“Let the person out.” Jiu Hui gave Luohe a look, and Luohe quickly tore off the paper strip on his face and ran to untie the sack.
He tried to untie it for a long time, but found that the sack did not move at all. He looked at Bai Yan in confusion.
Bai Yan spoke, “Please, Demon King, return to Young Master Zhi’s side.”
Upon hearing this, Luohe quickly stood up and retreated to Zhi You’s side without even asking a question.
After Luohe left, Bai Yan pinched a magic technique, and the peach-pink sack turned into a stream of light and disappeared in his hand.
This was actually a magic weapon?carpreads.pages.dev
Luohe was very confused. Why would anyone make a magic weapon into a sack? Were the yao’s ideas really serious?
Sha Luojia, who had regained her freedom, directly slapped Luohe, who was hiding beside Zhi You.
Zhi You waved his sleeve, easily blocking the demonic energy carried by the palm wind.
A golden collar flew out of Jiu Hui’s sleeve and landed on Sha Luojia, who instantly became stiff and unable to move as she sat on the ground.
“This item is called the Demon-Subduing Circle, and it is specifically used to deal with demons.” Jiu Hui smiled. “Princess, please don’t struggle. The more you struggle, the more it will hurt.”
Sha Luojia stopped struggling and looked at Jiu Hui. “Are you getting revenge for that day when I tied you two up with the Spirit-Controlling Ropes?”
“As the saying goes, give and take is the only way to maintain a long-lasting relationship.” Jiu Hui took out a cushion and sat down in front of Sha Luojia.
The two of them sat face to face, as if they were really two close sisters chatting.
Sha Luojia looked away from her.
“The Princess is a formidable woman. In order to win the favor of the old Demon King, she endured for many years, not only preserving her own life, but also winning over the hearts of many.” Jiu Hui sighed. “If you didn’t view human life as worthless, I wouldn’t have the heart to capture you.”
Sha Luojia said sarcastically, “The strong rule the world, and it has always been this way. What wrong have I done?”
“According to you, you’re not the best in the world, so anyone stronger than you can humiliate and bully you?” Jiu Hui shook her head. “All beings in the world are not born with knowledge. You and I are not the strongest, and we can’t always be the strongest. The strong live and the weak die. That’s the way of beasts without intelligence. You and I both have emotions and desires, so why should we imitate the behavior of beasts?”
“You don’t have to convince me. We were born different, and there’s nothing to talk about.” Sha Luojia glanced at Luohe, who was hiding behind Zhi You, with a mocking look. “What’s your purpose in supporting this waste to become the Demon King?”
Jiu Hui shook her head. “It doesn’t matter to me who among you demons becomes the Demon King. I just don’t want the future Demon King to be a cold-blooded person who views human life as worthless.”
“If that’s the case, if I had been willing to promise not to harm mortals, you would have agreed to let me become the Demon King?” Sha Luojia asked in return.
“Yes,” Jiu Hui nodded. “I said, I don’t care who the Demon King is, as long as they don’t hurt the human race.”
“He may not harm humans today, but that doesn’t mean he never will.”
Sha Luojia cast aside all pretenses, revealing her arrogant and indifferent nature. “Human hearts are fickle. Power and authority are always delicious temptations.”
“Then let’s change to another king.” Jiu Hui glanced at Luohe with a faint smile. “Could it be that your demon clan lacks demons who want to be king?”
Luohe shook his head desperately. He didn’t dare, he really didn’t dare.
If Jiu Hui could kill his father so easily, taking his life would be as easy as chopping vegetables.
Sha Luojia felt her blood boil when she saw how useless Luohe was.
Luohe was such a useless piece of trash. If he were to inherit the throne, the power would definitely fall into the hands of that lowly woman, the Demon Queen.
“Rest assured, Princess. I was born into a humble background, so I naturally understand what the lower-class demons need more than you do.” The Demon Queen, wearing a gold-patterned palace robe and a purple-gold crown, walked into the hall and bowed to Jiu Hui and Zhi You. “If Luohe and I ever have the intention of raising an army to invade the human world, Miss Jiu Hui can personally take our heads. We will have no complaints.”
Jiu Hui nodded with a smile, “I will remember Your Majesty’s oath today.”
Sha Luojia looked at the spirited E’nuo, her gaze lost as she stared blankly at the throne above. She had schemed for so many years, causing all her threatening brothers to lose their lives, but she never expected that she would end up being a stepping stone for someone else.
