Chapter 42 Even immortals die. He wanted Heng Qichun to kneel at his feet. ...
There was silence for a moment.
Xuanwu paced back and forth, causing the entire ancient hall to rumble and roar. The coral above fell with the sound, crashing to the ground and turning into useless corpses.
Looking at the fish scattering in the distance, Lou Yan finally realized belatedly that the collapsed stone wall when he and the rhinoceros demon took refuge in the underground cave was probably caused by Xuanwu stomping his foot.
Xuanwu gazed at the shimmering water in the distance, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes. "It's Qin Jing."
The black snake hissed twice as it coiled on its back, seemingly in agreement.
Lou Yan tilted his head.
Xuanwu sighed again, all traces of his previous radiant demeanor now lost. "A thousand years have passed, and I never imagined this mirror would reappear."
His words were rather vague and unclear. Lou Yan had been delayed for so long, and given his temperament, he was already quite impatient.
He frowned as he looked at the tortoise and snake, who were speaking in cryptic language, and asked directly, "What the hell is that thing?"
Xuanwu was quite frank this time, telling him without any suspense: "This mirror was cast from ancient black bronze and was the most beloved possession of Emperor Yi. It is said to have the power to distinguish between good and evil and to see into people's hearts."
"If a demon is exposed to it, even if it has been in human form for a thousand years, its true nature will be revealed in an instant; if a human holds it, no matter how evil or demonic they may be, they will find it difficult to deceive them."
Lou Yan suddenly shivered.
Therefore, what the rhinoceros demon said was not unfounded. The frequent appearance of demons on Mount Sixiang was indeed related to that mirror.
“But…” he frowned, “why would Emperor Ke Yi leave such a mirror in the mortal world?”
Xuanwu shook his head, his voice trailing off, echoing throughout the ancient hall like the lingering sound of a great bell, "...Then we cannot know."
Lou Yan let out a heavy sigh.
He moved a step to the left, blocking the bewildered rhinoceros demon squatting beside him, then abandoned all manners and bowed to Xuanwu.
The little wolf put on that ingratiating smile again, "Senior, you guard this sacred mountain, may I ask if you could send me out?"
Xuanwu didn't mind his inconsistent attitude and looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Are you going to examine that Qin Mirror?"
Lou Yan remained noncommittal, and even avoided his gaze because of his question.
Although he was unwilling to admit that demons were necessarily evil, he found it difficult to say something like "I have been ordered by the sect leader to eliminate demons and protect the peace of the people."
Once the world's words have sealed your fate, it becomes difficult to see yourself as a clean person anymore.
For some reason, his attitude pleased the black tortoise. It took another step forward, looked down at the presumptuous wolf cub, and then smiled wryly, "Then you'd better watch out. Don't forget, you are a demon wolf yourself."
Lou Yan knew what he was talking about. The Qin Mirror could illuminate all things, and even monsters like the rhinoceros demon could not escape its effects. Naturally, a demon wolf would be in great danger in front of the mirror.
But he had no choice but to go.
Lou Yan smirked, grabbed the rhinoceros demon by the scruff of its neck with one hand, and dragged the creature, which was a head taller than him, off the ground. He said nonchalantly, "Please."
Little Wolf's attitude was firm, so Xuanwu naturally didn't say anything more. He casually gave Xuanshe a look, and the latter immediately understood, flicking its tongue as it climbed towards Louyan.
In an instant, Lou Yan felt the cold, slippery snake body, as hard as bronze and black iron, wrap around his arm, then his waist, chest, and his extremely vulnerable neck.
Lou Yan carefully held his breath, forcing himself not to struggle, letting the black snake coil around him, leaving only his right hand exposed, still dutifully pinching the rhinoceros demon's nape.
Soon, he felt his body lighten, and his whole body floated unconsciously in the water, being lifted up by the black snake as it floated upwards.
The clumsy rhinoceros struggled back and forth, smashing the coral growing above, and broken branches fell all over the ground, seemingly burying the ancient palace.
Lou Yan suddenly opened his eyes as he vaguely saw light, and raised his hand with all his might, gathering his spiritual power.
"Splash!"
He finally poked his head out of the surface of Xuanwu Lake.
It was already dark when he saw that he had been at the bottom of the lake for a whole day. There were faint lights on the shore and scattered figures, some visible and some not – it was Wei Xiuzhu and his group.
