CH 11

Gan’er panted, scampering into the Demon Carriage.

Upon stepping inside, she spotted Yi Ning and Yan Xuan sitting inside, not looking at each other. The atmosphere inside the carriage was incredibly heavy. 

Immortal Master Yi Ning was truly impressive, to be able to stop the Venerable Lord from killing someone.

She carefully wound past Yan Xuan, saying quietly to Yi Ning, “Immortal Master, the person’s outside.”

Yi Ning nodded, but as he was getting up, he heard Yan Xuan say indifferently, “Tan Gan, are you one of my people, or one of Mingguang Sect’s people?”

When Gan’er heard this, her legs instantly lost all strength, looking at the Immortal Master with an expression of wanting to cry but having no tears, sending out distress signals. Then, she looked back towards Yan Xuan and answered, “Gan’er is naturally one of the Venerable Lord’s people.” 

Sob, the Venerable Lord called her by her full name. Isn’t she in for a beating now?

Yan Xuan didn’t look at her but only continued blandly, “Sit back down.”

Gan’er immediately obediently sat back down by Yan Xuan’s side. She wanted to explain everything to Yan Xuan, but was scared into retreating by a cold glance from him.

Forget it, forget it, let’s just leave it to Immortal Master Yi Ning to explain everything to the Venerable Lord.

Yi Ning knew Yan Xuan was still holding onto his hate, and that he was still angry, but he couldn’t sit by and watch Yan Xuan walk into a trap.

He stepped out of the Demon Carriage and the first thing that entered his eyes when he lifted his head was a woman wearing a bamboo hat. He asked lightly, “You must be the eldest young lady of the Xu family.”

The 18th person to be kidnapped.

The woman anxiously nodded her head then bowed towards Yi Ning in greeting. “This humble one is called Xu Jinghe. Many thanks to the Immortal Master for saving me.” 

“No need for formalities. There are still questions I must ask you, please wait a moment.” After verifying that she was unharmed, Yi Ning moved on to more important matters. He turned and stepped back into the Demon Carriage.

Yan Xuan was still refusing to look at him, keeping his face turned away and seeming incredibly bored.

Yi Ning’s expression shifted, and unnameable emotions surfaced in his heart. Most probably, he felt a little at a loss.

“At that time, they were intentionally provoking you in hopes you started killing people.” Yi Ning said, “They knew I was there. If you killed someone, it would be witnessed by me. You’ve probably also realised it yourself, someone is in the shadows inciting the common people to crusade against you. Furthermore, you probably have a longstanding grudge with that Yan Chengyun and, according to your personality, you would definitely kill him off after torturing him gruesomely, all in front of me.” 

At that time, Yi Ning would definitely start hating Yan Xuan. So, he stopped Yan Xuan and only took the opportunity to send Gan’er up to the top floor to rescue the woman and figure out Yan Chengyun’s true intentions towards them. It wouldn’t be too late to take action after understanding the situation.

Yan Xuan was unmoved, continuing to stare out the window. It was as if he didn’t hear a single word Yi Ning said.

“You must think you know me very well.”

Yan Xuan’s sudden words caused Yi Ning to feel a little frantic. He only did what he thought was the best thing to do in that situation, so why was Yan Xuan so angry? 

Suddenly, Yi Ning wanted to do something to make it up to him.

The hand hidden in his sleeve curled up slightly, and he only responded after a long time, “I don’t know you. Will you give me the chance?”

Until the end, Yan Xuan’s eyes never landed on Yi Ning’s body, and he still continued to gaze out the window without making a sound.

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Yan Xuan maintained his silence. Just when Yi Ning thought he wasn’t going to say anything, he suddenly heard Yan Xuan give a light chuckle, and then he was tugged into his embrace.

His voice was low and deep, suppressing an insanity and hatred that was carved into his bones. 

“You were the one who wanted to know this. The despicable and filthy, tragic and weak me. You made this choice.”

Yi Ning was engulfed by a cloud of demonic fog and his gaze was swallowed by darkness.

