16 – Worse Than Beasts: This is Clearly Her… Senior Brother. What is the ‘Seven Souls Guiding Book’? Can it Help Her Travel Back?
This was unmistakably her… senior brother.
What is the Seven Souls Soul-Guiding Tome? Could it help her travel back?
Seeing her stop, the stall owner, holding the demon crystals that had increased tenfold in value, said contentedly, “No one wants this thing, so I’ll just give it to you.”
Liu Wuzhi expressed her gratitude. The moment she received the ancient tome, she swiftly tucked the secret manual close to her chest, protecting it meticulously.
This time, she absolutely must not let the Demon Lord snatch it away again.
The girl’s protective demeanor made Baili Zheque sneer with disdain: her thoughts were written all over her face—utterly foolish.
As their eyes met, that detestable feeling surged within him once more.
The Demon Lord’s lips flattened. “If you look at me like that again, I’ll gouge out your eyes.”
The threatened girl puffed her cheeks and hugged the ancient tome tightly. “You could just not look at me.”
Well said. She even dared to talk back now.
Baili Zheque stared intently at her eyes for a long while, contemplating the best angle to extract them most intact once he captured Baili Xuanye, then hang the pair of pupils in front of the main hall as a warning to others.
Liu Wuzhi: ?
As the auction neared its end, black snowflakes suddenly drifted down from the dome, swirling like splashed ink. From where the blood moon sank in the west, a golden palanquin cut through the sky, its procession dignified and its form exquisitely crafted. Layers of gauze curtains fluttered lightly, revealing a shadowy figure behind them.
The demonic beast command token in Baili Zheque’s palm glowed, and several demonic cultivator maidservants gracefully stepped forward. “Young Master Baili, please board the carriage. The Lord of the Filthy Realm requests your presence.”
The Realm Lord’s personal arrival had always left past invitees trembling with fear. Yet, Baili Zheque took a step forward and soared into the palanquin.
“How dare—” Before the demonic servant could finish the word “dare,” the man’s slender hand had already pierced through the gauze curtain, thrusting straight into the chest of the figure inside. His fingers tightened, instantly crushing the heart.
A beauty perished, yet the vast sea remained unruffled. Warm blood splattered onto the white gauze and white robes. The peerless beauty of the Lord of the Filthy Realm was reflected in his cold, indifferent eyes, like a feather dropped into an abyss, stirring not a single ripple.
After a long while, he rubbed the bloody mud on his fingertips and let out a chilling, sinister laugh. “So it was just a decoy.”
Baili Zheque withdrew his right arm, now soaked in crimson, and landed with his hands behind his back. His gaze immediately locked onto Yuan Lan in the crowd, who had donned the face of a dead person and rushed over to take the vacant spot.
Yuan Lan stepped forward, urgently transmitting his voice. “I have investigated. This auction is divided into two layers of illusion arrays—inner and outer. The Lord of the Filthy Realm here is merely a decoy. The true location is the inner layer’s slave trading black market.”
“Her scheme is to use three thousand living sacrifices to open the entrance to the Desolate Ruins and frame you for it!”
The Filthy Realm had long been divided in loyalty, yet the conspiracy to shake the foundations of his rule elicited no reaction from the Demon Lord. He glanced back at the panicked, unsettled crowd, and a shadow gradually rose in his eyes.
The girl’s twin ponytails were particularly conspicuous, and their disappearance was equally abrupt.
Did she escape? No, given her cultivation level, she couldn’t possibly teleport.
Then she must have been taken away by an inside agent.
Seeing his murderous intent, she wanted to flee in a hurry?
Baili Zheque understood, his expression cold and contemptuous.
Then he would kill them all.
The intertwined black and red moonlight at dawn fell starkly, outlining the shape of a seven-stringed demonic zither in the crook of his arm. Blood-stained fingers brushed the icy strings as the silver mask covering his face shattered piece by piece, revealing one crimson, fiery, and frenzied eye.
“Lord of the Filthy Realm, come and fight.”
Liu Wuzhi had not been taken away by any so-called “inside agent.”
Compared to the inscrutable Demon Lord, she was more concerned about the safety of her fellow Immortal Sect members. Taking advantage of Baili Zheque entering the sedan to meet the beauty, Liu Wuzhi quietly followed the vendor selling Cinnabar Glory Sect swords and stepped into the Teleportation Array. As the world around her turned upside down, she found herself in a dark, dense forest once everything stabilized.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, making the view murky and hard to discern. The mist seemed to contain some kind of hidden poison. Fortunately, Liu Wuzhi was most adept at understanding the workings of nature. She suppressed her breath, avoided the poisonous plants, and carefully felt her way forward.
