Chapter 112
Deep within the demonic cocoon.
A viscous, dark red substance surged beneath my feet, making a bubbling, boiling sound. Countless scarlet threads hung down from the void, almost enveloping the heavens and earth, like a giant floating curtain.
Right in the center of this curtain of fire, above the sea of flames, was a massive, dark red tumor that throbbed like a heart.
The sea of blood churned, unleashing a raging inferno.
If the scenery outside still bears some resemblance to the former Mitian Realm, then this place is pure purgatory.
Amidst the churning sea of blood, a figure in white stood silently atop it.
It was the same person whom the cultivators in the Thousand Poison Cave had so vehemently doubted.
The Demon Lord, who had once unleashed a reign of terror, remained calm, his brows even showing a hint of weariness. Yet, the puppet barriers that had rendered cultivators helpless seemed to be wary of him, and dared not approach.
We must not harm him in the slightest.
Between the two opposing forces, a faint sound of blood churning came from behind.
Rong Que walked slowly, dressed in blue robes and white gowns, his hair tied up with a jade hairpin. He was surrounded by spiritual energy and silver-white threads that resembled zither strings, exuding an air of refined elegance.
He was clearly standing on a sea of viscous blood, yet his demeanor remained gentle and refined, as if he were still strolling leisurely beneath the jade hairpins of the Sword Pavilion.
Rong Que stopped a few feet behind Xie Qianjing.
His eyes were still covered by white silk, but his gaze clearly swept over the pulsating demonic seed before returning to Xie Qianjing's calm profile in a brief moment.
"The Demon Lord is indeed powerful," Rong Que exclaimed. "It's just a pity that even if you recall those past events, it's useless."
Even if he remembered, Xie Qianjing was still unable to say it due to the constraints of the Heavenly Dao.
Rong Que didn't care about others; as long as Sheng Ningyu didn't know, no one could stop him.
They concealed the puppets with zither strings and hid the demons with jade hairpins, thus deceiving everyone.
I see.
Xie Qianjing said calmly, "I see."
He still didn't turn around, staring at the churning sea of blood ahead, as if the person who appeared behind him was insignificant.
Rong Que had not expected Xie Qianjing to react this way. He still had a smile on his lips, but the smile was extremely empty and devoid of warmth.
He sighed softly, seemingly with great regret: "Back then, the Demon Lord was also a proud son of the Xie family. Now he has fallen to this state. It is truly a cruel twist of fate."
“Immortal Rong, there’s no need to test me.” Xie Qianjing finally turned his head slightly, revealing his cool-featured jawline. “I don’t recall those past events.”
However, some things are not hard to guess.
Xie Qianjing knew all too well what could drive him to obsession and madness.
He raised his left hand, a wisp of scarlet silk thread wrapped around his fingertip, its movement faintly resembling the surrounding puppet barrier.
"If I had gone to the Thousand Poison Cave as promised, the news that 'the Puppet Barrier is controlled by the Demon Lord' would probably be spreading like wildfire throughout the Fourteen Continents by now," Xie Qianjing said calmly. "Imperial witnesses and evidence are surely already prepared by Immortal Rong."
Rong Que clapped his hands lightly, his smile impeccable: "The Demon Lord is indeed thoughtful. I did think you would go with Mingyue. But..." Rong Que paused, his gaze falling meaningfully on the enormous demon seed in the center, a cryptic smile appearing on his face.
"I truly did not expect that even a dignified Demon Lord would hesitate and dare not move forward."
Hearing this, Xie Qianjing finally reacted.
He slowly raised his eyelashes, finally shifting his gaze from the wildly dancing puppet threads to the direction from which Rong Que's voice came.
However, Xie Qianjing's gaze lingered on Rong Que for only a moment before it swept across Rong Que's outline and headed straight for the end of the churning sea of blood, into that more distant and chaotic darkness.
"Immortal Rong is joking." Xie Qianjing raised the corners of his lips, revealing a very faint smile, and said lightly, "I just don't want to put Jiuzhong in a difficult position."
The moment the words "Ninefold" were uttered, the red in Rong Que's pupils suddenly deepened.
Towards the end, his tone became somewhat twisted and obsessive.
As if sensing his emotions, the surrounding sea of fire suddenly surged!
A dark red wave of blood surged several feet high, and blazing flames licked the void, making the two figures appear and disappear intermittently.
Rong Que has lost control.
This once gentle and refined young master now exuded an ominous aura.
Jealousy, disgust, resentment, unwillingness...
Rong Que no longer concealed himself, and the aura of demons and monsters emanated from his body!
In an instant, the thin white silk covering her eyes was swept away by the phoenix and turned into dust.
The resentment of demons and ghosts swept in like a tidal wave, as if to devour people.
