Mortal Dawn and Dusk, My Eternal Life - Chapter 12

Facing the counter-attack of the black demonic qi, Su Mingyue’s eyes narrowed. Although the peach wood sword in her hand lacked the boost from the rooster blood, it still moved with formidable force, carrying a sharp aura that repelled evil.

“Hmph, without the rooster blood, you think I can’t do anything to you?”

Su Mingyue scoffed. She moved with peculiar footwork, her body elusive, the peach wood sword in her hand sometimes thrusting quickly, sometimes sweeping horizontally, each move precisely aimed at the black demonic qi’s weak points.

The spider shadow formed by the black demonic qi suffered repeated setbacks under Su Mingyue’s onslaught, letting out angry and sharp hisses. It clearly hadn’t expected this seemingly young woman to possess such profound Daoist cultivation and such fierce martial skills. It tried several times to lunge back at Huang Yingying on the bed, but Su Mingyue skillfully intercepted it with her peach wood sword.

Inside the room, sword winds whistled, demonic qi surged, and the candlelight flickered violently in the strong gusts. The talismans pasted on the walls rustled, emitting faint golden light, forcing back the wisps of demonic qi attempting to scatter and escape.

“Vile creature! Why don’t you surrender!”

Su Mingyue grew somewhat impatient as her attacks failed to subdue it quickly. She knew this demon was just a small fry; the real trouble was what it was connected to behind it. She didn’t want to waste too much time here.

She suddenly leaped backward, creating distance from the demon. Her left hand quickly drew a complex symbol in the air, and she let out a low shout: “Bind!”

As her voice fell, the symbol drawn in thin air flashed with golden light, transforming into several golden chains that wrapped around the black demonic qi!

The spider demon seemed to sense the danger, letting out a terrified shriek, and violently slammed into the room’s window!

“Bang!”

With a loud crash, the wooden window lattice, covered with paper, was directly shattered into pieces! The black demonic qi transformed into a wisp of black smoke and fled desperately through the broken window opening, moving extremely fast, disappearing into the heavy night in the blink of an eye.

“Trying to run?” Su Mingyue’s eyes turned cold. Without any hesitation, her figure swayed, and she also chased out through the broken window. She lightly tapped her toes on the eaves and, like a nimble swallow, quietly pursued the direction the black smoke had fled.

Outside the room, Huang Baiwan and Huang Mingyuan, and the household guards who were guarding from afar, first heard fierce fighting and the demon’s shrill hissing from the room. Then they heard the loud crash of the window breaking, and then they saw two figures, one after another, dart out of the room and disappear into the night.

They were all terrified, their faces ashen, not daring to breathe.

“Father… Daoist Su… she went after it?” Huang Mingyuan asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Huang Baiwan was also still visibly shaken. He swallowed and said, “It… it should be. We… we should wait here and not move, so as not to cause trouble for Daoist Su.” He was now thoroughly convinced of Su Mingyue’s power and even more worried about his daughter’s safety.

Su Mingyue chased the black smoke, weaving through the Huang Mansion’s backyard. The black smoke seemed extremely familiar with the mansion’s layout, taking many turns and twists, specifically fleeing through secluded and dark corners. Su Mingyue pursued relentlessly, her speed slightly faster than the black smoke, maintaining a consistent, close distance. She wanted to see where this demon would ultimately flee.

Soon, the black smoke fled to a long-abandoned corner of the Huang Mansion’s backyard. It was overgrown with weeds and littered with broken walls and crumbling ruins, appearing as if no one had visited it for many years. Among the waist-high wild grass, a dark, dry well was faintly visible.

The black smoke, without hesitation, plunged headfirst into the dry well, instantly disappearing.

Su Mingyue stopped at the edge of the well, her gaze sharp as she observed it. The well opening was small, constructed of bluestone, and its rim was covered in moss, making it appear ancient and eerie. The well opening was a black void, bottomless, emitting a strong earthy smell mixed with a faint demonic qi.