During the pursuit, she intermittently smeared fluorescent powder from the bow ribbon along the way—if the Demon Lord cared about Wuzhi’s life, perhaps he would come.
Decaying leaves made sticky, faint sounds under her boots as Liu Wuzhi blended her figure into the hanging ghost-faced vines. Twenty zhang away, in a clearing in the forest, several black-robed figures were reinforcing the talismans on a prison cart.
Young men and women were locked in iron chains, dressed similarly to the current Baili Zheque. However, through the slowly dissipating Spiritual Power, Liu Wuzhi recognized that they were not disguised down-and-out cultivators but genuine Immortal Sect disciples.
“Boss, can this batch of goods fetch tens of thousands of demon crystals at the black market?” a shrill-voiced Demonic Cultivator licked his dagger and grabbed a fair-skinned girl. “How about taking some interest first…”
The sound of torn clothing rang out as the girl struggled in fear, causing the Demonic Cultivators to laugh triumphantly.
The situation was urgent. Liu Wuzhi quickly searched through the Abyssal Ruins. The remaining inventory was unsuitable for healing or saving lives, but though insufficient to deal with the traffickers, it could be applied to plants.
Her fingertips pierced the cracked bark of an ancient tree, and under the influence of an immortal incantation, the miasma settled into an ink-green marsh. Liu Wuzhi took out a moonlit grass seed and guided the absorbed spiritual flow into it. Moments later, the withered, dark old seed slowly began to sprout. After successfully accelerating its growth, Liu Wuzhi used the vines to toss the sprout out.
The traffickers immediately turned around, first startled, then stunned. “Look, which fool threw this immortal herb? This single plant is worth ten hostages, isn’t it?”
They had worked tirelessly for the Realm Lord, receiving only meager rewards. Hearing this, their eyes lit up with greed.
Though it was said that those who saw it should share, one moonlit grass was clearly not enough to divide equally. No one knew who took the first step, but the others immediately stopped them. In the ensuing struggle, the alliance of interests quickly shattered, and they began fighting each other.
Suddenly, someone shouted, “Stop fighting! That grass is running away!”
“Who are you trying to fool? How can grass run?”
“It’s true! Look!”
Everyone looked up and saw that the moonlit grass, which should have been firmly rooted, was indeed moving rapidly. They hurriedly gave chase.
While speeding up, they didn’t forget to trip their companions. Distracted and unable to watch their steps, they stepped into the trap Liu Wuzhi had prepared. Thorny vines instantly climbed over their cloaks, tightening the more they struggled.
“Ahhh! Which bastard dares to scheme against me!” the shrill voice cursed bitterly.
The tools used to interrogate death row prisoners in the demon realm’s dungeons were more than enough to deal with traffickers. Liu Wuzhi didn’t want to kill unnecessarily, so she only trapped them with the trap. She then quickly ran to the prison cart to rescue the captives.
“Don’t be afraid. My name is Wuzhi, and I’m here to save you.” Using poison to corrode the cage and chains, Liu Wuzhi freed everyone. Together, they searched through the traffickers’ leftover belongings.
The prison cart mostly carried rare treasures intercepted by Demonic Cultivators. Among them, a bamboo scroll caught Liu Wuzhi’s attention. Opening it, she found it filled with cryptic language. Though she couldn’t read it well, her intuition told her it was important, so she tucked it into her sleeve.
When she turned around, the rescued cultivators had already retrieved their weapons and sent out signals.
“Is anyone here from the Cinnabar Glory Sect?” she asked, but no one responded.
Having endured the torment of the traffickers, the young men and women had become like startled birds. Faced with this exceptionally beautiful Demonic Cultivator woman, none dared reveal their sect affiliation.
Liu Wuzhi also didn’t dare directly state her identity: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t harm you.”
Her tone carried a convincing sincerity. A girl in red robes wanted to step forward but was held back by her senior brother: “Don’t believe her, that’s her seduction art.”
Her watery eyes were bright and luminous, her charm natural and captivating. Perhaps even this face of hers was an illusion.
During the standoff, the traffickers’ roars interrupted the conversation: “This forest is full of miasma and poisonous creatures! Even if you run, don’t think you’ll escape! My reinforcements will be here soon!”
Several young men exchanged glances, stepped forward, and with swift movements, cleanly stabbed through the Demonic Cultivators’ hearts.
