Chapter 65
Chapter 65: A Way
Hu Qing broke out in a cold sweat.
How had she let this woman take the lead so completely—so that the moment the woman spoke, Hu Qing believed her without thinking? That wasn’t her. She didn’t trust strangers that easily.
Unless…
Hu Qing lifted her teacup and took a slow sip, keeping her expression steady. The heat slid into her stomach, warming her just enough to think straight again.
“You said it yourself,” she said evenly. “I’m just a small mortal cultivator. Hua Hua only calls me his foster mother because he respects me. If he doesn’t, then I’m nothing but an ordinary cultivator. Our relationship depends on him. He’s the one who decides.”
The female immortal’s pleasure was immediate, almost impossible to hide. Yes. That was how it should be. Their noble Demon Clan could not be commanded by the human clan.
What mattered now was taking Hu Hua Hua away.
“The Demon Clan in the Little Li Realm is far too weak compared to the Immortal Realm,” she said. “Once we reach the Immortal Realm, we can awaken a purer bloodline for him and secure a stronger inheritance.”
She paused.
Hu Qing nodded, conceding the point.
“You have shown Hu Beast kindness,” the woman continued. “You may come along as well. And your children—bring them all.”
Hu Qing let a faint smile show, a controlled flash of longing for the Immortal Realm. This part didn’t need acting. She truly wanted it.
The female immortal studied her, satisfied. “Little children are the least reasonable. I’ve been gone from the Little Li Realm for too long. I didn’t expect the Demon Clan to have fallen into such disorder.”
Her voice cooled. “I’ll give you time. Go persuade him. If you can’t…” A dark glint flickered through her eyes. “Taking him won’t be difficult. At worst, a few more people die.”
Hu Qing lowered her head, silent, the picture of reluctant resistance.
Then the pressure across from her vanished, as if it had never been there.
“Alright,” Juan Bu said quietly. “She’s really gone.”
Hu Qing slumped like her bones had been pulled out. “Why didn’t you warn me earlier?”
Juan Bu’s mouth twitched. “Who would’ve guessed that monster would be so rude—breaking into someone’s home without permission?”
He looked shaken himself. At home, he’d relaxed. Let his guard down.
If that demon immortal had come to kill Hu Qing, she could have slit Hu Qing’s throat in a single motion. By now, Hu Qing’s body would already be cold.
Juan Bu dragged up the same old topic again. “That Ghost Cultivator Compendium—you should cultivate it. If one day you really croak, you can switch to ghost cultivation and run.”
Hu Qing’s fingers drifted to her throat, remembering cold steel and a breath caught in terror. Before today, she’d treated it like a joke. Now she couldn’t.
The Ghost Cultivator Compendium had one huge advantage: a living cultivator’s cultivation could convert in full into ghost power. With enough effort, it could even climb higher.
“I’ll cultivate it,” she said at last.
A way out was still a way out.
“Good.” Juan Bu’s tone softened slightly. “I’m not cursing you to die, and I’m not obsessed with turning you into a ghost. In the Immortal Realm, killing isn’t just killing. They erase you. Body, soul—gone.”
He tapped the table. “If you can’t keep your body, you at least keep your primordial spirit.”
Hu Qing nodded hard. “You’re right. The Immortal Realm is too dangerous. I’ll make everyone cultivate it.”
Juan Bu shrugged. “Do what you want. I gave it to you, so it’s yours. We don’t stand on ceremony about ‘not passing it on.’”
Hu Qing’s eyes lit up. “Wait. If that’s the case, I can make a fortune selling your stockpile—”
Juan Bu stared at her. “I take it back. Don’t spread what I gave you around. That’s karma waiting to happen.”
Then he smiled, thin and unpleasant. “If someone realizes you’re connected to the one before me… heh.”
Hu Qing swallowed. “Um. The enemies of the one before you… they’re not all dead?”
“Heh.” Juan Bu’s smile deepened. “Sons and grandsons without end.”
Hu Qing went quiet. There went her beautiful plan to get rich.
She went to check on Shui Xin.
He was still curled under the quilt, unmoving, his face even paler than before. White mist rose faintly from the top of his head.
Hu Qing touched his forehead and frowned. “Is that woman really Hu Beast?”
