Chapter 125: The Young Girl

*Clink.*

The beautiful young girl capped her small black gourd, shaking the peculiarly shaped vessel—which resembled the head of a crane. On its surface, a lifelike pattern of a black, misty demon flickered into view.

"Hmph, you miserable Soul-Devouring Demon, you’ve made me lose face on my very first solo mission for the Demon Suppression Division." The girl sat cross-legged on a wooden table, her almond-shaped eyes glaring fiercely at the ghostly pattern on the gourd. "I am going to refine you into a minor phantom for the Myriad Ghost Star Robe that Big Brother Zhao gave me."

Cui Ya’s eyelashes fluttered, and after a moment of trembling, her eyelids slowly opened.

She looked up at the girl perched on the tavern table. The soft-soled, lotus-embroidered shoes on the girl’s feet gradually brought Cui Ya’s hazy consciousness back to clarity.

*I must reach Wufeng Mountain immediately to seek an elixir at Fufeng Temple.*

Cui Ya struggled to rise, but the moment she moved, a wave of weakness and bone-deep exhaustion washed over her. More critically, as she lifted her head, golden sparks danced before her eyes, and a dizzying vertigo threatened to overwhelm her.

"The Soul-Devouring Demon borrowed your soul, leaving you with spiritual trauma. You’ll need at least half a year of quiet rest and soul-nourishing elixirs to recover."

Only then did the girl notice the woman in the tavern. She leaned over to inspect the woman’s attire, which looked like that of a maid from some noble house.

There was no one in the nearby Yangtai Town who could afford to keep a maid with such refinement and appearance. She had been tailing the demon closely the entire journey, only pausing for a moment at Evil Sheep Ridge, and she hadn’t seen anyone of this woman’s stature on the road.

*Did she come from the south?*

Any further south would lead only to the fishing villages along the Southern Sea. The girl couldn't imagine what other cities or counties lay that far south. To her, the Southern Wilderness Province was already considered remote; apart from the provincial capital, Junhuang County, the only other place she remembered was the Southern Sea at the very edge of the world.

"I’ve heard people say that Buddhism and Taoism don't flourish in the Southern Wilderness Province—it’s barren and poor. You likely don't have any soul-nourishing elixirs, either," the girl noted, watching Cui Ya struggle to stand by clutching the edge of the table. She tapped her forehead.

The girl twisted the green vine stopper on the black gourd and inverted it. The color of the vessel shifted instantly to a pale green, and a blue flame erupted beneath the lifelike black demon pattern.

"It will take a short while; you might as well rest," the girl said, glancing at the now-green gourd with a hint of regret.

She was using this demon to concoct an elixir. While it wouldn't kill the creature, it would make it impossible to refine it into her Myriad Ghost Star Robe later. Big Brother Zhao had told her that any new demon added to the robe had to be intact; otherwise, the refined ink-silk wouldn't have enough substance to form the proper patterns. She had wanted to try it herself this time—the various phantoms and specters on her robe had all been captured and refined by Big Brother Zhao himself; she had never done it once.

Cui Ya’s legs trembled uncontrollably from fatigue. She stared at the girl and asked slowly, "You are not from the Southern Wilderness Province?"

The girl’s almond eyes lit up at the question. She cleared her throat and lowered her legs from the table.

"I am a Demon Suppressor of the Demon Suppression Division! By the Emperor’s decree, I capture demons across all provinces to restore a clear and bright sky to the Twelve Provinces!" The girl stood solemnly on the table, her voice filled with dramatic emotion as she gazed at Cui Ya.

Cui Ya looked up at her in silence. Even though she held no affection for the Imperial Court, she remained quiet. She knew this girl had saved her life. The girl’s graceful demeanor, her exquisite clothing, and the mysterious techniques she displayed all made it clear that her background was extraordinary.

She was a savior, and yet, someone Cui Ya could not afford to offend.

The girl blinked at the silent woman. *Did my sudden outburst scare her?* She had been busy chasing the demon, sleeping in the wild, and rarely encountered someone who took the initiative to talk to her.

Fan Xianyue was not about to let this chance to introduce herself go to waste. It had taken an immense amount of effort for her to become a Demon Suppressor, all so that one day she could stand on a mountain peak just like Big Brother Zhao and say those exact words to a throng of petty demons.

*A clear and bright sky...*

A mocking whisper echoed in Cui Ya’s heart, though her expression remained unchanged. She turned away in silence, biting her lip to endure the dizziness and crushing fatigue, and began to walk, step by step, toward the tavern exit.

Fan Xianyue blinked, watching the woman walk away. This was not at all how she had imagined it would go. By all rights, the woman should have been filled with awe and gratitude, offering her most precious treasure as a reward, which she would then modestly decline.

*She didn't offer me her most precious treasure, and on top of that, there isn't a shred of gratitude on her face?*

*Could she be one of those ungrateful, cold-hearted people the Division warns about? How detestable! How could the one person I saved turn out to be like this?*

Fan Xianyue pouted, jumping down from the table and hanging a string of copper bells and the green gourd at her waist. Curiously, even though the bells bumped against each other, they made not a single sound.

"You have spiritual trauma! The moment you step out of this tavern, even the most common jackals or foxes in the forest could tear your throat out," Fan Xianyue said, hands on her hips, blocking Cui Ya’s path with an indignant glare.

Cui Ya clutched her forehead, looked up at the girl, and said softly, "I thank you for your kindness, but there is no need to trouble such a great person as yourself."

"Why are you being so difficult? Where are you going? I’ll take you there!" Fan Xianyue ignored the sarcasm dripping from Cui Ya’s tone and insisted, still looking quite vexed.

Cui Ya reached out, her hand trembling as she braced herself against a table to keep from collapsing. Her heavy breathing and the erratic thumping of her heart reminded her of one thing: this was not the time to be stubborn.

"To Fufeng Temple on Wufeng Mountain, to seek an elixir," Cui Ya said, looking at Fan Xianyue.

Her vision was darkening, and the girl’s figure was blurring into multiple images. A piercing headache made her feel as if her skull were splitting open.

"Where is that?" Fan Xianyue asked.

Cui Ya used her remaining strength to point toward the northeast. "Follow this path for about fifty miles," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

As soon as she finished, she could no longer hold on and collapsed to the floor.