The soldiers in the city weren’t easy to deal with, as Chang Yuan had to protect the ordinary citizens and couldn’t strike them down all at once. The waves of demonic energy coming from Lu Mountain worried him deeply, but even though he had done his utmost, by the time he found Er Sheng, he was still too late—that patch of earth was already completely soaked in blood.

The air was thick with the acrid smell of blood, nauseating enough to make one retch.

Er Sheng sat alone with her knees pulled up to her chest amidst the scattered human corpses, her blood-soaked clothes a horrifying crimson. She buried her head between her knees, appearing as though she were crying.

Chang Yuan’s heart tightened and his throat constricted, leaving him momentarily unsure of what to do. He stood silently before Er Sheng for a while before finally stepping forward. He crouched down and, after some hesitation, reached out to touch her head.

Er Sheng seemed to sense something and silently shifted away from his hand.

Chang Yuan’s fingertips froze for a moment, but then he became even more determined, placing his hand on her hair and ruffling it affectionately as he always did. Er Sheng’s head was caked with blood, and Chang Yuan’s hand came away crimson with just a light touch. He said calmly, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Er Sheng still kept her head down, as if by not seeing, nothing had happened. Chang Yuan pulled her blood-covered head against his chest, awkwardly patting her back while whispering in her ear again and again: “Er Sheng, Chang Yuan is here. Don’t be afraid.”

Her rigid body gradually softened at his repeated calls, and her forcefully suppressed sobs slowly leaked out, passing through Chang Yuan’s ears like a hand with sharp claws squeezing his throat and gripping his heart, sharing in her pain with every breath.

“I… couldn’t stop,” she finally managed to speak after a while, her whole body shaking violently as she spoke incoherently, “When I… came to my senses, it was already like this… They begged me, begged so much… but I, I couldn’t stop, my hands wouldn’t listen to me, I couldn’t stop no matter what.”

“It’s not your fault,” Chang Yuan patted her back, striving to speak clearly and calmly. “It was just the demonic energy in your body acting up.”

Er Sheng’s back stiffened. She gently pushed against Chang Yuan and raised her head from his embrace, her blood-red eyes staring blankly at him: “Is this… just demonic energy acting up?”

Blue-black lines writhed beneath Er Sheng’s skin, each strand converging at the black flame-like mark on her forehead.

Chang Yuan was shocked, incredulously touching the mark on Er Sheng’s forehead. The moment his fingertip made contact with the mark, a sharp pain stabbed into his finger. He lowered his hand, his expression growing grave. In this world, only one type of mark would be so incompatible with divine power, so mutually repulsive. No matter how much Chang Yuan didn’t want to believe it, the truth was right before him.

Er Sheng had fallen from immortal to demon, and from now on would likely gradually lose her true nature, becoming a… monster that only knew how to kill.

“Chang Yuan…” Er Sheng saw Chang Yuan’s silence and felt timid. She clutched his sleeve tightly, struggling to suppress the trembling and fear in her voice, “I know I don’t look good now, all dirty and messy, and I know I did terrible things, but…”

Er Sheng lowered her head, looking at her blood-stained hands dirtying Chang Yuan’s always-pristine clothes. Her tears fell drop by drop: “Could you not reject me? Everyone else can, but could you stay with me no matter what I become?”

Er Sheng dared to accept all disgust and dared to face all betrayal and loss because she still had Chang Yuan. Her strength and defenses could withstand all accusations and abuse, unafraid of any loss—except for Chang Yuan.

Because she cared too much and depended too much, if he wasn’t there, her world would completely fall apart.

Without any attack, it could easily bring about her death.

Chang Yuan quietly looked at her for a while. His hand passed through Er Sheng’s hair to hold her neck, tilting her head slightly toward him. Then his warm lips gently pressed against her forehead. The black flame mark screamed its painful protest against his lips, but Chang Yuan seemed not to feel the bone-deep pain as he softly murmured: “I promise you, through life and death, I will never leave or abandon you.”

Chang Yuan didn’t know how much he loved Er Sheng and was too awkward to ever say sweet things to her, but he was willing to use his entire life to give Er Sheng a lifetime of peace of mind.

By evening, the two finally decided to leave this scene of carnage.

As Er Sheng’s mood gradually calmed, the black lines on her face gradually disappeared, the flame mark on her forehead faded until it was almost invisible, and the blood-red in her eyes receded, returning to their clear black and white. Er Sheng straightened her back, looked at this bloody ground she had created, silently knelt, and properly kowtowed three times.

“I will atone for my sins,” Er Sheng said softly against the ground. “I will atone for my sins.”

Chang Yuan, looking at her humbly bowed form, suddenly thought of Nu Yuan’s ‘prophecy.’ Given the current situation, Er Sheng would inevitably face imprisonment in the future, but fortunately, he had already been to both the Ten Thousand Heavens Void and the Boundless Desolate City.