Even the most powerful resentment in the world could not harm the Demon Lord in the slightest.
"Immortal Rong," Xie Qianjing's voice remained clear and steady amidst the roaring sea of fire. He looked at Rong Que, whose emotions were far more intense than those of ordinary people, and turned his head slightly.
"You hate me very much."
Xie Qianjing's tone was very calm, so calm that there was no emotional fluctuation, he was simply stating a fact.
Rong Que suddenly let out a cold laugh.
He stared intently at Xie Qianjing.
At this moment, Rong Que's pupils were already covered in crimson. His gaze swept over Xie Qianjing's spotless white robes, pierced through the puppet barrier lurking around him, and finally landed between Xie Qianjing's brows.
A small red mark, like cinnabar.
Rong Que knew that this was the sword mark left by Sheng Ningyu when she didn't recognize Xie Qianjing back in the Chu family.
“Hate?” Rong Que slowly repeated the word, then suddenly chuckled softly, the laughter sounding particularly eerie amidst the sea of fire. “Your Majesty the Demon Lord is joking. We are on different paths and cannot work together. We are merely casual acquaintances, so how could there be any hatred?”
"I just have some doubts."
Rong Que said, "I've been wondering, what exactly does Sheng Ningyu like about you?"
Rong Que clearly remembered that this immortal lord of the Bodhi Xie clan had grown up in a high building since childhood and rarely appeared in public. Whenever he did appear, he was almost always accompanied by a veil.
He was taciturn and cold as ice.
Back then, Sheng Ningyu liked this little immortal lord, but why did she still like this extremely hypocritical demon lord after she came out of the coffin and lost her memory?
Gentle and kind, the demeanor of a gentleman?
But this is clearly how he always presents himself.
Xie Qianjing glanced at Rong Que: "If Immortal Rong didn't hate me, why would you have these puppet threads now?"
Rong Que chuckled softly, his tone low and somber: "It is because of others."
Although he was smiling, the demonic aura emanating from him grew even stronger.
This aura mingled strangely with the filth and evil energy deep within the demonic cocoon, and the malice directed solely at Xie Qianjing had become so intense that it was impossible to dispel.
"Hate because of the house, the crow is also a result of the Demon Lord being implicated by others."
Xie Qianjing easily deflected Rong Que's attack by twirling a red silk thread around his fingertips.
He could have ignored it, but upon hearing this, Xie Qianjing paused and lifted his eyelids.
A mere instant later, Xie Qianjing actually stopped.
"Master Rong, you may speak frankly."
Rong Que curled his lips into a malicious smile.
"Has Sheng Ningyu mentioned me to the Demon Lord?"
Xie Qianjing: "She trusts you a lot."
Is that so?
Rong Que curled his lips, but this time his smile was full of malice: "Demon Lord, but I think she deserves to die."
Sheng Ningyu.
She is the most deserving person in the world.
Under the whole heaven, in the three realms, on the fourteen continents.
The person Rong Que hated most was Sheng Ningyu.
Even after almost confessing all his schemes, Rong Que still maintained a serene and upright demeanor.
However, as Rong Que spoke, the puppet barrier suddenly shattered!
Looking at the towering waves surging in the sea of blood, Rong Que felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
Xie Qianjing: "She never wanted to doubt you."
Rong Que sighed again: "She has always been stubborn and impulsive...that's why I dislike her."
Rong Que watched over, protected, and indulged Sheng Ningyu as she grew up.
She is free and unrestrained, she is the flowing light on a sword, she is the freest and brightest moon in the world.
The bright moon should hang high in the sky.
Therefore, Rong Que, who possesses the bloodline of demons and ghosts, can tolerate Sheng Ningyu's brilliance overshadowing his own, and he can tolerate Sheng Ningyu making many friends and the clamor of the crowd around him.
He could even tolerate her becoming distant from him, her senior brother, because she was so engrossed in swordsmanship.
But the bright moon should not descend from the high platform.
On countless days and nights, as he watched her departing figure, the seemingly refined young man inwardly questioned her like a madman.
Why?
Why?
She was born to be ruthless!
Yet, despite possessing such talent, Sheng Ningyu chose to waste it.
This is a peak that Rong Que, as a demon with demon blood, could never reach in her entire life, yet she chose to waste it!
Day after day, Rong Que's previous indulgence and care for his junior sister turned into a deep, twisted hatred.
He tried to kill her, but failed, though he did manage to erase her memory.
Rong Que looked at the red mark between Xie Qianjing's eyebrows.
If she could do it all over again, she would have no memory, but back in the Chu family, she still held back against Xie Qianjing!
The bright moon is stained with dust, and its brilliance will never be restored.
Thinking of this, Rong Que suddenly smiled: "Xie Qianjing, you deserve to die too."
