There is limited light in the Netherworld.
As the River of the Dead was still a flowing river, the light that shone down from above was intermittent. The horse carriage was fully equipped, there were even a lot of medicinal elixirs so to be temporarily trapped inside was not an issue.
However, the current situation was not looking so positive.
Jiang Zheliu didn’t get the two little demons to try anything, his subconscious mind was also telling him not to hope that anyone was going to come to save them. Plus at that moment, their surroundings were not particularly safe, he felt that he was okay, but Ah-Chu and Chang Qian were in the most dangerous situation.
Jiang Zheliu asked the two of them not to come over, then reached out and touched the ink bracelet on his wrist.
The devilish script on the bracelet lit up a few times before, but whilst He Sorshi possessed Zhu Wuxin’s body, it seemed that he was able to block the transmission of this devilish device and not trigger its defenses.
The light of the Netherworld leaks through the wooden window of the carriage, leaving a scattered afterglow.
The state of Jiang Zheliu’s health couldn’t be considered as very good, and he was still quite sick, but this did not really bother him physically, however, it was affecting his train of thought.
Zhu Wuxin came back to his senses.
It was as if Zhu Wuxin was frightened by what he saw before his eyes. He stared blankly at the chain that was wrapped around Jiang Zheliu’s left hand, he looked at him sitting in the innermost side of the bed, in his snow-white robe. Jiang Zheliu looked exhausted with his head in his knees, his hairpin had fallen off so that his long hair was flowing down past his shoulders, falling all the way down his slim back.
Whaa… what was he doing?
Zhu Wuxin was at a loss, he swallowed before slowly leaning in closer to Jiang Zheliu and whispered: “Shixiong?”
When he had made a deal with He Sorshi, he knew that the other could awaken and use his body, and gain a short moment of independence. But if the other did something in his body that he was unwilling to do then a conflict would arise between the two of them.
Zhu Wuxin wasn’t willing to admit that he would do such a thing to his shixiong, he looked at the Jiang Zheliu’s sleeves which was soiled with blood stains and his heart began to ache.
Jiang Zheliu looked up, and glanced over at him without saying a word.
“Shixiong, are you okay?” Zhu Wuxin felt an unbearable suffering from just this one glance, he reached out his hand and touched Jiang Zheliu’s snow-white hair, his voice was hoarse: “Is it time for your medicine, if you’re angry, you can scold me or even hit me but don’t take it out on yourself. Where is the medicine that Yu Jinnian prescribed? Let me get it for you…..”
“Wuxin.”
His voice was incredibly quiet, and was also a little hoarse.
Zhu Wuxin stopped in his tracks, he heard the clear ringing from the movement of the chains, which made his fervent domineering nature to grow, inducing an unspeakable desire, yet an incomparable insatiety.
His throat was dry, he leaned in a little closer, lowering his head to whisper: “Shixiong, I’m right here.”
Zhu Wuxin saw his lightless black eyes look towards him, he saw the corner of his eyes were slightly red, he saw his beautiful but cold elegant brow. Those pair of eyes that were almost completely impenetrable to the light, which reflected his own face, slowly filled up with tears.
Zhu Wuxin’s heart trembled, and he even forgot to breathe.
His shixiong was magnificent and unparalleled in the world, and he had exhibited this kind of expression on his face before.
Zhu Wuxin looked at him in a daze, he watched those long snow-white eyelashes slowly look downwards, then he heard the other’s feeble and weak voice.
“Wuxin… undo this.”
Zhu Wuxin originally didn’t have much brains to begin with, but at this time his ability to actually reflect had been rendered to zero, he slowly reached out and pressed on the other end of the metal chain, but did not undo it, but instead touched Jiang Zheliu’s hand.
Seeing that the latter did not avoid him, he finally moved his hand towards the other’s wrist, but then decided that there was no rush, and he whispered: “It’s the Netherworld out there, there is nothing to say, when Shixiong is willing to take off that bracelet given to you by that devil, I will take you elsewhere so we can live in seclusion. For now…. Why don’t you just stay by my side and recover, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response from Jiang Zheliu, and just continued speaking: “You don’t need to do anything at all, just concentrate on getting better, I will take care of you.”
This sounded more like being a bird stuck in its cage.
“With Shixiong’s instruction, I will definitely be able to remedy the situation with Ling Xiao Sect.” The more he spoke, the more brazen Zhu Wuxin became, he lowered his forehead down and got very close to Jiang Zheliu: “Shixiong, Ghost Lord He promised me that he will not invade the Cultivation World, it will all be okay.”
Jiang Zheliu looked into his eyes, he was no longer wondering what the other was thinking, he was silent for a short moment, and then said in a quiet voice: “I will not leave, you can undo the chains, I don’t want….”
