Chapter 79 – Confrontation

Chapter 79 - Confrontation

Upon hearing this, An Zhi replied, "A millennium ago, in the mass grave, I saw bones at different stages of decay. Some were already bare and chilling, while others seemed to be peacefully sleeping amidst the pile of human bones."

"Yes," Lin Xing's phoenix eyes locked onto An Zhi's, "They were all turned into puppets, sent out from Jiu Li at different times, and thus appeared in varying states after death."

Ju Lang's own phoenix eyes met Lin Xing's, and in that instant, a bitter ache welled up in his heart. Silently, he stepped forward, positioning himself between An Zhi and Lin Xing, hiding An Zhi from view and preventing Lin Xing from seeing him further.

An Zhi remarked, "You're blocking my view."

Ju Lang remained unmoved.

On the side, Ye Lu couldn't contain her impatience as she asked, "Lin Xing, did you ever truly like me?"

Throughout their interactions, Lin Xing had always been cold towards Ye Lu. "No." Without hesitation, he added definitively, "Past, present, and future, it is impossible for me to like you. Absolutely impossible."

With such a resolute rejection, Ye Lu understood clearly. She displayed a look of disappointment, but soon forced a smile on her face. Her emotions shifted rapidly.

She chuckled foolishly, "For a thousand years, every time I've asked you, you've given me the same answer. I'm used to it by now. There's more than just our parents' enmity between us, but it doesn't matter. I'll wait, wait until the day you're ready to be with me."

Upon hearing this, An Zhi's nose tingled, and his eyes reddened.

Possibly because Shen Yuan's first love was present, Ju Lang felt displeased. He lifted An Zhi's face and planted a kiss on him, then smirked at Lin Xing triumphantly.

Still immersed in sympathy for Ye Lu and Lin Xing, An Zhi was stunned by Ju Lang's sudden kiss. When he finally regained his senses, he shrieked, "What the hell...!"

Seeing this, Lin Xing silently left.

Ye Lu hastily followed him and asked, "After wandering here for a thousand years, are you leaving right after just seeing him once?"

Lin Xing nodded and replied, "I've told Little Master everything I know. Now that Little Master has Ju Lang by his side."

Ye Lu asked, "Can I be by your side, then?"

"..." Lin Xing neither rejected nor agreed.

When An Zhi and Ju Lang returned to Ping Sha's capital city, it was already evening.

"Your Majesty!" A soldier rushed forward upon seeing Ju Lang, kneeling down with a thud and saluting with clasped hands. He reported with great respect but urgency, "Jiu Li suddenly declared an attack on the Realm of Beasts. Immediately following that, several people from Ping Sha vanished overnight. They were all found dead, their bodies dismembered and reduced to stumps. Everyone suspects that Your Majesty must have done something to anger Jiu Li, causing this calamity. They're now gathered outside, demanding an explanation from Your Majesty."

"How could this be?!" An Zhi seemed even more anxious than Ju Lang.

"It's not a big deal. Don't worry too much," Ju Lang reassured him with a calm expression, patting An Zhi's shoulder gently. "I'll be back soon. Can you manage to get back home by yourself?"

An Zhi didn't want to trouble Ju Lang further, so he replied, "Of course."

Ju Lang had been accompanying An Zhi all the while, and they had been away from Ping Sha for quite some time. After safely escorting An Zhi back, he left to attend to his official duties.

Daylight was oblivious to the depth of night, and the rust-colored twilight began to settle early, fostering an ambiance of tranquility.

Left alone, An Zhi sensed an eerie silence around him, as if something was watching him from behind.

He turned his head countless times but found nothing out of the ordinary.

The last time he glanced without anticipation, there was still nothing there.

Relieved, he tried to reassure himself, "There's obviously nothing there. Why am I always scaring myself unnecessarily, huh?"

Despite his words, he couldn't shake off the feeling that an indescribable presence was drawing near, causing goosebumps to rise all over his body.

