Inside the Sacred Hall built of Black Demon Rock, upon a throne forged from swords and bones, sat a woman, sensual and casual. She wore a half mask of gold-threaded jade tassels, and a dark red long dress whose hem spread across the floor, echoing her dark red eyes. She exuded a fatal danger, like a rose on the verge of withering amid ruins, elegant yet decadent.
Her long, fair fingers danced lightly. A wisp of black smoke slowly drifted out, coiling around the captive kneeling below the hall. In an instant, the black smoke turned into black flames that burned fiercely, and screams resounded throughout the entire Sacred Hall.
“I’ll talk… I’ll talk… they…”
“Don’t want to hear.” A languid sentence instantly drew the end of a life.
The figure was swallowed by black flames until it turned into ashes.
A demon hurried forward at the hall entrance to report.
“Lord Saintess, the Demon Lord Love Demon has already set out.”
“Oh? This time she’s actually so cooperative?” The Saintess’s voice carried a half-smile.
At the side, silver bells rang as Le Xi bounced out. “Older Sister, is something wrong?”
“There is indeed a bit of a problem.”
“Older Sister doesn’t need to worry. When she arrives, I’ll go receive her and see whether there really is a problem.” Le Xi said proudly. “If she still doesn’t behave this time, she can forget about ever leaving again. Anyone who causes trouble for older sister will all have to disappear.”
The Saintess slightly curved her red lips and smiled. “Very good.”
Soon, the Saintess’s expression turned cold again. “Shadow Demon.”
“Your subordinate is here!” A black shadow spread out from the dark shadows within the hall, gradually forming into a human shape.
“What about the rats that snuck into the Sacred Hall?”
“Your subordinate…” Before the words could be spoken, black flames ignited beneath his feet. Startled, the Shadow Demon instantly melted into the ground, turning into a puddle, trembling with fear. “Your subordinate will definitely find them, going now, going now.”
After speaking, seeing that the Saintess no longer reacted, he immediately flowed out of the palace.
At this moment, a woman dressed in black, carrying a heavy sword on her back, was silently moving through the corners of the vast Sacred Hall, as if searching for something.
Very quickly, she found a room where people were being held.
……
A traveling convoy capable of covering a thousand li a day, within a luxurious carriage, sat four people, one cat, and one dragon.
The Love Demon leaned against soft cushions, sunk in a deep sleep, watched over by Three Bean. Gu Baiqing and Ao Heng guarded Mo Xuanli and Si Chun as they absorbed spirit crystals.
That’s right, not only had they kidnapped the Love Demon, they had also conveniently taken away the treasures swept from the cultivation world in the Love Demon’s palace, among which they discovered top-grade elemental spirit crystals.
Mo Xuanli absorbed wind and fire elements. Si Chun happened to be a water element. Along with some spirit pills, during the journey to the Sacred Hall, they absorbed spiritual energy like crazy within the barrier.
Very soon, Si Chun’s cultivation broke through.
Mo Xuanli’s cultivation progress also advanced quite a bit, nearing the middle stage.
When they were almost at the Sacred Hall, the two also stopped cultivating.
The three people sat together, discussing what to do next.
Once they entered the range of the Sacred Hall, Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli would continue accompanying the Love Demon into the Sacred Hall, on one hand helping the external rescue team keep an eye on the movements of the demon race, delaying time if necessary, and on the other hand searching for the fragments, while also guarding against the possibility that Qian Yue was not imprisoned together with them.
Si Chun, meanwhile, would take the Demon Lord Token to rendezvous with the others and rescue the hostages.
Their original plan had been to rescue the hostages and immediately activate a teleportation array on the spot to send everyone away. Because the number of people was large, the teleportation array would certainly be enormous, and the commotion would definitely be noticed throughout the entire Sacred Hall domain. At that time, Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing would also seize the opportunity to come and meet up with them.
As they discussed things this way, the group had already entered the Sacred Hall domain. The dense demonic aura made both Gu Baiqing and Si Chun feel rather uncomfortable.
“Master…” Mo Xuanli looked at Gu Baiqing worriedly.
