Chapter 64 Demon Cult White Moonlight 19 Come in
This was Ning Huaiqing's first time setting foot on the land of the Demon Cult.
Unlike Linfeng Villa, this place is full of gloom and weirdness.
Although the disciples of the Demon Sect stationed here did not look like the three-headed, six-armed, green-faced and fang-toothed creatures described in folk tales, the way they looked at him was indeed not friendly.
Ning Huaiqing followed the demon cult disciple and traveled day and night, and now he has entered the demon cult palace.
After he brought Ning Huaiqing to a dark palace room, he retreated.
The charcoal fire crackled in the palace, and there was a faint smell of blood. A white-haired man stood with his back to Ning Huaiqing. When he heard the sound of the door closing, he slowly turned around, locked onto Ning Huaiqing's position, and looked at him unfriendly.
"Mr. Ning, we meet again."
Ning Huaiqing looked over and didn't remember meeting this person before. But now was not the time to talk about this, so he got straight to the point and said, "Are you Deputy Envoy Cang?"
Canglan didn't comment, but looked him up and down, his expression becoming increasingly grim.
Ning Huaiqing didn't understand where his strong hostility came from and didn't want to conflict with him: "What does Deputy Envoy Cang want in exchange for letting the people of Wulin go?"
Canglan calmly turned around and sat down. "I heard that Young Master Ning defeated the Divine Cult that day, and now the entire martial arts world is led by you. You are so brave. I would like to hear your opinion."
Ning Huaiqing clenched his hands at his sides, and a layer of frost covered his face.
He knew that this trip would not go smoothly. The people in the Demon Sect were cunning and insidious. He didn't know what kind of dangerous things were waiting for him, but for this possible glimmer of hope, he had to come.
But it was not until this moment that Ning Huaiqing really saw clearly that Canglan in front of him was obviously playing tricks on them. This negotiation was fake, and the humiliation was real.
Ning Huaiqing's brows were gloomy, and he said sternly, "Deputy Envoy Cang, we are here to discuss the conflict between the Central Plains martial arts community and your sect. We believe your sect's words and come here with sincerity. I didn't expect Deputy Envoy Cang to make things difficult for us as soon as we met. Doesn't this behavior bring disgrace to your sect's reputation?"
"Your sect and I have been at odds for a long time, resulting in countless deaths and injuries on both sides. If we can resolve this conflict, the people will surely be grateful to you."
Canglan was a little angry at first, but after hearing what he said, he calmed down.
He had an ambiguous smile on his lips: "Mr. Ning, you are always talking about benevolence, righteousness, and morality. I wonder if you are willing to take a few of my moves for the sake of the people of the world?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Canglan's figure flashed before his eyes like a ghost, with white hair fluttering behind him, giving off a ghostly aura.
Ning Huaiqing immediately drew his sword to fight back, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.
But Ning Huaiqing's injuries had not yet healed, and he had been traveling for days, so he was extremely tired. Even if he tried his best, Canglan soon knocked his Qingyun Sword away and knocked him to the ground.
Canglan stopped his attack and walked to the front of the seriously injured Ning Huaiqing, saying sarcastically, "With a strength like Young Master Ning, talking about saving the people and supporting the martial arts world is just a foolish dream, isn't it?"
Ning Huaiqing swallowed the bitter taste in his throat, clenched his fists, and struggled to get up, but Canglan easily stepped on him: "Mr. Ning, please don't waste your energy. Even if you try to get up, what's the point?"
"These so-called prestigious and upright families are filled with nothing but trash like the young master and hypocrites who are sanctimonious and righteous. They are all glittering veneer but rotten inside, only seeking fame and reputation to win over people. They shouldn't have existed in this world long ago."
"It is in accordance with the will of Heaven that my Divine Cult unifies the martial arts world. Why are you struggling in vain?"
Ning Huaiqing was pinned to the damp ground, unable to move. Blood was flowing from his wounds, and his mind gradually became distracted, but he still refuted with a sneer.