Er Sheng didn’t know how long she had knelt there until Chang Yuan helped her up, saying: “I’ve heard that the Fallen Immortal Chang An fell three times and ascended three times. If that’s the case, there must be a way in this world to break the demon mark. We’ll go look for it.”

Er Sheng thought for a moment: “Chang Yuan, let’s return to Wu Fang first. Many books in Wu Fang’s library record Chang An’s story. We can look through them first, maybe find some clues, or we could ask the Immortal Lord directly. That should be much better than searching aimlessly.”

Chang Yuan naturally had no objection.

After they left, on the blood-scented ground, a pile of dismembered limbs suddenly moved mysteriously. Suddenly, a hand shot out from among the severed limbs, followed by another hand forcefully digging through the body parts. After some effort, the fat City Lord crawled out from among the corpses, panting heavily. He was covered in blood but hadn’t suffered any additional injuries, though the terror on his face remained as if his soul had been frightened away. He muttered to himself: “Wu Fang, Wu Fang…”

“The Wu Fang cultivators… are planning rebellion.”

Ao City lay far to the northwest of Wu Fang, and even flying by sword would take more than a day to return. Er Sheng had used too much spiritual energy earlier, and after walking for a while, her face turned pale and she could hardly continue. The two decided to stop at a town to rest.

Upon entering the town, they sensed the people were somewhat restless, seeming both excited and anxious. When Er Sheng inquired, she learned that so much had happened in the outside world during her time in the Boundless Desolate City.

The Boundless Desolate City had appeared, and when demons besieged Wu Fang, they were driven back by the Fallen Immortal Chang An. However, Chang An mysteriously disappeared into the city’s monument, and with Chang An’s disappearance, the Desolate City’s traces were once again submerged by the lake behind Wu Fang Mountain. But with the Fallen Immortal Chang An’s disappearance, the demons who had been intimidated once again harbored evil thoughts. This time they didn’t attack openly, but secretly captured many young Wu Fang disciples, torturing them for information about Wu Fang’s barrier before cruelly killing them.

The Wu Fang elders were furious and requested the Immortal Lord to issue a demon-slaying order, which was granted. At this moment, brutal fighting was taking place at Wu Fang Immortal Mountain.

However, just two days ago, a small immortal sect leader named Kong Zhi claimed that Wu Fang had been concealing the entrance to the Boundless Desolate City for many years, harboring unspeakable secrets and suspicious motives, warning other cultivation sects to be wary. He also claimed that the Wu Fang Immortal Lord had lived far beyond the normal lifespan of cultivators, and even his appearance hadn’t changed in a hundred years. Since he hadn’t ascended, he must have turned to demonic ways.

These words caused an uproar in the cultivation world. The various sects that had intended to help Wu Fang eliminate the demons all withdrew, remaining silent. Suddenly, Wu Fang found itself in the awkward position of facing numerous demons with the strength of just one sect.

Upon hearing this news, Er Sheng became too anxious to sit still and hurriedly pulled Chang Yuan to rush back to Wu Fang.

Having accompanied Er Sheng at Wu Fang for three years, Chang Yuan knew Wu Fang’s strength. He consoled Er Sheng: “No matter how many lesser demons gather, they’re just a disorganized mob. They can’t shake Wu Fang’s foundation.” But Chang Yuan also knew clearly that for Wu Fang now, the real threat lay in the rumors spreading everywhere.

Lesser demons weren’t frightening, but if the accusations of Wu Fang’s secret plotting were confirmed, then if Wu Fang faced real danger in the future, no one would come to their aid. That isolation would be truly terrifying.

“No, no,” Er Sheng said, “I won’t be able to sleep anyway, can’t rest properly, might as well head back directly.”

Chang Yuan said quietly: “How long can you maintain sword flight?”

Er Sheng was stunned, then looked at him pitifully: “Chang Yuan…”

They looked at each other for a while, then Chang Yuan silently turned his gaze away: “You need rest.”

Er Sheng dropped her head dejectedly and softly called out “Chang Yuan” again. Chang Yuan’s ears twitched, but he still maintained an expressionless face while looking elsewhere. Er Sheng tugged at his sleeve weakly: “Chang Yuan, will you let me bite you?”

He closed his eyes, pressing his lips tightly together.

Er Sheng disappointedly let go, but in that instant, her released hand was firmly grasped by Chang Yuan. Er Sheng looked up at him with delight to see his gentle expression, carrying three parts helplessness, three parts indulgence, and three parts reproach as he said: “You shouldn’t tempt me like this…”

Their lips met, and Chang Yuan sighed like one forced into addiction: “I won’t be able to resist.”

In the end, Chang Yuan transformed into his true form and let Er Sheng ride on his dragon horns as they flew toward Wu Fang, concealed by the clouds.