Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 60 – The nature of infatuation

He was the one least like himself… Wenren È was speechless for a moment. He really wanted to see what the inner demons in Yin Hanjiang’s eyes were like, or, in other words, what Wenren È was like in Yin Hanjiang’s mind.

Right now, Wenren È had a body of chaos energy, so his clothes were transformed from it. He didn’t use the divine blood. Since Yin Hanjiang was in the spring, if he went in there without any clothes, it wouldn’t be too proper.

Wenren È entered the spring without raising a single splash, as if he had melted into the water.

Keeping a handspan of distance between their shoulders, he sat side by side with Yin Hanjiang, turning his head to watch him closely.

He had never seen Yin Hanjiang like this. Each action and word seemed to be the opposite of what he would’ve originally done, yet oddly, he didn’t clash with the past Yin Hanjiang at all.

Previously, whenever Wenren È looked directly at Yin Hanjiang, Yin Hanjiang would always avoid his sight, either turning his head or lowering it. He very rarely shared a direct gaze with him.

Now, however, Yin Hanjiang watched him straight-on, some murderous intent lingering in his eyes.

He had dealt with many Message Carriers today. They ought to be subordinate to Xuanyuan Sect, yet they were helping outsiders, colluding with righteous sects and cultivation clans along with Altar Master Yuan. After interrogating many of them, Yin Hanjiang had found out there were plenty of lowlifes among the sects and cultivation clans, doing evil deeds in secret and blaming them all on Xuanyuan Sect with the Message Carriers and Altar Master Yuan’s help.

The Venerable rarely minded such small matters, delegating everyday tasks to the Altar Masters. Miao, Ruan, Qiu Congxue, and Shi Congxin all had odd ways of thinking and didn’t want to bother with such things, so left them all to the jolly old Altar Master Yuan. Altar Master Yuan had managed to smear Wenren È a lot.

Such things as abducting virgins to harvest their essence, slaughtering villages to take their souls, snatching months-old infants to refine magic items, killing six to nine months pregnant women for their placentas, all sorts of matters that felt dirty just to hear about, Yin Hanjiang had memorized one by one, recording the names of the wandering cultivators, righteous sect members, and clan members who had done them. After killing a bunch of Message Carriers to vent his rage, he gave their leader to Altar Master Miao.

Altar Master Miao gleefully dragged him away, not even letting his soul go, saying that he was going to raise a king gu that could control a wandering immortal, specifically to deal with Qiu Congxue.

After he had killed so many, the Army Crushing Spike had drunk its fill of blood and kept humming. Yin Hanjiang had forcibly returned it to within his body, but he couldn’t fully hide the glee in his eyes.

Some of the Wenren È’s around him praised him, while others disapproved, the clamor grating on his nerves. After returning to Xuanyuan Sect, he didn’t want to enter his Venerable’s room while covered with blood, so first came to the spring to wash. Seeing one of the inner demons watch him quietly, standing out among the crowd, he wanted its company.

He was a bit out of control after killing and needed to cool his head. He wanted to see his Venerable, but didn’t want to let his inner demons control him. He might as well pick the one least like him, to reminisce.

“In what way am I not like Wenren È?” Wenren È asked. He was really curious what the him Yin Hanjiang was seeing looked like.

Yin Hanjiang’s gaze was fierce as he shot him a glance, as if he didn’t want to chat with an inner demon.

Wenren È’s question still brought back memories for Yin Hanjiang, though. He lowered his eyelids, his long lashes faintly trembling.

Scooping up a handful of water, he splashed it across his face. A droplet slid down the corner of his eye. It could’ve been a teardrop or the spring water.

Wenren È put a hand to Yin Hanjiang’s face, but the drop of water passed through his hand, vanishing in the spring. For a moment, Wenren È had an urge to empty the spring in order to find that tiny droplet.

Yin Hanjiang’s weakness passed in an instant like this. If Wenren È hadn’t been watching every moment, he might’ve thought he was just washing his face.

Wenren È suddenly remembered that when Yin Hanjiang gifted him that handful of moonlight, he had said that when he was tired of practicing the sword, he would lay by the waterfall and play with the water. How many times, while acting like he was playing, had he used the water to disguise his feelings like this?

Wenren È’s impression of Yin Hanjiang had always been a child covered with wounds. Eventually, he had grown into an adult, who quietly followed behind his lord. Wenren È had taken no part in his decade or so of childhood, and had no way of knowing what he was like back then.

“You shouldn’t like me,” Wenren È said. “I don’t deserve it.”

Yin Hanjiang was infuriated at those words. He had always ignored his inner demons, but never imagined that a phantasm that came from his deepest desires could speak such a thing. Yin Hanjiang thrust a palm at Wenren È, but just before he came into contact with the “phantasm”, he moved his hand to the side slightly, barely grazing past Wenren È’s face, smashing a rock a dozen meters away.

Yin Hanjiang couldn’t even attack an illusion, as long as it bore his face.

