Chapter 62 062 Is he praising himself to you like this?
Like ripples on a lake, a strange feeling stirred in her heart. Lu Yuanyuan looked up, and the first thing she saw was his hand.
Duan Lansheng had extremely fair skin, large, slender, and well-proportioned hands, with the bone structure of an adult male. At this moment, the ink stick, which had been spinning at a steady pace under the control of these hands, had stopped.
Lu Yuanyuan's gaze climbed up and met a pair of dark blue eyes.
Duan Lansheng was looking at her, his expression no different from usual.
The flickering lamplight cast his long shadow across the wall behind him. The inn, being a border town, was far less luxurious than those in the capital; the paint on the walls had several fine cracks. In the dim light, these cracks blended with his shadow, resembling a spiderweb growing from his body.
The room was silent.
Lu Yuanyuan's fingers inexplicably curled up. For a moment, she had a strange illusion, as if a spider web had been spread out, trying to capture every subtle change on her face.
Lu Yuanyuan paused, shifted deeper into her chair, and moved her legs under the table. As her muscles relaxed, the inexplicable tension from before dissipated.
Sure enough, it was just my imagination.
Lu Yuanyuan sighed, looked away, dipped her brush in ink, and continued the previous topic: "I don't think we need to worry so much. Yue Hong isn't the kind of man who's fickle. When he falls in love with someone, he's very devoted, one person for life."
If he doesn't win Xiaoruo's favor, he'll be a single dog for life.
Hearing her speak up for Yue Hong without even thinking, Duan Lansheng gripped the inkstone tightly and said coldly, "Is he praising himself to you like this?"
Self-promotion? What is this nonsense?
Lu Yuanyuan choked for a moment: "No, not at all."
This is just a conclusion she drew from reading the article.
Duan Lansheng's tense brows relaxed slightly, and suddenly, as if he had thought of something, the corners of his lips straightened again: "Then how do you know he's not the kind of person who's fickle?"
"Well, I've known Yue Hong since I was very young. Although I haven't seen him for over three years since I returned to the mortal realm, I feel that he hasn't changed much since I first met him. He's a really good person, a loyal friend and a man you can entrust your life to..."
Lu Yuanyuan finished writing the last line, and was about to put the pen on the pen holder when she suddenly heard a sharp "crack" sound.
She was slightly startled, and when she looked up, she was shocked to find a blot of dark ink spread across the table. A long crack had appeared in the inkstone in Duan Lansheng's hand. Ink flowed from the crack, spreading rapidly and quickly staining the stack of unwritten papers on the table black.
Duan Lansheng stopped moving, his eyes widening slightly, as if he hadn't expected this either.
Fortunately, Duan Lansheng folded up his sleeves before grinding the ink, so his clothes weren't soiled; only his fingers and the back of his hands got splattered with ink.
Lu Yuanyuan was also stunned for a moment. She quickly stood up, picked up the written prescription and put it on a high place before turning her head and asking, "Are you alright?"
Duan Lansheng came to his senses, shook his head, and went to a copper basin in the corner of the room to wash the ink off his fingertips. However, the ink seeped into the lines of his palm, and no matter how many times he rubbed, it did not completely fade.
The indistinct, dark mass perfectly mirrored his slightly agitated mood.
Images that shouldn't have surfaced in his mind, images he should have forgotten—the slender arms that wrapped around Yue Hong's shoulders, the foot with a red mole on the arch that was wrapped around the boy's back, all lurking in the corner of the suburban palace on a stormy night…
For the past three years, Lu Yuanyuan has never mentioned Yue Hong. Yue Hong is like a wisp of air.
However, upon closer reflection, she had never explained her relationship with Yue Hong.
Yes, she probably thought he was unconscious at the time and didn't see what happened.
Duan Lansheng's jade-like face grew increasingly gloomy, and he rubbed his hands together more vigorously, as if a storm was about to break but he could not find an outlet for his anger.
What's so good about that disreputable prince who's messing around with his future sister-in-law that makes Lu Yuanyuan defend him so much?
Lu Yuanyuan, who was behind her, knew nothing. She used Xuan paper to absorb the ink on the table, crumpled the things into a ball and threw them into the trash can, before looking at the inkstone with slight puzzlement.
This thing cracked way too suddenly. Was it because of the hot weather, or was it already cracked from being dropped?
After all this commotion, the agreed-upon meeting time for Qi Chang and the others had arrived.
Lu Yuanyuan pressed the prescription against the window to dry, then went with Duan Lansheng to an empty room on the second floor of the inn. Almost everyone had arrived. As expected, Lu Yuanyuan saw a fiery red figure sitting in a wicker chair by the window.
After spending this time together, Xiao Ruo has become the darling of the Shu Mountain disciples. Logically, as a demon who joined late in the journey, she shouldn't be eavesdropping on Shu Mountain's internal meetings. But the female lead can't always be expected to follow the rules.
Sure enough, no one here objected to this.
With the addition of Xiao Ruo to the thirteen Shu Mountain disciples, the room became crowded.