“The one who had the last laugh was actually you, you lowly servant.” Sha Luojia still remembered the first time she had seen E’nuo. E’nuo had been a palace maid in the royal palace. She had knelt on the ground, wiping up spilled ink, looking pitiful and humble.
She would bow and salute any demon general or Dharma Protector who passed by.
“What does it matter if I was born lowly?” The Demon Queen did not care about this. She bent down and looked at Sha Luojia. “When the First Prince infiltrated the Jiutian Sect for you, he certainly did not expect that it would be the path to his death that you had arranged for him in advance.”
“You even had the heart to plot against the life of the First Prince who loved you so much. Are you really such a noble person?” The Demon Queen looked at Sha Luojia with pity. “The people who love you died by your hand. Do you ever regret it when the night is quiet?”
Sha Luojia remained silent.
“I’m not like the princess. Every time I think about my five-year-old sister being beheaded by your father, her body covered in blood, I can’t sleep all night.” The Demon Queen’s eyes were red. “You were born noble, and you look down on us and trample on us, but why do you have to take our lives?”
“Mother.” Luohe saw that the Demon Queen was not in a good mood, so he quickly walked to her side and supported her arm.
“I’m fine.” The Demon Queen closed her eyes and opened them again, her expression calm once more. She turned to Jiu Hui and asked, “Miss Jiu Hui, do you have any other instructions?”
Jiu Hui shook her head.
“As a member of the demon clan, not only were you able to infiltrate the Jiutian Sect, but you also have a deep understanding of the cultivation world. This indicates that there must be someone in the cultivation world who is assisting you, and this person’s status in the cultivation world is not low.” Jiu Hui smiled, “I wonder if the princess is willing to enlighten me?”
“Yes, I have my people in all ten sects.” Sha Luojia suddenly smiled and blinked, saying, “You can check them out one by one.”
“Princess, you always love to joke.” Jiu Hui sighed. “If you don’t want to say it, then forget it.”
She stood up and said to the Demon Queen beside her, “I would like to borrow the Demon Clan’s prison from the Empress Dowager.” Jiu Hui glanced at Sha Luojia. “To the outside world, just say… the Princess is being held in prison.”
Sha Luojia’s expression changed drastically. “What do you intend to do?”
Jiu Hui tilted her head. “Guess?”
The Demon Queen didn’t ask Jiu Hui the purpose of doing these things. That afternoon, she had already done things properly and even added some small details that Jiu Hui hadn’t thought of.
“Such a beautiful woman who is so much to my liking, it’s no wonder the old Demon King likes her. Even I like her.” Jiu Hui flipped through the map of the Demon Clan’s prison that the Demon Queen had sent over and handed it to Zhi You. “In a few days, the people who are coming to rescue Sha Luojia should be here.”
“How did the young master know?” Yu Li asked with curiosity all over her face.
“I don’t know,” Jiu Hui explained. “I just wanted to bluff Sha Luojia, but I didn’t expect her to react so strongly. There must be something wrong with this.”
“When people lie, they tend to blink their eyes to cover up their guilt.” Jiu Hui said with a smile, “It doesn’t matter if there’s evidence or not. We’re not officials from the City Lord’s Mansion* anyway.”
TN: these officials typically investigate and trial cases
Kong Cangnan: “Young Master, you’re so insidious!”
Bai Yan: “Young Master is truly far-sighted.”
Yu Li: “Young Master is so smart!”
Kong Cangnan: “…”
Sometimes he really wanted to fight these two lackeys.
Three days later, Yu Li and Jiu Hui sat in the corner of the prison. She asked in a low voice, “Young Master, we’ve been in prison for two days. What if no one comes to save Sha Luojia?”
“That means Sha Luojia isn’t popular enough.” Jiu Hui took out two pastries from her sleeve and gave one to Yu Li. “Have a pastry first. If no one comes tomorrow, we’ll return to the mortal realm.”
“We’re not staying in the Demon Realm?”
“The food in the Demon Realm doesn’t taste very good.” Jiu Hui said with a pained expression. “I suspect that the most fundamental reason they’re called demons is because their food is terrible!”
Every dish was a charred, blackened mess. Even if you threw a dog in the kitchen, it could make better food than they did.
“That was indeed not very tasty.” Yu Li nodded honestly. “Humans are still the best at cooking.”
When the young master said this, she also missed the delicacies of the mortal world.
After they finished their snacks, Jiu Hui tidied up her hair and clothes. “Little Yu, do I look like Sha Luojia now?”