It felt like his throat was stuffed with cotton. He couldn’t make a sound and could only wait for the darkness to dissipate.

It couldn’t be that Yan Xuan intended to kill him, could it? This thought suddenly surfaced in his mind and Yi Ning pursed his lips tightly, fighting to open his eyes. 

At this moment, the darkness before his eyes slowly cleared up.

He was in an unfamiliar courtyard. Yi Ning lifted his head and looked up. Above the main building’s door was a familiar signboard emblazoned with large, golden words.

“Yan Clan Pharmacy.”

Yi Ning murmured, then, in the next second, demonic fog rose up again. When it faded away, he found himself already inside the main building. 

“Thud!” There was the crisp sound of a wooden board hitting flesh. A woman had been beaten to the point of collapse, a small child hugged protectively to her chest.

Yi Ning hurriedly went forward to protect the woman, only to shockingly find that this woman, trembling all over, was covered in black scales, and her eyes were a slitted gold.

He immediately halted in his tracks.\

She looked incredibly similar to Yan Xuan. Yi Ning lowered his head to look at the child in her embrace. They were also trembling and, like her, possessed a pair of mesmerising slitted golden pupils. 

“If the half-breed’s sick, think of a solution yourself. The next time you step into my study room, I will cut off your legs.” The man by the table put away the wooden board and retreated back to his seat to continue writing.

Yi Ning finally understood that they couldn’t see him. This couldn’t possibly be Yan Xuan’s sea of consciousness, could it? Was he currently in Yan Xuan’s memories?

Then, the child in that woman’s embrace, was that Yan Xuan?

Yi Ning went closer to take a look. The child’s thin, exposed wrists were covered in rashes and scars. 

That pair of eyes were fragile in a way Yi Ning had never seen before.

Yan Xuan was terrified. Yi Ning wanted to reach out to hug him, but his body only passed through them.

Her face was bleeding from being beaten by the wooden board, yet not a single tear fell from the woman’s face, she only stared at the man with eyes full of hatred. Hugging Yan Xuan tightly, she said lightly to him, “Xuan’er, we’re leaving.”

The mother and son supported each other and staggered out of the study room, only to be greeted by a splash of hot tea from the incoming housekeeper. 

The hot tea scalded her wounds, and the woman’s face contorted, the python marking on her body becoming more prominent.

The housekeeper spat at them and scolded, “Filthy beast. The moment I step out, I see such a dirty thing like you. Who let you leave the woodshed? Get back in!”

“Mother.” Little Yan Xuan hugged the woman, his finger lightly pressed on the woman’s face. Tears shone in his eyes, but not a single drop fell.

Yi Ning’s heart ached and he couldn’t say a single word. So, in the past, Yan Xuan also knew how to cry. 

“Motherf*cker, what a jinx. A cheap demon woman dirtying my eyes.” He heard that man continue to scold, even as he walked away.

The tea trickled down her hair and dripped onto the floor. The woman stroked Yan Xuan’s hair and said, “Don’t cry. In the future, all of these things will have to be paid back by Xuan’er on mother’s behalf.”

Yan Xuan nodded, then forced the tears back and clenched his fist, declaring, “I will definitely kill all of them! Definitely!”

Everybody here, all these people are the real beasts! 

The black fog rose up again. Yi Ning thought he knew the reason why Yan Xuan wanted to kill humans, yet unexpectedly, when the fog dispersed, the person in front of him was still Yan Xuan.

At this point, he had already grown much taller and looked to be 14 or 15. He was still incredibly thin and had been tied to a wooden pillar.

At this age, Yan Xuan was still being humiliated by those people? Were they still human?

Yi Ning took a look at his surroundings and found that the room they were in was a kitchen. Yan Xuan was tied to a pillar beside the stove. 

The soot from the stove stained his clothes black. He hung his head and looked no different from a dead man.

A few people walked in, Yi Ning recognised one of them as Yan Chengyun.

He also participated in humiliating Yan Xuan?