This was the first exchange of clues after everyone had gathered. Here, Lu Yuanyuan finally understood the ins and outs of this mortal realm instance.
About a month ago, a demonic disturbance occurred in a nunnery near Xiangcheng.
The deceased was once of high status, a concubine of the Emperor of Yong, with the title of Noble Lady Yu. Half a year ago, due to her family's offenses, she was stripped of her title and exiled to the border with her family.
Even a night of marriage brings a hundred days of kindness. Considering that Consort Yu had served him before, the emperor showed her mercy during her exile. He did not reduce her to a lowly status, but instead ordered her to be placed under house arrest in a quiet nunnery outside Xiangcheng.
Time flew by and it was last month. One morning, a nun brought her breakfast and found Consort Yu dead in bed. Her eyes were wide open, and her body was as if all the fluid had been sucked out. Her skin was charred black, as if she had been burned in a fire. Most horrifyingly, her abdomen had been torn open, and faint traces of a fetus could be seen inside.
The nuns were horrified and immediately seized the maidservant who had accompanied Consort Yu before her death. Upon questioning, they learned that the child was conceived by Consort Yu before she left the capital, and that it was the emperor's child.
Everyone was stunned.
According to the laws of the time, concubines who were pregnant with princes or princesses would not be exiled to remote areas even if their families committed crimes. They would be placed under house arrest in the palace. After giving birth, the children would be given to concubines without children to raise.
Although both were forms of house arrest, living in the palace was far more comfortable than living in a poor nunnery, and it offered a glimmer of hope. After all, no one could predict the future, and if her own child became the ruler, Consort Yu would essentially have her fortunes turned around.
However, after discovering she was pregnant, Consort Yu kept quiet. It seemed she didn't want to return to the palace. If she was tired of the palace's intrigues and preferred a life of hardship to returning, that would be understandable. But what's strange is that while Consort Yu didn't want to return, she hadn't made up her mind to abort the child.
This is highly illogical. As the pregnancy progresses, Consort Yu's belly will become more noticeable, and there will be signs of childbirth. Sooner or later, it will be discovered, and it cannot be hidden.
The nuns sensed something was amiss and forced the young maid to sit on a bench and beat her. The maid eventually couldn't take it anymore and confessed that after her mistress came to the temple, she met a man who didn't mind that Consort Yu was pregnant. He even said that the risk of miscarriage was too high and told Consort Yu to give birth. He promised to cover it up during the delivery and secretly send the child away to be raised elsewhere.
As they questioned him, they unexpectedly uncovered the identity of an adulterer. The nuns were shocked and immediately pressed him for details regarding his identity.
No matter how they tortured her, the little maid cried and shook her head, saying that she didn't know what the man looked like, nor how he managed to sneak in without anyone noticing.
Every time Consort Yu met that man, it was in the storeroom behind the temple late at night. She was not allowed to go with him, and he would only return alone at dawn.
There was only one exception: it rained heavily all night, and it was barely dawn when Consort Yu still hadn't returned. Fearing that her mistress's secret rendezvous would be discovered, the young maid disobeyed orders for the first time and sneaked off to the back mountain to look for her.
Stepping on the damp grass, she quietly approached the warehouse and faintly heard people talking inside—to her surprise, she heard two men's voices.
She felt that there were three people in the room, including Consort Yu.
...
The group exchanged bewildered glances. The Shushan disciples, who frequently dealt with demons, could basically conclude from this that the man who had been having an affair with Consort Yu was most likely an evil spirit.
A disciple of Mount Shu crossed his arms and said, "From beginning to end, only that man had ill intentions in deceiving Consort Yu into giving birth to the child. As a result, Consort Yu died tragically, and the child disappeared without a trace... He is definitely involved in this matter."
Someone nearby said, "That's not surprising; some monsters like to eat babies."
Duan Lansheng raised his eyes, his voice clear and cold, and pointed out the key point: "But that is the emperor's child."
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback, but then she understood what he was talking about and exchanged glances with the disciples around her.
Infants are considered to be of the purest form, making them an excellent tonic for demons.
However, in the mortal realm, the children of emperors are different from the children of ordinary families.
As the supreme ruler, the emperor is the aspiration of all people and is blessed with the destiny of the era. In mortal terms, this is what is known as dragon energy, which is extremely yang and pure.
Lu Yuanyuan: "..." She recalled that when she first came to the mortal world, she was also in a state of being able to ascend to heaven at any time. She relied on absorbing the luck of the male lead to weld her soul to her body.
This is similar to the monsters who crave to absorb dragon energy. However, she absorbs luck without harming others, while the monsters do so to harm people. Even if they covet the dragon energy on the emperor, they dare not directly reach out their claws to him. Because if things go wrong, they will be devoured by the dragon energy and reduced to ashes, essentially losing more than they gain.
Unable to touch the emperor, they tried every means to target those close to him.
