Chapter 82 A Memory
When Ning Qi flew on her sword, she felt that Xiao Sui's black cloud was following her from a distance.
She quickened her pace and arrived near the teleportation array in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.
This is an ordinary forest. The entrance to the teleportation array is no different from other places. It only glows slightly when you bring the disc close.
She channeled her spiritual power and stepped into the teleportation array.
The surrounding trees began to twist and deform, and the light suddenly dimmed.
Before long, the scene returned to normal; the lush green leaves turned a deep black, ghostly figures loomed, and the surroundings were filled with demonic energy.
She arrived in the demon realm.
In fact, it only took two days from leaving the Demon Palace to returning.
Ning Qi looked up to search for the demonic group, only to find that they were not following her and could not enter the teleportation array with her.
It's better that they can't find themselves, since she's not planning to go find Xiao Sui anymore. She's almost certain she'll become a corpse demon, and she's already confirmed that with the system.
The system also told her that she had rescued the male protagonist from the Demon Palace, which could be considered as completing the mission. After he completely mutated into a Corpse Demon, they would leave the small world.
I'd better not go see him one last time, otherwise I'll be even more reluctant to let him go. Let him think that he betrayed him and is now working for the Huaguang Sect. That's better than letting him guard Ju Xin's corpse.
Ning Qi opened the recording stone, looked at the appearance of the mission target again, and memorized it firmly. She planned to take advantage of this last bit of time to complete the mission, which would also be considered doing a good deed.
A low bird call came from behind her, and she immediately became alert, turning around to draw her longsword.
A corpse demon with most of its face rotting away suddenly rushed out of the bushes and pounced on her.
Ning Qi swung his sword at its neck, his body seemingly possessing muscle memory, each move requiring no thought whatsoever.
This corpse demon was fast and felt no pain. It exchanged more than a dozen blows with her bare hands, and demonic energy kept emanating from its torn body.
It seems this person was a cultivator before turning into a zombie. Ning Qi released spiritual power and attached it to the sword, then stabbed at it again.
The corpse demon emitted a lower, more rapid sound, which seemed to have a rhythm. She dared not linger in the fight and quickly found an opportunity to cut off its head.
The head rolled away, and she chased after it to carefully examine the half of the face that was still relatively intact. It wasn't her target.
She got up and left, intending to wander around and find a place to stay before dark; there should be some kind of cave nearby.
Then she heard the voices of the corpse demons again, and there was more than one.
Ning Qi looked around and confirmed that the corpse demon from before was indeed summoning its companions.
"Has the Corpse Demon evolved to the point of having sentience?" she asked the system in her mind.
"The number of corpse demons has surged in the past decade, and it is very likely that some corpse demons will retain their sanity, and there is even a possibility of a corpse demon king," the system said.
Ning Qi swallowed hard. "It would be best if this place didn't have any."
Three more corpse demons sprang out from the surrounding woods, surrounding her completely. These corpse demons exuded even stronger demonic energy than before, and their pure black eyes stared at her, making her feel terrified.
Ning Qi looked around and realized that none of them were the targets of his mission.
As it grew darker, she decided not to get entangled with them and instead mounted her sword and flew into the air. She then noticed several more corpse demons heading towards her previous location.
"Wow, it feels like they all have intelligence!" Ning Qi complained to the system in her mind.
"After all, the Corpse Demon spreads and evolves quickly. Ten years have passed, and it's no longer comparable to what it was back then," the system said.
“I really underestimated them,” Ning Qi remarked.
Suddenly she felt a demonic aura rapidly approaching her from behind. When she turned around, she was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped.
A corpse demon, riding a rusty iron sword, was flying through the air and chasing after her.
Seeing that they were getting closer and closer, Ning Qi was so frightened that she released more spiritual power and accelerated sharply, leaving it behind.
"Isn't that absurd? He can even fly on a sword?" Ning Qi asked, panting.
The system fell silent; perhaps this scene was beyond its comprehension.
The white sunlight sank below the horizon, plunging the earth into complete darkness. Ning Qi spotted a cave on the edge of a cliff and quickly flew inside.
She lit a tinderbox and looked around. The cave was not large, and could only accommodate two people at most. Apart from weeds and rubble, there was no sign of any corpse demons or animals living inside.
She glanced out of the cave again; below was a bottomless ravine. If she were to transform into a corpse demon and jump in, she wouldn't even be able to find her body.
This is a nice place.
Ning Xi used 10 points to exchange for a rope and tied herself to the sturdiest rock in the cave to prevent herself from falling in her sleep before she turned into a corpse demon.
After doing all that, she took out a handkerchief and wiped her face, only to suddenly realize that a large purple patch had appeared on her arm.
When did she bump it? She pinched it, but it didn't hurt at all.
"What's going on?" she asked the system.
"Signs of zombie transformation are beginning to appear," the system said.
"Oh." Ning Qi was in a bad mood, so she pulled down her sleeves to avoid seeing it.
She lay on her back on the rock, blew out the tinder, looked at the pale moonlight outside, and closed her eyes.
"Hurry up!" Ning Xi felt herself being pushed. She turned her head in confusion and saw a person dressed as a demon guard roughly grabbing her arm.
Huh? What happened? Did Xiao Sui find her? She remembers being in a cave on the edge of a cliff just now.
