Demon Lord?
Zanxing was startled.
She had never seen what the Demon Lord looked like. Though Duzhou had many miscellaneous books about Gui Diao Tang, not a single volume contained a portrait of the Demon Lord. She could only guess at Gui Diao Tang’s appearance from people’s words. She had thought Gui Diao Tang might be handsome yet cold-blooded, with a cold and unrestrained temperament, but she had never imagined he would look so… elegant.
Like a noble young master passing through the water towns of Jiangnan.
It must be said that both Qinghua Xianzi and Bujiang had excellent taste in men. These two standing here were radiant just by their appearances alone.
“Demon Lord?” Bujiang looked at the person before her and asked in confusion: “Aren’t you dead?”
Zanxing: “…”
This questioning truly didn’t seem like that between husband and wife, completely different from the warm atmosphere on Gu Caiyu’s side. Zanxing secretly glanced at Master Ming Jing and Shaoyang Zhenren standing to the side, feeling somewhat uneasy. With such complex relationships, these people wouldn’t start fighting here later, would they?
Why were there always such troublesome matters wherever she went?
However, Bujiang herself wasn’t as guilty as Zanxing felt. She only frowned and stared at Gui Diao Tang for a while before suddenly realizing: “No, you’re a remnant soul?”
Gui Diao Tang looked at her indifferently: “Yes.”
“Remnant soul?” Gu Baiying suddenly spoke, instinctively looking toward Gu Caiyu. “What does this mean?”
Gu Caiyu sighed: “You should already know about what happened back then. During the battle at the Ruins of Golden Gate, this bastard sent a strand of his life soul into my body. We shared life and death – how could I let him succeed? Naturally, I perished together with him.” When Gu Caiyu spoke of this matter, he wasn’t sorrowful at all, but rather somewhat proud. “Who knew this place had special spiritual qi? Both he and I left behind a strand of remnant soul, falling onto our magical artifacts.”
Everyone looked toward the broken flute and halberd before the giant pit.
“However, this remnant soul isn’t very meaningful.” Gu Caiyu continued: “It can neither repair the primordial soul, nor condense a physical body, and can’t leave either. Staying here day after day, there’s nothing to do but sleep. Today is the liveliest it’s been in these twenty-plus years.” He looked at everyone curiously. “You still haven’t said what you’re here for. Has something happened in Duzhou again? But the Demon Lord has been dead for so many years – what could still happen in Duzhou?”
Before anyone could answer his question, someone’s voice came clearly across the wasteland.
“So you’re the Demon Lord?”
The speaker was Gui Yansheng.
Having just used the Ten Thousand Ghosts Ashura Devouring Heart technique, this method was inherently self-damaging. He was already barely breathing, and after Zanxing took away the Xiaoyuan Pearl, Gui Yansheng was now no different from an ordinary person. He had been leaning against the cliff wall, covered in blood and wounds, his eyes staring deadly at the Demon Lord. Once again, he slowly asked: “Are you Gui Diao Tang?”
Gui Diao Tang looked toward him, his gaze moving slightly upon touching those golden pupils.
He asked: “Who are you?”
“Who am I?” Gui Yansheng slowly countered, suddenly beginning to laugh. The more he laughed, the more fresh blood poured from the corners of his lips. Even so, he still laughed viciously while gritting his teeth: “You ask who I am?”
“Your Highness.” Bujiang seemed unable to watch anymore and spoke coldly: “He is your son, Gui Yansheng.”
Gui Diao Tang was startled.
“I never interfered with your private affairs. But because of your moment of folly, the Demon Lord bloodline was left scattered in the mortal world, harboring resentment that caused chaos for Heishi City years later – this is the Demon Lord’s fault.” Bujiang spoke indifferently. “Your affairs should be settled by yourself.”
Gu Caiyu’s expression was somewhat confused, probably not understanding what this sudden development was about. The people around also didn’t dare say much – even if it was a remnant soul, it was still a Demon Lord’s remnant soul. Interfering at this time would not be a wise decision.
The wind blew, but the youth’s golden robes could no longer flutter, having long been soaked through with blood. He looked at the Demon Lord and suddenly asked: “Do you still remember Jiang Yiru?”
Gui Diao Tang looked at him calmly. After a long while, he said: “I remember.”
“You remember…” Gui Yansheng laughed lightly, lowering his head to mutter to himself: “How rare, that you, such a noble Demon Lord, would still remember a mere mortal.”
The Demon Lord was silent for a moment before speaking: “Is she dead?”
“She died long ago!” Gui Yansheng laughed: “After all, she was a powerless mortal. Poverty and illness could easily erase her life. The fragility of mortals – didn’t Your Demon Lord Highness understand this early on?”
Gui Diao Tang was startled, and those indifferent eyes seemed to show a moment of emotion.
“Don’t put on that deeply affectionate appearance,” Gui Yansheng looked at him with disgust. “Since you decided to abandon her, don’t put on airs after her death. You disgrace both others and yourself.”
“Abandon?” Gui Diao Tang’s expression paused. “I never abandoned her.”
“For the mighty Demon Lord, abandoning a human woman is nothing. Are you still trying to cover it up?” The youth suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood, gasping for a moment before speaking: “If you dare to do it, you should dare to admit it.”
“I did not abandon your mother.” Gui Diao Tang looked at him calmly. “Back then, she was the one who left me first.”
Gui Yansheng was startled.
Zanxing was also stunned. The Jiang Yiru she and Gu Baiying had seen in the Two Lives Buddha Wheel was impoverished and sickly – she looked in every way like a pitiful woman abandoned by a heartless man.
“Do you think I would believe that?” Gui Yansheng looked at him with a cold smile.
“She discovered my demon race identity.” Gui Diao Tang said.
Before marrying Bujiang, Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang had once had a woman he admired. This woman was gentle and graceful, innocent and lovely – the daughter of a wealthy merchant in a small city in Duzhou.
At that time, he was cultivating in the mountains when he encountered a fierce beast harming people. He casually saved the young woman from the beast’s mouth. That young woman was Jiang Yiru.
He was born cold and handsome, without half a trace of demon race ferocity. Jiang Yiru had never suspected his identity, only thinking he was a sect cultivator who had come down from the mountain to train. The young and lovely girl fell in love at first sight with her savior and gave her heart completely without reservation.
Gui Diao Tang also very much liked Jiang Yiru.
The Demon Lord hadn’t been the Demon Lord from the beginning. The demon women in Heishi City were mostly bold and unrestrained, while human women were reserved and gentle. He had been single-mindedly focused on cultivation to become stronger, but Jiang Yiru was like a beautiful little flower that accidentally bloomed in his austere life, decorating his boring existence with spirit and charm.
When Gui Diao Tang and Jiang Yiru’s love was at its deepest, he had even thought of simply giving up cultivation, not returning to Heishi City, and just being an ordinary couple with Jiang Yiru in the mortal world. So he didn’t hesitate to damage his cultivation, enduring pain to suppress the chaotic demonic yuanli within his body, pretending to be an ordinary person hiding in the mortal world.
He thought that paper could never contain fire forever. Lies would be exposed one day. If one day Jiang Yiru discovered the truth, she would surely be very angry. And as a demon, he didn’t yet understand how to comfort a lover’s displeasure. Before that happened, he needed to think carefully about what to say and learn how to make an angry sweetheart happy.
But man’s plans are not as good as heaven’s plans. Before he could figure out how to explain, Jiang Yiru discovered his lie first.