Chapter 76: Speculations

Chapter 76: Speculations

There were several unoccupied rooms along the corridor where the classroom was located. Wen Ying pulled Muershi to a more secluded empty room.

Muershi relied entirely on Wen Ying to move forward, making it seem as if Wen Ying was dragging him forcefully.

"Can you tell me now?" Wen Ying released Muershi's hand and turned around. "Or do you want the same treatment as Essence? Do I have to show you something before you'll speak?"

Muershi replied, "…Your choice of words is incorrect. It's not that you have to show me something, but rather, you threatened me with the Poison Demon potion." Wen Ying's words made it sound like he was going to offer a benefit.

If Muershi had not just witnessed Essence being threatened by Wen Ying, he would have thought that Wen Ying was offering him a favor to get him to talk.

Wen Ying raised an eyebrow. "It's the same thing. Don't waste my time. Quickly, tell me what happened to that teleportation-type demon in the end?"

Wen Ying had a vague suspicion. Aluda addressed the skeleton in the coffin in the living room as an old friend. Perhaps that was the teleportation-type demon that Muershi had mentioned.

He must have sustained fatal injuries, and Aluda's resurrection research had been only half successful, resulting in his current inhuman state.

"Although that teleportation-type demon was only a low-ranking demon, the extremist faction wouldn't let him go," Muershi said leisurely. "It was a very traditional ending. They were hunted down, and in the end, the teleportation-type demon died."

Wen Ying was listening attentively, eager to know the details. However, Muershi's casual few words left him stunned. "What about the process?"

Muershi crossed his arms and leaned nonchalantly against the adjacent door, "That's it."

"That's it?!" Wen Ying's voice rose in pitch as he seized Muershi's shoulders and shook him vigorously. "Hey, hey, this isn't like you. Come on, spill what you know."

Muershi swayed back and forth from the shaking. "I really don't know."

"You can't fool me!"

"You have to believe me."

"Quickly, don't make me resort to using potions."

Muershi looked innocent, "I genuinely don't know. Alruda has erased a lot of her past herself. It's all shrouded in mystery."

Wen Ying continued to shake him, "You hardly tell the truth!"

"Alright, alright, stop shaking me or I'll vomit," Muershi grabbed Wen Ying's hand. "I found out that the teleportation demon died in the Eternal Forest, and Alruda seems to have built that castle at the site of his death."

"Wen Ying, spit out more of your assumptions." Wen Ying frowned, his gaze sharp.

Muershi sighed. "I really don't have any more. But here's my speculation, why did Aruda choose to build her castle there?"

Wen Ying scoffed. "Of course, it's for commemoration."

Muershi looked at him, narrowing his purple eyes slightly. His voice turned serious from being playful, causing goosebumps to rise on Wen Ying's arms as he spoke.

"What if – I'm just saying, what if that place is where the barrier between the human and demon realms is weakest?" Muershi stared intently at Wen Ying.

Staring into the Evil Bird's piercing eyes, Wen Ying unconsciously loosened his grip on Muershi's shoulder, feeling his heart rate accelerate.

Muershi continued in a leisurely tone. "There was one thing I couldn't understand before. Aruda has a deep grudge against the Extremists, yet she always stays within the capital and the Eternal Forest, rarely leaving to hunt them down."

"After finding out about this, I found it odd. Aruda already possesses immense power, but she doesn't leave. She often stays in that castle," Muershi looked at Wen Ying, "But when I saw you, a strange answer suddenly popped into my mind."

Wen Ying averted his gaze. "Hmm?" His great-grandfather had used a teleportation scroll to bring him to the demon realm, landing near Aruda's castle. So, it was possible that the location was indeed a weak point in the barrier between both realms.

"That answer is, Aruda is guarding that spot," Muershi chuckled softly, "Preventing demons from this side, and humans from the other side."

The secret of the lineage had already been guessed by Muershi, so Wen Ying didn't feel there was anything to fear. The goosebumps on his skin gradually subsided; the atmosphere just now had indeed felt like something out of a horror movie.

Wen Ying spoke in a normal tone, "I'm not really interested in hearing your analysis. I only want to know the process."

