Chapter 86: The Soul-Searching Mirror

"This reason is enough to let me splurge once more." With that, Xu Nuo waved her hand and purchased the equipment. She had spent considerable money in her quest to win over Lu Chiyuan, never batting an eye at buying gear; this was the longest she had ever hesitated.

Lu Chiyuan was a hybrid of demon and human. Every so often, the demon blood within him surged uncontrollably. Whenever that happened, he would disappear, like a wounded beast licking its wounds alone—weak, yet dangerous.

She calculated the time; it should be about now.

This was the perfect chance to investigate the nature of his memories.

Lu Chiyuan lacked the identity of a sect disciple and usually followed Xu Nuo around like a persistent little shadow—impossible to shake off. Today, however, he vanished swiftly, and Xu Nuo couldn’t find him anywhere.

In desperation, she had 007 activate the locator, but the sect was vast, and picking up the signal was as arduous as connecting to WiFi.

In the dim cave, vines bound Lu Chiyuan’s limbs, rendering him immobile. What little rationality remained in him refused to act, yet instinct compelled him to riot: destroy everything, obliterate anything he could touch or see, slaughter all living things. The primal urge to kill was swallowing his reason.

Five years and fifteen days—he felt he could not endure much longer. Perhaps, letting go wouldn’t be so bad...

"Little Lu?"

Suddenly, that voice echoed. The girl’s voice was clear and melodious as always, tinged with concern for him. Her hurried footsteps betrayed her anxiety, almost running through the uneven cave.

"Ah!"

As expected, she fell, her ears ringing and vision spinning, but Lu Chiyuan heard her voice with unusual clarity.

She stood up again, heedless of her previous stumble, and ran even faster.

The wait might have been long or short—Lu Chiyuan felt he merely blinked and saw her soothing smile.

"Little Lu, I knew you’d be here."

She was out of breath, not even pausing to catch it before rushing to his side. Treating his wounds had become second nature to her.

"How are things this time?" Xu Nuo asked as she worked. "Can you hold on?"

Lu Chiyuan’s mind was muddled by the frenzy of his bloodline, incapable of coherent thought; he shook his head reflexively, only then realizing what he’d done. He hurriedly covered his face.

"I’ve already seen," Xu Nuo’s hand gently covered his, "though I didn’t see clearly—just blood everywhere. Are there wounds as well? Move your hand so I can treat them."

"Miss Xu..." Lu Chiyuan’s voice was dry and raspy. "Did you already know?"

"Know what?" Xu Nuo replied.

"My bloodline," he clarified.

Xu Nuo nodded. "Yes."

"Then why?" Lu Chiyuan suddenly raised his voice. "Why didn’t you expose me? You’ve always known I’m a demon—why let me stay in the sect?"

"It has nothing to do with your identity," Xu Nuo pressed his hand down.

Lu Chiyuan stared at her, stubbornness burning in his gaze. "What is your real aim?"

No one is kind without reason—this was the deepest truth he had learned since gaining awareness. Even now, he could not believe Xu Nuo’s kindness toward him was without ulterior motive.

"My aim is you," Xu Nuo said, recalling Sheng Ming from the previous world and how a misunderstanding in her words led to his death. She clarified further, "I came here for you."

Lu Chiyuan was stunned, struggling to process the answer.

Xu Nuo continued treating his wounds. Only the outline of the youth’s face was visible, stained with blood and grime, densely covered with scales. The wounds on his face were from forcibly tearing out the scales, leaving arc-shaped bloody marks. New scales sprouted visibly from these wounds, enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Sensing Xu Nuo’s gaze, Lu Chiyuan awkwardly lowered his head, trying to shield himself with his oversized sleeves.

"Don’t hide," Xu Nuo grasped his wrist and pressed it down. "Do you want to keep living like this?"

"No," Lu Chiyuan shook his head. He didn’t want to be like this—a hideous, uncontrollable monster.

"Then behave. Don’t move."

Perhaps it was something in Xu Nuo’s words or her not-quite-gentle hands that soothed him; Lu Chiyuan’s resistance ebbed, allowing her to work.

