Lord of the night.

Chapter 1467 Living Towards Death [Guaranteed Two-in-One]

"Now, I have a mission!"

Fang Che smiled faintly and said, "Let's see if you, Bi Fangdong, have the guts!"

"I'm not afraid of death! I have no shortage of courage!"

"it is good!"

Fang Che said, "I'll give you this afternoon to make your arrangements! Come to the presiding judge's hall tonight and report to me!"

He smiled and said, "I have a very important mission for you this time!"

"Yes!"

Bi Fangdong was so surprised he almost fainted!
check in!

He understood what that meant!

Suddenly, it felt like a huge pie had fallen from the sky and hit me hard on the head!
I felt dizzy and lightheaded in an instant!
I... I actually have the chance to become a member of the Presiding Judge's Hall?! My God!
The unit that everyone in the True Cult fears like a tiger, yet everyone wants to enter!

The enormous surprise left Bi Fangdong completely dumbfounded.

Fang Che smiled slightly and tossed him a waist token: "From this moment on, anyone who dares to lay a hand on you will be an enemy of my Presiding Judge's Hall!"

He turned around with his hands behind his back and drifted away.

Holding the waist token, Bi Fangdong's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. After a long while, he jumped up, trembling all over, exclaiming, "Ah... I'm finally rich! Hahaha... The guardians were right after all! Good people really do get good rewards!"

……

Fang Che and Ning Zaifei walked forward, smiling silently.

I'm in a good mood. I was worried about finding a breakthrough, but I didn't expect to run into Bi Fangdong so coincidentally.

Ning Zaifei followed behind, constantly flattering him.

"Adults are kind-hearted."

"In my opinion, it's not that complicated. Twenty thousand families need food, drink, and spiritual cultivation—it's incredibly difficult. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. It would be much simpler to just cut it off completely, leaving only yourself to be fed and the rest of the family to be worry-free. But the adults have managed to make it seem like a great act of merit..."

"Absolutely amazing."

Fang Che could tell that this guy seemed to have something to say; Ning Zaifei had never been this talkative before.

So I just smiled and didn't say a word.

As they walked through the chaotic burial mountains, Ning Zaifei finally couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly asked, somewhat haltingly, "My lord, do you remember... the time we were struck by lightning?"

Fang Che covered his forehead, speechless: "Let me correct you... that's not called being struck by lightning. It's the formation attracting lightning, and we just happened to be at the center of the formation... so..."

"My lord is right."

Ning Zaifei immediately corrected himself: "I was just grazed by lightning."

"..."

Fang Che was speechless and said in a harsh tone, "Say whatever you want to say."

"I want to ask, sir, have you noticed that since you were struck by lightning... no, since you were brushed by lightning... has your cultivation progressed faster?"

Ning Zaifei looked like he had been holding this in for a long time and just had to get it off his chest.

"Ok?"

Fang Che remembered that time. Although he had taken most of the damage and the treasure was his own, the Undying Divine Soul Bell had blocked most of it for him. The rest... struck Ning Zaifei.

I remember that time this thing almost got cooked; it was emitting an irresistible barbecue smell...

And this guy actually didn't bother to heal his injuries, so he just dragged his half-baked body around to comprehend the teachings.

After that resurrection incident, Ning Zaifei disappeared for a long time.

Unable to contain her surprise, she turned to look at Ning Zaifei: "I didn't feel anything, so it seems you benefited from it?"

"Yes."

Ning Zaifei, beaming with pride, said, "Heavenly lightning pierced my body, and it wasn't ordinary heavenly lightning. Such an opportunity is rare in the world. I also benefited from your kindness, sir."

"Now that I've sorted out some of my thoughts, I'd like to... verify them with you, sir."

Ning Zaifei chuckled.

He was simply passing on his experience, but to make his superiors look good, he called it "mutual verification," and he himself felt: "Hey, I, Ning Zaifei, am a sensible person now."

Fang Che smiled and said, "Protector Ning is too modest. Please teach me your skills, Protector Ning."

"Your Majesty, your words are strong."