Muershi extended his right hand, flipping it up and down before suddenly clenching it as if he held something in his grasp.

"The process can be deduced," Muershi opened his fist, "It's so uncomfortable. At first, I only wanted to investigate your background, but I found no clues. So, I thought of starting with Aruda, but the information was scarce. If not for sneaking into the Demon King's castle to read the historical archives and then stealing information from my mother's study on the Day of Demon Birth, I might have never found a direction."

Wen Ying: "…What would happen if you were caught?" It sounded like a situation where one could have their legs broken.

Muershi grinned, "Of course, it would have been disastrous if I got caught, but I was quick and nimble, so I wasn't discovered."

"However, the historical records that were easier to sneak a peek at were not detailed, so I don't know the exact process. But I do know that Aruda's second Low Rank Demon friend was a Mirror Demon," Muershi pouted, "How unfair of them not to release any information."

"You must be the descendant of that Mirror Demon, right?" Muershi suddenly leaned closer to Wen Ying, their faces almost touching, "I had no leads, so I don't know who that Mirror Demon was, but I can infer that you are the descendant, which is why Aruda treats you so well."

"I'm quite troubled now. I originally only wanted to know about your background, but I feel like there's a conspiracy around me. Those elders are hiding a big mystery very tightly."

"This feeling is driving me crazy," Muershi's face fell, hugging himself tightly, "Do you know how uncomfortable it is?"

Wen Ying offered no comfort, instead saying coolly, "Who asked you to investigate?"

His emotions had been swayed by Muershi earlier. Now that he was calm and reflecting on it, Wen Ying realized that Muershi actually didn't know everything.

He guessed that Wen Ying was likely the descendant of Aruda's demonic mirror friend, and inferred that since there were no traces of him living in the demon world, he might have come from the human world, leading to the assumption that the vicinity of Aruda's castle could be a weak spot in the barrier.

However, Muershi didn't know about his mixed bloodline, nor that his great-grandfather had married and settled down in the human world for many years. Based on what Muershi had just said, Wen Ying believed that this was the direction of Muershi's speculation:

During the chase by the extremist faction back then, the teleportation-type demon might have accidentally opened a portal to the human world at the weak point of the barrier in the Eternal Forest. As a child, Wen Ying might have been teleported there by mistake, or Aruda and his companions might have sent him to the human world to ensure his survival amidst the chaos.

Muershi had spoken as if Wen Dingjue were already dead.

Essence had mentioned earlier that overly powerful demons would be rejected by the human world and unable to enter in their original forms. Perhaps, in Muershi's understanding, because Wen Ying was still young at that time, he managed to successfully enter the human world, while Wen Dingjue had died.

When Wen Dingjue first met Aruda, Wen Ying recalled his great-grandfather saying, "It's been a hundred years." During the academy's physical examination, Wen Ying's demonic bone age was displayed to be around a hundred years old. This timeline aligned with Muershi's speculative direction.

From these speculations, Muershi deduced that Aruda was guarding the Eternal Forest and waiting for Wen Ying to return from the human world. Since adult demons would be rejected by the human world, Wen Ying must return to the demon world.

In the common knowledge of the demon world, half-human, half-demon offspring were generally weaker than their pure-blooded counterparts. This could be seen from Wu Fei and Lan Jiaying. Moreover, when born in the human world, such hybrids usually had a dominant human bloodline. Thus, Muershi wouldn't have guessed that Wen Ying was a hybrid, but rather, assumed that he had entered the human world as a full demon and grew up there.

There was nothing Muershi knew that Wen Ying was curious about. At this thought, Wen Ying's face fell, filled with distress.

His brain was working overtime, but it yielded no useful information. It was a loss for both of them.

Both felt they had lost out.

Muershi messily ruffled his hair, resembling a bird's nest, and his face was etched with irritation. "What on earth is the Demon King and my mother hiding? It's so uncomfortable. Could it be they're blocking information to prevent the Extremists from discovering something? Why would they erase Aruda's records..."

"Hey, Wen Ying," Muershi looked up, "why don't you go ask Aruda, or sneak into her study... What's that under your feet?"

Lost in thoughts of why, Muershi didn't realize what the light glowing beneath Wen Ying's feet was.

