Chapter 57: Concealment

Zora stood up, gripping her sword.

On the surface, Vane looked no different than usual. Aside from the demonic aura surrounding him, one could not tell whether he was being controlled by the Demon Seed.

Every generation of Demon Seeds consisted of natural-born villains who tormented all living things, and over time, they earned a reputation that made them targets for everyone. However, for a Demon Seed to practice demonic arts was more pleasant than a fish returning to water. Not only would their cultivation progress at a tremendous pace, but they would grow stronger with every kill, and their weapons would grow sharper with every drop of blood spilled.

Thus, even though they were hunted and guarded against by all, they still threw the three realms into chaos.

Her left arm still throbbed with pain, making it impossible to exert her normal strength. Zora set up a barrier to prevent others from accidentally entering; Liyu would surely realize she shouldn't disturb them upon seeing it.

The two stood facing each other inside the cramped room. Zora stared at him fixedly, wanting to restrain him the instant he made a move.

"..."

"..."

The Oracle was still screaming in terror: [AAAAAAHH! What do we do, what do we do? Go for it! Go for it! You go first! Host, you go first!]

Vane’s dark, hollow eyes simply watched her: "..."

Zora stood in a defensive stance: "..."

Oracle: [Go! Go, Host! While his consciousness is still in chaos, seize the initiative! Upper cut! Hook! Stab him once! Then stab him again! ...Just don't kill him.]

Zora grew tired of the noise: "Hibernate."

Oracle: [—#@?*%±!]

Wisps of demonic aura coiling around him drifted from his body, moving slowly and lightly, floating and occasionally passing through his frame.

At Zora's left knee, left arm, and waist, the demonic aura brought by the Taotie-like creature was still infringing upon her, causing dense, stinging pain. Her spiritual power circulated constantly to combat it, preventing it from entering her meridians.

First, she had to stop the Demon Seed—make him lose consciousness or restrain him. Second, she couldn't let anyone else find out, nor could she let Vane himself find out.

The reason a Demon Seed was a Demon Seed was that whether one practiced demonic or immortal arts was not for the individual to decide. While Vane remained unaware of the seed within him, a balance was still maintained. But once he "saw" it and perceived it, he would fall into a greater trap of temptation, increasing the possibility of an early descent into the demonic path. Zora would not gamble on that.

For instance, with this Taotie-like creature—if he knew there was a Demon Seed and thus another path to survival, who knew if he would involuntarily trigger it in that moment?

Zora wanted to observe his exact condition, but he simply stood there quietly, showing no movement.

Zora: "?"

She took a step forward. Vane was still watching her. No stance was taken. No killing intent. Zora couldn't grasp the current situation: "?"

Demonic aura from a Demon Seed amplifies human desires. His nature was bloodthirsty; he should want to kill.

She took another step forward. Vane’s dark, stagnant eyes finally moved. He stared fixedly at Zora's left arm, seemingly because the scent of blood was stronger there.

The distance shortened again. Zora examined him closely for a moment, then used the Puppet Threads to fix him in place. Since their cultivations were similar, the Puppet Threads could hold for a few minutes provided he had no intent to resist.

Zora walked closer, his gaze following her, his eyelids lowering.

How to eliminate the demonic aura? Zora coated her sword tip with spiritual power and poked the demonic aura near his hand. It was useless.

"Can you hear me? Give me a reaction."

Zora looked up. The youth’s dark pupils moved slightly; it seemed he wrestled with instinct for a moment, laboriously moving his eyes to lock with hers. Then, his gaze slid away again to stare at her left arm.

Could he hear her or not?

Within a few minutes, Zora tried various methods. His spiritual platform was filled with demonic aura; she feared her spiritual sense would be contaminated the moment it entered. A body supported by demonic aura was like a bronze wall or an iron barrier; her spiritual power could not enter to cleanse his meridians.

...How annoying. Conventional methods for dealing with demonic aura were useless. Zora had been to the December Sect's library; the description of a Demon Seed was simply "a natural demon cultivator, powerful in demonic arts," and that was it.

The Oracle didn't know either and was saying nonsensical things.

[It's like an extra credit question on an exam—it's outside the scope of the textbook! Not to mention you don't even like reading, Host.]

When the Oracle was just released, its scream was cut short midway. It found the host tapping and poking at the villain like a repairman, while the villain kept staring at her wound like a dog attracted to a bone, yet cautiously not stepping forward.

—

What happened?

—

Oh, Puppet Threads.

—

But the villain doesn't look like he's fighting back. Shouldn't his desire be fresh blood?

The Oracle looked closer through its magnifying glass.