He paused for a moment, then whispered: “I don’t want to be a bird restricted to a cage.”
The corners of his eyes were still faintly red and moist, his voice was calm and gentle, it didn’t seem like he had any other intentions.
Zhu Wuxin felt a little anxious, and quickly replied: “It’s not like that, I just…. I just see shixiong as my cultivation partner.”
The more he explained, the more nervous he got, and the more nervous he got, the more he wanted to explain. After a moment’s hesitation, he could not resist under Jiang Zheliu’s gaze. He thought that Jiang Zheliu was already in this state, so he decided to use his spiritual energy to undo the Netherworld chains that had been tied around the bedpost by He Sorshi.
Since ancient times, no one has been able to resist a beauty’s scheme, even if he knew that he shouldn’t, he still jumped in.
Zhu Wuxin took his wrist out of the chains, then helped him massage the part that had been reddened by the metal, whilst talking a lot of the past.
Jiang Zheliu looked as if he was sleepy.
When his body reached extreme exhaustion, it was easy for him to feel sleepy and then fall asleep directly. Although Zhu Wuxin didn’t know too much about this, he had some bad intentions and was outrageously bold in his lustfulness. After releasing the other’s wrist, he couldn’t resist embracing this sick and boney frail body, it was almost as though he could feel no weight from the other’s body.
It was true that Jiang Zheliu weighed almost nothing, but it was not only the physical weight of his body that was light, but when Zhu Wuxin was holding him, his mind and his Dao body also felt empty.
Jiang Zheliu had an odour on his body that was like a light snow day in early Winter, ice-cold but gentle, the closer he leaned in the more distinct it was.
“Shixiong,” Zhu Wuxin said “Are you sleepy?”
This was a rhetorical question.
All he received was a quiet and weak reply.
Zhu Wuxin was not really sure what he was feeling in this moment, he felt that this moment was surreal, and he was confused and disconcerted, he even thought that the person that he was embracing was not actually Jiang Zheliu but a figment of his imagination, who would disperse in a flash.
The moment that he had been yearning for, actually made him feel the most unsettled.
Until he heard the sound of the sword spirit.
The hand that had been released from the iron shackles, with one moment, could easily grip the hilt of Ling Xiao Sect which was placed on the edge of the bed, and pull the sword out of the icy scabbard.
Zhu Wuxin was too late, when he finally understood what had happened, when he finally felt like this was reality because this action was quite characteristic of the shixiong that he knew, he did not dodge, but instead got closer to Jiang Zheliu’s ear and said: “If you are angry, it’s okay if you stab me a few times.”
An average person could not pull out Ling Xiao Sword, it was even quite strenuous for Zhu Wuxin, but this was Jiang Zheliu’s sword, and the sword spirit recognised its master, so it very easily slid out of its icy scabbard, but someone who had no spiritual energy, even if he had once been the number one swordsman would not be able to exhibit even a thousandth of the sword’s true strength.
All the other could do is to make some light wounds that an ordinary mortal could make with this sword, for a cultivator, this kind of injury really wasn’t anything to be bothered about, and it would be easily healed in a few days.
“I knew that shixiong had not forgiven me yet.” Zhu Wuxin quickly looked up but did not let go. “As long as you don’t leave me, whatever you do….”
His words suddenly halted.
The smell of blood began to spread, but it was not his.
Jiang Zheliu’s palm swiped across the Ling Xiao sword, the flowing blood soaked through the sword, the engraved words above the Ling Xiao sword filled with blood and lit up slowly.
He could not exhibit an ounce of spiritual energy, he was like a broken flower pot, even if he was given spiritual energy it would just leak out, but his cultivation realm was still there, and he still had the Dao body of a half-step golden immortal, and the spiritual energy was overflowing within his blood.
It was just that this Dao body was also utterly broken, and already withered, even the fresh blood flowing within him was lacking.
In the next instant when the sweet fresh blood had spread completely, the sharp edge of the Ling Xiao sword released a piercing cold light, followed by a muffled sound during the entrance with the body, it crossed through from the back to the front of the chest, the aim was incredibly accurate.
The bright red blood stained and spread across the snow white robes.
Zhu Wuxin only had time to see into the other’s eyes, that pair of eyes that had just had a hint of tears just before, with slightly reddened corners, but all that was left now was pitch black, it was inexhaustibly calm inside.
The droplets of blood on Jiang Zheliu’s hand dropped onto the floor.
“A hundred steps can only be regarded as halfway to ninety1,” He was expressionless, he said calmly, “The ancient people are true to their word.”
The Ling Xiao sword penetrated Zhu Wuxin’s chest from behind, nailing the divine soul in this body to death, He Sorshi who was possessing this body could also not easily break free.