If Muershi didn't know, then Wen Ying was even more clueless. He looked down in confusion. "What's this?" What was this new thing?

"Wen Ying! Get out of that circle!"

Boros suddenly appeared in Wen Ying's field of vision, as if he had only been a few seconds away. He must have been lurking nearby just now. Wen Ying's heart skipped a beat. Could Boros have overheard their conversation just now?

Startled by the possibility that Boros might have heard his conversation with Muershi, Wen Ying didn't react immediately. Even when Boros yelled at him to leave, he didn't move right away. Instead, he instinctively reached out to grab Boros' hand, which was stretching out to catch him while running.

In that instant when the two demons' hands clasped, their figures vanished amidst the radiance.

"Damn it!" Muershi's dazed mind snapped back, and he thumped his thigh hard. "An Exorcist's summoning array!"

Demons in the vicinity, sensing the unusual magical fluctuations, halted their steps to look over. Initially confused, they grasped the situation upon hearing Muershi's astonished cry, and began to murmur among themselves.

Feng Luo and Lai Yehua, as well as other demon teachers, detected the teleportation aura and hurried to the scene.

"What happened?"

Muershi didn't wish to admit that his momentary lapse had prevented him from reacting promptly to pull Wen Ying out of the Exorcist's compulsory demonic summoning array.

Hopefully, that guy Wen Ying was... alright?

Wu Fei stared in shock at the spot where Wen Ying had disappeared. There was still a residue of magic power, and spatial ripples hadn't dissipated yet. He was astounded. Could it be that his request just now had somehow transported Wen Ying to the Human Realm?

...

Dizzy and nauseous, it felt as if he had spun around dozens of times on the spot. The ground beneath his feet seemed to lack solidity, and everything around him seemed distorted. His body kept tilting, and he struggled to maintain his balance.

Wen Ying currently felt as if he were being propelled forward in a constant tilt. If this had happened at home, he would have crashed into something after just a few spins. Yet here, there seemed to be no end to the endless space around him.

Something was nestled in his arms, and Wen Ying clung to it desperately, finding it unbearable even to open his eyes, for all he could see were jumbled, distorted rays of light that only worsened his nausea. He had no choice but to shut them tight.

Time seemed to stretch on indefinitely – it could have been mere seconds or several minutes – until finally, Wen Ying's body collided with something solid. His tilted trajectory brought him to rest on the cold ground.

A groan escaped his throat as he sprawled on his side, feeling utterly drained. The urge to vomit was overwhelming, leaving him with no energy to take note of his surroundings. He closed his eyes, trying to quell the sensation.

In his arms, the unknown furry object kicked furiously at Wen Ying's chin.

"What is that? A white demon?"

"Look, Lu Qingyuan summoned a weakling demon. Just like him, always at the back of the pack, ha-ha."

"Could this be the legendary Mirror Demon, weaker than even an intermediate-grade demon?!"

"Ha-ha-ha, I can't believe it's a Mirror Demon. That's hilarious!"

The noise was unbearable. Wen Ying lifted his head, his expression dark and irritable. The nausea was intense, exacerbated by the incessant chatter around him.

"How terrifying his gaze is, Lu Qingyuan. You truly have bad luck. Not only did you summon a Mirror Demon with a precious high-level summoning spell that's inferior to even a Low Rank Demon, but it also has a terrible temper. How unfortunate..."

Wen Ying flicked his tail behind him, sending out a Vine Card from his Platinum Tail Ring, instantly binding the noisy creature that was causing his headache to worsen.

"What is this?!"

"Vines?!"

"Teacher! He's being wrapped up like a mummy!"

"Woo! Wuh-wooh—"

Feeling a hostile magical attack approaching from the side, Wen Ying swiftly unleashed a Wind Escape Card from his tail, neutralizing the assault. The two winds collided, and the incoming wind merged into Wen Ying's Wind Escape, leaving the attacker momentarily stunned.

"Teacher! This vine can't be cut!"

Wen Ying covered his head, still experiencing dizziness and an overwhelming urge to vomit. His headache was splitting his skull apart.

"Lu Qingyuan, quickly establish a contract with your summoned demon to restrain its actions."

