Yan Qing told himself again that lust is a sword above one's head, and he would not be able to eat hot tofu in a hurry, so he had to take his time. After achieving his goal, Yan Qing no longer let his mind wander and temporarily put aside the twists and turns in his mind and immersed himself in the investigation.
They followed Bai Ziqian and the Seventh Eunuch to the forbidden area of the City Lord's Mansion, which was also the deepest part of the cave. The light dimmed here, the vision was obstructed, and it was pitch black all around.
Yan Qing walked forward and heard some strange noises. When the light gradually became clearer and he could see the scene in front of him clearly, Yan Qing was stunned. He found that walking out of the deepest part of the cave, there was actually a forest.
The trunk is black, the leaves are green, and there are thousands of red ribbons hanging from them.
This strange and charming picture suddenly turned into a horrible hell on earth because of the eyeball at the top of the red line.
"These eyes..."
Yan Qing stared blankly at the forest. Some eyeballs looked like they were newly dug out, with blood stains still on them, dripping into the ground along the red line. He stepped on it and found that the soil here was particularly soft, probably soaked in blood for many years, and some blood gushed out with a slight step.
Yan Qing's heart sank and he turned his gaze to see a sign next to him. It read Wanzhu Tonglin, a name that was very suitable for this place.
A flash of red flashed across Yan Qing's eyes: "Ten Thousand Pearls Forest? This place looks like a formation."
Xie Shiyi said: "After you go in, hold my hand and don't let go."
"good."
Yan Qing didn't try to be stubborn even now. He held Xie Shiyi's hand and followed him inside.
These eyeballs hang quietly in the black woods, like a gaze of hatred and death.
Yan Qing grabbed Xie Shiyi's hand. Xie Shiyi was worried that his cultivation was not good enough and he would be infected by the surging blood energy here. However, Yan Qing had walked through the Cave of Ten Thousand Ghosts in the past, and he was least afraid of blood and corpses. He was so obedient now just to take advantage of Xie Shiyi.
When they were about to pass through the pupil forest, the black fog inside suddenly became thicker, and a strong fishy smell and malice filled the entire world.
Then, Yan Qing heard two footsteps.
The footsteps were hurried and chaotic, and it was obvious that the owner was extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pot. However, the owner was terrified and anxious, so he did not stop, holding his breath and trying to find a way out.
Yan Qing had good night vision and could see the two people in front of him clearly through the thick fog. They were Liu Yirui and Jin Ming. After these two came in together, one was a local of the Barrier City, and the other had been in the Barrier City for nearly ten years and had come here through various information and means.
Ever since Jin Ming entered the Barrier City, he has been plotting the affairs of the City Lord's Mansion.
As for Liu Yirui, she was originally a nightmare vessel cultivated by Zhancheng from generation to generation in the rain for two hundred years. The blood mist and poisonous smoke had no effect on her.
Both of them wanted to save someone, so they hit it off and decided to cooperate. They bypassed the front yard, walked around in circles, and were very careful all the way, but they still got lost in this forest of ten thousand pearl pupils.
Liu Yirui said, "The fog is getting thicker and thicker. We can't stay in here any longer."
Jin Ming frowned and said, "I know, but the map doesn't show a way out of here. The fog is too thick for us to walk."
Liu Yirui thought about it, gritted her teeth, bit her finger, and a large drop of blood flowed out from the fingertip. Her action scared Jin Ming, "Miss Liu, what are you doing?"
Before this collaboration, both of them knew each other's existence.
In Jin Ming's eyes, Liu Yirui is an alien and a lunatic.
In Liu Yirui's eyes, Jin Ming is an accomplice who helps the clan's mansion to commit atrocities.
Liu Yirui said: "My blood should be able to dispel the fog here."
Jin Ming was stunned: "Your blood?"
"Yes." Liu Yirui nodded. Ever since the last time they were in the dilapidated house at the foot of the mountain, Yan Qing had exposed all of her lies one by one, and she finally faced the truth that she had been avoiding.
Their ancestors had been drinking the water transformed from the corpse of the immortal, and the blood of every member of the Liu family had a certain effect in warding off evil spirits. They actually knew why they were not affected by the rain and why they remained awake.