Ning Zaifei said, "After the Heavenly Lightning struck my body last time, I had to travel around for the first time because of the mission; but I locked that feeling inside my body. I only released the restriction after the mission was over."

Fang Che's face twitched: "Just left hanging there, half-cooked? This old devil is really ruthless."

"Under the heavenly thunder, all things are burned. It is the ultimate destructive power, but as long as you survive, you will find that the power of heavenly thunder actually contains the opportunity for regeneration."

Ning Zaifei said, "This realization puzzled me a lot, so I went to many mountains and forests to look for trees that had been struck by lightning. I found that after a tree was struck by lightning, as long as it was not shattered on the spot, it could quickly sprout and grow again. Although its appearance was no longer the same, its vitality was extremely strong. Other large trees of similar age, on the other hand, might wither due to insect infestation or disease."

"I checked many plants, and they were all like this."

"Moreover, after being struck by lightning, its shape became ugly and it could no longer be used as timber, which actually saved it from being cut down by humans. In many places, the surrounding trees of the same period were all cut down, but only this one, which was struck by lightning and became extremely ugly, remained there."

"From this perspective, it seems that the Dao also exists."

Ning Zaifei said, "I traveled to many places and saw many trees struck by lightning. I seemed to have gained some insight. After absorbing the power of the heavenly lightning, I slowly and bit by bit condensed the rotten flesh on the surface of my body into scars, which then peeled off layer by layer. When the surface of my skin was completely restored to normal, I found that there was a trace of swirling life force in my cultivation technique."

"What I cultivate are the Ghost King's Flute and the Night Demon Divine Art, which belong to the insidious and ghostly arts..."

Ning Zaifei coughed: "My Night Demon Divine Skill is from my sect... cough, not your... uh..."

Fang Che was speechless for a moment, and quickly said, "You can say whatever you want, I understand."

"Logically speaking, my cultivation method shouldn't be compatible with so-called vitality. But this time, it's perfectly integrated! Because this is the vitality of the Great Dao!"

Ning Zaifei's face was glowing with excitement, and his voice even trembled with excitement: "My lord... my cultivation has broken the shackles of my life and has begun to move forward."

When Ning Zaifei said those words, the light in her eyes shone brightly. It was a kind of soul-stirring joy.

But there was a hint of loneliness about him.

Fang Che could not comprehend the unbearable feeling of being stuck at the pinnacle of one's cultivation level, unable to progress any further.

That was even despair!

We're stuck here!
No matter how hard you try, you can only stay in the same place.

Not just one or two years, but hundreds or thousands of years! And they watched helplessly as countless predecessors who couldn't break through died right before their eyes.

That feeling of helplessness and despair is incredibly painful.

Then we will see countless geniuses easily breaking through the high levels they themselves had not reached in thousands of years.

Limited by his innate talents, he could only watch the other person's back with a blank look in his eyes. Did he hate his own incompetence? Did he hate his parents for not giving him good talents? Did he hate the injustice of fate?

But one thing is certain: not everyone in this world can be exceptionally gifted!
Some people can't even learn a simple dance, let alone martial arts moves, so they can't even begin to talk about advanced martial arts.

Besides being born into a good family, talent also separates people into different social classes.

Now that Ning Zaifei has broken through the bottleneck, this excitement has made him extremely happy.

But... Ning Zaifei looked around and realized that there was no one to share his joy with!
He could only tell his superiors, and while flattering them and offering his insights, he actually felt a sense of desolation in his heart.

"Great thing!"

Fang Che laughed heartily: "Protector Ning's breakthrough is great news! Tonight, the Presiding Judge will host a banquet, and I'll treat everyone to celebrate! Let's all have a drink!"

Ning Zaifei felt a warm glow in his heart, and even a little embarrassed. He had never experienced anything like this before, and was actually a bit shy.

It was only after Fang Che mentioned this that he suddenly remembered: he seemed to have never hosted a banquet or invited guests in his entire life.

I couldn't help but scratch my head: No wonder I'm so unpopular in the Dharma Protector Hall.

He smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, sir. Thank you so much! This meal is on me!"

"It should."

Fang Che laughed and said, "There aren't many things in life that are worth remembering, celebrating, or leaving a mark or memory on our lives. This time, Protector Ning's breakthrough can be considered one of them. Although celebrating with a banquet is vulgar, we must say that we are still ordinary people in this mortal world, no matter how high our cultivation level is."

"That's what my lord said."

Ning Zaifei was deeply moved.

When he broke through his desire to share his joy with others, he realized this: I am still in the mortal world.

This feeling arose without me even realizing it.

It seems that it arose naturally at the moment of divine intervention.

Then he also realized something: how much of a failure he had been in his life.

Such a joyous occasion, yet I can't find anyone to share it with!
"After the breakthrough, I went to the newly built Ning Family Compound and took a look from high above."

Ning Zaifei sighed, "I wanted to put on airs as the patriarch, give them some resources and a future, and also contribute to the family... after all, they're my bloodline. But instead, they're all cursing me..."

"Life really is such a mess!"

Ning Zaifei said indignantly.

Fang Che laughed: "It's your own fault for being heartless, so don't blame your family for scolding you. It's only right to give them a little something now and then. You decide on this part yourself."

Ning Zaifei was deep in thought, not saying anything, but a slight look of regret appeared on his face.

"How does it feel after the breakthrough? What rank have you reached? What about your combat strength?"

Fang Che asked.

"I was originally at the peak of the ninth rank of Saint King; however, due to my cultivation method, weapon, and my own meager talent, although my combat strength is higher than most geniuses, it is weaker than some geniuses of the same level, and I am far behind super geniuses."

Ning Zaifei gave a realistic assessment of himself before saying, "After this breakthrough, the next step is to take that half step. But even if I take that step and stand firm, at most I can only reach seventh place on the Cloud Weapon Ranking."

"Although the breakthrough was facilitated by the power of the Heavenly Thunder of the Great Dao..."

Ning Zaifei's face showed a faint sense of melancholy: "...My lord, my family background when I was young was far inferior to that of other prominent families. Therefore, it is very likely that I will remain at the ninth level and will not be able to advance."

"But their combat strength will be higher than it is now."

Ning Zaifei's eyes gleamed: "But I've already started to move forward, and that's a huge step forward for me."

Fang Che understood.

Ning Zaifei is now at the forefront, and the swordsman in the mortal world is calm and composed.

Fang Che didn't know if Feng Congrong had made any breakthroughs recently, but based on Ning Zaifei's current situation, it seemed unlikely.

In other words, although Ning Zaifei was originally ranked eighth, his combat strength was still far behind that of Feng Congrong, who ranked seventh.

After this breakthrough, there's no guarantee that we can surpass it.

The reason lies in what Ning Zaifei said: 'They are geniuses of the same level, but what kind of foundation does the Feng family have?' Ning Zaifei lacked this. His innate shortcomings cannot be compensated for.

“But Bu Chou wants to get past me... he has no chance in this lifetime,” Ning Zaifei said fiercely.

"..."

Fang Che was speechless: "Have some self-respect! Why don't you talk to the head of the standard section?"

Ning Zaifei's face contorted: "Chief Duan, that's a human being..."

Fang Che's face also contorted.

That's really... a bit profound.

"And what are your insights?"

Fang Che asked.

"Insights are strange."

Ning Zaifei said, “My lord may not know this, but in my entire life, I have never treated anyone else as a human being; including my son and grandson, I have never regarded them as human beings. My master, grandmaster, senior brothers... colleagues and superiors, I have never regarded them as human beings.”

“In my heart, they have always held one position: superior, son, senior brother, leader. I don’t know if the adults understand what I mean…”

Ning Zaifei felt she couldn't explain it clearly.

But Fang Che already understood: "It's just that there's no emotion in it."

"Yeah!"

Ning Zaifei said, "Heartless!"