“I’m fine,” Shui Xin said, voice muffled in the bedding. “Once I melt this cold force, it will benefit me.”
When he asked about the female immortal, Hu Qing didn’t hide her doubts. “I don’t think she’s Hu Beast. Two possibilities: either she has something to do with Hua Hua’s father’s side, or she’s acting for the Demon Clan of the Little Li Realm. Maybe she’s afraid Hua Hua will turn against them later, so she wants to take him away first.”
Shui Xin drew a breath through the thick quilt, and his lungs seemed to chill further. “Ask Hu Hua Hua.”
Right. Ask the kid himself.
Hu Qing sent a message immediately. Hu Hua Hua answered with pure confusion. “No one came looking for me.”
Then his tone turned cold. “Mom, don’t mind anyone. If someone comes to trouble you again, tell them this: whoever makes you unhappy, I’ll curse him with Hu Beast’s life.”
Hu Beast was an auspicious beast—maybe not the strongest, but favored by Heaven and Earth. A curse from such a creature was basically getting your name written into Heaven’s little black book.
Hu Qing snapped, “Watch your mouth. No one is worth you using your life for a curse.”
Then she caught herself and cleared her throat. “Besides, she’s only a Spirit Immortal. We—cough.”
Hu Hua Hua didn’t even hesitate. “Then we kill her.”
Hu Qing cleared her throat again, as if the sound could swallow her own recklessness. “Be careful. That woman has tricks. She makes people believe her without noticing.”
She hesitated, then forced the question out. “Could she be from your father’s side?”
A flash of killing intent crossed the child’s eyes as he stared at the open sky with quiet scorn. “Mom, even if she really is Hu Beast, don’t trust her. Hu Beast can turn bad. Hu Beast can be used.”
Hu Qing’s heart settled a fraction. She added one more warning, half-grim. “If you go out to play, behave. Especially your sister. If she keeps bouncing around causing trouble, you—break her legs.”
Hu Hua Hua burst out laughing. “Mom, you cause trouble nonstop and still won’t let us play. These are great opportunities. And I’m there. Nothing bad will happen.”
Hu Qing let out a dry, humorless chuckle. You all call it fun. You call it opportunity. Do you have any idea how much your lord worries?
She put away her Buddhist beads and patted Shui Xin’s quilt. “Get up. Let’s figure out how to kill a demon immortal.”
Shui Xin shrank back instinctively. The cold inside him was melting, but the melting made him feel colder, not warmer.
“Ask yourself,” he said flatly. “Zhe Liu wasn’t killed by me.”
Hu Qing’s brow knotted. “The price was too high. We can’t do it again.”
“I can’t do it again either.” Shui Xin tilted his head slightly. With a thought, something black and dried appeared beside his pillow—misshapen, almost like it had been roasted hard.
Hu Qing stared. “What is that?”
“A heart.”
She went still. “…That’s disgusting.”
“A Devil monk,” Shui Xin said, calm as ever, “sealed the forbidden art he researched inside that heart.”
Hu Qing understood immediately. “And then lightning struck him dead.”
Shui Xin gave a soft laugh. “He ended himself. He thought he’d won against the Heavenly Dao.”
A madman.
Hu Qing didn’t dare touch it. She leaned closer, studying the thing with wary fascination. The structure was wrong—like a heart that had been forced to grow into something else.
“Using it must cost a lot,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter.” Shui Xin’s gaze turned hollow. “Because it’s completely exhausted now.”
He looked at her. “It’s useless.”
Hu Qing’s mouth tightened. What was she supposed to say—sorry? Scorching Sun Blaze was made to counter evil and devils. The result was inevitable.
She huffed. “Fine. I spared you the chance to fall into devilhood. Don’t thank me.”
Shui Xin leaned back against the bedding. “So I can’t deal with immortals anymore. I could only challenge above my level with that. If it happens again, we might as well pray for the Buddha to show up.”
Silence settled between them, heavy and grim.
Then, outside, Yu Liu Ya was practically glowing.
He’d finally found a way to kill an immortal.
They couldn’t do it—but immortals could. And Zhe Liu’s inheritance had plenty of ready-made tools they could use.