21 Chapter Twenty-One
He shouldn't be alive. That child's existence is a source of pain and shame for me.
The crimson, the overwhelming red that blanketed the mountains and fields, was so glaring it hurt Wei Mengqiu's eyes. She hated red more than anything in her life; it was her shame. As a disciple of Shangqing, she had vowed since childhood to vanquish demons and monsters, accumulating merit so that she could attain enlightenment and ascend to godhood as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, all of this was ruined by Chong Li. She couldn't understand why fate was playing such a cruel joke on her. She had followed the rules and rid the people of evil, yet she was ultimately destroyed by love. If she hadn't lost her memory, she would never have fallen for that devil Chong Li, and would never have reaped such terrible consequences.
She lost her true self as a result, and spent her days immersed in the pain of the past. Whether this was a test or a punishment, Wei Mengqiu didn't understand what she had done wrong, and could only reflect on her past foolishness in her cave.
Looking at the dark figure in the distance, her past inner demons gradually resurfaced, as if mocking her innocent love.
This was the first time Wei Mengqiu had seen Lu Yue in a hundred years, and she was more outstanding than she had imagined.
"I haven't congratulated you on becoming the Demon Lord yet."
Thank you.
"I'm glad you killed him."
After a long silence, Lu Yue finally spoke: "I didn't kill him."
Who is that?
"You killed him."
Wei Mengqiu was taken aback. His long eyelashes concealed the madness in his eyes, and he found it all laughable. "This is absurd. If I could kill him, I would have done it already."
It would take at least a hundred disciples working together to completely kill Chongli, who had cultivated for ten thousand years. Wei Mengqiu wanted to do it himself, but he was afraid of getting his hands dirty, and even more afraid that others would discover his illicit relationship with Chongli and make him a laughing stock in the Daoist community.
Lu Yue recalled what Wen Ruo had once told her: the Demon Lord before her, Qun Qing, had cursed Chong Li before his death. Like Wen Ruo, she was born a demon, neither a demon nor a human who had fallen into demonic ways.
In other words, it's the power of words.
Lu Yue said calmly, "You did kill Chong Li. He was cursed by Qun Qing when he killed her, who said that he would eventually be killed by the person he loved."
"Ha, so he likes you? I knew he was just toying with my true feelings." Wei Mengqiu hated the demon race, and upon hearing this, he was not angry but rather pleased.
"He's always liked you, don't you know that best?" Lu Yue didn't understand why Wei Mengqiu kept denying that Chong Li liked her, when it was clearly true. Besides, she liked Chong Li back then too; at least she was smiling every day, not like now, looking crazy and trapped in the past.
Lu Yue couldn't understand how liking someone could cause Wei Mengqiu so much pain. If it's so painful, why not just forget it? After all, Chong Li is already dead.
"Shut up, don't waste your breath on me." Wei Mengqiu's face was cold and stern, and the corners of her eyes gradually turned bloodshot. She couldn't bear to be liked by Chong Li; it would only disgust her.
“I didn’t expect him to survive when I killed him. I hadn’t done my mission well and I was going to die anyway. I was thinking of fighting Chongli to the death, but he didn’t resist at all.”
Lu Yue didn't think that his thousand years of cultivation could break Chong Li's ten-thousand-year-old dragon body, but he seemed to have been waiting for this. No matter who made a move against him, Chong Li, who was obsessed with killing, would be willing to die.
His calm acceptance of death seemed less like punishment and more like atonement, but in the end, he should have found release. Chongli died with a smile, perhaps forever dying in that year when he pretended to be human.
After leaving that bamboo house, he lost something and completely transformed into a truly cold and ruthless demon lord.
"What do you snake people know about love? Do you think sleeping together is love?" Wei Mengqiu found it utterly absurd and sneered, "He only seduced me to fall into depravity."
So you still like him.
Lu Yue's serious expression infuriated Wei Mengqiu to the point of almost having a heart attack; he wished he could draw his sword and stab her to death.
Lu Yue truly didn't understand love. Even the first sword cultivator she slept with was driven by her own desires; she was an adult and needed to resolve this, and he happened to be the right person. No one had ever taught her what love or affection was.
She once asked Chong Li what it felt like to like someone. The usually aloof and arrogant man shed his noble status as the Demon Lord for the first time and said with unusual seriousness, "When you see him, you know it's love, even if you know what the consequences will be."