They complained that it was painful to live soberly, but they still clung to the well as a lifeline. Thinking of this, Liu Yirui smiled sarcastically, laughing at her own hypocrisy.
She cut the wound a little and scattered the blood on the ground. The bloodstains emitted a faint glow along the way. Sure enough, the thick fog that made it impossible to see the road ahead was dispelled a lot in an instant.
When Jin Ming saw this, his pupils shrank: "Your blood actually has such power?"
Liu Yirui: "Yes, the Liu family is not contaminated by evil spirits, so I have always been an outlier in the Barrier City."
Jin Ming thought of what happened to her before and frowned in confusion: "Why? As a woman from the Barrier City, if you don't disobey the clan house, you won't have to suffer in this life."
Liu Yirui chuckled: "Isn't it painful to give birth to a child?"
Jin Ming was stunned for a moment, then said: "But giving birth to an immortal is worth the suffering. The barrier city is so deeply connected with the upper heaven, and every fetus born will be a genius in the future cultivation world. I think everyone in the city, whether male or female, is happy with it."
Liu Yirui shook her head again and glanced at Jin Ming. Looking at this ignorant outsider, she sighed, "You have been in the clan residence for ten years, why are you still so naive? The men and women in the city are not proud of giving birth to immortals, they just want holy water. They are poisoned and crazy, and only drinking holy water can bring temporary happiness." After that, Liu Yirui tilted her head and asked, "Mr. Jin, what kind of place is the Barrier City in your eyes?"
Jin Ming was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Miss Liu, what do you want me to say? Without the oppression of the Immortal Terrace, without the chaos of the demons, and without the government aiding and abetting the evil, I think that Barrier City is a very good city."
Liu Yirui: "The barrier city is indeed very good."
Two hundred years ago, it was a famous and prosperous city. Five great families took root here and gave birth to countless world-famous geniuses. But the most brilliant one was killed by their ancestors.
Liu Yirui pursed her lips and didn't want to criticize herself anymore.
What the Liu family did might seem treacherous and cowardly to others... But who in the world doesn't think they are a good person with a complex mind? She is no exception.
Liu Yirui: "You just mentioned the Immortal Terrace. I've never been out there, so I don't know what it's like out there. Can you tell me about it?"
Jin Ming said: "What do you want me to tell you?"
Liu Yirui said: "Tell me what happened in your hometown."
Jin Ming had a blank expression on his face. "There's nothing much to say. My sister and her maid went out to relax on the lake, but they were raped and tortured to death by the son of Prince Jing, and then their bodies were thrown into the lake. My parents went to seek justice for this matter, and they went into Prince Jing's mansion and never came out again. Later, my sister and I went to the government office and made a big fuss. We broke into the firewood room of Prince Jing's mansion and found a pot and scattered human bones next to it. They were eaten by that beast."
Jin Ming smiled coldly and said, "According to the previous rules, people who eat people are considered demons and will be killed without mercy. Prince Jing's son is a demon. Originally, this matter was reported directly to the Immortal Platform, and the immortals would kill him personally. But in the past hundred years, there is an additional procedure called the prison room. Prince Jing's son was first sent to the prison room, saying that there would be a special person to judge whether he was at fault or not, and then sent to the Immortal Platform after it was confirmed that he was at fault."
Jin Ming laughed angrily, his eyes were bloodshot, and his fingers were creaking. "They said that there is a new order from above. We can't just execute a demon once we find out he is a demon. To judge whether a demon should die or not, we have to count his crimes like we judge a person."
Jin Ming's eyes were red: "I found my sister's body at the bottom of the lake, and my parents' skeletons behind Prince Jing's mansion. Isn't this a capital crime?!"
"Prince Jing blamed everything on a servant and executed him in public as a blood debt. Later, when he saw that we were not giving in, he turned the tables and accused us of slandering others. My sister and I were unwilling to accept this, so we traveled thousands of miles to the imperial capital to seek help from the Immortal Terrace."