“So, it hid here,” Su Mingyue smirked coldly. She could feel the demon’s aura beneath this dry well. Moreover, the black thread connecting the demon to the underground also pointed to the depths of this well.

Without the slightest hesitation, she leaped, plunging into the dry well. The well walls were slippery and covered in moss, but for Su Mingyue, it was like walking on level ground. Her figure was light, and she descended silently.

The well was much deeper than she had imagined. She fell for dozens of feet before finally landing on solid ground. The bottom of the well was pitch black, utterly devoid of light. The air was filled with a strong earthy smell and a faint demonic qi.

Su Mingyue took out a small luminous pearl from her embrace. Its faint glow instantly illuminated a small area around her. She found herself standing in a slightly spacious well-bottomed chamber, surrounded by solid earth and rock.

The spider demon had disappeared after entering the well. There must be a hidden passage!

Su Mingyue’s gaze was drawn to an anomaly on the well wall. On one of the stone walls at the bottom of the well, faint, blurred patterns were vaguely visible, resembling ancient runes. She walked up to it, extended a finger, and lightly touched the patterns. The touch was cold, carrying a strange energy fluctuation.

“As expected, something strange,” Su Mingyue thought to herself. She once again joined her fingers like a sword and lightly brushed them across her eyes.

“Open!”

The moment her spiritual eyes opened, the scene before her changed again. The seemingly unremarkable stone wall now emitted a faint, eerie glow. And within that glow, a tightly sealed stone door clearly appeared! The stone door was covered with dense golden talismans. These talismans, like living entities, slowly flowed, emitting a powerful and ancient sealing energy.

“So that’s it; there’s a sealed door here,” Su Mingyue realized. It seemed the secret beneath the Huang Mansion was hidden behind this door. And that spider demon was merely a “tool” sent out by some entity behind the door to draw in vital energy.

Su Mingyue looked at the stone door covered with golden talismans, her eyes becoming somewhat complex. She could feel that this seal was very powerful and ancient, definitely not something mortals could have set up. What exactly was sealed behind this door? A more powerful demon? Or some ancient secret?

She pondered for a moment, then took out an ancient-looking dagger from her waist. The dagger was entirely black, its material unknown, but its blade gleamed with a chilling cold light.

She grasped the dagger and, without hesitation, lightly drew it across the palm of her left hand. A cut instantly appeared, and bright red blood oozed out. However, strangely, the moment the cut appeared, it rapidly healed at a visible speed, disappearing in a flash as if it had never been there. Only a few drops of crimson blood remained on the dagger’s blade.

Su Mingyue looked at her perfectly healed palm, a trace of imperceptible melancholy flashing in her eyes.

Immortal and imperishable, invulnerable to all calamities. This sounded like the greatest gift from the heavens, but for her, it felt more like an endless curse. She possessed almost infinite life; her body could instantly self-heal any wound, and her blood even contained the pure yang essence that countered all yin and evil. But none of these were what she desired.

She longed to be like ordinary people, to experience birth, old age, sickness, and death, to feel joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. She longed to have someone with whom she could share her life, growing old together. But all of this was merely a luxury for her.

She had witnessed the rise and fall of too many dynasties, and bid farewell to too many people she had once cherished. Time left no trace on her body, yet it carved indelible imprints of loneliness in her heart. The reason she repeatedly intervened in these mortal conflicts and dealt with these demons and monsters, aside from acting on the compassion in her heart, was also out of a faint hope—perhaps, she could find some clues about her own origin from these beings with special abilities, find a way… to be free.

Su Mingyue shook her head, casting aside these chaotic thoughts. Now was not the time for sentimentality.

She aimed the dagger’s blade, stained with her own blood, at the stone door covered with seals. Her blood, being extremely pure yang, had a powerful restraining effect on all seals and evil spirits. She wanted to see what was hidden behind this door!

“Break!”

She let out a low shout, and with a flick of her wrist, the few drops of fresh blood on the dagger’s blade, as if alive, shot out, precisely sprinkling onto the flowing golden talismans on the stone door!