Gu Baiqing looked at Mo Xuanli, but discovered that the color of Mo Xuanli’s pupils seemed to have changed somewhat. It seemed that being in such an environment still had quite a big impact on him.
“Take care of yourself.” Gu Baiqing frowned.
Mo Xuanli instantly understood what he meant and immediately became vigilant about the changes in his mental state.
Just as they were speaking, the group suddenly came to a halt.
The three of them instantly became alert. Along with the sound of silver bells dancing, and the faint rustling of insects crawling in hidden places, Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli immediately had a guess in their hearts.
Sure enough, not long after, they heard a young girl’s voice.
“Step aside. Don’t you see who I am? You dare block me?”
Le Xi seemed to have come into conflict with the guards of the group.
Three Bean immediately controlled the Love Demon to wake up, weaving an illusion to deal with her.
“Little girl Le Xi, why are you blocking my carriage?” the Love Demon spoke.
“Of course I’ve come on orders to escort you.”
“Then just lead the way ahead. Don’t disturb me and my beloved.”
“Just checking, after all the situation is tense right now.” Le Xi said playfully as she spoke, while flying through the air toward the carriage.
Le Xi’s sudden arrival was something they had not anticipated. Since that was the case, they could only pretend to be lovers and cooperate for the moment.
So when Le Xi rudely lifted the curtain of the carriage, what she saw was the Love Demon accompanied by two handsome men, one on each side, with maids waiting on her nearby. The Love Demon said impatiently, “How rude. Little girl, it’s only out of respect for the Saintess that I’m not striking you. Get out!”
Le Xi snorted coldly, her gaze carefully sweeping over them. She still felt that something was off, but she was still preparing to lower the curtain and leave.
However, the gu insects acting together with her discovered Three Bean hidden behind a bolster, and were accidentally crushed to death by one of Three Bean’s unconscious steps.
Le Xi instantly sensed something wrong, turned back and looked again. Only then did she remember, “No, Love Demon, don’t you believe in single-minded devotion? How could you possibly bring two lovers at the same time? You…”
Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli were about to make a move immediately.
But in the next second, the Love Net flew out from the Love Demon’s hand.
Under the astonished gazes of the three people in the carriage, the Love Demon started fighting with Le Xi.
Because they saw two Demon Lords fighting, the accompanying demon race all watched the excitement and jeered.
The three immediately looked at Three Bean. Three Bean said in shock, “Not me… she just broke free from my illusion.”
Everyone’s expressions changed, but with the two demons fighting, they naturally would not suddenly intervene. They only watched warily, guessing in their hearts what exactly was going on with the Love Demon.
In terms of combat strength, the Love Demon and the Gu Demon were evenly matched, but the Love Demon had one advantage. Any girl who had stirred mortal feelings, as long as she touched the Love Net, no matter how powerful, would be affected, especially those who had not yet formed a bonded pair.
No one knew who this girl had feelings for, but very quickly she was wrapped up by the Love Net, encased in a huge ball of red threads, completely trapped, with no further movement.
All the demons began cheering for their Demon Lord.
The Love Demon, however, flew back again before the people behind her could make a move.
The moment she stepped into the carriage, Mo Xuanli’s sword was already at her neck.
For a moment, no one inside the carriage spoke.
Until the Love Demon smiled and said, “Weave a bit more illusion for me.”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The Love Demon lazily sat down, told those outside to continue on their way, and didn’t care about the Gu Demon left by the roadside, nor about the sharp blade at her neck. “You still need me to blend into the Sacred Hall, so don’t point a sword at me. I’m very willing to cooperate with you. After all, what the Saintess wants to do, I don’t want to do.”
Mo Xuanli hesitated for a moment and looked at Gu Baiqing. Gu Baiqing nodded, and only then did Mo Xuanli lower his sword.
“You’re actually not hostile to us?” Si Chun asked.
“You are certainly my enemies, but I don’t want anything to happen to these two.” The Love Demon looked at Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing and said, “You are the only people I’ve ever seen who could light up that room. I don’t want such feelings to disappear from this world. So you’d better be able to escape safely.”
Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli looked confused. Si Chun coughed lightly and explained. Mo Xuanli reacted and couldn’t help happily glancing at his Master, but Gu Baiqing awkwardly reddened and then said uncomfortably, “Just for that kind of reason?”
“For us Love Demons, isn’t that the most important reason?” The Love Demon said. “But I’m not betraying the Demon Realm either. I just don’t want to become a point of conflict. If I come, it’s equivalent to betraying those Demon Lords. If I don’t come, the Saintess might target the weakest me. But if I’m forced to come, then both sides have an explanation. You should be here to rescue the hostages, right? I also hope you take the hostages away and ruin the Saintess’s plan. That way our days can be a bit easier.”
“A bit easier? What the Saintess is doing should be the same as the previous Demon Venerable. Why don’t you support her?” Mo Xuanli asked.
“She’s a mixed-blood. Who knows what she really wants to do? If it weren’t for having a bit of blood relation with the previous Demon Venerable, who would acknowledge her as Saintess at all!” the Love Demon said impatiently.
As soon as these words came out, both Gu Baiqing’s and Si Chun’s expressions changed, becoming incomparably shocked.
“Mixed-blood?”
The Love Demon didn’t really care that she had let slip such an explosive piece of news. After all, to the demon realm this was nothing more than common knowledge. “Yeah, a mixed-blood demon race that evolved. Otherwise, why would so many people refuse to accept her? Not pure-blood, naturally we wouldn’t easily acknowledge her as our lord. Fortunately she’s fairly smart; she only calls herself Saintess and doesn’t claim to be Demon Venerable.”
Gu Baiqing frowned slightly. It seemed that mixed-bloods were suspected wherever they went. Even if they evolved into demons, in the eyes of true demons they would still be questioned as to whether they genuinely acted for the development of the demon realm, always feared to betray it at any moment. Compared to demonic cultivators, mixed-bloods were even less welcome, because demonic cultivators represented those who had already betrayed the cultivation world and thus had presented a pledge of allegiance, but mixed-bloods evolved on their own, which didn’t count.
Gu Baiqing felt a sigh in his heart and looked toward Mo Xuanli, only to see Mo Xuanli’s face pale, his expression dazed, showing signs of an unstable state of mind.
Gu Baiqing reached out and gently grasped Mo Xuanli’s hand, only to feel it ice-cold to the touch.
His pupils shrinking because of his Master’s touch, Mo Xuanli turned to look at Gu Baiqing, and in his eyes there appeared a trace of panic and disbelief.
Gu Baiqing showed concern, but Mo Xuanli quickly steadied himself, or rather, pretended to steady himself. Acting as if nothing had happened, he merely tightened the hand intertwined with Gu Baiqing’s.
Si Chun did not notice the situation here and directly asked the Love Demon, “Could it be the previous Demon Venerable’s daughter?”
“Don’t know, anyway there’s Demon Venerable bloodline.” The Love Demon said unhurriedly. “So for now I won’t be hostile toward you, nor will I leak any other intelligence to you. You can just treat it as continuing to hold me hostage. I don’t like immortal–demon wars; I just want to peacefully fall in love in my city-state, or watch other people’s love stories. Come on, continue weaving illusions for me, carry on the story from just now.”
Si Chun twitched at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Three Bean. “What on earth did you let her see?”
Three Bean looked utterly innocent. “Just an illusion woven from Master’s and Xuanli’s experiences.” All very normal scenes.
Yet the Love Demon looked like she was about to sink into a beautiful dream and savor it.
After that, she really did obediently allow Three Bean to draw her into the illusion.
Very soon, the group approached the location of the Water Curtain Prison. Si Chun quietly got off the carriage and separated from the two of them.
Only at this moment did Gu Baiqing speak. “Xuanli, what’s wrong?”
