novelzi Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Gu Jiang returned to the small courtyard. The person on the bed was sleeping soundly, a fluffy snow rabbit cradled in her hands, her cheek pressed against the rabbit's body. The emotional connection between them was still intact. In her dream, Nie Yinzhi was completely unguarded, and her feelings flowed over to him without any barriers. He didn’t know what she was dreaming about, but the bitterness in her emotions made him feel deeply uncomfortable.
What she truly desired was still for him to love her.
Over two thousand years ago, the rules of the heavenly order were broken, leading to the division between the righteous and the demonic. The heavenly order’s suppression of the Demon Ancestors, the toll the Demon Sealing Mark took on demonic cultivators, and the so-called heavenly maiden sent to redeem the demons—all of these were merely attempts to restore the balance that had been disrupted.
In the two thousand years that followed, countless "heavenly maidens" had fulfilled their missions, leaving behind legends of salvation. Of the four Demon Ancestors, only remnants of their demonic energy remained in the world. Now, only he was left.
Gu Jiang lay down beside her, pulling her into his arms. His sleeping habits were far from ideal, and he had grown accustomed to holding Nie Yinzhi close while he slept; otherwise, he might accidentally kick her off the bed.
The previous night, the heavens had unleashed a furious thunderstorm. Feng Hanying, fearing he might be implicated, withdrew all of his demonic energy. The full force of the Demon Sealing Mark descended upon the demonic cultivators of the four cities, and that very night, many unfortunate souls were claimed by the mark.
In the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, yellow sand filled the air as dense spiritual energy drifted from the Demon Sealing Mark. Cultivators from both the righteous and demonic sides, inside and outside the mark, speculated whether Feng Hanying had been struck dead by the thunder.
This wasn’t a tribulation thunder, but rather a sign that Feng Hanying had done something to provoke the heavens.
It wasn’t until dawn broke and the blood moon’s shadow reappeared atop the Blood Moon Tower that the righteous cultivators who had been guarding the Demon Sealing Mark all night snorted, "His life is truly tenacious."
Nie Yinzhi only heard about this after she had left the house. She picked up the Shadow Snake and asked with concern what had happened and whether he had been injured.
The Shadow Snake glanced silently at Gu Jiang and shook its head.
His master had instructed him not to speak carelessly. Feng Hanying kept his mouth tightly shut about Gu Jiang’s inability to control his demonic energy and the events of the previous night, not revealing a single word to Nie Yinzhi.
Gu Jiang and Nie Yinzhi didn’t stay in Molten Gold City for long, visiting all four cities instead.
The names of the cities in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave were rather casual, named after the demonic energy cultivated by the demonic cultivators within them: Molten Gold, Ghost Fire, Smoke Generation, and Revival. The central tower was known as the Blood Moon Tower.
Demonic cultivators who practiced Smoke Generation used their own bodies as vessels, transforming themselves into living talismans and arrays. They nourished these formations with their flesh and blood, utilizing every part of themselves from head to toe. When they moved, the dense array patterns that surfaced on their bodies resembled tattoos etched into their skin.
Some demonic cultivators would extend a single finger, and on that fingertip, there might be a talismanic inscription.
Nie Yinzhi usually wrapped the curse mark on her wrist with silk, but Gu Jiang found it bothersome and always left the vine-like curse mark on his wrist exposed.
When the two were in Smoke Generation City, the Symbiosis Curse was recognized by a demonic cultivator.
Gu Jiang had concealed his true cultivation level in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, appearing only as a Nascent Soul cultivator. The demonic cultivator likely thought the two of them were no threat and followed them all the way until they entered a teahouse.
Nie Yinzhi rested while drinking tea. The teahouse, which had been quiet, suddenly became lively as two groups of people entered after them, including both Golden Core and Nascent Soul demonic cultivators.
These people scattered around them, subtly forming a circle that surrounded them.
