Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Sister Can Be Called That, But She Can't?
Hearing that voice.
Jiang Linxian instinctively tried to burrow into his own nest. He normally had a little nook of his own, nestled in the vines above the Cave Dwelling.
But he was just too slow, and on top of that, Little Green knew Magic.
Halfway up, Jiang Linxian was already floating.
He drifted slowly and then dropped sharply toward the bank of the Cave Dwelling's pool, where a green serpent tail caught him firmly.
"Little Immortal, where do you think you're going, hm? Speak!"
"Hiss!" Even if Jiang Linxian could speak, he would have said something by now!
Jiang Linxian was coiled tightly against Little Green, and whenever he moved, their scales rubbed together.
For a Great Demon like Little Green, the firmness of serpent scales could be controlled at will—against someone close, it was no different from skin against skin.
From any outside perspective, it was simply a large green serpent coiling around and around a white serpent several sizes smaller.
"Hiss!"
Jiang Linxian still could not speak, but Little Green could understand the meaning behind his hisses.
Compared to Lady White's composed temperament, Little Green was far more willful and demanding.
Whenever she wasn't cultivating, she would coil around him with an almost compulsive possessiveness.
After enough times, Jiang Linxian had grown nearly numb to it.
It wasn't as if he could resist anyway.
But today was different. Little Green was especially intense today.
She refused to let Jiang Linxian keep calling her Little Green—she wanted him to call her Elder Sister Green, and if he wouldn't, she would act out.
Jiang Linxian vaguely guessed it might have something to do with Tribulation Crossing, since throughout the ages, no small number of demons had perished beneath Tribulation Lightning.
Some Great Demons didn't want to undergo Manifestation so much as they feared the tribulation itself.
After centuries of cultivation, was it worth dying for Manifestation?
That kind of Great Demon was usually one with a great many wrongful deaths on their hands—those who had taken crooked paths.
Little Green followed Lady White and rarely took lives. She cultivated through the Righteous Method, so worrying about this was entirely unnecessary.
Seeing that Jiang Linxian had stayed quiet for a long while, Little Green bit down on his serpent tail and murmured.
"You'll only call her Sister, but not me?"
Jiang Linxian had always responded to softness, not force—so he held firm and gave a very stubborn nod.
Little Green was just as stubborn. Was she truly so inferior to her sister?
If Sister could be called that, why couldn't she?
Little Green bit her way along Jiang Linxian's serpent tail, moving toward his underbelly. All it would take was a slight lift of her fangs to pry open a scale and give the faintest prick—enough to send Jiang Linxian into sharp pain.
But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"If you don't want to call me that, then don't." She truly couldn't match her sister after all.
Though Jiang Linxian appeared calm on the surface, he was actually a little flustered—anyone would be, put in his position.
"Hiss~"
He couldn't speak, so everything was poured into that single hiss.
Before Little Green even had a chance to feel pleased, Jiang Linxian had already shifted on his own, rubbing against her and curling up into a comfortable position.
He had long since grown used to sleeping this way.
That one call of Elder Sister Green lifted Little Green's mood entirely. Even though she knew Jiang Linxian was pretending to sleep, she couldn't bring herself to disturb him at the sight of him like this—she only wound herself around him a little more tightly.
Little Green thought to herself:
Little Immortal used to always try to escape, yet now he slept peacefully in her arms. Was that not, in its own way, a kind of acceptance?
Just like that one coquettish cry of Elder Sister Green—even as a demon, Little Green felt herself go weak all over at the sound.
Every day she kept up appearances, while in secret devising every possible way to capture his attention and please him.
****
Several days later.
Lady White returned and shared something.
Once Little Green had achieved Manifestation and she had no more worries holding her back, Lady White intended to go and kill Pudu Cihang, the current National Preceptor.
In telling them this, she revealed something else—she and Little Green did have companions: other demons who shared the same conviction and cultivated alongside them.
