Chapter 65 (Combined Chapter 65, including an extra chapter due to leave) I...
Skull Mountain, Bone Cave.
A few days ago, Pingyu and Li Jing were captured here by the Yellow Turban warriors. Because Shiji wanted to eat fresh children's hearts, they were imprisoned in the dungeon until today.
Now, Pingyu looked at the little demon struggling to scrub the clay pot and felt utterly hopeless.
This pot was specially cleaned out by Shiji for making soup.
Shi Ji said that Pingyu's skin is tender and its meat is delicate, and its bone marrow must also be mellow and sweet, not a single bit should be wasted.
Is it really necessary to drink human soup right after eating a human heart? Isn't that a bit too indulgent?
She remained silent and turned to look in front of her.
The goddess Shiji, who was looking down from her high vantage point, just threw an arrow down.
Blood splattered forward, landing in front of Pingyu's knees and slightly staining her dress.
Upon arrival, they were immediately attacked. Li Jing stood protectively in front of Ping Yu and asked, "What does Your Highness mean by this?"
“My disciple Biyun Tongzi was murdered, and this is the murder weapon.”
She didn't want to say anything more, and coldly looked at the two people kneeling below.
Li Jing subconsciously looked at Ping Yu, and then picked up the arrow with a puzzled expression.
Upon closer inspection, Pingyu noticed that his face suddenly turned ugly.
What else can you say to defend yourself?
Li Jing's changing expression did not escape Shi Ji's notice. She gave a cold laugh, and Li Jing finally came to his senses: "Your Majesty, you were right when you said this arrow belonged to me!"
Upon hearing this, both Shiji and Pingyu fell into deep thought.
The former was surprised that the bow behind the arrow had such a history, while the latter felt that the plot was somewhat familiar.
Ping Yu had read *Investiture of the Gods* a long time ago. She vaguely remembered watching the animated series *The Legend of Nezha* in junior high school, and then seeking out *Investiture of the Gods* to read. More than a decade had passed. Furthermore, Ping Yu wasn't a fan of mythology, and all she remembered from the plot was Nezha's battle with the Dragon King and the death of Huang Tianhua. Her knees were aching from kneeling, and she was about to subtly adjust her posture when Li Jing continued, "Your Majesty, although I am now a duke, you know my own limitations. I cannot budge this Qiankun Bow even a fraction. There must be something fishy about this. Please allow me to return to Chen Tang Pass. Once I find the culprit who fired the arrow, I will bring him before Your Majesty to apologize!"
The matter of the East Sea Dragon Clan has not yet been resolved, and Nezha has caused such trouble again!
He felt hatred welling up inside, but he couldn't show it on his face. He could only utter two words, almost a sigh, indistinctly: "You wretched creature!"
Pingyu, who was closer, could hear it clearly.
Her eyes widened, and the forgotten plot seemed to be swept away as she recalled it:
Wait, so that's what the plot was all about!
She vaguely remembered that Li Jing was able to be released and retrieve Nezha, but Nezha was no match for Lady Shiji, so he summoned Master Taiyi for help.
Shi Ji, deep in thought, failed to hear Li Jing's silent sigh.
"In that case, I'll let you go back and find out the truth. If you can't find out, I'll come back for you."
Shi Ji knew Li Jing's abilities all too well. As a mortal subject, she was a top-notch military commander, but as a cultivator, she was somewhat lacking. The Qiankun Bow was a peerless divine weapon, impossible for anyone but the destined one to wield. However, the matter of Bi Yun could not be tolerated, and Shi Ji was willing to give Li Jing a chance to investigate the truth. Moreover, Li Jing was, after all, a disciple of the True Man Du'e of West Kunlun. Although he was an enemy of the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect, Shi Ji wouldn't be foolish enough to confront someone with such a powerful background head-on.
but......
As Li Jing was about to express his gratitude, Shi Ji gestured to Ping Yu, saying, "She wants to stay."
Pingyu: Disaster has struck from the sky.
Shi Ji was after a piece of flesh and blood from Ping Yu's body; how could she possibly let him go? But it wouldn't be right to openly declare that she wanted to eat him.
Her eyes darted around, and she quickly came up with a plausible excuse: "It's just a deposit. Once you bring the real culprit here, I'll release this girl."
Skull Mountain is so big, if Pingyu gets eaten by some "little demons" or "birds of prey" there, it's none of her business.
The Jie Sect accepts disciples regardless of whether they are righteous or evil, and Li Jing naturally understood the implication of Shi Ji's words.
His strength was far inferior to Shi Ji's, and he could not protect Ping Yu.
Ping Yu thought that with the power of the Wind and Fire Wheels, it would only take him one or two hours to get to Skull Mountain.
Once he is defeated, he can summon Taiyi Zhenren to burn Shiji back into stone with fire.
