But I'm a proper river god, you know! - Chapter 79

That wisp of remnant soul was destroyed by her, but Yuan Ji’s rage did not dissipate. In that instant, she wished she could tear through space and time to shred the person behind it all along with it.

But he was too cunning, swiftly severing the connection with that remnant soul without leaving a single trace.

This made Yuan Ji even more irritable, her heart feeling as if countless tiny claws were scratching an itch, yet she couldn’t scratch it, forced to hold a stifling anger within.

Yuan Ji didn’t know where this fury of hers came from. Perhaps it was because her own lack of vigilance had led to someone else getting hurt, or perhaps it was due to that blatant provocation, or maybe it was some other emotion she didn’t quite understand.

Yet, Yuan Ji did not show any expression of anger. She just stared coldly at Qi Guan Shang’s hand, an inch-by-inch chill spilling from her eyes.

The surrounding air instantly stagnated, shattered ice prisms refracting a dazzling ice-blue light.

“Don’t be angry on my account, it’s just a minor injury,” Qi Guan Shang moved his hand behind his back, using his other hand to pass the black iron arrow to Yuan Ji, his tone softening, “It will heal quickly.”

“This might still carry some of that person’s aura. You can send someone to investigate who is behind this.”

Yuan Ji did not take the black iron arrow. She stepped forward, looked into Qi Guan Shang’s clear eyes, then lowered her head and reached out to grasp the wrist of the hand he had hidden behind his back.

As her fingertips touched the warm, damp sensation, Yuan Ji’s heart couldn’t help but stir, her fingers trembling almost imperceptibly. Then, she resolutely tightened her grip on that wrist, as if by doing so, she could keep him by her side.

This time, she would not let this person vanish before her eyes again.

“You’re bleeding,” Yuan Ji murmured, her other hand resting extremely gently on Qi Guan Shang’s fingers. Pinpricks of white light overflowed from her fingertips and swiftly vanished into the palm stained a rich red.

At this moment, Yuan Ji lowered her long lashes, unusually calm.

The two were very close, close enough that reaching out would pull the person before her into an embrace. It was the touch Qi Guan Shang had long awaited, yet he felt no joy. Watching Yuan Ji’s lowered lashes, an inexplicable panic arose in him.

It shouldn’t be like this.

Qi Guan Shang pressed his dry lips together, feeling vexed. He should have been faster, concealed it before the blood dripped.

“Mm,” he managed a sound from his tight throat, “It won’t happen next time.”

There wouldn’t be a next time.

Qi Guan Shang felt the slightly cold divine power merging into his blood. The boiling, surging river tightly embraced the beloved shard of ice, hiding it in a place no one could find. Its love was unknown to all, until the east wind arrived and the ice and snow melted away.

The two remained silent. Under the effect of the divine power, the wound healed quickly, leaving not even a trace behind.

Yuan Ji slowly released her hand. Her usually cool fingers, now stained with Qi Guan Shang’s blood, had taken on a bit of warmth.

But the moment her hand moved away even slightly, a large, powerful hand instantly pressed against hers. Qi Guan Shang covered her hand, holding it in his palm.

His hand was much larger than Yuan Ji’s. Unlike his “frail” appearance, his hand had prominent bones, the shapes of tendons clearly visible, full of strength. With just a gentle curl, he could completely envelop Yuan Ji’s hand.

“Let me wipe it for you.”

Qi Guan Shang produced a red silk handkerchief from somewhere. The handkerchief was quite soft, glowing with a moist luster.

He meticulously wiped away the blood stains on Yuan Ji’s hand, from her knuckles to her fingertips, his expression focused, his movements gentle, as if polishing a precious piece of crystal jade.

Guan Rou, seeing that her black iron arrow had been controlled and injured someone, was feeling anxious. But then she saw the two exchange a few words, then silently hold hands to heal the wound. Shortly after, the injured person was actually wiping the hand of the uninjured one.

Guan Rou immediately felt complicated emotions. She opened her mouth, then hesitated.

She felt… a bit superfluous.

