In the void where nebulae wander,
The demon surrounded by black mist sat on the altar, looking at the endless world like the abyss beneath his feet.
In this boundless space, there lived countless monsters of strange shapes. A huge skeleton fish swayed its skeletal body and swam slowly through the air. Monsters as small as fireflies flew in groups, emitting fluorescent light.
On the blazing planet, countless monsters with hideous faces and terrifying shapes were floating in the lava. There were also beautiful and enchanting monsters smiling frivolously, lying on the edge of the altar.
A crawling figure appeared on the pure white stairs that were winding and hovering in the void. He curled up on the pale stairs, his body disintegrating and condensing, trembling.
"Oh, you're here so soon?" A demon with a human face and a worm body raised its neck and looked at the person crawling at its feet. Its red lips curved up and said, "Oh, it looks like you're not going to die in a pretty way."
The figure crawling on the steps gradually stabilized into a human form, a man covered in blood and with a limp. The man raised his head and said, "Where... where is this? Why am I here?"
"Didn't you promise to sacrifice your most precious thing to our Lord Demon?" The banshees on the altar replied to him with a smile.
"No, it's not. I have already given you my most precious thing." The man raised his hands tremblingly, "I personally gave you my beloved, my wife."
"How ridiculous," the demon perched on the high platform laughed, "In front of me, human desires are exposed. Isn't the thing you value most yourself?"
The originally human-like body of the man on the stairs gradually began to grow larger and more distorted, and black smoke emerged from his rotten skin.
"No, no, I don't want to become a monster. I want to be a human, I want to be a human being." The man covered his head and struggled in pain, leaving only his hopeless wails in the void, "I regret it, I regret it!"
On the mirror-like steps in front of him, a body that was torn into pieces was reflected. That was his appearance before he died. That appearance was slowly changing. Even though he kept resisting, he was still swallowed by the black fog and lost his human form, becoming a mindless, horrible monster.
"Really? A boring life will remain boring even if it becomes a demon." Xu Kun, who was sitting on the altar, waved his hand in disappointment and let the dull newborn demon go on its own.
He looked up into the distance, and beyond his reach, there was a colorful jade door facing him from afar.
That bright light is like a full moon in the dark night, shining through the darkness, bright, clear and colorful.
In the end, I don’t know whether my own darkness swallowed up the light, or whether the light could eventually dispel the darkness.
No matter which one it is, it is very interesting to Xu Kun.
I vaguely remember that many years ago, someone he liked very much said to him, "Xu Kun, if you do this, you will regret it one day."
regret
He no longer had these human emotions.
In the vast universe, the so-called emotions of human beings are completely meaningless to gods of his level.
…
The thunderstorm gradually subsided, and Mu Xue and Cen Qianshan walked out of the grove side by side, holding umbrellas.
Neither of them spoke. Accompanied by the sound of the dripping rain, the past came flooding back to their minds.
It rarely rains in Fuwang City, but whenever there is a thunderstorm, it is generally the mighty and majestic Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
At that time, Cen Qianshan liked such thunderstorm days very much. With the lightning and thunder and heavy rain outside, staying in the solid and stable house, he felt a sense of happiness that was about to overflow in his heart.
Whenever this happened, Master Mu Xue would usually not go out. Even when there was a loud thunder, she would rarely put down her work and ask Cen Qianshan to heat a pot of wine for her.
She always sat in the corridor, leaning against a small wooden table, staring at the lightning in the distant sky in a daze.
Over the years, almost no one in the Demon Spirit Realm has managed to survive the catastrophe. No matter how powerful a legendary figure is, they will eventually fall under the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
As a result, many demon cultivators stop practicing after reaching the Golden Core Stage, allowing their lifespans to slowly drain out, and when the end of their lives comes, they will re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.
The deep cup is full, the strong liquor goes down my throat. I don't know who will survive this night.
In the past, whenever there was a moment of lightning and thunder, this courtyard seemed particularly empty and lonely. It was as if a bolt of lightning struck and my existence would completely disappear from the world. There would be no trace left, as if I had never been to this world.
