Great Demon - Chapter 101

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhuyou abruptly turned her head. Her spiritual sea felt as if it were boiling, and although the dragon scale remained motionless within it, it seemed to swell, threatening to consume her entire spiritual sea.

She had considered countless possibilities, but she never expected it to be Changying’s reverse scale.

The reverse scale of a dragon—touch it, and you shall be slain.

Zhuyou let out a sharp breath. She saw Changying walking away as if nothing had happened, but then she suddenly released a strand of spiritual energy, binding Changying’s feet.

Changying had no choice but to stop and turn back. “Weren’t we going to find Qiao Fengsheng?”

Zhuyou didn’t retract her spiritual energy. Instead, she slowly walked over, each step making her heart pound wildly. The scale in her spiritual sea seemed to come alive with each beat.

“This place isn’t safe. Although I’ve asked the Fate Keeper to keep an eye on Qiao Fengsheng’s life flame, if we don’t hurry, something unexpected might happen,” Changying said, her golden eyes fixed straight ahead. With a flick of her finger, she unraveled the spiritual energy binding her feet. The glowing blue energy, like a thread, was tied into a knot and casually tossed back.

Zhuyou caught the weightless spiritual energy, feeling as though Changying was deliberately avoiding the topic.

Changying took a step forward, suddenly leaving the light of the lantern behind and stepping into the darkness.

“Then let’s talk as we walk. Explain to me properly—what’s the deal with this reverse scale?” Zhuyou narrowed her eyes. “I remember when we exchanged heart’s blood, you hadn’t regained your memories yet.”

Changying had hoped to brush it off as a trivial matter, but now that she was being pressed, she had no choice but to respond. “At that time, I truly hadn’t recalled anything from the past.”

“If that’s the case, why did you give me your reverse scale?” Zhuyou stared at her intently.

The scale had entered her spiritual sea during the exchange of heart’s blood. Back then, Changying was still a young girl, hardly capable of any convoluted schemes.

Dragons weren’t known for their sentimentality, especially not those from the dawn of creation who barely understood emotions. In all her years, Zhuyou had never heard of anyone giving away their reverse scale. It was like handing over your greatest weakness to the world.

Changying lifted her golden eyes and asked calmly, “Why do you think I gave it to you?”

Zhuyou smiled faintly. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you.”

“I wanted to, so I did,” Changying said flatly, her hand twitching slightly at her side.

Zhuyou frowned. “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want to bear the weight of this reverse scale.”

Changying stared at her unblinkingly, her gaze colder than the night itself.

“The Heavenly Dao of the realm beyond that Guanshang glimpsed is beyond even your power to resist. If he uses that external force against us, I—” Zhuyou paused, her voice icy. “I might not survive. If I perish because of this, I don’t want you to lose control because your reverse scale is triggered,” she continued.

Changying pressed her lips together, as if suppressing a storm of anger. Her brows furrowed, dark clouds gathering in her expression, like an impending tempest.

It was already night, and after the rain, the sky was clear, the stars and moon shining brightly. But in an instant, thick clouds blotted out the sky, and a flash of lightning illuminated the darkness, followed by a low rumble of thunder.

From the rickety wooden hut, the little girl from before emerged, taking down the lantern hanging by the door. The child muttered, “It’s going to rain again. If it does, how will Mom and Dad get back?”

An elderly voice from inside the house called out, “Don’t worry about the lantern! What are you doing outside? Don’t let the wind blow you away!”

The child, holding the lantern, replied, “I won’t be blown away! My horse stance is solid!”

The door closed again, and outside, the world was plunged into darkness, the only light now inside the house.

Zhuyou frowned, her hand pressing against her abdomen, where her spiritual sea lay. She shook her head. “Back then, your spiritual form hadn’t awakened, but now that you’ve regained all your memories, how can you still be so reckless? It’s better to remove this reverse scale as soon as possible.”

Changying remained silent, as lightning continued to streak across the sky, the thunder growing louder.

Zhuyou sensed that Changying was angry. Though she herself didn’t feel anger, she supposed she should be. She hadn’t expected Changying to give her the reverse scale, and now it had thrown her plans into disarray. It was as if they were handing themselves over to Guanshang on a silver platter.

“I can’t dig it out. You do it,” she said.

Changying’s cold gaze followed Zhuyou’s pale fingers to the crimson sash tied just above them, as red as phoenix fire.

Zhuyou grew impatient. “Hurry up.”

Only then did Changying speak. “If Guanshang has glimpsed the realm beyond, why would he return?”

