Chapter 66: How the Monster Beast Demons Were Created |
[November 25, 2023]...
The cave had been silent for a long time when Shěn Lí suddenly remembered something and asked. “I almost forgot, but there was a man in black serving under Fú Shēng who fell along with us. What happened to him?”
Startled, Xíng Zhǐ shook his head and spoke with a smile. “Shěn Lí, despite living for so long, this is my first time meeting a woman who can turn around and talk business right after making love. And you’re so direct about it.”
Shěn Lí coughed awkwardly at his teasing.
Xíng Zhǐ had a good long laugh before straightening his expression. “The man disappeared to ashes and smoke when he fell. It was as if he’d used all his strength.” He frowned upon recalling it. “The scene reminded me of something from the past.”
Something from the past that could make Xíng Zhǐ frown? Shěn Lí was curious. She could see something deep fluttering in his eyes when she met his gaze.
Xíng Zhǐ was silent for a moment before speaking. “You should know of the monsters that created chaos in the Demon realm.”
Shěn Lí nodded silently; she knew about this. A thousand years ago, when the monsters wrecked havoc in the Demon realm, Xíng Zhǐ had torn open a rift in space and sealed all of them inside.
Xíng Zhǐ curled his lips. “I’m afraid you don’t know the full story. Thousands of monster beasts appeared in the Demon realm, but it wasn’t like they appeared out of nowhere. The previous Demon emperor, Liù Míng, refined them using the forbidden arts. At that time, Liù Míng was dissatisfied with the Immortal realm’s incompetence and wasn’t willing to be subservient. He wanted to take the Immortal emperor’s throne; however, the ministers in court strongly opposed the idea, because although the Immortal realm had no merits to call its own, it didn’t have any hostility either. Sending troops out could potentially jeopardize the lives of those in the Demon realm.
Shěn Lí was stunned. She remembered clearly the battle with the scorpion-tailed fox. A monster that hadn’t even fully recovered its power had her and her soldiers in a horrible position. It went to show just how powerful the monsters were. To think, such monsters had been refined by a single person. . . it was truly formidable. But it wasn’t strength that made him so formidable, but greed. His desire for more led to the creation of thousands of monsters without any restraint. Had there been no Xíng Zhǐ, his greed would have harmed everyone, including himself.
“Coming to the Demon realm, that was the first time I fought the monsters. I didn’t know what they were. I fought for three days and three nights before discovering they were extremely hard to kill with swords and spells. And even if I killed one, the dead would turn into black smoke and get sucked into the belly of its companions. This only served to enhance the powers of those remaining.”
If so. . . then sealing was indeed the fastest way to resolve the situation. Shěn Lí couldn’t help but sigh at how decisive and clever Xíng Zhǐ’s tactics were. She was embarrassed when she remembered how she had questioned his actions before.
“Have you thought of it yet?” Xíng Zhǐ suddenly asked Shěn Lí.
Startled, Shěn Lí thought about what he just said, and upon considering it, her face blanched. “Those monster beasts and the man in black, they were the same things?”
Xíng Zhǐ nodded. “They may not have been perfectly formed when we first encountered them in Yáng Zhōu, but after this meeting, I feel that whoever made them is very skilled.”
Shěn Lí gritted her teeth. “It must be that devious Fú Shēng. But how does he know the monster beast refining method? And then there’s your Water-Stop technique. Just what are they trying to do exactly. . . ”
Xíng Zhǐ touched her head and said, “You’re not good at being devious, so it’s difficult for you to understand these kinds of schemes.”
Shěn Lí narrowed her eyes in dissatisfaction, which made Xíng Zhǐ smile like he was teasing a cat. He said, “To answer your first question, it’s my opinion that Fú Shēng may not really know how to refine monster beasts, otherwise he would have refined them directly. Why go to the effort of creating half finished products? He probably knows part of the process, but for some reason, doesn’t know the entirety of it. What I wonder is where his part of the knowledge came from. I remember having beheaded Liù Míng. Aside from him, there shouldn’t be anyone else who knows the refining technique. . . ”
Xíng Zhǐ pondered it over for a moment before putting his doubts aside. “The second and third questions may be answered together. First of all, their “Water-Stop” technique is just a child’s ice trick. How can you manipulate divine magic without divine power? Secondly, do you still remember Prince Ruì?”