"Is your sect's so-called justice the willful slaughter of innocent people, using their blood and flesh as stepping stones for your ambitions?"
Canglan's eyes darkened, and he swung out another palm, knocking Ning Huaiqing back heavily, and he rolled into the corner of the palace.
Ning Huaiqing suppressed the painful groans from his mouth and still tried to stand up, but this time he couldn't even reach out for support.
Canglan slowly approached, looking down at him from above. "Look, the hero everyone praised is now barely surviving under the feet of the demonic cult. Do you think they're still hoping you'll bring back good news?"
Canglan stepped on one of his hands and crushed it hard. Soon, the sound of broken bones came from under his feet.
Looking at Ning Huaiqing's nearly fainted face, Canglan's eyes were cold, as if it wasn't enough: "But our great hero can't even save himself, how can he save the world?"
He had been with the leader for so many years and never wanted to see her get hurt, but this loser in front of him actually dared to hurt her like that.
I remembered the warning the leader gave before he fell into a coma: he was not allowed to harm Ning Huaiqing's life.
Canglan closed his eyes in pain.
He would never disobey her.
Then I will leave Ning Huaiqing alive and torture him slowly in the future.
He will definitely make Ning Huaiqing pay a hundred times, a thousand times the price.
*
After an unknown amount of time, the unconscious Ning Huaiqing was helped up, and he saw a strange face in a trance.
“…Thank you.”
The woman was a disciple of the Demon Sect assigned by Canglan to take care of him. Upon hearing this, she looked at him in surprise.
Seeing that he was still half-conscious, what he said just now was probably just mumbling.
She began to murmur to herself, "It is a strange thing that decent people should thank us."
Seeing that Ning Huaiqing's blood was almost drained, Zhu Yu nimbly helped him out, but she was at a loss as to where to put him.
According to Deputy Envoy Zhao Cang's instructions, she should throw this man into the water dungeon and let him fend for himself, but the leader had previously told her otherwise.
After much deliberation, Zhu Yu brought Ning Huaiqing to an extremely luxurious palace. She looked at the three words "Zui Meng Yue" hanging in front of the palace next door and nodded with satisfaction.
This place is closest to the leader's palace, so she placed this person here. Firstly, it was in line with the leader's order, and secondly, if Deputy Envoy Cang came to cause trouble for her, she could quickly hide in "Zuimengyue" and seek refuge from the leader.
Zhu Yu was skilled in medicine and quickly treated Ning Huaiqing's wounds. He also fed him some pills and then left him alone when he saw that his breathing was gradually becoming calmer.
She sat at the table with her chin propped up, in a daze, not realizing that Ning Huaiqing had woken up.
He stared at Zhu Yu's back vigilantly, and his uninjured hand grabbed the Qingyun Sword under the quilt, ready to attack at any time.
Zhu Yu turned around as if sensing something, and happened to meet his hostile gaze. She was stunned for a moment, then laughed in anger: "So all decent people are so heartless and ungrateful!"
"The leader was deceived by you, which is why he was injured so badly!"
Ning Huaiqing suddenly lost his strength: "How is she...?"
"What do you mean? Is it good that I wasn't killed by you? Is it good that I almost died?" Zhu Yu felt that this person was very strange, and his tone became worse.
Ning Huaiqing felt a pang in his heart and lowered his eyes: "That's not what I meant, I just want to know——"
"Whatever you want to know!" Zhu Yu interrupted him and stood up suddenly. "I'm telling you the truth. Deputy Envoy Cang specifically ordered me to take care of you so that he could use me to kill you."
She is the leader's personal maid and has followed her since childhood. In the entire Divine Religion, Zhu Yu believes that no one can surpass her in loyalty to the leader, even Deputy Envoy Cang has to step back.
When she saw the seriously injured and unconscious leader that day, she was filled with rage and wanted to rush to Linfeng Villa immediately and kill her enemy with her own hands.
