Chapter 71 The Beauty Kidnapped by the Queen 12
It was your choice to follow me.
"The capital is heavily guarded. Wanqi Yanjing, who is severely injured, could not possibly have escaped far. Search the entire capital and find her!" the eldest princess roared.
"yes!"
On one side, Jiang Yiqing was led to a cave by Wan Qiyanjing. Upon entering the cave, she shivered from the cold, while the blood on Wan Qiyanjing's body froze due to the ice.
She observed Wanqi Yanjing's body, which was covered in countless wounds, large and small, and her clothes barely covered her body. How could the dignified empress of a nation be in such a sorry state? As if sensing Jiang Yiqing's gaze, she frowned, her delicate, pale face trembling slightly. With a wave of her hand, she conjured a black robe and put it on.
Jiang Yiqing never expected that after the attack, Wan Qiyanjing would still have spiritual power to help her escape to this place. Although the Feitangling she brought played an immeasurable role, Wan Qiyanjing's strength was also quite terrifying.
Moreover, her apparent indifference to her injuries gave Jiang Yiqing a sense of alienation from the mortal world.
Therefore, she dared not let her guard down at all. She figured that Wan Qiyan Jing would not be able to achieve his goal of imprisoning her in a short time, and she had to perform well. Even if she could not salvage her reputation in Wan Qiyan Jing's eyes, she had to sever this ill-fated relationship with her.
Jiang Yiqing was so cold that she couldn't resist buying a fox fur coat from the system. Just as she was about to take it out of her space, Wan Qiyan suddenly turned around, grabbed her neck with one hand, and pinned her against the rock wall.
Jiang Yiqing shivered and said, "Empress, I'm cold. I didn't intend to do anything. Besides, even if you're injured, I'm no match for you."
"Don't act rashly, or you know the consequences." Wan Qiyan Jing suppressed her anger and slammed her palm against the ice wall beside her. Not only did ice flowers scatter, but blood also seeped from her arm again.
Jiang Yiqing felt sorry for her just watching.
As she draped the fox fur over herself, she tentatively asked, "Aren't you going to treat your wounds?"
"Shut up."
"..." It seems she doesn't believe me at all. Jiang Yiqing was also quite frustrated. She really didn't do anything. How could things have turned out like this? She wanted to know.
Wan Qiyan took two steps forward, and seeing that Jiang Yiqing didn't move, he said, "Come on."
Jiang Yiqing was speechless. What, are you kidnapping me? You know you're going to deal with me, yet you still obediently listen to me. You're not stupid. But, still thinking of not arguing with an injured person, she hesitantly followed.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, the cave suddenly turned from cold to scorching hot. Jiang Yiqing put the fox fur back into her spatial storage and looked at the flowing lava pool on the ground, feeling extremely shocked.
"Where exactly is this place? Why did you bring me here?" she finally asked the question that had been bothering her all morning.
Wanqi Yanjing did not answer her, but continued walking forward.
"I won't leave unless you tell me." Jiang Yiqing glanced at her inventory; she had enough coins to buy a teleportation spell in the shop, so she could leave whenever she wanted.
"..." Wan Qiyanjing glanced at her and said, "This is the Demon Cave I visited when I was six years old. After I wiped out the Demonic Cult, this place became a secret place. Although it is a Demon Cave, its spiritual power is stronger than other places, which can help me restore my power."
Jiang Yiqing hadn't expected her to be so thorough this time, and asked somewhat uncertainly, "Aren't you afraid that telling me all this might backfire on you?"
"It's alright, Jiang Yiqing. This is your last chance. If you can escape from here, I may really be unable to do anything to you. But if you can't, from now on, you will be my—favorite."
"Here we go again." Jiang Yiqing laughed heartily. "I was just about to complain. Wanqi Yanjing, you still have feelings for me. That's your excuse for failing. It's clearly a doomed relationship. Why don't you end it? It's not good for either of us."
"..." Wan Qiyan Jing continued walking forward.
Jiang Yiqing became unusually serious. Since she had said so, she wanted to see what secrets this cave held.
Jiang Yiqing noticed that there were fire opal fragments on the wall next to her. These were rare treasures that were hard to find even in modern times, so she couldn't resist collecting some.
After walking across the rock pool, Jiang Yiqing noticed that Wan Qiyan Jing's complexion looked healthier, indicating that the fire elemental power that shared the same origin as her was able to fully nourish her.
They arrived at a golden palace, the layout of which was exactly the same as the Qintai Palace in the Qin Kingdom's royal palace.
"Here?..." Jiang Yiqing hesitated and stopped, feeling as if she had returned to the Kingdom of Qin.
"What, are you scared?" Wan Qiyan Jing took the lead and walked up the white marble steps, put his hands behind his back, looked back at her with a mocking expression.
"What I, Jiang Yiqing, have the most of is guts." Jiang Yiqing snorted lightly, knowing it was a provocation but unable to resist retorting.
She followed and walked up. In an instant, it was as if countless images flashed before her eyes, but she shook her head and suppressed her inner aversion.