"You're practically asking for it."
Wei Mengqiu's scarlet eyes turned into a viscous color, and the originally cold sword energy had turned into a thick black mist.
"Holy crap, he's gone mad."
Hu Mei had been looking forward to seeing how the Venerable One would teach this arrogant woman a lesson, but she never expected that the other party would fall into demonic possession.
She asked in a panic, "Should we ask Shangqing to come and take her away?"
Wu Yan placed his hands on his lap and said in a serious tone, "But since she hasn't become a demon, she doesn't count as a disciple of Shangqing."
"No matter what, we must get rid of her. Do you want to become a victim of her sword?"
"But since she has fallen into demonic possession, shouldn't she stay in the Demon Realm?"
Hu Mei was speechless. This Wei Mengqiu was so powerful; wasn't he going to trample on her? Wouldn't that mean her position as Left Protector would be taken away? She had worked her way up to this position over hundreds of years.
She was not willing to accept this.
Wu Yan calmly said, "They started fighting."
Seeing the situation was turning against her, Hu Mei wondered why the Venerable One was so defensive. She considered going out to hide and save her life, but then she thought this was a good opportunity to redeem herself, so she devised a plan.
Sword light and blade shadows intertwined, shaking the entire Demon Realm. Wen Ruo, inside the secret realm, sensed the aggressive aura of the newcomers. He wanted to check the battle, but looking at the useless Yan Qing beside him, he thought he might be able to take this opportunity to get rid of this eyesore.
He said with a worried expression, "It seems that the other party intends to attack Your Excellency."
Yan Qing asked anxiously, "What should we do? Will His Majesty be injured?"
"Who knows? If you weren't here, I could protect His Majesty, but His Majesty still wants me to put you first. If only you could protect His Majesty too, but unfortunately you are too weak."
Wen Ruo feigned a sigh, but Yan Qing behind him suddenly raised his hand and knocked him unconscious to the ground.
Yan Qing replied timidly and obediently, "I can protect Your Majesty. I have already killed the snake clan member who offended Your Majesty."
Watching the naive and ignorant Yan Qing rush out of the secret realm, Wen Ruoqian, who was pretending to be knocked unconscious, smiled and her lips kept curving upwards. After taking care of this fool for more than a hundred years, she could finally get rid of him. It was so much easier.
Wei Mengqiu had gone berserk, his sword clanging loudly. The blood-red lotuses covering the mountain were startled by his sword energy, and the gale-force winds carried them into the air. Lu Yue drew his sword, but remained on the defensive, not intending to attack. Until he saw Yan Qing's figure, Lu Yue's heart tightened. How could Wen Ruo have allowed him to appear here?
“I did not come here to kill you, but only to kill Xue Ji. As a disciple of Shangqing, his existence will always be a disgrace.”
"What do you mean?"
Lu Yue didn't understand Wei Mengqiu's words. He was her disciple, so why would he personally take action?
"Don't you understand? He was sent here because the Shangqing was defeated and forced to sue for peace. Only with his death can the Shangqing be revitalized. Of course, it wouldn't be good for me to do it myself, so I naturally have to choose other fools to be scapegoats."
“Wei Mengqiu, your disciple Xueji is in my hands. I know you ventured into the Demon Realm alone for his sake. If you make another move, your disciple’s life will be in danger.”
Hu Mei knew that humans loved to do such foolish things out of loyalty and righteousness. As long as Xue Ji was in her hands, Wei Mengqiu would definitely choose to surrender for the sake of his beloved disciple.
Then the Venerable One will reward her for her intelligence and value her more, instead of Wen Ruo, that good-for-nothing who is hiding somewhere at the moment.
Hu Mei became more and more excited as she thought about it, completely unaware that Wei Mengqiu had come specifically to kill Xue Ji.
Xue Ji never expected his master to come to his rescue. All the coldness and ostracism he had suffered in the sect vanished. He stared blankly as his master fought Lu Yue amidst the crimson Blood Demon Lotus. Wherever the sword energy passed, everything was frozen. He looked up at his master's swordsmanship, and had once longed to become a sword cultivator like her.
Perhaps the master truly loves me and isn't bad at expressing himself.
Wei Mengqiu didn't care at all, laughing wildly and raising an eyebrow: "You can kill him, do you think I care?"
Lu Yue quickly ordered, "Take him away immediately."
