“Word is that the Demon Lord, who was almost captured, has escaped, and he even abducted his Master along with an innocent disciple.”
The immortals gathered far away on Flower Fairy Mountain had already heard the news of what had just occurred, and they were all discussing it with grave expressions.
“This is truly…” A magnificently dressed immortal patted the back of his hand and sighed, “Truly, the will of Heaven cannot be defied…”
“Everyone, lend me your ears for a moment.”
Yulu looked at the assembled immortals and interrupted their hushed conversations. The immortals stopped talking and looked toward her.
“My friends… in truth, while I was breaking through my bottleneck, I already foresaw this very situation,” Yulu said calmly, her tone unhurried. The others, however, instantly erupted in a frenzy.
“What? So long ago…”
Yulu continued in a loud, clear voice: “However… even though I knew it so long ago, I still could not change it, because this is something that was destined to happen.”
“Just as I was agonizing over this, the Book of Heavenly Dao…” At this point, Yulu picked up the Book of Heavenly Dao, flipped to the first page, and continued, “At the time, the book gave me a hint. Two characters appeared on the first page: ‘Origin’.”
Hearing this, the expressions of the gathered immortals turned to confusion.
“I pondered for a long time before I realized the meaning was actually very simple—the ’cause’.” Yulu’s expression was solemn as she slowly raised her head.
“We only know that the World-Destroying Demon Lord began appearing fifty years ago, which led to the sacrifice of many from the great clans. In particular… our Yu clan fell from grace, until only a few sole heirs remained.”
“It was only when the Immortal Fated One was found and sacrificed their life that the Demon Lord’s form was utterly destroyed. However… the fact that the Demon Lord has appeared again indicates that finding the Immortal Fated One only treats the symptoms, not the root.”
She raised her eyes slightly. “Therefore, I thought of a lethal question: where does the Demon Lord come from? All things in the world have causes and effects, so what is the cause of this Demon Lord?”
At this point, all the immortals present finally understood. It turned out they had been shortsighted, always thinking that as long as they eliminated or suppressed him, they could rest easy. But in reality, that could only be temporary. Their entire approach had been wrong.
“But… now that the Demon Lord has appeared and word is that he has already begun harming people, do we still have time to find this ’cause’?” asked the magnificently dressed immortal, frowning in thought.
“The best plan now is to split into two groups. One will track the Demon Lord’s hiding place, while the other will search for the place where the Demon Lord first appeared fifty years ago. Perhaps… if luck is on our side this time… we can completely resolve this Demon Lord issue.”
Once Yulu said this, the immortals regained their morale and began raising their hands.
“Flower Fairy, let us go. We will search for the Demon Lord’s hiding place.”
Yulu looked at them and nodded firmly. “Very well. I will take a group to investigate the place where the Demon Lord first emerged.”
The other fairies and immortals nodded, and group by group, they began to leave Flower Fairy Mountain. In the end, only Yulu remained. She massaged her temples as if weary, checking the progress of her mission.
【Hidden Village Initial Progress: 10】
This time… it seemed somewhat special… she was unable to fully grasp the information regarding this Hidden Village. Her gaze drifted toward the distance… She wondered… how were the “Main Plot Boss” and the “Little Anti-Protagonist” doing?
After a whirl of spinning, Lan Tian and the others instantly teleported back to the original cave. Lan Tian let out a sigh of relief and released Min Yue.
Main Plot Boss: “Little Anti-Protagonist, great acting! Thumbs up.” Lan Tian: “You weren’t bad yourself, Boss. If I weren’t an accomplice, I might have believed it too.” Main Plot Boss: “Hahahaha.”
Jialuo watched as his Master released the person named Min Yue, and the two remained in a strange, confrontational stance. He was still carrying Yu Shengyan on his back; he wasn’t sure if he should put him down or wait for further instructions. After a moment of thought, he decided to wait, standing silently in place with his back straight, still carrying Yu Shengyan.
Lan Tian felt as if there was a clothes rack standing beside him, which reminded him of his personal puppet.
“What is your name?” Lan Tian turned around, trying his best not to go OOC (Out of Character) with his stiff face.
“Jialuo, My Lord.” Jialuo lowered his eyes, answering respectfully.
“Jialuo… you, first place down the person you are carrying.” Lan Tian wanted to tell him to find a soft spot for the protagonist to rest, but realized that wouldn’t fit his current persona…
“Yes.” Jialuo responded with crisp efficiency, bowed, and then walked into the cave with Yu Shengyan.
The patterned squirrel on his shoulder felt the familiar fresh air and poked its round head out from Jialuo’s clothes again, its two tiny paws gripping Jialuo’s collar. Jialuo saw it, and with one hand, pretended to nonchalantly stuff it back into his robes. He then found a relatively clean spot and laid Yu Shengyan down flat. After doing so, he returned to stand straight beside Yu Shengyan, gazing at him without moving.
Lan Tian looked back and saw Jialuo standing stiffly and blankly beside Yu Shengyan, his eyes glaring as if keeping watch. For some reason, he found the puppet’s obedient and dorky appearance quite amusing…
Lan Tian looked at Min Yue, checked to make sure there was no one else around, and confirmed it was safe. He took out a rope made of grass.
“Boss, do you know how to tie this?”
Min Yue let out a sound of acknowledgement, glanced at the grass rope, and was speechless. “This rope is too rotten. Do you really think it can bind me?”
“Then what should we do…” Lan Tian scratched his head; he had just picked this rope up at random…
Min Yue said directly, “Give it to me, watch me transform it.”
Lan Tian handed him the rope. With a flick of his finger, Min Yue cast a beam of light onto the grass, and its shape changed drastically. It transformed into a glowing, constricting spirit-rope.
“That’s how it should be,” Min Yue said seriously. He swung it behind his back, and with a swift motion, the spirit-rope bound his hands together.
“Boss, you’re amazing.” Lan Tian gave his usual compliment, secretly feeling impressed.
“Let’s go inside now. We’ll need to stage another performance once the protagonist wakes up…” Min Yue winked at Lan Tian.
Lan Tian gave him an “OK” hand signal and pushed him toward the cave. Jialuo merely glanced at Min Yue, his expression remaining unmoved.
“My Lord, do you have any other instructions?”
“Not for now, Jialuo. You should get some rest,” Lan Tian said slowly, giving a small cough.
Jialuo paused. “Jialuo does not rest. If My Lord has instructions, he must give them to Jialuo.”
With that, he remained standing in place, turning back to watch Yu Shengyan. Lan Tian was slightly stunned. Why does Jialuo feel so mechanical? He should be a local, right?