the fallen sword.

Both Li Wangyan and the Greenbeard Fiend were stunned.

“Hahaha~ Righteous Dao Sword!”

The Greenbeard Fiend laughed, loudly. He clearly understood what had happened.

“Is this the famed Righteous Dao Sword? What did you take out that short sword for? Knowing you’re a burden to your junior brother, so you wanted to commit suicide? What remarkable integrity!”

“But, the esteemed Righteous Dao Sword, couldn’t even bring yourself to do it? Knowing what the right thing to do is, yet unable to act?”

“This old fiend thinks even I could take a turn being the Righteous Dao Sword! Hahaha~ Righteous people! Hahaha~”

He laughed until tears seemed about to fall.

“Thank you, Young Hero Chu. You have helped this old fiend resolve a longstanding knot in my heart.”

“When I was a beggar long ago, I often wondered, with so many great knights-errant in the world, why did I never encounter one?”

“With so many immortals upholding justice, why did I still become a beggar?”

“Why did I have to fight with wild dogs even for a single meal?”

“Righteous Dao Sword!”

“Haha~ If this is the character of the righteous path, how could I have ever had a happy life?”

“You righteous folks often say we of the demonic sect ‘forget righteousness for small gains, yet fear for our lives in great matters’… It seems you are the same!”

“What difference is there between the righteous and evil sects?”

“Senior Sister…”

Chu Jiao raised her hand.

She looked at her trembling hand.

Ah…

She had almost forgotten.

At this moment, the Greenbeard Fiend’s laughter was identical to his laughter when he destroyed her royal city all those years ago.

The two scenes overlapped at this moment.

It made Chu Jiao recall her true feelings back then.

When she saw the entire city slaughtered, the first thought that crossed her mind—a thought she found base and shameful, one she even tried to forget.

‘Fortunately, I wasn’t in the city.’

How laughable!

The child of a military family, a future great general, whose hobby was being a great knight-errant! Upholding justice!

In truth, she was just a coward who feared death!

All her righteousness, all her convictions, were built upon the premise that she was stronger, that she wouldn’t be the one to perish.

What righteous path leader? What Righteous Dao Sword?

She was merely someone who couldn’t even sacrifice herself.

‘Cherishing one’s feathers’?

Using that phrase to describe her would be a compliment.

She hadn’t changed. Traveling thousands of miles to join the Heavenly Dao Sect was to avoid facing her weak past self.

Chanting about the righteous path and upholding justice all day was because deep down, she knew her fear of the demonic path.

Her fear of that day, her unwillingness to acknowledge her base self.

Just like now. Her death would be the best outcome.

But she couldn’t even bring herself to do it at such a moment!

It was all because of her! Because of her that things had come to this! Because of her own fault, she had already dragged Junior Brother to this extent.

Yet she still wanted… she still wanted to live…

Tears continuously welled from her eyes, dripping onto her hands.

“I’m sorry… Li Wangyan… I’m sorry…”

She could only apologize like this. She could only say these words.

She knew it was useless. She knew it would only annoy people. But she… could only do this.

Another “clang” sounded.

Li Wangyan’s sword fell to the ground.

Under the Greenbeard Fiend’s wary and uncertain gaze, Li Wangyan sat down on the ground in a sprawling manner.

He pulled the weeping Chu Jiao into his embrace.

“Greenbeard Fiend, I admit you are someone.”

“You’ve seen it too. My senior sister cannot bring herself to kill me, and I cannot bring myself to kill her either.”

“You can take my treasure… I can tell you, the treasure is called the Mystic Maiden Mirror. It’s an Immortal Artifact.”

“If you can obtain it, the path to the Great Dao is open… I could have ascended the Immortal Dao myself… Enough.”

He gave a carefree smile.

“This thing is yours.”

“My only request is that you kill my senior sister and me, then bury us.”

“Do not defile our corpses. If you are willing to swear by your own Dao heart, that will do.”

The Greenbeard Fiend scrutinized Li Wangyan, saying meaningfully, “Swearing by one’s Dao heart… there are many ways to circumvent such oaths.”

“You’ve only recovered to Foundation Establishment right now. Don’t try to bluff me here. You can’t manage those methods. I’ve mingled in the demonic sect.”

“No wonder you have such a demonic sect demeanor, lad.”

As he spoke, the Greenbeard Fiend subtly tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

He asked, as naturally as if asking about the weather, “Which sect are you from?”

And as naturally as drinking water, he thrust his sword forward.

He certainly wouldn’t say to Li Wangyan, “I’m going to strike now.”

The sword pierced Li Wangyan’s body, but…

There was no sensation of solid penetration.

Clothes?

Could his reaction be that fast?!

Alarm bells rang wildly in his heart. He immediately tried to withdraw the sword and circulate his magical power.

But Li Wangyan struck him with a palm.

“You never lost your cultivation?!”

The Greenbeard Fiend spat blood, falling to the ground, looking at Li Wangyan with disbelief. “You deceived me?!”

“No. My dear Senior Sister Yu Lian gave me a drop of the Sect Leader’s Profound Darkness Sweet Dew before I left. It’s a divine healing medicine that only a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator can refine.”

“Just now, when Senior Sister’s sword fell, I took the chance to consume it. Until now, it just finished healing my injuries, that’s all.”

“You were fishing for me?!”

“What else? If I let you know I had recovered my cultivation, you would definitely hide, hide perfectly well.”

“With my mere Foundation Establishment cultivation, without forming a Golden Core, I truly couldn’t find you.”

“I could only make you think you held the winning hand, so you would reveal yourself when you had just barely recovered to Foundation Establishment! Greenbeard Fiend!”

Knowing there was no hope for a reversal, the Greenbeard Fiend instead showed a trace of relief.

“As expected of one chosen by an Immortal Artifact. Truly extraordinary.”

“You telling me it was an Immortal Artifact was also to make me lose my composure, right?”

“In case you were also hiding the extent of your recovery?”

“Losing to you isn’t unjust. This old fiend had no hope for Nascent Soul anyway.”

“Heaven granted a tribulation; I just failed to pass it. Go ahead and finish it.”

“No. Take out your Ten Thousand Soul Banner.”

“What do you intend?”

“I want to search for a soul within it. No more nonsense. If you die, the many resentful souls in your Ten Thousand Soul Banner will lose control, devouring you before scattering. I would have already acted otherwise.”

“Whether you can live a little longer depends on whether that particular soul still exists within your Ten Thousand Soul Banner. You’d better pray.”

The Greenbeard Fiend hesitated no longer and took out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

With his current strength, he could not activate this treasure. Demonic path weapons were like that.

Fierce, but the backlash was equally severe. If he tried to activate it now… he wouldn’t need Li Wangyan to act.

“Senior Sister, I will use the Immortal Artifact to suppress it. Look carefully. See if there is… the soul of Mo Ling.”

“Li-Little… Junior Brother…”

Such a sudden, dramatic turn of events left Chu Jiao struggling to comprehend.

She looked at Li Wangyan in confusion.

He seemed so unfamiliar.

After nearly a month of living side by side, she had actually understood nothing about this little junior brother?

But…

“Mo Ling…”

She began to examine the numerous souls within the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.