"It's funny to say that when we were on our way to seek help from the Immortal Terrace, that beast committed another crime. In front of the whole city, he bit the guard next to him. Everyone in the city saw that his eyes turned green. If he hadn't been stopped, he might have eaten the person in the street. But even with such irrefutable evidence, Prince Jing still had a reason—"
"Prince Jing said that he would discipline his child well in the future. Even if he is a demon, he has not harmed anyone yet, so he should not be denied a chance to reform."
Whenever Jin Ming talked about the past, he felt his blood burning and his whole body trembled.
"Why should I care?! What is there to care about? He raised a tiger to harm himself and forced the whole city to pay for it?! What's even funnier is that the Immortal Tower actually believed him. Seeing that we were not giving in, the Immortal Tower fabricated a crime and locked us up!"
Liu Yirui also remained silent, not knowing how to comfort Jin Ming.
Jin Ming clenched his teeth and did not talk about the days in prison when he was devastated and in despair.
"My sister was imprisoned in another place. I escaped. I fled to the Barrier City." Jin Ming said: "The Barrier City is the only city that the Immortal Platform dares not interfere with. I came here to seek help from the Heaven, asking them to give justice to my Jin family and the countless people who were harmed by the □□ Chamber."
Liu Yirui didn't say anything. It had been two hundred years since the demons had caused trouble in the barrier city.
She had heard a lot about demons, but they all came from the outside world. If a demon appeared in a village and it was not controlled, the whole village might be buried with it.
There are too many tragic cases involving demons in this world. Once a demon breaks out, it will become completely irrational, and there are countless examples of slaughtering entire families and eating one's parents.
Liu Yirui frowned and said, "If the son of Prince Jing is really a demon, shouldn't Prince Jing be afraid? He actually protects him."
Jin Ming sneered and said, "They all think that demons can change, so what are they afraid of? It's the same with the Immortal Terrace. In the past, demons were killed without mercy, but now they tell me that no one is born a demon."
Liu Yirui chose to remain silent in the face of his words full of hatred.
She had never experienced the blood feud that Jin Ming was experiencing now. In this strange place, Barrier City, she had also strangely enjoyed peace for more than ten years.
Jin Ming gnashed his teeth and said, "I don't know why the □□ Room is necessary at all. Do we really have to wait until the demons eat people and harm the entire city before we take action? Who will avenge those who died in vain?"
Liu Yirui asked, "So, Mr. Jin, what do you want the immortal from the upper heaven to do?"
Jin Ming's eyes were filled with deep hatred as he said, "I want the immortals in the upper heaven to kill Prince Jing's entire family and destroy the prison. All the demons in the world should die! The prison should not exist!"
Liu Yirui frowned. For some reason, she felt a strange discomfort in her heart. This discomfort did not come from her mind, but from her body. When she heard these words, she subconsciously wanted to refute.
Liu Yirui said, "But Mr. Jin, the real reason why your family is wronged is the Chu Empire and government, not the demons. Regardless of whether Prince Jing's son is a demon or not, he killed your sister and parents. The emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people and should be put to death. It was Prince Jing's Mansion who first framed someone to cover up the crime. You should hate the government, not just the demons."
Jin Ming's face twisted as he said, "My parents were killed by the demons, how can I hate the demons?"
Liu Yirui choked for a moment before saying, "That's not what I meant."
Jin Ming looked up at her and said, "I know what you mean. Miss Liu, when you have time, go outside the barrier city and you will know how disgusting the prison is."
"Almost every city has a so-called prison/confinement room, and every city has a demon species that is protected by the powerful. Every time they make a mistake and are put in the prison/confinement room for trial, there will be ten thousand reasons to make a big mistake a small one."
Jin Ming clenched his fingers tightly: "The demons who should be killed are not killed! My sister was imprisoned just because she was innocent and said she was a demon!"
Liu Yirui was stunned: "Your sister is a demon?"
Jin Ming shouted angrily: "No! My sister is not! My sister has been doing good deeds all her life and saved so many lives, how could she be a demon!"
Liu Yirui looked at him quietly, seeing the madness in his eyes, and suddenly fell silent.