Wanqi Yanjing walked to the palace gate and pushed it open with one hand. Instantly, an extremely rotten and decaying smell wafted out from inside. Unfamiliar people and conversations flashed before Jiang Yiqing's eyes again, as if she were seeing their past experiences here.
Wan Qiyan glanced back at her, said nothing, and walked in. Jiang Yiqing, as if driven by some strange thought, also entered that eerie place.
She saw Wan Qiyan Jing's figure move forward instantly and sit in the chair at the very front. The entire hall was dark and gloomy, with only faint beams of light shining in from outside the door. She could see that the hall was full of tables and cushions, with some papers on the tables.
Jiang Yiqing picked up a sheet from a nearby table. The ink was already very blurry, but she could vaguely make out the words "Spiritual Sect" and "Infant Cult".
He then picked up a book from the side, which contained a jumble of nonsensical spiritual doctrines, resembling a cult. However, the children who were kidnapped at the time probably didn't have such a high level of discernment and could easily have been brainwashed into believing that spiritualism held the truth.
She looked at the wall again, which was covered with bloody handprints left from years ago, suggesting that the Church of Spirits took harsh measures against disobedient children.
Contacting Wanqi Yan Jing revealed that this was the den of demons where she was abducted at the age of six. It's not hard to understand that the demonic cult attempted to brainwash infants, training them to become their henchmen. Wanqi Yan Jing spent a year in such a place before destroying the demonic cult, allowing her to lead the surviving children to safety.
The thought of the Demonic Sect always made Jiang Yiqing feel uneasy. She stepped forward and asked, "Didn't you eradicate the Demonic Sect back then? What are you doing here?"
She saw Wan Qiyan open a black box on the table beside her, inside which was a vermilion pill, emanating a chilling black aura.
Jiang Yiqing saw that the display showed "Nine Heavens Blazing Phoenix Pill (Demon) Fragment *10".
A bad feeling arose in my mind.
"Eliminate? That demonic sect is hard to eradicate. Even the immortals in heaven are helpless against it and have driven it to this land of the Nine Provinces. Who would have thought they would turn their attention to the Qin Kingdom? Back then, my father listened to the slander of the Grand Preceptor and sent me into the demon's lair, thinking that I would suffer on behalf of the people, which would not only increase the Qin Kingdom's fortunes but also allow me to advance my cultivation level after experiencing life-and-death situations—what an ignorant man. He had no idea what I had encountered here."
"No way—you fell for the trap too, didn't you?" Jiang Yiqing asked.
Wan Qiyan had never told anyone about this past event, but at this moment, she suddenly wanted to talk to someone, so Jiang Yiqing became that person.
"The evil cult's intention is to instill its will into the hearts of young children, so that when they grow up, they will naturally act according to the evil cult's will. And the greater the power of the children in the future, the wider the scope of their influence will be—that's why they've set their sights on me."
“But you didn’t become a witch, did you?” Jiang Yiqing asked. “Not only did you not become one, you also destroyed them and became the ‘Jing Nu’ worshipped by all the kingdoms.”
"Hahaha." Wan Qiyan laughed, but it sent a chill down one's spine: "The world only praises the victors. I ask you, Jiang Yiqing, do you really think things are that simple?"
"What do you mean?" Jiang Yiqing could tell that the pill in her hand was not simple; it seemed to be entangled with extraordinary demonic energy, and of course, it also contained extraordinary power.
“During that year in the Demon Cave, I was repeatedly attacked by them using the ‘Bone-Clinging Plague.’ All those children lost their minds. Only I, with my last bit of pride, struggled ugly in ways that ordinary people couldn’t imagine, and managed to stay conscious and survive.”
Wan Qiyan Jing made no attempt to hide the wounds on her body. Just as Jiang Yiqing had suspected, those were things that her daughter had done to her when she was six years old, probably including hatred for her father.
"But they discovered me and forced me to spit out the Phoenix Pill, wanting to kill me completely." Wan Qiyan Jing said with a slight smile, "However, phoenixes are creatures that survive when faced with death. Even if they anticipated this, they couldn't do anything to me. At that time, I spat out half of the Phoenix Pill and unleashed astonishing power to kill the leading high priest of the demonic sect. The others saw me go mad and scattered in a clamor."
"Is that half of the Phoenix Pill in your hand?"
“Yes, you are indeed clever.” Wanqi Yanjing said, “So far I have only used half of the Phoenix Power, because I forced out the other half when I was six years old. But given the current situation, I have no choice but to take this pill.”
“That’s a corrupted elixir, you can’t eat it,” Jiang Yiqing said. “Wanqi Yanjing, you’ve been proud your whole life, do you want to see your brilliance ruined in an instant?”
"Host, it's been detected." The system then said to Jiang Yiqing, "The strange bone jade pendant was suppressing the evil spirits of the Demonic Sect. Due to that impact, the seal has now been broken, and the Demonic Sect will likely reappear in the world soon."
"?" Jiang Yiqing looked at Wan Qiyanjing in astonishment.
Right in front of her, she slowly put the pill into her mouth, saying with a hint of wicked mockery, "Jiang Yiqing, I gave you a chance. You were the one who chose to follow me. Very well, now you have no chance to turn back."
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