Chapter 80 Killing the Demon 20

Lu Cen stared blankly at the words "died from exhaustion." Didn't people say that demons were invulnerable to swords and spears, and that only ice blades could kill them?

Died from exhaustion?

Lu Cen flipped through another section, which mostly contained biographies of demons. Some were two or three pages long, while others were just a few lines long, but between the lines, their entire lives were revealed.

Until he picked up another book.

Gat, born a thousand years ago, died a year later at the hands of a human ice blade three years later.

Weiss, born a thousand years ago, was born two years later, and died ten years later at the hands of a human ice blade.

......

Before Lu Cen could open any more pages, Josiah entered, his body covered in frost.

Lu Cen, dressed in a snow-white robe, stood in front of the bookshelf, his whole body exuding the fragrance of books. When he saw Josiah enter, he put the books back.

Josiah said, “Look if you want to.”

Lu Cen only had six days, so after thinking for a moment, she asked the least sensitive question, "Why did that person call you clan leader that day?"

"Because my bloodline is the purest."

Lu Cen: "?"

"Among the demon race, only the Stergia can become the chieftain."

"Why?"

“Straga demons are born from trees, have long lifespans, hard outer skin, wings on their backs, and pure dark green blood. Other types of demons are born from water, have short lifespans, no wings, and light green blood. The rule that Stragga demons can become chieftains is a rule established by the demons in the past.”

Lu Cen asked as if listening to a story, "Were you born from a tree?"

Josiah: "Yes."

"That tree is the mother of you Stergians, and the pool is the mother of other demons?" Lu Cen found it unbelievable. What kind of strange story was this?

That's the truth, but it sounds strange coming from Lu Cen's mouth, as if they're not talking about a demon, but a fairy tale.

Lu Cen: "What do the trees and the pond look like? Can we go and see them?"

Josiah said, "Okay, I'll take you this afternoon. Let's eat first and then apply the medicine."

After that player died, the task of applying the medicine fell to Josiah. He casually lifted Lu Cen's shirt, revealing half of his snow-white shoulder. Josiah put some medicine powder in his hand and gently rubbed it on Lu Cen's wound. The medicine quickly dissolved under his warm fingers. Josiah's expression was frosty, but his hands were gentle.

At that moment, someone walked in from outside.

"Chief, we have captured a human."

Lu Cen's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and saw a tall figure standing by the door. Backlit, Lu Cen couldn't see his face clearly.

Josiah: "Weren't all the humans dead?"

"It seems to be a fish that slipped through the net. Should we kill it?"

Josiah helped Lucen straighten his clothes and said casually, "Lock him up first."

"yes."

“Let’s go.” Josiah reached out to Lucen. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see trees?”

Lu Cen smelled that familiar scent on him, and even he, slow to realize, understood that the people he had always thought of were actually Josiah, from Himi to Ados, and possibly others. He couldn't figure out why Josiah was pretending to be these people to get close to him, or what his purpose was.

But he knew that he and Josiah had met before, but in other people's faces; he had never seen his true face.

Lost in thought, Josiah carried him to a door that blended seamlessly with the snow-capped mountain cliffs, forming a majestic and awe-inspiring structure. He and Josiah stood before the door, appearing insignificantly small. Josiah, completely unprepared for Lucen's presence, took out a square, green object in front of him and placed it into a groove. The door creaked open.

Snowflakes danced in the air, and Lu Cen shivered.

After passing through a long, snow-white passageway, a bright and open space suddenly appeared before us.

The terrain resembled a valley, surrounded by low snow-capped mountains. In the middle was a snowfield, where an incredibly thick tree grew. Its bark was deeply grooved, and its branches were covered with silvery leaves. Around it were pools of water of various sizes, the water in which was calm and lifeless. Only when Lu Cen got closer did he realize that the tree had withered.

"This is?"

"This is the tree."

"How did it become like this?"

"Its roots broke off, and it has been dead for a thousand years."

Lu Cen was taken aback. A thousand years? He hadn't even lived to thirty. He felt a strange feeling. He looked at the tree quietly and then realized that it was growing in a huge pool of water. Its roots were almost invisible. Floating in the pool were ice crystals with sharp ends and rounded middles. Almost every pool had them. They were transparent and shimmered with a strange light.

"What's this?"

"Humans gave it a name: Ice Blade."

Lu Cen stared wide-eyed at the pool, then at Josiah. Had he so carelessly told him this?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Lu Cen avoided his gaze: "No, it's nothing."

Suddenly, he realized a problem: Josiah said that the tree had been dead for a thousand years, which meant that no new demons had been born from the tree for a thousand years.

Is Josiah the only remaining member of the Stergia race?

So, does this last demon refer to Josiah?

Once Lu Cen understood this, he was shocked, and his eyes lit up. So this was what the last demon mentioned in the mission meant.

He gazed at Josiah, his mind churning with thoughts.

