The two barely set foot on the Grand Elder’s pavilion which was connected to the secret chamber, when the Grand Elder noticed that her Soul Devouring Bell was gone.
She raised her hand to summon it, but the bell didn’t automatically come to her as it always would in the past, instead, it was unresponsive. She was stumped. She nicked her finger to draw blood and was about to try again when she suddenly sensed the sound of whistling behind her.
She was originally already severely weakened, and just now she had also gone on a crazed tirade, she was but holding on through sheer willpower. And now, suddenly being faced with the Second Elder’s ambush, she in fact didn’t manage to dodge and was instead struck so harshly that half her bones broke and shattered. It was clear the Second Elder truly meant to put her to death.
“The Second Elder is worthy of being the Second Elder, you really weren’t the slightest bit lenient, ahaha.” A person walked out from behind a nearby screen, it was a darkly faced Twelfth Elder, who was still grasping the Grand Elder’s Soul Devouring Bell in his hand. The Soul Devouring Bell which usually looked like a spiritual artifact at a first glance was currently covered in black ooze, lacking any trace of its usual luster, it looked like it had been eroded by devil qi.
“You actually dare join forces with this worthless trash and betray me!” Seeing the speaking Twelfth Elder, the Grand Elder disbelievingly looked at the Second Elder, who usually treated her with so much adoration and respect, only to see this man, who had never shown any disrespect to her since his birth and only expressed love and admiration to her, wordlessly strike her again. This time, he dug out her demonic core.
It was when he held the Grand Elder’s demonic core in his hand and watched her tremble like an old hag on the verge of death, that the Second Elder then laughed, “Mother has been sitting on the position of the Grand Elder perhaps for too long now, and besides, how could this son be willing to forever remain a dog?”
“Haha~ You two dare betray me, even if I die, I won’t make things easy for you!” The Grand Elder’s eyes were filled with madness. After she finished, her demonic spirit left her body and lunged towards the Soul Devouring Bell held in the Twelfth Elder’s hand. In a flash, the black ooze was expelled from the Soul Devouring Bell and it regained its shine, and at the same time, the rich and piercing sound of a bell began to ring.
The Second Elder’s and the Twelfth Elder’s faces changed at the same time. They unanimously directed all their spiritual qi to defend against it. After three breaths, the Soul Devouring Bell fell into fragmented pieces, and the Twelfth Elder, who had been nearest to the bell, lost all signs of life and fell to the ground with a thump.
The Second Elder wasn’t dead, but he also suffered extremely grave internal injuries. He barely managed to get up as his thumb ring cracked and shattered.
He had long since thought of betraying the Grand Elder and made many preparations in order to deal with her Soul Devouring Bell. This thumb ring was the most powerful defense against the bell that he could find, but he didn’t dare try out its use easily either. Until today, when the Twelfth Elder suddenly came knocking, bringing with him another person. That person said he could temporarily restrict the Soul Devouring Bell; only then did he agree to cooperate with the Twelfth Elder and give up on the plan that should’ve been carried out tomorrow.
Now, although he killed the Grand Elder, the Soul Devouring Bell he had long coveted had also completely shattered. The Second Elder’s heart ached painfully for it, but then he remembered that he still had that medicinal ingredient, Tianfeng Jinyu, and then felt the slightest bit better about it.
But then, he suddenly felt something was off. His expression changed and he quickly returned to the secret chamber. But Tianfeng Jinyu, who should’ve been lying on the ground, had disappeared.
The Second Elder recalled that devil who was brought by the Twelfth Elder. He originally planned to control that devil after using him to kill the Grand Elder, but now, that devil hadn’t followed behind the Twelfth Elder, and Tianfeng Jinyu was gone. He finally realized that the devil seemed to be the half-demon that was always by Tianfeng Jinyu’s side and pampered very much, Fu Wang.
He would never pay needless attention to such a minor person, but now that he had a vague guess, his face darkened instantly.
No matter what, he cannot allow those two to escape.
The Second Elder instantly sent out a transmission talisman which ordered Tianfeng Linlang to lead a group and chase after those two who should still be within the Tianfeng Manor. Then he sent out many more talismans in succession, requesting all the elders to band together and subdue the devil who “killed the Grand Elder and the Twelfth Elder”.