The roars of thunder struck Mu Xue's heart, like the sound of approaching footsteps of an insurmountable fate.
Mu Xue put down her wine glass. The empty glass in her hand was quickly refilled. Her young apprentice Qian Shan sat beside her at the table, looking at her with sparkling eyes.
Even though he was the only one there, the whole home suddenly became so warm and reassuring.
With him sitting next to her, the thunder in the sky didn't seem so frightening anymore.
With someone worth caring about in her heart and a home waiting for her return, even when facing the will of heaven, Mu Xue's heart is no longer as empty and blind as before, and she has the courage to fight against the heaven again.
"I'm almost an adult. Can I drink a little wine with Master?" Xiaoshan, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, had sparks in his eyes and his long eyelashes fluttered gently.
"Yeah, how come you've grown up so quickly?" Mu Xue took out a wine cup, heated it with wine, and poured him a glass of wine.
The two people's hands holding the cups touched lightly in the sound of rain.
"Xiaoshan, do you still remember your biological parents?"
"I don't remember much. I just remember that when they sold me, they argued for a long time over whether they could get two or three spirit stones."
"I don't remember what my mother looks like, and I don't know who my father is. Sometimes in my dreams, I see a hazy face, which should be my mother. I want to take a closer look, but I can't see clearly."
In the wind and rain, with someone by your side, the wine becomes more fragrant.
Cen Xiaoshan, who was new to the drink, soon fell drunk beside Mu Xue, grabbing her clothes and muttering drunkenly, "It doesn't matter, I just need my master as my relative."
Mu Xue looked at the rain, poured herself a drink, and gently touched the soft hair beside her hand. Cen Qianshan, who was curled up beside her, was still mumbling in his sleep, making incoherent drunken remarks.
Yes, it’s good to have Xiaoshan as a companion in this life.
I just really hope I can get through this and spend more time with him.
…
Mu Xue was walking in the rain and looked up at her fellow Taoist who was walking beside her with an umbrella.
It turns out that I have already kept Qianshan in my heart since such a long time ago.
When Sun Dejun returned to his residence, Ding Lanlan and Lin Yin came up to him to ask about the news.
"How's it going? Did you catch them? We searched the house carefully, but we didn't find any puppets that could move."
Mu Xue then recounted what she had seen and heard in the grove, and also brought back the mirage platform of the bright lamp in the puppet's body.
"What did you say?" The two girls could hardly believe their ears. "He, he, he actually sacrificed his wife to the demon god in order to obtain the puppet-making technology?"
"He also extracted the child's soul and refined it into the puppet, just to make the puppet react more like a human?" Ding Lanlan's face turned pale. The half puppet in her hand seemed to be hot, and she dropped it in fright.
Young girls like them could hardly imagine that human nature could be so evil.
Among the few people, only Lei Liang did not seem to be surprised by this matter.
"Don't look at me like that, young ladies." Lei Liang explained helplessly, "Isn't this a common thing? Not to mention for such a mysterious magic, I have seen many men kill their wives and sell their children just for a house or a little money."
Liang Ge, who had been running various businesses in Fuwang City for many years, was used to the ruthlessness and betrayal of the world. In contrast, what made him nervous and concerned about this matter was the identity of the demon god that Sun Dejun worshipped.
That demon was the culprit who caused the destruction of Dahuanxi City, the most prosperous city in the Demon Spirit Realm, hundreds of years ago.
"This doesn't look good, Mr. Cen." Lei Liang's face was very ugly. "You should know how the Great Joy City was destroyed three hundred years ago, right?"
Cen Qianshan pondered for a moment, took out a few black name cards, held the sound transmission notes in the name cards, and described in detail what happened here. He then took out a silver seal from his bosom and printed a silver image representing his identity on the name cards.
When the silver seal was raised, a mithril seal was imprinted on the black name card. There were no words in the seal, only a picture of a thousand-foot-high wall and green mountains covered with snow.