Although the concubines and palace maids spent every day with the emperor, they were not related by blood, so any attempt to harm them would be futile. The children still in the concubines' wombs were the easiest targets—before birth, the little princesses and princes were not yet tainted by impurities, their imperial aura was pure and concentrated, and it would only disappear after birth. This was something that already born princes like Yue Hong and Yue Qi could not match.
But this doesn't mean that these unborn children can be bullied by anyone. Because the dragon energy they receive from their fathers will also protect them.
To use an imperfect analogy, to ordinary demons, the child in the concubine's womb is like a delicious dish covered in sharp thorns and engulfed in flames. If they were to try to eat it, their hands and throats would be burned away by the fire.
In other words, if they dare to harm Consort Yu's child, it proves that this evil spirit is extremely powerful and not an ordinary one they have dealt with before.
Lu Yuanyuan rested her chin on her hand and asked, "Consort Yu's maid said she heard three voices in total. Could there be two evil spirits? Did she mention any other clues?"
Qi Chang shook his head and said in a deep voice, "No, this was her last message before she was beaten to death."
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
Duan Lansheng glanced at her and answered her first question softly: "There are indeed two evil spirits."
With both a dragon's offspring and an adulterer involved, if the news reaches the capital, none of the nuns in this nunnery will survive. The best course of action now is to strike first and cover up the news at all costs.
After the maidservant died, the nuns buried the bodies of the mistress and servant overnight, lying to the outside world that Consort Yu had been depressed during her confinement and had committed suicide in a moment of despair. The maidservant, loyal to her heart, voluntarily followed her mistress in death.
If Consort Yu's death was unrelated to evil spirits, it might be possible to cover it up.
However, a demonic calamity descended upon the world, and the sky was stained with blood. This extraordinary demonic aura had already attracted the attention of the cultivation world, and if left unchecked, it would inevitably lead to a great disaster. This is why the disciples of Mount Shu came.
Following the demonic aura, Duan Lansheng and his group traced it to the nunnery and examined Consort Yu's body. They used a demon-slaying formation to lure out two demonic creatures. These two creatures appeared to be brothers. Not only were they extremely cunning, but their power had also greatly increased after they had just devoured Consort Yu's child.
Duan Lansheng and the others were trapped in the maze and split into two groups, which is why they were missing for so many days.
In the end, Duan Lansheng's group found the core of the formation and killed one of the monsters. The other group of disciples, however, lost track of the second monster.
"So, there's still one monster that hasn't been captured? Since they ate Consort Yu's child, is it possible that they've developed a taste for it and are now lurking in the palace?"
One disciple exclaimed, "That's what we thought too! But before killing the first monster, Senior Brother Duan took a risk and entered its consciousness. Before its soul dissipated, he saw some images. But all he saw were related to the nunnery, and there were no valuable clues."
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback.
How is that possible?
According to the original story, this arc should eventually move to the palace. That way, Xiao Ruo could have the brotherly scene with Yue Qi, Yue Hong, and the others. How come there's still not a single clue pointing to the palace?
Did the dungeon move to a different location after Duan Lansheng joined?
Lu Yuanyuan raised her elbow and gently nudged Duan Lansheng beside her: "What did you see? Recount it?"
Duan Lansheng pondered for a moment and said, "I saw a woman copying scriptures. I couldn't see her face or the surroundings clearly, but I could see a few passages of scripture she was copying onto the paper."
Duan Lansheng paused briefly before reciting the passages of scripture. He had a photographic memory, his voice was melodious, and his recitation sounded like chanting.
Xiao Ru listened with her chin propped up on her hand, her eyes darting around, a hint of surprise suddenly appearing on her face. But before she could speak, Lu Yuanyuan's expression suddenly changed, she slammed her hand on the table with a "bang," and abruptly stood up, startling everyone.
Lu Yuanyuan didn't notice Xiao Ruo's expression.
Her palms trembled and went numb; her heart pounded wildly.
At first, she just felt that the scripture sounded somewhat familiar. That sense of familiarity was as if she had seen the book somewhere before.
Gradually, she realized that this was not an illusion.
She not only read it, but she also read it, memorized it, and copied it—because it was the Sanskrit version of the Lotus Sutra!
The Lotus Sutra, a unique Buddhist scripture blessed by a high-ranking Indian monk. There is only one copy in the world, and it is kept by Consort Xie of the Yong Kingdom.
More than three years ago, she had no spiritual power and encountered an extremely difficult dungeon with a high mortality rate. In order to protect herself, she asked Yue Hong for help and asked him to borrow this scripture from his mother, Consort Xie. She then used cinnabar to copy the scriptures from the book onto a bronze mirror, which saved her life.
Although Buddhism had declined, many Buddhist scriptures were still kept in nunneries and temples. Few of the disciples of Shushan had read the original text of the Lotus Sutra, so even Duan Lansheng was unaware of its special nature and simply thought it was an ordinary scripture in the nunnery where Consort Yu stayed.
How could the demons who wreak havoc on the border possibly see Consort Xie, who is thousands of miles away, in their consciousness? Unless they have staked out the area.
Doesn't this mean that Consort Xie is likely pregnant, and the monster's next target is actually Consort Xie?
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