“I remember.”
“He was the reincarnation of the god Qīng Yè, who was sentenced to eternally remain on the wheel of reincarnation. Now the Water-stop technique is my spell, but Qīng Yè is a dear friend of mine, and I did teach him some of my techniques. If you remember Prince Ruì’s life,then you’ll remember Fú Shēng appeared in that lifetime too. He may have spied on Qīng Yè’s godhood memories and learned a little bit about the Water-Stop technique that way.”
A realization hit Shěn Lí. “Now that I think about it, he may have secretly manipulated many things in the past, such as when the Crown Prince found you living as Xíng Yún, and when he burned down your small courtyard and forced us to seek refuge with King Ruì. I remember feeling a demonic aura when we were at Prince Ruì’s palace. . . it turned out it was him.”
Xíng Zhǐ nodded. “You do remember it clearly. Can you keep guessing? What did he hope to achieve by doing all those things?”
Shěn Lí rolled her eyes. “I was forced to leave you, and then was captured by the Demon emperor and brought back to marry Lord Fú Róng. . . He wants me to marry Lord Fú Róng?” Shěn Lí was surprised. “What good would that do him?”
“The benefit wasn’t you marrying, but that you would have to live in the Immortal realm after marriage. He wanted you to leave the Demon realm.”
Shěn Lí suddenly understood. But this understanding only brought more questions.
Xíng Zhǐ smiled as he watched Shěn Lí frown. He continued guiding her. “At that time, if I hadn’t extended the deadline for your marriage, you would have already married Lord Fú Róng. What happened to the Demon realm around this time?”
Shěn Lí abruptly stood up, her face pale, as she remembered. “The Ruins. . . . their goal was the Ruins!”
At the time, the monster beasts had escaped the Ruins and seriously injured the soldiers guarding the border. The Demon emperor sent two generals, Mò Fāng and Zi Xià to support them. Later, Zi Xia died of exhaustion after using all his energy to ride back as fast as he could to report to the Demon emperor. Mò Fāng. . . Mò Fāng was seriously injured at the time as well. But Mò Fāng was one of theirs, so how could he die?
Soon after, Xíng Zhǐ came to the Demon realm to reshape the seals, and not long after that, the immortal mountain gods of the human world were kidnapped one after another. Although they didn’t know the reason behind the kidnappings, it had to be related to Fú Shēng’s creation of half-finished monster demons! At that time, she was still fighting the three monster demons in the temple.
“So, the method they obtained to refined the monster demons came from the Ruins. . . ”
Shěn Lí rubbed her brows, her mind a confused jumble. So many things that seemed natural and normal on the surface, once inspected, were in actuality manipulated to reach a specific outcome.
Shěn Lí asked, “These things, you knew them this morning?”
Xíng Zhǐ shook his head. “It was only after there were more clues that I was able to slowly connect the dots.”
Shěn Lí held her head. “We have to get out of here as soon as possible. I must report this to the emperor so we can take countermeasures.”
Xíng Zhǐ lowered his eyes. “I don’t want to say this, but I must advise you to be weary of the current Demon emperor.”
His words startled Shěn Lí and she looked at him blankly. His express was cool as he looked at her. “My strength was greatly diminished after sealing the demon beasts away a thousand years ago, and I did not have the strength to manage the affairs in the Demon realm. A new monarch needed to be appointed; however, within the Demon realm, there were those who agreed with Liù Míng and resented being subservient to the Immortal realm. At that time, the Demon realm was in chaos, and everyone was eager to choose someone talented and capable of taking on the heavy responsibilities of governing, so the candidate’s standing on the matter wasn’t considered. I, myself am not sure what kind of person the current Demon emperor is, but I am certain he is hiding something from you.”
Shěn Lí didn’t even frown, directly saying, “The Demon emperor will deceive me and hide things from me, but he will never harm me. I trust him completely.”
Her decisive and firm answer startled Xíng Zhǐ. He lowered his eyes as he spoke, “It would be great if you could trust me like that.”