After Cen Qianshan stamped the seal, he suddenly remembered something, his ears turned slightly red, and he secretly glanced at Mu Xue beside him.
At that time, I was young and frivolous. I suddenly lost the love of my life. I was depressed and regretful. I wanted to let the whole world know my feelings for Master. Therefore, I used such a straightforward stamp for the signature. Now I feel a little embarrassed to use it in front of Master.
He made the business cards and gave them to Qianji and Xiaoya, whom he summoned, to deliver them.
Outside a remote house in Fuwang City, Zhuo Yu, Xiao Changge, and Cheng Yan quietly poked their heads out from the top of the wall.
In that heavily guarded courtyard, there was a strange altar. On the altar was a black gatehouse. In the room next to the altar, there were a dozen mortal children in ragged clothes.
A large, sealed flying magic vehicle stopped in the yard, and several young children were tied to a hemp rope and dragged down from the magic vehicle crying. Bingzi and his sister were among them.
"Quick, catch two brats and try them out first." Someone shouted from the side of the altar, "It turns out that Sun Quezi made a fortune so easily by worshipping the devil. Bah, I thought he was really gifted and suddenly got wise."
"But by using some mortal children, the value of the puppet can be increased several times. Hahaha, it can be considered a no-cost business."
"It is time for us to have a taste of wealth."
"If I can do this, I won't have to worry about houses and women anymore, hahaha."
The burly man came to a group of children, stretched out his hand, and, ignoring the children who were crying loudly in fear, he grabbed two people like chickens and walked towards the altar.
In the crowd, Bingzi took off her shoes and gave them to her barefoot sister, and tried to use her thin body to block her sister.
His only hope now was that at least his sister could be caught later in front of the terrifying-looking altar.
"How about it, are you sure you want to take action?" Zhuo Yu, who was standing on the wall, looked at everything in the yard and asked quietly. His face was dark, "Don't blame me for not telling you. If you take action, let alone returning safely, you may even lose your life. It's hard to say."
Xiao Changge and Cheng Yan looked at each other, their faces pale but they nodded firmly.
At this moment, several family heads in Fuwang City received a business card with the seal of "Snow Covering Thousands of Mountains" printed on it.
In the courtyard of the Yan family, the head of the Yan family looked at the silver seal on the black name card and smiled at his daughter Yan Ling, "It's really rare that Cen Qianshan would send me a name card. Did you know that since he rarely sends names, this seal with the 'Snow Covering Thousand Mountains' can even be sold at a high price in a bookstore in the market?"
After listening to the message in the name card, the calm shopkeeper Yan Da stood up and asked, "The Black Gate of Huanxi Palace?"
She turned around a few times with her hands behind her back, gritting her teeth and saying, "Who is so ignorant as to dare to sacrifice to this demon? Is the tragic situation in Dahuanxi City going to happen again in Fuwang City?"
In the attic of the Liu family.
The head of the family urgently summoned the capable men in the family to the secret room. On the table, there was a black name card.
"Cen Qianshan? Cen Qianshan actually took the initiative to send a name card to our Liu family." Liu Chunlu, a young disciple of the family, said, "Doesn't he always dislike our family?"
The head of the Liu family pinched his brows and knocked on the table. "You young people may have forgotten. But I believe the elders in the family will never forget. Three hundred years ago, the demon appeared in the city of Dahuanxi. Countless demons from outside the domain swarmed in, causing the thousand-year-old city to be destroyed. Even my Liu family only has this branch of descendants left, who barely escaped to Fuwang City to gain a foothold."
In the Jin family's Ruyun Tower.
The head of the Jin family stood by the French window with his hands behind his back, holding a black name card. "From this point of view, perhaps this technique has spread out. I'm afraid that many fools who are desperate for money have begun to imitate Sun Dejun and do such stupid things."
He opened his narrowed eyes and said, "Pass on my master's order to search for all those who secretly worship the demon god in Fuwang City."
Several family heads said the following words almost at the same time:
"Once discovered, kill them immediately. Destroy the altar at all costs."