“This black iron arrow was controlled by someone. Its aura is identical to those previous black mist attacks,” Qi Guan Shang quietly explained to Yuan Ji everything he knew. “To be able to control a magical instrument remotely, this person’s strength should not be underestimated.”

Yuan Ji looked down at their joined hands, feeling somewhat uncomfortable and wanting to pull hers back, but Qi Guan Shang held it fast. She didn’t force it free. It wouldn’t be good if the wound reopened, Yuan Ji thought.

“I destroyed a wisp of his soul and could roughly sense his strength.”

Yuan Ji vaguely perceived that this person’s strength didn’t seem as formidable as displayed. It was more like he relied on some external force, strong on the outside but brittle within.

He appeared to be a robust, indestructible beast, but once his disguise was torn off, he was revealed to be all talk.

After Yuan Ji finished speaking, she felt the surroundings were unusually quiet, as if something was missing.

Ah, that’s right. Where is A-Tong?

She saw A-Tong floating in the air, head lowered as if pondering something.

“A-Tong?”

A-Tong jolted awake. “Yuan Ji!”

“Yuan Ji, it’s so strange, I… I sensed from that black arrow the Mast—” Before it could finish, A-Tong suddenly froze, as if it had touched a taboo. Its words turned into a string of harsh static.

Bzzzt—

A moment later, A-Tong slowly looked up. “Huh? Yuan Ji, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah! Yuan Ji! Why has your divine power decreased so much suddenly!” A-Tong was greatly alarmed. “Let me check quickly, are you injured!”

Yuan Ji’s heart tightened. She covertly assessed A-Tong, quickly noting down this strange occurrence.

A-Tong said something that triggered memory loss.

Mast… what?

What could control a system like A-Tong…

She cast a deep glance behind A-Tong. The master behind that remnant soul… it seemed things weren’t so simple.

“Don’t panic, A-Tong. I was just helping Qi Guan Shang treat his… curse.”

“You know, this curse is a bit complicated.”

Yuan Ji told the lie without batting an eye, believing A-Tong’s intelligence wouldn’t see through it.

Sure enough, A-Tong looked at their clasped hands and immediately shot a “reproachful” glare at Qi Guan Shang, its eyes full of discontent. That wasn’t enough; it couldn’t help but mutter, “Is this guy really that good? Worth you expending so much effort?”

But then it reconsidered and shook its head. “No, Yuan Ji, you’re just that kind-hearted. This person isn’t special; I was overthinking it.”

Having said this, A-Tong immediately started wiping away moved tears.

My host is becoming more and more like a proper god.

Seeing this, Yuan Ji guiltily turned her head away.

Let it think that.

Meanwhile, having waited quite a while longer and seeing the two still hadn’t noticed her, Guan Rou finally couldn’t hold back.

She slowly raised her hand, the black iron plates on her body clattering loudly, breaking the strange atmosphere.

“Ahem.”

“My son?”

Yuan Ji glanced at her, a look of “almost forgot” flashing quickly across her face. She pretended as if she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Guan Muping.”

“Yes, yes, that’s my son.” Guan Rou’s suspended heart had long since settled. What bad intentions could two people so concerned about their friend possibly have?

“Might I ask, esteemed cultivators, where is my son?” Guan Rou pressed down and smoothed the raised black iron plates on her body, her face full of expectation.

But Yuan Ji shook her head. “Not so fast.”

She stepped forward, closing in on Guan Rou, her voice low, suddenly sending a chill down one’s spine. “First, tell me, who is hunting you?”

Hearing this, Guan Rou’s expression changed abruptly, turning serious. “Who are you? Why should I tell you?”

“River God Yuan Ji.”

Yuan Ji snorted coldly. “He injured my person. Can’t I ask?”

Guan Rou suddenly understood. “Oh. Right.”

She twisted her fingers, quickly glanced at Yuan Ji, her face showing conflict.

So this was the River God. Guan Rou had heard a little during her escape. She’d heard that villagers enshrined her statue praying for safety, and she had even considered getting one herself.

Thus, this person seemed… trustworthy.

After a long time, she seemed to have reached a decision. “I don’t know who that person is either. Those strands of black mist have been hunting me for years. Every time I evade their pursuit, they find me again extremely quickly.”

