Chapter 102: The Rescue
They continued their journey upstream. As Bai Jingxue had suspected, every section of the Black River had groups of mortals being drawn to its waters. She had become so efficient at this task that she no longer had to enter the river. She simply located the statue and pulled it out.
She retrieved another statue, its goddess cradling a bouquet of flowers, and stared at it, her silence heavy.
Lü Qingyan, with her cheerful personality, and Fu Yuan, with her gentle nature, were well-suited for comforting the rescued mortals.
They couldn’t possibly take all these people with them. The Demon Realm was dangerous, and these mortals, their cultivation levels low, needed protection.
Fu Yuan was bandaging a woman’s blistered feet.
Many of the victims had traveled a long distance on foot, their shoes worn through, but they had been under the statue’s control, their minds blank, their bodies driven by an irresistible force. They had continued walking even after their feet had started bleeding.
The slight sting of the antiseptic made the woman’s brow furrow. She moaned, her eyes fluttering open.
“You’re awake,” Fu Yuan said, her voice gentle.
She quickly finished bandaging the woman’s feet, then crouched beside her, her smile warm. “How are you feeling?”
The woman, disoriented, then embarrassed by her own confusion, looked away, shaking her head. She then realized she was lying on the ground and tried to sit up.
But her long journey had weakened her. If it hadn’t been for the statue’s life-sustaining energy, she would have starved to death along the way.
A hand gently supported her back, helping her lean against a tree trunk. She took a few deep breaths, her mind slowly clearing.
Seeing that the person helping her was the kind cultivator, she thanked her, her voice weak. “Thank you, Immortal,” she said. “May I know your name?”
Fu Yuan, rarely encountering a victim who was this lucid, decided to postpone tending to the other injured mortals. She gently removed a leaf that had stuck to the woman’s hair, her voice still gentle. “I’m Fu Yuan, an inner disciple of the Ejian Sect,” she said. “What happened? Why did you come here?”
The woman was surprised. This kind and gentle cultivator was from the Ejian Sect? They weren’t supposed to be this approachable.
She coughed, her expression troubled.
She gathered her thoughts, then spoke, her voice soft. “It was a dream,” she said. “Someone told me that destiny had shifted, that if I followed her instructions, my wish would be granted.”
This was their first real lead. Fu Yuan, her voice eager, asked, “What instructions? Do you remember what this person looked like?”
The woman nodded, then hesitated, her brow furrowing, her voice filled with regret. “I don’t remember,” she said. “But she was tall, like a mountain. I couldn’t see her face. She was holding a bouquet of flowers.”
Bai Jingxue, who had been listening, grabbed Lü Qingyan’s hand, pulling her away from the others.
Seeing Bai Jingxue’s serious expression, Lü Qingyan’s heart pounded. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice anxious.
Bai Jingxue retrieved the statues from her spatial ring. They floated between them, bobbing gently in the breeze.
She stared at the statues, their goddesses cradling bouquets of flowers, her voice grim. “I think Er Ya is back,” she said.
Lü Qingyan couldn’t believe her ears. She knew Er Ya was an evil god, but she had never seen her divine form. Now, hearing Bai Jingxue’s words, she understood.
There were five statues, their appearances identical.
She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or sad. She was glad Er Ya was back, but it seemed her divine influence was still affecting the world.
Or perhaps it wasn’t Er Ya who had returned, but the evil god.
Their initial mission had been to investigate the disappearances along the Black River, but they had stumbled upon something far more sinister. Or perhaps the two were connected.
Bai Jingxue stored the statues away, then sighed. Her bad luck hadn’t vanished. She always seemed to encounter problems she couldn’t handle.
She had stumbled into a secret realm and had witnessed the death of a god. Now, she had accepted a simple mission, only to find herself entangled in another divine matter.
Weren’t these the kind of things that only happened to protagonists? She should probably consult Luo Nianshang.
But complaining wouldn’t solve anything. She retrieved the bell, sending a message to Luo Nianshang.
Luo Nianshang, having descended the mountain with Cai Lian, had transformed, hoping to entertain the child with the sights and sounds of the mortal realm.
She had just bought Cai Lian a rice cake, carefully breaking it into smaller pieces, when she received Bai Jingxue’s message.
Cai Lian, however, unlike her previous self, pushed the rice cake away, her expression filled with disdain, then she closed her eyes, refusing to speak.
Luo Nianshang, staring at the rejected rice cake, her heart sinking, felt a cold sweat forming on her brow.
What had she done wrong? She had only neglected Cai Lian for a few days. Could a few days truly change someone so drastically?
Lost in her thoughts, she heard Bai Jingxue’s voice in her mind.
After listening to Bai Jingxue’s report, she remained calm, her voice even. “It’s alright,” she said. “Continue your investigation.”
The Ejian Sect had many talented disciples. She didn’t have to handle everything personally.
She noticed a toy stall and, carrying Cai Lian, she walked over, picking up a small pinwheel. “Do you like this?” she asked.