Blood splattered everywhere. The timid girls closed their eyes in fear. Only Liu Wuzhi asked in confusion: “Shouldn’t we capture them for interrogation first?”
“Encounter Demons, then slay them. That’s the ironclad rule set by the Immortal Alliance.”
“But I’m a Demonic Cultivator now too.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the leading young man’s sword tip suddenly pointed at her: “Demoness, if you dare come any closer, I’ll make you regret it.”
Liu Wuzhi stood still, paused, then couldn’t help but remind him: “But there’s a snake behind you.”
“Stop lying…” He slightly glanced sideways. A slender crimson snake had unknowingly descended from a tree branch, hissing and flicking its tongue by his ear.
“Ah—” The young man’s scream drowned out his junior sister’s. The moment he fled, the startled venomous snake immediately launched its attack.
Everyone scattered to dodge, only to see the girl clad in a red silk dress leap forward. Her hand bypassed the snake’s head, decisively covered its body, and with practiced ease and composure, subdued it.
Folklore often spoke of snakes guarding Lingzhi. Liu Wuzhi also had many bamboo viper friends in the Azure Mist Sect. As long as one maintained their composure and found the right angle, these little creatures weren’t scary at all.
Compared to venomous snakes, snails were more dangerous.
The little red snake coiled several times in her palm, trembling. Liu Wuzhi noticed the horn on its head: “It looks like a dragon.”
With the crisis resolved, the girl beside her gathered her courage and stepped closer to explain: “This is Yin Fu, a close relative of the Ancient Fierce Beast, the Crimson Serpent. When fully grown, it can reach several zhang in height.”
Liu Wuzhi looked at the tiny snake, utterly unable to connect it with a Fierce Beast. But if it could grow that large, it wasn’t suitable for keeping as a pet. Feeling regretful, she released the little red snake, casually feeding it a snack.
Observing her actions, the girl couldn’t help but praise: “You’re truly amazing.”
“Thanks to you trapping the Demonic Cultivators and the Fierce Beast, you saved us.” Others also stepped forward to compliment her, even the young man who had pointed his sword at her earlier muttered a small thank you.
The Azure Mist Sect was full of talented individuals. Liu Wuzhi had never had a chance to stand out before. Hearing such direct praise, she felt somewhat embarrassed for a moment.
Perhaps the demon realm was the grand stage where she could truly showcase herself.
The girl in red introduced herself: “I am Rong Xiao from the Cinnabar Glory Sect. They are my senior brother Fang Xuan and fellow cultivators from other sects.”
“You’re from the Cinnabar Glory Sect?” Liu Wuzhi’s eyes lit up as she retrieved the spoils from the auction from the Abyssal Ruins. “Then, is this your sword?”
“Exactly!” Seeing the jade sword, Rong Xiao’s eyes lit up even brighter than hers. “This is the sword my sect gave me. After it was stolen by a Demonic Cultivator, it became nearly impossible to find. How did you manage to locate it?”
Liu Wuzhi answered honestly, “I recognized the emblem of the Cinnabar Glory Sect and saw this sword at an auction, but I wasn’t the one who bought it.”
“Then who bought it?”
“It was…” Baili Zheque had infiltrated anonymously, making it difficult for Liu Wuzhi to explain. “A member of the demon race.”
“Male or female?”
“Male… a male.”
A flicker of suspicion crossed Rong Xiao’s eyes. “Immortal Sect Magical Artifacts are often extremely valuable in the demon realm. What is his relationship to you? Why would he spend a fortune for your sake?”
“He is my…”
She couldn’t expose the Demon Lord, so what should she call him? She already had a senior brother, and the Demon Lord was so old that calling him “brother” didn’t feel right either. Little Immortal Grass certainly didn’t want to acknowledge a non-blood-related ancestor.
Thinking again, Wuzhi was both a beauty and a menial servant in the Demon Palace—essentially someone at the Demon Lord’s beck and call. This kind of relationship probably counted as…
“…Master?”
Rong Xiao was taken aback. “Huh? You’re actually a slave?”
“What does ‘slave’ mean?” Liu Wuzhi hadn’t learned this word in the Immortal Sect.
Her expression was so innocent it seemed out of place in the demon realm. Rong Xiao inexplicably felt a sense of duty to enlighten her sister and fired off a series of questions: “Has that Demon Lord ever humiliated or tortured you? What kinds of things has he made you do?”
Liu Wuzhi swayed her twin ponytails in confusion. “Not really.”
