I don't talk about love with my Martial Sister

Chapter 52

The unmasked threat in Shang Can's words made Qin Yi's expression stiffen. After a moment, she regained her smile, speaking in a soothing tone, "No need to rush."

"It's been so long," she deliberately let her gaze sweep slowly from Shang Can's feet to her head, "Shouldn't we catch up first? I've been thinking about you... every moment of these past years."

Seeing Shang Can's disgusted frown, Qin Yi wasn't offended. She continued the conversation, unbothered.

"You know, those dozen or so people I had with me back then," she gestured casually to the collapsing pavilion still burning in the flames, "All of them died at your hands."

Her tone was light, as though she wasn't speaking of hatred but making casual conversation.

"..." Shang Can pressed her lips together and asked in a low voice, "But you didn't die. What... exactly are you now?"

"That's an awfully rude question." Qin Yi briefly furrowed her brows but then waved it off with a forgiving gesture. "But it's fine, I'm in a good mood right now."

"I'm not entirely sure myself," she said nonchalantly, glancing at her hand. Shang Can watched it disappear and reappear in a flash. "I guess I'm... half-ghost?"

"...Impossible."

Shang Can paused for a moment, then firmly denied, "There's no such thing as 'half' in this world. Different species can't mix—"

"That's true, normally."

"Whether it's human, ghost, or demon, they're all pureblooded."

Qin Yi nodded with a smile, suddenly turning expressionless as she continued, "But here I am, looking like this without being dead. So, what else could I be?"

"..."

Shang Can had no words, and Qin Yi's tone grew sharper. "Since the day you burned me alive, I've been stuck in this ghostly form—and now you're asking me what I am? Who am I supposed to ask?"

As Qin Yi's words fell, the surrounding scenery dissolved like smoke, leaving only the two of them in a chaotic, misty space.

Perhaps amused by Shang Can's silent, furrowed brow, Qin Yi's previously aggressive demeanor softened. She smiled, "I've become something neither human nor ghost, forced to hide wherever I go."

"And then you became the demon cultivator Can Zhe—heh, isn't that funny?"

Qin Yi let out a soft, cold laugh. "If I had known you were going to attend the Tianwaitian Dao Conference, I should have..."

Shang Can's expression tightened, and she interrupted, "Is the Dao Heart Lotus in your possession?"

"Yes," Qin Yi admitted openly, nodding. "The legendary Dao Heart Lotus, said to revive the dead and regrow flesh on bones—I thought maybe it could help with this form of mine."

"Do you want it too?"

She looked Shang Can up and down with a knowing glance and nodded, "I see, with the state you're in now, if you don't find a solution, you won't survive for a few more months, will you?"

Shang Can scoffed disdainfully and ignored her, mentally calculating her next move. Since Qin Yi was so straightforward about having the Dao Heart Lotus, she likely didn't have it on her now. And for some reason, she seemed unusually chatty—perhaps Shang Can could coax more information out of her.

There was also Yun Duan. If Qin Yi had been lurking around ever since they entered the Underworld, did she...?

Shang Can's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sudden, unbearable pain in her chest. Clashing waves of cold and heat surged through her meridians, wreaking havoc within her body like a fierce battle. She felt a warmth in her throat and violently coughed up blood.