He hastened his pace, jogging back to the bed, attempting to bury himself under the covers for a sense of security.

Just as he was about to dive into the bedding, a streak of black mist suddenly appeared before him.

"Ahh!~~" An Zhi let out a startled scream, his voice trembling with fear. His entire being was shaken, his mind blank, and he stepped backward uncontrollably.

The thick fog gradually dissipated, revealing the figure within.

"Hao Chang!" An Zhi exclaimed in surprise.

Hao Chang was shown to be intact, limbs fully functional. An Zhi was puzzled and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be reduced to a human stick?!"

Hao Chang replied enigmatically, "I have my ways of restoring my limbs."

Upon reflection, Hao Chang was the mastermind behind the Falling Flower Cave Maiden incidents. All the victimized girls had lost a limb, either an arm or a leg.

An Zhi declared, "You turned those young women into Falling Flower Cave Maidens, and the limbs you regained were taken from them."

Hao Chang chuckled mockingly, showing no remorse for the loss of those young lives.

He had no intention of wasting his words on those girls. Instead, he directly asked An Zhi, "I warned you back at the Jians to stay away from Ju Lang. Why didn't you listen?"

How did Ju Lang treat Shen Yuan?

Unaware of the truth and fearing loss, he desperately tried to make a corpse live on;

Ju Lang could find no way to convince himself that Shen Yuan was still alive. Thus, he resorted to that method to prove it, substituting one pleasure for another, imposing his own gratification upon Shen Yuan, trapping him in a decadent abyss.

All of Ju Lang's insecurities were inflicted upon Shen Yuan. Whenever he sensed the possibility of losing him, they would become one through the night, bound together with ropes, twisted into various positions, their bodies trembling and gasping for air.

In that room where Shen Yuan had been confined for so long, every step and every inch of the walls bore witness to their intimate entanglements.

At Shen Yuan's most disoriented moments, Ju Lang would say, "Promise me you won't leave, and I'll set you free."

At such times, Shen Yuan would plead in tears, agreeing, "I won't, I promise. Please let me go."

How could one trust a promise from a corpse?

From the very beginning, Shen Yuan had never had the right to guarantee his presence.

Thus, Ju Lang and Shen Yuan made promises to each other, only to renege time and again, trapped in an endless cycle.

An Zhi's aged face flushed as he muttered softly, "Rope... what kind of fetish is that?"

He then turned to Hao Chang, his tone solemn, "I don't want to be trapped in the past."

Hao Chang took advantage of the situation, "You may not want to, but he insists on keeping you there. With just a remnant of your soul saved from the depths of Yu Yuan, he pushes you into the cycle of reincarnation, over and over again, only to end with him killing you. The first time, he gained the power of an emperor. The second, he attained supreme enlightenment. The third, he became the God of All Gods, standing atop the Jade Mountain... But he still clings to his obsession, forcing you into countless cycles for his own refinement."

Indeed, these words were chilling, suggesting that Ju Lang was exploiting Shen Yuan. However, An Zhi had heard something similar from Zhe Dan—could Hao Chang also be a player?

An Zhi probed cautiously, "Zhe... Dan?"

Hao Chang was taken aback, "How did you know?"

An Zhi felt helpless, realizing that Zhe Dan was not only eccentric but also incredibly foolish.

He said, "Zhe Dan, you should take a break. No one will believe what you're saying."

Upon hearing this, Zhe Dan's lips twitched, and he looked up at the sky, bursting into a loud laughter, "Hahaha."

After the laughter, he blinked, lowered his head, and instantly transformed his demeanor, staring at An Zhi with a sinister, ghostly glare. "Since persuasion doesn't work, then I have no choice but to..."

Before Zhe Dan could finish, An Zhi sensed impending danger and turned to run.

As he pushed open the door, a gust of wind brushed against his cheek. Shi Liuli appeared outside the hall with Jian Fengzi in tow.

