How much suffering must a human endure to become a demon?
He had just... inadvertently revealed a major secret of the demon realm. He knew that now he was truly on a pirate ship with no way to get off.
After much deliberation, I resigned myself to my fate and finally revealed everything I knew.
Before humans became so adept at plundering resources, there were three very ancient leaders in the demon realm. One had been subdued by the Heavenly Court and established an altar and incense offerings in the mortal world; another was severely injured in a great battle and, unable to recuperate after his spiritual land was plundered by humans, vanished into thin air; the last one was the Snake Elder, but he had not appeared for many years. The old demons were gradually dying, and the lesser demons, lacking spiritual power, naturally did not know the glorious deeds of these great figures.
"Then how did you know?"
“I was there during the big battle. Besides, we painting and calligraphy demons are all quite fragile. We usually live our own lives and don’t like to get involved in these kinds of things. Also, our cultivation methods are different. After we gained sentience and took human form, we actually need more human presence to nourish us…”
"Get to the point." Shen Zhizhou had no patience for Shu Huayao's long preamble.
The calligraphy and painting demon gave a somewhat aggrieved "oh" and continued talking. Shen Zhizhou listened without saying a word. The calligraphy and painting demon looked at Shen Zhizhou nervously and gave a wink to Shuyi, who was perched on Shen Zhizhou's shoulder.
Shuyi stared straight ahead, pretending not to see, while the calligraphy and painting demon cursed inwardly, "Fawning! They don't even help their own kind."
After finishing his tirade, he saw Shen Zhizhou's warning look and quickly covered his mouth to indicate that he hadn't said anything.
Shen Zhizhou stood up, said "I understand," and turned to leave.
The calligraphy and painting demon followed behind, shouting, "Don't tell anyone what I told you! Aren't you going to put on some more seals?"
Seeing that Shen Zhizhou was about to leave the room, Shuhua Yao quickly blocked his way and made him swear: "Swear to heaven that you will not tell anyone else what I told you today, or may you be struck by lightning!"
Shen Zhizhou raised his hand and swore, "I will never tell a second person, or may I be struck by lightning."
After saying that, he left the room, tearing off all the seals in the room.
Shuyi sat on her shoulder and said in a reproachful but worried tone, "You shouldn't have agreed to him just now. I couldn't stop you even if I tried."
“It’s alright, I told you I would never tell a second person, but I’m looking for a demon, so the oath is invalid, and besides…” Shen Zhizhou dipped his finger in water and drew a talisman on the door, saying coldly, “I’m just afraid they won’t come…”
...
For several days, all was peaceful. But ever since Sheyang saw Shuyi wake up and remain in her original form, he kept sighing. While drinking his porridge, Shen Zhizhou listened to Sheyang's occasional sighs and directly gave him the order to leave.
"You should just go back to your own home. I can hardly breathe from your sighs. If you're scared, pack your things and leave during the day."
Sheyang, biting his chopsticks, his gold-rimmed glasses perched precariously on his nose, wavered between running away and his brothers, ultimately choosing his brothers with a heavy heart.
"I won't leave. I'm afraid you'll get hurt. If anything happens to you, I'll truly have no family left in this world..."
Shen Zhizhou paused in his porridge-drinking, his hand holding the spoon trembling slightly: "Then take care of yourself, go out as little as possible, and it's best to stay in your room and not come out."
"Has anything major happened recently?" She Yang keenly sensed something amiss from Shen Zhizhou's words.
Shuyi stopped eating lettuce and quickly explained, "Too many things have happened recently. Shen Zhizhou is afraid he won't be able to take care of you. You know... Shen Zhizhou has to support the Shen family on his own now, and he really doesn't have any extra energy."
She Yang had some doubts, his eyes darting back and forth between Shu Yi and Shen Zhizhou, but in the end he decided to stand with his good brother.
"Okay, I've been staying home lately, except for meals and bathroom breaks. I haven't even stepped out of my room halfway. I can't be bothered to watch you two being all lovey-dovey... I'm done eating, could you wash the dishes for me while you're at it...?"
Sheyang jogged upstairs, and Shen Zhizhou rolled her eyes, knowing that Sheyang was just making excuses to avoid washing the dishes. Nevertheless, she dutifully cleaned up the dishes and the house.
That night, Shen Zhizhou unusually went to bed early. Shu Yi climbed onto Shen Zhizhou's bed, lay down next to his pillow, and slept peacefully with him.
The painting demon crawled out from beside the desk. Recently, it had been pretending to be a painting scroll and staying in Shen Zhizhou's room. Today, seeing that Shen Zhizhou was unusually sleeping early, it wanted to go out and relax, and would be back before dawn.
Sneaking out of the room, the calligraphy and painting demon began to wander around the house, touching this and looking at that. However, when she reached the entrance to the courtyard, she sensed something was wrong.
It seemed that someone was watching him.
The calligraphy and painting demon used its demonic power to investigate, but found no other demonic aura. Frowning, it continued walking forward.
Without the lights on, it was pitch black everywhere. The only way to see was by the moonlight. The painting demon walked using its five senses instead of its eyes, and the more it walked, the more it felt that something was getting closer.
The painting and calligraphy demon stopped and turned to look back at the corridor. The corridor was pitch black, and the landscape paintings hanging on the wall were faintly bright, but the painting and calligraphy demon felt that something was strange.
Looking at the dark corridor and the magnolia tree outside the courtyard, Shuhua Yao thought for a moment and then decided to go back to Shen Zhizhou's room first. For some reason, he felt that the Shen family was devoid of human warmth tonight.