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At this moment, Shu Yu was being carried in Fu Wang’s arms and rapidly sweeping through the halls and rooms of the Tianfeng Manor.
Fu Wang didn’t even have time to check on Shu Yu’s condition. He only held her tightly as they avoided the hasty groups of slaves and servants. He had to take Shu Yu out of here as soon as possible. The Second Elder would react soon enough, and by then even if they left Tianfeng Manor they wouldn’t be able to escape too far.
As he had predicted, the situation was unfavorable for them, starting first with Tianfeng Linlang leading people after them. Fu Wang didn’t have luxury of holding back as an overwhelming mass of devil qi reached for the skies and churned over the ground, turning the areas he traversed into a bloody landscape. However, there was no small amount of high-rank demonkin within Tianfeng Manor, their resistance to devil qi was slightly better and, even if they were leery of its corruption, they poured in one after another with the intent to kill Fu Wang.
Seeing that the number of people wasn’t decreasing but instead increasing, Shu Yu, who was slumped in Fu Wang’s embrace, endured her pain, and grabbed the lapel of his robes. She said, “Put me down.”
Fu Wang’s heart throbbed painfully. Did Shu Yu realize he was a Devil and became afraid of him like those people? Even if she was afraid, he will never let go of her! As Fu Wang was thinking this, the killing intent on his features intensified, all the demons near them became entangled in his devil qi and had their flesh and blood cleanly stripped away and devoured, leaving behind only horrifying strips of skin stained with blood.
Shu Yu felt Fu Wang’s hold getting tighter but also becoming more strained. She saw with her own eyes the numerous wounds he bore on his own, and she became more desperate. She said again, “Put me down, I’ll join you, I still have strength.”
Fu Wang then realized that he had thought mistakenly just now, but he was still slightly hesitant. Shu Yu simply pushed him away, then took out a sword and, with a backhanded motion, pierced through the throat of a demonkin.
——This was her first time killing someone after arriving in this world. Before, she only acted with the intention to injure, not to kill, but she had now broken her self-imposed rule.
Right now, she didn’t have the time to think about what was happening, or why Fu Wang was covered completely in the aura of a Devil, she currently had one thought in her head: There was most likely no hope for her, but if anything else, Fu Wang had to escape.
Shu Yu’s eyes were firm. Even though she was wounded and there was a silver nail in her heart, she didn’t stay her hand nor stopped killing.
Fu Wang’s eyes were full of shock as he looked at her actions. He knew, Shu Yu did not like killing others, that’s why even if he killed people he rarely did so in front of Shu Yu, but now, she has broken that rule.
The two of them fought and fled, making a huge ruckus with their battles. They managed to get out of Tianfeng Manor with great difficulty, shaking off the pursuit of the persistent demons of Tianfeng Manor, but then the even more threatening and formidable Elders came chasing after them. Not only that, but the other four clans noticed Fu Wang who was reeking of devil qi and started attacking the two of them as well.
Both Fu Wang and Shu Yu didn’t have a single moment to take a breather. Fu Wang had consumed an unknown number of demons, the bloodlust permeating his body was sky-high, and Shu Yu was beginning to get dizzy, her strength was also diminishing little by little. The silver nail that was stabbed into her heart by the Grand Elder felt ice-cold, it had been melded firmly to her heart from the instant it was stabbed into her and was impossible to remove it.
The sword in Shu Yu’s hands reached its limit and snapped, so she arbitrarily buried her broken sword into the chest of a demon and then vivid red flames came to life in her hands. The crimson flame that alit in the midst a torrent of black miasma swallowed every demonkin it touched in its embers, and in just a moment, they became nothing but black ashes.
But in the end, they were naught but two people. And the ones chasing after them were endless demonkin who wanted to take their lives.
Shu Yu started to get sluggish. She stumbled, and a slash dug into her shoulder. Fu Wang hauled her into his arms and ignored the attacks behind him, only wordlessly endured, and then he rapidly made way in a certain direction.
He knew very clearly, if this continued, neither him nor Shu Yu would be able to hold on.
That’s why he decided to head towards the Abyss of Buried Gods.
The Abyss of Buried Gods, as its name implied, was the abandoned remains of the war between Gods and Devils, which buried countless corpses of Gods and Devils within. It was overflowing with grudges and countless unknown dangers, none of the demons who accidentally entered ever made it out alive.
