Chapter 84 The Tribulation of Inner Demons—And yet, I've come to like this kind of person who always runs away…

"Senior Sister Shen?"

Hearing the voice, Shen Lixia abruptly looked up and met Wu Zhuyue's gaze. Both their expressions turned to surprise, and then Shen Lixia exclaimed, "Hey—"

Before she could finish speaking, Wu Zhuyue suddenly stood up and stepped forward, covering her mouth. Lu Changqing, who was beside her, seemed surprised that the two knew each other and was about to speak when Wu Zhuyue also covered his mouth.

"A quiet place should not be noisy."

She spoke softly, her hands crossed, one on each side. Actually, the movement of getting up had been quite loud, and she immediately realized her words were unconvincing, her face flushing red, her usually cold expression turning warm. Realizing her reaction had been too strong, Wu Zhuyue withdrew her hands and let out a long sigh.

She glanced at Shen Lixia, who immediately understood her meaning. Indeed, as disciples of a sect, at least a few present came from humble backgrounds, if not noble ones, unlike the two of them who had started with a disastrous fate. Wu Zhuyue felt that her past was perfectly normal and difficult to talk about.

“Ah, we met once before.” Shen Lixia smiled. “Back then, I hadn’t joined the sect yet and was very young. It’s quite a coincidence now, isn’t it? Come to think of it, I didn’t even know my junior sister’s name.”

Wu Zhuyue nodded and obediently introduced herself to Shen Lixia. It turned out that since she arrived at the sect, Lu Changqing had often taken her sightseeing, and she quickly became acquainted with many people, including Lin Yuxian. She had helped Tang Huairou with many sect affairs before Tang Huairou went to the secret realm, and their relationship had gradually improved.

So, by a twist of fate, they ended up together again, sitting in this small room.

Shen Lixia listened to her, nodding occasionally. Although the young man before her possessed a golden spiritual root, he had caught the eye of Yi Xiaohan and was taken as his disciple that very day. Thus, all four Immortal Venerables, except for Chi Yueying, finally had their own personal disciples. And Master Chi—Shen Lixia believed that Lin Yuxian could fight her way through the preliminary competition and obtain that seat.

Lu Changqing didn't react as strongly as Wu Zhuyue; he simply asked, "Where did Senior Sister Qiao go?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lixia lowered her eyes slightly, her previously radiant smile instantly dimming. When she arrived at the library, her first action wasn't to look for books, but to write a letter to Qiao Yanshen, tearing off a note and entrusting it to a messenger.

A while has passed, and Qiao Yanshen should have received the letter, but she doesn't know when he'll reply. Or perhaps he won't reply at all. Every time she thinks about this, she feels frustrated and resentful, her teeth itching with anger, yet she knows she can't go to Frostblade Peak. Qiao Yanshen doesn't want to see her, so she can't go.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, the group was quite excited. They exchanged a dramatic conversation, which made Wu Zhuyue feel sorry for Shen Lixia. She wanted to offer something to comfort her, but then realized that she had almost used up all her spirit stones.

Finally, Tang Huairou coughed lightly and changed the subject: "Time is tight. Junior Sister Lin and the others still have to practice their skills later. Let's look through the books first."

The afternoon passed by in the blink of an eye. After searching for a long time, only a few books remained in the last stack. Shen Lixia borrowed these few books, intending to take them back and read them again.

"Thank you all for your help." She rubbed her temples. "Come to my house for dinner another day."

Tang Huairou and the others shouldn't lack spirit stones, and they didn't have anything particularly special on their side. As for the two new junior sisters...

After everyone else had left, she telepathically called out to Wu Zhuyue, "Junior Sister Wu, please wait." The young man stiffened, turned around anxiously, pursed his thin lips, and was extremely nervous. At this moment, Lu Changqing had already returned to Guyu Peak on Tang Huairou's sword; she wasn't actually very familiar with the others.

“I haven’t found anything good in the secret realm these days, so I can only give you some spirit stones as a reward.” Shen Lixia handed a storage bag containing spirit stones to Wu Zhuyue. “As you are new to the sect, you must have many things to buy. I hope you won’t mind, junior sister.”

Wu Zhuyue was slightly taken aback. After hesitating for a moment, she accepted the storage bag. Her expression seemed to relax a little, and she said in a low voice, "Thank you, Senior Sister... It's really very generous."

Shen Lixia assumed that her appearance was due to a young person's inability to hide their thoughts and their strong sense of self-esteem, so she smiled and added, "Then help me out more in the future."

She returned to the small courtyard in the woods, put down the book, cleaned the house, and then thoroughly wiped the cooking utensils.

The eldest senior sister should be close to entering the Golden Core stage and can eat again. Although she can't eat every day like before, she can have an occasional meal. This time, she knows the eldest senior sister's tastes and can cook even better dishes.

Thinking of how Qiao Yanshen always ate slowly and deliberately, Shen Lixia felt a pang of nostalgia. The higher one climbs on the path of cultivation, the less worldly desires one has. Although the atmosphere was slightly better in Taihui, with a stronger sense of human warmth, she always worried that Qiao Yanshen would become like ordinary cultivators, speaking less as he progressed through each level of cultivation.

As night fell, the moonlight was cool and clear. After getting into bed, she lay on the other side and buried her face in the pillow.

After a few days, they found some useful information, all of which were legends, seemingly passed down orally from ancient times. The group became acquainted and gradually became a bright spot in Taihui, their laughter filling the midsummer.

Apart from Wu Zhuyue, perhaps due to her special background, she was always a little reserved and was led by Lu Changqing with a stiff demeanor.