“……… You.” Zhu Wuxin vomited a large mouthful of blood, clutching Jiang Zheliu’s wrist tightly in his hand, with a hoarse voice he said: “You will die! I’m the one who cast the boundary spell, it will be broken, the River of the Dead…. The River of the dead is full of evil spirits…….”
“Would Ghost Lord He let me die in the Netherworld.” Jiang Zheliu looked at Zhu Wuxin, as if he was pondering upon this question, “Isn’t a Xianzun lacking the strength even to truss a chicken a better bargaining chip than a dead body?”
He seemed to not have finished speaking yet when the floor began to crack and burst open violently, in an instant, the River of the Dead was split in half by a fierce knife energy, all the evil spirits in the river were dispersed by this incredible knife, the river water split in two, and then the boundary spell was broken, even the horse carriage was split open, and smashed into pieces.
But the blade energy was about to touch Jiang Zheliu’s hair when it retreated so violently that it did not hurt anything else, and only ruffled the mane of the devil realm war horse.
The waves from the River of the Dead started to crash about, and black clouds filled the sky. The Devil Lord wearing his bone armour hovered in the air, with the ink knife in his hand showing a brutal killing intent.
Just as he split the water of the River of the Dead, the energy that had been previously blocked suddenly appeared again. Wenren Ye’s muddled mind suddenly became clearer, and the killing intent was suddenly contained by half.
When the carriage split, seeing the scarlet bloodstains directly crushed the devil’s emotions. He had only recovered his senses for only three seconds when the great devils behind him watched as their Devil Lord rushed towards the bottom of the river without even thinking about it. The entire river that had been split by the knife energy was crashing about in all directions, and the tide continued to circulate on both sides.
Jiang Zheliu only heard the sound of a broken barrier, and then he was enveloped in a dim shadow.
Huge bone wings enveloped him, whilst the hard armour softened inch by inch when it encountered his body. The purple gems inlaid in his eye sockets disappeared and turned back into ordinary human eyes, bringing with it a familiar fragrance of pine and cypress, making him leak energy from head to toe, and his troubled mind slowly began to relax bit by bit.
The little devil seemed terrified.
It was clearly he who had been abducted….. But Wenren Ye appeared more like the injured party, he just embraced Jiang Zheliu without speaking, the pair of bone wings wrapping around him tighter and tighter, hooked around his waist and back as if he would never let go again.
The devilish energy from the knife had retracted cleanly, and no longer exhibited any killing aura but Jiang Zheliu had a feeling that Wenren Ye seemed to be afraid.
Until he felt a warm liquid upon his shoulder.
…….. Was he crying?
The more Wenren Ye refused to speak, the more worrying it was for Jiang Zheliu. Jiang Zheliu couldn’t even find a way to comfort the other, he just coughed lightly a few times. In reality, he was so exhausted he just wanted to sleep, but the little devil seemed to be extremely upset, so Jiang Zheliu did not want to let himself fall asleep, but instead returned the other’s embrace, and whispered: “I’m fine, really…. I’m fine.”
It was as if he had said nothing at all.
Jiang Zheliu was thinking about what else he could say to comfort Wenren Ye but all of a sudden the other had turned to him and kissed him.
He was stunned for a moment and didn’t react, and it was exactly in this moment of tacit approval that Wenren Ye who seemed to be seeking a reassuring sense of presence, began to enter more deeply into the other’s mouth, taking all the initiative and seizing all his breath in a rampant manner.
If Jiang Zheliu had not been in his arms, this kiss would still have overpowered him. This kiss made his tongue feel numb, he had no energy at all, all he could do was lean on the other and let Wenren Ye do whatever he wanted, the corners of his eyes also began to flush.
This time it was real, and something that was totally out of his control.
The seven or eight great devils of various shapes and sizes who were standing behind Wenren Ye were shocked to the core, they just stood there looking at them and then at each other, not daring to say a word. But there was one that had arrived later, Shi Binghen came from behind them, as he arrived late, this was the first thing that he saw when he arrived in the Netherworld.
He looked dumbfounded at Jiang Xianzun, who was being protected by the Devil lord. All that was visible was the edge of his robes, and the hand of the Devil Queen was on the Devil lord’s shoulder, it was slender and fine, fragile to the extreme, with blood still dripping down from the palm.
Shi Binghen gulped with difficulty, then lowered his head to look at the body that still had the Ling Xiao Sword through the chest, he muttered: “Counterkilling in the face of imminent peril2….. I thought he had no spiritual energy left and couldn’t fight anymore?”
The great devils beside him were not looking too great either as if they had suddenly remembered being beaten up by their devil lord. They were wondering deeply what would happen in the Devil Realm in the future and would this give rise to the couple coming up with some sort of Double Beating Event. The most glaring thought was still —— ah! Dream lover! Our lord has kissed my dream lover!
