Chapter 4: The Demon Appears - The Great Demon, Assange Belial. ...
Lan Qingju spent a sleepless night analyzing the original owner's memories. Countless demons came and went, but none of them noticed his presence.
The early morning sun was slightly cool, and the air felt pleasantly chilly.
Lan Qing stretched her body and examined the silk in her hand more closely. The gold and silver threads, pearls and jade shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight. She didn't know how to describe it, only two words: very expensive.
"System, give me directions, we have to go. I'm still human and need to eat." He hadn't eaten or drunk anything for almost two days. If it weren't for his good physical condition or the special things that person fed him, he would probably be eating grass by now.
Lan Qingju walked out of the meadow and looked back. In front of the verdant mountains and forests was a lush green meadow. He slowly wrapped the silk ribbon around his wrist. Whether others cared or not was another matter; he had to bear his responsibility.
Who told him that? The confusion in East's eyes vanished in an instant, and then he couldn't remember what he had just been thinking.
Seeing the arrow marked by the system, Lan Qingju followed it and walked forward, burying the doubt that had been surging in his mind deep down.
The fresh air was now filled with a foul odor. Not far away was a small village with only a dozen or so mud houses with thatched roofs. The thatch on the roofs of some of the houses had disappeared.
Lan Qingju stood at a distance, observing the small village. He could not hear any roosters crowing or dogs barking, nor could he see any human figures.
"System, can you help scan that area? It's so dilapidated, like it's been uninhabited for a long time. Are you sure there's food here?" Lan Qingju felt uneasy. It was strange; this was an incredibly remote place. How remote? Aside from monsters or some fearless adventurers, no one would ever come here, yet a small village suddenly appeared.
Adding to that the man who inexplicably appeared yesterday, that man was clearly someone of extraordinary status. If there were no problem with him showing up here, he... he would have given the system a good beating.
[Host, there is food there, and there are no signs of human life, no monsters, and no traces of magic. You don't need to worry about your safety.] the system replied.
Lan Qingju still felt something was amiss. "Besides this small village, how far am I from human settlements?"
[If the host walks continuously without eating or drinking, it would take two days and one night at the host's pace.]
Lan Qingju's lips twitched. "I see this mountain is covered with vegetation. Is there anything to eat?"
[The system has roughly scanned this area. Monsters congregate on this mountain, along with some wild beasts that are very dangerous to the host.]
"Then why was I able to get through it yesterday?"
[Yesterday we avoided areas inhabited by monsters and wild beasts. If we need to find food, we'll definitely have to venture deeper. In that case, no matter how we try to avoid contact with them, there's a high chance of being attacked. Therefore, we do not recommend that the host enter the mountains and forests.]
"Okay, I understand," Lan Qingju said. It seemed that fate was forcing him to enter this small village. He slowed down and walked forward, his eyes still observing the village ahead, fearing that all sorts of unexpected things might happen. But when he finally reached the village, nothing happened. He breathed a small sigh of relief, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, temporarily calmed down.
As Lan Qingju stepped into the village, the stench became even stronger, a mixture of various kinds of excrement.
The dirt road underfoot was riddled with potholes and covered in excrement, filthy and black, making it difficult to find a place to step.
Lan Qingju entered the small village without much hesitation, his brows furrowed slightly. It stank, it really stank, it was abnormally stank, it was as if it was deliberately trying to disgust people and not want them to enter.
"System, are you sure there's no problem?" Lan Qingju asked.
Although it's just an analogy, the European Middle Ages in history do indeed share countless similarities with this world.
Historical records show that people in medieval Europe paid very little attention to hygiene. Urinating and defecating anywhere was commonplace. In addition, there were many other issues, such as not bathing, sewage discharge, and the indiscriminate disposal of human and animal corpses. Apart from the areas where nobles lived, filth and disorder were the hallmarks of the slums. Don't forget, this was a period of major disease outbreaks.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this world is a magical continent, and magicians are such noble beings. How could they possibly deign to care about the lives of commoners and slaves? After all, people just keep coming back after they die; they simply don't care.
When it comes to the social structure of the two, it can be described in one word: almost the same. After all, magic serves the upper class, so what does it have to do with commoners and slaves?
Even the highest deities often force the birth of faith through suffering, advocating asceticism and atonement, and suggesting that people should be as meek and obedient as lambs.
It smelled so bad that Lan Qingju would probably have run away if he hadn't been thinking about something to distract himself.
"Don't worry, host, everything will be alright. Don't be afraid. Just follow the navigation I've given you; there's food and drink available." The system said confidently.
Lan Qingju's lips twitched. She remembered that the last time the system was this confident was yesterday, and what was the result?
Not only did he travel to the wrong world, but he also lost contact with their headquarters. Getting him to believe in the system might not be possible in the short term.
The mud huts, built from excrement or soil, were covered with a thin layer of thatch. The doors creaked and looked as if they might fall off at any moment. Sunlight streamed in from the outside, but inside, there was no light at all; it was pitch black.
Lan Qingju said, "System, turn on the light." He wasn't stupid; what if he ran into trouble if he stepped in in the dark? He valued his life very much.
