Chapter 192: Source of the Black Energy

Yun Jiao’s heart sank slightly. She first stopped the bleeding on the boy’s leg, cleaned more than a dozen minor wounds on his body, then hesitated a bit. The boy’s injuries were indeed severe, but most were old wounds—for example, the strange angle of his right leg showed the bone had been broken for at least half a month. The more urgent issue was his right hand, which seemed to have been dislocated just recently and needed to be reset as soon as possible. However, his body was so frail that she wasn’t sure he could endure it.

After some thought, she took out a pain-blocking talisman and said solemnly, “Little one, I’m going to set your hand back in place. Hold on to this talisman, or it’s going to hurt a lot.”

The boy, however, showed no reaction at all.

Yun Jiao had no choice but to activate the talisman herself, placing it into his other palm before helping him reset the joint. She couldn’t tell whether it was because the talisman took effect or because the child simply no longer cared about pain—his dull eyes stayed fixed on the pitch-black sky, as lifeless as a soulless shell.

Yun Jiao sighed softly. It was clear this child had no desire to live. After thinking for a moment, she pulled out a paper packet, pinched out a soft, white, round fluff of candy, and held it out to him. “Cotton candy—want some?”

The boy’s eyes finally flickered with a hint of reaction. He froze for a moment, staring blankly at the candy in front of him, then slowly turned his head toward Yun Jiao. Yet he didn’t reach out, his gaze empty and confused.

“It’s candy, it’s sweet,” she explained gently, eating one herself to show him.

The boy still didn’t take it, only continued to stare at her blankly.

With another sigh, Yun Jiao wrapped up the paper packet and tucked it into the hand that held the talisman. “Hold on to it.”

Only then did his gaze shift to the paper packet in his palm, though he still didn’t move.

Meanwhile, the villagers were growing increasingly agitated. Even though Chang Yang had explained that the illness plaguing the villagers had been traced to a cause, and that they were here to cure the sick and investigate further, few believed him.

Someone shouted angrily, “So what if you can cure it? As long as that cursed child remains, more misfortune will come to our village!”

The moment those words fell, the crowd ignored the healers entirely and surged forward, reaching for the child on the ground.

The spirit healers were caught off guard and shoved aside. Just then, the boy who had been lying motionless suddenly sat up, dodging a villager’s grasp. He clutched his left hand tightly to his chest, curling up as if trying to protect something precious with his thin little body.

But it was useless—another villager suddenly lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of the boy’s hair and yanking hard, trying to drag him away. The boy, wincing from the pain, let out a hoarse cry. It sounded as though his voice had not been used in a long time—raw, broken, and chilling to hear.

More alarming still, as he cried out, a surge of black energy erupted from his body, sweeping straight toward that villager—and also toward one of the nearby spirit healers.

Yun Jiao’s face changed drastically. “Be careful! Get back!”

But it was already too late. She barely managed to pull the healer aside—he had just been fixing the boy’s splint and, when dragged away by Yun Jiao, tumbled backward in a roll, narrowly escaping the black energy’s reach.

The villager, however, was not so fortunate. The black mist lunged at him and drilled straight into his body.

“AHHH!” the man screamed, clutching his head as he fell to the ground, rolling violently and wailing in agony. Each scream was more pitiful than the last.

“Get back!” Yun Jiao shouted urgently.

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone. They stared blankly at the man writhing on the ground.

“This… this is just like Zhao Erniu when he got sick! He’s been cursed by the disaster star too!” someone cried out. The villagers immediately turned pale; even the tools in their hands began to tremble.

“Run!” someone yelled.

The crowd that had moments ago been shouting for blood now threw down their farm tools and bolted back toward the village in panic. In an instant, they were gone, leaving only the healers behind.

The disciples of the Medical Valley remained where they were—they were cultivators of the Mystical Sect and could not retreat.

The black aura around the boy grew thicker. He crouched low again, his small body engulfed in swirling black mist that seemed ready to explode outward.

At that moment, Ye Yuan—who had been silent all along—stepped forward. He raised a finger and lightly tapped the boy’s forehead.

Instantly, the black aura surrounding the child dispersed completely, fading into nothingness along with all traces of it in the air, as if it had never existed.

Ye Yuan then withdrew his hand and turned to Yun Jiao, the meaning clear in his eyes: It’s done.

“Thank you, Ance—” She stopped herself halfway through the title and quickly corrected, “Thank you for the hard work.” (The kind that deserves an extra meal.)

Chang Yang, still pale, looked worried. “Daoist Yun, what was that just now…?” The thick black aura alone had chilled them to the bone just by sight.

“It was demonic energy,” Yun Jiao confirmed firmly. “But it’s been dealt with.”

Chang Yang finally let out a breath of relief, then turned his gaze to the small boy still crouching on the ground. His brows furrowed deeply. “Then this child… could he be a demon?”

“He shouldn’t be,” Yun Jiao shook her head. The Grandmaster had said there were no demons in this village—so the boy wasn’t one. But the demonic energy earlier had undoubtedly come from him.

She stepped closer, studying the child carefully, but couldn’t make sense of it.

The boy, still curled up tightly, trembled slightly when he sensed her approach. He turned his head just enough to glance at her, as if confirming something. Then, slowly, he raised the left hand he’d been guarding under his belly and held it out toward her.

In his small, trembling palm lay the paper packet she had given him—the one now flattened and wrinkled. His cracked, hoarse little voice rasped out softly, “Ah…”

Yun Jiao froze. That’s… the cotton candy I gave him? So the thing he had fought so desperately to protect was this?

Even the cultivators around her felt their hearts twist painfully at the sight. The poor child.

Yun Jiao didn’t take the packet. She gently shook her head. “No need.”

The boy’s small hand trembled, and the faint light in his eyes dimmed again.

She took out another small packet of candy, placing it in his nearly withdrawn hand and taking away the flattened paper one. “Cotton candy isn’t good once it’s squished. Take this instead.”

The boy froze for a moment, then the light returned to his eyes. He let out another soft “ah,” as if trying to thank her, but he couldn’t form a full word. He just nodded slightly and carefully tucked the candies back against his chest, holding them close like a treasure.

Yun Jiao: “…”

Chang Yang: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

There was no way this child could be a demon!

(End of Chapter)