Chapter 100
Zhou Xuanzhi never expected to be able to come out one day, even though he was being carried out. His junior brother, Shi Yunzhou, was also being carried out.
After being injured by Chonghua that day, he and his junior brother were imprisoned. He didn't know how many days had passed before they were brought out and brought to the human world through Guancheng. When the sunlight shone on him, he suddenly felt that it was good to be alive, and that it was good that he and his junior brother could still see the sunlight.
The only unsettling thing was that their master's physical body was with Chonghua. During those days in prison, my junior brother and I spent every day thinking about how to stop Chonghua and how to give our master a proper burial. Before we could figure it out, Chonghua ordered his men to bring us out.
As he walked, he suddenly realized that the mountain path looked very familiar; he felt he had been there before, but he couldn't quite place it. He asked, "Do you remember this mountain?"
They were naturally talking to Shi Yunzhou. They had considered running away along the way, but faced with overwhelming power, their cultivation levels were simply no match. Fortunately, Chonghua didn't care about the commotion they caused; sometimes he let them make a scene, just standing there watching like it was a show.
Being treated like a monkey in a show was unpleasant, so the two quieted down. However, they weren't very quiet along the way; they continued to talk.
"I don't remember much," Shi Yunzhou replied. "I haven't experienced it, how would I know?"
Chonghua was in a very good mood today, and he replied, "This place is Cuiwei Mountain."
Zhou Xuanzhi was already familiar with this place. The entire village at the foot of the mountain had been slaughtered by the demons. Now, for some unknown reason, Chonghua was leading dozens of people step by step to the top of Cuiwei Mountain.
He recalled the interrogation scenes he had witnessed in prison and suddenly had a bold guess. He asked, "What do you want to do in Cuiwei Mountain?"
Shi Yunzhou looked at his senior brother, who himself had no idea what to do. "What came to mind?"
"I guess he wanted to perform a sacrifice here..." a sacrifice made with the lives of half the world's population.
Chonghua did not turn around. As if he could read Zhou Xuanzhi's mind, he admitted, "That's right, I want to perform the sacrifice here."
The demons acted as if they hadn't heard anything and continued on their way with the two of them.
"How dare you act in the mortal realm? There are half of the immortal cultivators in the mortal realm. Aren't you afraid?" Zhou Xuanzhi asked sternly.
Chonghua then stopped and turned to look at them, asking in confusion, "Why should I be afraid? You cultivators are too busy to care about this mountain."
Are cultivators very busy these days? Shi Yunzhou had been isolated outside Chonghua's bedchamber, and he knew a great deal about the demon race's schemes. But from Chonghua's words, he vaguely guessed something, and he asked, "What have you done to the immortal sects?"
Cuiwei Mountain was very quiet. You could hear the rustling of small animals stepping on fallen leaves and the chirping of birds and insects in the trees. They were all waiting for Chonghua's answer. Shi Yunzhou didn't know how long he had been waiting. He saw Chonghua's mouth move, but he seemed not to have heard what he said.
But then he heard his senior brother struggling desperately, yelling, "You son of a bitch! The thing my master regretted most in his life was saving you!"
Shi Yunzhou suddenly remembered what Chonghua had said. He said, "The Demon Clan has made its move. We've only just begun and thirty percent of the Immortal Sect has already died, not even counting the wounded. What are you Immortal Sect compared to them?"
The demons didn't stop the two brothers from cursing; they were happy to listen, seeing it as impotent rage. Like a pet cat showing its claws to a human, people don't find it frightening but rather amusing, even wanting to tease it.
They stopped in front of a high platform that had already been built. Chonghua straightened his clothes and walked onto the platform.
Zhou Xuanzhi, however, stared at the tall wooden pillars erected in front of the platform. Each pillar had a person hanging from it, covered in blood and lifeless. He recognized one of the faces; it was Xiao Mu.
Noticing the strange behavior of those around him, Shi Yunzhou turned to look at his senior brother's bloodshot eyes, somewhat astonished. Following his senior brother's gaze, despite having been mentally prepared, seeing the several lifeless cultivators still felt like a thorn piercing his heart. He recognized all the people above; they were all his senior and junior brothers from Tianyu Mountain.
Xiao Mu was the junior brother, and he hung there silently. Zhou Xuanzhi wanted to put them down, but the people behind him held on tightly, and no matter how much he struggled, it was useless.
On the high platform, Chonghua was quite satisfied with the offerings placed on the altar; they were divine artifacts brought from the immortal sect. Beside them was a bed, on which Shi Wanqing lay, seemingly asleep. The sunlight was somewhat dazzling, and Chonghua frowned, noticing Shi Wanqing's lack of protection.
The demon who was waiting nearby saw the lord's frown and immediately understood. He respectfully said, "This subordinate will have someone build a sunshade for the fairy."
He lowered his head, large beads of sweat dripping to the ground. The Demon Lord was good in every way, but he was particularly serious about matters concerning women, and would go on a killing spree at the slightest disagreement.
Seeing Chonghua wave his hand, he immediately bowed his head and said, "I will do it right away." It's better to stay away from him now; he still wants to live for a couple more years.
Suddenly, a commotion arose below the platform, giving the demon a headache. He was about to go check on the situation when he saw that Chonghua seemed to be in a good mood, so he went to attend to his own business.
