Chapter 91: Common Knowledge of Spiritual Healers

When Ji Li woke up, she realized that the one who had saved her was a human spiritual healer. The healer’s medical skills were extraordinary—she had not only saved Ji Li, but had also treated her eldest brother, Ji Chen. Unfortunately, before Ji Li had the chance to meet her, she heard that the healer had already left the demon realm. Soon after, the news spread that her father, the Demon King, had publicly announced his intention to marry this healer and make her his queen. Later, her father was inexplicably severely injured, and Ji Li quarreled with him in anger. In a fit of rage, she ran away from the demon realm, so she had no idea what had happened afterward.

It wasn’t until Yun Jiao suddenly appeared—someone who not only knew who she was but also knew that she had lost her inner core—that Ji Li began to piece things together. And coincidentally, Yun Jiao was also a spiritual healer. Ji Li had rarely ever left the demon realm; the only two times she had, she’d escaped in secret. The number of mortals she knew was extremely limited, so it wasn’t hard to guess Yun Jiao’s identity.

In Ji Li’s mind, the woman her father wanted to marry would naturally become the queen of the demon realm—and thus, her mother. No problem there!

And since Yun Jiao had even saved that silly snake, calling her “Mother” felt completely natural!

However, the expressions of everyone present instantly darkened. Especially the four exorcists nearby—who all turned their heads sharply toward Yun Jiao, faces full of dawning realization and shock. Their expressions clearly said: So that’s your taste, fellow cultivator? Quite… bold.

“You’ve got the wrong person!” Yun Jiao’s face darkened with exasperation. What kind of situation is this supposed to be?

“But you—” The cat demon Ji Li tried to explain.

“I’m not!”

“But my brother said—”

“No!”

“You clearly—”

“Little cat demon, stop calling me that!”

“…” Ji Li still wanted to say more.

Then, someone who had been quietly munching on biscuits suddenly stepped forward and said coldly, “Let’s stew her.”

“Ah?” Yun Jiao froze, but quickly grabbed that person back and said, “Wait a second!”

They hadn’t even figured out what was going on yet!

“Then braise her in soy sauce!” the person suggested smoothly.

“No, she—”

“Steam her? Stir-fry?”

“That’s not—!”

This isn’t about cooking methods! Yun Jiao almost exploded. And what are you even angry about all of a sudden?!

Ye Yuan’s expression only grew darker. For some reason, he felt incredibly irritated. His eyes, when turned toward the cat demon, were so cold they could practically cut.

It seemed the Demon King’s earlier punishment had been far too lenient—these beasts, one after another, all wanted to steal away his little disciple.

Ji Li suddenly felt a wave of murderous intent surge toward her, so oppressive it nearly suffocated her. She shuddered instinctively, swallowing back the words that had reached her lips. This man is terrifying!

And that confirmed it—he definitely wasn’t her brother.

Meanwhile, the snake demon beside her finally regained consciousness. Slowly opening his eyes, he murmured, “P… Princess?”

“Silly snake! Silly snake, how are you?” Ji Li froze for a moment, then anxiously leaned forward.

“I’m fine…” The snake demon instinctively replied, but as soon as his gaze swept across the people surrounding them, his expression changed drastically. He struggled to sit up, pushing Ji Li behind him protectively, and said tensely, “Princess, run! These people are dangerous!”

“Don’t move!”

His sudden motion tore open his wounds again, and blood spurted out immediately.

Ji Li panicked, pressing on the wound to stop the bleeding, and instinctively turned to Yun Jiao. “Moth—”

“I—am—called—Yun—Jiao!” she interrupted, enunciating each word clearly.

If Ji Li didn’t call her “Mother,” maybe they could still be friends!

“Spiritual Healer Yun…” Ji Li obediently changed her address, then turned back to the snake demon. “Don’t move. Spiritual Healer Yun is the one who saved me before. She’s not a bad person.”

The snake demon froze, looking uncertain.