Jin Ming said: "How could my sister be a demon? It is the Immortal Platform who is slandering us! They have long been colluding with the royal family, and they are lawless and confusing right and wrong!"
Liu Yirui lowered her head, took off her hairpin, cut a deep wound on her palm, and used her blood to dispel the fog in the deep green forest. She suddenly began to sympathize with Jin Ming, just like she sympathized with herself.
—If the Immortal Terrace wanted to imprison them, why would it come up with such a reason
Perhaps his sister would have to eat a living person in front of him before he would believe that she was a demon.
If Yan Qing and Xie Shiyi wanted to hide their aura, these two people would not be able to detect them.
After listening to the conversation between the two, Yan Qing suddenly felt a little strange.
He floated into this world as a soul from another world, but he never really experienced the cruelest demons in this world.
What about Xie Shiyi? Not to mention.
The four-year-old pretended to be friendly with a demon, but he directly cut the man's neck with a stone without any hesitation.
Later, when they grew up, all the demons they came into contact with were at the Mahayana stage. To Yan Qing, demons were no different from ordinary villains.
Now that he has come to the human world and heard about the tragic situation similar to Zhang Mushi's, the more Yan Qing understands, the more he feels that the matter of the demon species is not as simple as he thought... but it is also not as complicated as he thought.
Mortals have no power to fight against the evil thoughts of gods. If they are parasitized by nightmares, they will be corroded by the earth sooner or later, leaving only the shell of the body... It is destined to be a dead end of evil.
Thinking of this, Yan Qing suddenly smiled softly and said to Xie Shiyi: "Yaoyao, you know, when I first heard those rumors about you, I was very scared."
Xie Shiyi looked at him quietly.
Yan Qing: "I'm afraid that if you kill people like this, you will suffer backlash one day." However, the more he got to know Xie Shiyi now, the more he felt that Xie Shiyi was far more ruthless and sober than he thought.
Sure enough, the leader of the Immortal Alliance cannot be a bad guy, let alone a good guy.
Yan Qing: "I thought at that time, if one day you were attacked, I would take you to the Demon Realm."
Xie Shiyi's cold eyes were tinged with a smile, and he said, "The backlash you mentioned, do you mean that I am wanted by the righteous path?"
Yan Qing said: "Yes, what if one day they find out that you killed the wrong person? Or what if they find out that the demon species are not born as demons and can be saved? Then how many good people have you killed by mistake?"
Xie Shiyi said calmly: "Actually, I agree with the Qin family's theory: no one is born a demon."
Yan Qing: “Hmm?”
Xie Shiyi: "It's just that no one in the Upper Heaven is willing to admit that people who are parasitized by nightmares are already dead from birth, and they are not human if they survive."
Xie Shiyi tilted his head and said softly, "You? Aren't you very curious about how I kill demons?"
Yan Qing was stunned for a moment, then nodded belatedly: "Yes."
Xie Shiyi: "I am born with the ability to sense evil. Before the demon species awakens, the evil will be particularly strong."
Yan Qing raised his head in shock and looked at Xie Shiyi in disbelief.
But when you connect everything together, you find that the answer is so simple and clear.
Yes, Liuli Heart can clearly sense evil.
…The essence of nightmare is evil.
Yan Qing murmured: "Since you can see through people's evil at a glance, you should have killed all the demons in the world long ago."
Xie Shiyi said lightly: "If that happens, I will be the first one to be killed."
Yan Qing's eyes widened.
Xie Shiyi knew what he wanted to say and said calmly, "I am not now, but I may be in the future."
Yan Qing was stunned for a moment, and instantly thought of the matter of Mirror Ruyu.
What he could think of, Xie Shiyi must have thought of as well.
Twins. There is no nightmare in Jing Ruchen's sea of consciousness, but Jing Ruyu is a demon species - it can only be formed later.
Xie Shiyi said: "When one reaches the Spiritual Transformation Stage, every evil thought that arises in a person's mind can be transformed into a physical object."
Yan Qing was silent for a long time, then understood what he meant. Xie Shiyi was already a god after reaching the Spiritual Transformation Stage. He was like a god or Buddha from ten thousand years ago, who had a new "nightmare" in his sea of consciousness ten thousand years later.
