CHAPTER 43

— Purple Eyes Revealed —

Boom, boom, boom— Don't doubt it—this wasn't the sound of an explosion or thunder, but the noise of that bizarre creature, covered in withered branches and decaying leaves, neither green nor yellow, as it charged forward.

Watching its towering, majestic form emerge from the distance, Tong Tong's trembling grew more pronounced, yet she forced herself to face her fear head-on.

As the monster drew closer and revealed its true appearance, Tong Tong felt Su Yan's tall, straight figure stiffen beside her, while her own mind felt as though thousands of alpacas were stampeding through it—What in the world is this...?

At first glance, it had the trunk of a tree, yet it bore vague human features—thick branches served as its arms, tangled roots as its legs, and a dense canopy of leaves as its hair... Most peculiar were the three holes distributed across the center of its trunk, seemingly functioning as eyes and a mouth.

—Could this be the legendary tree demon? But it looks absolutely ridiculous! And here I thought it was something formidable earlier—what a false alarm.

Before Tong Tong could laugh, Su Yan beside her furrowed her brows and swung her sword down. A crimson blade light flashed before her eyes, slicing through the ground in front of them as effortlessly as cutting tofu, its k!lling intent sharp and intimidating.

The tree demon seemed stunned, its rough eyes and mouth scrunching together as it dumbly turned to glance at the bottomless gash beside its roots, imagining what would have happened if that sword had struck just a little closer—its roots would have been severed...

With a heavy "thud," the massive creature prostrated itself completely on the ground.

"Spare me, Master! Spare me... I truly didn't know the Siam Honey-Fruit was right ahead! I wasn't planning to escape with the rare herbs either..." The tree demon's voice was low, hoarse, and grating, like the sound of a saw cutting through wood, making one want to cover their ears—yet its tone was filled with panic and desperation, conjuring in Tong Tong's mind the image of a delicate, handsome face groveling in fear, a stark contrast to its appearance.

"Oh?" Su Yan's gaze remained fixed on the tree demon, which seemed on the verge of kowtowing in apology. With Changhong resting on its branches, her thin lips curled into a cold smile, though she wasn't as amused as Tong Tong. She merely asked softly, "You say you didn't know?"

—Idiot, it's so obvious you're giving yourself away! You confessed everything without even being interrogated—how naive can you be?

Tong Tong, arms crossed, stepped out from behind Su Yan and took a few strides forward, circling the tree demon as she examined it closely. Her earlier fear had long since vanished, replaced entirely by amusement.

She pursed her lips, frowned, and glared with slight displeasure at the trembling, towering tree demon. Forcing down the laughter that was about to burst out, she imitated Su Yan's tone and coldly asked, "Don't even think about lying! You saw what happened to the last one!" As she spoke, she gestured toward the deep gash with her chin.

—No wonder so many people enjoy bu|lying others with borrowed power! The feeling of bluffing with borrowed authority is truly wonderful! Oh, hehehe...

Tong Tong narrowed her eyes, hiding the excitement within them, then quietly turned her head to glance at Su Yan—his complexion was pale, yet his gaze was sharp; he appeared frail, yet his demeanor was cold and detached. Contradictory yet harmonious, his flawless profile radiated an irresistible allure, making it impossible to look away.

Seemingly sensing her intense gaze, Su Yan shot her a helpless glance, only to be met with her somewhat shameless smile. She inwardly cursed before turning her attention back to intimidating the foolish tree demon. "Since you don't know anything, you have no value in living..."

The long sword rose, poised to strike, as she silently counted down in her mind: Three... two... one!

"W-wait! I-I'll talk! Don't k!ll me, I'll tell you everything!" Just as expected, the tree demon, seeing that she meant business, immediately surrendered. It hastily spilled everything it knew and even handed over all the medicinal herbs it carried, its movements so practiced that it seemed more compliant than some traitors who sold out their country for personal gain.

"You may go." Su Yan didn't press the matter further. Although silencing witnesses was the usual course of action, a glance at Tong Tong's pure, untainted eyes suddenly made her change her mind.

—This tree demon is so foolish, it's unlikely to cause any trouble. Why bother staining her sword unnecessarily?

Besides, frightening this silly girl wouldn't do.

However, not long after, Su Yan would pay the price for her rare moment of mercy.

