“Hu Yijun!”
A black shadow burst out from the shattered rocks and fled swiftly into the distance.
“Can you escape?”
Hu Yijun said indifferently, then between heaven and earth, divine winds swept through.
“Ah—”
A howl of agony rang out, and the black shadow was forced to halt, revealing its form.
Surrounded by swirling black qi, with long arms and legs, standing over seven feet tall, eyes red as blood, face bluish-black like iron, sharp fangs and teeth, it bore no resemblance to a human.
“Luo Tao!?”
Xin Yuniang cried out in shock, utterly stunned.
“Even the True Desire Old Demon is dead, yet you, this whelp who has cultivated demonic arts, dare to lurk near my Dingfeng Mountain and cause trouble?”
Hu Yijun’s eyes flickered as he waved his hand at the demon once more.
In the next moment, the Gengjin divine winds slashed like knives, one after another, towards Luo Tao, while the black mist around him seemed utterly useless, unable to block the divine winds’ cutting at all.
“Chop! Chop! Chop!”
A thousand cuts, a myriad of slices, each one a lingering torment.
“Aaaah!!!”
Luo Tao screamed in agony, attempting to flee, yet bound in place by the divine winds, unable to move even half an inch.
“Hu Yijun! Hahaha! Back then, the Old Ancestor failed to kill you and let you escape, yet you don’t hide away to cling to life, but dare to show your face?”
Luo Tao burst into laughter, showing no fear at all of his impending doom.
“The Old Ancestor is dead? Hahaha, just you wait, when the Old Ancestor emerges from the mountains, it will be the day the heavens and earth are remade!”
“The Holy Spirit is without heart, the True Desire as proof, both immortal and divine, only the demon reigns supreme!”
“The Holy Demon Ancestor decrees: its heart is doomed, blood and flesh cannot sustain it, refine it to emptiness, desires boundless and infinite, thus connecting to the divine!”
Hu Yijun shook his head, and in the next instant, Luo Tao was sliced into fragments by the Gengjin divine winds, turning into a cloud of black blood mist.
The divine winds swept through, reducing the blood mist and black smoke to flying ashes and dust.
“This person is indeed from the lineage passed down by the True Desire Old Demon, and the True Desire Old Demon truly hasn’t died.” Hu Yijun said gravely.
Lu Zheng, standing to the side, nodded with a sombre expression, while rapidly counting the strands of qi fortune light drawn from the jade seal in his mind.
Another wave from a demon, and one from Xin Yuniang.
Lu Zheng blinked, feeling a sense of déjà vu like harvesting leeks, as if he had found another shortcut to riches.
At this moment, Xin Yuniang had already flown tremblingly to the group’s side.
“Hu… Hu Mountain Lord… that… that demon he…”
Hu Yijun glanced at Xin Yuniang, “Brother Lu discovered something off about this Luo Tao, so he came back to tell me. If not for his vigilance, in a little more time, your heart would have been refined into desires by him.”
Xin Yuniang’s little heart pounded wildly, her face drained of colour. Upon hearing this, she hurriedly bowed deeply to Lu Zheng, “Many thanks to Young Master Lu for saving my life.”
“No, no, no, I just passed on the message. If not for Brother Hu’s profound cultivation, we couldn’t have taken down this demon.” Lu Zheng waved his hands and said.
Though the demon had been bound in mid-air by Hu Yijun the whole time, that aura and presence were no act, thick and fierce, absolutely a terrifying existence.
Lu Zheng was very glad for his caution in returning to Dingfeng Mountain to inform Hu Yijun. If he had exposed it recklessly in front of Xin Yuniang…
The scene was too vivid, too horrifying to imagine.
“Naturally, the Mountain Lord Hu must be thanked, but if not for Young Master Lu, this concubine fears she could not have escaped this calamity.”
Xin Yuniang was clear-headed. What sort of person was Hu Yijun, did he need her thanks? Instead, thanking Lu Zheng profusely might even earn her points in Hu Yijun’s eyes.
At this thought, Xin Yuniang could not help but glance at Liu Qingyan.
What a pity, if Liu Qingyan were not present, Xin Yuniang would surely have offered herself on a silver platter.
“It is high noon now, if several of you do not mind this concubine’s humble abode, please stay for a chat.” Xin Yuniang invited, then looked towards Lu Zheng, “This concubine is also extremely curious, how did Young Master Lu see through this demon’s true nature?”
Lu Zheng had no objection, and Hu Yijun also wanted to ask how this demon had infiltrated Xin Yuniang’s inner circle, so he nodded and said, “Lead the way.”