“It’s a bit similar, but not quite.” Yu Li thought for a moment. “You’re prettier than that demon princess.”
“You’ve only been out for a few days, and you haven’t learned anything else, but you’ve learned quite a few ways to flatter people.” Jiu Hui tapped Yu Li’s forehead, then suddenly looked up outside and turned to lie down in the corner.
Yu Li also hurried into another cell, not forgetting to sprinkle some blood on herself.
“Someone’s breaking into the prison!”
There was a burst of noise outside, but it quickly quieted down.
Half an hour later.
“Someone’s breaking into the prison!”
After a fight, the prison breakers escaped again.
Another half an hour passed.
“Prison robbery!”
This repeated several times until the latter half of the night, when the prison robbers finally gave up. The jailers, who had been tossed about quite a bit, also breathed a sigh of relief and cursed and yawned as they found a place to hide and be lazy.
About half an hour later, Jiu Hui finally heard a very light, unfamiliar footstep outside the cell door.
The person who rescued Sha Luojia was quite capable. They arranged for so many demons to break into the prison, which must have cost a lot of money.
Footsteps stopped outside the door of her cell.
“Sha Luojia, this is the last time I’ll help you.” The person outside the cell spoke coldly, even with some disgust. “I’ve already knocked out all the jailers in the prison. As long as you hand over my mother’s relic, I’ll let you go.”
After a moment of silence, the newcomer grew impatient. “If you wish to die, you can continue lying here, but you must hand over my mother’s relic.”
The person lying in the corner gradually sat up and turned to look at the person outside the cell.
“How is it you?!” The newcomer saw Jiu Hui’s appearance clearly and was so frightened that his complexion changed greatly.
“So you didn’t come to save me.” Jiu Hui sighed as she sat up cross-legged. “Young Master Jin, I didn’t expect you to be secretly communicating with…”
“Shhh, keep your voice down.” Jin Qingqiu took out the stolen key and hurriedly opened the cell door. “How did you end up locked up in here?”
“I’ve been the one locked up here all along.” Jiu Hui removed the straw from her body. “After Sha Luojia captured me and brought me to the Demon Realm, she locked me up here because I refused to obey her orders.”
Speaking of this, she glanced at Jin Qingqiu and sighed faintly, “I thought Young Master Jin was well-informed and knew that I was imprisoned here, so he came here to rescue me. I didn’t expect…”
Jin Qingqiu’s face was awkward and flustered. He looked at Jiu Hui, who was in a mess and covered in dirt, and glanced around. “Where is Fellow Daoist Zhi You?”
“He’s locked in the cell on the other side.” Jiu Hui snatched the long string of keys from his hand and unlocked the neighboring cell. “Sha Luojia threatened my cousin’s life and forced me to come to the Demon Clan. She even wanted me to seduce the Demon King and take the opportunity to kill him.”
Jin Qingqiu cursed in a low voice, “That’s something she would do.”
“I refused to submit to her, so Sha Luojia locked me up here and said she would make me regret it.” Jiu Hui released Yu Li and looked puzzled. “But she hasn’t come to see me in the past few days. Has she forgotten about me?”
Jin Qingqiu looked at Jiu Hui with a complicated expression. “There are rumors outside that Sha Luojia brought back a stunning woman from the mortal world with the intention of bewitching the Demon King. That woman wouldn’t happen to be you, would she?”
“I don’t know. I was imprisoned here the day I arrived in the Demon Realm.” Jiu Hui’s expression suddenly changed. She grabbed Yu Li and pulled her back, looking at Jin Qingqiu with vigilance. “Young Master Jin, you mistook me for Sha Luojia just now and said you wanted to save her. What happened outside? What’s your relationship with her?!”
“This is a long story. Sha Luojia and I are enemies, not friends. I would never do anything to hurt you.” Jin Qingqiu’s face was pale. “This place is very dangerous. I’ll take you away first, and I’ll explain later.”
Jiu Hui stared at him for a few breaths. “That’s true. If you had malicious intent toward me, you could have just killed me to silence me and then blamed it on the demons. That way, no one would know that you and Sha Luojia are secretly in contact.”
Jin Qingqiu smiled wryly. “You are a beautiful woman, and I am a man who cherishes flowers. How could I do such an evil thing?”
The three found the place where Zhi You, Kong Cangnan, and Bai Yan were imprisoned and released them.
“Follow me quickly. I’ve arranged for someone to meet us in the Demon Capital,” Jin Qingqiu said anxiously. “My incense only lasts for two incense sticks. If we delay any longer, we won’t be able to leave.”