The light in Xue Ji's eyes vanished instantly. What had he been praying for all these years? His master had never cared for him. If that was the case, why had he saved him in the snow back then? He might as well have just let him die.
Hu Mei thought she had misheard and turned to look at Wu Yan. He also looked confused. Logically, shouldn't the righteous path say something like, "Let him go, I'll do whatever you want"? Such stupid and sentimental words!
"Is she really your master? How can she be even worse than us demons? After raising a disciple for so many years, she can't just die at the hands of others. Have you forgotten that she is already a demon?"
Xue Ji was heartbroken and fell silent. His indifferent eyes were filled with despair; perhaps his very existence was a mistake.
"You are not allowed to lay a hand on His Majesty."
Yan Qing staggered onto the battlefield, and Lu Yue knew things were going badly. She had originally planned to wait until Wei Mengqiu had vented her anger before taking her away, but now she had to protect Yan Qing first. She instantly appeared in front of Yan Qing, but Wei Mengqiu still saw the face hidden under the hood.
"Hahaha, interesting, really interesting."
She began to laugh maniacally, the longsword in her hand suddenly falling to the ground, and she knelt on the Blood Demon Lotus. At this moment, Wei Mengqiu suddenly felt relieved, and she felt that all the fear she had had over the years had become so ridiculous.
"Who sent you? Where is Wen Ruo?" Lu Yue held Yan Qing in her arms, fearing that Wei Mengqiu would notice his face and kill him.
This was the first time Yan Qing had been so close to the Venerable One. She carefully nestled in her arms, gently inhaling her breath, and then said weakly, "I knocked him unconscious. I wanted to protect the Venerable One, but my father wouldn't let me go out."
"Really."
With a cold expression, Lu Yue first knocked Wei Mengqiu unconscious with the back of her knife. Wen Ruo slowly appeared behind her and apologized.
"My lord, it was my fault."
"I don't want Wen Ruo to leave the secret realm again."
"yes."
Lu Yue looked at Wei Mengqiu on the ground, then at the left and right protectors not far away, and Xue Ji, whose face was ashen in the middle. Without turning back, she picked up Wei Mengqiu and flew away from the Demon Realm.
At the Shangqing Sect, Xie Shu was pacing back and forth in the snow. He had thought his senior sister was just joking, but she had actually gone to the Demon Realm.
Simiao rushed over to report: "Master did indeed venture into the Demon Realm alone today. I heard he has already stormed into the main hall and is probably fighting the Demon Lord Lu Yue right now."
Xie Shu was so anxious he was pacing back and forth: "Really, you should investigate and report back again."
This snowy night was destined to be anything but peaceful, as heavy snowflakes fell to the ground. Mo Yi, carrying a white robe on his back, had his eyelashes frosted white by the snow, making his purple eyes appear even more profound.
Behind him, Wei Mengqiu asked in a daze, "Why is he still alive?"
"What Chongli did has nothing to do with me."
“He shouldn’t be alive. His life is painful and shameful for me.”
Lu Yue agreed with this, but Chong Li still kept him. She even used her own blood to gently nurture Yan Qing, who had almost died at birth.
"He will not appear in front of outsiders."
So no one will know about your past humiliations.
Wei Mengqiu's smile was faint, and she eventually fell into a deep sleep. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.
"Master, you're back."
Before Simiao could even smile, she saw that the person in her arms was also her master, and upon closer inspection, she noticed his purple eyes.
Lu Yue revealed her true appearance and reminded her, "She's experiencing some health issues."
"Senior Sister." Xie Shu rushed over, but stopped when she saw Lu Yue, wondering if she recognized her.
With practiced ease, Lu Yue handed Wei Mengqiu, whom he was carrying on his back, to Xie Shu. Upon seeing that beautiful face and smelling that long-lost fragrance, he said in a trembling voice, "I am Xie Shu."
Lu Yue looked puzzled as she gazed at Xie Shu, as if she had returned to the moonlight a thousand years ago, when he was talking incessantly to himself in the tree in the Taoist temple.
"What's your name? How old are you? Would you like to hear me chant scriptures?"
I never expected to see him again, still practicing Taoism, but his position has only gotten higher and higher. It's incredibly boring.
Lu Yue turned and rushed into the swirling snow. She felt the moonlight was a bit brighter tonight, but there were still some things she needed to deal with first.
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