Deputy Envoy Cang noticed this and ordered her to come and look after Ning Huaiqing.
With the temper she had developed from being spoiled by the leader in the past, the first time she saw Ning Huaiqing, she would kill him, cut him into pieces, and throw him out to feed the dogs.
But she also always remembered what the leader told her, and she would save Ning Huaiqing's life until the leader woke up.
Deputy Envoy Cang thought she was a fool and wanted to use her as a swordsman without even looking at who the leader's confidant was.
When the leader wakes up, she will tell him everything and let him decide whether he is the one who makes the decision in the Divine Cult, or him, the deputy envoy.
Zhu Yu then said to Ning Huaiqing, "If you still want to live, then shut up. I really don't know why the leader insisted on saving you."
Ning Huaiqing struggled to sit up from the bed. The wound he had just bandaged opened again. He looked at Zhu Yu: "Miss, I didn't mean to offend you, but..."
His voice suddenly dropped. "I was the one who caused your leader's injury. I have no words to argue. I just want to know her current condition, whether her life is in danger, and what kind of herbs she needs..."
Zhu Yu's steps towards the door slowly stopped: "My Divine Religion is not short of any medicinal herbs, there is no need for you to worry about it."
Ning Huaiqing's eyes dimmed little by little, he lowered his head weakly, and after a moment, he saw Zhu Yu coming back.
"There are some things I can't help but say. It would be best if you can listen to them. If not, then just treat it as a waste of my words."
Ning Huaiqing looked up at her, opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.
"In your eyes, the leader is a wicked person who kills without blinking an eye, but to me and many disciples of the Divine Religion, no one in the world treats us better than her." Zhu Yu sat down slowly.
"The battle between good and evil in the martial arts world lasted for nearly a hundred years. By the time of the old leader, he had no intention of competing with the Central Plains martial arts world. He led his disciples to live in seclusion in a corner of the world, never causing trouble. But in the end, he, his wife, and the parents and relatives of many of his disciples all died at the hands of you righteous people."
Zhu Yu looked at Ning Huaiqing, tears welling in her eyes. "The leader had lived a life of wandering since childhood, but when she single-handedly supported the crumbling Divine Cult, the first thing she did was to bring back all the disciples who had been scattered by the attack from the righteous faction and provide them with a safe place."
"The righteous factions in the martial arts world are powerful, but under her protection, we no longer suffer the hardships we once did."
"For so many years, the leader has devoted himself to restoring the Divine Cult, working day and night without a single day of slacking off, all for the sake of preventing a recurrence of the catastrophe of years ago." Zhu Yu paused, his eyes like knives. "If you dare to hurt her again in the future, no one in the Divine Cult will let you go, and we will hunt you down to the ends of the earth."
"Do you understand?" She said this and left without looking back.
After listening to this, Ning Huaiqing was speechless for a long time.
In his past memories, the demon cult was full of bad people who burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. They deserved to die, and their deaths were not a pity.
But he never thought that the disciples of the Demon Sect were also living people, with warm flesh and blood, and relatives who loved them.
Does it mean that as long as one claims to be righteous, he can end a person's life in the name of justice?
The Demon Cult is evil because they practice evil methods and kill people wantonly, so what about him?
After he single-handedly defeated the leader of the Demon Cult, many people speculated whether he had practiced some strange martial arts that allowed his skills to improve so rapidly.
Only a few sect leaders and Ning Huaiqing himself knew that it was because Sect Leader Duan passed on all his life's cultivation to him before his death that the current result came about.
But the authentic practice of martial arts emphasizes gradual progress. He relies on the skills passed down by his predecessors to achieve such a level of cultivation. Isn’t this also an evil method?
What is righteousness? What is evil?
The struggle between good and evil has existed since ancient times. Our predecessors have fought for so many years, but no one has been determined to be superior. What is the meaning of this struggle?
Ning Huaiqing kept thinking until daybreak, when he fell asleep due to exhaustion.