She remained completely calm, and her composed demeanor drew some attention from Shi Ji.
"Uncle Li," Pingyu patted the man's hand to reassure Li Jing, "Pingyu is alright, I'll wait here for you to take me back."
This stalemate couldn't go on, so Li Jing eventually left.
Shi Ji was kind enough to send him back to Chen Tang Pass with a bird demon.
Once the man's figure had completely disappeared from the cave entrance, Ping Yu withdrew his gaze.
She bluntly asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to eat me?"
Lady Shiji was surprised by Pingyu's boldness.
Whether human or demon, people always have more patience for good-looking creatures.
She was also straightforward, nodding in agreement: "Yes, I want to eat you."
"Then..." Pingyu asked again, "when do you plan to eat me?"
"Dinner." Lady Shiji became quite excited after mentioning food. She swept her long, thin tongue across her red lips, revealing her sharp mandibles with a smile. The demoness seemed to be doing this intentionally, describing everything to Pingyu in great detail: "I'll have my disciple wash you clean in a moment, then without skinning or bleeding you, I'll slowly put you into the pot to stew. By evening, the broth will be milky white, and the flavor will be rich and fragrant."
After saying that, she belatedly realized, "You're asking me when I'll eat you, what are you doing?"
"I have something to ask you," Pingyu said. "When Biyun Tongzi was killed, Your Majesty avenged him. Now that I have been killed, are you worried that someone else might seek revenge on you?"
"I'm not worried."
Shi Ji squinted, and Ping Yu sat down with his knees drawn up to his chest.
With a drawn-out tone, Shi Ji continued, "It's only natural for demons to eat people."
Why?
This is also what Pingyu finds strange: "Why does Your Majesty say that it is only natural for demons to eat people? Pingyu is going to be eaten anyway, so he wants to die knowing why."
"Don't human cultivators also use demon cores to replenish their bodies?"
Shiji:
"Humans raise pigs, dogs, chickens, and sheep for food. Humans and demons are both born of nature. Although demons eat humans, they don't stop humans from eating demons. According to the laws of nature, whoever is stronger is right. For example, right now, I want to eat you, and Li Jing knows that too. But he can't beat me, so he can only pretend not to know and let me eat you."
"What if someone comes to rescue me?"
The girl looked innocent: "Uncle Li said he would come back and take me with him. Our two families are very close, he wouldn't lie to me."
Shi Ji laughed so hard she almost fell over, as if she had heard a huge joke.
The entire cave shook from Shi Ji's loud laughter, dust falling and scattering onto Ping Yu's hair. She thought the girl was pretty, but not very bright. Even after being abandoned, she still cared about the person who abandoned her and spoke well of them. A close friendship? Every demon knew that human relationships were the most unreliable! Just as demons wouldn't sacrifice other lesser demons to the heavens, but humans would use the flesh and blood of their own kind for their own benefit. Bi Yun Tong Zi's anger at being wronged vanished, and Shi Ji laughed heartily, saying to her:
"In that case, I'll let you stay until Li Jing returns to eat!"
That's right, that's exactly it.
Pingyu achieved his goal, but his face showed just the right amount of surprise: "Does Your Majesty no longer want to eat me?"
"I'll just keep you here a little longer," Shi Ji wiped away her tears, "until Li Jing returns so you can give up. When that time comes, you'll be my meal!"
“Okay.” Pingyu obediently agreed, but thought to himself: When you are burned back to stone, I will skip over you.
Li Jing, who was being discussed by the man and the demon in the White Bone Cave, had already returned to the sky above the Li Mansion on the back of the bird demon.
His mother's sobs made his mind buzz.
Lady Shiji and Li Jing were acquaintances. Could it be that he had made an old grudge with someone during his cultivation?
If that's the case, then why was Pingyu kidnapped?
"evil creature!"
Li Jing? Nezha instinctively turned around, his grip loosening. He and his mother, who had been limp and sprawled on the bed, leaped off in an instant. Madam Yin stumbled over, crying, "Husband!"
The man strode in and embraced his wife.
Before he left the pass, he did not know where Nezha had gone, so he could only return to Chentang Pass and check from the watchtower to see if the Qiankun Bow was inside.
Because no one had been able to budge the treasure before, Li Jing hadn't paid much attention to it. Unexpectedly, this allowed his youngest son to take advantage of the situation; the bow rack was empty, and the treasure that guarded the pass had truly been stolen! Li Jing was furious and wanted to rush home to let Lady Yin know he was safe. However, outside the courtyard, he heard a boy's voice coming from inside the house.
It was his unfilial son whom he hadn't seen for many days!
Li Jing was furious and glared at Nezha: "Kneel down! Do you know the enormity of the trouble you've caused?!"