Jian Fengzi cried out for help, "An Zhi, save me!! ——"

In the next second, Shi Liuli whisked Jian Fengzi away once more.

"Little Feng!" Hearing Jian Fengzi's voice fade, An Zhi didn't hesitate and started chasing after them.

After weaving through various paths, An Zhi caught up to the two of them in front of the Orchid Pavilion.

Stopping at the entrance, he muttered to himself, "Shi Liuli could have gone anywhere, yet she specifically lured me to the Orchid Pavilion... This must be a trap..."

But could he not save Little Feng?

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and pushed open the long-sealed gate of the Orchid Pavilion, which had lain untouched for a thousand years.

In the garden, the Night Orchids still bloomed radiantly, their colors as elegant and soft as ever, their fragrance wafting far and wide, subtle yet profound.

An Zhi followed Shi Liuli deeper in, all the way to Shen Yuan's former bedroom within the Orchid Retreat.

Just as he was about to push the door open, his wrist was suddenly grasped.

Startled, he turned to see Ju Lang. With a serious expression, he said, "You can't go in."

"But Little Feng…" An Zhi protested.

Ju Lang firmly denied, "There is no Little Feng in there."

Confused, An Zhi replied, "I clearly saw Shi Liuli bring him in here…"

As they spoke, Jian Fengzi's voice echoed from inside the room, "An Zhi!! —— Save me!! ——"

"Listen!" An Zhi grew agitated.

Ju Lang's face darkened, his phoenix eyes turning deep and intense. He pulled An Zhi away from the Orchid Retreat with force, somewhat angered, "I just came out from inside. If I say there's no one, then there's no one."

As the words faded, a wisp of purple smoke drifted between the two, making its way towards the bedroom.

Suddenly, with a bang, the main door opened inexplicably.

An Zhi went to investigate.

Ju Lang bellowed, "Don't look!"

Amidst the pungent smell of blood, everything came into An Zhi's view.

Before him, thousands of blood-stained sacks were arranged in a uniform prostrating position on the green stone floor of the palace hall.

And they were kneeling before an image of Shen Yuan!

At that moment, a horde of demons emerged from the inner chamber of the palace. Pointing at An Zhi, they exclaimed, "Look, it's the Demon God Shen Yuan! As expected, the Demon King has formed an alliance with the Demon God against Nine Li, bringing calamity upon our Realm of Demons!"

At this instant, a crane's cry pierced the air as a pair of white cranes soared through the clouds. A figure descended gracefully from the heavens, landing lightly on the rooftop.

The cries of the cranes grew distant, and An Zhi glanced at the figure on the roof. Before he could make out who it was, the person spoke first, "Elder Brother."

"Damn it!" An Zhi wished he could bury Dian Shan beneath the earth's surface. "Why do you always oppose me?!"

As his exclamation faded, a fierce gust of wind stirred the grass, trees, and flowers in the Orchid Garden. A black figure darted over to Dian Shan like lightning.

"It's Lord Zhe Dan," the shadow revealed itself to be. He bowed respectfully to Dian Shan, saying, "I've brought Shen Yuan here as per your instructions."

Dian Shan cast him a sidelong glance, then nonchalantly responded with an "oh." He flicked his sleeves.

In the next instant, the countless bags in the bedroom ripped open, exposing their contents.

They were the corpses of people that had been reduced to sticks!

All of them lay face down on the ground with their eyes shut, their deathly pale faces tinged with a bluish hue. Their expressions were serene.

At first glance, they seemed like devout worshippers silently paying tribute to the portrait of Shen Yuan hanging in the center of the bedroom.

Upon seeing this, everyone let out mournful cries, calling out the names of their loved ones – fathers, mothers, children, and so on.

An Zhi instantly understood that these corpses were the loved ones and friends of those present. No wonder everyone had reacted so strongly earlier.

He asked, "The matter you attended to outside was this, and the people you were calming down were them?"

Ju Lang acknowledged with a "hum."

