Chapter 213 – Intertwined
There was a story buried deep within Ji Hongli's heart, one she had never told anyone.
Many years ago, after cultivating arduously for a hundred years, she had just taken human form. Appearing as a seven- or eight-year-old girl, she was caught by two cultivators who used a Demon-Binding Rope to tie her up tightly, forced her back into her original form, and sealed her inside an iron cage.
"What a thick snake—perfect for soaking in wine, great for vitality."
The pockmarked cultivator weighed the cage in his hand, making Ji Hongli dizzy from being shaken.
Then she saw a shabby monk by the stream, squatting as he washed his feet.
"Please, wait, benefactors."
His bald head gleamed blindingly in the sunlight.
"Where did this bald donkey come from? If you've got something to say, spit it out."
"All beings possess spirit."
The monk flicked the water from his feet and stood up.
"Can you not see the helplessness in the eyes of the red carp you've caught?"
The two cultivators exchanged glances.
"Crazy monk!"
The next instant, a flash of golden light split the iron cage apart.
Ji Hongli tumbled onto the grass.
At that moment, her only thoughts were: first, I never asked anyone for help; second, I'm a black snake, not a red carp!
And just like that, she was rescued.
"My secular surname is Ji," said the monk. The scent of wine mixed with sandalwood on his breath.
"Why not take the same surname?"
He dipped his finger into the stream and wrote on the ground.
"Ji Hongli—sounds pleasant, doesn't it?"
"I'm a snake! A black one!"
"Then shall we call you Ji Heishe?" The monk slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.
"Excellent! But remember, this name was your own choice!"
Ji Hongli didn't understand what was so funny, but seeing the mischievous smile on his face, she hesitated briefly and, missing the chance for lifelong regret, said, "Then I'll be Ji Hongli."
For the next ten years, she followed the monk across the Xuanying Continent.
She saw him bandage an injured rabbit demon outside the mountains, and she saw him drinking and playing dice with butchers in a brothel—wine and meat passed through his body, yet he wouldn't step on even an ant.
Once, when he failed to gather alms, a shrew cursed him viciously.
He left calmly with Ji Hongli in tow.
Unable to hold back, she asked, "You're clearly stronger than all of them. Why beg for food? Why not just take it?"
The monk was mending his robe, the needle glinting silver beneath the moonlight.
"Do you see those stars in the water?"
He pointed to their reflections.
"One in the sky, one in the stream. Tell me— which one is real?"
She didn't truly understand, but still nodded as though she did.
Many years later, she and the monk eventually parted ways.
She grew ever stronger, ultimately returning to the demon race and inheriting the title of Demon Venerable.
Over countless years, she witnessed the myriad forms of the world—human and demon alike—yet never again encountered anyone like that monk.
A strange loneliness began to take root within her.
Unknowingly, she had already been shaped by him.
Though she ruled over the entire Southern Wilderness, only she knew that among the demon race, she was a complete outlier.
Under her reign, the demons finally began attempting to coexist with humans.
If not for what happened afterward...
In Immortal Spirit City, Ji Hongli sighed softly, sealing away the memories that had surfaced unbidden.
She thought she would spend the rest of her life in such solitude, yet in Fuan City, that small fortune-teller—because of one casual remark from her—had dared to charge into the City Lord's Mansion.
Later, he came running back, out of breath, to apologize.
"You were right. All beings have spirit. I shouldn't have judged so hastily."
She possessed a strange, quiet compassion for all living things.
Such a quality was exceedingly rare among cultivators.
In the world of cultivation, the strong devoured the weak. The powerful regarded all beings as ants—slaughtering cities and eradicating sects on a whim, indifferent to the lives they trampled.
But Ah Li was different. In Immortal Spirit City, over the years, he had seen it himself—she would pause before a withering spiritual herb, heal an injured spirit beast, or linger to listen to mortal elders recount their ordinary lives.
Perhaps that was what had always drawn him to her.
Because he was the same kind of person.
He had grown up in his grandmother's care. She was a devout believer in the Buddha—not one of the false, corrupted deities of this world, but a truly compassionate one.
She had taught him to revere life, to be kind to all beings, to understand that even an ant had its purpose for existing.
So, after crossing into this world, he always carried that reverence within him.
He was not foolish. Aside from his fear of death, he knew very well the kind of power he possessed.
At the Saint Realm, a single thought could split mountains and rivers, another could erase entire cities.
Yet he never saw himself as above others. Instead, he preferred to live among ordinary people.
"I don't want to become one of those so-called immortals who refuse to eat beef."
That was what he told himself every day.
Too many cultivators, once they gained power, lost all sense of restraint—treating mortals as weeds, killing for amusement. But he couldn't do that.
Spider-Man once said: with great power comes great responsibility.
He had remembered that line for two lifetimes.
Sadly, he wasn't that noble—he could never be Spider-Man.
So at the very least, he wished to be a good person—one who brought no burden to the world, no harm to others.
That was his belief.
And in this world, it made him lonely.
The memories of two lives kept him from truly blending into this cruel, predatory cultivation realm.
But Ah Li's existence made him feel that…
Maybe he wasn't so alone after all.
He could sense that she understood his quiet resolve—just as he understood the compassion in her heart.
They had never spoken of it, yet both silently guarded the same unspoken convictions.
"So… I suppose that's my final regret."
He gazed up at the crimson moon and smiled with quiet relief.
"I never got to tell her…"
"That I… actually liked her."
He took a deep breath, turned around, and flew toward Immortal Spirit City.
—This time, he wouldn't run.
—And he no longer wished to leave behind any regrets.
...
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