He was certain it was Nezha's doing, and regretted that he had previously thought the boy had truly changed for the better, blinded by the boy's feigned kindness. Li Jing didn't give Nezha a chance to explain, instantly cooling the boy's initial fervor stemming from his father and friend's perilous situation. He didn't answer, but instead asked, "Where is Pingyu?"
Why did this old thing come back?
His face was pale, and Li Jing felt a pang of despair upon hearing the words "peaceful recovery." He couldn't defeat Shi Ji, nor could he defeat the young boy before him. The interplay of rage and helplessness surprisingly calmed him. The man helped his wife to bed, and Madam Yin instructed, "You two, father and son, don't fight every time you meet. Talk it out."
"Madam, this matter is not going to end well," Li Jing said, tucking her hand behind her back. He then turned to Nezha and asked, "Did you take the Qiankun Bow?"
“It was me,” Nezha said. “I will be assisting a wise ruler in the future, and archery and horsemanship are essential skills. I happened to see that bow on the city wall, and when I picked it up, I found it easy to use, so I took it.”
Could that bow be Li Jing's divine weapon?
Nezha felt that the other party was not strong enough to lift the bow, but seeing his furious appearance, he added, "If Father wants it, I will return it to you."
"You wretched child!" Li Jing's hand trembled as he pointed at him. "You've already caused trouble in the East Sea, and now you've committed such a grave mistake. I don't know why you shot the arrow, but it just so happened to hit Skull Mountain and kill Biyun, a disciple of Lady Shiji."
“The feather flower bears the name of our Li family. On that day, Lady Shiji kidnapped me and Pingyu to her cave.”
Upon hearing this, Nezha's murderous intent was already rising. He touched the Hun Tian Ling wrapped around his forearm, interrupting Li Jing's next words: "Father."
He asked, "Where is Shiji's cave? I will take responsibility for what I did; it won't implicate my parents. Why would Lady Shiji harm innocent people? I must go and bring Pingyu back."
The White Bone Cave sounds like the dwelling place of demons. That Lady Shiji only wanted to take Pingyu away because she was greedy; she was definitely not a good person.
"I'll take you there," Li Jing said, knowing the two children were close. Unable to save anyone, he placed all his hopes and resentment on the youngest child before him.
Two hours had passed when the Li family father and son arrived at the cave on the bird demon.
Pingyu was left in the cave by Shiji and forced to watch her eat human waste for four whole hours.
Heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys, roasted over a high flame until fragrant.
From initially feeling instinctively terrified, Pingyu is now able to calmly bite into wild fruits and chew them along with the food while eating at Shiji.
Just as she spat out the third fruit pit, a little demon came to report: "Your Majesty, Li Jing has returned!"
Pingyu: Nezha is here!
She quickly took out two of the delicious fruits she had just been eating from the fruit plate, intending to bring Nezha some local specialties from the White Bone Cave.
Shi Ji's eyes lit up, and she instructed, "Water, boil the water first!"
It seems she still has to eat. Li Jing returned quickly, just in time for her planned dinner.
Pingyu saw that she had eaten so much but still missed him, and he really had no way to deal with this wicked, greedy girl.
Li Jing hurriedly entered.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
He glanced quickly at Ping Yu:
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the girl was found to be unharmed.
Otherwise, Li Jing really wouldn't know how to explain it to his brothers.
Shi Ji was unusually excited. She asked, "Have you brought the thief here?"
"It is Li's unfilial son, Nezha. He is already waiting outside the cave, awaiting Your Majesty's judgment!"
"Then you may leave."
Li Jing was willing to offer his own son as a token of his loyalty, so Shi Ji naturally wouldn't make things difficult for him. The demoness casually waved her hand, and Li Jing was shoved into the ground by a magic spell and sent to the Li residence. As she did so, she instructed Caiyun, who was standing nearby, "Go and bring him in."
The colorful clouds were meant to bring more fruit to Pingyu.
Huh?
Strange, how can I see my own body?
Instead of seeing only a part of the body when looking down, Caiyun found herself inexplicably able to see the entire body clearly at that moment.
He stood blankly in the distance, holding a fruit platter.
Blood splattered from his neck, turning the once tidy cave into a filthy mess.
Caiyun then saw a golden circle expanding continuously within the gushing blood.
The girl, who was biting into a peach, quickly stuffed a few more into her sleeve.
In the blink of an eye, she was ensnared in the snare and taken away from the cave.
The sound of her master's furious laughter rang in her ears. She said, "You wretched creature, you dare to commit murder and kill my disciple even after coming here!"
Biyun is dead, and I'm the only disciple left of my master...
So, I'm dead too.
Her head fell to the ground, her eyes wide open, into a pool of blood, and she died instantly.
The girl was already being held by Nezha with one hand.