Mo Xuanli froze, then turned and tightly hugged Gu Baiqing. “Master, I… I’m afraid… I’m afraid I know that Saintess. I… I’m not sure. She should be dead, clearly. Maybe I’m thinking too much. After all, it’s just a blood relationship, who knows who it is? Maybe it’s not who I’m thinking of…”
As Mo Xuanli spoke, he became more and more flustered, words spilling out chaotically, babbling incoherently, as if his usually sharp thinking had fallen into complete disorder.
Dead people couldn’t possibly come back to life. If she were still alive… was the one in the demon realm targeting him, her? Did she still hate him? Still want him dead? Then why not just go and kill him outright? Why take such a roundabout route, yet not want his life? So it wasn’t her?
Gu Baiqing’s pupils shrank as he listened. How could that be? Mo Xuanli had never been to the demon realm, and in the past had always been hunted down, he didn’t even know other mixed-bloods at all.
“Who do you think it is?” Gu Baiqing asked.
Mo Xuanli fell silent instead, as if it were the one thing he least wanted to bring up. His body couldn’t stop trembling slightly. Gu Baiqing could feel the changes in his chest, as if he had tried several times to draw breath and speak, only for it to always get stuck in his throat.
Gu Baiqing’s heart ached unbearably. Naturally, he hugged Mo Xuanli and said, “If you don’t want to say it, then don’t. It’s okay. Anyway, our goal is to avoid running into the Saintess, safely complete the rescue and fragment-search mission. If you don’t want to face it, then we won’t face it. We’ll just make sure this mission is completed.”
Afraid to face it, unwilling to remember, then pretend not to know.
There was no need to force oneself to confront or recount pain. Wounds were best left unopened; with time, they would be completely forgotten.
Mo Xuanli loosened his hold on Gu Baiqing, his eyes full of unease and guilt. “Master, I’m not trying to hide it from you. I want to tell you… I…”
Gu Baiqing looked at Mo Xuanli. His face had grown even paler, fine sweat actually beading on his forehead. It was clearly a mental barrier. What kind of harm must he have suffered to be like this? Gu Baiqing didn’t dare imagine it, it must have been bad memories.
But Mo Xuanli was afraid Gu Baiqing would be unhappy, afraid Gu Baiqing would think he was concealing matters of his origins. So he desperately wanted to break through the barrier, wanted to tell his Master everything about himself, leaving nothing hidden. But the moment he tried to speak, his throat tightened.
Just as Mo Xuanli’s whole body tensed, the veins in his neck about to bulge, suddenly his lips met something soft, carrying the sweet fragrance of cold plum blossoms, refreshing to the heart and lungs. Mo Xuanli’s taut emotions instantly softened. He lowered his gaze to the immortal before him, his heart stirring as he hugged tighter, feeling the other’s initiative even more return the embrace, the kiss deepening, as if wanting to kiss little by little into his soul, soothing his heart.
Gradually, his world settled down, all wounds once again buried beneath sweetness.
When the person before him pulled back, Mo Xuanli’s eyes were already hazy. “Master?” Mo Xuanli couldn’t help sounding clingy, wanting to chase after him and continue kissing.
But Gu Baiqing comfortingly kissed his brow. In a soft voice, he coaxed, “Xuanli, don’t think about unhappy things. Just think about me. Be good, listen.”
Little Mo-dog was easy to coax. He immediately curved his lips into a smile, hugged Gu Baiqing tightly, and said, “Mm.”
That’s right, no matter who it was, it didn’t matter. As long as he had his Master, that was enough. His world only needed his Master.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it!
But… when Mo Xuanli was holding Gu Baiqing, he opened his eyes, and the red in his pupils still changed.
Gu Baiqing naturally also heard the increase in demonic transformation value, but it wasn’t much. Gu Baiqing took it to be due to his emotional fluctuations just now and didn’t interfere further, letting him digest it and calm down.
At this time, through the curtain they could see black buildings appearing in the distance emanating thick demonic aura.
The Sacred Hall of the demon realm had arrived.
And Gu Baiqing finally received a new task.
【Fourth Quest, Task 2: Destroy the Demon God Crystal, smoothly advance to mid-stage Soul Transformation. Key reminder: There is a risk of demonic transformation.】
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