After inventorying the large batch of medicinal herbs obtained from the tree demon, Tong Tong was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. While sorting through them, she discovered a plant identical to the one depicted in the yellowed pages—precisely the Kongluo herb that Su Yan needed.

"Truly, after searching far and wide, we found it without any effort! Senior Brother, all we need now is the Siam Honey-Fruit!" Tong Tong's smile froze on her face the moment her gaze landed behind Su Yan, causing Su Yan, who had been nodding gently, to turn cold. Her long sword swiftly blocked an unexpected sneak attack from behind with ease.

Turning to shield Tong Tong, Su Yan's expression remained unchanged, but a layer of k!lling intent condensed in her eyes. "It's you again."

Hearing her emotionless statement, the people opposite shuddered in unison. One particularly fearful individual even took three large steps backward, wishing he could dig a hole and bury himself.

The ones overreacting were none other than the Tianwei Sect disciple whose arm Su Yan had severed and the tree demon that had been spared not long ago.

Narrowing her phoenix-like eyes, a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips—whether she was mocking their overestimation of themselves or laughing at her own mistake of letting the tiger return to the mountains, it was unclear.

"You... do you not want your right arm either?" The long sword pointed at the cowering young man hiding behind his fellow disciples. Though Su Yan's voice was soft, it rang clear and distinct to everyone present.

"D@mn it!" The man, mocked openly and threatened covertly, clutched his empty sleeve, his face contorted with rage. Overwhelmed by fury, he forgot his earlier fear, erupting into a maddened laugh. "Stop pretending! I was told you've been poisoned and your strength is greatly diminished—you're no match for us brothers! I swear I won't rest until I've avenged this! Boy, prepare to die!"

"Fool." Su Yan's expression remained unchanged as she sneered coldly, then turned her gaze to the bound tree demon. "And you? Why did you return?"

—It seems letting you go was a mistake... Just as Master said: when cutting weeds, you must uproot them!

"It's not my fault! I didn't guide them here willingly! Nor did I want to reclaim those herbs! I was forced..." Seeing Su Yan's attention shift to him, the tree demon shook his head frantically like a rattle-drum, pleading in a pitiful voice.

Even Tong Tong couldn't help but avert her eyes, sighing inwardly: Brother Tree Demon, low intelligence is a fatal flaw! Coming here as a villain with such incompetence is practically asking for death...

Noticing the pity on Tong Tong's face from the corner of her eye, Su Yan frowned. With her sword pointed slightly askew, she suppressed her anger and said coldly, "Get lost, before I change my mind."

Tong Tong rolled her eyes boredly, flipping through the beginner's guide in search of any clues about the Siam Honey-Fruit.

Just then, the disciples of Tianwei Sect exchanged glances and suddenly positioned themselves in a pentagram formation, silently chanting incantations with hand seals. The one-armed man took out a shuttle intertwined with gold and silver from his robe, tossed it into the air, bit his tongue, and spat a mouthful of bl0od onto it—instantly, it erupted in a dazzling, radiant glow.

"Watch out!" Su Yan reacted swiftly, turning to tackle Tong Tong and rolling with her several times. A thunderous boom followed, and the spot where they had stood was now a deep crater.

Su Yan, having narrowly avoided the strike, paled slightly—the aftershocks had worsened the injury on her arm, and residual spiritual energy had scorched her back with searing pain. Tong Tong, shielded beneath her, was mostly unharmed but had hit her head in the fall, feeling dizzy and nauseous before quickly losing consciousness.

The casting disciples weren't faring much better—the shuttle they jointly controlled was a high-grade magical artifact with immense power, and such an attack drained a significant amount of their vital energy. Having missed their target, they felt disheartened, their expressions growing weary.

"Brothers, don't panic! They're powerless now. One more strike with my Tianwei Shuttle, and this pretty boy will be dead on the spot!" The one-armed man, seeing this, grew even more frenzied, his twisted face more grotesque than the tree demon's.

"Heh, hehe..." Propping herself up slowly with the Changhong Sword, Su Yan's eyes were hidden beneath disheveled bangs. Dust smudged her fair, handsome face, yet it did nothing to diminish her grace. Her low, cold laughter was both chilling and strangely elegant, contrasting eerily with her disheveled state.