An Zhi continued, "You kept stopping me from entering Orchid Courtyard because you didn't want these people to see me, right?"

Ju Lang replied, "I don't know why there's a portrait of you in Orchid Courtyard either. They already know what you look like, and they're filled with grief and anger over their loved ones' deaths. If they saw you, it would put you in great danger."

An Zhi looked at the portrait hanging in the bedroom.

In the painting, Shen Yuan was depicted wearing a celadon fox fur robe, standing sideways. Opposite him was a skeleton also clad in the same celadon fox fur robe.

He said, "That was painted by Fu You. After Zhe Dan possessed him, he used that portrait to reveal my whereabouts to Dian Shan when he went to Nine Li. He couldn't have painted my likeness if what he said wasn't true, right?"

Ju Lang commented, "Since the painting is in Nine Li, that means Dian Shan was behind this whole thing."

An Zhi turned his gaze to the two slender black silhouettes standing on the rooftop.

Their black robes billowed in the wind, like the ominous aura surrounding a malevolent spirit.

An Zhi declared, "The truth is plain to see."

Dian Shan spoke loudly, "You have seen the culprit. Seize them at once! Wailing in sorrow won't avenge your loved ones."

Upon hearing this, the sorrowful cries around them instantly ceased.

The silence was eerie and unsettling.

Ju Lang took the initiative, bellowing, "The matter has not been fully investigated. I dare any of you to make a move!"

Dian Shan countered, "This painting hanging in Orchid Courtyard is evidence enough! What are you suspecting? That I orchestrated this?"

An Zhi rebuked sharply, "You know best whether it's true or not!"

Dian Shan asked coolly, "If you speak of evidence, what proof do you have that this painting was my doing?"

An Zhi muttered an angry curse under their breath, "This shameless one!"

To be fair, he indeed lacked concrete evidence to prove that Dian Shan was the one who hung the painting.

Capitalizing on the crowd's resentment, those swayed by emotions were unlikely to be rational or logical, and Dian Shan held no emotional advantage over them.

Ju Lang challenged Dian Shan, "But your claim that the hanging painting is somehow connected to these demons' deaths is merely a speculation."

An Zhi chimed in, "That's right, that's right."

Dian Shan remained calm while Zhe Dan grew agitated, bellowing, "How dare you!"

"Doubtless, it might be a speculation in your eyes, but the masses do not see it that way," Dian Shan's gaze turned icy as his tone turned cold. "You continually shield the Demon God, and He seems to have a long-standing acquaintance with you. Could it be that both of you were involved in this calamity?"

Zhe Dan fueled the fire, "I saw the Demon God within Ping Sha Palace. If they didn't know each other, why would the Demon God appear there? Walking side by side with the Demon King and even sharing the same quarters?"

With a sinister tone, Dian Shan whispered like a cunning instigator, "The current Demon King was raised by the Demon God. If you truly had no collusion, it would be hard for others to believe that."

Unwilling to miss out on the spectacle, Zhe Dan continued to echo Dian Shan's words, "Then, Demon King, please explain why you persist in protecting the Demon God. Was today's incident a joint effort between you and the Demon God?"

Upon hearing this, the confused demons started clamoring for an explanation from Ju Lang.

"Please, Your Majesty, clarify the connection between you and the Demon Sovereign!"

"Yes, yes, we can't have an unclear figure as our ruler."

"If you can't provide an explanation, Your Majesty, then please step down so we may seek a new sovereign."

Listening to the crowd's remarks, Dian Shan and Hao Chang echoed each other's words, making An Zhi understand one thing:

Zhe Dan and Dian Shan appearing together at the Joyous God Bureau indicated that they had already formed an alliance.

If he stayed by Ju Lang's side, the only one hurt would be Ju Lang himself.

Silently stepping out from behind Ju Lang, An Zhi declared solemnly, "It was I who threatened Ju Lang..."

"Ayuan!" Before An Zhi could finish, Ju Lang hastily interrupted him.