Those two words were really poking at the disappointment of great devils’ hearts.
Shi Binghen was aware of the thoughts that this band of great devils were having, he poked the devil standing beside him: “What are you looking at, have you not been beaten up enough. Our Devil Realm has always been accustomed to the winner marrying the bride and the losers need to shut up and mind their own business, avoid dwelling on the unpleasant.”
This kind of culture also seemed to have contributed to the custom of the Devil Realm to only grow in battle power but not brains.
Jiang Zheliu was not distracted, he didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about, and he didn’t even notice that there was anyone beside him. He was really exhausted by the little devil, and he leaned on Wen Renye’s shoulders and slowly evened his breath, before murmuring in a low voice: “… Zhu Wuxin…”
He wanted to briefly explain to Wenren Ye the ins and outs, but after only saying these three words, when an abundance of ghost energy sprang out from the body that had been pierced by the Ling Xiao sword. The next moment, the Ling Xiao sword let out a piercing noise and the ground was shaking within a radius of ten meters.
Being pierced so precisely through Nascent Soul in the Dao body meant that this body was no longer of any use. He Sorshi appeared, he seemed to regret that the transaction could not be completed as expected, but this regret did not seem to be particularly obvious.
In this next moment, the corpse was completely engulfed by the dense ghostly energy, not as if it had disappeared, but as if it had been stored away.
The entire River of the Dead began to vibrate and slush about, and there was the sound of a hundred thousand evil spirits moaning and hissing. Numerous giant chains raised up from the bottom of the river, as if it was just like a metal bridge. In the middle of the chains, there was a shadow that had no corporeal body which slowly began to take human form, except that his hands and feet were both still shackled, so he was unable to move very far.
He Sorshi had black hair and ash-gray eyes, his hair was naturally slightly curly, it looked as if it had been cut, as it was only as long as his neck. He sat amongst the giant chains with one hand propping up his chin, with a slight smile: “Devil Lord Wenren.”
He Sorshi knocked against the metal chains, and did a sideward smile: “You two are both too rude, each time you come here you hack open my River of the Dead.”
Wenren Ye’s bone wings twitched.
The devils were the leaders in ruthlessness and killing but the ghost cultivators were the most cunning and deceitful.
“You old thing.”
Wenren Ye turned to look at him, His purple eyes seemed to have concentrated a layer of killing aura, his mouth twitched, his words were ice-cold.
“I’ll slaughter you.”
He put Jiang Zheliu behind him, the pitch-black ink blade appeared in his hand once more, the edge of the blade emitted a cold light.
Endless evil spirits shot up but were beheaded and thrown back down to the bottom of the river by the great devils who had followed their Lord here. Howling malevolent dark spirits pounced over and were cleaved to pieces by the ferocious devils.
Whilst the great immortals fought, Shi Binghen didn’t think to intervene instead he quietly leaned behind Jiang Zheliu, not daring to touch it anywhere, only poking his shoulder carefully with his fingertips.
Jiang Zheliu knew that he would be unable to stop the little devil, and he was still being encircled by the other’s giant bone wings, so he was incredibly safe. He had just started to relax but was destabilized again at this moment, when someone shoved him something ice-cold.
…… So this was really how the Devils fed each other.
Jiang Zheliu held the colourless spirit stone in his hands, then licked it, it was very cold.
Shi Binghen being so close to Jiang Zheliu took a critical hit of the other’s beauty and was stunned for a moment. He looked up to glance quickly at the Xianzun in front of his eyes, recovered his senses and said: “It’s from the Xuan Tongju Gate, it was formed naturally, it’s for you to recover. Xianzun, you don’t need to mind our Devil Lord, he has always been very impulsive. He’s not taking care of you and instead decided to start a fight with that old ghost…..”
The colourless spirit stone quickly melted between his lips, sliding down his throat like icy water. The pain in Jiang Zheliu’s body was temporarily suppressed, and his mind became clearer. He raised his eyes and looked at the great devil dressed in red in front of him: “Thank you.”
“Hey, no need to thank me, our statuses are different. From now on you are our sister-in-law3.” Shi Binghen rubbed his hands and said, “That band of great devils over there are each more fierce than the other, but in front of you they wouldn’t even dare to utter a word, that’s a tradition of the Devil Realm, seriously……. Isn’t that delicious? Our Lord specially killed the creature for you, and took it out of his brain…”
Another chatterbox.
Jiang Zheliu wasn’t really paying much attention to the beginning but then he heard the last part of his sentence, and that’s when he reacted and said: “From…. Inside the brain?”
“That’s right!” Shi Binghen face brightened up, “That thing was not much weaker than you back in the day, Xianzun, you’re too fierce —–”
Jiang Zheliu: “……”
There is limited light in the Netherworld.