Zhi You glanced at Jiu Hui, who nodded at him.
The five followed Jin Qingqiu out of the Demon Clan’s prison and got into an inconspicuous evil bone carriage.
The carriage left the royal city without any hindrance. Jin Qingqiu glanced at the royal city that was left far behind and heaved a sigh of relief. “The demons have been in chaos these past few days. The old Demon King is dead, and the new Demon King has taken the throne, but it’s the Dowager Empress who’s in power.”
“What?” Jiu Hui’s face was full of shock. “That old tree bark who drank human blood every day is dead?!”
Yu Li looked at Jiu Hui with admiration. As expected of their yao clan’s young master, his expression was so natural and sincere.
If she hadn’t witnessed the Young Master killing the old Demon King with her own eyes, she would have believed that the Young Master was unaware of what had happened these past few days.
“Yes, he’s dead.” Jin Qingqiu patiently explained, “The entire royal capital is in chaos right now. The rumor outside is that Sha Luojia sent someone to kill the old Demon King, but I think the Demon Queen is the one who actually did it.”
“Now that the old Demon King is dead, it’s not beneficial to Sha Luojia at all. Instead, the Demon Queen and her son are the ones who benefit the most.” When mentioning the name Sha Luojia, Jin Qingqiu didn’t hide his disgust. “She’s a woman who will do anything for power and profit. She would never do anything that’s not in her best interest.”
“So… the Demon Queen killed the Demon King?” Jiu Hui suddenly realized. “Sha Luojia was wronged?”
“The victor is king, and the loser is a bandit. She deserves it.” Jin Qingqiu sneered. “She schemed against others, so it’s only natural that others would scheme against her.”
Jiu Hui finally understood why Jin Qingqiu had gone out of his way to tell her so much about Sha Luojia on the Dragon Boat Festival when she had fought off Yin Ji and Sha Luojia and gone to the Jiutian Sect to demand an explanation. He had known every detail of her accomplishments.
Perhaps he knew that, given Sha Luojia’s personality, she might seek revenge against her, so he had specially warned her in secret that Sha Luojia was not as simple as she seemed on the surface.
The special emphasis on the deaths of the other three princes, the idiocy of the fourth prince, and the Demon King’s favoritism towards Sha Luojia was intended to make her suspicious and wary of Sha Luojia, lest she fall for Sha Luojia’s tricks.
At that time, she thought that Jin Qingqiu didn’t like Yin Ji, but she didn’t expect that he hated Sha Luojia.
“This question may be a bit presumptuous, but you and Sha Luojia…”
“You already know that I came to save Sha Luojia, so I’m not afraid of you knowing my other secrets.” Jin Qingqiu smiled wryly. “My mother and Sha Luojia’s mother were cousins.”
Jiu Hui was a little surprised.
“You guessed it right. I have the bloodline of the Demon Clan.” Jin Qingqiu’s smile became even more bitter. “My mother’s demon power dissipated and she died not long after giving birth to me. After Sha Luojia learned that my mother and her mother were cousins, she used this to threaten me into helping her infiltrate the Jiutian Sect. If I didn’t agree, she would let the world know that my father had fallen in love with a woman from the Demon Clan and had given birth to me, a hybrid of human and demon.”
“A few days ago, she sent someone to deliver a message, asking me to help her leave the Demon Clan. If she died, her subordinates would reveal my mother’s identity to the public.” Jin Qingqiu sighed out loud. “Today, not being able to rescue Sha Luojia might be a good thing. At least I saved you all, and I don’t have to worry about this matter anymore.”
“You really didn’t think about killing us to silence us?” Jiu Hui pointed at herself and Zhi You. “We’re both Nascent Soul cultivators, and we have three mortals without cultivation holding us back. Did you not plan to…”
She gestured at her own neck.
“Don’t joke around, Miss.” Jin Qingqiu took out a jade fan and shook it gently. “Although I have the bloodline of the Demon Clan, I’m still a human.”
“At worst, I’ll change my name and find a place to live in seclusion. It’s better than risking the lives of all five of you.” Jin Qingqiu glanced at the jade fan. “Besides, I’m also gambling.”
“What are the stakes?”
“I’m betting that you all have kind hearts and will keep my secret for me.” Jin Qingqiu sighed. “If you’re not willing, I won’t blame you. After all, not everyone can accept being friends with the offspring of a human and a demon.”