“He only made me, um… mate…” Liu Wuzhi held up two fingers one after the other. “Twice in total.”
After these words, the air fell silent.
Liu Wuzhi thought her use of the term “mate” had shocked everyone again and was about to correct herself when Fang Xuan spoke up indignantly: “What a beast!”
“And he dares call himself a master? Taking advantage of such an innocent girl—utterly despicable!”
Upon learning that she had been naively deceived, the young men’s attitudes did a complete one-eighty: “Miss Wuzhi, don’t worry. Once we regroup with the main force, we will definitely secure your freedom.”
Under everyone’s righteous and indignant gazes, she had already become a pitiful Cultivation Furnace, forcibly taken and brainwashed by a demon.
Liu Wuzhi: ?
As the group searched for an exit in the dense forest, the young men volunteered to scout the path and struck up a conversation with Rong Xiao.
Rong Xiao, like herself, was a new disciple. Liu Wuzhi asked, “Why were you assigned to the demon realm?”
“It’s all because of…” Rong Xiao blushed inexplicably halfway through her sentence and shifted the focus. “Anyway, I wanted to come, so I secretly swapped tasks. You have to keep it a secret.”
Liu Wuzhi nodded and asked again, “What was your original task?”
“That’s not important. What matters is, when I swapped tasks, I almost made a mistake,” Rong Xiao said guiltily. “Investigating the Desolate Ruins and repairing the dual realm seal—both are high-level missions that involve going to the border. Luckily, I double-checked.”
“…Wait, you said repairing the dual realm seal is also… a high-level mission?”
“Yes. The Primordial Spirits of the Clear Sound Valley’s master and the former Tai Xuan Sect’s leader are both sealed within it. How could an ordinary disciple get close?”
Liu Wuzhi’s heart pounded wildly.
It was precisely because of repairing the dual realm seal that she had accidentally become Wuzhi.
New disciples couldn’t take on high-level missions, but if Rong Xiao could secretly swap tasks, could it be that her own mission had also been swapped by someone?
Rong Xiao raised her protective barrier and continued, “But this mission truly isn’t suitable for me. Recently, many disciples have gone missing near the Empty Desolation and Defiled Realm. Fortunately, we had a senior leading us to safely slip in. But I never expected to fall into a trap just moments after separating.”
Liu Wuzhi stored her suspicions away and asked curiously, “Who is your team leader?”
Before Rong Xiao could speak, a wave of poisonous miasma swept through. The sword formation formed by Fang Xuan and the others was already riddled with holes, and the youths fell one after another to the side.
From the swaying tree shadows, several demonic cultivators dressed similarly to the human traffickers emerged: “These Immortal Sect brats killed our brothers. Shouldn’t we flay them alive for revenge? Keep the two women alive.”
Bloodthirsty curved blades slashed out with purple lightning, and the hair ribbons were severed by the residual shockwaves. Liu Wuzhi pulled Rong Xiao into a spinning backward dodge, barely avoiding the heavy blow.
Purple lightning struck again. At their wit’s end, the moonlight suddenly dimmed for an instant. Azure-green light traces spilled from the treetops, and a clear, sharp sword cry pierced through the obstructive fog. Upon touching the demonic cultivators, the light traces transformed into sword forms, surging with azure lotuses, their sound like jade chimes, instantly breaking through the predicament.
Restraining nature, guarding the heart, pure and unparalleled.
“Who?” the demonic cultivators pinned to the ground struggled to ask.
Time and space paused for a moment.
The clouds parted, and the moon emerged, as if a faint, bitter pine fragrance drifted over.
The moonlight cast a long shadow of the figure. A young man descended from beyond the sky, his brown hair completely tied up. His back was like a green pine covered in snow, his wide sleeves like crane feathers gently fluttering. The cloud patterns embroidered with gold thread on his robe hem shimmered with flowing light, and even the curve of his hanging jade pendant was more precise than others by three parts.
He caught his longsword with a backhand motion and formed seals in midair. The evildoers exploded into crystalline fragments, bursting into a brilliant radiance within the defiled realm, without a trace of bloodshed.
“Azure Mist Sect, Liu Shao.”
His voice carried the frost and snow, his clear eyes untouched by dust.
Already exhausted from overexertion, facing the newcomer, Liu Wuzhi felt her limbs suddenly go limp, her blood rushing backward through her body, almost squeezing her heart out of her chest.
This was unmistakably her… senior brother.
Author’s Note:
Zhizhi’s most beloved senior brother has made his appearance. How far can it be before the Demon Lord is driven mad with jealousy?