Ji Mofan sat on the bed and sighed silently.
Talking to demonic cultivators is exhausting; they are all extremely emotional beings.
Without trying every possible way to coax them, there's absolutely no way to communicate properly.
But at least he managed to gather some new information, though it's hard to say whether it's good news or not.
Demon Lord Xiao Wangyan has disappeared.
Before they find him, the Demon Realm probably won't be so foolish as to go and cause any trouble in the cultivation world.
The reason is simple and well-known: without a leader, they cannot win.
Moreover, upon learning that the Demon Lord was not present, their first reaction would probably be to focus on fighting an internal war rather than causing trouble for the cultivation world.
Once the next Demon Lord is chosen, the Demon Realm will probably need to recuperate for another hundred years before it has the energy to look outward.
However, even without triggering the war between immortals and demons, countless battles, large and small, were fought in the border areas in my previous life.
Although it hasn't reached the point of widespread bloodshed, it's still a situation where people are living in misery.
This must be related to Xiao Wangyan, but is it because of his disappearance or because of his later return without anyone knowing?
According to Xihe, the Demon Lord has been missing for more than ten years. During this time, the Demon Realm and the Immortal Cultivation Realm have always been peaceful. Why did frictions of all sizes suddenly appear a year later?
Did Xihe fail to appease the eager demon generals?
Or did the demon generals expose that he was not the Demon Lord, thus causing him to lose his authority?
Once one question is resolved, a host of new questions arise.
There's more and more to investigate.
*
Xihe soon returned.
He had changed his clothes; this one looked like his own, and it fit him well, at least he wasn't showing any skin that shouldn't be showing.
"What are you writing?" As soon as he opened the door, he saw Ji Mofan hunched over the table, holding a pen and writing something. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he wasn't writing, but drawing something.
"This is..." he said, his voice tinged with doubt.
It resembles a ghost or monster from a traditional New Year painting, but ordinary people usually pay attention to these virtual images. For cultivators, gods and demons are all themselves.
"Do you recognize this pattern?" Ji Mofan blew on the ink on the paper and lifted the whole piece of paper up.
He painted a Nuo mask.
It was the mask he wore when he met Wang Shu at Qianhe Tower that day.
Xihe stared at the painting and pondered for a moment.
"Where did you see this thing?" he asked Ji Mofan.
His tone was unexpectedly serious, and even his eyes darkened slightly.
"In the cultivation world, I saw someone wearing such a mask." Lying to him was pointless; Ji Mofan just wanted to figure out what was going on as soon as possible.
Who is it?
"It's the person I asked you about after I learned your name, the one named Wang Shu." Ji Mo Fan slowly put down the drawing paper in his hand, frowning slightly as he examined every subtle expression on his face.
What do these Nuo masks represent?
Xihe reached out and grabbed the painting paper in front of her, but instead of treating it properly, she set it on fire and burned it to ashes.
“When I was very young, this thing always appeared in my dreams.” Xihe’s expression clearly showed that she was suppressing some unpleasant emotions.
He rubbed his fingers together, and ashes fell in a flurry from his hand, dissipating into the air before hitting the ground.
"I have little memory of that time, except for that recurring ghost mask, which lingers in my memory."
"Later, I was taken in as a disciple by the Venerable One and lived in the Demon Palace. After that, I dreamed of this thing less often."
Ji Mofan listened silently, his brows furrowed but never relaxed.
"Have you forgotten what happened?" he asked.
"What's wrong?" Xihe seemed to think there was nothing wrong with it at all. "I'm over a hundred years old. It's normal for me to forget such a long time ago, isn't it?"
...Ji Mofan felt that there were too many things to complain about in this whole sentence, and for a moment he didn't know where to start.
He subconsciously assumed that any disciple accepted by the Demon Lord must be exceptionally talented. Therefore, upon seeing Xihe, he assumed she was someone not much older than himself.
After all, Xihe's cultivation level was only at the Divine Transformation stage.
It should be noted that Shen Yun, who is also a Nascent Soul cultivator, is the least senior elder in the Yun Cang Sword Sect, and he is only in his fifties.
As a result, Xihe's age was twice that of Shen Yun?
Are there no demon cultivators in the Demon Realm that the Demon Lord finds pleasing?
Or is this person actually the Demon Lord's illegitimate son, whom he somehow managed to pull out from somewhere?
After all, the rumors about the Demon Palace needing furnace cauldrons have never stopped.
However, compared to these inconsistencies that could be explained away with a simple reason like "the Demon Lord's whim," what Ji Mo Fan really wanted to ask was...
"You're a little too obedient to me." He couldn't help but ask the question. "When I ask, you answer without hesitation. Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd put a spell on you."
Even Li Geyue, who was truly under his spell, wasn't this obedient; he had to be hurt from time to time to learn his lesson.
What makes Xihe rely on?
Faced with Ji Mofan's questions, he even told her about his background without reservation.
Did the Demon Lord raise him to be too ignorant of the ways of the world?
But if he really dared to trust people so easily, how could he have managed to fool those demon generals for more than ten years?
This is unreasonable.
When asked this question, Xihe herself looked confused, staring blankly at him for two seconds.
"You're right..." He blinked. "Why should I listen to everything you say?"
It's strange. He compromised when this little righteous man threatened him with his own safety and even the peace of the entire demon realm. But now, when it's just a simple question, why is he answering so decisively?
For a moment, he even felt that he could tell Ji Mofan what color his underwear was, even if Ji Mofan asked.
Thinking about this makes me feel a nameless fire burning fiercely in my chest.
What's going on? He clearly doesn't have these feelings for His Excellency.
His Majesty was someone who had both saved his life and given him a second chance at life.
Why was he so attentive to this complete stranger, Xiao Zhengdao?
Ji Mofan was momentarily speechless at his reaction.
He's a complete idiot; you can't count on him for anything.
"Untie the Immortal-Locking Chains," he said.
Xihe immediately looked wary. "What are you planning to do now?"
"I advise you to behave yourself. Even if I don't have the strength of the Venerable One, the pressure of the Nascent Soul stage can still crush you."
Ji Mofan felt exhausted from arguing with him. "Why would I be so foolish as to confront you head-on?"
"Let go, let me check your body. In your current state, I suspect that you may have been cursed."
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