But he slept very lightly and woke up when the palace door was pushed open.
The person who came had the same bitter smell of medicine on him. He didn't speak or move, but just stood in front of the bed and looked at him for a long time.
Ning Huaiqing knew who it was.
But he didn't dare to open his eyes or face it, like a complete coward.
*
In a blink of an eye, Ning Huaiqing had already lived here for five days. Zhu Yu still came every day to take his pulse and bring him medicine, but Canglan never showed up again.
That day, he had just finished drinking the medicine when he heard a commotion outside, as if many people were running towards this side.
Zhu Yu, who was packing up the medicine bowls, suddenly looked unhappy and ran out quickly. Ning Huaiqing followed him when he saw him.
Outside the palace stood many people dressed in wizard costumes. They surrounded the nearby palace with solemn expressions, seemingly anxiously waiting for someone.
Zhu Yu pushed through the crowd, grabbed one of them and asked, "Where's the leader?! What happened?!"
The man whispered in her ear that the leader had recovered from his injuries a few days ago and had woken up, but when Deputy Envoy Cang took her to treat her injuries today, the leader's blood and energy suddenly reversed and he had no breath. The elders of the sect have gathered all the witch doctors here, waiting for Deputy Envoy Cang to bring the leader back.
As he was speaking, Canglan's figure appeared at the end. He was holding the pale-faced A Li in his arms and walking quickly.
The group quickly entered the palace.
Only Ning Huaiqing was stopped outside the palace by the guards.
From the moment Ali appeared, his eyes followed her. Seeing with his own eyes that she was in critical condition, Ning Huaiqing felt heartbroken.
The guards outside the hall drove him away several times, but he remained unmoved. The guards had no choice but to let him stand outside the door and keep looking inside.
Ning Huaiqing had excellent hearing. He could clearly distinguish the witch doctor's mumbling, Canglan's low roar, and Zhuyu's intermittent crying, which were all mixed together in a chaotic manner.
But among these sounds, the only thing missing was Ali's breathing, not even a trace.
He couldn't help but tremble, and he didn't even have the strength to stand. He slowly slid down the hall door.
Ning Huaiqing had never been so afraid of one thing: death.
When a person dies, it is like a light going out. All love, hatred, and emotions will disappear with death until they are completely gone.
But he didn't want to, he didn't want to let go.
Candles were lit in the hall, one after another, and the whole palace was filled with a strong smell of lamp oil, which was pungent and unpleasant, the kind that Ali hated the most.
But now everyone is busy trying to save her life. Even Zhu Yu only realized this when Ali was out of danger.
She quickly extinguished all the candles, replaced them with round night pearls, and lit Ali's favorite incense to cover the hall with the scent.
After finishing all this, Zhu Yu rubbed his sore shoulders and closed the hall door.
Seeing that there was no one outside the door, it turned out that this upright young man was indeed the most ruthless.
She sighed, no longer having the energy to be angry.
Peace finally returned outside the palace, and in the darkness, the door of "Zuimengyue" palace was opened again.
The incense in the hall was burning quietly. Ning Huaiqing walked silently towards the inner room. The faint fluorescence emitted by the night pearl made his figure look very long.
There was no one on the bed.
Ning Huaiqing was immediately distraught. Where could she go with such a serious injury? Could it be that she had been abducted by thieves?
He was about to go out to look for Zhuyu, but suddenly he heard a few faint sounds of water coming from deep inside the inner room.
Ning Huaiqing frowned and slowly moved over there, with the Qingyun sword at his waist already unsheathed.
The closer he got, the thicker the fog became. He could hardly see the road ahead and could only move forward bit by bit.
When everything in front of him became clear, Ning Huaiqing felt as if struck by lightning and turned around to escape.
But the person in the bathtub had obviously noticed him, and there was a hint of hoarseness in his usually cold voice.
"Come in."
Ning Huaiqing's fleeing steps suddenly stopped.
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