The turbulent demon bloodline revealed his true form—not a boy, but a young man of about twenty. Yet his eyes remained bright and moist, like a puppy not fully grown—pitiful, adorable, and still somewhat fierce, clearly the kind that would bite.

Xu Nuo thought of her four daughters in the Jade Book illusion, and a soft warmth blossomed in her heart. She ruffled Lu Chiyuan’s hair.

She had prepared medicine and tools long ago. Xu Nuo applied suppressant ointment, and before long, the demonic aura faded, and Lu Chiyuan felt drowsy.

But he could not sleep. Instinct told him that if he lost consciousness while defenseless, he would become prey. Only by being stronger, more cautious than others could he survive.

"Sleep," Xu Nuo’s voice was gentle and light. "I’ll keep watch."

Drowsiness washed over him; Lu Chiyuan, holding on to his last bit of strength, asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

"Why should I be?" Xu Nuo replied. Zombies from the last world were far more terrifying than Lu Chiyuan, blood-soaked and scaled as he was.

Lu Chiyuan gripped Xu Nuo’s hand tightly, "You won’t..."

His final murmur was indistinct, Xu Nuo couldn’t catch it. After a while, his breathing grew steady. Xu Nuo tried to quietly extract her hand, but his grip was too tight; she could only operate the equipment with one hand.

Each time his demon bloodline awakened, Lu Chiyuan was at his weakest. This opportunity was rare. Xu Nuo didn’t hesitate, using the item directly on him.

In the dim cave, the mirror in Xu Nuo’s hand shone with its own light, reflecting Lu Chiyuan’s image—not his present form, but his memories.

The mirror showed his perspective, beginning with his earliest recollections.

The demon realm revered strength even more than the cultivation world, power above all. Mortals were considered the weakest, most worthless race. Lu Chiyuan was born a hybrid, the child of a mortal servant and a demon noble.

From birth, he carried the stigma of otherness—weak, a mongrel, his body bearing half mortal blood. He never knew his father; his memories contained only the hunched, frail silhouette of his mother, who abandoned him in the demon realm before he turned two, never to return.

Demons remembered earlier than mortals; Lu Chiyuan had many memories from the demon realm, but the scenes were fragmented, like shattered glass—impossible to piece together into anything comfortable, each shard sharper and darker than the last.

To witness it firsthand was utterly different from merely reading a few lines of setting. Xu Nuo took a deep breath and chose to skip this section.

Time accelerated, and came to the point where Lu Chiyuan left the demon realm. He learned his father’s identity from the gossip of servants—the lord of the main city. The news didn’t comfort him; he held no expectations for his father.

He planned in secret, waited patiently, and stole several precious cultivation manuals from his father’s city. The city lord was furious, and the entire realm hunted down the audacious hybrid.

Lu Chiyuan used secret techniques to conceal his demon traits, presenting only his human appearance. But this couldn’t last; as time passed and his cultivation grew, the concealment weakened, the suppressed demon bloodline grew stronger, eventually overwhelming the human side.

To avoid the demon realm’s pursuit, Lu Chiyuan hid his identity and strength, joining Dongtian Sect as an inconspicuous servant disciple. He stayed hidden for years, never showing his abilities, always low-key, so no one suspected him. Yet the increasingly uncontrollable demon blood kept him perpetually tense.

Lu Chiyuan was used to solitude, silent, and emotionally detached, never fitting in. The other servant disciples disliked him, bullied him repeatedly, and when they discovered he never fought back, used him as a punching bag.

But Lu Chiyuan didn’t suffer entirely. The injuries he inflicted upon himself during demon blood attacks provided a plausible explanation. Periodically, he would be "beaten" bloody.

Yet in daily life, the others could only insult him; not a single hair was harmed. Lu Chiyuan was not a meek, submissive victim. In unseen corners, he displayed his true strength, never pitiful—rather, frightening.

Xu Nuo recalled Lu Chiyuan’s timid demeanor around her, then saw in the mirror his steady hands and decisive strike against a beast. She thought, this boy really has two faces.