He gazed into the distance and slowly said, “I was born to a concubine. When I was seven, my family fell into ruin. My father gambled away everything and pawned me to an old gambler who was infertile and childless for a few taels of silver… Less than three months later, the old gambler gambled me away to another old bachelor… To raise money to win back his losses, the old bachelor raised me for half a month, then dressed me up beautifully and sold me to human traffickers. I was then sent to a place for training male prostitutes, and at the age of eight, I went to a brothel… I escaped in the middle of the night, was caught, beaten to near death, and thrown into a mass grave. My master, who was killing people there, heard my heart still beating and brought me out…”

His voice was calm and indifferent, simply glossing over his childhood. It was as if he were talking about someone else's story, without investing any of his own emotions.

“When I was ten years old, I went back and killed them all. I dug up the graves of those who were already dead and scattered their bones to the winds.”

He smiled and said, "Including my parents."

"From then on, I continued like this for many years, just as the world sees me: heartless."

"Because I've never treated people as human beings."

"Because I've never considered myself a human being either."

"When I was a child, I was a chip on the gambling table, and I still am now; even now, when I'm on a very, very big gambling table, I'm still a chip."

"Do chips have the right to be considered human beings?"

Ning Zaifei spoke slowly, her calm and even voice touching Fang Che's heart.

"This breakthrough, aided by the Heavenly Thunder of the Great Dao, has given me a glimmer of hope."

Ning Zaifei smiled and said, "I feel like... I'm a person again. It seems I'm still living in this mortal world..."

"This is my feeling about this breakthrough. I like it a little, but it feels unfamiliar, and I also feel some fear and aversion."

Ning Zaifei slowly said, "After gaining this insight, I feel that my realm has advanced to a higher level, but the killing power of my Ghost King Flute has weakened. I need to integrate more vitality into it and slowly improve it again."

"This is a good thing, there's no need to rush."

After listening to Ning Zaifei's words, Fang Che felt depressed. After a long while, he exhaled and said in a deep voice, "Moreover, to a certain extent, this can also be considered a test of the heart in the mortal world."

Ning Zaifei smiled: "You're right, sir."

"Do we still owe the Yellow Springs a billion people?" Fang Che asked with a smile.

"Hahaha……"

Ning Zaifei said, "There is no conflict! My lord, one thing is certain: I generally do not kill without any reason or purpose, but those who are destined to die by my hand will eventually die by my hand, no matter how many times they go around. They cannot escape this, and neither can I. So in the future, I will still not be lenient."

Fang Che nodded slowly.

These words reminded him of everyone he had killed, the vast majority of whom were complete strangers. Yet, by some twist of fate, they had ended up on the same battlefield or under his blade!
Duty calls, stance is paramount, life and death are at stake, it's a matter of life and death.

Can you dodge it?
As Ning Zaifei said: There's no escaping it!

Life and death seem to be a destiny!
So cruel, yet so helpless.

"What are your thoughts, sir?"

Ning Zaifei asked.

My insights...

Fang Che walked forward with his hands behind his back, looking at the clumps of green grass mixed in with the withered grass by the roadside. After a long while, he said softly, "Living towards death."

"Ok?"

Ning Zaifei did not understand.

"To allow many to live, many must die. The executioner's blade is necessary!"

Fang Che said calmly, "People always say that our 'Only My Righteous Sect' has many demons, and even we in the 'Only My Righteous Sect' say that we ourselves are demons; but how can things in this world be black and white? Demons are not necessarily all in the 'Only My Righteous Sect' and the 'Divine Weasel Sect'. Aren't there so-called demons among the Guardians as well? And among ordinary people, there are countless demons as well!"

"So this is the only feeling I have: living towards death."

"Whether it's yourself or someone you care about."

"This is also what I've come to realize... the vitality of life that comes from facing death."

Fang Che's words were directed at Ning Zaifei's earlier mention of 'vitality'.

Ning Zaifei wholeheartedly agreed: "That's right! What you say is true, sir."

"Take some time to go back to your family and visit."

Fang Che laughed and said, "So many people in your family have died because of you. To be fair, it wouldn't be normal for them not to resent you. After all, they are your own family. Once you have a chance to live again, you must understand that with it comes ties. If things remain so tense, it may not be a good thing for your cultivation path."

