Chapter 13 Zhuang Jinfu's Past

The person in front of her curled up quietly in her arms. He had intended to stay by her side to see if she would develop a high fever at night, so he had no intention of sleeping and remained awake the whole time.

When Ling Shu called her softly, she did not respond. Zhuang Jin Fu did not want Ling Shu to know that she was deliberately staying awake to watch over her.

Although this little fox is unruly and has a temperament that suggests she will take up an axe to chop down anything in the chaos of the world, and seems to have no moments of vulnerability, she always shows a strong side to protect herself. But in fact, she longs to be recognized and treated kindly, and then she becomes anxious and insecure when she has it.

So rather than making her anxious and insecure, it's better to let her know less.

Zhuang Jinfu felt that the kindness she received was negligible. As the only demon acknowledged by the world, the harm she suffered when she was among a different race always outweighed the kindness she received.

When that kiss landed on the side of her neck and collar, Zhuang Jinfu knew the whole process clearly: how Ling Shu approached awkwardly, how she chose piety over offense, and how she was shy and lovesick. She knew it all.

But her heart remained completely unmoved.

She wasn't even a little confused; she just paused, needing time to react.

Can a withered, dead tree be revived by spring water? Zhuang Jinfu's answer was no.

She still clearly remembers how she chose to embark on the path of ruthlessness.

Zhuang Jinfu was born into the prestigious Zhuang family. Now, she is the only remaining member of the family's bloodline. The patriarchal seal she inherited has been shelved and never used since she left home. The Zhuang family was a distinguished clan, but in the great war between humans and demons four hundred years ago, those who were capable died in battle, while those who were incapable could not even protect themselves. Her great-grandmother fled with her daughters, eventually settling in the deep mountains to live with a weak demon.

She remembered that there were always demons in her childhood. They would take her to climb trees, catch fish, and collect firewood, giving her the happiest childhood. At that time, she thought that demons and humans were no different, and that humans and demons should be friends. She thought that such days could last forever, until one day.

A snake demon came to her door and slaughtered her entire family. She escaped with the demon's protection.

This snake demon came for revenge. On the battlefield, the Zhuang family killed her family. She was still not satisfied after killing all the Zhuang family members, so she went on a revenge journey. She discovered the Zhuang family's descendants living deep in the mountains from a demon's praise of the Zhuang woman.

Eight-year-old Zhuang Jinfu escaped and staggered across the vast land. Unfortunately, she was discovered by the snake demon and forced to the cliff, where she finally lost her footing and fell to her death.

But she didn't die. She was hanging on a ginseng spirit, which transformed into an ancient pine tree and hung on a cliff, enjoying the mountain breeze and the distant view. Suddenly, she was disturbed by a little child. She immediately cursed who was so blind, but when she saw that it was a little girl who was barely breathing, her heart softened.

"Why is the little girl playing on the edge of the cliff?"

Zhuang Jinfu, her eyes half-closed, weakly said, "There...there's a demon trying to...kill me..." She then fainted. The ginseng spirit cut off a root from its own body and fed it to her, and Zhuang Jinfu woke up.

Ginseng essence is a top-quality foundation-building medicinal material for cultivators. The whole root can be used to improve the quality of spiritual roots. Its great medicinal value makes people flock to it, and the ginseng family has been captured and killed in large numbers. However, this ginseng thrives under extremely harsh living conditions.

Because she found herself a good backer.

At that time, Wang Lifu was already the designated future heir of the Wang family and had a lot of say in the family. She advocated peace between humans and demons and forbade the Wang family from harming demons. The ginseng spirit believed her and took the initiative to come to her for refuge, so Wang Lifu raised the ginseng spirit.

The ginseng spirit rescued Zhuang Jinfu and brought her to Wang Lifu, saying, "This wild child I found in the mountains, I fed her a ginseng root, and hey! She survived! I don't know how to raise children. You are seventeen and she is eighteen, so you are the same age. You raised me, so why don't you raise her too?"

Wang Lifu roared, "How can I be considered the same age as this little baby! Besides, is raising a demon the same as raising a human?"

The ginseng spirit glanced at her: "How can you not be the same age? According to the age of us demons, a difference of one hundred years is considered different ages. You and her are only nine years apart... How can raising a demon and raising a human not be the same? You talk about equality between humans and demons all day long, but when it comes down to it, you say they are different. You are simply a hypocrite!"

Wang Lifu was rendered speechless by what he was being said. After stammering for a long time, in order to maintain his perfect image, he kept Zhuang Jinfu with him.

When Zhuang Jinfu was ten years old, he was found to have a Heaven-level Ice Spirit Root.

Zhuang Jinfu herself did not believe that she was a genius sent from heaven. She suspected that her Heavenly Spirit Root was nurtured by a ginseng spirit. The ginseng grandmother saw that she was thin and small and was afraid that she would not grow up, so she fed her ginseng whiskers every few days. Ordinary ginseng is already nourishing enough for people, not to mention the top-grade old ginseng spirit that has absorbed the essence of heaven and earth for five hundred years and cultivated into a spirit. It can hardly be described as a great tonic.

It was an extremely potent tonic, practically a miracle drug that could bring someone back from the brink of death. The ginseng essence caused her to have frequent nosebleeds and suffer from internal heat. Wang Lifu spent his days regulating her breathing and reducing the heat, finally bringing her body back to normal.

Wang Lifu roared, "Stop feeding him! If you keep feeding him, Afu will be overfed to death!"

The ginseng spirit glanced at her: "A child without a mother is pitiful. What's wrong with me, Grandma, showing her some love? You talk about inaction all day long, but I think you just don't want to do anything and don't want to take care of this child. You don't care about us at all. You're always talking about the council, what kind of trivial matters are worth abandoning us for? I think you're just chasing after power and have no human feelings!"