Cai Lian glanced at the pinwheel, its craftsmanship shoddy, its design unappealing, then closed her eyes again, her disdain evident.
Luo Nianshang tried several other toys: a cloth tiger, a small doll, but Cai Lian remained unimpressed.
Her attempt at bribery had failed. She sighed, then continued walking, her voice gentle. “If you see anything you like, tell me.”
Cai Lian reluctantly opened her eyes. Her behavior had been terrible, earning her a mental scolding from her original self.
But she wasn’t going to give up. She had been unable to speak for days. She was feeling rebellious.
She knew how to manipulate her original self. She had a brilliant idea.
She smiled, her voice sweet. “I want to go there,” she said, pointing towards a particular street.
Luo Nianshang, hearing her sweet voice, couldn’t refuse. She started walking, then she paused, realizing something was wrong. She expanded her divine sense, and her face hardened. That entire street was filled with brothels.
She couldn’t expose Cai Lian to such things. She turned around, her voice stiff. “That place isn’t fun,” she said. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
The Demon Lord, who had been secretly observing them, her anger boiling over, mentally cursed Cai Lian.
But the more she cursed, the more determined Cai Lian became. She intensified her efforts, her voice a whiny plea, her eyes filling with tears.
Luo Nianshang panicked. She decided she would simply cast a concealment spell, hiding the true nature of that street from Cai Lian. She relented, walking towards the brothels.
Seeing that Cai Lian’s plan had worked, the Demon Lord nearly lost control, her demonic aura threatening to erupt.
She took a shortcut, arriving at the largest brothel. She leaped onto the roof, then slipped through an open window.
A beautiful woman sat in the room, her arms wrapped around a pipa, her tears flowing freely. The Demon Lord swiftly knocked her unconscious, then hid her under the bed.
Then, worried that someone might find her, she carried the unconscious woman to a different location. She wouldn’t harm her. She would simply wait for her to wake up.
She then returned to the room, settling onto the bed, the pipa in her arms.
But she had chosen a terrible disguise. She had barely sat down when the door opened.
The madam, her face heavily powdered, grabbed her hand, pulling her along. “Come on, Yao Yue,” she said, her voice sharp. “It’s almost time for your performance. Don’t even think about running away. If you perform well tonight, perhaps a wealthy patron will take you home. If you don’t, well, you know what happens.”
The Demon Lord hadn’t bothered to read the woman’s memories. She was confused.
She stopped, and the madam, unable to move her, turned, her hand raised, about to slap her, then she paused, her gaze meeting the Demon Lord’s.
The Demon Lord’s eyes, usually filled with a cold indifference, now held a strange, hypnotic power. The madam’s body swayed, and she collapsed to the floor, her eyes unfocused.
The Demon Lord stared down at her, her voice cold. “Who am I?” she asked. “How did I get here? And what am I about to do?”
The madam, clearly under the Demon Lord’s control, her voice flat, said, “You are Yao Yue. Your father sold you here to pay off his gambling debts. You are about to perform.”
The Demon Lord asked a few more questions, understanding the reason for the woman’s tears.
But the world was filled with suffering. She wasn’t interested in hearing another sob story.
She released the spell, and the madam, her mind clearing, her confusion growing, was about to unleash her anger when she met the Demon Lord’s gaze and quickly subsided.
“Strange,” she muttered, then led the Demon Lord downstairs, towards the stage.
Ignoring the lecherous gazes of the patrons, the Demon Lord spotted Luo Nianshang and Cai Lian.
If she hadn’t been maintaining her disguise, she would have taught her body double a lesson.
But not now.
Cai Lian, pointing at the Demon Lord on stage, her voice filled with a childish curiosity, asked, “What’s that sister doing?”
Luo Nianshang had cast a spell, blocking out the vulgar comments of the patrons. She glanced at the woman on stage, surprised to find her staring back at her.
Her gaze seemed familiar, but she didn’t recognize her.
The vulgarity of the surroundings made her uncomfortable. She held Cai Lian tighter, her voice gentle. “She’s playing the pipa.”
But the Demon Lord couldn’t play the pipa. She didn’t care. She casually plucked the strings, producing a series of ear-splitting sounds.
As she raised her hand, her sleeve slipped down, revealing a self-inflicted wound on her wrist.
The crowd gasped.
“That’s what they call a talented woman? Hilarious!”
“I heard she’s the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Look at her now. Well, she might not be talented, but she’s pretty.”
“Didn’t she try to starve herself to death? She’s still rebelling.”
“Another beating for her, then.”
The crowd’s mockery didn’t faze the Demon Lord. She simply stared at Luo Nianshang, her gaze unwavering.
She knew that a fool like Luo Nianshang wouldn’t be able to resist saving her.
As expected, Luo Nianshang raised her hand, and the Demon Lord’s heart soared.
But then Cai Lian, rubbing her eyes, her voice a sleepy whine, said, “Master, I’m tired. Let’s go home.”
The Demon Lord stared at her, her jaw slack. “What?!”
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