Every day, Sha Qian Mo would go into cultivation retreat for healing. She would hold Tang Bao's egg and cultivate in the stone chamber. The cracks on the eggshell grew more numerous, and the green light intensified. Tang Bao could break out at any moment.
But what she didn't know was that beneath the calm surface of the water, the undercurrents had already surged forward.
Maoshan.
Hua Qian Gu's father, Father Hua, had been having a very difficult few days.
First, Aunt Wang from the village suddenly changed her demeanor. She used to greet him, but now she avoided him. Then there was Uncle Zhang next door, who loudly declared at the village entrance, "Old Hua's daughter, I heard she went to the Demon Realm and got involved with that Demon King!"
"Got involved with?" Father Hua's face turned red with anger. "My daughter went on business!"
"Business?" Uncle Zhang let out a cold laugh. "What business can a mortal have in the Demon Realm? I bet she went to seduce that Sha Qian Mo. I heard he's even more beautiful than a woman and specializes in luring young girls."
"You're spouting nonsense!" Father Hua lunged forward, ready to fight.
He was pulled back by the villagers.
But this was just the beginning.
The next day, a notice was posted at the village entrance, stating: "Hua Qian Gu, daughter of the Hua family from Maoshan, is a demoness. She colluded with the Demon King, bringing chaos to the Six Realms, and all shall strike her down."
At the bottom, an unfamiliar seal was pressed.
He didn't know it was the mark of the Penglai Immortal Sect.
The news spread like wildfire throughout Maoshan. In less than three days, everyone in the town knew—Hua Qian Gu was a demoness who seduced the Demon King and would bring disaster to Maoshan.
Fertilizer was thrown over Father Hua's courtyard wall, and stones were piled at his doorway. When he went to town to buy groceries, no one would sell to him. When he went to draw water from the well, he was pushed aside.
"Old Hua, if your daughter has any conscience, she shouldn't come back," someone shouted from behind. "We won't tolerate her even if she does!"
Father Hua squatted in the courtyard, holding his head in his hands, tears streaming down his face.
He didn't believe it. He didn't believe his daughter was a demoness.
But he couldn't argue with the entire village.
Demon Emperor Palace.
Hua Qian Gu was meditating in the stone chamber when a sharp pain suddenly pierced her chest.
She abruptly opened her eyes, clutching her chest, gasping for air.
"What's wrong?" Sha Qian Mo's voice came from outside the door. He happened to be passing by and sensed her fluctuating aura.
"I don't know," Hua Qian Gu frowned. "I suddenly felt a panic, as if something had happened."
Sha Qian Mo walked in and looked at her pale face. "Your father?"
Hua Qian Gu's heart sank.
Father.
In her previous life, her father had an accident this year. She thought she had changed the course of events in this life—she had settled her father in Maoshan, believing it to be safe. But Ni Mantian knew where her father lived.
"Ni Mantian," Hua Qian Gu stood up, her voice trembling. "She made a move against my father."
Sha Qian Mo's eyes turned cold. "How do you know?"
"I just know," Hua Qian Gu picked up Tang Bao's egg and walked towards the door. "I'm going back to Maoshan."
Sha Qian Mo grabbed her wrist. "If you go back now, you'll fall right into her trap. She wants you to walk into a trap."
"I still have to go back," Hua Qian Gu broke free from his hand, her eyes reddening. "That's my father. He already died once in my previous life; I can't let anything happen to him again in this life."
Sha Qian Mo looked into her eyes and was silent for two seconds.
"I'll go with you."
"No," Hua Qian Gu shook her head. "You are the Demon King. Your appearance in Maoshan will only solidify the charge of 'demoness'."
"Then you're going to die alone?"
"I won't die," Hua Qian Gu pushed Tang Bao's egg into his embrace. "Take care of Tang Bao for me. I'll be back soon."
Sha Qian Mo held the egg, his expression grim.
"Hua Qian Gu, if you dare to die—"
"I won't," Hua Qian Gu interrupted him, forcing a smile. "I haven't saved you yet, how can I die?"
She turned and ran out.
Sha Qian Mo stood in place, holding the green glowing egg, his fingers tightening.
"Someone," he said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"
"Summon a hundred Demon Soldiers and accompany me to Maoshan."
"Your Majesty, didn't you say—"
"What I said doesn't matter," Sha Qian Mo's purple eyes surged with killing intent. "What matters is that whoever dares to touch her, I will make them die."
Hua Qian Gu rushed towards Maoshan with all her might.
She couldn't fly on a sword, so she had to run on foot. She ran all night, her blisters bursting, blood sticking to her socks. Every step was a searing pain.
But she dared not stop.
Her mind was filled with images from her previous life—her father dying in her arms, his eyes closing, his hand slipping from her face.
"No," she gritted her teeth as she ran. "Not in this life."
As dawn broke, she finally saw the outline of Maoshan.
But she also saw a large crowd gathered at the village entrance.
Her father was surrounded in the middle, with people yelling at him and throwing rotten vegetables at him.
Hua Qian Gu's blood rushed to her head.
"Stop!"
She charged into the crowd, shoving aside the cursing villagers, and stood in front of her father.
"Xiao Gu..." Father Hua's tears fell as soon as he saw her. "Why did you come back? Hurry and leave, they say you're a demoness, they'll catch you!"
Hua Qian Gu didn't leave.
She turned around, facing the villagers who were once kind but now filled with hostility, and said word by word:
"I am not a demoness. Anyone who dares to lay another finger on my father will regret being born into this world."
The villagers were stunned by her aura and looked at each other, no one daring to speak for a moment.
But from outside the crowd, a man in gray quietly retreated, took a paper crane from his sleeve, whispered a few words to it, and then released it.
The paper crane flapped its wings and flew towards Penglai.
【End of Chapter·Comment Section Guess: Will Sha Qian Mo arrive in time?】
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