Above the ruins, bone lotuses drifted down.
Lord Rat flopped onto the ground, panting heavily. "Oh my god, Lord Rat is exhausted."
He turned to Chen Zhou with a fawning expression. "My Lord, it's wonderful that you're alright. When that big toad swallowed you just now, I was scared to death."
"Lord Rat was the most worried about you!"
Piao also silently walked behind Chen Zhou. Although she didn't speak, her hand tightly gripping the corner of Chen Zhou’s robe revealed her inner turmoil.
Chen Zhou patted Piao's head to comfort her. He knew that Piao not only viewed him as her faith but also as family.
Jian Huaishuang sheathed his sword and knelt on one knee. "Your subordinate is incompetent for allowing you to be startled, My Lord."
Chen Zhou waved his hand, signaling everyone to rise.
His gaze moved past the group and landed on Su Xue nearby.
By then, Su Xue's radiance had faded. She swayed weakly, nearly collapsing.
Her appearance had transformed from a young girl in her teens to a white-haired old woman, her face covered in the marks of time.
"Sister Su Xue!"
Poison-Wing let out a startled shriek and scrambled over to support her.
Seeing Su Xue’s head of gray hair, Poison-Wing—a demon king who usually killed without blinking—actually burst into tears on the spot.
"How could this happen? How could this happen..."
"It's all my fault, it's all because I was useless, waah..."
Poison-Wing sobbed heart-wrenchingly. The surviving demons of the Southern Region also lowered their heads one by one, their expressions complicated.
They had been saved by Su Xue. Even the most cold-blooded demon couldn't help but feel a sliver of guilt at this moment.
Only Chen Zhou’s side reacted indifferently.
Though the flower demons felt it was a pity, they weren't panicked.
Zen Master Wu Hai even muttered softly, "Why cry? Getting old isn't the same as being dead. One must know that a beauty is but withered bones, and a pretty face is just a skeleton."
"I see that this little female demon has excellent talent. Why not join my Bone Temple and cultivate our Bone Path? Stripping away that useless skin bag—that is true natural beauty!"
Lord Rat curled his lip. "What's the big deal? She just got old, didn't she?"
Jiu'er had been the same back then, and wasn't he cured by the Lord? What was there to panic about? They were so restless.
In their eyes, this was not an issue at all.
Their Lord was a righteous god of the Underworld who controlled both life and death as well as longevity. This was common knowledge in the City of the Wrongfully Dead.
Su Xue herself didn't seem to care.
She raised her hand and stroked Poison-Wing’s head. Her voice was aged but remained gentle.
"Silly child, why cry?"
"It's merely a skin bag."
"To be able to save so many people, this small price is worth it."
Su Xue looked at the surviving beings around her, her eyes filled with gratification.
To her, all living beings were equal, and life was priceless.
She cultivated the medical path and vitality. Beauty might fade, but the dao heart remained forever.
After Jade Toad finished inhaling the death qi, he stood before Su Xue. A rare hint of awkwardness appeared on his face, which had not yet fully transformed into a human one. The atmosphere was incredibly tense.
This former hegemon who had ruled the Southern Region for five hundred years was currently as stiff as a rock.
He even subconsciously suppressed the death qi radiating from his body, fearing he might further harm the now-fragile Su Xue.
It had been five hundred years.
When they had their falling out, he was a high-spirited demon king, and she was a pure and flawless heavenly physician.
Meeting again now, she was an old woman in the twilight of her life, and he was a monster covered in sin.
Su Xue looked up at the familiar stranger before her.
After all, he was someone who had accompanied her for centuries. He was too familiar. With just one look, Su Xue knew this was the Jade Toad of the past.
She felt no resentment or blame.
She simply called out softly, "Jade Toad."
That single call seemed to bridge five hundred years of time.
Jade Toad's entire body shuddered. He stood there at a loss, his webbed hands clasped behind his back, twisting together nervously.
He remained silent for a long time before lowering his head and responding in a dry voice, "...Sister Su Xue."
"The death qi is heavy. You... don't get too close to me."
As he spoke, he took another half-step back.
"Thank you." Su Xue smiled. The wrinkles on her face bunched up, making her look exceptionally kind.
She tremblingly reached out a withered, stick-like hand and beckoned to Jade Toad.
"Why are you hiding?"
"That's the gu you left for me, isn't it? I felt it. It's on Poison-Wing, and it's very well-behaved." Su Xue's voice was light, yet every word struck Jade Toad's heart.
"You should know that as a plant demon, I am most sensitive to vitality and death qi. To avoid raising Da Yuan's suspicions, you turned yourself into this ghostly appearance. You've had it hard."
Jade Toad jerked his head up, his single eye filled with disbelief.
She... she knew?
"I'm not a fool." Su Xue took a breath, her gaze becoming distant. "When I fled while heavily injured back then, I felt something was wrong."
"Later, when I heard you had become cruel and tyrannical, hunting humans and keeping them in human pens, I became even more suspicious."
"If you really wanted to kill me, I would have died five hundred years ago. How could I have lived until today?"
"But now, I am certain."
Su Xue spoke as she looked softly at the restless giant before her, calling out gently once more:
"Come here, Jade Toad."
A single call of 'Jade Toad' seemed to traverse five hundred years, washing away all the estrangement.
All of Jade Toad's ferocity and majesty collapsed in an instant.
As if his strength had been drained, his knees buckled, and he crashed to the ground, kneeling before Su Xue.