As the River of the Dead was still a flowing river, the light that shone down from above was intermittent. The horse carriage was fully equipped, there were even a lot of medicinal elixirs so to be temporarily trapped inside was not an issue.
However, the current situation was not looking so positive.
Jiang Zheliu didn’t get the two little demons to try anything, his subconscious mind was also telling him not to hope that anyone was going to come to save them. Plus at that moment, their surroundings were not particularly safe, he felt that he was okay, but Ah-Chu and Chang Qian were in the most dangerous situation.
Jiang Zheliu asked the two of them not to come over, then reached out and touched the ink bracelet on his wrist.
The devilish script on the bracelet lit up a few times before, but whilst He Sorshi possessed Zhu Wuxin’s body, it seemed that he was able to block the transmission of this devilish device and not trigger its defenses.
The light of the Netherworld leaks through the wooden window of the carriage, leaving a scattered afterglow.
The state of Jiang Zheliu’s health couldn’t be considered as very good, and he was still quite sick, but this did not really bother him physically, however, it was affecting his train of thought.
Zhu Wuxin came back to his senses.
It was as if Zhu Wuxin was frightened by what he saw before his eyes. He stared blankly at the chain that was wrapped around Jiang Zheliu’s left hand, he looked at him sitting in the innermost side of the bed, in his snow-white robe. Jiang Zheliu looked exhausted with his head in his knees, his hairpin had fallen off so that his long hair was flowing down past his shoulders, falling all the way down his slim back.
Whaa… what was he doing?
Zhu Wuxin was at a loss, he swallowed before slowly leaning in closer to Jiang Zheliu and whispered: “Shixiong?”
When he had made a deal with He Sorshi, he knew that the other could awaken and use his body, and gain a short moment of independence. But if the other did something in his body that he was unwilling to do then a conflict would arise between the two of them.
Zhu Wuxin wasn’t willing to admit that he would do such a thing to his shixiong, he looked at the Jiang Zheliu’s sleeves which was soiled with blood stains and his heart began to ache.
Jiang Zheliu looked up, and glanced over at him without saying a word.
“Shixiong, are you okay?” Zhu Wuxin felt an unbearable suffering from just this one glance, he reached out his hand and touched Jiang Zheliu’s snow-white hair, his voice was hoarse: “Is it time for your medicine, if you’re angry, you can scold me or even hit me but don’t take it out on yourself. Where is the medicine that Yu Jinnian prescribed? Let me get it for you…..”
“Wuxin.”
His voice was incredibly quiet, and was also a little hoarse.
Zhu Wuxin stopped in his tracks, he heard the clear ringing from the movement of the chains, which made his fervent domineering nature to grow, inducing an unspeakable desire, yet an incomparable insatiety.
His throat was dry, he leaned in a little closer, lowering his head to whisper: “Shixiong, I’m right here.”
Zhu Wuxin saw his lightless black eyes look towards him, he saw the corner of his eyes were slightly red, he saw his beautiful but cold elegant brow. Those pair of eyes that were almost completely impenetrable to the light, which reflected his own face, slowly filled up with tears.
Zhu Wuxin’s heart trembled, and he even forgot to breathe.
His shixiong was magnificent and unparalleled in the world, and he had exhibited this kind of expression on his face before.
Zhu Wuxin looked at him in a daze, he watched those long snow-white eyelashes slowly look downwards, then he heard the other’s feeble and weak voice.
“Wuxin… undo this.”
Zhu Wuxin originally didn’t have much brains to begin with, but at this time his ability to actually reflect had been rendered to zero, he slowly reached out and pressed on the other end of the metal chain, but did not undo it, but instead touched Jiang Zheliu’s hand.
Seeing that the latter did not avoid him, he finally moved his hand towards the other’s wrist, but then decided that there was no rush, and he whispered: “It’s the Netherworld out there, there is nothing to say, when Shixiong is willing to take off that bracelet given to you by that devil, I will take you elsewhere so we can live in seclusion. For now…. Why don’t you just stay by my side and recover, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response from Jiang Zheliu, and just continued speaking: “You don’t need to do anything at all, just concentrate on getting better, I will take care of you.”
This sounded more like being a bird stuck in its cage.
“With Shixiong’s instruction, I will definitely be able to remedy the situation with Ling Xiao Sect.” The more he spoke, the more brazen Zhu Wuxin became, he lowered his forehead down and got very close to Jiang Zheliu: “Shixiong, Ghost Lord He promised me that he will not invade the Cultivation World, it will all be okay.”
Jiang Zheliu looked into his eyes, he was no longer wondering what the other was thinking, he was silent for a short moment, and then said in a quiet voice: “I will not leave, you can undo the chains, I don’t want….”
