Conquering That Great Demon Lord [Xian Ni Fan Fiction] - Chapter 39: Drunken Words

Chapter 39: Drunken Words

Morning light filled the inner chamber of the Southern Garden’s pavilion. Wang Lin lifted her up, letting her lean against him. Li Muwan was like a pool of melted water, needing a stir to ripple.

Wang Lin tenderly brushed aside her messy hair and sent a stream of Spiritual Power into her body. Only then did Li Muwan feel her strength return. Wang Lin had already absorbed a significant amount of the Spiritual Power generated from their Dual Cultivation.

“Senior Brother,” Li Muwan sensed the change within her and quickly propped herself up, grabbing a gauze robe. “The Spiritual Power from this Dual Cultivation is too abundant. Wan’er needs to enter seclusion for a few days.”

“Alright.”

Her cultivation level was low, so absorbing Spiritual Power was naturally not as easy for her as it was for Wang Lin. He had asked her before why, after so many years, her cultivation level was still stuck at the Core Formation Stage.

With Li Muwan’s cultivation talent and the aid of the Cloud Heaven Sect’s elixirs, she should have reached Nascent Soul Formation by now.

Li Muwan had cut off his train of thought, only saying that she was busy with the sect’s various affairs and lacked the time to focus, which had delayed her cultivation, leaving her at the Core Formation Stage.

With his current cultivation level, helping her reach Nascent Soul Formation was not a problem, but it would require sufficient Magical Artifacts and elixirs.

And his trip to the Immortal Realm this time might yield some opportunities to help her achieve Nascent Soul Formation.

Li Muwan went into seclusion for ten days. This body of hers was able to absorb less and less Spiritual Power. If not for maintaining it with elixirs these days, being in the same room with Wang Lin day after day, her secret would have been discovered sooner or later.

If he knew that she had used her Soul of Life to lure him into love, there was no telling what he might do.

She had run out of the elixirs she was taking, so Li Muwan could only ask Zhou Lin to send over some spirit herbs. She needed to personally refine a Spirit-Building Pill to make this physical body last a little longer.

Zhou Lin had a worried look on his face. “Master, Senior Uncle’s cultivation level is heaven-defying. If you tell him the truth, he might have a way to help you recuperate.”

Peach blossoms fell outside the window. Li Muwan caught a petal in her palm, folding it aimlessly a few times before sighing again. “He has more important things to do. I don’t want to burden him.”

“Shouldn’t a husband and wife be honest with each other?” Zhou Lin was perplexed. “That’s what all the Mortal Tales Master reads say.”

“You’ve been peeking at my tales?” Li Muwan narrowed her eyes, dispelling the gloom with a hint of a smile.

“Disciple, I didn’t mean to peek,” Zhou Lin explained hurriedly. “I only read them to know which ones Master likes, so I can bring them back for you.”

Li Muwan paid it no mind, but a trace of sorrow appeared in her eyes. “I took it upon myself to accept Wu Yu as your disciple. You came to me so happily before, telling me you had a disciple, but alas, it was him. Master owes you for this. Consider Wu Yu as the disciple I’m giving back to you.”

“He wouldn’t dare step foot in the Southern Garden now. Even when other disciples mention the Southern Garden, he breaks out in a cold sweat,” Zhou Lin said with a smile.

If not for Wang Lin’s threats and intimidation, had he been any more timid, he probably would have packed his belongings and fled down the mountain that very night, never daring to set foot in the State of Chu again.

“Senior Brother’s pique with me ended up implicating him.” Li Muwan took a bottle of elixir from her Storage Bag. “Give this to him. In conjunction with the Spirit Severing Art, it can erase specific memories.”

Zhou Lin accepted the elixir without another word.

He was still worried about Li Muwan’s health. “Master, these spirit herbs have peculiar effects. When refined into an elixir, and with the rapid increase of Spiritual Power in your body recently, if not absorbed properly, I’m afraid there could be a backlash.”

“I know,” Li Muwan said calmly.

“Right, a few days ago in the Scripture Repository, I saw in the Ancient Books that the Spirit-Building Pill must not…” Xiao Ling came out of the pavilion, plucked a small flower, and placed it on Li Muwan’s shoulder, interrupting Zhou Lin.

“Xiao Ling?” Seeing its adorable appearance, Li Muwan took the flower. “Is this from Senior Brother?”

Xiao Ling nodded vigorously.

*The Spirit-Building Pill will have the opposite effect if it encounters alcohol.* Although Zhou Lin knew his master didn’t drink and that Li Muwan had her own sense of propriety, and since the two were nearly inseparable, he figured nothing would happen, so he didn’t disturb them further.

