GD Ch. 24 Part 3

Chapter 24: To Abandon or Not?

The moment Changying’s spirit was sent into the mortal’s body, the small child-like figure in the snow immediately went limp, collapsing into the frost. Her bones shrank in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, she had transformed into a black serpent-like dragon.

Zhuyou bent down, picked up her dragon, and tucked it into her mustard seed pouch.

The possessed disciple of the immortal sect abruptly opened his eyes. For a fleeting moment, his pupils gleamed golden. It was as if the mortal shell couldn’t withstand such a powerful soul—his sea of consciousness and body were on the verge of collapse.

Zhuyou watched in stunned silence, unable to believe it at first. Then, realizing the danger, she quickly reached out and pressed a finger against the man’s forehead, stabilizing his breaking sea of consciousness.

The golden hue in his eyes faded into a light brown before darkening completely, and only then was his mind and body secured.

Zhuyou was taken aback. Just what kind of soul was this, that a mere mortal body couldn’t endure it for even a moment?

Changying, now in the mortal’s body, slowly sat up, her brows furrowed in silence. Without her childlike appearance, her cold demeanor was far less endearing.

Zhuyou turned wordlessly to look at Hanzhu.

Hanzhu pressed her lips together. She was about to offer to go next, but before she could even blink, her soul was suddenly ripped from her body, and against her will, she was shoved into another corpse.

The pain was unbearable—like her very soul was being torn apart. It took her a long time to finally open her eyes, and when she did, she was met with an overwhelming blaze of crimson light, as if an inferno had engulfed the snowy plains.

Amidst the scarlet flames, a streak of black shot up like a shadow emerging from the fire. Judging by its wings and tail feathers, it was unmistakably a bird.

The firelight flickered, stinging Hanzhu’s eyes, but she forced herself to look. She was determined to see her mistress’ true form.

The phoenix rising from the flames did not let out a single cry, nor did its feathers hold any brilliant colors. As it soared into the sky, a single tail feather drifted down—

It was raven black.

The moment it touched the ground, the feather suddenly ignited, burning into nothingness, not even leaving behind ashes.

The fire followed the dark figure as it rushed into another disciple’s body. That person’s eyes flew open, and the red glow within them faded instantly. He stood up, brushed off his robes, and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Let’s return to the sect,” Zhuyou said, as if she truly belonged among them.

Changying struggled to her feet but found it difficult to adjust to her new height. She lowered her head, staring at the ground for a long time before murmuring, “This body is too cumbersome.”

The three disciples were all male cultivators, none of them frail or thin. Even Hanzhu found it hard to adjust.

Having cultivated as a devil for so long, this was the first time Hanzhu had ever crossdressed, and in such an unusual way—by outright possessing a body.

Changying kept her head down, still staring at the ground. After a while, she finally lifted her gaze to Zhuyou, her expression puzzled. “It seems… I was meant to be this tall.”

The three disciples weren’t especially tall—some tall women could match them in height—but for a short and stocky little dragon to say such a thing so shamelessly…

Hanzhu said nothing. She didn’t dare question this divine offspring. For all she knew, Changying could be some powerful ancient being reincarnated.

Changying, now adjusting to her new body, experimentally extended a foot and took a few unsteady steps. The disciple she had possessed had a rather simple and honest face, but walking so awkwardly, arms and legs moving in sync, he looked more like a big fool.

Zhuyou was beginning to lose patience. Turning back, she cast an unimpressed glance at the dragon struggling to walk. Though she didn’t want to hurt its pride, she couldn’t help but remark, “If you can’t even walk properly, how could you possibly have been meant to be this tall?”

Changying pursed her lips. Though her face remained icy cold, her pupils flickered with a flash of gold, as if she were brimming with irritation, eager to bite something.

Too bad her dragon body was still in Zhuyou’s mustard seed pouch—she had no chance of biting anyone.

Hanzhu searched herself for a while before finally finding the disciple token. As she fumbled around, she pulled out a flat-topped, open-mouthed bronze bell, with a thin leaf-shaped copper piece dangling inside.

The bell looked extremely old, its engravings so worn that they were barely discernible.

“Why would this person be carrying such an old bronze bell? This bell…” Hanzhu muttered in surprise. She shook it, but although the copper piece inside struck the bell’s walls, not a single sound came out.

“Give it to me.” Zhuyou extended her hand.

Hanzhu handed over the flat-topped, open-mouthed bronze bell before resuming her search, eventually finding the disciple token.

The bell lay in Zhuyou’s palm, light as a feather, seemingly weightless. The roughness of the mortal body’s hands made it feel like she was holding a piece of worthless junk.

Changying also looked over, staring intently for a moment before murmuring in confusion, “It seems to be mine.”