Ning Zaifei remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "Let me think about it."

Fang Che did not continue.

Instead, they walked leisurely through the gates of Shenjing City together with Ning Zaifei.

The gates of Shenjing City were usually bustling with activity.

However, when Lord Night Demon and Lord Ning Zaifei walked over with such thoughtful expressions, the entire city gate fell silent.

Some people who were talking, whom no one knew, had their mouths suddenly covered by others!

"Are you out of your mind?! That's Lord Night Demon!"

"The Night Demon Lord, the most ruthless killer in recent years!"

There are children crying.

"Don't cry... if you cry again... if you cry again, Lord Night Demon will eat you up..."

The child stopped crying...

As they moved forward, wherever Lord Night Demon went, it was as if a silencing spell had been cast!

Not only did everyone fall silent, but they also held their breath.

Only after the two had walked away and were out of sight did everyone breathe a long sigh of relief.

My God, that's terrifying.

Many people went home sweating profusely, because they had to burn incense today; they had encountered an ominous star on their way out, which was considered unlucky.

Even the gatekeeper on duty felt...something was wrong with him all over. His neck hurt, and his eyes were blurry...

Fang Che and Ning Zaifei were so focused on their new realm that they didn't notice anything amiss.

As they walked through the city, a soft laugh suddenly rang out: "Lord Night Demon, you truly live up to your reputation as the righteous sect's Street-Cleansing Tiger. If you had walked any slower, many people would have suffocated."

Fang Che was taken aback and looked up.

A white shadow appeared in the sky, and a beautiful figure descended from the heavens.

His expression was aloof and superior, naturally exuding an air of disdain for everything. He seemed to completely disregard the Night Demon Lord, who was renowned throughout the world.

His eyes held a cold and arrogant look.

It is Princess Yunyan, ranked third among the four princesses of the Righteous Sect, who has graced us with her presence!
A slender and beautiful figure landed in front of Fang Che, her stunningly beautiful face veiled by a thin layer of gauze.

Like viewing the moon in the water or flowers in the mist, it is infinitely graceful and even more beautiful.

"I hope Miss Bi is well."

Fang Che hurriedly bowed respectfully: "This humble servant was unaware of Miss Bi's arrival from afar and has failed to greet you properly. I hope Miss Bi will forgive me!"

"Heh. You, Lord Night Demon, are a rising star in the capital! How could you possibly think much of me, Bi Yunyan?"

Bi Yunyan said coldly, "I have come here today to discuss and consult with Lord Night Demon... I wonder if Lord Night Demon will grant me this request."

Fang Che bowed and scraped: "Your subordinate will follow your orders. Please give your instructions, Miss."

"I heard the presiding judge is investigating a case..."

Bi Yunyan's eyes darted around: "Let's go to your presiding judge's hall to talk."

He then said to the people following behind him, "You all go back. I'm going to experience the might of Lord Night Demon."

"Yes, princess."

All the guards behind him saluted in unison.

The woman at the head of the group looked at Fang Che and said, "I beg you, Lord Night Demon."

Bi Yunyan snorted: "Please what? What can he do to me? Let's go."

Fang Che could only touch his nose and smile wryly: "Don't worry, everyone! This humble servant will definitely take good care of Miss Bi."

He then said, "Please."

"Humph."

Bi Yunyan tilted her head back, rose into the air, and headed towards the main courtroom.

Fang Che and Ning Zaifei exchanged a wry smile and hurriedly followed.

Ning Zaifei whispered, "My lord, this Miss Bi is rather arrogant towards you."

Fang Che sighed, "Don't talk nonsense. We can't stir up trouble like this."

“I understand, sir.” Ning Zaifei sighed, “These spoiled young ladies are the hardest to deal with. It must be difficult for you, sir.”

Fang Che thought to himself, "Making things difficult for me? No, no, I'm not making things difficult for you at all!"
I'll make her kneel down and call me daddy with one blow!

(End of this chapter)