Summon? What summon? Struggling with a headache, Wen Ying's demonic aura grew intense. The moment he climbed to his feet, his harmless demeanor transformed into a fierce and irritable one, a presence that made the surrounding exorcists wary.

The fluffy creature in his arms finally kicked its way out of Wen Ying's grasp and headbutted his chin with great force, sending him reeling backward like a "KO" in a fighting game.

Lying on the ground, Wen Ying regained some clarity. His chin throbbed with pain. In his blurred vision, a puppy stood on his chest, adorned with black circular decorations around its neck and forelimbs. Its red eyes glared at him angrily.

"What's going on…" Confused, Wen Ying scanned his surroundings while still lying down. A circle of humans surrounded him, along with a few demons.

Wait, there were more humans than demons?

Wen Ying sat up abruptly, as if startled from a near-death experience. The puppy on his chest tumbled off. He looked around at the humans with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.

"Summon?"

A boy who resembled Lu Qingtao approached cautiously, saying, "I'm the exorcist who summoned you to the Human Realm. Can you make a contract with me?"

Despite his cautious tone, his gaze was resolute and sharp.

"A mere Demon Mirror like you, Lu Qingyuan, why are you still asking for permission? Your teacher is right here, and yet you're still afraid?"

Wen Ying turned to the speaker, it had been a while since he'd heard someone refer to him as a mere Magic Mirror Demon. Instead of being offended, he found it intriguing. The young man who spoke carried an imposing aura and a haughty expression.

"Looking at me won't change anything, you're just a weakling compared to an Intermediate Demon," the youth sneered.

If it weren't for the fact that he was clinging tightly to the older man beside him, who seemed more powerful, Wen Ying might have believed his bravado.

Looking down again, Wen Ying guessed correctly that this was Beros. In his puppy form, Beros was about the size of a Pomeranian, incredibly adorable. His tail didn't resemble a dog's but rather that of a crocodile or lizard, with straight ears, one of which sported a golden earring.

Pfft—how amusing.

In his puppy disguise, Beros suppressed his anger and said to Wen Ying, "Reject him and return to the Realm of Magic."

The humans around them reacted.

Wen Ying picked up the fierce little dog and held out his hand to the young man with a smile. "Long-term or short-term? What kind of summoning is this?"

Beros bit down on Wen Ying's wrist in anger. "Don't sign it!"

Lu Qingyuan was taken aback. This wasn't how things were a moment ago. The Magic Mirror Demon had seemed poised to wreak havoc, filled with vicious rage, but now he appeared gentle and harmless.

"Form a contract with him," the elder man beside them suggested.

Lu Qingyuan pondered for a moment before asking, "Can you enter into a long-term contract with me?"

"Willing contracts are acceptable," Wen Ying replied, relieved that he had recently learned the appearance of different contract runes. Otherwise, he might have been fooled into signing a servant contract if the other party had used that rune.

"Do you really think you have a choice here?" the elder man interjected again.

Wen Ying looked at him, standing up with Beros in his arms. The man exuded abundant magic power, and from the confidence in his tone, he seemed to hold a high status here and was certain of overpowering a low-ranking demon like Wen Ying.

Noticing the two demons behind him, both looking displeased, Wen Ying deduced that they had likely been coerced into signing servant contracts. He silently assessed the middle-aged exorcist's strength.

"Bark off," Beros, the puppy, spat out two words at the man.

The elder man frowned, and the fluctuations in his magic power intensified, clearly indicating his intention to teach this arrogant low-ranking demon a lesson first.

Lu Qingyuan stepped forward. "Teacher..."

"Stand aside. While the advanced spell is your reward, the decision to form any contract with this demon doesn't lie with you," the man said calmly, his robes billowing in the wind behind him.

Hardly had he finished speaking when he shot his hand up, unleashing countless wind blades at Wen Ying.

Wen Ying raised his hand in response. The magic cards emerging from his spatial bracelet transformed into numerous electric currents, darting towards those wind blades like playful fish.

The opponent’s wind blades were also virtually instantaneous, indicating that he was likely an exorcist specializing in wind magic, with a high level of control over wind magic power and spells.