He paused for a moment, then whispered: “I don’t want to be a bird restricted to a cage.”
The corners of his eyes were still faintly red and moist, his voice was calm and gentle, it didn’t seem like he had any other intentions.
Zhu Wuxin felt a little anxious, and quickly replied: “It’s not like that, I just…. I just see shixiong as my cultivation partner.”
The more he explained, the more nervous he got, and the more nervous he got, the more he wanted to explain. After a moment’s hesitation, he could not resist under Jiang Zheliu’s gaze. He thought that Jiang Zheliu was already in this state, so he decided to use his spiritual energy to undo the Netherworld chains that had been tied around the bedpost by He Sorshi.
Since ancient times, no one has been able to resist a beauty’s scheme, even if he knew that he shouldn’t, he still jumped in.
Zhu Wuxin took his wrist out of the chains, then helped him massage the part that had been reddened by the metal, whilst talking a lot of the past.
Jiang Zheliu looked as if he was sleepy.
When his body reached extreme exhaustion, it was easy for him to feel sleepy and then fall asleep directly. Although Zhu Wuxin didn’t know too much about this, he had some bad intentions and was outrageously bold in his lustfulness. After releasing the other’s wrist, he couldn’t resist embracing this sick and boney frail body, it was almost as though he could feel no weight from the other’s body.
It was true that Jiang Zheliu weighed almost nothing, but it was not only the physical weight of his body that was light, but when Zhu Wuxin was holding him, his mind and his Dao body also felt empty.
Jiang Zheliu had an odour on his body that was like a light snow day in early Winter, ice-cold but gentle, the closer he leaned in the more distinct it was.
“Shixiong,” Zhu Wuxin said “Are you sleepy?”
This was a rhetorical question.
All he received was a quiet and weak reply.
Zhu Wuxin was not really sure what he was feeling in this moment, he felt that this moment was surreal, and he was confused and disconcerted, he even thought that the person that he was embracing was not actually Jiang Zheliu but a figment of his imagination, who would disperse in a flash.
The moment that he had been yearning for, actually made him feel the most unsettled.
Until he heard the sound of the sword spirit.
The hand that had been released from the iron shackles, with one moment, could easily grip the hilt of Ling Xiao Sect which was placed on the edge of the bed, and pull the sword out of the icy scabbard.
Zhu Wuxin was too late, when he finally understood what had happened, when he finally felt like this was reality because this action was quite characteristic of the shixiong that he knew, he did not dodge, but instead got closer to Jiang Zheliu’s ear and said: “If you are angry, it’s okay if you stab me a few times.”
An average person could not pull out Ling Xiao Sword, it was even quite strenuous for Zhu Wuxin, but this was Jiang Zheliu’s sword, and the sword spirit recognised its master, so it very easily slid out of its icy scabbard, but someone who had no spiritual energy, even if he had once been the number one swordsman would not be able to exhibit even a thousandth of the sword’s true strength.
All the other could do is to make some light wounds that an ordinary mortal could make with this sword, for a cultivator, this kind of injury really wasn’t anything to be bothered about, and it would be easily healed in a few days.
“I knew that shixiong had not forgiven me yet.” Zhu Wuxin quickly looked up but did not let go. “As long as you don’t leave me, whatever you do….”
His words suddenly halted.
The smell of blood began to spread, but it was not his.
Jiang Zheliu’s palm swiped across the Ling Xiao sword, the flowing blood soaked through the sword, the engraved words above the Ling Xiao sword filled with blood and lit up slowly.
He could not exhibit an ounce of spiritual energy, he was like a broken flower pot, even if he was given spiritual energy it would just leak out, but his cultivation realm was still there, and he still had the Dao body of a half-step golden immortal, and the spiritual energy was overflowing within his blood.
It was just that this Dao body was also utterly broken, and already withered, even the fresh blood flowing within him was lacking.
In the next instant when the sweet fresh blood had spread completely, the sharp edge of the Ling Xiao sword released a piercing cold light, followed by a muffled sound during the entrance with the body, it crossed through from the back to the front of the chest, the aim was incredibly accurate.
The bright red blood stained and spread across the snow white robes.
Zhu Wuxin only had time to see into the other’s eyes, that pair of eyes that had just had a hint of tears just before, with slightly reddened corners, but all that was left now was pitch black, it was inexhaustibly calm inside.
The droplets of blood on Jiang Zheliu’s hand dropped onto the floor.
“A hundred steps can only be regarded as halfway to ninety1,” He was expressionless, he said calmly, “The ancient people are true to their word.”
The Ling Xiao sword penetrated Zhu Wuxin’s chest from behind, nailing the divine soul in this body to death, He Sorshi who was possessing this body could also not easily break free.
