The Demon Lord and I: Frenemies - Chapter 17

Fei Wanghuai left with his fan, no longer paying attention to Chu Zaishuang, who lay collapsed on the ground. He felt deeply annoyed at the time he had just wasted.

The disciples in white robes, each carrying a sword, entered the forest one after another, searching for the Spirit Beast. Twigs and branches snapped underfoot, filling the dense woods with noise and startling a flock of birds from the treetops.

Chu Zaishuang listened as the voices faded into the distance, then leisurely took a nap. When she opened her eyes, she saw clouds drifting across the sky, layered like gauzy veils beneath the pale blue. She sat up, rubbed her neck, and felt refreshed after waking. Seeing that the disciples had not yet returned, she hummed a tune and strolled around.

The collapsed house had not been repaired; rubble and broken wood were scattered everywhere, clearly shattered by the Giant Fire Scorpion’s sharp tail.

The kitchen, used for cooking, was a mess. Deep claw marks marred the outside of the black rice jar, leaving a large, broken hole. The grain inside had already been taken, leaving only a few white rice grains behind.

Curious, Chu Zaishuang was about to step forward for a closer look at the rim of the rice jar when she suddenly heard exclamations behind her.

“It’s been defeated! It’s been defeated!”

“Go call Senior Brother Chu!”

Cheers erupted from the forest, and soon someone appeared.

Li Jingjie emerged from the woods. Seeing Chu Zaishuang alone in front of the ruins, his face lit up with joy as he called out, “Why didn’t you go into the forest? You missed it-Wanghuai felled the Giant Fire Scorpion with just two or three strikes. He was truly incredible!”

“You two are so close, and yet you didn’t see it.”

Li Jingjie sighed in disappointment, wishing he could drag Chu Zaishuang into the woods so Fei Wanghuai could show off his swordsmanship once more.

For some reason, the disciples always misunderstood the relationship between the two. Facing Li Jingjie’s enthusiasm, Chu Zaishuang put on a kindly, gentle demeanor: “It’s fine. As his elder, even though I wasn’t there, I’m proud of him. After painstakingly nurturing him for several days, hearing of his achievement now brings me great comfort.”

“?”

She had just pocketed the credit for Fei Wanghuai’s success when a deep male voice came from the woods: “Whose elder are you?”

Dressed in a snow-white Cloud Water Robe and wielding a sharp, cold blade, the handsome young man stepped through the grass, the silver ornaments at his waist gleaming brightly.

Fei Wanghuai’s features were striking, his posture upright; after hunting the Giant Fire Scorpion, his sleeves remained perfectly neat. He sheathed his sword unhurriedly, a smile playing at his lips, though for some reason the smile felt cold, as he stared directly at Chu Zaishuang.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Li Jingjie exclaimed in surprise. “I thought you’d stay a while longer.”

“The Giant Fire Scorpion’s materials are useless to me, so there’s no need to collect them.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? I want them!” Li Jingjie immediately turned and ran back to gather the spoils.

Once the others had left, Fei Wanghuai stepped out of the woods and grabbed the fleeing Chu Zaishuang. With a half-smile, he said, “When did you ever nurture me? How come I don’t know about it?”

Chu Zaishuang hadn’t expected to be caught red-handed after taking advantage behind his back. Her attempt to slip away failed, and she blinked innocently, feigning ignorance: “I keep you company from time to time, giving you the feeling of being nurtured. Why can’t that count as nurturing?”

“Keep me company from time to time?” Fei Wanghuai’s brows twitched as he lowered his dark eyes, mocking, “If I didn’t come looking for you, you wouldn’t even show your face. Who’s really keeping whom company? Do you have any conscience?”

Watching their interaction, it was clear that if he didn’t seek her out, she would never come to him-it was always him chasing after her.

Her gaze flickered as she mumbled, “Mm, I don’t even have a Dao Heart, so let’s not talk about conscience.”

“???”

She was truly shameless!

Moments later, Chu Bingxiao announced Fei Wanghuai’s defeat of the Giant Fire Scorpion and recorded everyone’s performance, marking the end of the final lesson for the new disciples. Before formally becoming apprentices, the Sect Leader and Elders would review the disciples’ results and decide whom to accept into their ranks.

With the Giant Fire Scorpion dealt with, the small town was filled with joy, and a banquet was prepared to thank the Lotus Flower Sect disciples. Since cultivators did not eat grains, the tables were laden with tea and fruits and vegetables, with Spirit Beast hides and other materials placed to the side.

In the inn, Li Jingjie blew the foam off his tea, glanced around at the others, and raised his cup with a sigh: “Once we return, we’ll probably be apprenticed to different peaks and won’t see each other every day in the sect.”