“You’ll have to pay more attention to the Cloud Heaven Sect’s internal affairs next. I need to go into seclusion for a few days. If there’s anything you can’t decide on, you can talk to Senior Brother, or wait for me to come out.” Li Muwan had been training Zhou Lin to manage internal affairs for years, so him handling things alone wasn’t a problem. After giving him a few more instructions, she dismissed him.

Li Muwan shut herself in the secret chamber for three days and three nights. After taking the Spirit-Building Pill, her condition stabilized considerably.

She was in a good mood. Seeing Wang Lin constantly gazing out the window these past few days, she guessed that the Rain Immortal Realm he was concerned about was about to open.

“Senior Brother, shall Wan’er play a tune for you?” Li Muwan walked to the zither platform. The gentle breeze stirred her gauze robe. She looked well, and her movements were like a pure lotus swaying in a pond.

Wang Lin leaned against a pavilion pillar, his gaze fixed on her as he drank. “Alright.”

The years were rootless, and people were like floating duckweed. He looked at the place where he had found his footing, at this gentle haven he was so fond of, storing all these memories away. In the murderous and cruel Rain Immortal Realm, they would help him walk on with resolve.

The zither strings were plucked again and again, one tune after another. Wang Lin seemed never to tire of listening, a rare gentleness gracing his features. He loved to listen to her play.

Li Muwan didn’t offer to teach him to play the zither again, and Wang Lin never did replace the clothes he had promised to compensate her for.

It wasn’t that Wang Lin had forgotten; it was that Li Muwan had said they should save it for after he returned from the Rain Immortal Realm, so they could visit the marketplace one more time.

Thus, he had a promise to keep, and she had something to look forward to. One would wait through the long years for a person with an uncertain return date, and the other, because of a promise, would return to keep the appointment, no matter the thousands of difficulties and dangers, no matter if he had to cross mountains and rivers.

The sound of the zither lingered around the Southern Garden all day. As night fell, a dewy mist descended.

Li Muwan put away the zither and looped her arm through Wang Lin’s. With light steps, she looked up at his side profile. The moonlight cast upon his features, wrapping his red hair in a silver glow that made her eyes sting with unshed tears.

Wine could drown sorrows. She always saw Wang Lin drinking. She didn’t like the taste, but thinking that Wang Lin loved it, she figured she could get used to it if she drank it more often.

Wang Lin suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see her tilting her head, studying him.

“What is it?”

“Senior Brother, Wan’er wants to taste the wine in your gourd,” Li Muwan said, blinking.

A wicked smile spread across Wang Lin’s face, as if savoring a memory. “Hasn’t Wan’er tasted it before?”

Li Muwan abruptly turned her face away, a blush leaping to her cheeks. “Senior Brother, that’s not what I meant.”

He took out the jade gourd from his Storage Bag. “Wan’er can’t hold her liquor. Don’t drink too much.”

“Mm.” She hugged the gourd to her chest, as if afraid Wang Lin would change his mind.

Late into the night, the several Fiends sat on the roof, forced to admire the moon. The Thunder Frog had sunk back into the pond to play. Li Muwan looked at the high-grade Spirit Beast, thinking that it would have to protect Wang Lin in the Immortal Realm of Rain. Not only did she not restrain it, but she even fed it several bottles of elixirs.

Xu Liguo asked himself in his heart, he had diligently gone through fire and water, yet he hadn’t managed to get even a few elixirs. He grumbled about it in Xiao Ling’s ear several times, but Xiao Ling turned a deaf ear; after all, he was the Fiend who had eaten the most elixirs.

“Master, Mistress is biased! Little Xu wants the Great Unity Pill, the Miasma-Clearing Pill…” Xu Liguo’s roar echoed in the sky, two lines of bitter tears in his eyes, but no one paid him any mind.

Li Muwan leaned against the railing. Wang Lin was focused on refining a Magical Artifact. She didn’t disturb him, drinking and admiring the moon by herself.

The fruit wine was sweet at first taste, then spicy, with a hint of bitterness. She hadn’t liked it at first, but as she sipped, she found it acceptable and threw Wang Lin’s warning to the back of her mind.

When Wang Lin awoke, he scanned the room. Li Muwan was nowhere to be seen. But behind the window screen, a figure on the balcony swayed precariously. A slender wrist was revealed beneath the gauze, tugging a few times. The curtain swayed in the moonlight, and a sliver of light shone in, landing on the bridge of Wang Lin’s high nose.

“This wine… is good,” Li Muwan’s voice drifted out, laced with a hazy drunkenness.

Just as she was about to fall, a force from in front of her pulled her back. The smell of alcohol, warm and heavy, hit Wang Lin in the face.

