novelraw Chapter 254 : A Party of Three
Chapter 254 : A Party of Three
The action was swift.
Concealed by the night and deep forest, the smell of blood had not yet dispersed. The demons outside likely hadn't discovered they had silently lost two of their great generals. Chu Sang waved her hand, scattering a powder. The bodies of the two demon cultivators instantly dissolved without a trace, cleaned up thoroughly, leaving not even a hint of evidence.
Murder and arson, courtesy of Sixth Senior Brother's products. All who've used them praise their effectiveness.
The forest behind rustled slightly again. Chu Sang quickly looked back, her fingers instinctively resting on the sword hilt at her waist, thinking some demon cultivators might have secretly followed.
Mo Baizhou gave her a calming look, speaking softly first,
"Come out. There are no outsiders here."
The hidden person clearly hesitated for a moment before complying and walking out.
Fully wrapped up, with a more robust and sturdy figure than ordinary female demons, she performed a demon-specific gesture of courtesy. Looking somewhat warily at the unfamiliar Chu Sang, she spoke to Mo Baizhou, "Can this person be trusted?"
"She's my Little Junior Sister. There's nothing to hide."
After speaking, Mo Baizhou lowered his gaze to Chu Sang beside him, lowering his voice, "This is Cen Dan, a former subordinate of the old Demon Sovereign. After accidentally learning of my identity, she and a few demon cultivators found me to pledge their loyalty... I know what you're worried about, but rest assured, they are all trustworthy."
Fourth Senior Brother was nominally the only descendant left by the old Demon Sovereign, but truthfully, he had no power or influence. Even if some demons pretended to submit, wanting to use him for something, they wouldn't gain much benefit from him.
The only thing Mo Baizhou could really claim was probably just his identity as the orphan of the old Demon Sovereign.
Chu Sang nodded, not saying anything more.
Cen Dan handed over a rolled-up map with both hands. When opened, it showed the current troop distribution across the entire demon realm.
A particular area in the southeast was specially marked, with an unusually strong troop deployment, suggesting something major had occurred.
Chu Sang thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that the Divine Decree descended in this location?"
Cen Dan nodded, her voice carrying the characteristic mature coldness of a general, "Half a month ago, for unknown reasons, the Divine Decree descended within the demon realm's borders. The newly appointed Demon Sovereign immediately sent people there. However, he didn't conceal the news at the time, and soon this information became known to the other major demon lords. The other demon lords naturally didn't miss this opportunity, bribing the Demon Sovereign's subordinate demon cultivators to fish in troubled waters, attempting to claim the Divine Decree for themselves."
"Currently, those demon lords have joined forces, controlling the area where the Divine Decree is located, and have ambushed a large number of demon soldiers and generals. They clearly view the Divine Decree as theirs for the taking..."
Chu Sang rubbed her chin, "It seems obtaining the Divine Decree won't be an easy task."
Mo Baizhou, "Mm, time is of the essence. We should go now."
"Let's wait for one more person."
"That Yan Wangxing?" Mo Baizhou frowned, worried, "Little Junior Sister, I understand your intention. The major demon lords are at odds with him, and as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I understand the logic, but cooperating with him isn't rational. Although this person can't be called extremely evil, he's both righteous and wicked, with a changeable nature. As long as he prioritizes his own interests, he's very likely to betray us halfway..."
Chu Sang wasn't particularly worried about this.
Not to be immodest, but her speed in discarding allies after using them would definitely be faster than his bridge-burning.
You Liu's strength was ultimately a notch below Yan Wangxing's. After being severely injured, he found an opportunity to escape. Yan Wangxing chased for a long while without catching up, so he came back to find Chu Sang. From afar, he saw her standing with another tall, slender man in black, the two seemingly discussing something.
He narrowed his eyes, somewhat wary, "When did you find another person? Who is he? How... does he look somewhat familiar?"
Yan Wangxing belatedly realized he had seen Mo Baizhou before. Wasn't he the rumored only son left behind by the old Demon Sovereign?
He immediately looked at the black long sword in Mo Baizhou's hand. The dense, powerful demonic energy made even him feel indescribably wary, a fear emanating from his very bones...
This sword was indeed the ancient demon sword passed down through generations of Demon Sovereigns.
He didn't have the ability to reclaim it back then, yet it fell into Mo Baizhou's hands.
Yan Wangxing had never feared those demon lords, because he simply didn't take them seriously. But Mo Baizhou was different. If Mo Baizhou chose to compete with him for power and position, it was truly uncertain who would win or lose...
Mo Baizhou pretended not to notice Yan Wangxing's measuring, wary gaze. After all, he had no interest in the Demon Sovereign position. If not for the mission, he wouldn't even bother setting foot in this place.
"Good, everyone's here. We should set out."
Chu Sang clapped her hands, her tone not showing any urgency of being in crisis, even carrying some cheerfulness, invisibly easing the strange, tense atmosphere between the three.
The three walked side by side, with Chu Sang in the middle, holding the map and leading the way. Mo Baizhou was still uneasy. As they walked, he forcibly squeezed between Chu Sang and Yan Wangxing, forcefully excluding Yan Wangxing, to prevent this cunning demon from trying to strike from behind.
In an angle Chu Sang didn't notice, the two men silently exchanged glances before looking away.