“……… You.” Zhu Wuxin vomited a large mouthful of blood, clutching Jiang Zheliu’s wrist tightly in his hand, with a hoarse voice he said: “You will die! I’m the one who cast the boundary spell, it will be broken, the River of the Dead…. The River of the dead is full of evil spirits…….”
“Would Ghost Lord He let me die in the Netherworld.” Jiang Zheliu looked at Zhu Wuxin, as if he was pondering upon this question, “Isn’t a Xianzun lacking the strength even to truss a chicken a better bargaining chip than a dead body?”
He seemed to not have finished speaking yet when the floor began to crack and burst open violently, in an instant, the River of the Dead was split in half by a fierce knife energy, all the evil spirits in the river were dispersed by this incredible knife, the river water split in two, and then the boundary spell was broken, even the horse carriage was split open, and smashed into pieces.
But the blade energy was about to touch Jiang Zheliu’s hair when it retreated so violently that it did not hurt anything else, and only ruffled the mane of the devil realm war horse.
The waves from the River of the Dead started to crash about, and black clouds filled the sky. The Devil Lord wearing his bone armour hovered in the air, with the ink knife in his hand showing a brutal killing intent.
Just as he split the water of the River of the Dead, the energy that had been previously blocked suddenly appeared again. Wenren Ye’s muddled mind suddenly became clearer, and the killing intent was suddenly contained by half.
When the carriage split, seeing the scarlet bloodstains directly crushed the devil’s emotions. He had only recovered his senses for only three seconds when the great devils behind him watched as their Devil Lord rushed towards the bottom of the river without even thinking about it. The entire river that had been split by the knife energy was crashing about in all directions, and the tide continued to circulate on both sides.
Jiang Zheliu only heard the sound of a broken barrier, and then he was enveloped in a dim shadow.
Huge bone wings enveloped him, whilst the hard armour softened inch by inch when it encountered his body. The purple gems inlaid in his eye sockets disappeared and turned back into ordinary human eyes, bringing with it a familiar fragrance of pine and cypress, making him leak energy from head to toe, and his troubled mind slowly began to relax bit by bit.
The little devil seemed terrified.
It was clearly he who had been abducted….. But Wenren Ye appeared more like the injured party, he just embraced Jiang Zheliu without speaking, the pair of bone wings wrapping around him tighter and tighter, hooked around his waist and back as if he would never let go again.
The devilish energy from the knife had retracted cleanly, and no longer exhibited any killing aura but Jiang Zheliu had a feeling that Wenren Ye seemed to be afraid.
Until he felt a warm liquid upon his shoulder.
…….. Was he crying?
The more Wenren Ye refused to speak, the more worrying it was for Jiang Zheliu. Jiang Zheliu couldn’t even find a way to comfort the other, he just coughed lightly a few times. In reality, he was so exhausted he just wanted to sleep, but the little devil seemed to be extremely upset, so Jiang Zheliu did not want to let himself fall asleep, but instead returned the other’s embrace, and whispered: “I’m fine, really…. I’m fine.”
It was as if he had said nothing at all.
Jiang Zheliu was thinking about what else he could say to comfort Wenren Ye but all of a sudden the other had turned to him and kissed him.
He was stunned for a moment and didn’t react, and it was exactly in this moment of tacit approval that Wenren Ye who seemed to be seeking a reassuring sense of presence, began to enter more deeply into the other’s mouth, taking all the initiative and seizing all his breath in a rampant manner.
If Jiang Zheliu had not been in his arms, this kiss would still have overpowered him. This kiss made his tongue feel numb, he had no energy at all, all he could do was lean on the other and let Wenren Ye do whatever he wanted, the corners of his eyes also began to flush.
This time it was real, and something that was totally out of his control.
The seven or eight great devils of various shapes and sizes who were standing behind Wenren Ye were shocked to the core, they just stood there looking at them and then at each other, not daring to say a word. But there was one that had arrived later, Shi Binghen came from behind them, as he arrived late, this was the first thing that he saw when he arrived in the Netherworld.
He looked dumbfounded at Jiang Xianzun, who was being protected by the Devil lord. All that was visible was the edge of his robes, and the hand of the Devil Queen was on the Devil lord’s shoulder, it was slender and fine, fragile to the extreme, with blood still dripping down from the palm.
Shi Binghen gulped with difficulty, then lowered his head to look at the body that still had the Ling Xiao Sword through the chest, he muttered: “Counterkilling in the face of imminent peril2….. I thought he had no spiritual energy left and couldn’t fight anymore?”
The great devils beside him were not looking too great either as if they had suddenly remembered being beaten up by their devil lord. They were wondering deeply what would happen in the Devil Realm in the future and would this give rise to the couple coming up with some sort of Double Beating Event. The most glaring thought was still —— ah! Dream lover! Our lord has kissed my dream lover!