Until one evening.

The heat was particularly intense that day. As dusk settled outside, a damp smell wafted through the air. Cicadas chirped restlessly, their calls especially loud in the forest, only finally subsiding when the rain began to fall.

Shen Lixia was meditating in her quiet room when she heard the door open. Someone walked in through the rain, and she was overjoyed, thinking it was Qiao Yanshen. She quickly got up to greet him. The visitor was indeed Qiao Yanshen, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was weak.

Yan Xueya saw Shen Lixia, sighed, and used a hand seal to wipe the rainwater off his clothes and the ground before carrying Qiao Yanshen inside. Shen Lixia was startled. Seeing her master's furrowed brows, she couldn't help but ask, "Master, Senior Sister...?"

"A demonic affliction," Yan Xueya murmured, entering the quiet room first and placing Qiao Yanshen on the bed. Shen Lixia followed closely behind, sitting on the edge of the bed, lowering her eyes to carefully examine Qiao Yanshen. He had only just begun to recover after a few days, yet it seemed as if the nightmare brought on by his inner demons had stripped him of all his vitality.

Her eyes were tightly closed, and the only way to tell if she was still breathing was by the rise and fall of her chest. Shen Lixia reached out and grasped Qiao Yanshen's wrist, only feeling a slight sense of relief when she felt his pulse.

Yan Xueya caught a glimpse of her expression, and a look of weariness, unseen for a long time, appeared on her face: "I was originally guarding her in the palace. She passed through the tribulation of lightning smoothly, but she has not come out for a long time after it ended."

She thought that Tu Sheng had broken through his cultivation realm and gained enlightenment, and that she would need to meditate for a few more days. However, she did not expect that she had fainted due to the successive tribulations of her inner demons.

“The tribulation of inner demons is different from ordinary lightning tribulations; it cannot be interfered with by external forces. It’s still too cold in my palace,” Yan Xueya continued. “So I sent Yan Shen back. Perhaps here, she will wake up sooner because of the familiar atmosphere. Take good care of her and don’t worry too much.”

Despite this, Shen Lixia could tell that Yan Xueya was also worried. She nodded silently, and only after Yan Xueya left did she realize that she hadn't even offered her master a cup of tea.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she leaned down, just as she had done back in the Southern Kingdom, quietly watching Qiao Yanshen. Unlike then, when she was blind, this time she could see. The woman's face was exceptionally pale in the moonlight, as if she were troubled by inner demons; her brows were tightly furrowed, and beads of sweat were faintly visible. Shen Lixia reached out and smoothed those delicate brows, then wiped away the sweat.

This feeling was somewhat familiar, as if someone had done the same thing to her on some other night.

She had never met her birth mother, yet at that moment she felt a mother's gentle presence, caressing her cheeks.

The lights flickered, and the night deepened. She didn't know how long she had been waiting; time seemed endless, each second an agony. Shen Lixia held Qiao Yanshen's icy hands in her arms, trying to warm them with the warmth of her abdomen and hands, and with her burning spiritual energy.

The rain was cold and clear, even the flickering light and shadow seemed to carry a sense of sorrow. The morning mist was heavy and damp; the sky outside was gradually brightening, and the heavy rain was stopping. In her hazy state, Shen Lixia heard a soft groan from the person on the bed and looked up to check. Qiao Yanshen's eyelashes trembled slightly, and then he opened his eyes. Darkness filled his vision, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

The moment she saw Shen Lixia, tears welled up in her eyes, falling the next moment and soaking her pillow. Even though it had only been a few days, she felt as if the person before her had been the one she had longed for for countless years. It was a long dream, all the possibilities and impossibilities unfolding before her, sharply questioning her conscience.

Qiao Yanshen did not give an answer, but was lifted by a warm feeling, and briefly got a chance to catch his breath from the nightmare, so that he would not drown.

Shen Lixia remained silent for a long time. Her gaze was focused, almost tender in the dim morning light. Love, which had previously brought her much joy, now tightened, and only now did the pain arrive belatedly.

She asked softly, "Is it better to be distant from me than to be together?"

Qiao Yanshen replied softly, "I'm not happy, and I'm not happy either. Every moment I'm not practicing swordsmanship, I can't help but think of you. I haven't had time to look at my notes for a few days."

Shen Lixia smiled slightly and squeezed her hand, "I'll read it to you when you're completely healed."

It was originally written for Qiao Yanshen to see, so that she wouldn't worry about my current situation, but I didn't expect that it would be the other party who would run into trouble first.

"Okay." Qiao Yanshen's voice was softer than usual, like a handful of sand about to be swallowed by the wind. "I don't know what to do anymore, Li Xia. Who can I face now?"

“You are not Luo Yang, you don’t need to be worthy of anyone,” Shen Lixia said. “Staying by your side is my own choice, I don’t want to betray my own…heart.”

It's probably because I like it, but how important is it anyway?

"Okay." Qiao Yanshen smiled, seemingly a little tired, and slowly closed his eyes again, his fingertips gently caressing Shen Lixia's hand. Shen Lixia knew that she was troubled by her inner demons again, so she bit her lip and first wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Actually, I really want to cry too..." The boy closed his eyes helplessly, "but I've fallen for my senior sister."

Ironically, I've fallen for someone who always runs away.

She chased and she fled; the senior sister had no wings, but she still ran very fast. Shen Lixia couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

Then, she lowered her head and gently kissed the mole on Qiao Yanshen's wrist.

Get well soon, get better soon.

-----------------------

Author's note: She chases, she flees, she can't escape even if she grows wings.