Wang Lifu thought about it and realized that she had indeed neglected them. Wang Lifu was speechless after being criticized and stammered for a long time. In order to maintain her perfect image, she discussed with the ginseng spirit about taking Zhuang Jinfu as her disciple.

Thus began Zhuang Jinfu's journey of cultivating immortality.

When she turned eighteen, Wang Lifu kicked her out of the house to gain experience.

Zhuang Jinfu broke down upon his first encounter with the outside world.

Arriving in the human world for the first time, Zhuang Jinfu was lost and didn't know the way. Just then, a little grass demon passed by on the road. Zhuang Jinfu was overjoyed as if she had seen a childhood playmate. She went up to ask for directions, but the little grass demon said in fear, "Don't catch me!" and then quickly ran away. Even after the little grass demon had disappeared, she was still standing there, wondering why the demon was so afraid of her.

Aren't humans and demons the best of friends?

She continued her journey and spent the night in a tree by the river. In the dead of night, a rustling sound woke her up. A cultivator flew through the air on a sword, clearly chasing a small fox. The fox darted into the woods and climbed a tree next to her to hide.

The cultivator stopped his sword in front of the forest and entered the woods in the dark. The group passed under the trees but did not find the little fox.

After the people had gone far away, Zhuang Jinfu shook the leaves: "Hey, why were they chasing you?"

After the little fox saw Zhuang Jin's indigo monk's robes, it screamed, "Ah! Don't kill me!"

"There!" "Kill!" A sword light flashed past, striking the fox's heart. The little fox stiffened and fell from the tree.

Zhuang Jinfu was terrified and dared not utter a sound. She had witnessed the entire process of cutting open the abdomen and extracting the elixir from the tree.

Zhuang Jinfu was completely devastated. She was the one who killed the little fox. If she could do it all over again, she would definitely save the little fox.

Later, Zhuang Jinfu became an enemy of those who killed demons for their cores and saved countless demons. However, she was too kind-hearted. She couldn't bring herself to kill those who indiscriminately killed demons because they were her own kind. She also couldn't bring herself to kill evil demons because she sympathized with the demon race that was gradually heading towards extinction. As a result, cultivators wanted to kill her, and evil demons also refused to let her go because they hated cultivators, even though her hands had never been stained with blood.

She gradually became the target of everyone's hatred. When she was chased down to her last breath, Zhuang Jinfu wandered aimlessly in the mountains with a wooden stick, intending to die wherever she went.

She met a shepherd boy in the mountains.

The innocent cowherd asked, "Sister Taoist priest, why do you look like you're about to die?"

Zhuang Jinfu licked his chapped lips, and as he opened his mouth to speak, his lips cracked open, filling his mouth with a sweet, metallic taste: "I'm about to die."

cowboy:"……"

Zhuang Jinfu was tired from walking, so she simply sat down and spent some time with the shepherd girl. Feeling utterly hopeless, she asked her out of the blue, "Little girl, what would you do if everyone hated you?"

The shepherd boy plucked a foxtail grass, stroked its fur and played with it, his innocent eyes fixed on Zhuang Jinfu: "Then let's just ignore them."

How can one achieve "not interfering"?

“Hmm…you asked a difficult question,” the shepherd boy said, resting his chin on his hand as if he were thinking. “Hmm…to be a heartless person.”

After hearing this, Zhuang Jinfu repeated "be a heartless person" to herself. Suddenly, she coughed a few times and covered her mouth. Before she even looked, she knew how bright red the wetness of her palm was. She put her hand down and looked at the red in her palm, only to realize that this red was the only bright spot on her body.

"Kid, you're right."

The shepherd boy stopped playing with the grass and exclaimed urgently, "Sister Taoist priest, you've vomited blood!"

Zhuang Jinfu wiped the blood from her palms with a blood-stained handkerchief, stood up with the help of a wooden stick, and said, "Goodbye, little one, thank you." Then she staggered toward the road that led nowhere, her figure gradually disappearing into the thorny wilderness.

Two years later, a female cultivator with exceptional talent and a heavenly spiritual root appeared on Shangqing Mountain. She covered her face with a veil, wore a white robe with white plum blossom embroidery, and had a white sword at her waist. Her fair skin and jade-like bones were like a white plum blossom blooming proudly in the snow and frost. She unleashed a set of Shangqing sword techniques with an aura of supreme ruthlessness.

Wherever she went, she indiscriminately slaughtered demon cultivators, regardless of their sect or faction.

The demons, who had been hunted and slaughtered, got a temporary respite. This female cultivator who helped the demons was infamous and condemned by everyone. Everyone cursed her as a despicable traitor. The Shangqing Sect had once kicked her out. But when the evil demons turned on humans, this female cultivator also killed the demons with her sword. She did not shy away from the chaos and saved the day from disaster. However, she was also cursed as a spineless coward.

Later, she ruthlessly killed cultivators who indiscriminately slaughtered demons and evil demons who caused chaos and attacked people. She only upheld justice and did not care about people's background. She traveled around to save people from disasters and eliminate violence. Gradually, she gained a good reputation and was known as the ruthless traveler from beyond the mortal world.

She upheld her sense of justice, ultimately achieving ruthlessness and ascending to immortality.

The person in Zhuang Jinfu's arms was having a wonderful dream. Furry red fox ears sprouted on her head. Ling Shu, who was deep in a sweet dream, was quiet and peaceful. The fierceness she had shown when she was confronting Wang Lifu was completely gone. She even looked somewhat serene.

Through the blanket, Zixu's hand, which was holding Lingshu, slowly moved closer to her head, and gently touched Lingshu's fox ears.

Zhuang Jinfu's eyes were filled with a sense of peace after letting go.

She saved the little fox.