Seeing Pingyu burping from his full meal, Nezha let the Universe Ring float on its own and reached out to pinch the other's face: "How are you? Doing well?"
"Oh no, oh no!" Pingyu was also very happy to know that Nezha was alright. She took out the fruit she had brought earlier from her sleeve and presented it to him like a treasure: "I brought this for you, eat it quickly!"
"Wait a minute."
The girl's smile made Nezha feel unconsciously guilty. He composed himself and glanced to the side: "She's here."
Shi Ji grabbed the Tai'a sword and hurriedly chased after Ping Yu out of the cave.
The disciple's tragic death and Pingyu's rescue caused the demoness's mood to plummet.
The girl's words flashed through her mind. Shi Ji recalled the girl's confident expression and knew that she had fallen for the boy's trick.
She should have eaten Pingyu raw earlier, to avoid any unforeseen complications.
Perhaps it was because the expression on the female demon's face was too obvious that Ping Yu was able to see what she was thinking.
You see, the reason why Grey Wolf always lets the sheep escape is because he's slow to speak!
Pingyu suddenly realized that he was thinking about the modern world more and more frequently lately, something he had never done before.
It was subtle and strange, but searching through my memories, I couldn't find any fault with it.
It's so perfect it's unsettling.
However, with a formidable enemy at hand, Pingyu had no time for idle thoughts.
Without further ado, Nezha used his ring to strike the rocky cliff.
As the leader of all demons, Lady Shiji easily caught the child's golden ring with a wave of her hand.
Nezha suffered his first defeat, which was unbelievable.
The other person, however, took his ring and played with it in their hand.
Shi Ji recognized it as the object that had killed Caiyun earlier, and upon closer inspection, she realized it was the Qiankun Ring!
Shi Ji sneered: "So it was you."
Although I knew Nezha couldn't beat Shiji, I didn't expect the difference in strength to be so great.
Ping Yu gasped and whispered to Nezha, "Get out of here and go find your master!"
"We need to get away first." Nezha didn't shy away from running away, after all, running away is the best of the thirty-six stratagems.
He pondered what magical treasures he carried, and stood facing Shi Ji in mid-air atop his Wind and Fire Wheels.
Shi Ji, like a cat hunting mice, wanted to slowly grind a pair of young boys and girls to death with a dull knife, only then could she quell the hatred in her heart. So she said, "Nezha, why don't you take out all the magical treasures your master gave you and let me see them, so you can see how good my magic is?"
"You old hag, you just wait."
Nezha uttered a harsh threat, and the seven-foot-long red ribbon flew from his arm like lightning.
Taking advantage of Shi Ji's distraction, he quickly carried Ping Yu and sped towards the Golden Light Cave.
While hurrying along, he didn't notice that his other arm and wrist had also become lighter.
A red ribbon obscured his vision; Nezha turned his back, while Shiji busied herself packing things away.
Therefore, no one saw a small blue snake silently fleeing into the distance amidst the red.
Ao Guang had remained silent since arriving at the Li residence. He knew Shi Ji's background and was certain that Nezha was no match for him. This old dragon had been plotting how to escape the boy since the way they arrived. With both sides preoccupied, Ao Guang seized the opportunity.
He escaped from Nezha's side using the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon), but did not go to the East Sea.
.
The sea is vast, and the four Dragon Kings each govern a different place.
The West Sea Dragon King, Ao Run, was surprised and quickly invited the man over: "Brother, I also know about the disaster in the East Sea, and I mourn for my nephew. Are you injured, brother? They said you went to the Heavenly Court to report to the Jade Emperor, so why are you here with your younger brother?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to say!" Ao Guang had first been tortured into confessing by Nezha at Baode Gate, and then fled in panic from Skull Mountain, leaving him in a sorry state. However, he had no intention of tidying himself up; after all, the more miserable he looked, the more convincing his complaint would be when he went to the Heavenly Court. Ao Guang said to the astonished Ao Run, "Just now, when I was about to file a complaint, that wicked child caught me red-handed. Now he's being chased by Shi Ji of the Jie Sect and has no time to worry about us."
"Third brother, quickly inform the other brothers to come with us to the Heavenly Court. While we have the chance, I will definitely obtain the power to bring rain from the Jade Emperor!"
His fierce look startled Ao Run: "Ah, oh... I'm coming right now...!"
As he spoke, humiliation and resentment welled up in his heart.
He said, "I will not only flood Chentang Pass, but I will also skin Nezha's parents and pull out their tendons in front of them."
"And that little girl, Nezha seems to care about her quite a bit. So I'll include her too!"
Ao Guang gritted his teeth and smashed the teacup presented by the servant. The fine tea, before even touching his lips, transformed into a potent poison in his mouth.
"I'll devour that girl's flesh and make her experience the agony of all her blood relatives and friends dying tragically."
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