38 Go back
"I didn't lie to you, Yin Li. I've never lied to you. Let's go back."
If Chu Qing was a little nervous just now, she was completely free of fear now.
If Yin Li could truly harden his heart and strangle himself, he would be a demon lord with guts, but now—
The pressure on my neck was like a gentle caress; it didn't hurt, but rather gave me a slight itch.
"What price?" Chu Qing asked calmly. Yin Li might not dare to kill her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't dare to kill others.
The rumbling thunder in the sky roared once more, and the raging wind whipped up the white silk in the other's eyes, carrying it far away to an unknown destination. When the white light flashed, it completely illuminated Yin Li's face.
His purplish-red eyes stood out starkly against the dim surroundings, filled with nothing but killing intent, tyranny, and arrogance. He stared intently at Chu Qing, then suddenly smiled, waved his hand, and a chorus of heart-wrenching screams erupted all around.
A large amount of demonic energy, carrying the master's anger, rammed into the surrounding disciples in a nonsensical manner. Zhao Jing'an hurriedly cast a protective barrier, but the barrier shattered suddenly within seconds. He was then thrown to the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Yin Li was about to commit murder.
At that moment, as everyone gazed at the bright red figure high above, they realized with lingering fear that something had happened:
This is the true Demon Lord.
A bitter feeling welled up in Chu Qing's heart. She stared blankly at the person in front of her, the once gentle young man now standing amidst a sea of blood, his eyes bloodshot like a demon.
She glanced worriedly at the disciples who hadn't fully grasped the basics, then quietly slipped to the side, instinctively raising her arms, trying to find a chance to escape the clutches of evil.
Even though Chu Qing wanted to comfort Yin Li alone, she didn't forget her responsibilities as an elder. With so many resources at Qingshan Peak, it wasn't something she could simply leave and let bygones be bygones.
At this moment, Yin Li noticed her movements, and his heart felt as if it were being pierced by thousands of steel needles, the pain so intense that he could not breathe.
Back then, on the cliff, she was protecting him in the same way at first, but now, she's turning her sword against him for the sake of that newly accepted disciple.
ridiculous
Utterly ridiculous!
In an instant, he went completely mad, grabbing her wrist tightly, his breath hot, his purplish-red eyes trying to bore a hole through Chu Qing, and he murmured, "Master, if you dare to leave, I will turn this Green Mountain Peak into a hell!"
"Run once, kill one person."
Chu Qing was speechless, but she dared not make any rash moves. In the end, she still felt that she was his enemy and wanted to deal with him regardless of their past relationship, right?
[Beep! Beep! Beep! Current corruption level too high, please be careful, host!]
"Yin Li, look at me." The system in her mind started urging her again, and Chu Qing sighed helplessly, but still called out softly to the person whose rationality was taut.
Hearing the familiar voice, the other person seemed to regain some consciousness and slowly turned their head back. Their dark eyes, filled with turbulent grievances, stared straight at her, making Chu Qing's heart ache.
He must have had a very bad year.
"Yin Li".
Chu Qing raised her hand and cupped the boy's thin cheeks. He had grown up. His baby fat had long since disappeared, his jaw was sharp, and his features were strong. He was no longer as impatient as before.
“I won’t run away, Master won’t go anywhere, Master is waiting for you to come back.”
She smiled, her fingers unconsciously brushing against the other person's hair and skin, tracing the blood-red earlobe.
In an instant, the sky, which had been churning with murderous intent, suddenly cleared up. The leaves were no longer blown up by the gale, but fell gently to the ground. A gust of wind swept by, mending the shattered heart.
"Come back with me and I'll let them go."
Yin Li kept a tight-lipped expression that was hard to control, and spoke in a stiff tone, but the way she unconsciously clenched her sleeves still betrayed her inner tension.
He feared that his master would despise and abandon him as he had done before, and would point his sword at him as he had done before, severing all ties.
"Qingge!"
Hua Qi wanted to step forward, glaring angrily at the rebellious Demon Lord before him: "Yin Li! Show some respect to me! She is, after all, your master!"
"Don't come any closer."