“It’s like they always know where I am. Hauntingly persistent.”

Guan Rou recalled how she had created many mechanical decoys, even using substitution arts, achieving a level of realism that could fool anyone. Yet within a few days, those black mists would appear again.

She could only hide in sparsely populated areas, but no matter how she hid, those black mists always arrived as scheduled.

Guan Rou’s cultivation wasn’t high; she couldn’t confront them directly. Luckily, she knew some mechanics arts and had gathered quite a bit of black iron along her journey to create this suit of armor for self-defense.

Yuan Ji watched her, seeing her sincere expression that didn’t seem false. She then asked another question. “Do you know someone named Guan Su?”

Just upon hearing the name, Yuan Ji detected a flash of hatred in her eyes. Yuan Ji subtly exchanged a glance with Qi Guan Shang.

“You know him?”

“Of course I know him.” Guan Rou smiled bitterly. “He is my sworn brother, but also a treacherous, opportunistic, hypocritical villain.”

“Esteemed cultivator, you may not know. Guan Su wanted to learn mechanics arts when he was young, but he had no talent for it. My father, unwilling to see him waste his youth, sent him to the Tianji Sect to study.”

“But who would have thought he would hold a grudge against my father for this? After joining the Tianji Sect’s Affairs Hall, he used his position to make some deals with the City Lord of Feiyun City.”

“He promised that in the future, goods sold by the Affairs Hall would give Feiyun City a thirty percent discount.” Guan Rou gnashed her teeth at this. “He had the City Lord issue an order: anyone who bought goods from the Guan family would have their taxes tripled the following year.”

“With such heavy taxes, who would still buy from our family? That Guan Su then hypocritically came forward, telling my father that if he handed over the mechanics secrets, he would have the City Lord revoke the order.”

“How could father hand over the secret arts to such a despicable person? He led the entire clan to relocate elsewhere.” Which led to later, when disaster struck and the clan was annihilated, no one came to their aid.

Guan Rou didn’t voice the last part. Just mentioning this now filled her eyes with tears, on the verge of crying.

Right then, Yuan Ji suddenly remembered the rumors she had heard about “Guan Rou” and felt somewhat puzzled.

“Didn’t the Guan family move out of Feiyun City because you roasted the former Demon Lord’s newly acquired demon beast egg and were hunted by the demon realm?”

Guan Rou’s tears immediately retracted. She awkwardly rubbed her temple, stammering, “Th… that was also part of the reason.”

Yuan Ji: “…”

A-Tong: “…”

Seeing Guan Rou’s expression grow increasingly awkward, Yuan Ji spoke again.

“Come back to the River God Temple with me. Guan Muping will be very happy to see you.”

Yuan Ji glanced at her, then turned and flew towards the Wangchuan boundary.

This wasn’t the place to talk. It was better to return to the River God Temple as soon as possible.

Hearing this, Guan Rou’s eyes immediately lit up. “Thank you, River God!” The River God was indeed as the rumors said!

Full of joy, she was about to follow when she abruptly saw the red-clothed man stop. He looked down at his sleeve, brows slightly furrowed, as if troubled by something.

Guan Rou looked closely. The intricate embroidery on the cuff had been affected by the black iron arrow’s energy earlier; the fine golden threads were snapped, hanging loose and ragged.

She felt a pang of regret. “Such fine embroidery, ruined just like that.”

But then, Qi Guan Shang extended two fingers together and lightly brushed over the cuff. The broken golden threads seemed to come alive, reconnecting and retracting, instantly restoring the embroidery to its perfect state without a single flaw left.

Witnessing this, Guan Rou stared disbelievingly at the man before her.

Wait, this wasn’t repair—it was reversal!

With this reversal ability, she knew only one person under heaven possessed it.

The Demon Realm Venerable – Qi Guan Shang.

Guan Rou involuntarily took a step back, about to cry out in alarm, but she felt a force seal her voice.

Qi Guan Shang cast a cold glance her way, then flew off after Yuan Ji.

Seemingly unintentional, yet seemingly a threat.