“Oi, is it true that a half-demon’s blood can increase cultivation? This person is filthy, is he carrying any diseases?” Someone spoke, and Yi Ning was frozen in his place. 

They couldn’t possibly–

Yan Chengyun sounded incredibly proud when he replied, “Relax, he’s a slave that my family raises, we’ve all used him before. In any case, he’s a half-demon, so there’s no harm in giving it a go.”

When he finished speaking, he rummaged around the kitchen and produced a knife, as well as an empty bowl.

Yi Ning’s pupils shrunk as he understood what they wanted to do. 

Extracting blood… extracting blood. Yan Xuan had always hated having his blood extracted.

The gleaming knife blade reflected Yan Xuan’s downturned face. There was no spark of life, and he didn’t even move, as if he had already forgotten what fear was.

But obviously the last time he saw him, he still knew how to cry.

With a ripping sound, Yan Chengyun tore away Yan Xuan’s sleeve and slashed downward with his knife. Fresh blood splattered onto his face, prominently highlighting his cruelty and maliciousness. Yan Chengyun smiled as he reached out a hand and directed the fresh blood gushing from his arm into the empty bowl. 

“One cut per person, don’t cause a fatal wound. Come.” After Yan Chengyun collected the blood, he was like a hospitable host welcoming his friends who had come from afar, saying, “Don’t worry, this demon spawn’s regeneration ability is incredibly strong. He’ll be fully healed after a while.”

This was his own little brother. He treated his brother as an elixir for cultivation, freely giving it out to strangers for a taste.

Completely inhuman, no different from a wild beast!

The crimson blood filled Yi Ning’s eyes. He tightly clenched his fist, his nails nearly tearing into his palm. 

He doesn’t want to watch anymore, he can’t watch anymore. Yi Ning’s breathing quickened, and he nearly couldn’t breathe. He reached out a shaking hand to cup Yan Xuan’s face, but could only watch as it phased through his body. The youth hung his head and closed his eyes, like he was going to stop breathing at any moment.

He wanted so badly to cut those ropes and save Yan Xuan.

Did they rely upon Yan Xuan’s blood for days, years, on end to increase their cultivation?

How many cuts had Yan Xuan endured, how many times had he experienced such humiliation, and how many times had he nearly been driven to death? 

“F*ck! Why did it catch fire!?” It was unknown who did it, but someone had accidentally caught fire to the thatch by the stove.

Yan Chengyun cursed, then ran out of the kitchen, calling for someone to put out the fire.

Yet the fire grew larger and larger, just a few pails of water were unable to extinguish it.

The only thing in Yi Ning’s eyes was Yan Xuan. He was still in the sea of flames, and his clothes had already caught fire. 

Yan Xuan will die, nobody will save him.

“As expected of such a filthy thing. Seems like the Heavens are taking this half-demon.” Yi Ning heard someone outside the kitchen say this.

No, that isn’t true, Yi Ning wanted to say. The filthy one isn’t Yan Xuan.

Inside the kitchen, Yan Xuan heard this and seemed to finally have a reaction. He chuckled lightly, then lifted his head to look at the flames surrounding him. 

He murmured something that Yi Ning couldn’t catch, but from reading his lips, he could tell that he was saying–

–The Heavens are unworthy to reap my life.

The fire had nearly reached his feet by then. Yan Xuan struggled furiously and managed to collapse the pillar he was bound to. The wooden pillar had caught fire and was burning, so naturally it became much more fragile.

He placed his wrists, bound by rope, into the flames and endured the pain of being burned alive, slowly burning away the many layers of ropes looped around his wrists. 

His wrist was burned red and the flesh was already blistering, large patches of skin sloughing off. Yan Xuan gritted his teeth and didn’t pull back an inch.

Yi Ning closed his eyes. He really couldn’t continue watching.

So, Yan Xuan used the flames to burn away the ropes, as well as his own flesh, and finally attained his freedom?

Yi Ning tremblingly opened his eyes. This time, he met Yan Xuan’s calm gaze. Black, with a hatred as deep as backwater.