Living towards death
The nine-section whip wrapped around his neck, electric currents crisscrossing, and with a gentle pull, his head snapped off with a soft crack.
Fresh blood gushed out, and the severed flesh clung together in the folds, steaming hot.
After swiftly dealing with an arrogant disciple of the immortal sect, he caught a glimpse of Rong Yan, who was unconscious.
The Holy Venerable moved with lightning speed, rushing to Rong Yan's side and pulling him into his arms.
Rong Yan's little face was covered in blood, and he was covered in injuries. He was so soft and limp when you picked him up, it felt like his bones were broken.
He was driven to his death!
Thinking back to how Yun Zheng had died in his arms many years ago, the Holy Venerable, having experienced the pain of losing his son, completely lost his mind.
"They killed my son, and now they've driven my grandson to his death. I swear to make the entire immortal sect pay for this blood debt!"
Several people were locked in combat in the sky. Seeing this, Lin Yueyao flew down to the ground on her sword.
Pushing aside the soldiers locked in fierce combat, she bent down and rushed to Rong Yan's side, only to be knocked to the ground by the Holy Venerable's personal guards in one move.
At this time, the immortal sects either fled or scattered.
She was separated from her sect.
Upon receiving the signal to retreat, Yunliu and Yunque in mid-air stopped and disappeared into the sky.
Yin Lanxin wanted to rescue her, but the demon army surrounded Lin Yueyao. As the sect leader, Yin Lanxin couldn't afford to offend the entire demon race for her sake.
He gave her a complicated look, then turned and fled on his sword without looking back.
Isolated and helpless, Lin Yueyao was struck by something, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
The rear hall of the Six Void Palace.
Yunxiu hurried into the inner hall, where maids on both sides bowed in greeting.
Standing respectfully outside the door, the maid opened the two doors.
Yunxiu lifted her skirt and stepped into the doorway.
Inside the room was a Buddhist shrine, and an elderly person sat upright on a prayer cushion on the floor, surrounded by the fragrance of sandalwood.
"Mother." Yunxiu knelt carefully behind her, looking at the Empress Dowager who never left her room.
"What are you doing here?" The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, her brows and eyes full of wrinkles. Although she was a beauty in her twilight years, one could still glimpse a bit of her former charm.
"Father is going to sacrifice himself to save Rong Yan," Yunxiu pleaded incessantly, losing her composure and clinging to her arm.
"Just for this?" The Empress was not surprised. The old man always did things in such an unpredictable way.
"Mother, please go and persuade her!" Yunxiu pleaded anxiously, kneeling down.
The Empress sighed, turned her head, and looked at her kindly, "Yunxiu, it's just that I raised you to be too kind."
Do you know why I enshrine a Bodhisattva in my house and chant Buddhist scriptures every day?
Yunxiu was puzzled and shook her head in confusion. Only mortals believe in gods and Buddhas, placing their meager faith in supernatural forces and strange phenomena.
"It's because your father loved me too much that he covered up the killings and gave me a beautiful illusion. Only then did I realize that he had done many terrible things and committed many grave mistakes for my sake." The Empress spoke from the bottom of her heart, at this moment she was just a woman who was powerless to even kill a chicken.
"When I wanted to make amends, I was powerless. All I could do was kneel in this room before the Bodhisattva and the True Man to atone for his sins."
Her gentle gaze shifted to the compassionate and benevolent Bodhisattva statue in the niche, and Yunxiu's anger dissipated at that moment.
She seemed to understand why her mother always kept to herself.
"I can't change whatever decision your father makes." The Empress gently stroked her, examining every inch of her skin and every strand of her hair.
“Mother…that’s Father…” As a son, how could she just watch her father die?
Even though it's a method that risks extending one's life, it's still a living, breathing human being.
Yunxiu was too exhausted to question him and slumped to the ground.
“I gave birth to you and your father, the five of you. You each have your own path to walk. Just like your eldest brother, he gave up his own life for Rong Yan’s mother. This is his way of survival, and it is also your father’s.”