Most were Serpent Demons, though by now the majority had been consumed by Pudu Cihang.
It was only a matter of time before Pudu Cihang set his sights on Lady White.
She had long wanted to act on this, but concern for Little Green and Jiang Linxian had held her back every time.
Once Little Green had grown strong enough and finally achieved Manifestation, even if the assassination failed, Little Green's strength would be enough that the 2 of them could live on just fine.
"If I don't succeed, leave Hangzhou at that point. The farther you go, the better."
"No—Sister, I'm coming with you!"
Though Little Green could be rebellious at times, her bond with her sister ran deep—almost like true siblings.
Now that her sister was going off to face danger alone, how could she simply stand by and watch?
Lady White shook her head.
"Little Green, my mind is made up on this. In a few days, focus on your Tribulation Crossing in peace. Besides—could you really bear to leave Little Immortal behind?"
"I…"
Little Green fell silent. Even she, dense as she could be, could see that her sister had already made every arrangement and plan.
A demon who had just achieved Manifestation would typically undergo a Weakening Period, and it was during that time that Lady White would depart. This was precisely why Lady White had waited until now to say any of this.
Because she knew Little Green would certainly follow her otherwise.
Jiang Linxian's mind stirred at the news. He had always wanted to go outside and see the world.
In the beginning, when he had just been born, everything in the world had felt foreign and dangerous to him.
Several years had passed.
Jiang Linxian had read through the texts of this dynasty thoroughly. He had mapped out the surrounding environment clearly. By now, he could count himself as a demon in his own right.
Ordinary wild beasts—tigers, bears—couldn't even leave a mark on his serpent scales, let alone break through his defenses.
Only Sprites from the mountain wilderness could perhaps deal Jiang Linxian some injury, and even then, killing him was far from guaranteed.
The Dragon Pearl within him had been absorbing Spiritual Energy every single day—and not for nothing. He could already sense that a Skin Shedding was approaching.
Five Insects, Nine Transformations.
Jiang Linxian had never shed his skin before. He had no idea what kind of change it would bring.
Little Green, on the verge of tears, asked:
"Sister, can you really bear to leave? Can't we all just run together? Can't we leave Hangzhou and find a place where just the 3 of us can live—would that be so bad?"
"We can't run. It will definitely come looking for me."
It wasn't that Lady White hadn't considered the possibility. But at some point, a demon seeking to survive had gone and pledged allegiance to Pudu Cihang, and from that moment on, she had become his target.
No matter how much an ordinary serpent fed, it was no match for a thousand-year Serpent Demon in terms of what it could offer.
And with more and more of their kin being hunted, how could Lady White, gentle as she was by nature, simply sit by and watch?
These 2 reasons had cemented Lady White's resolve to assassinate Pudu Cihang.
****
The day of Little Green's Tribulation Crossing arrived as scheduled.
With Lady White—a former demon who had already crossed her own tribulation—present, this time could be said to be almost a certainty.
And so Jiang Linxian sought out Lady White and made a request.
"Hiss!"
Lady White seemed to have anticipated it entirely. Jiang Linxian was sharp, and he had read through texts that even she didn't recognize—he had long since developed a profound curiosity about the mortal world.
"Little Immortal, I know you want to go out and see the world. Once Little Green has achieved Manifestation and regained her strength, she'll take you—going with me right now would be too dangerous."
Jiang Linxian: "Hiss."
Lady White said nothing more at that. She simply reached out and gently stroked Jiang Linxian's serpent head, and after careful consideration, chose to relent.
The worst that could happen was finding a place to let Little Immortal sleep for a few days when the time came.
Letting him go out alone right now would only be far more dangerous.
"Little Immortal, once we're outside, stay close to me and don't wander off. And don't breathe a word of this to Little Green yet."
Jiang Linxian nodded. His expression was calm, but inwardly he was already brimming with excitement.
In the mountains, days and nights blurred into one—how could it compare to all that awaited beyond the Cave Dwelling?