After all, he was an old monster who had been a spirit for many years, and he was particularly talented in cherishing his life. The calligraphy and painting demon hurried upstairs as soon as possible.
Just as she was about to walk out of the corridor, the painting demon heard some rustling sounds behind her and turned around.
A shadowy figure, occupying the entire corridor, revealed fangs. It had no eyes or nose, only a gaping maw filled with jagged fangs.
The painting demon shrieked and immediately ran forward. The dark shadow grabbed the painting demon's leg, and the painting demon immediately transformed into its original form and escaped, floating upwards like a flying bird.
The shadowy figure gave the painting demon no chance to escape. Like a swamp, it surged towards the painting demon from all directions, trapping it in the middle. Just as it opened its mouth to swallow the painting demon, Shen Zhizhou appeared.
Shen Zhizhou wielded his peach wood sword and slashed at the dark figure. Shuyi flew into the air, grew larger, and revealed its true form, engaging the dark figure in a fierce battle.
Shu Yi bit the shadow and tore it apart, but the shadow immediately returned to its original form after being torn apart, which did not affect the battle at all. Shen Zhizhou's peach wood sword was also useless against the shadow.
Like Shuyi, the shadowy figure didn't seem afraid of these blessed weapons, and even the talismans were weak. Shuyi bit off the jade ring on her right ear and gave the order to fight together.
"What is this thing that's immune to any magical artifacts?" Shen Zhizhou exclaimed in surprise, but remembering that Sheyang was still upstairs, he shouted up, "Don't come out! Stay put! Your room is safe!"
A series of banging sounds came from upstairs; it was Sheyang trying to convey that he knew and wouldn't be going out.
Shen Zhizhou used a peach wood sword to cut his palm, using his blood as a blade to try and repel the shadowy figure.
Monsters should be most afraid of the blood of the Oddity Eliminator, but this shadowy figure was not afraid at all, and even tasted it with relish.
Shen Zhizhou's heart sank.
This means that this thing may be neither a demon nor a monster.
Looking at Shen Zhizhou's expression, Shuyi asked fearfully, "It...it's not a person, is it?"
Shen Zhizhou mixed cinnabar with Paris polyphylla powder and applied it to the lotus-patterned dagger before stabbing it into the shadowy figure.
All that could be heard was a scream from the shadowy figure. A large shadowy area covered the corridor, the tables and chairs, and even the magnolia tree outside the courtyard. The shadowy figure could not speak and could only express its anger with a roar.
"He's insane, absolutely insane, he's a fucking lunatic!"
Shen Zhizhou can kill monsters, but he can't do that to humans.
Moreover, he never expected that Ji Yao would be so depraved as to fuse humans with demons, doing something that goes against the natural order.
The shadowy figure attacked like a madman. Stepping into its area was like stepping into a swamp. The intangible shadowy figure could appear from any angle and attack when people were off guard. Shu Yi was helpless against this monster without a physical form.
Shen Zhizhou wielded the dagger without any specific moves. What flowed from where the dagger struck was not blood, but fragments of black shadow that instantly turned into a pool of black water.
The shadowy figure, in pain, tried to escape, but its body froze. It seemed as if two invisible hands were twisting its body, forcing it to fight. The shadowy figure screamed incessantly, clearly in great agony.
With a creaking sound, the invisible black shadow seemed to make the sound of bones breaking. After a moment of silence, the shadow dissipated and retreated in all directions, heading straight for the Painting Demon.
"It wants to devour the painting and calligraphy demon; we can't let it succeed!"
Shen Zhizhou's dagger sliced through the shadowy figure, but the figure ignored the pain and was determined to devour the Book and Painting Demon.
"Save me! Save me! If this thing swallows you, you'll be doomed forever and never be reincarnated. That's how Uncle Dayan was eaten!" The painting demon shrank into a ball in fear and shouted at Shen Zhizhou and Shuyi.
He didn't want to die here without knowing why; it would be so frustrating!
When Shuyi heard Uncle Dayan's voice, she glanced at the dark figure and knew that the fire at the hospital must have been ordered by the monster behind the dark figure. Otherwise, Uncle Dayan wouldn't have been so timid as to burn down Shen Zhizhou's hospital.
Hearing the familiar name, Shen Zhizhou was even more furious. He hated himself for being too naive and trusting Ji Yao, and he hated that his sincere feelings over the years had led to the destruction of his family.
"Die!" Shen Zhizhou raised his dagger and stabbed it into the shadowy figure's body.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh." The shadowy figure couldn't speak, only let out painful screams.
The dark figure spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto Shen Zhizhou's body, causing blisters to form.
This dark figure, even its blood is poisonous.
Shuyi couldn't believe how much suffering a human being had to endure to become like this.
"Shen Zhizhou, give it a quick death... it's suffering too much."
Shen Zhizhou stared silently at the dark figure before him. Although it had no eyes, he could feel it watching him.
The shadowy figure materialized and slowly reached out to touch Shen Zhizhou. Just as it was about to touch Shen Zhizhou's cheek, Shen Zhizhou clearly heard the sound of bones twisting and deforming violently.
There was also the sound of a dark figure's heart pounding violently in pain.
The shadowy figure charged at the painting demon again, this time without any hesitation or cover, exposing its vital points.
Shen Zhizhou saw the dark figure hiding in the shadows.
That beating, vibrant heart.
Originally, it belonged to humankind.
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