Those two words were really poking at the disappointment of great devils’ hearts.
Shi Binghen was aware of the thoughts that this band of great devils were having, he poked the devil standing beside him: “What are you looking at, have you not been beaten up enough. Our Devil Realm has always been accustomed to the winner marrying the bride and the losers need to shut up and mind their own business, avoid dwelling on the unpleasant.”
This kind of culture also seemed to have contributed to the custom of the Devil Realm to only grow in battle power but not brains.
Jiang Zheliu was not distracted, he didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about, and he didn’t even notice that there was anyone beside him. He was really exhausted by the little devil, and he leaned on Wen Renye’s shoulders and slowly evened his breath, before murmuring in a low voice: “… Zhu Wuxin…”
He wanted to briefly explain to Wenren Ye the ins and outs, but after only saying these three words, when an abundance of ghost energy sprang out from the body that had been pierced by the Ling Xiao sword. The next moment, the Ling Xiao sword let out a piercing noise and the ground was shaking within a radius of ten meters.
Being pierced so precisely through Nascent Soul in the Dao body meant that this body was no longer of any use. He Sorshi appeared, he seemed to regret that the transaction could not be completed as expected, but this regret did not seem to be particularly obvious.
In this next moment, the corpse was completely engulfed by the dense ghostly energy, not as if it had disappeared, but as if it had been stored away.
The entire River of the Dead began to vibrate and slush about, and there was the sound of a hundred thousand evil spirits moaning and hissing. Numerous giant chains raised up from the bottom of the river, as if it was just like a metal bridge. In the middle of the chains, there was a shadow that had no corporeal body which slowly began to take human form, except that his hands and feet were both still shackled, so he was unable to move very far.
He Sorshi had black hair and ash-gray eyes, his hair was naturally slightly curly, it looked as if it had been cut, as it was only as long as his neck. He sat amongst the giant chains with one hand propping up his chin, with a slight smile: “Devil Lord Wenren.”
He Sorshi knocked against the metal chains, and did a sideward smile: “You two are both too rude, each time you come here you hack open my River of the Dead.”
Wenren Ye’s bone wings twitched.
The devils were the leaders in ruthlessness and killing but the ghost cultivators were the most cunning and deceitful.
“You old thing.”
Wenren Ye turned to look at him, His purple eyes seemed to have concentrated a layer of killing aura, his mouth twitched, his words were ice-cold.
“I’ll slaughter you.”
He put Jiang Zheliu behind him, the pitch-black ink blade appeared in his hand once more, the edge of the blade emitted a cold light.
Endless evil spirits shot up but were beheaded and thrown back down to the bottom of the river by the great devils who had followed their Lord here. Howling malevolent dark spirits pounced over and were cleaved to pieces by the ferocious devils.
Whilst the great immortals fought, Shi Binghen didn’t think to intervene instead he quietly leaned behind Jiang Zheliu, not daring to touch it anywhere, only poking his shoulder carefully with his fingertips.
Jiang Zheliu knew that he would be unable to stop the little devil, and he was still being encircled by the other’s giant bone wings, so he was incredibly safe. He had just started to relax but was destabilized again at this moment, when someone shoved him something ice-cold.
…… So this was really how the Devils fed each other.
Jiang Zheliu held the colourless spirit stone in his hands, then licked it, it was very cold.
Shi Binghen being so close to Jiang Zheliu took a critical hit of the other’s beauty and was stunned for a moment. He looked up to glance quickly at the Xianzun in front of his eyes, recovered his senses and said: “It’s from the Xuan Tongju Gate, it was formed naturally, it’s for you to recover. Xianzun, you don’t need to mind our Devil Lord, he has always been very impulsive. He’s not taking care of you and instead decided to start a fight with that old ghost…..”
The colourless spirit stone quickly melted between his lips, sliding down his throat like icy water. The pain in Jiang Zheliu’s body was temporarily suppressed, and his mind became clearer. He raised his eyes and looked at the great devil dressed in red in front of him: “Thank you.”
“Hey, no need to thank me, our statuses are different. From now on you are our sister-in-law3.” Shi Binghen rubbed his hands and said, “That band of great devils over there are each more fierce than the other, but in front of you they wouldn’t even dare to utter a word, that’s a tradition of the Devil Realm, seriously……. Isn’t that delicious? Our Lord specially killed the creature for you, and took it out of his brain…”
Another chatterbox.
Jiang Zheliu wasn’t really paying much attention to the beginning but then he heard the last part of his sentence, and that’s when he reacted and said: “From…. Inside the brain?”
“That’s right!” Shi Binghen face brightened up, “That thing was not much weaker than you back in the day, Xianzun, you’re too fierce —–”
Jiang Zheliu: “……”