Lou Yan was about to call out to them when he felt a weight in his hand. The rhinoceros demon struggled more and more, even letting out painful whimpers in the water.
Lou Yan knew that he was not afraid of water, so there must be some other reason. So she lowered her neck and looked down.
The water rippled, and the black serpent that had been coiled around him slid off inch by inch. Its bronze scales were dull and lifeless, and even its eyes remained half-open.
The snake's body stiffened and lifeless, and it truly transformed into an ancient bronze and iron creature.
Lou Yan's pupils contracted as he stared incredulously at the snake's body that kept falling, the water that had filled his nostrils choking him.
What happened?!
He instinctively reached out to grab the black serpent, but the water rippled violently and bounced him back in an instant.
In the distance, all that remained was the body of the black snake, which had sunk to the bottom of the lake. The moment it touched the ground, it shattered into pieces and turned into dust in an instant.
An ancient black serpent that had existed for millions of years simply vanished.
The rhinoceros demon sensed the demise of the black serpent and cried out in grief. It was so stupid that it didn't even remember that this was the same serpent that had just tried to kill it.
Lou Yan's body was forced to dangle only inches above the water's surface. He could do nothing but gaze across the water.
The enormous Xuanwu slowly strode away from his sight, its breath spraying the corpse of the Xuan Snake everywhere, mixing it with coral, fish, and dust, making it impossible to find any trace of the ancient divine beast's divine aura.
"senior!"
The mist was thick, and Lou Yan's voice faded into silence amidst the ripples, far from reaching the bottom of the lake.
The figure of Xuanwu had become so small that it was almost invisible. It walked away step by step, its heavy tortoise shell supporting the entire immortal mountain, yet it was all alone—as if it were to be imprisoned forever at the bottom of the lake.
Lou Yan suddenly realized—as long as they left the bottom of the lake, they would be unable to escape the fate of being reduced to ashes.
It turns out that when an ancient mythical beast guards another mythical beast, it means that the beast cannot be released for eternity.
But clearly... clearly they had just scoffed at Heng Qichun's "compassion" not long ago, so why are they now willing to give up millions of years of cultivation for a demon wolf?
Lou Yan couldn't understand it.
Is it merely because of that noble divinity?
It's hard to say how shocking the demise of the Xuan Snake was for a demon wolf that had once trampled the immortal realm and slaughtered countless beings.
But when Lou Yan's thoughts returned, she found herself slumped on the sandy shore by the lake, her whole body sticky with water, her face covered in bruises, and she was still wearing Wei Xiuzhu's exaggerated green robe.
He wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell of snakes emanating from the clothes, tilting his head to avoid it before finally raising his pale, scarred face.
Water droplets rolled down his sinister face, sliding down his sharp jawline and neck, pausing briefly at his bare chest before disappearing into his collar, vanishing completely like a black serpent.
He lifted his eyelids, looking around at the beauty mark under his eye.
Wei Xiuzhu was bowing with concern, looking at his reaction with a concerned expression. When they met eyes, he called out "Senior Brother Lou". His face was still wet with tears, and he looked like he was about to mourn him.
Not far away, the Chongming bird flapped its wings and flew down from the hill, stopping three zhang away from Louyan, and looked down at Louyan with disdain.
They were probably checking to see if he was dead.
Lou Yan couldn't help but recall the first words Xuanwu said to him after they met, and he knew that the reason he and the Siyao were destined to sink from the underground cave to the underground palace was entirely due to the Chongming Bird's plea for help from Xuanwu.
Lou Yan wanted to say something, but before she could open her mouth, she felt an itch in her throat. She had no choice but to raise her hand to cover her lips and cough softly while bending over.
His exposed chest heaved, and large patches of skin still bore the marks of scalding from the lake water tainted by ghostly energy, causing water droplets to fall gracefully from his skin. He looked frail and weak no matter how you looked at him.
Only those eyes.
"Senior Brother Lou..." Wei Xiuzhu choked out, "Thank goodness you're alright. We were all terrified these past few days. Thank goodness for the Chongming Bird..."
Lou Yan interrupted him, suddenly sitting up straight. "How long have I been in the lake?"
"It's been three days."
Lou Yan was startled, then coughed twice more in a muffled voice before slowly sitting back down.