And the Abyss, as the yawning trench that separated the demonic realm Mengze and the outside world, contained countless seals and restrictions. Even accidentally stumbling upon one of those seals was enough to kill any powerful demonkin. This is why, all these years, there were none who dared voluntarily venture within.
At this moment, Fu Wang was prepared to venture inside to escape the pursuit of their hunters. The closest thing they had now that could stop their pursuers was only the Abyss of Buried Gods. As for what dangers awaited inside, if they could get a moment for respite, then he can figure out some way to get out.
Some ways off before reaching the Abyss, Fu Wang started struggling. That large group of powerful Elders were closely dogging their tails. He had to take the brunt of some attacks from them, and if it wasn’t for the non-stop devouring of demonkin on their path, he would’ve been unable to keep this up long ago. Seeing the Abyss of Buried Gods within distance, and how Shu Yu looked very in pain in his arms while clutching his lapel, Fu Wang gritted his teeth and forcefully shook off his pursuers, then plunged headfirst into the Abyss while clutching Shu Yu.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered the Abyss of Buried Gods, those demonkin stopped following them. With a stumble, Fu Wang fell midair and crashed onto a gray rocky area within the Abyss. He hastily loosened his hold on Shu Yu, only to find that she was terribly weak and that her face was stained with tears.
After the recent slaughter they went through, Fu Wang’s entire person was reeking with an undisguised stench of malevolence. But as he brushed away the wetness on Shu Yu’s face, he forced himself to show the same gentle smile he usually showed her. “Xiao-Yu? What’s wrong? Where does it hurt? Don’t be afraid, I will heal your wounds soon, we will definitely get out. After we wait for a while, we…”
Fu Wang didn’t get to finish when Shu Yu interrupted him, her voice wobbling with tears as she murmured, “Fu Wang, the stardew blossoms I planted in our yard still haven’t bloomed.”
“Why are you suddenly bringing it up? It’s okay, afterwards we can plant more wherever Xiao-Yu wishes to plant them, as many as you want.”
Shu Yu sobbed as she pulled his hand and placed it over her heart. Her breath hitched and stuttered as she said, “That Grand Elder, she nailed a silver nail inside. She said, it was a Soul Devouring Nail. I can’t take it out.”
Soul Devouring Nail?
Fu Wang’s face was blank for a split second, then, he violently jerked open Shu Yu’s clothes, and sure enough, he saw a wound that had already closed on the place where Shu Yu’s heart was, vaguely revealing a hint of silver inside.
His expression was livid as his hand tried to extract the Soul Devouring Nail, but just as he grazed it he was violently repelled, and at the same time Shu Yu let out a cry of agony as her entire body seized up.
Fu Wang hastily hugged her. She looked weaker than she was moments ago, she couldn’t even say a word now.
Fu Wang had never felt so terrified in his life.
His hands shook as he dumped everything from his dimensional bag on the ground. “Xiao-Yu, hang for a bit more, I will save you, I will find a way to save you.”
The Soul Devouring Nail was a spiritual artifact that specialized in targeting the soul, and he didn’t have anything in his possession that could curb or destroy such a spiritual artifact. The pile of things in front of him were violently whipped away by Fu Wang, becoming a mess on the floor.
He didn’t have anything. Was it because he knew too little? Was that the reason why he couldn’t find a way to save Shu Yu at a time like this?
Fu Wang seemed like a cornered beast, his usual calmness and cool had all but evaporated into thin air. And coupled with the wounds on him, he looked miserable, ferocious, and vengeful.
Shu Yu has never seen Fu Wang look so murderous and terrifying, but she didn’t feel afraid at all. She made to reach for him with great difficulty, and her hand was immediately grasped by Fu Wang.
He held her as if she were fragile foam.
“I’m scared… I’m so scared… Fu Wang… I’ve always been… very scared…” Scared of this foreign world, scared that he would like her, scared he wouldn’t like her, scared she wasn’t trying hard enough, scared she could never return to her world, scared—— of leaving him.
There were so many things that scared her, but she was already trying so hard and so earnestly to live.
“Don’t be scared, I will save you.”
“Xiao-Yu…”
The red pouch on Fu Wang which contained a seal suddenly burst into flames. The person in his embrace ceased making any sounds, and even her breath completely and utterly disappeared.
