Chapter 52.2 Abnormal State

*****

When Yang Ji saw Tantai Jin carrying a person over, he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, everything is ready.”

“Mmm,” Tantai Jin said.

He placed Su Su into the weak water. The weak water now was only enough for a very shallow layer, barely enough to immerse Su Su’s body.

The hem of her clothes wasn’t wet, and her white dress looked especially gorgeous in the weak water, like pieces of silver ¹ Currency used in the ancient times. How they look like: , and her soft cheeks were exposed.

He looked at her for a moment, his expression cold and harsh.

An old Daoist in black Daoist robes bowed towards Tantai Jin, “Your Majesty, don’t worry, nothing will go wrong ² 万无一失 (wànwúyīshī) – absolutely safe (idiom); no danger of anything going wrong; no risk at all; perfectly safe; surefire .”

This old Daoist was actually the one who Su Su had killed at the bottom of the river. He had obtained a spiritual weapon during his adventures in the past ³ 历练 (lìliàn) – to learn through experience , so when he was collected by the Soul Eating Flag, he’d barely managed to not be torn apart.

Later, when Tantai Jin ordered people to fish out the corpses from the Mo River, he got the Soul Eating Flag out as well.

With his own eyes, the old Daoist saw this weak-looking young man release a group of evil spirits, then swallow them up expressionlessly, and look at him again.

 He tremblingly begged for mercy and said that he would serve His Majesty.

Tantai Jin had let him live.

He’d come up with this viciously sinister idea too. The old Daoist glanced at the young girl in the weak water resentfully. If it wasn’t for this little girl, his one hundred years of cultivation wouldn’t have been destroyed in a moment ⁴ 毁于一旦 (huǐyú-yīdàn) – an idiom; be destroyed in one day and now he could only live in the Soul Eating Flag.

Curved Jade sensed danger and woke up.

Actually, ever since the puppet spell had been prolonged, it had faintly regretted it. Then it had the bright idea to release the Omnipotent Gu . Spiritual energy was precious, and if too much was used, Su Su wouldn’t be able to return to the world she’d come from. In a serious case, they would go back to a time when Su Su wasn’t born yet, then, there might be no Su Su in this world.

It was worried that its Little Master would disappear, but it was also afraid that the Three Realms would be destroyed, so it had hoped that she could make Tantai Jin understand feelings. But, Little Master was unhappy.

Right now, it’s blood ran cold ⁵ 毛骨悚然 (máogǔ-sǒngrán) – to have one’s hair stand on end and feel chill to the bones(idiom); to feel one’s blood run cold . It had just wanted to forcefully wake Su Su up, when in the next moment, it was submerged in the weak water.

Curved Jade: ……

The weak water was where no living thing could survive, one was unable to use spiritual energy in it. Even the Clam Princess could only endure the pain to find Ming Ye.

Curved Jade couldn’t do anything now, unless it also wanted to melt in the weak water, but Little Master would be stuck here forever. Otherwise, right now, as a jade bracelet, it couldn’t even see or hear.

What will happen?

*****

Tantai Jin was holding a white worm in his palm.

Yang Ji looked excited, “This is our tribe’s sacred item, the Omnipotent Gu ! This subordinate is definitely not mistaken. Your Majesty, why is it here?”

Tantai Jin examined the Gu worm and casually replied, “I picked it up.”

Yang Ji stopped asking and instead excitedly explained, “This Omnipotent Gu is the mother Gu of all Gu worms. Legend has it that it can cure all types of poison, making one invulnerable to all kinds of Gu .”

Tantai Jin curled his lips up into a smile, but Yang Ji couldn’t help feeling like this smile was a little cold.

Tantai Jin clenched his fingers tightly and sure enough, he saw Yang Ji’s face pale, looking extremely pained.

The young man mischievously chuckled, “Just kidding.”

Tantai Jin opened his hand and coldly scrutinized the worm in his palm. He thought he knew who’d given this to Su Su. She actually met that person, and they were willing to give her such a good thing. What’s their relationship?

No wonder the Spring Knot Silkworm in Ye Xi Wu’s body didn’t attack her, it turned out to be because of this little thing.

Unfortunately, the effect of the Spring Knot Silkworm would last until death once planted in her body, as he’d destroyed the only antidote. Even with the Omnipotent Gu , it could only guarantee that the Spring Knot Silkworm wouldn’t attack, but it couldn’t remove it.

“Will she come back again?” the young man coldly asked.

The old Daoist said, “Yes, this poor Daoist doesn’t dare to deceive Your Majesty.”

Tantai Jin placed the Omnipotent Gu back into the jade box and threw it back into Su Su’s arms.

Yang Ji spoke in surprise, “Your Majesty?”

The young man said, “All out.”

Yang Ji hurriedly went out. The old Daoist went into the Soul Eating Flag and flew into a dusty Chinese scholar tree ⁶ 槐树 (huáishù) – As you can see the word 槐 is combination of 木 (mù) – wood and 鬼 (guǐ) – ghost; It is said that Chinese scholar tree (also known as Japanese pagoda tree) easily attracts ghosts or ghosts can hide in them in feng shui context. It is bad to simply cut off the tree either as if you cut off the ‘wood’, there will only be ‘ghosts’ left. But actually, it is also an auspicious item as it brings fortune and luck. It is best to not plant it in your house or living residence as it is bad in terms of feng shui . So in this context, we can see why the old Daoist lives inside a Chinese scholar tree wood box. How the tree looks like (vary according to species): wood box. In the secret chamber, only Tantai Jin and Su Su were left.