Oh, it

was

fresh blood. He was still watching the girl's arm as it gradually bled through.

So why are you so quiet, Villain? Not even a struggle?

Forget it, never mind. It must be the host's doing. Don't know what she did, but she did it.

The Oracle gave up observing. It scanned through the original book and indeed found no useful method. After all... the scene of the villain going to the Demon Realm wasn't even written in the original... it was only mentioned in the twisted ending that this person was Vane.

[But what do we do ten minutes from now?]

"Hibernate."

The useless, anxious Oracle obediently went back to hibernation.

During her investigation with spiritual power, Zora wasn't careful; her fingertip touched the demonic aura swirling around him and was stung. She hurriedly took a step back, frowning as she watched the wisp of aura with vigilance.

The purple-black mist stalled for a moment because it touched her finger; the moment she withdrew her hand, it showed a tendency to follow her and drift toward her. The mist floated in place, dazed for an instant. Finding no target, it slowly returned to its original trajectory, continuing to pass through Vane's chest and saturate his meridians and vessels.

Time was almost up. There was no other way.

Zora attempted to knock him out. Cultivators were physically strong; they couldn't be knocked out by mere physical strength, and spiritual power couldn't get inside. Zora poured several large bottles of sedatives and muscle-paralyzing drugs down his throat.

The youth stopped looking at her wound and instead looked into her eyes. She was very busy, even pulling down Vane’s storage bag to look for bone-softening powder, only to find a pile of poisons. She thought about it and put the poisons back.

Cold sweat on the youth’s forehead increased. The urge for blood was about to break through the fence. The demonic aura rampaged through his body, and his consciousness blurred.

He wanted to see bright red flesh torn open.

He wanted to taste the flavor of fresh blood.

The Demon Seed was urging him, instinctively wanting to absorb human heart-blood for nourishment.

But he couldn't move.

Zora saw that the corners of his eyes were crimson, his brow furrowed, and dark waves of malice were churning in his eyes. Killing intent filled the air, swarming toward her. The mist around them exploded, chairs and tables shattered, and wood splinters flew. Zora immediately flipped backward. The Jiangxue Sword unsheathed with a faint ring, its cold light flashing under the moonlight in the room.

Clang!

The sword met the downward strike of the long spear, producing an ear-splitting vibration.

The more the youth wanted blood, the calmer he became. His eyes were like unremovable ink, quietly watching her from behind the spear. Above the sword’s edge were the girl’s amber eyes.

Had the drugs really not taken effect?

The weapons separated for an instant, then met again in combat. In just a few heartbeats, a dozen moves had passed. For some reason, he had no killing strikes. Even though his heart was occupied by bloodthirsty malice, he involuntarily wanted only the blood from her left arm; he didn't need anything new.

The source of his shaken state of mind was influencing him. He didn't want to see the blood on her left arm, yet he needed blood... then he would simply take the red from her arm.

Nothing in the room remained intact. The window was smashed. Zora dodged a thrust of his spear and kicked him in the chest. Vane let out a muffled groan; his internal organs seemed damaged as he tumbled out of the window into the yard.

She showed no mercy, following closely behind. Her leg brought the sound of whistling wind as she aimed specifically for his heavily injured back, kicking hard. The back of the Jiangxue Sword struck his knee.

The youth lost his strength, and his spear dropped. He rolled across the ground in a mess, crashing into and cracking a large tree. With a groan, the tree collapsed. He spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

The spear felt a faint pull, wanting to return to its master’s hand, but suddenly a foot slammed down on the handle. Zora’s left arm could no longer exert force. Her sole, covered in spiritual power, ground down. The spear instantly sank an inch into the soil. it trembled—it was unclear if it was in anger, urgency, or something else.

Zora raised her hand and drove the Jiangxue Sword through Black Dust’s red tassel, three inches into the ground. Spiritual energy rippled from the blade, waves pulsing out from its center, causing even the nearby green leaves to shake.

Jiangxue stood guard over the defeated Black Dust.

Only then did Zora walk toward Vane empty-handed. His demonic aura was largely depleted. The Demon Seed was not in an awakened state; it had only produced demonic aura during its outbreak. Now it could only lie dormant quietly. The youth finally felt the effects of his physical injuries and had no strength to stand.

"Are you back to normal?" Zora asked.

He said nothing, trying to stand by leaning against the broken tree.

Zora: "The house is destroyed. we have to pay for it. We'll use your money."

He still said nothing, unable to stand. His ponytail hung down to cover the side of his face, revealing only blood-stained lips and a beautiful jawline. Zora only knew how to solve problems directly. She frowned, sat down beside him, hesitated a moment, and only felt at peace after tying his hands and feet.