“Since you said we’re friends, why don’t you bet that I have a way to help you solve this problem?” Jiu Hui reached out and patted Jin Qingqiu’s shoulder.
Zhi You glanced at Jin Qingqiu’s shoulder, then silently moved forward, pushing Jin Qingqiu a little further away.
When Zhi You suddenly squeezed in, Jin Qingqiu made way for him.
He had no choice but to endure it since they had something on him now.
“What method is that?” Jin Qingqiu’s face showed a bit of joy.
“Even close brothers keep accounts clear. This method is a bit unethical, so you have to pay me more.” Jiu Hui stretched out her hand in front of Jin Qingqiu. “But considering that you saved our lives and didn’t kill us to silence us, I can charge you half the price.”
“That’s not right. As the young master of the Yuzhen Sect, I don’t lack spirit stones.” Jin Qingqiu directly took out a storage ring and placed it in Jiu Hui’s hand, saying generously, “Take it. I’d be looking down on myself if I take your half price.”
“Alright.” Jiu Hui put the storage ring into her sleeve and waved her hand, causing several heads to gather around.
“If the entire cultivation world started spreading rumors that Sha Luojia wasn’t the Demon King’s biological daughter, but was actually the daughter of the Jiutian Sect’s Immortal Venerable Bu Ting, would everyone believe it?”
Zhi You shook his head. “Impossible.”
“Not necessarily. The more outrageous the rumor, the more people will believe it.” Jin Qingqiu shook his head and said, “If Sha Luojia weren’t Immortal Venerable Bu’s daughter, how could she, a demon, have infiltrated the Jiutian Sect? And how could she have repeatedly left the Jiutian Sect unscathed?”
Jin Qingqiu grew more and more excited as he spoke. “As the Princess of the demon clan, why would Sha Luojia risk her life to kill the old Demon King? She did it all for her biological father!”
Yu Li and the other two yaos were stunned. Wow, you humans have really dirty hearts.
“For example, the Sect Master of the Wanhuo Sect might have had a beloved woman in his youth, and that woman was a member of the Demon Clan. Because the two of them were of different races, the Demon Clan woman could only secretly give birth to the Sect Master of the Wanhuo Sect’s child and then take the child back to the Demon Clan to live in seclusion. From then on, the two of them looked at each other from afar, thinking of each other every night as they gazed at the moon.”
Zhi You shook his head. “Everyone in the world knows that the Sect Master of the Wanhuo Sect doesn’t get close to women. I remember that the cultivation technique he practices doesn’t allow him to break his vow of celibacy. Not only will people not believe it, they’ll also think it’s absurd.”
“Zhi You, you don’t understand.” Jiu Hui shook her head. “It’s right because everyone thinks it’s absurd.”
“And there’s also the Dongcheng School’s Sect Master who, for the sake of his beloved woman, endured the pain of adopting the child she had with a demon last year.”
Zhi You: “I remember that this sect master hates children the most. There isn’t a single disciple under the age of eighteen in his sect…”
“And there’s also Sect Master Zhuang, who could have a secret crush on a certain woman from the demon clan, but because he couldn’t join the woman’s family and be her husband, he could only hide in the sect all day long, carving a jade statue and shedding tears…”
Zhi You’s expression became even more bewildered. “I remember that this Zhuang Sect Master is a nine-foot-tall man who loves to go out and compare saber techniques with others. He is often not in the sect and knows even less about jade carving.”
Jin Qingqiu put away his excited expression and looked at Jiu Hui in confusion. “So what does all this have to do with me?”
“When the first rumor appeared, everyone thought it was interesting, but after several absurd rumors appeared in a row, everyone realized that this was a plot by the demons.” Jiu Hui raised an eyebrow. “So the rumor that your mother is a demon woman is naturally absurd.”
“Rumors?” Jin Qingqiu said thoughtfully.
“Yes, rumors.” Jiu Hui nodded heavily. “All of this is a shameless tactic by the Demon Realm to smear our cultivation world!”
She coughed dryly and said, “Remember to find an excuse to compensate these fellow Daoists afterward, or else you’ll seem too unscrupulous.”
“So which rumor should we spread first?” Jin Qingqiu asked. “Don’t worry about me doing things. I’ll definitely not let them suffer any losses.”
“Let’s spread the rumor about Immortal Venerable Bu,” Jiu Hui said with a smile. “The most absurd rumors should start with the most sensational one.”
Author’s Note
Bu Ting: ???
Little Garlic Chive: Hehe.