Judging by the sky, he thought he had only been at the bottom of the lake for a day, but before he knew it, three days had passed.
They were not far from Xuanwu Lake at this moment, but Lou Yan could clearly smell the dense demonic aura on the mountain.
He clearly remembered that when he first saw the rhinoceros demon, the demonic aura here was not nearly as strong.
Seeing the hint of dejection and helplessness in Wei Xiuzhu's expression, Lou Yan couldn't help but frown. "Has something happened on the mountain?"
"Senior Brother Lou, you're so amazing..." Wei Xiuzhu looked at him with some surprise, astonished by his keen insight, and quickly said, "It's the group of butterfly spirits we found on Vermilion Bird Peak before. Their corpses have all disappeared."
Lou Yanyi shuddered, "All of them?"
Wei Xiuzhu nodded, "The Chongming Bird sought help, so I took it to check out the Four Symbols Mountain. I found that the Vermilion Bird Peak was completely deserted, without a single living creature. The corpses of those butterfly spirits had also disappeared without a trace."
“There’s a ghostly aura there. I suspect… they might have been eaten by some more powerful monster.”
But how could that be?
There are at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of butterflies on Vermilion Bird Peak. What kind of monster could devour them all in one night without leaving a trace?
As Lou Yan thought this, her gaze drifted to the side, landing on the Chongming bird standing upright.
The latter met his gaze, then quickly looked away, saying calmly, "I have already relayed the situation here back to the Eighteen Realms. The Sect Leader and the Divine Venerable are on their way."
Lou Yan supported himself on Wei Xiuzhu's arm as he stood up from the ground. The loss of spiritual energy and his experience at the bottom of the lake left him feeling somewhat powerless, so much so that even though it was snowing, there was still a layer of sweat on his forehead.
"It's too late," Lou Yan said.
He learned of Qin Jing's power from Xuanwu and understood the true nature of demons better than others.
Even though he spoke eloquently in front of Xuanwu to defend the demons, he had to admit that among the six realms, the demon race was the one that had been suppressed for too long and most wanted to take revenge on the world.
In his previous life, after enduring three years of excruciating pain, the first thing he did after crawling out of the rooftop pond was to go and apologize to Heng Qichun.
However, on the mountain road leading to Shenxiao Palace, he was intercepted by a group of demons. Countless demons from the Nine Netherworld knelt down and submitted to him, and with an unyielding attitude, they helped him to the position of "Demon Lord".
Having tasted the power and seen through the hypocrisy of the gods, he no longer cared about the "master-disciple relationship" between Heng Qichun and him. Only one extremely vicious thought remained in his mind—he wanted Heng Qichun to kneel at his feet and submit to him forever.
Not all demons are as innocent and naive as this stupid rhinoceros.
Lou Yan closed his eyes.
He could clearly feel the increasingly heavy demonic aura on the mountain. The demons must be trying to seize the ghostly energy in Emperor Yi's Mausoleum. If the demons and evil spirits on the Four Symbols Mountain were allowed to surge towards Emperor Yi's Mausoleum like this, the Qin Mirror would surely destroy them beyond recognition.
The disappearance of the butterfly spirits reveals the extent of their greed.
When evil thoughts arise, it is always the innocent people of the Six Realms who suffer the consequences.
They must be stopped.
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Author's note: The little skit is back today, hahaha!
Heng Qichun is always very serious when he is flying on his sword.
With the Four Symbols Mountain in sight, he gently parted the obstructing layer of mist with one hand and pointed. He heard Nan Yushan say from the side, "I see that the demonic aura on the Four Symbols Mountain is very strong. I'm afraid things are about to get out of control."
Heng Qichun hummed in agreement. "In a little while, Senior Brother will lead the disciples to capture the demons. I'll go find Lou Yan and Xiu Zhu."
Before he could hear Nan Yushan respond, Heng Qichun suddenly felt a chill in his sleeve—the white snake had slithered into his cuff.
At that time, Heng Qichun did not recognize that this was the junior he valued so much. He paused slightly, frowned, and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Why aren't you staying with Senior Brother Sect Leader?"
"Hiss..." Fu Yuzhi flicked his tongue like a snake, trying his best to answer Heng Qichun's question.
I'm feeling dizzy from the snake, and I feel... a little nauseous...
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