Xie Shiyi said calmly: "Nightmare is like a beast raised in your body. Every evil thought that arises in your heart is the beast's nutrition. Over time, the beast will grow up one day. It will grow into a giant monster and entrenched in your body, becoming an existence that you can no longer ignore."
"Xu Ruqing told me that Nightmare is another you. It is the embodiment of all your desires. In a sense, it is the person you want to be but dare not be."
Yan Qing frowned and said, "Ridiculous."
Xie Shiyi smiled and said, "Yeah, that's ridiculous. I don't feel like there's another person inside of me yet, so my desire shouldn't be strong enough to become a nightmare."
Yan Qing said: "You? Do you have desires too?"
Xie Shiyi: "What is my desire? Don't you know?"
Yan Qing looked away. But then he thought about the fact that he was going to make Xie Shiyi his wife, so why was he so shy? So he swallowed his saliva and forced himself to look back. Yan Qing said slowly, "If you say so, then I may become a demon in the future."
Xie Shiyi said: "You? No."
Yan Qing laughed: "You? Trust me so much?"
Xie Shiyi hesitated for a while before saying, "No, it's you who have evil thoughts that I can't see."
Yan Qing: "Ah? I have great desire for you, how can I not see it? Maybe you have a lover's eye for beauty."
After he said this, he almost bit off his tongue. What did he mean by having a strong desire? It was over. In Xie Shiyi's eyes, he now looked like a lecher.
Xie Shiyi smiled when she heard that. She was as beautiful as ice and snow, but also as transparent and gentle as ice and snow.
"Maybe it's because you don't belong here. Your evil is not bound by the rules here."
Yan Qing did not take this to heart, and just regarded it as Xie Shiyi's compliment to him. After carefully sorting out Xie Shiyi's words, Yan Qing also understood the current situation.
Yan Qing added: "So, in fact, all the demons we see now are not human, but... gods."
The evil thoughts generated by a god are too huge to be scattered in the air, but even if one ten-thousandth of it enters the mother's body and parasitizes in the fetus, it is enough to completely corrode the child's soul. Xie Shiyi was right: from the moment the nightmare parasitized, the child was dead.
"For all mortal demons, the first evil they do is to eat humans. This is because the desire for food and drink is the most obvious and straightforward desire." Yan Qing said thoughtfully: "When people reach the Mahayana stage, they begin to have the ability to fight nightmares, and can even use them for their own benefit."
Xie Shiyi didn't say whether it was okay or not.
Yan Qing said: "Perhaps we cannot say that they use it for their own benefit, but they do not mind that nightmares occasionally take over their bodies and kill people. They also do not reject the idea that there is an ancient 'god' living in their bodies."
"After the demon god's soul was scattered, the nightmares of each god were torn into pieces, and their abilities were greatly reduced."
Yan Qing said: "Huai Mingzi's nightmare is his own. The Qin family collected it completely in Shifang City, and a hundred years later, they used Yin Wuwang to wake up the nightmare." Yan Qing suddenly had a guess that shocked himself, and said: "The nightmare is another self..."
"So? Huai Mingzi, that's not called resurrection."
"The Qin family used the women of the Barrier City to collect all the nightmares. If we classify them bit by bit and reassemble them to piece together a complete nightmare of a god, can we also use the same method to revive the god?"
After listening to Yan Qing's guess, Xie Shiyi smiled, his tone full of ridicule: "Qin Ziang couldn't think of this. He probably just wants to become a demon god."
After leaving the Ten Thousand Pearls Forest, Yan Qing and Xie Shiyi came to a new place. There was a reason why the City Lord's Mansion occupied one fifth of the Barrier City. They went through the levels one by one, and now they saw a temple.
A large temple, with a blue-grey roof covered with red tiles and bright yellow walls. Before entering, one could smell the sandalwood. Yan Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at the temple, thinking of the famous "Four Hundred and Eighty Temples".
Yan Qing said: "Shall we go in now?"
Xie Shiyi said: "You can't get in, wait a minute."