If this went on, how could he possibly overcome his inner demons? How could he recover?

Wenren È felt an ache in his heart which had always been cold as steel. He wanted to tell Yin Hanjiang that, if he let go of his feelings, he would be more at ease. But he couldn’t get the words out.

With such pure and sincere feelings placed before him, how could Hè Wenzhao bear to proclaim love for Baili Qingmiao, while having dalliances with other women? Wenren È couldn’t understand it.

In this life, he had seen through the ways of heaven and earth, and the vicissitudes of human society, but he still had yet to understand love.

Fuming, Yin Hanjiang stood and, waving an arm to put on his clothes, stormed toward Wenren È’s room. Inner demons were capable of saying anything. Why should he believe Wenren È wasn’t worth his love?

Wenren È followed closely after. Yin Hanjiang was lying on his side on Wenren È’s bed, his hair still damp, and upon seeing Wenren È enter, he roared at him, “Get out!”

Being yelled at by someone was a fresh feeling. Who was the last person who had done so? Probably the Violet Spirit Pavilion Master forty years ago. Where was he now? Oh, it seemed he had been turned into a puppet by Qiu Congxue, who helped take care of Baili Qingmiao when Su Huai wasn’t around.

Of course Wenren È wouldn’t leave. Why should he leave his own room?

He stood before the bed, seeing Yin Hanjiang’s chest heave in rage. However, it didn’t seem his anger was leading him to lose control of his spiritual energy and causing him any internal injuries, so Wenren È relaxed. He sat on the edge of the bed.

Yin Hanjiang was helpless against the “inner demon” and didn’t want to destroy the inside of Wenren È’s room, so all he could do in the end was sit up and glare at it. After fuming for a while, he said helplessly to himself, “Why am I so mad? Of course an inner demon would have ways to disturb my mind, so it can weaken me and cause me to deviate. Not right now, though, I can’t let that happen right now.”

“I didn’t want to disturb your mind,” Wenren È said. “I just don’t understand why you love me to such an extent.”

He had thought his actions were insufficient. What he had done wasn’t worth being repaid with such pure feelings.

“What would an inner demon who can’t even call itself Venerable understand?” Yin Hanjiang said coldly.

He stopped paying attention to Wenren È and sat cross-legged in meditation, reciting the Clear Mind Spell.

After watching him for a while and seeing that he might not leave his trance anytime soon, Wenren È left to find Zhongli Qian. “Have you found a way to deal with inner demons?”

“…You only gave me half a day,” Zhongli Qian said.

Sensing Wenren È’s impatience, he continued, “There is a wandering immortal called Yao Jiaping, one of the top healers in the cultivation world. Protector Shu has already invited him to Xuanyuan Sect, and is currently negotiating with him.”

Yao Jiaping? Wenren È frowned, remembering this name. He was one of Hè Wenzhao’s followers, originally an eccentric wandering immortal with great medical skill. On one of Hè Wenzhao’s travels, he had met the eldest daughter of the Gongxi clan. She had a haughty attitude, at first looking down on Hè Wenzhao and only reluctantly traveling with him. In their journey, she caused many problems and wound up nearly getting herself killed. Hè Wenzhao took her to see Yao Jiaping, and since Yao Jiaping admired how he had treated this woman, he agreed to help. After that, the Gongxi mistress fell for Hè Wenzhao, going from an unruly brat to one of his wives.

Yao Jiaping also got some backstory. He had once had a lover who suffered the same injury as the Gongxi mistress. At the time, his medical skills weren’t high enough and he could only watch as his beloved died. From then on, he had become an eccentric wandering immortal obsessed with medicine, habitually rude to everyone with only Hè Wenzhao having gained his respect. They became the best of friends.

Seeing how dedicated Yao Jiaping was to his beloved, Hè Wenzhao admired him and often helped him out. And Yao Jiaping… was a person who was difficult to describe.

The clothes he wore and the everyday objects he used were all things that had been given by his beloved, and he thought of her all day, resenting his own powerlessness, like an infatuated loafer. Yet Wenren È couldn’t understand his actions at all. His medical skills were incomparable, so many people came to beg for his help, and yet his demands were quite random. Sometimes, he would ask for someone’s most important possession, other times, for their wife or daughter, all according to his whims.

The women Yao Jiaping chose all had looks or personalities similar to his lover’s. Often, while with those other women, he would reminisce about his lover, and then toss that woman aside afterward, saying she couldn’t compare to one finger of his beloved, looking upon her as if she were dirty.

Hè Wenzhao recognized Yao Jiaping as a man driven by love, and promised that if he became a god someday, he would help Yao Jiaping find his lover’s reincarnation. In the third volume, Yao Jiaping really did find her, and they reunited without any trouble, living sweet and joyful lives.

After reading that book, Wenren È only thought that Yao Jiaping’s love really matched Hè Wenzhao’s. They were just as bad as each other.