The demon guard didn't let her think too much, and led her into the main hall, shoving her forward to try and make her kneel.
Ning Qi regained her balance and stood up steadily. Just as she was feeling smug, someone suddenly tapped her on the back of the knee, causing her to fall to her knees with a thud.
She looked up, about to unleash a torrent of abuse, when she suddenly saw the man sitting on the throne and stopped herself from uttering the curse.
Sitting there was Xiao Sui, but he looked like someone she had never seen before. The demonic marks on his face were even more numerous than the last time she had seen him, almost covering his entire face, like he was wearing a mask. His dark, emotionless eyes were hidden in the black lines.
Ning Qi's eyes lit up; it looked strangely sexy.
"Your Highness, this is a hostage sent from the mortal realm, Princess He Xi," said the demon guard beside Ning Xi.
"Sending a disheveled princess and thinking you can get along? That's far too easy," Xiao Sui said disdainfully, looking at Ning Qi.
Ning Xi heard herself yell, "How dare you talk like that? I'm not covered in dirt, I just washed my face before coming here."
She was immediately restrained by the demon guards.
She was indeed a bit strange; her hands had chilblains and thick calluses, making her look like someone who often did manual labor.
Has she ever lived such a hard life?
Xiao Sui ignored her, raised his hand in annoyance, and manipulated the demonic energy.
Ning Qi heard herself say again, "Demon God, let me stay by your side."
Xiao Sui remained silent, his eyes showing almost no emotion.
The demonic energy he manipulated came before her, flew to her face, and forcibly pried open her mouth. Something instantly burrowed into her throat.
That feeling again! She frowned uncomfortably. "What did you feed me?"
“Demon insects.” Xiao Sui said indifferently, “The only ones that can stay by my side are corpse demons.”
Ning Qi's eyes widened, and she suddenly woke up when she heard a familiar deep voice.
Her heart was pounding rapidly. She couldn't understand why she would dream of Xiao Sui feeding her demonic insects.
Why did this part of the dream feel so natural, as if it had happened before?
The deep voice didn't disappear; instead, it grew closer and closer. Ning Qi's hair stood on end as she realized that a corpse demon was approaching.
These corpse demons are truly lawless; they can even climb cliffs!
Ning Qi drew her sword, held her breath, and waited for the corpse demon to come to her door.
Soon something crawled into her cave and pounced on her.
Ning Qi thrust directly at its body, but heard a clanging sound, as if it had struck a block of iron.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that the corpse demon was wearing armor.
"Was the corpse demon we encountered today a bit too overpowered?!" Ning Qi roared inwardly.
System: "You should focus on dealing with it."
Ning Qi struggled to keep up with it in this small space. She initially wanted to kick it out, but then thought it might be a target for a mission, so she decided to check its appearance first.
She finally knocked off its helmet, quickly took out a tinderbox from her storage bag, lit it, and shone it on the corpse demon's face.
Perhaps because of the helmet, its cheeks were completely intact, making it easy to tell at a glance that it was not a target.
Without hesitation, she plunged her sword into its throat, severing its head.
Black blood splattered all over her.
Ning Qi disgustedly took off her coat. "Didn't I start turning into a zombie? I'm the same kind of zombie demon now, so why are they still chasing and biting me?"
"Perhaps it's the spiritual energy on your body that attracts them," the system said, then suddenly issued an alarm, "Watch out!"
Before Ning Qi could react, a black figure emanating intense demonic energy pounced on her, knocking her to the ground.
The sharp, fangs, reeking of blood, were almost pressed against her neck.
——
The Right Protector arrived at the dungeon, went to the cell where Zhizhi and Qianyu were imprisoned, opened the door, and let Zhizhi out.
Zhizhi stubbornly turned her head away, "We need to go out together."
The Right Protector sighed helplessly, "Now is not the time for sisterly affection. Your young lady will be back soon, and His Highness wants to see you."
"What?" Zhizhi exclaimed in a panic. "No, Miss can't come back. His Highness is furious right now. We can't just walk into the line of fire!"
"What's with the attitude?" The Right Protector smirked. "He's making me change his clothes, clean the house, and even have me make him handcuffs. He seems incredibly happy."
"Is that so?" Zhizhi asked, still somewhat doubtful.
Qianyu gave her a push, "You should go quickly, serving the young master and young lady is the most important thing."
Zhizhi turned and glanced at her, assuring her, "Qianyu, Miss and I will definitely get you out."
Qianyu shook her head. "I did something wrong. You don't need to worry about me."
Zhizhi wanted to say something, but the Right Protector pulled her away.
She entered the main hall and saw that Xiao Sui had indeed changed into a new set of clothes: a long robe with wide sleeves and embroidered with gold thread patterns, the kind of clothing worn only on formal occasions.
But his face remained as gloomy as ever, showing no sign of happiness whatsoever.
The demonic mass trembled in front of him.
"You're saying you can't find her?" Xiao Sui asked with a tense face.
“Yes.” The demon’s voice sounded weak. “The princess has entered the teleportation array, she should be back soon.”
“But she hasn’t shown up yet,” Xiao Sui said, his voice hoarse.
Zhizhi stepped forward and asked, "What happened?"
The demon clan was filled with dejected voices: "The princess is missing."
"We lost her."
"She didn't come back at all."
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