As for what Xie Shiyi was waiting for, Yan Qing quickly guessed it. It was waiting for the Seventh Eunuch to come out with the clean bottle.
It is far more reliable to take action against the Seventh Eunuch than to ask Bai Ziqian for help.
At first glance at the banquet, Yan Qing could probably tell that Bai Ziqian was now a puppet.
Puppets are not afraid of death. If they are forced into a corner, they will just kill themselves, so as to alert the enemy. But it is different for the Seventh Eunuch. He is a Mahayana cultivator, afraid of death, and treacherous. How can he be controlled by the Qin family
Bai Ziqian respectfully escorted the Seventh Eunuch out: "Goodbye, Eunuch."
The Seventh Eunuch swept his whisk and said, "City Lord Bai, the number of jars this time is a little small."
Bai Ziqian said, "Eunuch, this is already the fastest speed. Women in the city of Zhan have an average period of one every two months. If it happens more frequently, they will not live long."
The Seventh Eunuch did not take it seriously and said, "We are in urgent need of money in Zijinzhou now, so it doesn't matter if I don't live long."
Bai Ziqian was stunned for a moment, then after receiving his instructions, he said respectfully, "Okay, I'll ask the clan house to change the medicine to stabilize the pregnancy."
The Seventh Eunuch said again: "If there is any movement in the city, you have to urge the temple to do something."
Bai Ziqian wiped his sweat frequently: "Okay, okay."
After the Seventh Eunuch finished his training, he walked slowly towards the upper heaven. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped into the Ten Thousand Pearls Forest, he was tripped by something. He was in the Mahayana stage, and ordinary things could not touch him at all, but this thing was thin and cold, strangling his feet, and it actually lifted him up directly.
The Seventh Eunuch grabbed the whisk and was furious: "Who!"
Yan Qing pulled the soul thread in his hand. After a hundred years, he still felt goose bumps when he heard the voice of Seventh Eunuch again.
In the forest of ten thousand pearl pupils, thousands of red silk ribbons were hanging down, and the green forest was misty. Yan Qing, dressed in black, walked out of the deep forest, spread a branch with her fingers, with white skin and red lips, smiling like peach blossoms, and said, "Shh, it's me, don't be afraid."
The Seventh Eunuch was furious, clutching his whisk tightly, thinking of a thousand ways for that man to die. Suddenly hearing this voice, Yin Jie's eyes almost popped out. He was hanging upside down, and almost choked to death on his saliva.
Yan Qing waved his hand lazily, and instantly Seventh Eunuch fell from the tree with a thud.
The Seventh Eunuch was shocked and a little frightened at the same time. This was the fear that he had gotten used to after being with Yan Qing for a hundred years. But he was a coward, selfish and cunning, so fear and shock did not stop him from killing. He stood up and swung the whisk in his hand, wanting to try to kill Yan Qing first.
He is now at the Mahayana stage! And this little bastard Yan Qing looks...
Puff! Before the Seventh Eunuch's whisk touched Yan Qing, he was hit on the forehead by a cold sword intent. In an instant, his face turned blue and cold, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood.
He crawled on the ground and saw the person next to Yan Qing clearly. The snow-white clothes and jade crown were spotless.
"..." The Seventh Eunuch originally vomited blood due to being beaten, and now he was so angry that he vomited blood again.
This pair of gay men again!
Yan Qing said disdainfully: "You are so enthusiastic, it seems like we have a very good relationship before. But we have been master and servant for a hundred years, so there must be some friendship. Seventh Eunuch, how about we discuss something?"
The Seventh Eunuch has always been flexible. As long as he survives, there is nothing he can't do. A tear came out of his eyes, he sniffed, and suddenly swung his whisk on the ground, moved his body and pounced on Yan Qing's robe. With a shrill voice, like a loyal servant who has been looking for his master for a hundred years, he said sadly: "Young City Lord, I have been looking for you for a long time!"
"You don't even know how I've lived these past hundred years!"
Yan Qing thought, with our plastic master-servant relationship, you have no idea how happy you have been without me for the past hundred years.