Fu Wang didn’t react. His face pressed against Shu Yu’s tear-stained cheeks, still saying, “Don’t be scared, Xiao-Yu, don’t be scared, I’m here.”
His voice became lower and lower, so low it was near inaudible, until it completely quieted down. After a long while he raised his head and stared at the corpse in his arms. He murmured softly, “If you died, I could still look for your soul, I could still look for your reincarnation. But if even your spirit has dispersed, where should I go look for you, Xiao-Yu?”
The person in his arms didn’t respond.
The Abyss of Buried Gods did not contain terrifying dangers as foretold in the tales passed down generations of the demon race. It was merely very quiet, so quiet it seemed like a grave; there was not even the sound of a breeze.
“Since it’s like this, since it’s like this… I should’ve done this a long time ago, then you would not have left me so easily!”
A chilling and crazed laughter echoed through the vastness of the Abyss. That laughter was steeped in pathos of despair and anguish, as well as immeasurable hatred.
There was a faint light that shone on some rocky surface, reflecting two shadows on the wall, hugging each other.
——It was the shadow of an abomination, ravenously devouring another body.
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The demons of Mengze will never forget that day.
The long since extinct race of Devils reappeared in the world without warning. He invaded the Fox Clan, killed the Grand Elder and the Twelfth Elder and gravely injured the Second Elder, and proceeded to slaughter an innumerable amount of fox demons. As the five demon clans hunted and tried to kill that Devil, they were being murdered and devoured on the same page.
This was merely the beginning of a catastrophe—— The Devil was pursued by the demonkin and forced into the Abyss, and inadvertently found an area steeped in the residuals of divinity and corruption left by the fall of previous Gods and Devils. He consumed that endless ocean of devil qi and, at once, became an extremely terrifying Devil Lord.
He destroyed each and every seal within the Abyss, and approximately eighty-one days after, he completely obliterated the Abyss of Buried Gods.
The Devil that emerged from Abyss brought with him a miasma of corruption that darkened the skies. He turned the territory of the Fox Clan into a bloody purgatory, any demonkin that tried to stop him merely became his nourishment. The originally abundant number of members in the Fox Clan, after being gorged on by the Devil Lord, became basically extinct. The prosperous city where the Tianfeng Manor was located turned into a barren wasteland, where no living beings could survive in a thousand mile radius. The heavy scent of death couldn’t dissipate even after decades had passed.
The other four clans didn’t fare any better than the Fox Clan. The Tigers also suffered heavy tolls of death and casualties. Later on, countless half-demons and hybrids began joining the Devil Lord. One of the branches of the Spirit Clan, unexpectedly, became one of the commanding forces under the Devil Lord as well.
Thus, the demon race welcomed a long era of chaos and war.
And due to the destruction of the Abyss of Buried Gods, the demonic realm of Mengze and the human realm’s continents began to merge. Countless demons that feared his Lordship the Devil continuously fled to human land, so at the same time, the lands of the human realm were no longer peaceful.
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Mengze Arc, End.
Next, the Human Realm Arc.
Chapter Description: Addressing the conflict and blackening in a single chapter.
Translator’s Notes:
I love the kinda characterization the Grand Elder has, though not in a “I love her way”. I find her unpleasant. I just find it fascinating how the Author extracted many yandere traits and tragic plot devices and put them into this character, and her tragedy and one-sided love should’ve made her pitiful, but she’s not. She’s a downright horrible scumbag and her obsession is selfish and destructive. Part of the reason the Fox Clan is such a cesspool of incest, manipulation, greed, lust, and so on is because she as the Head encourages it and probably even set it up (lmao she fucks her own descendants, so she FAILS as a yandere, what the hell…) The author never backs away from pointing out she’s an outright scumbag.
Kinda shows that though you can paint this character in a pitiful light and they have their grievances, you gotta take a clear look and realize that an asshole is still an asshole.
A pity the author didn’t expand on the story of the Grand Elder and Cang Xiao, but I have a feeling it will only give me aneurism because the Grand Elder won and Cang Xiao wanted to die with his love interest but is left as a ghost/husk of himself. He probably didn’t get a happy ending either, since it seemed Fu Wang has gone off the deep end.
Anyways, Happy Christmas!
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