Yet he still didn't dare get too close, instead burying his head deep against the earth.
"...Sister."
This call was five hundred years late.
"Yes," Su Xue replied. She wanted to reach out and touch his head but found that her arm was too short to reach.
Poison-Wing watched from the side, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. He even forgot to cry.
"What the hell? Sister? You shameless old toad, who are you calling sister? That's my sister! You dead pervert, don't go around making up family ties!"
Poison-Wing jumped in anxiety, cursing while wiping his tears. "Look at what you've done to her! You still have the face to cry?"
"Be quiet."
Su Xue helplessly patted Poison-Wing's head. "Keep shouting and my ears will go deaf from the vibration."
Poison-Wing went silent instantly, shrinking back to the side like a wronged little daughter-in-law.
Only then did Su Xue look back at Jade Toad. Her gaze swept over the tumors and death qi covering him, and a hint of heartache flashed in her eyes.
"You've suffered all these years."
"Carrying the infamy of the entire Southern Region alone while having to guard against that monk... it must have been exhausting."
Jade Toad buried his head even lower.
"It wasn't hard."
He said in a muffled voice, "As long as you are still alive, it wasn't hard."
Su Xue sighed. "Alright, stop kneeling. It'll be a joke if others see. Since you still call me Sister Su Xue, from now on we..."
"Ahem."
A poorly timed cough interrupted this warm and touching scene.
Chen Zhou walked over slowly with his hands behind his back, his face carrying a bit of mockery and a bit of impatience.
"I say, is the reminiscing session about done?"
Seeing Chen Zhou approach, Jade Toad hurriedly wiped his face and struggled to stand up to salute, but he stumbled due to the backlash of death qi in his body.
Poison-Wing, like a protective mother hen, spread his arms to block Su Xue, staring warily at Chen Zhou. "What do you want? I told you, if you want to kill someone, kill me! Don't touch Sister Su Xue!"
Chen Zhou didn't even look him in the eye, simply waving his sleeve.
"Get lost."
A massive force sent Poison-Wing flying ten meters away, landing face-first in the dirt.
As Chen Zhou stood before Su Xue with an unfriendly expression, the hearts of all the demons leaped into their throats.
"Su Xue, right?"
Chen Zhou's voice gave away no emotion.
Su Xue struggled to rise and salute, but was stopped by Chen Zhou's gaze.
She looked at the eerie skeleton before her and said warmly, "You must be the Bone Temple Master?"
"Thank you for your help, and thank you... for not completely exterminating the Southern Region."
"Don't be so quick to thank me."
Chen Zhou snorted coldly, speaking without any politeness.
"Though I don't hate people like you, I have to say, your mindset is still too poor."
Su Xue was stunned, looking at him in confusion.
Ever since she gained sentience, both humans and demons had praised her for her kindness and mercy. This was the first time anyone had told her that her mindset was poor.
"What, not convinced?"
Chen Zhou pointed to the surviving minor demons around them, then pointed back at Su Xue herself.
"Kindness isn't a mistake, but a bottomless goody-two-shoes is just stupid."
"You can't even protect yourself, yet you want to protect others?"
"You think your self-sacrifice is grand?"
"In my eyes, it is incredibly foolish."
"If you died as well, who would look after these people you protected? Were you counting on this featherless chicken who only knows how to cry? Or that old toad who can barely save himself?"
Chen Zhou's words were sharp and piercing.
"Remember, in this dog-eat-dog world, if you want to save people, you must first stay alive. Moreover, you must live stronger and longer than anyone else!"
"Only the strong have the right to speak of mercy. The mercy of the weak is just a joke of alms given to others."
Su Xue froze.
She had lived for over a thousand years, cultivating the medical path and comprehending vitality, yet no one had ever explained things to her from this perspective.
She looked at her own withered hands, then at Poison-Wing, who was anxious yet powerless in the distance, and the guilt-stricken Jade Toad.
Indeed.
If she died, given Poison-Wing's impulsive nature and the fact that there would be no one to suppress the baleful qi in his body, he probably wouldn't survive three days.
Jade Toad would carry his infamy, becoming even more isolated and helpless.
It turned out that staying alive was the greatest responsibility.
"I have been enlightened."
Su Xue gave a bitter smile, a flash of realization appearing in her cloudy eyes.
"Unfortunately, even though I understand now, it is too late."
"Who says it's too late?"
Chen Zhou scoffed. With a flip of his wrist, a green fruit emitting a rich aura of life appeared in his palm.
An unaging pine cone.
Last time, he had given Jiu'er two pine seeds to try, then snatched a complete pine cone from the unaging pine for him. This original pine cone only had three pine seeds left.
"Eat it." Chen Zhou casually tossed a pine seed over.
Su Xue caught it subconsciously.
"This is..."
"You're one of my people now. Would I harm you?" Chen Zhou said.
Lord Rat chimed in from the side, "That's right. This is our Lord’s secret treasure. It can increase longevity and restore youth."
"Quit the chatter. If you know what's good for you, eat it quickly."
"Seeing you looking so old and decrepit is annoying the Lord. Anyone who didn't know better would think our Lord was bullying an old lady."
Su Xue felt the majestic vitality contained within the fruit and was greatly shocked.
Such a divine object was enough to bring the dead back to life, regrow flesh on bones, and extend one's lifespan. Its value was immeasurable.
This Bone Temple Master actually just gave it to her so casually?
Rate on N.U.