His voice was soft, but how could Shěn Lí not hear? She turned her head and said, “This is different. The Demon emperor is both my teacher and. . . my father. Without him, I wouldn’t have managed to stay alive to this day. He saved me countless times. And right now, even if I knew that he has been lying to me and wanted my life, I would not argue.”
Xíng Zhǐ looked at her quietly. He lowered his eyes again and murmured in an extremely low voice, “How could I let you give your life to him? Now that things have become like this and you’ve let me. . . how can I be willing to give you up?”
Silence hung in the cave. Shěn Lí turned away and changed the topic. “Speaking of which, how did Fú Shēng and the others know we’re here? With your skills, how could anyone trail you?”
Xíng Zhǐ shook his head. “If my guess is correct, they aren’t here to find us. . . ”
Shěn Lí was shocked. Had they come to the snowy mountain for treasures? But that couldn’t be right. If they were seeking treasure, why come to this remote cave? The only possible explanation was if they were targeting Lady Jīn. Shěn Lí frowned. “When you came down, you left Lady Jīn alone to defend against Fú Shēng. Will she be OK?”
“There’s no need to worry about her. If nothing else, her ability to escape is second to none.”
“Oh, this humble servant thought to come down and assist, but to hear High God say such a thing, this humble servant is saddened.” A charming voice sounded above their heads. Shěn Lí looked up and saw that the opening was still sealed, but the voice was clear as though they were only separated by a thin film of paper. “High God must apologize to this humble servant, otherwise this humble servant will not assist! Hmph!”
Xíng Zhǐ thought about it for a moment. “In that case, I will not apologize. Return by yourself.”
Shěn Lí was stunned, but Lady Jīn laughed. “Ha, actually High God just wants to stay in there with Little Sister longer. I won’t go along with that.”
Immediately after, a hole opened above Shěn Lí’s head and a tunnel appeared leading upwards.
“Come out quickly.” Lady Jīn spoke urgently.
Xíng Zhǐ knew what to do and with a flash had grabbed Shěn Lí around the waist and flew up the passage. Above them, in the stone room, Lady Jīn was standing beside the bed. Immediately after Xíng Zhǐ and Shěn Lí jumped out, Lady Jīn made a seal with her hands, and a golden light sealed the entrance of the cave. She slid down against the stone wall. Countless screams and shouts bashed against the golden light as whatever was inside tried to get out. Golden light burst out and the sounds disappeared.
Lady Jīn wiped the seat from her brow and sighed. “Finally, those guys are sealed.” She turned around and gave Xíng Zhǐ and Shěn Lí with an ambiguous look. “You were down there; you weren’t bullied were you?”
Shěn Lí coughed, pushed aside the hand that was still holding her waist, and said with a straight face, “High God is pure and upright, so those evil thoughts did not cause any trouble.”
Lady Jīn’s eyebrows drooped upon hearing this. “No. . . ” Her tone was extremely disappointed.
After all, she was looking forward to hearing about how her evil thoughts had tormented them while they were down there.
Shěn Lí silently wiped a cold sweat.
Suddenly, as though she just thought of something, Lady Jīn’s eyes lit up. “How did you get treatment yesterday. . . ” She started to speak, but was interrupted by Xíng Zhǐ’s deep shout of “Look out!”
Lady Jīn turned her head just as a shrill scream sounded behind her. It rang so harshly in her ears that she fell down in surprise. A mass of black energy rushed out from the cave opening and passed through Lady Jīn’s side, leaving behind a trail of shrill female laughter in its wake.
“This is terrible. . . ” Lady Jīn covered her ears and slumped down against the stone bed.
Shěn Lí hurried over to help her up. Lady Jīn whispered, “This is impossible. How did it get enough power to break through the seal. . . ?”
Xíng Zhǐ was silent for a moment before speaking. “Perhaps it absorbed the emotions and desires in our hearts.”
Lady Jīn raised her head and looked at Xíng Zhǐ. “High God, I dare ask, just how formidable are these desires?! This is causing great harm to his humble one!”
https://www.patreon.com/justreads