Xin Yuniang was flattered and surprised, hurriedly descending her cloud, landing, and standing bowed to the side outside the cave abode, gesturing invitingly with her hand, “Please!”
Hu Yijun led Lu Zheng, Liu Qingyan, and the Hu Zhou couple to land at the cave entrance, then under Xin Yuniang’s guidance, entered the cave abode of Jiyue Mountain.
Xin Yuniang loved beauty, so though the cave abode was a mountain cave in Jiyue Mountain, the door was vermilion red, the inner walls polished smooth, and every few steps along the walls hung a bundle of torches, illuminating the cave passage.
After turning a few bends and passing through the passage, the group arrived at the reception area.
Over a dozen large luminous pearls were embedded in the cave ceiling, enchanted to shine brightly, even brighter than outside in the mountains.
In the space, an underground river emerged onto the surface, which Xin Yuniang had excavated, digging out a small pond, planting over ten kinds of flowers and grasses above it, and even building a small pavilion.
Xin Yuniang led the group into the small pavilion, waved her hand to dismiss several handsome young men, then hesitated on her face, “Please forgive me, sirs, this concubine’s previous meals were all prepared by that Luo Tao…”
Since Luo Tao had been exposed, how could Xin Yuniang not guess that those meals had issues.
“No matter, please sit, Miss Xin.” Lu Zheng said, then patted his gourd, and several dishes of side dishes and a pot of huangjiu flew out from the gourd, landing on the table.
“You have all seen me for who I am.” Xin Yuniang sat down somewhat embarrassed.
Hu Yijun was not polite either, “Xin Yuniang, how did that Luo Tao enter your chambers?”
Xin Yuniang sighed, “It was still this concubine who saved him from beneath a great serpent.”
This was just an ordinary story.
That day, Xin Yuniang had grown tired of the several young men in her cave abode, gave each some pills, sent them back to their respective villages, and leisurely patrolled other villages herself, seeing if there were any young men who caught her eye.
By chance, at the outskirts of one village, she encountered Luo Tao, who was coiled by a great serpent.
Xin Yuniang casually slew the serpent, and when she saw Luo Tao thanking her neither humbly nor arrogantly, and upon inquiring learned that his ancestors were scholars from the Central Plains, he himself yearned to leave the great mountains and return to the Central Plains, so he had set out alone northward. After several months, not only had he not left the mountains, but he had nearly perished in the serpent’s maw.
Xin Yuniang saw that Luo Tao was handsome and elegant in bearing, and took a liking to him in her heart, so she directly brought him back to the cave abode, and that very night they delved deeply into a splendid exchange of literary arts.
At first, Luo Tao still thought of leaving, but after being disciplined by Xin Yuniang several times, he finally gave up his persistence and settled down peacefully.
Luo Tao’s performance made Xin Yuniang let go of her last shred of wariness, and then when he excused that the cave abode’s meals were unpalatable and said he would prepare them himself, making food that greatly whetted the appetite, Xin Yuniang had no suspicions.
“So… it was because of those meals that caught Young Master Lu’s attention?” Xin Yuniang asked, looking at Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng nodded, extended his chopsticks and pointed at the side dishes before him, “Coincidentally, my own culinary skills are somewhat presentable.”
Liu Qingyan chuckled upon hearing this. Lu Zheng’s culinary skills were not just presentable, she had never seen a better chef than him.
“So, I was very certain that those meals whetted the appetite in a way no chef’s handiwork could, so I grew suspicious right then.”
Lu Zheng nodded and continued explaining, “Miss Xin does not enter the Great Jing and does not know, but when I chatted with that Luo Tao, I found his literary flair rare even in Great Jing. No matter how you look at it, it did not seem like something one could self-cultivate in the southern borderlands.
Or rather, even if one could cultivate it, it would not be something a mere twenty-something-year-old could achieve, unless he truly was a genius.”
“So, when I left the next day, I tested him once more.”
“That sword?” Xin Yuniang asked.
Lu Zheng nodded, “Even Jun Yu could hardly conceal his delight upon obtaining such a weapon, yet he was too calm then.
And there was only one possibility for that: this sword did not catch his eye at all. So I reached a conclusion.”
Lu Zheng paused, then finally said, “He was a great expert hiding his identity.”
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
What followed was clear: Lu Zheng did not dare to bet whether Xin Yuniang was a match for that Luo Tao, so returning to Dingfeng Mountain to fetch Hu Yijun was the safest.
As for why he said it was a demon…
Hu Yijun had just mentioned the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, and Lu Zheng had noticed his appetite surging inexplicably during the meal.
One must know, boundless gluttonous desire was also a form of desire.
