Breaking the Precept

Seven days later, Zhan Tianxiang finally regained consciousness and found a heavily made-up woman staring at him from the bedside.

He froze momentarily, using spiritual energy to communicate: "Xiaolou?"

"I'm here."

Zhan Tianxiang sighed in relief and attempted to sit up, only to find his body weak and aching.

"Don't move just yet," the woman said softly.

"Did you save me, senior?" Zhan Tianxiang asked, his expression cautious. He did not recognize her, nor did he know that she was renowned as the most dangerous woman in Southern Lingzhou.

The woman smiled faintly. "I suppose so. I merely brought you back here. The demonic poison in your body wasn't something I could resolve—it was your own willpower that resisted it."

Zhan Tianxiang frowned. "Demonic poison?"

She nodded. "Those monks from Southern Lingzhou went to exterminate demons, but who knows what they stirred up? The Demon Calabash has emerged…"

Zhan Tianxiang looked confused. "Demon Calabash?"

Though Zhan Tianxiang knew nothing about the Divine Wood Vine and the three calabashes, Jian Xiaolou, within him, was shocked. She realized that the corrosive green miasma in the pit must have come from the Demon Calabash, an artifact with the power to corrupt purity into filth.

But why had its miasma leaked out? The calabashes were supposed to function passively.

The woman at his bedside rose gracefully and walked to the window, her movements sinuous like a serpent. She looked back at him with a smile. "You're a descendant of the Zhan family from Eastern Immortal Domain, aren't you?"

Zhan Tianxiang was momentarily stunned but nodded.

"How is Zhan Yingxiong related to you?"

"He's my grandfather."

The woman seemed momentarily lost in thought. "Your direct bloodline… No wonder you look so much like him when he was young."

Despite his physical weakness, Zhan Tianxiang forced himself upright. "You knew my grandfather? He left nearly a century ago in search of a path to deification. I've never met him."

The woman laughed softly, covering her mouth with a slender hand. "Know him? If I hadn't run away, you'd probably be calling me grandmother."

Both Zhan Tianxiang and Jian Xiaolou were struck dumb.

When Zhan Tianxiang regained his composure, he ventured cautiously, "Senior, are you Qin Mingsha, the disciple of North Immortal Domain's Heavenly Dao Sect?"

Her expression flickered. "Qin Mingsha… I haven't heard that name in a long time."

Within Zhan Tianxiang, Jian Xiaolou was intrigued. "Long Legs, do you know her?"

Zhan Tianxiang's tone was complicated. "Not personally, but she's a household name."

The name "Qin Mingsha" was a taboo in the Zhan family, tied to an infamous chapter in their history involving Zhan Yingxiong, Zhan Tianxiang's grandfather.

Zhan Yingxiong had been the pride of the Zhan family, but his life had been marred by a scandal. At the height of a demonic invasion, he had fallen in love with Qin Mingsha, a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect. Against his family's wishes, he declared he would marry her or renounce his lineage.

Their union had been celebrated, only for the wedding night to end in disaster. Qin Mingsha was abducted by a mysterious demon, leaving Zhan Yingxiong humiliated and broken.

Though he eventually rebuilt his life, the event left an indelible mark on the Zhan family's history.

Hearing Qin Mingsha's name again, Zhan Tianxiang struggled to process the connection. He hastily thanked the woman for saving him and prepared to leave, only to be met with more enigmatic remarks and revelations about the Demon Calabash's emergence.

Meanwhile, Jian Xiaolou urged him to hurry back to Kasyapa Temple to report the developments, while Zhan Tianxiang sought out Li Jianzhao, guided by the spiritual tracking array he had placed earlier.

Their separate paths would soon converge again, as the turbulence surrounding the Demon Calabash began to engulf Southern Lingzhou, drawing in powers from across the land—and beyond.