Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Condensing a Devil Heart

While the three siblings fought and scrambled, Huo Chong Xiao’s situation worsened by the breath.

Yue Yun Qiao cried out, panicked. “Senior Brother!”

Bai Meng Lian glanced over and saw Huo Chong Xiao clutching his chest. Black qi coiled around him like smoke finding cracks.

“Oh no—Immortal Master Huo has been corroded!”

She tried to move—

A dull boom shook the courtyard.

All the spiritual qi and devil qi in the area surged toward the small house, twisting into a massive whirlpool.

A powerful suction yanked at everyone’s bodies. They staggered backward.

Bai Meng Xing clung to Bai Meng Lian’s sleeve, eyes wide with terror. “Elder Sister, it’s pulling us in! What do we do?”

Bai Meng Lian planted her feet and snapped, “Circulate your technique! Do you think it stops because you scream?”

When had Bai Meng Xing ever cultivated seriously?

He fumbled, choking on panic, and forced himself to move his qi the way he’d been taught.

Guan Mo Wen seized the opening.

He struck Huo Chong Xiao with a palm.

Huo Chong Xiao was already struggling against the devil qi in his meridians. He couldn’t take the blow.

He flew backward—straight into the whirlpool.

“Senior Brother!” Yue Yun Qiao lunged after him.

They slammed into the door of the small house. The whirlpool pinned them there, draining their power in brutal, steady pulls.

“Immortal Maiden Yue!” Bai Meng Lian shouted, helpless.

Guan Mo Wen laughed. “Eldest Miss is eager? Then come along too.”

He flicked his hand.

Bai Meng Lian and Bai Meng Xing were thrown into the whirlpool as well.

Now all four were trapped—pale, shrouded in black qi, breathing like their lungs were filled with mud.

Bai Meng Jin, forced to pause, looked up at the Yin-Yang Umbrella.

The Bai clan members’ blood essence had been absorbed into the Yellow Springs Tree. Where spiritual qi, devil qi, and vital essence met, the umbrella refined it and fed it into the house.

Even this whirlpool was being driven by that cycle.

Guan Mo Wen noticed her glance and smiled. “Second Miss… are you getting soft?”

Bai Meng Jin’s face tightened. “N-no…”

“That won’t do.” Guan Mo Wen’s voice stayed smooth, but his eyes were sharp. “You’ll be Patron’s only relative from now on. You’ll inherit his arts. How can you be frightened?”

Bai Meng Jin swallowed. “I-I have to cultivate Devil Arts too?”

“Of course,” Guan Mo Wen said, stepping closer. “Otherwise, how could you remain by Patron’s side? A normal person would be corroded by devil qi.”

Bai Meng Jin’s breath hitched. “But…”

“Second Miss,” Guan Mo Wen asked softly, “you don’t want to?”

The threat hung there, unspoken but clear.

Bai Meng Jin blurted, “I do! Since I’ve chosen Great-Uncle, I’ll do whatever Great-Uncle wants me to do.”

Guan Mo Wen’s smile returned.

Before he could speak again, the devil qi around them suddenly stilled.

He turned his head. “Patron?”

From inside the small house, Bai Chong An’s voice drifted out, slow and calm. “Something seems wrong with the formation. When I circulate my technique, it feels sluggish. Send Qing Ru to check.”

Guan Mo Wen answered immediately and flicked out a Message Talisman.

On the other side of the whirlpool, Huo Chong Xiao and the others managed to recover a fraction—just enough to understand how close to death they were.

Their faces were bloodless. Black qi clung to them. Their breathing was shallow, as if even air had weight.

Bai Meng Xing, dizzy and shaking, whispered to Bai Meng Lian, “Elder Sister… why did it stop?”

Bai Meng Lian coughed hard. “Great-Uncle’s formation has a problem.”

Bai Meng Xing’s mind was a blur, but a memory pushed through: Bai Meng Jin dipping her finger in black blood, drawing circles, saying it was to stay alive.

What was that for again?