After the Empress finished speaking, her gaze was devout, as if she had cast aside all worldly possessions.
Knowing that there was no way to reverse the situation, Yunxiu walked stiffly out the door, onto the corridor, and staggered to the ground.
"Princess——"
"Princess——"
The maidservants rushed to help, and in the midst of their frantic efforts, dark clouds gathered over the Demon Palace.
As the dark clouds passed, the sunlight shone like sprinkled gold, revealing a bright yellow hue, creating a magnificent and radiant scene.
The bell tolled mournfully and heavily, causing pain in the internal organs and making it difficult to utter a sound.
As the Holy One passed away, the entire Demon Palace, from top to bottom, saw maids and guards kneeling in worship, and shouts of "Long live the Holy One!" echoed throughout the land and beyond.
The Empress slowly closed her eyes inside the room, a tear sliding down her cheek in silent mourning.
The death of the Holy Venerable signifies a change of power, and this Demon Palace is about to welcome a new master.
Inside the Demon Palace's main hall, Princes Yunliu and Yunque guarded the coffin, the body yet to be buried.
Even though the Holy Venerable has been dead for many years, Yun Que still feels deeply resentful about his death.
"Your father is dead, so don't think about it so much," Yunliu comforted him, his face stern and solemn.
"This is not fair at all." Yun Que stared at the pale-faced corpse in the coffin, whose eyes had been closed for many days, with a gloomy expression that was not like that of a son looking at his father.
"Why can my fourth brother kill our father, but I can't?"
"Don't even think about it. Even if Father could come back to life now, would you do something so outrageous?" Yunliu patted his shoulder, signaling him to suppress his murderous intent.
"What's there to worry about with a dead man?" Yun Que disliked being lectured the most. He killed without blinking an eye. Apart from the Holy Venerable, he was the person the palace servants feared the most in the entire Demon Palace.
In the past, he would at least listen to a word or two from the Empress Dowager, and would just nod in response. But now the Empress Dowager doesn't care anymore and lets him do as he pleases.
One of the people who could control him has already left.
Yunliu's face was heavy. Since his father had been dead for so many days, this was the only time he had felt the grief of losing a loved one.
The third brother was a good-for-nothing, the fifth brother was a dying man, and the sixth sister at least cried for several days, and on her deathbed she even pulled people aside and said a lot of her last words.
As for him, he's a complete scoundrel.
Yunliu couldn't help but smile. He placed his hand on the coffin and gently waved it over the face of the Holy Venerable.
To maintain order and prevent further unrest, the death was kept secret until the day Rong Yan awoke and secured his position, at which point the news of his father's death would be announced to the world.
The method of sacrifice is a forbidden art, and its drawbacks are yet to be known.
The high priest was summoned, but his influence was limited and his voice was weak. Many ancient spells of the tribe had been lost, and when they were passed down to this lineage, many forbidden spells were not mastered.
Based on experience, some aspects of a person's personality may change.
"You mean he will lose his memory?" Yun Liu then asked in return.
"In my opinion, Your Majesty's memory is somewhat disordered, and your temperament is unpredictable," the High Priest said respectfully.
"How could this happen?" Yunliu asked immediately. "Is there a solution?"
"The method of sacrifice is against the will of Heaven. Your Highness need not worry. His Majesty comes from a celestial sect, so his temperament must be more moderate."
For example, a person might be born with a love for beggar's chicken, eating it every day, every single day, wishing they could eat it for every single meal.
But after that experience, he no longer liked eating meat and instead preferred gnawing on chicken necks.
To put it another way, a person who is timid by nature can be bullied by anyone, even a passing dog can curse at him. Later, his personality changes drastically, and he takes revenge on all those who bullied him.
Therefore, it remains unknown what Rong Yan will look like when he wakes up.
We can only witness the universe on that day.