It wasn’t dawn yet, and it had been raining all night outside, bringing a pure and fresh smell of earth.

Tantai Jin sat by the weak water in the darkness of the secret chamber.

He was certain that no one else could see him right now

Tantai Jin fished Su Su’s hand up from the weak water.

Neither of them had the body of a demon, so the weak water wouldn’t harm them, but instead, it dripped from her fingertips like pieces of silver raining down from the heavens.

He slowly took her delicate palm and placed it on his neck, his breathing a little shaky.

The young boy, no, right now he should be considered a young man. It was just that he was too pale and frail, so no one treated him as an adult.

He bit the corner of his lip as hard as he could to control his rapid moans, gripping her delicate fingers, imitating the act of her choking him.

Only until he couldn’t breathe did he slightly loosen his hand.

The webbing of the young girl’s thumb was red from his roughness. He heavily gasped as slight moans came from his throat.

He lowered his head to look at the unconscious young girl, his fingers caressed her lips.

“Don’t like it? There’s nothing you can do about it.”

The young man’s fingers probed into the young girl’s petal-like lips. After a long time, he maliciously yet contentedly smiled.

*****

In the dream, light and shadow intertwined, and a voice kept calling out for Su Su.

She gasped, as if she was suffocated. She covered her chest and subconsciously called out, “Curved Jade?”

Curved Jade hurriedly said, “Little Master, I’m here!”

It was flooded with guilt, “It’s Curved Jade’s fault for not constantly monitoring the situation. Now, we’re in a small border town in Cangzhou. A woman picked you up and brought you back.”

Su Su touched her jade bracelet, and sure enough, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. The wooden bed was mottled, and it seemed like the family wasn’t rich.

“We aren’t in Mohe City anymore?”

“We were already here when I regained consciousness,” Curved Jade said.

Curved Jade told Su Su the general situation sadly, “In the future, if Little Master isn’t willing to interact with the young Devil God, Curved Jade will help Little Master even at the risk of my life!”

Su Su shook her head instead, “I don’t blame you.”

She was the one who was too stubborn. Dad, Hengyang Sect, and all beings in the Three Realms, she would make sure nothing happened to them. Curved Jade did nothing wrong, as it indeed couldn’t rashly use its spiritual energy to prevent her from interacting with Tantai Jin.

Removing the evil bone wasn’t only Curved Jade’s mission, but also her top priority. She touched her body and found that both the Omnipotent Gu and Soul Extinguishing Tear were still there.

She said, “Curved Jade, you did nothing wrong, continue to be dormant.”

How could she rely on it for everything? Recklessly going to Tantai Jin’s side and ending up being bound by the weak water rope was only because she didn’t think things through.

Now that the weak water rope was gone and a section of her memory was empty, she was surprised to find that she didn’t know when she’d left Mohe and come to Cangzhou.

Cangzhou was close to Yuzhou, and belonged to the territory of Great Xia.

Before she’d fallen into a coma, Xiao Lin was stationed in Yuzhou.

Su Su pushed open the door and the harsh sunlight shone in. A woman with a flowered scarf wrapped around her head was chopping fodder for pigs in the yard.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, her eyes instantly lit up.

“Lady, you’re awake!”

She wiped her hands on her apron and looked at Su Su like a piece of fat meat ⁷ (fig.) a gold mine/cash cow/ready profit/easy gains .

Su Su could see her greed at a glance.

She touched her earrings and indeed found that they were missing.

Su Su didn’t speak and didn’t intend to argue with the woman.

“Aunt, what month is it now? How’s the situation between Yuzhou and Mohe?”

The corners of the woman’s mouth were cracked and she replied, “It’s already the eighth month. Yuzhou was lost, and it was said that the tyrant of Zhou Kingdom created a group of ruthless ⁸ 杀人不眨眼 (shārén bù zhǎyǎn) – to murder without blinking an eye (idiom); cold-blooded monsters. Our King Xuan defended the city for a month and then had no choice but to retreat to Cangzhou.”

In an indignant tone, she cursed ⁹ 骂骂咧咧 (màma-liēliē) – intersperse one’s speech with expletives; foul-mouthed; grumble and swear and said, “The war has started here too. My poor unfortunate son is a soldier in Cangzhou, I don’t know when he’ll be eaten by that little tyrant’s demons.”

Su Su didn’t expect that in the blink of an eye, one month had passed after being shot in the shoulder by the invisible arrow.

Tantai Jin had conquered Yuzhou by relying on either the corpse demons or some other demons, and Xiao Lin had retreated to Cangzhou.

Su Su looked grave, and for the first time, she realized that Tantai Jin’s thoughts were more profound than she’d imagined. He was so good at deceiving people that now, when she recalled their time together, she actually couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake.

He didn’t bat an eye when he killed demons, but sometimes, he was much too weak.

A cold sweat broke out on Su Su’s back as there emerged a sense of lingering fear.

I mustn’t go back to him until I’m strong enough, she thought.

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The author has something to say:

Tantai Jin has such a character, you guys know it, right? QWQ

Shy, covers face.

Edited by: Gaze