As he stepped back, he glanced at the several cultivators hanging from the wooden beam. He wondered what the Demon Lord was thinking. He wanted to resurrect a female cultivator; once she came back to life, how could she possibly be happy to see her own disciples killed?
He didn't dare to express any opinion, so he quickly left.
Chonghua paid no attention to the sounds around him. He came to Shi Wanqing's bedside, looked at her with infatuation, and said softly, "When you woke up and saw these people being treated like this by me, would you kill me? I think you would definitely kill me."
"But it's okay, I won't blame you, because I will always be by your side when that time comes. From then on, we will be bound together for all eternity, never to be separated." He smiled sickly and reached out to stroke Shi Wanqing's face.
On Mount Cuiwei, one could still hear the chirping of insects and the calls of birds, but outside Mount Cuiwei was like hell. Demons, appearing from nowhere, besieged the various strongholds established by the immortal sects. Some strongholds had already fallen.
A large number of cultivators rushed to the front to fight the demons, while the remaining cultivators led everyone in the stronghold to other strongholds.
The situation was the same for the stronghold where Deng Lan of Hanfeng Valley and the Chen family of Gusu were located. They sent out countless letters for help, but all of them disappeared without a trace and received no response.
More than half of the cultivators fighting on the front lines at the entire stronghold had been killed or wounded, and still no reinforcements had arrived. They were even beginning to despair, with some even asking, "Have we been abandoned?"
Seeing this, Deng Lan said nothing and immediately took up his sword. The remaining disciples, seeing Deng Lan's actions, also picked up their weapons and rushed forward, determined to buy some time for the civilians.
Deng Lan, wielding his sword, rescued a girl who had just been tackled to the ground. He immediately pulled her up, threw her behind him, and then stabbed the demon who hadn't even had time to react.
The girl Deng Lan had just saved felt a pang of guilt as she watched the cultivators fall one by one. She was just an ordinary person, insignificant, yet they were willing to fight on the front lines for someone like her, and she was going to be a deserter?
The child's cries interrupted her thoughts. She picked up the three- or four-year-old child and searched everywhere for his family. Countless people surged onto the celestial ship symbolizing hope, and the child's cries grew louder. She searched through the crowd for a long time, finally spotting a young father, sweating profusely, frantically searching for someone.
He kept thanking her as he held the child in his arms. His family urged him on, but he looked at the girl who was alone and said, "Girl, come with us! It's too dangerous here."
The girl glanced back at the group of monks, shook her head, and said, "I think I can do something about it."
"What did you say?"
The girl knew her words sounded ridiculous to them. They were cultivators who couldn't handle this, so what could a woman who had never learned martial arts do? But she firmly said, "I'm pretty useless. They're risking their lives for someone as useless as me. I can't turn around and leave."
"Girl, you yourself said you don't know anything. How can you help these cultivators?" The man kindly advised, "To put it bluntly, it's good enough if people like us don't cause them any trouble. You should leave with me."
Before the girl could say anything more, the man's wife came over, grabbed the girl's arm, and said, "Come with us now! Someone will be coming, and if you go now, you'll just be a hindrance."
Then the girl left the stronghold with the family. After boarding the ship, she kept watching the cultivators who were still fighting, because this was the last ship, and the demons were fighting especially hard. She saw bloody marks on the body of the cultivator who had saved her.
The boat slowly rose into the air and flew away, until she could see nothing at all. Finally, feeling dejected, she returned to the family and, reflecting on her actions, thanked them.
They're right. What can someone like me do to help them? In the end, I'll just be a burden. I'll be lucky if I don't cause them any trouble.
The immortal ship slowly moved away, and the group of demons who were blocked were very angry. They had no interest in cultivators, otherwise they would have eaten these meddlesome cultivators.
So they became even more ruthless. Since they couldn't eat those people, killing a few cultivators to vent their anger was just as good. Some of the demons even turned into beasts. These beastly demons were tall and their flesh was hard to cut, making them very difficult to injure.
Deng Lan breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the immortal ship recede into the distance. His current task was to hold them off and buy the immortal ship some more time. Thinking this, he swung his weapon again, barely dodging an attack, when another demon approached from behind.
The beastly monster was difficult to defend against. It swung its claw at Deng Lan, who drew his sword to block, but the wind from the monster's claw grazed his chest, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The demon behind him naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass. It raised its weapon high, but Deng Lan sensed the danger behind him, withdrew his sword, and rolled to the side.
He didn't even have the strength to stand up, but he still managed to get up. He looked around and saw that there were only a few people left. Deng Lan smiled bitterly, thinking to himself that he was considered a well-known figure among the new generation in Hanfeng Valley, and many of his junior sisters had written him letters. When he traveled outside, he also had senior and junior sisters from other sects accompany him.
I never imagined I'd die here like this; how pathetic. The clouds are still there, but I can no longer see any birds.
He looked at the wounds on his body; because of his red robes, it was impossible to tell how much blood he had lost. But he knew he was almost completely drained of blood, his spiritual energy was exhausted, and he could no longer even sense the presence of the celestial ship in the sky. Deng Lan looked at the countless demon corpses on the ground and finally closed his eyes…
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