A green longsword flew past, blocking Hua Qi and his group's path. "Those who come forward will die."
Bang!
The surging demonic energy even surpassed Hua Qi and Xu Zhi Qiu's cultivation levels. Within an inch, their hearts would be completely pierced by this sharp sword intent!
This kid, even I can't tell his true cultivation level now!
Seeing that something was wrong, Xu Zhiqi quickly stopped Hua Qi, exchanged a glance with him, shook his head, and signaled the other party not to make any rash moves.
“Yin Li, killing them will do no good. Wen Ruyu is still missing. You can let them continue the investigation.”
Chu Qing finally seized the opportunity to speak a complete sentence. She lowered her hand and supported the other person's broad and strong arm, and advised gently, "Listen to me, let's go back first and then make plans."
"What did you say?" Yin Li lowered his head, his thin lips pressed tightly together, and asked incredulously, "You said, go back?"
Chu Qing knew what he really cared about, and wisely refrained from provoking him at this moment. Instead, she nodded obediently: "Yes, let's go back. Not you, but us."
"You're going to lie to me again!" Yin Li gripped her wrist tightly. His eyes stung, but he stubbornly stared at her, trying to find any trace of deception on her face.
Chu Qing choked up, unsure whether Yin Li was inherently suspicious or if her misunderstanding had led to the current situation.
"She must have gone too far," Chu Qing thought.
Now, I've completely softened.
"I didn't lie to you, Yin Li. I've never lied to you. Let's go back."
At this moment, the boy's expression finally softened a bit. He glanced disdainfully at the elders and disciples who were frozen in place, quickly withdrew his killing intent, and in the blink of an eye, he took them away from where they were.
He was very fast, and in no time he had flown to the distant sky. Hua Qi looked at the two black dots above that were gradually shrinking and sighed heavily.
"Alas, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse."
"I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse, but Qingge will definitely be fine. As for us—" Xu Zhiqi raised his chin, letting Hua Qi look at the mess around them, "the disciples died during the disciple assembly. Let's take them in first and then test them later."
“Okay, that’s compensation for them.” Hua Qi nodded in agreement, but then belatedly realized something. He looked at Xu Zhiqi and, judging from the other’s expression, it was clear that he was thinking the same thing as him.
Before Chi Yuanhan could even put away his sword, he felt two sympathetic gazes fall upon him.
Chi Yuanhan: ······
Did he do something wrong?
Zhao Jing'an couldn't help but laugh out loud, but was met with a cold glare from the other party, so he quickly became serious: "Ahem, you—"
"Yuanhan, um, why don't you come with me for now?"
Hua Qi hesitated for a moment before speaking, unsure of what to do. He knew from the moment the three entered the hall that this young man most wanted Qing Ge to choose him, but…
The thought of a crazy little demon watching her more closely than anyone else made her reluctant to tell Chi Yuanhan this cruel truth in order to save his life.
"Don't be discouraged. There might still be a chance when the Grand Elder returns." Yan Ziming couldn't bear to see the other person's increasingly dejected expression, so he tightened his lips, which were about to curl into a smile, to comfort him.
Chi Yuanhan: ...Haha, I don't believe you for a second. It's a miracle the Demon Lord didn't kill himself.
The arrival and departure of the great demon Yin Li, who even kidnapped his master, caused a huge uproar on Green Mountain Peak!
Hua Qi and Xu Zhi Qiu discovered that although many disciples were injured by Yin Li in the chaos, fortunately, he still had a conscience and did not actually kill anyone.
"Yin Li not only didn't die, but he also became the new Demon Lord!"
“It’s absolutely true. I was nearby at the time. It was incredibly dark that day, and the oppressive atmosphere was terrifying!”
"In short, none of the Demon Lords throughout history have been easy to deal with, and I think—"
"What do you think?"
A disciple furtively looked around, and when he saw no one was watching, he whispered to Mo Yu, "I think Senior Brother Yin Li—cough cough, the current Demon Lord Yin Li—seems to be more powerful than Elder Hua and Elder Xu. It's probably unlikely that he'll be punished now, sigh~"
Mo Yu nodded with a complicated expression, took out a few relatively precious medicinal herbs from his storage bag and handed them to the other party, then rushed back to the Cloud Mist Sect in a hurry.