Zhuyou was taken aback.

The sky continued to flash with lightning, the heavens torn apart by the bolts, only to be stitched back together by the thick darkness.

Changying, who had been standing still, finally took a step toward Zhuyou, her voice cold. “It’s because, even though he’s seen the realm beyond, he still can’t leave. That world doesn’t accept him, so he has no choice but to return.”

Zhuyou felt a sudden chill on the back of her hand as Changying placed her own hand over it. She looked down to see Changying’s slender fingers resting lightly on her skin.

Changying rarely spoke so much. After a pause, she continued, “As long as that world doesn’t accept him, he’s doomed. It’s only a matter of time. There’s no need for you to panic.”

Zhuyou forced a stiff smile. “But that world doesn’t accept me either.”

“I want it to,” Changying said, her voice tinged with defiance.

Zhuyou said nothing.

“My weaknesses are all in your hands now. Whether I give you the reverse scale or not makes no difference. I chose to give it, and that’s that,” Changying said calmly, her eyes gleaming for a moment.

Zhuyou’s eyelashes fluttered, unsure of what Changying was thinking.

Changying leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Let’s go. If we’re late, we might not find Qiao Fengsheng. Guanshang might not kill him now, but if he reincarnates into a fourth life, both Guanshang and we will have to start searching for him all over again.”

“Let’s go,” Zhuyou said, pressing her hand against her abdomen and lifting her gaze.

Only then did Changying release her hand and turn to walk away. As she did, she added, “If you truly don’t want it in your spiritual sea, I’ll remove it after we find Qiao Fengsheng.”

Zhuyou didn’t respond. She noticed that the thunder and lightning hadn’t subsided, a clear sign that Changying was still angry.

No matter how much Changying tried to appear calm, the storm above betrayed her true feelings. Zhuyou now truly felt that Changying had changed. She had learned to deceive, and the aura of menace around her could no longer be hidden.

As they traversed the mountains and rivers, they came across bloated, rotting corpses piled along the riverbank. Among them were two dressed in fine clothing, their golden threads still visible despite the mud and filth covering them.

Changying walked for a while, perhaps feeling somewhat better, as the thunder and lightning above began to quiet down. She released a strand of spiritual energy, flipping over the two bodies on the ground. However, their faces were too decomposed, and their souls had long since departed, making it impossible to recognize who they once were.

“What is it?” Zhuyou flicked her wrist, summoning a burst of phoenix fire to illuminate the two disfigured faces.

Changying studied them for a moment before saying softly, “The clothes are theirs, but the bodies aren’t.”

“How can you tell?” Zhuyou asked.

“They’re shorter,” Changying said, turning to leave. “Let’s keep looking. The Fate Keeper hasn’t sent me any news, so Qiao Fengsheng must still be alive.”

Zhuyou, seeing that Changying hadn’t brought up the reverse scale again, felt a knot form in her heart, an uncomfortable weight she couldn’t shake.

After navigating the treacherous rapids, they ascended toward the cliff. Suddenly, they noticed a long rope suspended between two peaks. Two men, dressed only in undergarments, stood shivering at one end of the rope, constantly glancing into the distance as if hoping to cross to the other side of the mountain.

Beneath the rope, the river surged violently. A fall would surely sweep them away in the torrent.

The two men trembled incessantly, pushing and shoving each other, until an argument broke out.

“Go on! If we don’t cross to the other side, how will we ever get back?”

“This rope might not hold.”

“It looks sturdy enough!”

“It’s just a single rope. We can’t walk across—we’ll have to climb. If we lose strength halfway, we’ll fall into the river.”

“I’m not afraid, and yet you, who’ve trained in martial arts, are cowering here!”

“Let’s find a boat. There must be a boat somewhere.”

“Look at this river! Does it look like boats can dock here? Can a boat even cross this?”

“Then let’s wait. In a couple of days, the river should calm down.”

“I shouldn’t have brought you, you coward! We didn’t even get the immortal herbs, and now we’ve nearly lost our lives. Even our clothes were stolen! Who’d believe I’m the young master of the Su family?”

As the two bickered, Zhuyou quickly understood. The impatient one was likely the young master of the Su family, while the calmer one must be Qiao Fengsheng, the man they were searching for.

Young Master Su didn’t dare to cross the rope but kept pushing Qiao Fengsheng to scout ahead. Qiao Fengsheng was already at the edge of the cliff, just half a step away from falling into the river.

