Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

A Deviation from the Plan

Wenren È wasn't angry. He had long since gotten used to the plot's habits. It was normal enough that reality, from time to time, needed to conform with the events of the original plot.

He was twisting the story's events, trying to defy heaven and change fate, but the original fate still offered resistance. Under these circumstances, it was fully expected that the original story, from time to time, would manifest itself on some originally unrelated character.

"Then, do you feel loyalty toward Baili Qingmiao?" Wenren È asked.

It had suddenly occurred to him that Zhongli Qian was no longer the only choice. Shi Congxin... Wenren È sized him up carefully. Aside from his sickly complexion, his looks weren't bad. With Shi Congxin's condition, before he could freely control his sickness qi, anyone who dual cultivated with him would've died from his illnesses, and only ghost cultivators could be around him safely. That was why Wenren È had sent him to Hellfire Pavilion.

It was possible that only the female lead would be immune to Shi Congxin's sickness qi. Didn't that mean they were suited for each other?

Wenren È looked pleasantly at the "spare" he had chosen for Baili Qingmiao. Shi Congxin, feeling his expectant gaze, shook his head furiously and said, "Cough, cough, how could this subordinate? This subordinate is only loyal to the Venerable."

Meaning that since Wenren È was Lord of Demons today, Shi Congxin was loyal to Wenren È. If tomorrow Shu Yanyan pulled off a coup, Shi Congxin's loyalty to the Lord of Demons wouldn't waver. He had the same kind of loyalty as everyone else in Xuanyuan Sect.

Wenren È immediately lost interest and waved him off. "Since you can't do anything to her, just leave Baili Qingmiao for now. Go cast the curse on Zhongli Qian."

Shi Congxin hurried off. He took a glance at Baili Qingmiao through the window of her room, and shook his head slightly. Deep inside, he did want to help this girl... but the Venerable had given his orders. In the future, he could help her on some less important matter.

Seeing his expression, Wenren È was greatly disappointed and shook his head. "He can't even defy this Venerable's orders and save someone behind my back. Completely undependable!"

Altar Master Miao, just arriving: ...

Did the Venerable consider defying his orders "dependable"? In that case, it made sense how Protector Shu had maintained her position. When it came to acting behind Wenren È's back, he, Miao Qiuqing, really could not hold a candle.

Altar Master Miao entered the room, blindfolded Baili Qingmiao again, fed the gu insect to her, then left to go put it in Zhongli Qian.

Throughout the whole process of being cursed by Shi Congxin and having a parasite placed in him by Altar Master Miao, Zhongli Qian had been awake and aware that they'd done something concerning to him. He wasn't afraid though, and in fact relaxed a little. He'd been anxious Wenren È would use him against the Zhongli clan, or use his reputation in the mortal world to lead scholars astray and set up an evil cult so as to increase his own power.

Neither of those things had happened by now. Zhongli Qian was widely read and had more practical knowledge than Baili Qingmiao. When the drops of blood were placed into his eyes, he recognized it as a curse for tracking the person the blood belonged to, not something that would affect his consciousness at all. When Altar Master Miao forced him to swallow the gu insect, he recognized it as the heart-linking parasite, which could link two people's emotions. It was a type of love gu, often used by Miao women to know their husbands' feelings.

It was said that the Miao had created the heart-linking parasite because Miao women discovered that even though their husbands would fall in love with them under the influence of a love parasite, it wouldn't stop them from sleeping around. Some men made a distinction between love and lust and could love one woman and be in bed with another at the same time, then act like he didn't know her afterward.