Scene after scene flashed by; Xu Nuo slid her finger along the timeline, soon reaching the period when she appeared in his memories. Everything matched her own recollections.

Until the time they entered the secret realm, when Lu Chiyuan sensed something wrong and hurried to the cave to find her, the images became fragmented and incoherent, as if parts of the tape had been cut.

When Lu Chiyuan discovered the Nascent Soul senior, the scene was simply blank—nothing at all. The memory ended there.

Xu Nuo continued to scroll forward, until Lu Chiyuan awakened outside the secret realm. Upon waking, he was surrounded by people, questioned about the realm and the Jade Book, and about his relationship with Xu Nuo.

Lu Chiyuan answered none of their questions.

The Nascent Soul senior said nothing, simply took him away to a familiar place—the Hall of Discipline.

"Does Xu Nuo know your identity?" Xu Qingyin, from Lu Chiyuan’s perspective, asked.

Lu Chiyuan shook his head, saying nothing more.

"Good that she doesn’t. You should know, Dongtian Sect and the demon race have been enemies for generations. Any demon is to be killed without mercy."

Lu Chiyuan did not surrender meekly, but chose to fight back. Predictably, he lost—no typical male protagonist’s leapfrog challenge succeeded here. Not surprising, given the opponent was a Nascent Soul expert.

The consequence of defeat was being bound in a forbidden array. But Xu Nuo noticed it wasn’t an execution array, but one designed to purge his demon blood.

Xu Qingyin said, "Whether you live or die depends on your fate."

"Why?" Lu Chiyuan was surprised—not to be killed, despite preparing to fight to the death.

"Because she won’t let you die," Xu Qingyin’s usual cold tone showed a trace of disdain and helplessness.

To forcibly strip half a bloodline is impossible in a scientific society, and even in the cultivation world, it is a defiance of the heavens. The pain Lu Chiyuan endured was far greater than during his bloodline episodes. At first, he struggled, but eventually, whatever he thought made him surrender.

Lu Chiyuan’s cultivation relied fundamentally on his demon bloodline; losing it meant consequences only he could fully understand.

At the critical moment, Xu Nuo’s arrival interrupted the process. She hadn’t noticed it then, but viewing from Lu Chiyuan’s perspective, she saw that Xu Qingyin truly harbored killing intent toward him.

Lu Chiyuan’s expression was unclear, but then Xu Qingyin’s icy facade cracked, his gaze shifting to her—an expression of disappointment? It gave Xu Nuo a guilty, uneasy feeling, as if caught in some rebellious misdeed by a parent.

Being admired by a beauty was a pleasure, but being stared at like that was torture. Luckily, her focus was on Lu Chiyuan at the time and she didn’t meet that gaze.

After that, the events were familiar to Xu Nuo; nothing worth scrutinizing. Yet the missing chunk of Lu Chiyuan’s memory relating to the Jade Book and her remained lost.

Could it be that the Lu Chiyuan in the illusion was not...

"What are you doing?" Lu Chiyuan’s voice was icy, as if laced with shards of frost.

"Little Lu." Xu Nuo instinctively tried to hide the mirror behind her, but it was too late.

Lu Chiyuan seized her wrist, his gaze fixed on the mirror, which now reflected his blood-red, wild eyes—so savage and frenzied it startled even him.

"Is this a Soul-Searching Mirror?"

Her wrist ached from his grip; Lu Chiyuan snatched the mirror from her hand without hesitation. Xu Nuo thought, this is bad.

"Why?" Lu Chiyuan stared at Xu Nuo, voice rough and hoarse, filled with disbelief. "Why?"

His sudden awakening caught Xu Nuo off guard; facing him, she couldn’t string together a coherent response. "I was just curious..."

"Curious whether I’m human or demon?" Lu Chiyuan laughed quietly. "So you used a Soul-Searching Mirror on me?"

"No, I was just curious about your memories. It was wrong of me to pry without permission," Xu Nuo replied, unable to understand why Lu Chiyuan reacted so strongly. "I apologize."