In a fit of anger, An Zhi pulled Ju Lang's neck closer, giving him a sudden kiss before pulling away and warning in a low voice, "I'm not Shen Yuan. Our positions aren't set in stone. If you dare say another word, you'll regret it later!"

Ju Lang's neck reddened, extending to his cheeks, as he bashfully lowered his head.

With a victorious grin on his face, An Zhi addressed the crowd, "Now do you believe that I coerced Ju Lang?"

Everyone was left speechless by the scene.

Zhe Dan turned his head aside and muttered, "How vulgar, how utterly vulgar..."

Dian Shan remained expressionless. "So you're admitting that these corpses, reduced to mere sticks, were your doing?"

An Zhi was taken aback. "Hey! Don't put the blame on me!"

"Deflection!" Zhe Dan declared loudly. "If not for some purpose, why would you force our Demon King to assist you in such atrocities?"

"Who says I needed to force someone to be my accomplice in violence? !" An Zhi's voice wavered slightly as he continued, "I... I like your Demon King... isn't that allowed?"

Upon hearing this, Zhe Dan turned away once more, muttering under his breath, "To speak such feral words in broad daylight, shameless indeed!"

"Enough." At that moment, with a swish of his robe, Ju Lang crouched down, extending his long, bony fingers to press gently onto the ground. He chanted in a mantra-like manner, "No deity can surpass, living souls hasten, departed souls depart."

As he finished speaking, countless spirits rose from the ground beside the multitude of corpses.

Dian Shan narrowed his eyes. "Reckoning? Huh, I actually forgot—" Irritated, he swept his sleeves and turned to leave.

Zhe Dan intercepted him. "Emperor Dian is leaving just like that?"

"The situation is settled," Dian Shan said coldly. "I advise you to let me go immediately, or don't blame me for turning against you."

Confused, Zhe Dan replied, "So far, we've been in the upper hand."

Then, Ju Lang's voice echoed among the spirits. "Who killed you?!"

His voice boomed, and the countless spirits cried in unison, "Hao Chang!!! —Hao Chang!!!—"

Zhe Dan's face paled. He sought help from Dian Shan. "Emperor Dian, please help me. I followed your instruc—"

Before he could finish, Dian Shan struck him with a palm.

Caught off guard, Zhe Dan tumbled from the roof of Orchid Pavilion.

Bang! —He hit the ground with a thud, his limbs detaching from his body and scattering everywhere.

In an instant, a surge of blood rushed up from his abdomen, choking him and rendering him speechless.

Dian Shan looked down at Hao Chang with indifference and said, "I nearly made a grave mistake. Since Hao Chang is the real culprit, I'll help rid you of this menace." With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" An Zhi called out. "Where are Chi Zi E and Jian Fengzi now?"

"I sent Yi Shujun back to Scarlet Water early on," Dian Shan replied. "As for Jian Fengzi, they're currently hiding in Ping Sha. You might as well search the palace."

Watching Dian Shan's figure grow smaller, An Zhi clenched his fists in secret. His almond-shaped eyes turned fierce as he vowed with determination, "If you keep opposing me, I'll make sure you and Jiaomiao die the next time!"

Ju Lang glanced at An Zhi, noticing the malevolent and cruel expression on his face, along with his sharp, menacing gaze. A dark aura slowly emerged from An Zhi's body.

"Ayuan—" He promptly placed his hand on An Zhi's shoulder.

The dark aura instantly receded. An Zhi blinked, looking at Ju Lang with his clean, bright, obsidian-like almond eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ju Lang chuckled softly and shook his head. "Let's go back."

"Alright." An Zhi nodded.

All were searching for the remains of their loved ones to carry them home for burial.

An Zhi followed closely behind Ju Lang, mimicking his every step.

After a moment, he turned his head, his gaze piercing through the chaotic crowd to fixate unwaveringly on Hao Chang's lifeless body on the ground, as well as Zhe Dan frenziedly seeking its next host.

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