Chapter Fifty-Four: Past Events

The silk scroll was mottled with the marks left by the passage of years and coated in a thick layer of dust, as though it belonged to a distant era. Su Jiu leaned in, curious to get a closer look.

A delicate fragrance wafted into Chen Jiu's nose, pleasant and reminiscent of cosmetics and fine powders.

Chen Jiu frowned. "You're a man—why do you smell of cosmetics?"

Su Jiu, hearing this, sniffed himself with a puzzled expression. "No? I didn’t put any on before I left this time."

Then, suddenly, he seemed to realize something, stiffened, and quickly turned his head away.

"That’s none of your business!"

A chill ran through Chen Jiu’s heart. Could this young man be effeminate?

The awkward moment quickly passed, and Chen Jiu focused his attention on the silk scroll. But as he read past the opening and scanned further down, he became stupefied.

He couldn’t recognize any of the words—except for the awkwardly written characters for "Blood Demon."

Seeing him frozen in place, Su Jiu cast an annoyed glance at Chen Jiu, then snatched the scroll from his hands.

"Let me read! You can’t even recognize the script."

Chen Jiu was at a loss for words; this was neither classical text nor any occult terminology he knew. He truly hadn't seen anything like it before. Perhaps if Cangjie himself were here, he might make sense of it… Chen Jiu mused silently.

Su Jiu furrowed his sword-like brows, his handsome face filled with concentration. After a long while, his eyes flashed with understanding. "So that’s how it is."

What exactly did he mean by "so that’s how it is"?

"Aren’t you going to explain?" Chen Jiu pressed him.

Su Jiu shot Chen Jiu a sidelong glance. "This is the ancient script of the Blood Demon Clan."

"The Blood Demon Clan?"

Su Jiu nodded slightly. "Centuries ago, outside the Jin Dynasty’s borders, in the Blood Demon Caverns, there lived a clan of blood demons. They delighted in drinking blood and worshipped a demonic sword drenched in bloodlust. But for reasons unknown, the entire clan was wiped out overnight, vanishing without a trace, along with that demonic sword..."

"At the time, some within the Jin Dynasty speculated that the King of Jin had dispatched powerful cultivators to the Blood Demon Caverns to exterminate them all," Su Jiu said, his brows knit in thought.

After listening, Chen Jiu pondered for a moment. "If it’s the script of a demon clan, how do you know it? Are you trying to trick me?"

Su Jiu, affronted, curled his lip and mocked, "I—this young master—have traveled the world and seen much. How could a frog in a well like you compare?"

"Believe what you will. If you don’t, you’re welcome to go back the way you came."

Chen Jiu grinned. "Please, continue."

He only wanted to kill the Wormmaster, nothing more; matters of blood demons didn’t interest him, nor did he wish to get entangled in something else.

Su Jiu rolled his eyes, then said, "It says here that the king of the Blood Demon Clan was imprisoned by the Jin Dynasty, locked away in the lightless depths underground. When his blood seeped out, it dyed the subterranean jade, turning it into a unique blood jade..."

At this point, both their eyes met.

Chen Jiu’s gaze was piercing. "You mean, according to the scroll, the blood demon is imprisoned within this Scarlet Jade Mountain?"

Su Jiu’s heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, and he quickly looked away. "Perhaps that’s the case."

"So the Wormmaster came to Scarlet Jade Village for the blood demon, and killed so many people to take their blood and souls—for what purpose, we don’t know," Chen Jiu analyzed.

"Exactly. He was once a member of the ‘Palace of the Curious.’ Learning such secrets isn’t beyond his reach," Su Jiu replied, frowning in contemplation.

Chen Jiu turned to him. "Might you tell me a little about your background?"

At this, Su Jiu straightened his luxurious brocade robe. "I am Su Jiu, a prodigal young master of little consequence."

"And you, my friend? To have broken the Wormmaster’s spell, you must be someone extraordinary."

Chen Jiu thought, As if I believe you… a prodigal young master, indeed.

Imitating Su Jiu’s manner, he smoothed his own obviously cheap azure robe. "I am Chen Jiu, a penniless wanderer, a solitary cloud and wild crane. Not worth mentioning either."

Su Jiu laughed, apparently believing him. "I thought you’d pretend to be noble, but you’re refreshingly honest. I admire that!"

Chen Jiu’s expression hardened. "Don’t you think it’s rather rude to drag me into this without asking?"

"Oh, don’t be so petty! I told you, if you hadn’t been able to save yourself that night, I would certainly have stepped in to help! So, how can I make it up to you?" Su Jiu said, exasperated.

Chen Jiu’s eyes lit up at that.

This young man was clearly wealthy—why not take advantage of it?

"Of course you can compensate me. I’d like a powerful magical artifact or talisman, or a string of Longevity Coins. Hmm... Or that ancient mirror you’re holding would do."

Su Jiu’s expression turned odd, but he didn’t seem surprised.

He hesitated. "A magical artifact or talisman, that’s no problem—just not on me at the moment. As for a string of Longevity Coins, even for me, that’s a hefty sum, so it’ll be difficult. And as for my ancient mirror... you’re not qualified to touch it!"

Bitterness welled up in Chen Jiu’s heart.

So, in other words, none of that was possible…

Seeing Chen Jiu’s crestfallen, aggrieved face, the handsome young master sighed impatiently. "Fine! Once we deal with the Wormmaster and get out of here, I’ll agree to your first two requests!"

Chen Jiu’s expression changed instantly.

"You really mean it?!"

He didn’t much care about a magical artifact or talisman.

But a string of Longevity Coins—that was fifty coins.

Fifty Longevity Coins was a fortune for any cultivator!

After all, Chen Jiu himself had only one...

Su Jiu flipped his palm, and with a flash of light, a jade slip appeared abruptly in Chen Jiu’s hand.

"Once you’re out, take this to the Su estate in Qingcheng County. They’ll hand it over to you."

The jade slip was delicate and finely made, engraved with a single "Su" character.

Chen Jiu’s eyes flickered; he swept his sleeve and tucked it away.

"Well, well! You can do 'the universe in a sleeve' technique!" Su Jiu exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Jiu, pleased with his windfall, smiled to himself.

"A mere trick. Let’s focus on finding the Wormmaster’s trail."

He was certain this young master came from a powerful family.

And he wasn’t worried about being tricked or harmed—the other had that ancient mirror, and Chen Jiu was no match for him.

Su Jiu shot him another look, then began searching the secret chamber for any sign of a teleportation array.

Time slipped by; before they knew it, an hour had passed.

Yet after all their efforts, the two still found no trace of any formation...

Su Jiu’s face grew increasingly grim.

If they couldn’t find the teleportation array the Wormmaster relied on, they’d have to retrace their steps.

Just as Su Jiu was sinking into disappointment, Chen Jiu suddenly chuckled. "Got it."

Su Jiu’s expression sharpened. "What do you mean?"

Chen Jiu walked over to a perpetually burning lamp set into a recess in the wall. "The books here haven’t been touched in ages—they’re covered in dust."

Su Jiu glanced over; he’d noticed as much when leafing through the books.

"So?"

Chen Jiu reached out to touch one of the lamps. "But this lamp here is spotless. What do you make of that?"

As Chen Jiu twisted the lamp, a sudden "click" rang out!

Su Jiu, still lost in thought, furrowed his brows.

But at that moment, a faint glow began to spread across the ground around them!

Moments later, a dazzling formation gradually emerged on the floor...