Zhuyou instinctively reached out and patted her head. But after a moment, she felt something was off and thought to herself that it would be better to do this once she reverted to her true form.

She mused that when this little dragon was in a daze, she did resemble a child—just like the phoenix hatchlings on Mount Danxue, who always assumed everything in the world belonged to them the moment they were born.

Once upon a time, Zhuyou had thought the same. But now, she had nothing left—only this ruined body, steeped in devilish corruption.

Still, she didn’t hand the bell over to the little dragon. Instead, she pinched it between two fingers, lifting it up for a closer look. Within the bronze bell, there was a faint trace of spiritual energy—so faint it was barely noticeable. And it was from within that trace that the so-called immortal aura emanated.

Sensing this energy, Zhuyou realized that the bell was also sealed by a restriction, one that had trapped its power inside. With a flick of her wrist, the bronze bell suddenly floated into the air. No matter how fiercely the wind howled, it remained suspended, unmoving.

Hanzhu stared in a daze, then asked in astonishment, “Mistress, what’s wrong with this bronze bell?”

Zhuyou said, “Something is hidden inside.” She extended her index finger, and a small flame laced with devilish energy flickered to life at her fingertip. The flame suddenly surged higher and wrapped around the bronze bell.

In an instant, the bronze bell shattered into pieces. As it broke apart, a long, resonant cry echoed through the air.

Zhuyou was pushed back several steps by a surge of spiritual energy. She quickly raised her arm, shielding her face from the flying shards of bronze. The force shook her entire being, and the dragon’s cry felt like it had torn through her ears. When she regained her senses, not a single fragment of the shattered bell remained on the snow-covered ground.

With the destruction of the bronze bell, the strand of spiritual energy—left behind by an unknown individual—also vanished completely, leaving behind no trace for her to catch.

Hanzhu collapsed onto the ground, blood trickling from her ears and nose, further worsening the already damaged body she inhabited.

Zhuyou’s expression darkened. Why is it a dragon’s cry again? 

“This place is strange,” she muttered, furrowing her brows as she probed the consciousness of the body she had taken over. Within the mind, memories coiled together like silken threads, each strand containing traces of past experiences.

In an instant, she understood the identities of the three individuals—they were indeed inner disciples of Huacheng Sect, directly under the sect master. However, they were not favored by their master and possessed only mediocre talent. The three had grown used to idling away their days, rarely dedicating themselves to cultivation. Yet, on this particular day, the sect master had summoned them and instructed them to venture into Wuwang Ravine to slay a demon beast and retrieve something from its stomach.

Wuwang Ravine, however, was a forbidden land of Huacheng Sect. Sending three Golden Core disciples into such a place was no different from sentencing them to death.

Zhuyou pondered for a moment. If the item inside the demon beast was the bronze bell, then why send three unremarkable disciples to retrieve something of such importance?

After considering it further, she arrived at a single conclusion—the sect master had likely intended for them to die in the depths of the ravine.

Nearby, Hanzhu, still sitting in the snow, struggled to her feet and wiped the blood from her face. “Mistress, we shouldn’t linger here.”

Zhuyou gave a slight nod and reached out a hand toward Changying—only to remember that she had trapped Changying in a mortal body. Now, in this form, Changying was even taller and sturdier than Zhuyou. There was no way she could carry her anymore.

Zhuyou awkwardly lowered her raised hand. When she glanced up, she caught sight of Changying smacking her lips, as if she were chewing something.

“What are you eating?” Zhuyou asked suspiciously. Surely this dragon hasn’t resorted to eating snow out of hunger?

Changying swallowed and replied, “Nothing.”

Zhuyou didn’t bother arguing with the little dragon. She let out a soft scoff and, gripping Changying by the shoulder, leapt into the air.

***

Huacheng Sect was only three miles away. If it was truly a sect forbidden ground, then whatever answers they couldn’t find here, they might find upon reaching Huacheng Sect.

Just as the female disciple they had encountered in Songling City had mentioned, there was indeed a bridge before Huacheng Sect. However, it was neither made of wood nor stone—it was sculpted from ice.

The ice bridge spanned a frozen pond, where a thick layer of ice had formed over the water. On its surface, several ice-carved cranes stood in place, their forms appearing lifelike.

After crossing the bridge, the three passed through towering stone gates. The disciple tokens hanging from their belts briefly flickered with light before dimming again.

The gatekeeping disciples noticed their tattered clothing and bloodied bodies and immediately asked, “Shixiong, what happened to you?”

At the question, Hanzhu instinctively turned to look at her Mistress, her gaze flickering with hesitation. Meanwhile, Changying kept her head down, walking behind them. With each step, she carefully watched her footing on the stone stairs, still unaccustomed to walking in this body.