Yet Qiao Fengsheng, ever the honest man, stood there like a block of wood, letting the young master push him without even attempting to resist.

Fortunately, Qiao Fengsheng wouldn’t die from falling into the water—his destined death was by landslide. So Changying watched from a distance, not immediately intervening.

“Did you recognize their faces when you entered that mortal’s consciousness?” Zhuyou asked, turning back.

Changying tilted her head, her gaze fixed on the two men shoving each other at the cliff’s edge. She nodded. “It’s them.”

Zhuyou smiled faintly and pressed her hand against her abdomen again. “Now that we’ve found Qiao Fengsheng, it’s time for you to remove the reverse scale from me.”

Changying coldly averted her eyes and wordlessly darted forward.

She was angry again, and it was no small anger. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

At the sound of thunder, the two men on the rope froze, both looking up at the sky.

Young Master Su stammered, “It’s not going to rain again, is it? I just want to go home. I’ll never sneak out again.” He then shoved Qiao Fengsheng again, shouting, “Go on! Once you cross, I’ll follow. We’ll pawn your jade pendant on the other side and get a carriage!”

Qiao Fengsheng stood firm, as if rooted to the spot.

Young Master Su grew frantic, his emotions boiling over. Suddenly, he blurted out, “If you don’t want to go back, who in Qiaomu Manor will even remember you? Look at you, you coward! No wonder your mother was humiliated, and you were forced to crawl between someone’s legs. What a waste of all that training!”

Qiao Fengsheng was stunned by the outburst, his stance faltering slightly.

The young master, in his agitation, pushed a little too hard, and before he knew it, he had shoved the man beside him over the edge.

A living person suddenly tumbled off the cliff, not even uttering a scream. The sound of falling rocks was instantly drowned out by the roaring river.

Below the cliff was pitch black, so dark that even the churning river was invisible.

Young Master Su stood frozen, taking a stiff step back from the edge. He clutched the rope, muttering, “No, no, it wasn’t me. I didn’t mean to. I just want to go home.”

With that, he scrambled onto the rope, hooking his legs over it. But before he could even begin to climb, his arms gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, weeping pitifully. “I can’t do it. I just want to go home.”

Zhuyou watched the scene unfold but remained calm. Changying was already on her way; she wouldn’t let Qiao Fengsheng be swept away by the river.

However…

Zhuyou’s eyes shifted to Young Master Su, and she let out a derisive snort. What a heartless wretch.

The young master was crying so hard it seemed he might suffocate, too terrified to glance at the cliff again. He crawled away on all fours, trembling uncontrollably. Just as he was about to turn around, his peripheral vision caught something floating up from below the cliff.

It was a head.

Young Master Su stared in shock—it was a familiar face!

Upon closer inspection, he sighed in relief. It wasn’t just a head; the body was still attached.

Qiao Fengsheng, who should have been swept away by the river, was now floating upward. Though his eyes were closed, his motionless form seemed to be staring straight at him.

The young master’s eyes widened, and he slammed his forehead into the muddy ground. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

Qiao Fengsheng remained still, eyes shut, like a ghostly apparition.

The young master scrambled to his feet, frantically running down the mountain, screaming, “A ghost! A ghost!”

The spiritual energy wrapped around Qiao Fengsheng suddenly retracted, returning to Changying’s fingertips.

Changying approached slowly, reaching out to pull Qiao Fengsheng, who was floating precariously over the cliff, back to solid ground.

Qiao Fengsheng collapsed limply onto the ground, still breathing but unconscious.

Changying looked him over and said calmly, “It’s definitely him.”

Zhuyou walked over and nodded. “Good that we found him. But he’s forgotten everything from his past. Even if you enter his consciousness now, you won’t find anything unless you make him bathe in the Reincarnation Pool again.”

Changying didn’t help Qiao Fengsheng up herself. Instead, she enveloped his limbs in spiritual energy, forcing him to stand.

Though Qiao Fengsheng was now upright, he remained unconscious, eyes tightly shut, like a walking corpse.

Changying studied him for a moment and said, “I’ll find a way. For now, take him back to Shangxi City.”

Zhuyou was surprised. “I thought you’d insist on taking him to the Nine Heavens.”

“I can’t let him die prematurely,” Changying replied, frowning.

Zhuyou had no choice but to take out her mustard seed pouch and place Qiao Fengsheng’s body inside. “A living person can’t stay in the mustard seed for too long. We need to return to Shangxi City as soon as possible.”

Changying nodded, but just as they were about to leave, a sudden gust of cold wind swept through, carrying with it the stench of decay and rot—

It was a devil’s presence.

