Internal strife
Ji Yao's eyes were filled with disbelief, grief, sorrow, and inexplicable grievances, which finally turned into a roar as she grabbed Shen Zhizhou by the neck with her five fingers and lifted him high into the air.
Shu Yi suddenly became incredibly fierce, biting Ji Yao's shoulder to make her let go. Her sharp teeth dug into Ji Yao's flesh, but she was completely unaware, staring intently at Shen Zhizhou.
"Why? I've been so good to you, why won't you listen to me..." Ji Yao's lips trembled, tears streaming down her face as she screamed, her eyes wide open, "Why are you doing this to me!"
Shen Zhizhou closed his eyes, not wanting to see Ji Yao's hypocritical act, and said in a cold tone: "That's the question I should be asking you. You're clearly the murderer who disrupted my life and altered my destiny, yet you can still pretend to be innocent and clear your name. Sister Ji, your acting skills are indeed better than mine."
"I..." Ji Yao hesitated, then fell silent.
"If you're going to kill me, hurry up. I'll be waiting... to be reincarnated and seek revenge." His tone was provocative, showing no regard for Ji Yao whatsoever.
Ji Yao laughed angrily, "Fine, fine, you have backbone! With such backbone, I suppose even if you become a demon, your spine won't bend in the slightest..."
Shuyi sensed the killing intent in Ji Yao's words and bit Ji Yao's shoulder, refusing to let go. Ji Yao didn't even bother to glance at Shuyi and directly unleashed her demonic form to throw Shuyi away. Shuyi crashed into the wall and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Upon seeing that Shuyi was injured, Shen Zhizhou shouted at Ji Yao, "If you have a problem, come at me! Don't touch her!"
Seeing Shen Zhizhou's anxious look, Ji Yao finally turned around to look at the tiny Shuyi lying on the ground, and said to Shen Zhizhou with a smile, "Ah, I forgot, you like her, so you feel sorry for her when she's hurt, right?"
"It's alright, Xiao Zhou. I'll turn you all into your own kind, neither human nor ghost, so... you can be together forever until you die. Isn't that wonderful?"
Ji Yao used magic to hold the sorghum in her palm and provocatively displayed it in front of Shen Zhizhou. Shen Zhizhou's gaze coiled around Ji Yao like a snake, but Ji Yao didn't care.
"Sheyang, you little brat, come out here. Don't try any of those sneaky tricks. You know they're useless."
Sheyang, who was hiding behind the cabinet and holding a thick stack of talismans, stood up and looked at Ji Yao.
“I thought Shen Zhizhou’s suspicions were unfounded, just a case of hysteria after my godfather’s death… I never expected it to be true.” She Yang looked at Ji Yao with a complex expression.
With one hand gripping Shen Zhizhou's neck and the other holding Shu Yi's life, Ji Yao slowly walked up to She Yang. Looking at this child who had been by her side since childhood, although she pretended to be calm, her trembling hands betrayed her.
“You’ve always seemed bold, but you’re actually timid and good at protecting yourself.” Ji Yao sighed and said, “Go back to where you came from. After all, you grew up by my side. I won’t kill you.”
Sheyang glanced at Shen Zhizhou, who was being choked to the point of near unconsciousness, and shook his head: "I've already lost my godfather. If I lose Xiaozhou too, then I'll truly have no home left."
"That……"
"Then I will support the Shen family for Xiaozhou!"
Ji Yao glanced at She Yang, too lazy to pay him any attention, and left like a gust of wind with Shen Zhizhou and Shu Yi.
Sheyang's legs went weak, and he immediately ran to Shen Zhizhou's room to search everywhere. After finding the brocade pouch, he quickly hailed a taxi and rushed out.
He originally wanted to share the hardships with Shen Zhizhou, but after seeing the code Shen Zhizhou gave him, he knew that Shen Zhizhou needed his help outside, so he immediately changed his strategy and stayed outside as a backup.
...
Ji Yao led Shen Zhizhou and Shu Yi to a cave on a cliff, dropped a cardboard box down, turned her back to Shen Zhizhou and said, "Stop pretending. I know you're awake. You'd better take care of yourself."
Shen Zhizhou silently opened his eyes and looked around the cave. The cave was very clean inside, and even had a soft cotton quilt laid out. Shen Zhizhou took out his dagger and cut open the box. What came into view was a large bag of dry food and purified water, and even some snacks that Shen Zhizhou liked to eat.
Shuyi jumped onto Shen Zhizhou's shoulder, looked at the contents of the box, and unconsciously sighed. She communicated with Shen Zhizhou telepathically, saying, "Do you think Sheyang can persuade those monsters? Now we have no choice but to drag him into this..."
"Sister Ji only took us with her when she came to the house, not the Painting and Calligraphy Demon. Does this mean that the Painting and Calligraphy Demon isn't that important? As long as it doesn't affect their plans, the Painting and Calligraphy Demon can be ignored. Moreover, Sister Ji is just the executor. I suppose the person behind it is that monster called Snake Man. The experiment of turning humans into demons was probably also the idea of Snake Man."
"They first turned the human world into a monster world, and turned everyone into monsters, so that humans would no longer discriminate against monsters, because it is impossible for humans to discriminate against themselves and then eliminate them."
After Shu Yi and Shen Zhizhou deduced the solution, they were both taken aback by this crazy opportunity. Shu Yi suddenly understood why Shen Zhizhou had deliberately provoked Ji Yao; only in this way could they find out more details.
"So what's the next step?" Shuyi asked.
"Wait. Wait until Sister Ji can't protect me, and Snake is eager to take my life."
After waiting patiently for several days, the black-robed demon indeed came to the cave as Shen Zhizhou had expected. Shen Zhizhou was not afraid at all, showing no signs of being a prisoner, and even invited the black-robed demon to sit down.