During the days Rong Yan was recuperating, Yun Xiu stayed by his side day and night to take care of him.
At first, she was only unconscious. After the sacrificial ritual, her skin became rosy and had a clear luster. Later, she regained warmth.
All these changes are the body's gradual adaptation to demonic power.
After all, on the day of the sacrifice, the Holy Venerable completely offered the demon core to Rong Yan to fill the gap in his spiritual root.
She was his aunt, and sometimes it was inconvenient for her to take care of him. So she released the Blood-Clad Silkworm, healed it, and placed it by Rong Yan's side to take care of him.
On this day, she was taking a nap in her bedchamber when Xueyican rushed into the room, anxiously calling for Rong Yan to wake up.
Awakened by the noise, Yunxiu put on her shoes and got out of bed.
The maids inside and outside the house chased the Blood-Clad Silkworm out of the house.
Supported by her maid, Yunxiu hurriedly arrived at Rong Yan's bedroom.
The first thing they saw was the man's upright back; Rong Yan had gotten out of bed and was facing away from them.
Hearing the sound of the newcomer, he turned around, and it was still the same face, unchanged.
Ke Yunxiu felt that the look in those eyes had changed.
Upon hearing the news, Yun Liu and Yun Que rushed over and stood behind Yun Xiu. The maids and guards accompanying them cleverly defused the awkward situation and all knelt down in obeisance.
They all shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and respectfully welcomed His Majesty.
Rong Yan tilted his head and looked around, seemingly lost in thought. He had slept for a long time and needed time to think.
"Everyone, step back," Yunxiu said, leading the group away.
Blood-Clad Silkworm stood in the room, awkwardly unsure how to begin.
He forced himself to call out, "Wen Weijun."
"Wen Wei?" Rong Yan was surprised. He couldn't quite remember her, but his instinctive reaction was that she was calling him.
"Are you calling me? Wenwei is my name."
Seeing that he couldn't remember, Blood-Clad Silkworm patiently explained, "Yes, yes, Wenweijun is your name, and you are my master."
Rong Yan listened quietly as the Blood-Clad Silkworm recounted everything that had happened.
He tried hard to recall, piecing together fragmented memories by overlapping them with the scattered recollections in his mind.
“Then I should go back to the sect now.” Rong Yan’s memory stopped at a certain point, and Xueyi Can explained with a wry smile, “Wen Weijun, have you forgotten? You killed your master, and because of Wen Weijun, the immortal sect suffered heavy losses. Going back to the sect now is a dead end.”
“I forgot.” Rong Yan remembered, his expression suddenly changing. “The immortal sects deserved to die.”
"?"
The demonic core was causing Rong Yan's moods to fluctuate wildly.
He covered his head, patted his temples, and groaned, as if in a dream, "Where's Benben?"
“Benben is dead,” Blood-Clad Silkworm answered cruelly.
“He’s already dead…” Rong Yan straightened his back, as if he had become a different person.
"You say I killed my own master, then who was my master, and which sect did I join?"
Seeing his expression, Xueyi Can hesitated, unsure whether she should speak.
Rong Yan narrowed his eyes and coldly said to him, "Aren't you going to answer? Don't you want to live?"
Due to the wire harness, Blood-Clad Silkworm blurted out everything in one breath: "Wen Weijun is a disciple of the Misty Sect and became a disciple of True Person Xuantong. Wen Weijun also has a senior sister named Lin Yueyao."
"Senior Sister? Lin Yueyao?"
Blood-Clad Silkworm was absolutely certain that he couldn't remember, but whether this Wen Weijun was good or bad for the Demon Palace or the Immortal Sect was unknown.
Hopefully, he survived this ordeal and won't cause any more trouble.
"I don't remember the person you're talking about."
Blood-Clad Silkworm dared not utter a sound, thinking that he could get away with it by playing dumb, but the next moment, he heard Wen Weijun ask him, "Where is she?"
Blood-Clad Silkworm thought it was over.
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