Their attitudes were far from friendly, even to the point of being at daggers drawn,
Both silently conveying a message to the other: You'd better not have any other thoughts.
Just as the three walked out of this forest, they saw bonfires and pursuers surrounding them outside. These demon soldiers and generals weren't high-level, and the three of them could handle them easily, but it was best not to act rashly at the moment. It might be the enemy's plan to lure them in deeper.
Chu Sang found an opportunity to catch a lone soldier for questioning.
After You Liu's failed coup, he openly spread news claiming to have successfully killed the Demon Sovereign, while secretly dispatching a large number of demon soldiers and generals to search and pursue.
Given Yan Wangxing's temperament, he definitely wouldn't be able to endure such an insult. If he automatically delivered himself to their doorstep, he would fall into their trap.
Chu Sang reached out to pull back the momentarily impulsive Yan Wangxing, earnestly advising, "Fellow Daoist, although I often praise your stupidity, you can't actually be this stupid. Walking right into a trap to die... If you really want to attend this banquet of death, you'll undoubtedly have a prominent place in the demon realm's history books. I've even thought of a title for you, it's called..."
To prevent her from saying something else infuriatingly tactless, Yan Wangxing's lips twitched as he quickly covered her sweet-talking little mouth.
Mo Baizhou then pushed him away, half-drawing his sword, protective, "Don't get handsy!"
"Damn it, didn't you see your Little Junior Sister was already launching a mental assault on me?"
"My Little Junior Sister is a good person. Don't slander her."
"..."
Fine, fine, fine, so you're ganging up on the outsider, huh? Yan Wangxing was speechless. He admitted defeat, okay?
"In any case, we need to obtain the Divine Decree first. It's the key to everything."
Chu Sang opened the map. Yan Wangxing looked at it and said, "That place is our demon race's altar. The information I received earlier was that the Divine Decree appeared at the altar."
"According to the map's markings, the major demon lords have gathered there. The altar is heavily guarded inside and out. There are at least a hundred thousand demon soldiers and generals, most of them at Nascent Soul stage or above, and even quite a few at Divine Transformation stage. It's almost as if all the top forces of the entire demon realm have gathered there."
This Demon Sovereign Yan Wangxing seemed quite incompetent. His subordinates were almost all poached, and he didn't notice at all?
Sensing the two's disdainful gazes, Yan Wangxing cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably, trying to appear composed, "They're just a bunch of useless weaklings. What does it matter how many there are? I alone can handle them. It will let my demon blade drink its fill!"
"Forcibly breaking in will inevitably lead to a chaotic battle." Add to that the power of the Divine Decree, and if something unexpected happened like in the beast realm, it could very possibly lead to total annihilation.
With the lesson from last time, Chu Sang planned to be more cautious this time. After all, if something went wrong again, she wouldn't have the lightning tribulation to give her an advantage.
The demon lords were much smarter than Yan Wangxing. They must have anticipated this and set up who knows what sinister plots waiting for them... The group of demon cultivators outside were conducting a carpet search, quickly closing in on their direction. To be safe, Chu Sang decided to disguise their identities first and see if they could sneak in secretly.
She was quite confident in her ability to fish in troubled waters.
Under the puzzled gazes of the two, Chu Sang took out a round ball about half the size of a palm from her storage ring. This was an illusion ball that she had asked Second Senior Sister to help refine earlier.
The method of using this illusion ball was more convenient than the thousand-face human skin mask, with a stronger disguise effect that could be used for a long time without worrying about issues like rotting skin. It could be said to be an essential tool for going down the mountain to deceive people and take advantage of chaos.
With a "bang!" smoke dispersed from the ball. When it cleared, she had changed her attire. A black and red gauze dress, with half her face covered by black gauze, was a very common outfit for demon women walking on the street, almost guaranteed not to arouse suspicion from demon cultivators.
The only drawback was that the aesthetic sense of clothing on the demon side was really not praiseworthy. Even the most conservative outfit still went for a sexy, fiery style.
Yan Wangxing's gaze couldn't help but linger for a moment, somewhat dazed.
He hadn't expected her to look so good when properly dressed up?
He hadn't noticed before how pretty she was. Unlike Qin Xixue's pure and gentle appearance that was more favored in the cultivation world, if one didn't know in advance that Chu Sang was a cultivator, judging by her increasingly beautiful and cold appearance with strong appeal as she grew up, as well as her shameless behavior on usual days, she looked more like someone from their demon race, very much to his taste.
However, remembering this woman's usual behavior, Yan Wangxing had long become immune to beauty after being tricked so many times. Beauty was useless if you didn't have the life to enjoy it. In any case, he couldn't imagine which man would be so unfortunate as to be with her.
"Keep staring, and I'll gouge out your eyes."
Mo Baizhou angrily kicked him, saying expressionlessly.
Such a dog's gaze, daring to take advantage of his Little Junior Sister!
"Are you sick? This Emperor has seen all kinds of women. Why would I need to look at her!"
"Fourth Senior Brother, this is where you're wrong. How can you falsely accuse someone? Haven't you heard the street rumors during your long stay in the demon realm? This new Demon Emperor isn't interested in women..."
Chu Sang righteously declared, "He likes men, didn't you know?"
"..."