The Sect Leader and Elders each had their own places of cultivation, and their disciples usually followed them. The new disciples would scatter, and unless there was a major sect competition, it would be hard to meet again.
Su Hongli: “Have you already decided where to go?”

“I’d like to go to Dragon Tiger Peak, but that depends on whether they’ll take me.” Li Jingjie was curious. “By the way, Wanghuai, your cultivation is so high-where do you plan to go?”

Fei Wanghuai set down his teacup and replied softly, “I haven’t decided yet.”

“As if I don’t know you?” Li Jingjie curled his lip, then smiled at Chu Zaishuang. “I’m asking the wrong person. I should be asking someone else.”

Su Hongli, thinking about cultivating Spirit Heart Flower, figured it was best not to stray too far from Chu Zaishuang, so she asked, “Zaishuang, where do you plan to go?”

Senior Brother Chu was apprenticed under Chu Chenyue and mainly cultivated at Wangyue Marsh. Although Chu Zaishuang’s grades in the Lecture Hall were abysmal, her parents couldn’t just ignore her. She was likely to follow a Sect Leader.

Chu Zaishuang let out a long sigh. “Everyone wants to climb Lotus Peak Mountain, but I was born there. So I plan to cultivate somewhere even higher.”

Fei Wanghuai tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, feigning indifference while listening closely to her words, already plotting his next move. He certainly couldn’t let her cultivate unchecked; it was best to stay close for easier surveillance.

Li Jingjie was baffled and guessed, “Follow Su Sect Leader to Tingyun Lake?”

“No, I’m leaving Lotus Flower Sect-I’m going to stay home.”

“…”

The three fell silent, unable to respond for a moment.

After a while, Fei Wanghuai was the first to break the quiet. He raised his Silver Fan with a smile and said, “Shuang’er has always been gifted and straightforward. Perhaps Senior Brother Chu has already made arrangements for her, discussing things with the Sect Leaders in advance.”

Su Hongli: “Indeed.”

Li Jingjie shook his head. “Sitting at this table, I always feel out of place.”

His companions were always trying to defend Chu Zaishuang’s truancy, which often made him feel isolated despite his clarity.

Upstairs, people packed their belongings; downstairs, people sipped tea and chatted leisurely. The disciples were about to leave the small town.

Just as the mood was lively, a middle-aged man burst into the inn, running in a panic, drenched in sweat, and cried out anxiously, “Immortals, immortals, something terrible has happened! More Spirit Beasts are charging in!”

“Don’t panic,” Chu Bingxiao stood up and quickly steadied the man. “The Giant Fire Scorpion has already been slain…”

“It’s not the Giant Fire Scorpion this time! It’s the Wind Howl Giant Beast, and a whole group of Wind Howl Beasts!”

“Wind Howl Giant Beast?” Li Jingjie was surprised. “Isn’t that a Four Leaves Spirit Beast? Why would it suddenly appear?”

The Wind Howl Giant Beast was the leader of the Wind Howl Beasts, different from its ordinary Two Leaves kin. Its cultivation was at the Four Leaves Initial Stage, on par with the Giant Fire Scorpion.

The group was just about to set out, but now an unexpected turn had occurred.

The situation was urgent. Chu Bingxiao scanned the room, grabbed the longsword on the table, and commanded, “Notify the disciples upstairs-everyone, come with me!”

“Yes!”

*

Above the ruins, black clouds blocked out the sun.

Countless Wind Howl Beasts leapt from the forest, inexplicably flooding into the small town and attacking along its edges. Amid the beating of wings, a massive shadow broke through the bird-like clouds-a majestic bird’s head, claws capable of destroying anything, stirring up a fierce gale. It was the Wind Howl Giant Beast!

This king of the skies led its followers in a grand assault into the heart of the town.

“Has this ever happened before?” Li Jingjie stared at the giant beast surrounded by flocks of birds. “Weren’t Wind Howl Beasts supposed to stay out?”

Wind Howl Beasts usually stayed deep in the forest, never bothering the townsfolk. No one knew why they were suddenly attacking.

Fei Wanghuai: “Wind Howl Beasts have a fixed range, but the Wind Howl Giant Beast can command its kind and lead them in an attack.”

Li Jingjie: “Of all times, it comes now-just when we’re here?”

“Because the Giant Fire Scorpion is dead,” Chu Zaishuang realized. “Both were forest overlords. Now that one is gone, the other comes to claim the territory.”

She had already found the claw marks on the rice jar odd-they didn’t look like those left by the Giant Fire Scorpion, but more like those of a predatory bird.

Perhaps the Giant Fire Scorpion attacked the town because its territory in the forest was seized, forcing it to move toward the town, with both sides fighting along the way and disturbing the townsfolk. But the townspeople only saw the Giant Fire Scorpion, not the Wind Howl Giant Beast, so they assumed there was only one Spirit Beast.