The youth's face was almost translucent white, his dark eyes unfocused. He lay on the grass, blinking as if in a daze, devoid of thought. He appeared incredibly fragile, like a beast that couldn't find its target.

A girl’s face suddenly appeared as she leaned in for a closer look. Vane blinked again slowly.

Zora had no other options but to wait it out. Being quite bored, she asked him: "What’s so good about blood? If you kill, just kill. Why do you like playing with the blood of the people you kill?"

No answer.

The Demon Seed could not be nourished, and the host did not have the consciousness to actively urge its growth, so it finally stilled. But the youth could not snap out of it for a time.

"It tastes bad, and it doesn't look good either," Zora said sincerely.

His dark pupils moved slightly, looking at the blue hair ribbon on her head, then quietly watching her speak. Zora used her fingertip to dab at the wet blood on his chest, examining it closely, but found nothing useful.

Though there were sayings about "heart-blood" in the cultivation world, why was blood flowing from the heart more full of essence than from other places? She asked this aloud.

Suddenly, the youth’s weak voice rang out: "...Because the circulation of spiritual power and essence both pass through the heart before dispersing elsewhere. It is treated the same as the Dantian, so naturally, it is more precious than blood from other places."

Vane had just regained consciousness. He had no memory of the time he lost control, but one look at the scene told him what had happened. He instinctively solved her problem first.

Zora immediately said seriously: "The Taotie-like creature had a demonic cultivator's aura; it was likely raised by one. You were controlled by the aura because your state of mind was unstable. I wasn't, so we had a fight. You lost."

"..." There was indeed residual demonic aura in his body.

Vane: "...Apologies."

Zora untied the rope around his hands and feet: "You have too many things in your storage bag. My arm hurts. Where is the medicine?"

Vane gave an acknowledgment, instinctively struggling to get up. He was covered in blood, and waves of pain radiated from his abdomen and back. His breathing was weak and rapid.

Zora watched him. Her injuries were also heavy, her face blood-stained, and her blue dress saturated with red, yet her eyes remained perfectly clean as she appeared to observe him.

"You don't have demonic aura anymore, right?"

"Right," he sat up, lowering his head. "You have... demonic aura on you."

The aura of that demonic cultivator she had picked up was still lingering at her knee.

Zora: "Because I had to fight you, I couldn't use spiritual power on that. It hasn't recovered yet."

"Apologies..."

He lifted his hand, his back and fingertips covered in blood. The youth lifted his eyes to look at her. Zora only stared at his fingers, with no intention of stopping him. She sat beside him, the two very close, the scent of blood filling their nostrils. The girl's face was delicate and fair. The youth’s lashes trembled before he looked down at her knee. His fingertip touched her knee, wiping away the demonic aura.

Then he straightened his body, no longer facing her.

"..."

Zora said troubledly: "I can't move."

After the battle, her body was completely broken down.

Vane was silent for a moment. "...Me too." He quickly added: "We'll be better after resting for an hour."

Silence fell between them again. Vane finished bandaging her left arm: "We should find the Valley Master for treatment after finishing the mission."

Zora gave a groggy acknowledgment. She was exhausted. Seeing that Vane was free of demonic aura, her subconscious already treated the version of him without it as someone she could trust and entrust her safety to. Zora used the hem of his clothes scattered on the grass as a cushion, lay down, and closed her eyes wearily.

Vane hesitated for a moment, then reached out to lightly touch a spot where she wasn't injured, stroking her as if to soothe her to sleep. Zora fell into a deep slumber.

Vane only stopped after a while, using his remaining sliver of spiritual power to examine her left arm. Fortunately, the meridians for cultivation were not damaged. He stared at Zora for a long time, then looked around.

...

What exactly happened?

How could the current him be infringed upon by demonic aura to the point of having no conscious memory?

Vane lowered his eyes to look at Zora again, sleeping peacefully by his side even though she had just experienced a brutal fight with him. She actually lied quite naturally, yet very clumsily, easily assuming he believed her before moving on happily.

"..."

He didn't look away again, nor did he seek the truth further. In truth, aside from this single life, he had nothing worth plotting for. Furthermore, she held his life in her hands, so it wasn't a plot anyway.

She simply wanted to hide it. ...Then he would let it be hidden.

Didn't he also hide things about the Demon Realm? Rather, it was precisely because of this that he felt a mysterious sense of joy and relaxation.

With her personality, she wouldn't normally think of deceiving someone, yet Zora had lied to him. Whatever was being hidden likely concerned her life and future—he quickly reached this conclusion.

Then concealment was indeed the most appropriate course.