“Our shifu sent us out on a task. We ran into some trouble,” Zhuyou replied.

(T/N: Shifu = Teacher/Master. Same as shizun)

The gatekeeper hesitated nervously. “Then you should tend to your injuries at once, shixiong.”

Zhuyou gave a slight nod and brushed past him, stepping onto the next stone step. Just then, she suddenly heard a voice—

Did you retrieve the item from the demon beast’s stomach?

Zhuyou’s expression remained unchanged as she probed the memories within this body’s consciousness. The voice belonged, unsurprisingly, to Huacheng Sect’s sect master. Lowering her head slightly, she answered, “This disciple was incompetent and failed to retrieve the bronze bell. I don’t know how, but it shattered, and even its fragments could not be found.”

She had expected the sect master to fly into a rage, but instead, he merely said indifferently, “Forget it. The bronze bell has its own fate. It is already fortunate that you made it back alive.”

With that, his voice transmission abruptly cut off—without a single word of comfort.

Following the memories within this body, Zhuyou led the three of them to their assigned residence. Once inside, she casually set up a restriction upon closing the door.

The room was clean and spacious enough to accommodate three people comfortably.

Changying looked utterly drained. She had already been sickly even in her true form, and now she looked even more feeble. She sat down on the bed and, as if too exhausted to hold herself upright, soon slumped against the wall, her head nodding sleepily.

Zhuyou simply laid her down properly and retrieved the black dragon from her storage. She carefully returned Changying’s soul to her body.

The black dragon instantly transformed back into human form—a pale-skinned young girl in black robes. Even her breathing was so weak that, had she been a mortal, she would have long since perished.

Zhuyou found nothing strange about this. A little dragon like her being excessively sleepy was completely normal—most younglings were.

After tucking her under the covers, Zhuyou signaled to Hanzhu with her eyes. Hanzhu hurriedly followed her into a separate room, where Zhuyou once again set up a restriction.

Inside, Zhuyou reverted to her original form, and the body she had possessed collapsed to the floor. Seated at the table, she waved a hand over the lamp, instantly lighting the wick.Seated at the table, she waved a hand over the lamp, instantly lighting the wick.

With the doors tightly shut, Hanzhu whispered, “Mistress, are you trying to find one of the Devil Lord’s souls here?”

Zhuyou tapped her index finger against the wooden table. “If I need to find one of the Devil Lord’s souls, then Shenhua Mountain is worth investigating as well.”

“But how will you explore Shenhua Mountain? Isn’t it still sealed?” Hanzhu asked.

“The mountain gate may be closed, but the mountain itself still exists. The only issue is that no one can enter it,” Zhuyou said, her eyes deep with thought.

Hanzhu suddenly understood, her eyes lighting up. “Then what should I do?”

“Watch over that dragon for me,” Zhuyou replied.

Hanzhu hesitated, uncertain of her mistress’ intentions. However, she had a strong gut feeling that this dragon was far from ordinary. Keeping her around was bound to cause trouble sooner or later.

After some deliberation, she finally mustered the courage to say, “Mistress, I think we should just get rid of this dragon. Let’s find a place and leave her behind.”

Zhuyou habitually reached for her wrist, only to remember that the little black dragon had already transformed into human form and was lying outside.

Just then, the restriction on the door was silently broken, shattered without a sound.

Zhuyou whipped her head around and raised a hand to silence Hanzhu.

Hanzhu immediately shut her mouth, her pupils trembling with shock. How had the restriction been broken so easily?

Zhuyou found it just as absurd. The restriction she had set shouldn’t have been so easily undone. Even East Sea Monarch would have had to put in considerable effort.

The door creaked open. Standing outside was a cold-faced child—her dragon.

Zhuyou struggled to accept what had just happened. How did this dragon, who doesn’t even have spiritual energy, break my restriction so effortlessly?

Changying still looked drowsy, as if she hadn’t rested well. Her frail body leaned against the doorframe for support, her pale-colored eyes glowing faintly in the night, carrying an almost imperceptible trace of grievance.

Hanzhu shuddered under her gaze. What Mistress brought back isn’t a dragon—it’s a walking disaster.

“Leave me where?” Changying wobbled forward on unsteady legs, her voice soft and sticky.

Zhuyou recalled the rumors she had heard—about deep and terrifying spiritual power, yet a naïve and innocent nature.

None of that seemed to fit this dragon.

Where was the terrifying power? Where was the naïve innocence?

She curled her finger, beckoning like she would to a small cat or dog. Her silver hair glowed warmly under the candlelight.

“I won’t leave you. Come here.”