"Jiya, come forth." With a sharp cry, a crimson beast leaped from the spirit beast pouch. Its golden eyes gleamed brightly, sharp fangs gleaming ominously white, and its four slender hooves tapped lightly on the ground—each step seeming to strike directly at the heart.

"Now then, let the feast begin." Su Yan slowly curled her lips into a bewitching, flirtatious smile, yet an aura of murderous intent that soared to the heavens suddenly erupted from her. "Everyone, please enjoy the final moments of trembling."

Snap. Before anyone could react, a crisp snap of her fingers echoed, and endless streams of black energy surged from within Su Yan, instantly forming a massive black cocoon that enveloped everyone present—as if a raging, ink-black inferno had ignited. Darkness, hatred, despair, death... every kind of negative emotion filled every corner of their hearts. An unbearable oppression seized their senses, a pain so intense it made them want to tear themselves apart—only Tong Tong, who had lost consciousness, was spared.

As the black whirlwind swept through with terrifying speed, the immobilized individuals clearly saw those deep, night-like eyes gradually transform into a pure violet, like two top-grade amethysts, containing the most seductive evil.

—This innate sense of hostility and discomfort did not belong to any orthodox cultivation method of the righteous path.

"You... are a demonic cultivator!" The disciple of Tianwei Sect with the highest cultivation widened his bl0odshot eyes, staring unwillingly at Su Yan's indifferent smile. He exerted his energy to hold on for one last moment, but in the end, he failed to resist. Black threads of bl0od slowly seeped from his seven orifices, and his struggling body went limp, collapsing to become the sixth lifeless figure within the black mist.

Thus, including the tree demon, there were no longer any living beings within the layer of black mist.

A gaze as cold as a blade swept over the corpses on the ground, lingering on Tong Tong's form. A storm raged in Su Yan's eyes, but just as it teetered on the brink of losing control, she shattered the restraints. The bewitching violet gradually faded, and her eyes regained clarity. The thick, pervasive black mist instantly surged back into her body, leaving the scene eerily clean, as if the disaster had never occurred.

"Insects," Su Yan scoffed softly, closing her eyes tightly before instructing Jiya, "Clean this up."

"Awoo~" After Jiya let out a cheerful roar, it finally could no longer hold on, collapsing backward onto the ground.

"Ugh... hmm!" It landed right on Tong Tong's back, who was lying face down, knocking her unconscious again just as she had regained some awareness.

Half an hour later, when Tong Tong slowly awoke, she felt a dull pain in her chest, her head was dizzy and heavy, and her back felt as if it were weighed down by a massive boulder, making it impossible for her to move.

"Mmm..." She tried to move her arms, and the weight on her back became even more pronounced.

With great effort, she turned her head to look—it was Su Yan's beautiful sleeping face!

The resentment in Tong Tong's heart instantly vanished.

Carefully shifting away, she turned and gently cradled Su Yan's upper body in her arms, leaning down to listen to her heartbeat—steady and strong. Relieved, she couldn't help but press her cheek against Su Yan's chest and nuzzle—but it wasn't as bony as she had expected. Who would have thought that despite looking so thin, Senior Brother's chest muscles were quite well-developed! It must be very comfortable to lean against!

Lost in her infatuation, Tong Tong was about to relax and lean in when she heard a familiar roar. She immediately snapped back to reality, her face flushing red as she sprang up from Su Yan's embrace, awkwardly meeting Jiya's golden eyes filled with disdain. She chuckled sheepishly, "Oh, it's just little Jiya... Heh, heh... What are you doing here?"

—Did it see what just happened?

Ahhh, how embarrassing!

Fortunately, it can't speak, so it probably won't tattle on me for taking advantage of Senior Brother... right?

Suddenly remembering something, she widened her eyes and looked around, but the Tianwei Sect disciples and the tree demon were nowhere to be seen. Only an endless plain of withered grass remained, along with a striking, dazzling crimson.

"Strange? Where did those guys go?" Tong Tong shook her still somewhat groggy head and muttered softly.

Turning its tail toward Tong Tong, who was holding its master with a bewildered expression, Jiya smacked its lips. A sharp glint flashed in its eyes, replaced by deep helplessness: Sigh, what a foolish human...

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