Her eyes sharpened instantly, and she turned to look at Zhuyou, who slowly raised her gaze to meet hers.

The dragon and the phoenix seemed to share an unspoken understanding, but the familiarity in their eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold distance, as if they were enemies.

Changying suddenly struck, her Xuanjing sword unsheathing with a sharp shing as it shot straight toward Zhuyou’s face.

Zhuyou’s expression darkened. Clutching the mustard seed pouch, she swiftly retreated, her toes lightly brushing the muddy ground without leaving a trace. She narrowed her eyes, her gaze darting around. The stench of decay lingered, but while she could sense the presence, she couldn’t pinpoint the devil’s location.

The scent was carried by the wind, spreading wherever the wind blew.

She conjured a blazing bow out of thin air. Though the bow had no string, she plucked it lightly, and a feather arrow materialized, shooting straight toward Changying’s sword tip.

The feather met the sword’s edge, and the flames at its tip licked up the blade, rapidly climbing toward Changying’s hand.

Changying pinched the phoenix flames on the blade with two fingers, and the brilliant fire was instantly engulfed by a chilling cold, frozen into ice before shattering into dust.

Zhuyou tightened her grip on the mustard seed pouch and declared loudly, as if speaking to someone else, “You’re after this mortal because he knows some secret, aren’t you? Too bad he’s in my hands now.”

Changying didn’t respond. Instead, she leaped into the air and swung her sword down with a force that roared like a dragon’s cry.

Zhuyou looked up at her, pulling back the blazing bow once more. Three feather arrows shot out in quick succession, aiming straight for the dragon’s life!

But just then, the sword-wielding dragon suddenly transformed into her true dragon form, and the three arrows harmlessly struck her scales.

The obsidian-black scales shimmered with iridescent colors under the firelight. The phoenix flames couldn’t burn through them, instead crawling slowly across the surface. But before the flames could reach the dragon’s eyes, they were frozen and extinguished.

The Obsidian Dragon opened her massive maw, and the human-form Vermillion Phoenix below seemed barely enough to fill her teeth.

Zhuyou sneered, “Since you’re here, I assume you want to snatch this mortal too. Why not help me?”

As soon as she finished speaking, the devilish aura coalesced into a humanoid form—it was indeed a devil!

But this devil was strange. Its body was covered in devil markings, and its eyes were vacant, as if controlled by strings, its movements stiff and unnatural.

Zhuyou faced the oncoming Obsidian Dragon without a trace of fear. However, a faint rustling sound in the distance caught the devil’s attention.

A mortal.

Young Master Su, perhaps doubting what he had seen earlier, mustered his courage and climbed back up the mountain, hoping to confirm his suspicions. But as soon as he peeked over the edge, a cloud of black mist lunged toward him.

The Obsidian Dragon suddenly turned, her gaping maw snapping at the devil shrouded in black mist. But the devil dodged, its form dissolving into mist and merging with the wind, vanishing in an instant.

Young Master Su fainted. Before he could hit the ground, the dragon caught him in her mouth.

Zhuyou wasn’t sure if the devil had truly left. She narrowed her eyes and fired three more feather arrows, but they struck nothing but air.

The Obsidian Dragon, now with the mortal in her mouth, turned around, her massive tail slamming into the ground and shaking Tiger Roar Ridge. Her claws tore through the rocks below as she lunged toward Zhuyou.

Zhuyou transformed into her Vermillion Phoenix form in an instant, her four wings spreading wide. But before she could take flight, the Obsidian Dragon clamped down lightly on one of her wings.

The dragon’s teeth didn’t bite hard, merely pressing gently against her feathers.

Zhuyou froze, caught off guard as Changying pulled her into the mustard seed pouch.

Inside the icy, snow-covered world of the mustard seed, everything was blanketed in white.

The parasol tree by the lake rustled as a phoenix alighted on its branches. Its long tail feathers trailed into the lake, dyeing the Liqueur Spring a deep red, as if reflecting the glow of sunset.

“That devil was strange. It must have been Guanshang’s spy,” the Vermillion Phoenix spoke in human tongue.

The Obsidian Dragon landed and transformed into a tall, slender woman. She flicked her arm, and her sword plunged into the snow, melting into water that seeped into the ground. In her other hand, the unconscious mortal slumped to the ground with a thud.

Zhuyou, now back in human form, perched on the tree branch. She pressed a finger to her robe and glanced at Changying. “Come and take back what’s yours.”