At this point, even the most oblivious person would have sensed something was wrong. Even the teahouse owner had retreated far outside the shop. Nie Yinzhi looked at Gu Jiang, but the demon lord continued to sip his tea leisurely, as if he hadn’t noticed anything.
"It won’t be forever, Nie Yinzhi." Gu Jiang picked her up and carried her away from the scene.
Feng Hanying watched as Gu Jiang disappeared with Nie Yinzhi, leaving him alone as a snake. The Shadow Snake glanced at the demonic cultivators trapped in the barrier, its tail still wrapped around the leader, unsure whether to kill them or not.
After a moment of hesitation, the massive serpent transformed back into demonic energy, sweeping up all the cultivators and locking them in the lowest level of the Blood Moon Tower.
He’d ask her about it later.
In an effort to show his obedience, Feng Hanying had selected a hundred high-level demonic cultivators in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, as Nie Yinzhi had once requested, and was waiting for her to make her choice.
Nie Yinzhi sat in a delicate pavilion, utterly bewildered. One side of the pavilion faced a grand hall, and the window was covered with a formation that allowed those inside to see the stage in the hall clearly, while those outside couldn’t catch a glimpse of the pavilion’s interior.
At this moment, the stage, which should have been filled with the fragrance of jade belts and the rhythm of song and dance, had been expanded. Two demon cultivators were engaged in a fierce duel on the stage, while below, others holding numbered tokens were queuing up, waiting for their turn to enter the grand hall. Each person who stepped onto the stage had a brief moment to showcase themselves, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of an imperial selection process in the mortal world.
Especially since this was the main hall of the largest pleasure house in Molten Gold City—a place that was anything but proper.
Feng Hanying sat to the side, observing Nie Yinzhi's reaction, and asked, "Shiniang, has anyone caught your eye?"
Nie Yinzhi: "..."
She had indeed once entertained the idea of letting the golden sprout on her wrist grow into a lush forest, which was why she had proposed to Feng Hanying the idea of selecting demon cultivators. However, she hadn't anticipated that the power of the curse would be so great, nor that its backlash would be equally severe. She had no desire to spend the rest of her days in a state of madness.
Nie Yinzhi couldn't help but recall the day when Gu Jiang had asked her, "Am I not enough for you?" His eyes had been downcast, filled with a quiet melancholy that made her heart ache with a tender, bittersweet pain. She had wanted to cling to him, swearing to the heavens that among the three thousand rivers, she would only take one sip—his.
Moreover, she had come to appreciate the wonders of the golden leaves and the demon lord, and she couldn't bear the thought of letting another sprout grow and compete with Gu Jiang for her affection. Even binding Feng Hanying seemed excessive to her.
The demon lord truly had a way of corrupting one's heart—no wonder he was called the demon lord.
Although they were currently in the midst of an argument, Nie Yinzhi wouldn't go back on her word out of spite. She had promised Gu Jiang that she would only bind herself to him.
Nie Yinzhi couldn't help but scratch at the curse mark wrapped in satin on her wrist. "Why did you suddenly bring this up?" She had nearly forgotten about it herself.
Feng Hanying thought for a moment, believing it wise to help them reconcile quickly so that Nie Yinzhi would stop bothering him. He said, somewhat smugly, "It was Shifu's instruction."
Gu Jiang had asked him to cooperate with Nie Yinzhi, so he had complied, gathering these demon cultivators for her selection. It was indeed his instruction, so there was no mistake in that.
Nie Yinzhi was stunned: "..." Gu Jiang had asked him to do this?!!
She bit her lip, a surge of anger rising in her chest. That wretched demon lord, you didn’t say that before!
Feng Hanying, noticing her silence, glanced at her a few more times, furrowing his brow. It seemed Nie Yinzhi wasn’t very pleased.
Worried that she might go back and whisper complaints into Gu Jiang's ear, Feng Hanying offered, "Shiniang, if there’s no one who particularly catches your eye, I can set a few aside for you."