The black-robed demon sneered, "You're quite comfortable here, aren't you? You think Ji Yao will protect you and you won't die, is that it?"
Whether I live or die is up to you monsters. I don't care about the decision.
"I don't actually want to kill you. In fact, I think you have potential. We can cooperate. I can give you anything you want." The black-robed demon coaxed, trying to get Shen Zhizhou to cooperate.
"Is it possible for me to die? If so, then I might consider it." Shen Zhizhou rested his chin on his hand, his attitude perfunctory.
"you……"
Shuyi rushed up to Shen Zhizhou, baring her teeth and gesturing an attack stance at the black-robed demon. The black-robed demon pointed at Shuyi and asked Shen Zhizhou, "You should know what her true form is, right? Aren't you curious why a divine beast would inexplicably lose its memory and end up in the mortal realm?"
"What do you mean?"
The black-robed demon slowly walked up to Shen Zhizhou, leaned down to look at him, and said in a chilling tone, "That's because... I specially sent her to you."
Upon hearing this, both Shu Yi and Shen Zhizhou stared at each other in surprise.
"So you caused her amnesia? What exactly are you plotting!" Shen Zhizhou stood up and grabbed the black-robed demon's collar.
The black-robed demon twisted the hand that was gripping Shen Zhizhou's collar and slapped him in the chest. Shen Zhizhou flew out, spitting out blood and rolling on the ground. The scale was revealed in his Qiankun bag.
The black-robed demon recognized his scales immediately and asked in astonishment, "How did you get these scales? Who gave them to you?"
"Did your mother give it to you?" The black-robed demon stroked the snake scale with his fingertips, his tone familiar as if he were talking about an old friend: "I was wondering where the heart-protecting scale that you shed your skin for all those years went. So your mother hid it. Do you still remember your mother? I remember her very well."
"Your Shen family are all a bunch of gullible fools."
Shen Zhizhou lay on the ground, glaring angrily. He brandished his peach wood sword, made hand seals, and channeled the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to strike the black-robed demon.
The black-robed demon was startled by a thunderous roar; the sky rumbled and lightning flashed.
The human and the demon fought back and forth. Shu Yi's body swelled to the height of a mountain and he became entangled in battle with the black-robed demon. The black-robed demon re-fused the Heart-Protecting Scale into his heart, and with the Heart-Protecting Scale, the black-robed demon's magic power greatly increased.
The sky continued to flash with lightning and thunder, but there was only the sound of thunder and lightning, and no lightning punishment was brought down. The black-robed demon also refused to show its true form.
For some reason, Shen Zhizhou suddenly remembered the spider demon he first met with Shu Yi. Back then, the spider demon had also disguised himself as a human in human skin. Shen Zhizhou shouted to Shu Yi with his mind: "Find a way to burn the black robe he's wearing. That thing was probably made from that shadowy figure."
After receiving the order, Shu Yi began to tear at the black robe on the black-robed demon's body. The robe was made of some unknown material, and it was indestructible by fire and tearing.
"Stop dreaming of destroying this black robe I'm wearing. Just obediently accept your death and become nourishment for this black robe."
The black-robed demon had no patience to fight with Shu Yi Shen Zhizhou, so he directly used his demonic power and poison to try to kill Shen Zhizhou. Just as he was enveloped by the poison, Ji Yao appeared.
Ji Yao used her magic to trap Shen Zhizhou and Shu Yi inside the barrier, while she faced the black-robed demon directly.
The black-robed demon stared intently at Ji Yao, his expression displeased: "The biggest mistake I made was letting you infiltrate the Shen family and become entangled with this kid."
Ji Yao turned to look at Shen Zhizhou, her gaze gentle: "But meeting him was the best solace in my dull and hopeless life." She paused and then asked, "Are feelings and ties really useless? If so... why did you shed that tear after Shen Ran died?"
"You're courting death!" Upon hearing this, the black-robed demon condensed his demonic power into a ball of light and hurled it at Ji Yao.
Ji Yao showed no fear, revealing her true demon form to resist, and kept questioning the black-robed demon: "You say you are doing this for the good of the demon race, and I believe you, but why do you want to use humans to merge with the demon race? You say it's to stop people from discriminating against demons, but look at how happy Xiao Zhou and Shu Yi were when they opened the Demon Management Bureau and introduced them to jobs. Didn't you see how happy those demons were? They want to stay in the human world and live with humans. Can't you see that?"
"Is it that you can't see it, or that you don't want to see it? You make it sound so noble, but it's all because you're afraid of dying! You're afraid that Shuyi will be wiped out like your friend after being sent down by the Heavenly Court. You also think that begging for mercy would be beneath your status as the ruler of the demon realm. That's why you want to take over the human world so you can bargain with the Heavenly Court!"
The black-robed demon felt that Ji Yao had truly lost her mind and didn't want to argue with her any further, so he just told her to get lost.
"If you want to kill Xiao Zhou today, you'll have to step over me first!"
"I was too lenient with you. Useless things should indeed be destroyed. Even if you keep them, you won't be comfortable using them."
The black-robed demon pulled out a heart covered in black lines and exuding a sinister aura from his robes, and crushed Ji Yao's heart in front of them. Ji Yao curled up on the ground in agony.
When the black-robed demon possessed him and rushed down to take Shen Zhizhou's life, Ji Yao bravely stood in front of him and took the fatal blow for him.
Inside the protective shield, Shen Zhizhou watched as the black-robed demon pierced through Ji Yao's entire abdomen. As he slowly withdrew his right hand, pulling out her internal organs, Shen Zhizhou finally couldn't hold back any longer and knelt down on the ground, shouting, "Sister Ji!"
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