At that moment, he felt as if a fire was burning inside him, not just with urgency, but also with a hint of joy.
"Junior sister! Junior sister!"
As soon as she entered the courtyard, Mo Yu started shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Senior brother? Is something urgent?"
"No wonder Master hasn't let us go out lately. I, I'm telling you, Yin Li, Yin Li has come back to life! No, no!"
In desperation, he slapped himself a few times, and only continued after feeling his tongue straighten out: "Yin Li is not dead, he is not dead, and he has become the new Demon Lord! And he seems to be stronger than Elder Hua and Elder Xu!"
Ling Xueluo's expression was a mix of emotions. Before she could recover from the shocking news, she heard the other party say something even more impossible: "Moreover, he came to Green Mountain Peak today, and just now, he kidnapped Master—no, he took Master away!"
If Ling Xueluo could believe the first half after mentally preparing herself, she absolutely couldn't believe the last part.
"Are you missing your senior brother so much that you can't distinguish reality from your dreams?"
"Pah! I miss that crazy Yin Li—what's wrong with that person? I'm telling the truth. No wonder Master hasn't let us go out lately. He's probably afraid that Yin Li will hurt us if he comes."
"I'm not lying to you, but, but it seems we can't contact Master now."
Ling Xueluo: ······
"It's alright. Since it has already happened, I think that if Master is unwilling, Senior Brother will definitely not be able to take her away. Moreover, I believe that Senior Brother will not harm Master."
While things were still in a state of chaos at Qingshan Peak, a peaceful scene unfolded elsewhere.
Demon Realm: Netherworld Palace
Yin Li returned weary from his journey. He carefully pulled the person in his arms closer, and with a single glance, he silenced the crowd who wanted to kneel.
On the way back, Yin Li was afraid that Chu Qing would change her mind, so he knocked her unconscious when she wasn't paying attention. Looking at the woman's cold face, he found her more pleasing to the eye when she was quiet.
They won't be so indifferent, nor so heartless.
Upon entering the main courtyard, the crabapple trees stretched to a corner of the wall not far away, where a small table was placed under the trees. If one did not look closely, one might think that they had returned to the Cloud Mist Sect.
As soon as the door opened, the curtains hung low, and the outermost layer of thin gauze swayed gently in the wind. The red sheets and red blankets were eye-catching, and a faint candlelight still burned in the hall. The light flickered, but it was not dim because of the sunlight reflecting off it.
Yin Li carefully placed the woman in his arms on the bed. The large bed made the woman appear petite. Even in her unconscious state, she was still frowning, as if she were having a nightmare, and she was murmuring softly.
"Master... have you regretted it this past year?" Yin Li sat on the edge of the bed, her fair and slender fingers with thin calluses tracing the other's eyebrows, nose, and red lips inch by inch. After a long while, she got up and walked away.
The moment Yin Li disappeared, the person on the bed slowly opened their eyes.
Is this Yin Li's bedroom in the Demon Realm?
Chu Qing got up and leaned against the headboard, casually using her spiritual power to probe outside. Sure enough, as expected, this kid was pulling this abstinence stunt on her.
The door was surrounded by extremely complex restrictions, seemingly a technique unique to the demon race. Chu Qing couldn't figure it out for the time being, but she wasn't in a hurry to escape. Now, besides winning over Yin Li, she also needed to find out Wen Ruyu's whereabouts. The latter, Qingshan Peak, had been working hard, and Yin Li probably hadn't given up either. When it came to her, she should come up with a good plan to kill Wen Ruyu.
In the battle of the secret realm trial, the opponent was obviously well-prepared. Even if I had completely exposed myself and given them an opportunity, the connection of divine senses I used, including the summoning of magical beasts, was not something that could be accomplished overnight. On the contrary, it must have taken a long time to prepare.
Therefore, it is very likely that Wen Ruyu had planned all of this before he transmitted it to Yin Li. However, in the original story, he was unable to resist the power of the protagonist's halo and could not succeed as soon as possible. In the end, Yin Li still died.
well
Chu Qing was at a loss; she needed to come up with a foolproof plan.