Yun Jiao, however, stepped forward directly, inserted two needles, and stopped the bleeding. After glancing at the two pitiful-looking demons, she finally asked in a serious tone,

“Then tell me—since you didn’t kidnap the village children, why are you hiding in this mountain?”

Ji Li’s expression faltered. She lowered her head, as if recalling something painful, her face growing pale.

The snake demon beside her looked down, eyes dark with pity. He took a deep breath and faced the group.

“It was me! I’m the one who locked the princess inside this secret realm—and I’m the one who trapped those people. She knew nothing about it!” He turned and looked at the four exorcists opposite them, who had all grown gaunt from hunger.

“Silly snake!” Ji Li cried anxiously.

But the snake demon continued firmly, “If you want to fight or kill, come for me. It has nothing to do with the princess!”

“Then why did you imprison her here?” Yun Jiao pressed.

The snake demon fell silent, glancing at Ji Li, lips parting slightly—but in the end, he said nothing. Instead, he urged, “Kill me if you must. Just let the princess go. Do whatever you want with me.”

“Silly snake!” Ji Li’s voice trembled. “This has nothing to do with you, I—”

“It’s because of that soul contract, isn’t it?” Yun Jiao interrupted suddenly.

Both of them froze, staring at her in disbelief. How could she know?

“Ji Li, the contract mark on that Young Master Qi—was it you who placed it?”

Ji Li’s eyes reddened. Knowing she couldn’t hide it anymore, she nodded. “Yes… it was me.”

Her face was full of guilt. “I didn’t mean to harm him. I just didn’t think it through at the time… I’ll go remove it right now!”

“Princess, no!” The snake demon’s face went pale. “You just recovered from serious injuries and lost your inner core. If you forcibly revoke the contract, the backlash will kill you. I… I won’t let you go to him! And besides, he’s not even a good—”

“Shut up!” Ji Li suddenly snapped, glaring at him angrily. “I won’t let you say that about him! He… he didn’t mean to hurt me. It was my fault for dragging him into this!”

“Princess, why are you still so blinded?” The snake demon’s eyes filled with pain. “What kind of good person could take your inner core? He’s been lying to you all along!”

“No! He wouldn’t…” Ji Li shook her head desperately, refusing to accept it. Her face grew even paler.

“Wait, hold on!” Yun Jiao finally cut in, looking from one to the other. “So you’re saying… the one who took Ji Li’s inner core was that Young Master Qi?”

“He tricked her into giving it to him!” the snake demon said furiously, eyes blazing with anger.

“He had no choice,” Ji Li still insisted stubbornly. “His father was gravely ill—he needed my core to survive. So I… I gave it willingly!”

“Princess, that’s a lie!” the snake demon said through gritted teeth.

“It’s not!” Ji Li shook her head again, her tone frantic. “I saw it myself—his father was sick! And because I didn’t undo the contract in time, he fell even more seriously ill. It’s all my fault!”

“That’s because he took your core first! That’s why you were gravely injured!” The snake demon grew more and more agitated, looking as though he wanted to shake sense into her but couldn’t bring himself to touch her. “The contract’s backlash only happened because he miscalculated. He’s been using you all along!”

“I don’t believe you!” Ji Li declared, her naïve expression stubborn as ever.

“But he really—”

“Don’t you dare say another word about him! Or—or I’ll never speak to you again!”

Then she covered her ears, refusing to listen.

“Princess…”

As the two looked ready to dive into a full-blown melodramatic scene of ‘I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen!’, Yun Jiao couldn’t take it anymore.

“Uh—excuse me, can I cut in?” she said at last. “I don’t care about your tragic romance, but I think it’s time someone taught you some basic medical common sense.”

Her expression turned serious as she pointed at Ji Li. “Did you forget that you’re a demon? Your inner core is a demon core. It’s fundamentally incompatible with human physiology—it’s rejected by the human system. Using a demon core as medicine would only make a human die faster. Got it?”

Please don’t spread pseudo-medical nonsense in front of a healer. Thank you!

Ji Li: “…”

Snake demon: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

(End of chapter)