A small ball of light dispelled the darkness. The relatively flat dirt floor, a broken wooden table, two broken wooden stools, and a broken bed in the corner of the house piled with hay, along with a thin quilt covered in patches—at first glance, these were the only things, making the place look dilapidated and bare.
"System, where are the food and drinks you mentioned?" Lan Qingju asked, his tone full of suspicion.
Follow the ball of light.
Lan Qingju walked into the dilapidated house with some doubt. The ball of light stopped in a corner and bounced up and down.
Lan Qingju walked over, examined it closely, squatted down and touched it with his hand. His brows, which had been furrowed, furrowed even more tightly. "System, although you are not human, do you think this is normal when you use data to calculate it?"
If it were just an ordinary wooden door, he wouldn't have shown this expression. A cellar, well, that's not surprising. Even if this village is so poor that it's unlikely anyone could afford a cellar, having one is still somewhat plausible. The problem is that this entrance is not only made of iron, but it also blends perfectly with the floor of the entire house. Without careful observation, you wouldn't even notice that there's an entrance here.
The system seems to be malfunctioning. It's bewildered and confused. But there is definitely food down there, and everything is fresh.
Lan Qingju was speechless; this system was just plain stupid.
The unexpected happened at that moment. Lan Qingju's hand, which she hadn't been able to pull back, was tightly sucked onto the iron gate. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull her hand away. Her hand stung, and blood flowed out. As the blood flowed out, a magic circle was drawn out, and the red light grew stronger.
Lan Qingju turned her head away. "System, are you here to help me or to harm me?"
"I...I don't know either?" the system stammered. "In my tests, everything here is normal."
Lan Qingju's smile was bitter. What kind of situation was this? "Do you have a solution?" he asked helplessly. He could no longer trust the system.
[I'm sorry, all I know is that this is an unsealing magic circle, and it cannot be interrupted.]
Just as Lan Qingju had predicted, the system was helpless, and he was even more helpless. He could only pray that the one sealed inside wasn't someone who would repay kindness with enmity.
"Hahaha~ I, the great demon Asan Belial, have reappeared in this world! Patrick Felix, have you thought about how to face my revenge?" Accompanied by arrogant voices, a raging fire broke out.
Lan Qingju was relieved that he could withdraw his hand. He retreated further and further back, leaving the dilapidated house, and watched helplessly as the fire destroyed it. Don't ask him why he didn't run; the answer was that he couldn't move.
A tall figure emerged from the flames, calm and slow, a stark contrast to his earlier arrogance and urgency.
As the person drew closer, Lan Qingju was able to clearly see the demon's true appearance. Contrary to his expectations, the demon did not have horns or wings; he had the appearance of a normal adult male. However, his strangely handsome face was what truly made him a demon.
His facial features are those of a Westerner: a high nose and deep-set eyes, a perfection that only a master craftsman could sculpt. His eyes are like two rubies, and his half-length, loose hair is so red that it turns almost black, with the red only slightly visible in the light.
He held a scepter in his hand, wore a black tailcoat, and had a white overcoat collar with black gemstones adorning it.
He stopped a meter away from Lan Qingju. "So it was Felix." His voice had a special rhythmic tone, elegant and pleasant to hear.
Lan Qingju inappropriately thought of the man from yesterday. Their rhythm and intonation were somewhat similar, but the man's voice was much more pleasant than this devil's.
"Has Felix fallen so low?" Asan Belial continued, "or are you merely a distant relative of Felix?"
“Your Excellency Belial, Ist Felix sends his greetings,” Lan Qingju said, bowing slightly. “A thousand years have passed since the era of the Great Emperor.”
Asan tapped the ground with his scepter. "You can imagine what good will come from getting involved with the gods."
Lan Qingju sensed the emotion in the demon's tone and pondered, "He doesn't seem to have any real grudge."
Asang lifted Lan Qingju's head with his scepter, his gaze sweeping over his face inch by inch. "Too soft, too gentle, not a trace of the arrogance Felix should have," he said with great dissatisfaction. "You are still full of the blazing sun aura of the Sanset family, almost overshadowing your own fiery nature. In just a thousand years, have you fallen to this state?" He sighed almost imperceptibly.
Lan Qingju grasped a key point: the Sansette family. He now had a target to search for.
But right now, the more important thing is to deal with this strange demon. On the one hand, it clamors for revenge, and on the other hand, it is disappointed in the descendants of Emperor Felix the Great. And with that strange description, those who know it are aware that it is a demon, but those who don't might think it is a dog.
"Your Excellency Belial, Felix has been rejected by all the gods. You should know what that means." Lan Qingju's respectful attitude betrayed no hint of his inner turmoil.
“It’s all Patrick’s own fault, all his own fault. A ‘miracle’ would be more believable than any promise made by a ‘liar’.”
As Asang spoke these words, Lan Qingju felt as if this devilish man was about to shed tears at any moment. Could it be that he had some inexplicable love-hate entanglement with that emperor?
Asan looked at Lan Qingju's face again, his eyes distant and empty. "Don't resent him. If it weren't for him, all the Felixes would have died a thousand years ago."
A note from the author:
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