Li Muwan looked at him with a silly grin. “Senior Brother…”

Wang Lin sighed and was about to form a seal to force the alcohol out of her, but Li Muwan grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“Senior Brother, Wan’er isn’t drunk.” She stretched out her arm to put it over Wang Lin’s shoulder, but he was too tall. She had no choice but to stand on her tiptoes. Wang Lin sent a force from behind her, and Li Muwan’s entire body was seated on his arm, carried into the inner chamber just like that.

She became much more talkative when drunk. The arm resting on his shoulder drooped limply, then she tried again to raise it and cup Wang Lin’s cheek. Her fingertips caressed him back and forth. There were so many words blocked up in her heart that she wanted to say. She struggled to keep her eyes open to see his features clearly. When she finally did, she smiled.

“When I first met you in the bamboo forest, Senior Brother’s presence was unparalleled. Wan’er remembered you,” she said in a lazy voice.

Wang Lin’s brow smoothed out. He turned his head slightly to press his face against her palm, only to see the smile on Li Muwan’s face freeze, tinged with bitterness.

“But the Soul Pearl said Fiends are heartless, and I saw your indifference for myself. If not for wanting to get my Soul of Life back… Wan’er… how could Wan’er have lived under your roof in the Sea of Demonic Cultivation, swallowing her pride to spend four years with you.”

Wang Lin’s brow, which had just relaxed, furrowed again. His fingertips touched her burning cheek as he stared at her in confusion.

“You… are drunk.” Wang Lin dismissed her words as drunken ramblings.

“Wang Lin, the day I get my Soul of Life back will be the day we part ways. But I’ve already tried my best to love you, so why can’t you love me completely? What has Wan’er not done right?” Li Muwan’s expression grew bleak as she spoke.

The man with the jade-like face showed a complex and bewildered expression. The more Li Muwan spoke, the more heartbroken she became. “If you do not cherish me, I will surely make you regret it to no end.”

The utterly baffled Wang Lin tried to sober her up, but her incoherent words drew him in. He thought it over and over, and the tenderness in his eyes turned to icy coldness. “What Soul of Life?”

He saw her shake her head erratically, her words nonsensical. “I waited a hundred years, and then another hundred years, but I don’t want to love you. I don’t want to love you! Give me back my Soul of Life, alright?”

“Give me back my Soul of Life…”

“Wan’er?” The fingertips on her cheek tightened, pinching two marks onto her flushed face. “Say that again.”

“I lied to you. I don’t love you. I just, I just want you to love me, so that I can, I can…” Li Muwan slumped into his palm, completely drunk.

That night, with a grim face and a heavy heart, he sat and waited for the entire night.

The next day at noon, Li Muwan woke up feeling dizzy. She tried hard to recall what happened before she slept last night, only remembering sitting on the balcony admiring the moon and drinking.

Right, the wine. She patted her head. The last image was his face, clear before her eyes.

Li Muwan looked for Wang Lin. His tall, straight figure had its back to her. She sat up, a thin quilt draped over her, and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her small face against his solid back.

“Senior Brother, did you watch over Wan’er all night?”

Wang Lin opened his eyes. A layer of red light covered his pupils, and his expression was extremely grim. But Li Muwan couldn’t see it and continued to act spoiled. “Senior Brother, Wan’er wants to paint a portrait of you today.”

“Does Wan’er… lie?” Wang Lin’s voice was hoarse.

“What?” Li Muwan released her arms, her already heavy head plunging into confusion.

Wang Lin slowly turned around, looking down at her with a blank expression. Li Muwan was bewildered by the situation but instinctively wanted to soothe him. “Senior Brother…”

“Why isn’t Wan’er answering?”

She had a bad feeling. Sensing her Soul Pearl, she found it reacting violently, forcibly pouring last night’s memories into her mind. Li Muwan was stunned, her heart skipping several beats. How could she have said those things in front of the Fiend?

Only now did she feel regret, yet also confusion. She had always been cautious in her words and actions, especially in front of Wang Lin, never daring to reveal any information about the Soul of Life. She could only assume she had been spouting nonsense while drunk.

Little did she know that the Spirit-Building Pill must not be taken with alcohol, or it would cause a backlash. A light backlash would cause one to speak nonsense, a mix of truth and lies, their words not matching their heart. A severe one would cause one’s Spiritual Power to dissipate.

She had studied Pill Crafting for many years but had never come across such a record. Now, it was too late for regrets. Seeing the sudden change in the Fiend’s expression, as if he were about to eat her, Li Muwan said meekly, “No, how could Wan’er ever deceive Senior Brother?”

Her evasive eyes had already betrayed her. Likewise, she saw the cold glint in Wang Lin’s eyes, brimming with killing intent. A murderous aura surrounded her, threatening to make her vanish in an instant if she admitted it.