After a long and tiring day, she felt thirsty and got up to pour herself a pot of hot tea.
The familiar fragrance of flowers wafted towards her, causing her to freeze in place, followed by a subtle, bittersweet feeling that welled up from her heart and spread throughout her body.
It turns out that Yin Li always remembered her preferences.
He must have had a very hard time. Chu Qing's fingers unconsciously clenched the bed sheet beneath her. Apart from a pillow and a quilt, the spacious bedroom seemed luxurious, but in reality, it was filled with desolation and emptiness.
Squeak
The door was pushed open again. Chu Qing turned her head and calmly met the gaze of the person not far away. After only two or three seconds, Yin Li looked away first. He was holding a small white porcelain bottle in his hand and walked up to Chu Qing.
"Yin Li, you—"
"Shut up."
Yin Li coldly looked at the person in front of her. In that instant, their identities seemed to have been completely reversed. The once fierce Elder Chu was now obediently pursing his lips, not even frowning, letting the person beside him haphazardly use his spiritual power to explore something around her.
He poured a pill from the porcelain bottle, roughly grabbed Chu Qing's chin, forced her to open her mouth, and threw the pill in.
"Ugh—cough, cough!"
Chu Qing covered her neck, choking on her own saliva because she swallowed too quickly, but after a moment, she realized something was wrong.
One's own meridians are being repaired!
That battle nearly cost her her life, and even after a year of recuperation, she couldn't fully recover. Moreover, she had just used her spiritual power, and her meridians showed signs of cracking again.
Yin Li is—
Chu Qing looked up at him, but saw that he only lowered his eyes and refused to meet her gaze. She then sat up and was about to leave.
But just as he was walking away, Yin Li felt his sleeve being tightly gripped. He turned around, but his eyes were calm and undisturbed.
Chu Qing couldn't help but feel a tightness in her chest when she saw that look. She wasn't a difficult person. When she was forced to follow the plot and hurt Yin Li, she thought that one day she would explain everything clearly. Although she still had a mission, she still willingly stayed by Yin Li's side with selfish motives.
But at least for this period of time, at this moment, her feelings were genuine.
"Yin Li, don't go."
She choked up a little, her voice trembling, trying hard to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes, forcing a half-smile: "It's Master's fault. This past year, you must have—hated me a lot."
As she finished speaking, she dared not meet Yin Li's eyes. She was afraid, afraid to see the disappointment in his eyes, and even more afraid that he would never be able to express any emotion again.
Do you hate it?
Yin Li turned her head to one side
The moment he fell off the cliff, he must have felt hatred, hatred so intense that he wanted to immediately grab her by the neck and interrogate her, to lock her in a dark and hopeless cage, to look at her desperate and broken expression, and to tell her, word by word, that she was wrong and that she needed him.
yes
Master, I hate you
Even in the days and nights of the demon realm, I still can't help but think of you, of every moment you protected me.
I remember every moment in the Cloud Mist Sect when you healed my wounds, stood up for me, and taught me martial arts.
That year was terrible for him. To survive, every time he opened his eyes, he saw blood and slaughter. His hands were stained with the lives of countless people, and he became increasingly cold, violent, and sinister.
It seems he can never go back...
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Yin Li opened her mouth, wanting to blurt out the most familiar address, but seemed to think of something and only gave a mocking smile.
Chu Qing's heart ached dully. "The important thing is, Yin Li, I didn't do it willingly back then. I genuinely wanted to protect you by helping you preserve your bloodline. I never intended to use you."
Yin Li sneered, "Fine, then answer one question for me."
"you say."
He finally turned his gaze back, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light, and said, word by word, "Chu Qingge, who exactly are you?"
[Author's Note]
Okay, that's all for now. There will be another chapter tomorrow, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Goodnight everyone!
Part Two, November 19th:
Haha, as expected, something unexpected happened! I was really a bit flustered while writing, and I felt that writing another 3,000 words might not be of high quality, so I added over 1,000 words to this chapter. Goodnight everyone~ [crying emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com