His gaze slid toward Bai Meng Jin.

She stood meekly beside Guan Mo Wen now, head lowered, hands folded like a docile lamb.

Bai Meng Xing swallowed, confused and sick with dread.

[Was I really that stupid?]

[Why didn’t I see…?]

Yue Yun Qiao struggled toward Huo Chong Xiao, tears spilling. “Senior Brother…”

Huo Chong Xiao’s face was ashen. He barely managed to turn his head, lips parting without sound.

Yue Yun Qiao’s panic swelled until it nearly drowned her.

[Why isn’t Master here yet?]

[Was the message jade talisman blocked too?]

[If Master doesn’t come soon, Senior Brother will—]

From inside the small house came another soft sigh.

“We can’t drag this out any longer,” Bai Chong An said. “A Divine Transformation cultivator has incredible abilities. My maze formation can only hold them for a moment. Martial Uncle Chang Ling has probably already sensed something…”

A pause.

Then his voice sharpened.

“Second Miss. Bring the Yin-Yang Umbrella inside.”

Bai Meng Jin looked up, startled. “Me?”

Guan Mo Wen beckoned.

The Yin-Yang Umbrella flew down from the Yellow Springs Tree and was shoved into Bai Meng Jin’s hands.

“Go,” Guan Mo Wen said lightly. “Second Miss, didn’t you say you were willing to cultivate Devil Arts? Are you scared even of that?”

The umbrella was cold as bone in her grip.

White as snow on the canopy. Black as ink beneath. The handle was made from bones of the Ming River, carved smooth by time.

The familiar icy, sinister weight settled into her palm like a forgotten name.

At last.

Bai Meng Jin lowered her head and walked toward the small house.

The door creaked open.

Bai Meng Lian’s eyes burned. “Sister! Are you really going to help evil?”

Yue Yun Qiao coughed up blood and forced out, “Junior Sister Bai… you helped us before. Now you’re going to become his charmed ghost? He won’t spare you!”

Huo Chong Xiao’s voice was barely a thread. “Miss Bai… he’s stuck while circulating his technique. He’s calling you in because he wants to use you as the formation’s eye. Don’t fall for it…”

Bai Meng Jin stopped.

Her gaze flickered between them and Guan Mo Wen, uncertainty written carefully across her face.

Guan Mo Wen smiled. “Second Miss, you don’t have to go in. It’s just carrying the umbrella. It’s not as if it must be you.

“But if you don’t…”

His eyes drifted to the four pinned against the door.

“You’ll end up like them.”

Bai Meng Jin lowered her gaze, looked at the four barely hanging on—and stepped inside.

Inside, Bai Chong An sat cross-legged at the center of the room. His wide sleeves draped like a scholar’s, his posture almost careless.

But thick devil qi wrapped around him. Even his pupils had turned pitch-black.

He was more terrifying than any devil cultivator Bai Meng Jin had ever seen.

“Uncle… Great-Uncle…” she whispered.

“Good child,” Bai Chong An said, smiling. “Hold up the umbrella. Stand beside me.”

“Yes…”

Bai Chong An reached out and took her hand.

Then he squeezed.

Devil qi surged.

Bai Meng Jin cried out as pain exploded through her meridians.

Outside, the devil qi roared back into motion. The whirlpool returned—centered on her.

The Yin-Yang Umbrella spun violently. Even with Bai Meng Jin gripping its ribs, the canopy rotated at terrifying speed. Devil qi and spiritual qi met on the umbrella’s surface and poured into her, tearing through her like a river through rotten cloth.

The violent flow transformed inside her. And because of blood kin affinity, when it reached Bai Chong An, its savage force softened into something gentle.

Bai Chong An condensed his devil heart.

Outside, Bai Meng Lian screamed, “Sister!”

Inside, Bai Meng Jin’s eyes flashed.

The Yin-Yang Umbrella paused—

then spun in reverse.

The torrent that had been flowing through her into Bai Chong An snapped back.

Layer by layer, it was peeled off his forming devil heart and surged into her.