But both the Giant Fire Scorpion and the Wind Howl Giant Beast were Four Leaves, supposedly evenly matched-so why was one driven out of the forest?

“I’ve always said this place is cursed. First the Giant Fire Scorpion, now the Wind Howl Beasts,” Lu Hewei spat. “What’s the point of it coming? It’ll just get its head chopped off-this time, it’s my turn!”
Fei Wanghuai slew the Giant Fire Scorpion, making quite a splash today. Lu Hewei wanted to reclaim the spotlight; recalling that the Wind Howl Giant Beast was only at the Four Leaves Initial Stage, he immediately called his companions, planning to hunt down the leader of the bird flock.

“Wait.” Chu Bingxiao frowned, his voice cold. “Disperse the others first.”

Cultivators did not fear the Two Leaves Wind Howl Beast, but they needed to protect the townsfolk to prevent innocent casualties.

“Senior Brother Chu, why make such a fuss? Once we take down the Wind Howl Giant Beast, these birds will scatter on their own!”

Lu Hewei led his group away, ignoring his senior brother’s orders.

The bird flock flew chaotically, the rampaging Wind Howl Beast stirring up cries and panic, sending townspeople fleeing in terror.

Amidst the chaos, Chu Zaishuang suggested, “Brother, lure the Spirit Beast toward the abandoned houses-no one has lived there recently.”

If battle broke out in the town, that was the most suitable place. She had napped there during the day and saw almost no idle passersby.

“That’s the only way. Leave a few to watch over the townsfolk; the rest, come with me.” Chu Bingxiao gripped his gleaming sword, spotting the charging beast horde. His lips pressed into a line as he unleashed the Lotus Cloud Sword Technique: “Myriad Lotuses Bloom!”

Several streaks of green light shot through the air like arrows, instantly scattering the black bird flock and carving out a path!

The Wind Howl Beast fled in all directions, flying toward the abandoned houses.

Su Hongli, familiar with spirit herbs, stayed behind to care for the townsfolk. The other disciples hurried after, swords raised to fend off birds as they rushed to the battlefield.

*

With a thunderous crash, Lu Hewei was sent flying, struck by the Spirit Beast’s wing and slammed into a wall, his sword lost without a trace. His companions had already fallen; now his face was deathly pale, full of terror, his spiritual energy in chaos as he coughed up a mouthful of black blood. “How could this be…”

Was this really the Four Leaves Initial Stage?

The shattered stones and wood chips on the ground suddenly levitated, slowly gathering beside the Wind Howl Giant Beast. It let out a piercing screech, and countless fragments shot forth like a rain of arrows at the disciples in white, as if determined to pierce them through on the spot!

This was the effect of Spirit Separation-the Wind Howl Giant Beast before them had reached Five Leaves!

Spirit Separation meant extending one’s divine sense outward; only Five Leaves cultivators mastered this skill, allowing them to fly on swords and roam the world. The Wind Howl Giant Beast was clearly manipulating nearby debris with Spirit Separation, something impossible at the Four Leaves Initial Stage.

But no one had ever seen a Five Leaves Wind Howl Giant Beast-this was unheard of, not even recorded in the books.

The oppressive force spread as the giant bird roared.

It possessed a certain intelligence, using its cultivation to suppress the disciples in white, making their bodies heavy as mountains, unable even to lift their legs and flee. Like an elephant trampling ants, all resistance crumbled before absolute power.

They were doomed.

Lu Hewei, heart full of despair, stared at the approaching talons, shivering as he closed his eyes and turned his head, awaiting death.

But then came a buzzing sound-a treasured sword fell like a spring, striking the giant bird’s right claw with force.

A cold wind swept in, the beast howled in pain, fresh blood splattering the ground.

Chu Bingxiao blocked with his sword, intending to sever the sharp talon, but the immense force made his wrist ache, and in that instant he realized the Spirit Beast’s terrifying strength!

Xiao Shi cried out in panic, [It has Five Leaves cultivation-we are no match for it!]

Chu Zaishuang was startled by these words. She immediately lowered her gaze and saw her brother’s sword hand trembling. Since Chu Bingxiao had begun training in swordsmanship, he had never held his sword unsteadily; there was only one possibility-his wrist was numb, and he could no longer control his grip.

Chu Bingxiao gripped his blade tightly, his face calm as frost, betraying not a hint of fear. “Wanghuai, since becoming the teaching senior brother, I believe I have been fair. But there is one personal matter I wish to ask your help with.”

Fei Wanghuai, now at the Four Leaves Initial Stage and feeling the same oppressive force, was suddenly called upon and froze. “Senior Brother Chu…”

Chu Bingxiao switched his sword to his left hand. With his trembling right hand, he pulled Chu Zaishuang over, lifted her left arm, and handed it to Fei Wanghuai.

“When everyone escapes, you take her and run.”