If he were to try and retrieve an ice blade now, would Josiah kill him on the spot?

Lu Cen dared not take the risk, but once he left this place, it would be extremely difficult for him to come back in. He didn't know what that green cube was, but it was definitely important, and Josiah would definitely carry it with him.

Josiah suddenly asked, "Do you want to know where the devil came from?"

Lu Cen asked in confusion, "Didn't you say it came from a tree?"

Josiah paused for a moment and then said, "It wasn't like that at the beginning."

Lu Cen was startled again; there were just too many of these demon stories. He asked curiously, "What was it like at the beginning?"

"No one knows what the first demon was called. All that is known is that he was born in the snow, along with these pools of water and this tree. After he grew up, he nourished the tree with his blood. Over time, the tree gained spiritual energy and began to bear the fruit of the demon. It takes as little as one year and as long as three years. Once the fruit falls to the ground, it will become a demon and have a long lifespan."

Lu Cen's first thought was that the way demons reproduced was truly unique. According to this logic, as long as the demon Sturgeon fed this tree with its blood, it would receive a continuous stream of new demons.

"And what about the demon in this pool?"

“They,” Josiah said, pointing to the bottom of the pool, “go and take a look.”

Lu Cen took a few steps forward. The surface was obscured by floating ice, so he couldn't see the bottom of the water. He pushed aside the ice blades and vaguely saw something that looked like a ball at the bottom of the water, round and rolling around.

"This is?"

"You demon!"

Do they not need blood to be fed at birth?

Josiah said, “As long as the pool remains, so they remain.”

Lu Cen carefully chose his words, "I read in the books inside that, besides ice blades, demons can also die from exhaustion?"

Josiah looked at his pale legs. "Aren't you cold walking on the ice?"

"come over."

The tone was commanding.

Snowflakes filled the sky, shimmering in the silver light.

Josiah stood alone among the countless pools of water. Lu Cen suddenly felt that this person was a little pitiful. He stepped towards him and was pulled into Josiah's arms. His body was lifted into the air. The warmth of human body was like the warm sun in winter. Once you held him, you didn't want to let go. It was so tempting.

“These ice blades, infused with the sap of the tree and the blood of demons, are strong enough to pierce any hard shell.” Josiah sat under the silvery-white tree, holding the person in his arms. “Demons are also living beings, and all living beings die. Death is the inevitable fate of everyone; the only choice is how to die.”

He casually scooped out a few round ice blades from the pool, handed them to Lu Cen, and said indifferently, "You've been staring at them so intently, why don't you play with them for a while?"

Lu Cen took it with trepidation. It was icy cold to the touch, but the icy blade did not melt in his hand when it came into contact with his body. Lu Cen turned it over and over, but he couldn't see any difference from the ice that usually formed.

The ice was sharp as thorns.

Lu Cen curiously tried it on his own hand, making a dent.

Further down, the stinging intensifies.

Josiah knocked the ice blade out of his hand. "I didn't tell you to play like that."

Josiah's palms were red from the cold. He put his hands inside his clothes, carried him away step by step, and the strange fragrance wafted to Lu Cen's nose. He buried his face in Josiah's broad shoulders and fell asleep.

That night.

Lu Cen woke up in the middle of the night because she slept too much during the day.

His throat was so dry it felt like it was on fire. He groped his way to the table in the dark, poured water from the kettle into a cup, picked it up, and drank it all in one gulp. His fingers accidentally touched his cheek, and he realized it was wet and sticky.

Like rice porridge.

Lu Cen touched his face in confusion, his palm covered in the sticky substance. This sensation brought Lu Cen back to that night in the village. He woke up in the middle of the night thinking he was dreaming, and he also touched this sticky substance. But he felt refreshed the next day, so he thought he was dreaming and didn't take it seriously.

At that moment, his heart skipped a beat.

If that night in the village wasn't a dream, then what he thought was a dream was actually something that had happened. Lu Cen couldn't help but shudder slightly as he recalled the appearance of the demon Josiah during those three days.

"Creak—"

Lu Cen was startled. He glanced at the doorway by the moonlight and saw a long, thin shadow cast from the doorway onto the ground. The whole scene seemed to be slowed down, with the shadow gradually moving from outside the door to inside, like water being squeezed out of a sponge.

The newcomer saw a figure standing by the table, the silhouette blurry, and lowered his voice: "Inlai?"

Lu Cen was startled. That voice... the captain of the guards?

"It's you!" Lu Cen rushed forward, her voice trembling with excitement. "Weren't you all dead?! How did you end up here?!"

As he got closer, Lu Cen noticed a strong stench of blood emanating from the guard captain, mixed with the smell of sweat that hadn't been washed off in a long time and various rotten odors. The stench made Lu Cen frown repeatedly, but he ignored it and pressed on, "Where are they? Ados, Lisa, and Luther? Where are they?"

"Dead."