The laughter was extremely low, surging within the sea of blood, almost instantly swallowed up, yet because of the malice it contained, it strangely pierced through the surrounding clamor, transforming into a wisp of puppet thread that landed around Xie Qianjing.
Xie Qianjing did not move.
Facing the barrier of puppets head-on, Xie Qianjing let the twisted shadows rush towards him!
Just as the crimson threads were about to touch the silver light surrounding him, the light at his fingertips suddenly shifted, like dew or mist, silently blocking all the attacks.
Rong Que was not angry when his attack missed. He simply withdrew his hand and looked at Xie Qianjing with pity.
The Demon Cocoon is based on the Demon Seed, which is composed of the Puppet Barrier, which is formed from Rong Que's zither music.
What about those once-proud sons of heaven?
They've become pawns, manipulated by others.
Rong Que didn't care if Xie Qianjing knew about these things.
Because he knew that Xie Qianjing would soon disappear completely.
Everything, even the evidence of his existence, will vanish into thin air.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Rong Que mention the "Fragment of the Heavenly Destiny Scroll," Xie Qianjing showed no surprise whatsoever, calmly stating, "Pavilion Master Xin has taken the wrong path."
His lack of reaction only made Rong Que feel bored.
But Rong Que thought again, why should he bother with someone whose soul was about to perish?
With this thought, Rong Que quickly calmed down. His voice was as it always was, and even his demeanor carried a sense of compassion: "Rather than suffer in vain, it is better to enter this demonic cocoon and end it sooner. The Demon Lord has endured countless sorrows and no longer cares about these things. What is there to fear now?"
Xie Qianjing: "I'm waiting for her."
"Immortal Rong." Xie Qianjing let out a soft sigh.
He said, "You don't dislike her at all."
Rong Que remained unmoved, composed himself, and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need for such useless verbal sparring."
Xie Qianjing looked at Rong Que, suddenly smiled, and his demonic energy suddenly erupted.
As a demonic cultivator, Xie Qianjing was equally wicked by nature.
However, after Sheng Ningyu appeared, he subconsciously hid his true nature in front of her, pretending to be well-behaved and harmless, and tried his best to suppress all the rumors about the "Demon Lord being capricious, murderous and tyrannical".
But the devil, because of his inverted love and hate, is even more adept at manipulating people's hearts.
Xie Qianjing knew all too well how to make this seemingly upright and unyielding young master Rong Que suffer the most.
"I am a demon, feeding on negative emotions. The love of the world is bitterness to me, the joy of the world is pain to me, and only the sorrow of the world is my best nourishment."
That's why Xie Qianjing is here.
The demon's greatest love is the world's negative emotions. Rong Que has been plotting for many years, frequently creating demon seeds, intending to make Xie Qianjing, who devours the demon seeds, the last nourishment for the "demon".
“If Immortal Rong truly despises the Ninefold Realm to this extent, I should have already drawn hatred and resentment from you. But…”
Rong Que's expression crumbled for a moment. He could no longer maintain his composure, and his eyes turned bloodshot: "Shut up!"
But how could Xie Qianjing let it go so easily?
He raised the corners of his lips and casually revealed the cruel truth.
"But from beginning to end, I didn't have a single thing."
Only pain and regret remain.
It is inexhaustible and inexhaustible.
Xie Qianjing slightly curved her eyes.
In order to avoid his own regret, did this Immortal Master Rong really resort to using demonic powers to deceive himself?
Blindness in the eyes leads to a clouded mind.
Seemingly stimulated by something, the viscous sea of blood beneath their feet suddenly trembled!
The demonic cocoon unleashed a terrifying force of attraction, with countless scarlet threads spiraling upwards like living things, connecting with the threads in Xie Qianjing's palm, seemingly trying to pull him off the ground and towards the demonic cocoon!
Xie Qianjing's body shimmered with silver light, but paused slightly the moment it touched the silk thread.
He is not incapable of breaking free, but he is bound to completely detonate the demonic seed.
But there are many people outside.
Those were people Xie Qianjing didn't care about.
But those he cares about probably wouldn't want to see such a scene.
Xie Qianjing's movements slowed down for a moment.
Rong Que raised his lips, but before he could speak, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he narrowly dodged backward!
A sharp sword light was reflected in the blood-red pupils!
The sword light was sharp and fierce, directly cleaving through the thick crimson, carrying a fierce sword intent, and heading towards the demonic cocoon almost recklessly!
Seeing her head toward Xie Qianjing without hesitation, Rong Que's smile vanished completely.
Whether it was the prophecy of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion based on the "Fragment of the Heavenly Destiny Scroll," or Yu Tanqiu's hatred for Sheng Ningyu...
In any case, Sheng Ningyu should not be here!
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Author's Note: The past will be revealed tomorrow [sunglasses]
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