Seven Songs(Yin Deng Jue/Secret Of Leading The Light) - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: The Demon Hunter is Not a Taoist Priest (Part 3)
With a series of clicks from the lock, the sound of it falling to the ground came from outside the door.
Yu Sang withdrew her magic, gently pulled the door, and it opened effortlessly.
“Remember, it’s not just you who has skills. This time, it was me who saved you,” Yu Sang said with her chin raised, speaking confidently to Yan Qige before clasping her hands behind her back and striding out of the room with her head held high.
By now, the sun had begun to set, casting its light directly onto the building.
As Yu Sang stepped outside and looked around, she realized they were in an abandoned courtyard.
The courtyard was shaped like a square, with corridors lining all four sides.
However, this wasn’t an ordinary residential courtyard—each corridor had identical rooms with stone doors and no windows, suggesting it was a storage facility.
After taking in the surroundings, Yu Sang glanced back at the door she had just opened with a bamboo branch.
It was a weathered wooden door.
As a bamboo spirit, she belonged to the plant family, aligned with the wood element in the Five Phases.
As long as she was dealing with plant-based materials, she could use her magic to save herself.
That was why she had been able to channel her spiritual energy into the bamboo branch, extending it through the wooden door to unlock it.
But if the door had been made of stone, no matter how powerful she was, her soft spiritual energy wouldn’t have been able to penetrate and grow through it.
The fact that only their prison door was different…was it just a coincidence? A faint suspicion arose in Yu Sang’s mind.
“What are you looking at?” Yan Qige, who had just stepped out of the room, relocked the door and noticed Yu Sang staring blankly at the lock.
“Nothing. Let’s go,” Yu Sang snapped out of her thoughts, waving her hand dismissively before turning to leave without sharing her doubts with Yan Qige.
They leaped onto the courtyard wall, surveyed their surroundings, and then dropped into an alley beside the compound.
After walking along the alley for a while, they reached the main street.
The bustling street from just a few hours ago was now completely deserted.
The shops lining both sides were all closed, with only faded banners fluttering sporadically in the wind.
Yu Sang walked over to a nearby roadside tea stall.
The teapot and large bowls were still on the table, but the wood had weathered severely, covered in cracks.
When she ran her finger across the surface, the table collapsed with a crash, sending up a cloud of dust.
“Looks like no one’s been here for decades,” Yu Sang said, waving away the dust.
“Give me the compass,” Yan Qige said, still scanning the area as he held out his hand.
Yu Sang took out the Purple Jade Compass and handed it to him, remarking, “Seems like everything we saw earlier was conjured by spell. That demon is really something.”
“You’re quite good at boosting others’ morale,” Yan Qige retorted irritably as he took the compass, cradled it in his palm, and began chanting an incantation to guide them forward along the empty street.
Yu Sang followed without rushing to argue.
Instead, she wore a somewhat smug smile.
“I get it. A demon hunter got trapped in a demon’s illusion without realizing it, even got charmed by its beauty. Of course, you’d feel uncomfortable. I understand…I won’t laugh at you.”
Yan Qige listened, then turned his head and gave her an inexplicable smile before continuing forward with the compass.
Yu Sang was stunned.
She couldn’t believe he had actually smiled, let alone why he wasn’t angry after being mocked.
Unable to resist, she quickened her pace to catch up. “What are you smiling about?”
“I’m smiling because your face is thicker than the city walls of Hua Capital.”
“I—”
“Think about it. You were the one who insisted on keeping her. I never agreed. If anyone fell into a trap, it was you.”
“You… Don’t tell me you knew all along…”
Yu Sang thought back to the earlier events and suddenly realized the truth, feeling indignant.
“You knew, yet you didn’t tell me? How devious!”
“You’re not completely stupid, at least you knew to investigate the village in secret.”
“You knew about that too?!”
“But there’s one thing I still don’t know.”
“What?”
“Who was that person you met behind my back?”
Yu Sang stiffened.
Though she had guessed Yan Qige might know about her meeting with Bai Zhi, she still refused to admit it, trying to play dumb.
“Who? What… what are you talking about?”
“The one who bought you clothes and treated you to tea.”
Yan Qige’s tone was calm, but there was a hidden edge to it, as if he was wary of something.
“You were following me?!” Yu Sang was shocked, then furious.
“I was just asking. Your reaction makes it seem like he’s special to you.”
Yan Qige stopped walking and turned to look at her.
“So what if someone bought me tea and clothes? What’s it to you? Who do you think you are to me?”
Yu Sang glared at him before stomping ahead.
When they returned to the inn, the needle of the Purple Jade Compass trembled incessantly, and a sinister demonic energy emanated from inside.
Yu Sang stopped and looked up at the building.
Earlier, the inn had seemed old but decent.
Now, after just half a day, it was nothing more than a half-collapsed ruin.
The windows were covered in torn paper, and the front door hung broken in its frame, collapsing inward at a touch and stirring up dust.
“This… this is where we stayed?” Yu Sang couldn’t believe it.
Her gaze fell on a table in the center of the hall, where broken dishes and chopsticks lay scattered.
When she got closer, she saw they were filled with rotting meat.
The thought that she had eaten food from this place made her stomach churn.
Covering her nose, she turned and ran outside, retching violently by the door.
“I’ll check the back,” Yan Qige said, barely suppressing a smirk as he walked through the hall toward the rear.
After emptying her stomach, Yu Sang, pale and weak, made her way to the back courtyard.
The once orderly space was now a mess of broken bricks and overgrown weeds.
The small room where she had sensed something strange earlier was now indistinguishable.
Yan Qige was placing talismans around the rubble while holding the compass.
When Yu Sang approached, he handed her a small mirror without looking and pulled her into a circle he had drawn.
“Hold this up and stand here.”
Yu Sang, still hunched over weakly, raised the mirror.
Yan Qige shot her an annoyed look as he prepared to cast a barrier.
“Higher.”
Rolling her eyes, she lifted her arm further and asked, “Hey, you still haven’t told me, how did you know I met Bai Zhi? Were you really following me?”
“So his name is Bai Zhi.”
“Don’t change the subject. Answer me.”
“Your mind is too simple. I didn’t trust you wandering around alone.”
“I—I wasn’t!” Yu Sang muttered guiltily, realizing Yan Qige had only followed her out of concern.
Despite herself, she felt a flicker of warmth in her chest.