Observing that Wen Ying had just cast three different spells instantaneously, the exorcist appeared astonished. The fact that Wen Ying could withstand his wind blades with an instant lightning spell indicated that despite being a Devil Mirror, this guy was stronger than the few lower-ranking demons they had encountered earlier.

The middle-aged exorcist grew more serious.

Boros couldn't tolerate the provocation; his current state as a powerless creature had already filled him with rage, and any slight provocation from the outside world would set off his intense irritability. He pounced without hesitation.

Wen Ying: "!!" Boros was so small now, wouldn't he get hurt by the other party?

The middle-aged exorcist wasn't too wary of a small magical beast and casually cast a defensive shield... but the puppy suddenly burst into fierce black flames and collided fiercely.

"Phew-"

Boros effortlessly penetrated the opponent's wind barrier, slamming into their chest and forcing them to spit out blood. The black flames also ignited on their chest.

"Teacher! Your chest is on fire!"

The middle-aged exorcist, enduring immense pain, waved off Beros and cast a water spell on himself. However, a basic water spell had little effect on the black flames, so he increased its intensity to extinguish the flames on his chest.

A large hole was burned through the special fabric of his clothing, revealing burnt skin on his chest.

"What are you?!" The middle-aged exorcist was utterly astonished. The young people around him sensed the tension and grew nervous as well.

"A weak human," Beros replied, opening his mouth to reveal faintly visible, scorching black flames in his throat.

The exorcist felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy. He quickly chanted a spell, creating a magical shield around himself.

A pair of fair hands pressed down on the puppy's mouth, closing it.

"Don't be stubborn."

Wen Ying held the struggling Beros tightly in his arms, addressing the solemn and serious middle-aged exorcist. "Sorry about that, he has a fiery temper. Where were we? Right, you mentioned a long-term equal contract, yes?"

The exorcist accepted the offered compromise, though he couldn't understand why such a powerful demon from the Magic Mirror would have such an obedient pet. He reined in his magic and replied, "Mm-hmm."

What an embarrassment. It was just a Mirror Demon, yet... Hmm? Why could Lu Qingyuan summon its pet along with it? Wasn't the Demon Summoning Spell only for summoning demons?

The middle-aged exorcist was perplexed and surprised. Moreover, it was rare for magical beasts to be able to speak human language. What was going on here?

"Don't be angry, dear," Wen Ying kissed the top of Beros's head. The puppy's struggling limbs froze, and after a few seconds, his red eyes widened in realization.

"You're so cute!"

Wen Ying lifted Beros up and rubbed his face against him vigorously.

Beros finally came to his senses and struggled fiercely. "Let me go! Let me go! Don't be too much!"

The onlooking humans: "...."

"Teacher Wei, isn't he being too arrogant?" The proud boy who had been standing close to the middle-aged exorcist whispered, having put on a high and mighty demeanor earlier.

The middle-aged exorcist didn't respond, his expression darkening.

Demons were weakened in the human world. If not for the overly intense flames that he feared might harm the surrounding students, he would have already taken action. No matter how arrogant you were in the Demon Realm, you had to keep your head down in the human world.

Wen Ying nuzzled against Beros for a moment, until the deity, filled with despair, averted his gaze. Then, he turned to the boy who had claimed to be the summoner and said, "Let's form a contract."

Lu Qingyuan stepped forward, extending his right hand palm down in front of Wen Ying. In the center of his palm, a circular pattern resembling a magic array soon emerged, expanding layer upon layer into the air on the back of his hand.

Wen Ying examined the magical rune meticulously, confirming that it was indeed an equal contract. He then placed his hand on the rune, releasing his own magic power to establish a connection.

Soon, a similar rune appeared on the back of Wen Ying's hand, gradually taking shape within the luminous patterns. Eventually, the glow subsided, leaving it to resemble an ordinary tattoo.

Judging from the appearance of this rune, Wen Ying deduced that it was a long-term, multiple-use equal contract. With this type, he could stay in the human world for roughly an hour at a minimum, while the maximum duration would vary depending on the exorcist's magical power fluctuations.

"Contract established," Wen Ying withdrew his hand with a grin, saying amiably, "Please guide me."