Hell Emperor.

Chapter 669 Nan Linghe - Memories
Among the still-shaken crowd, Ye Jie also found Kanishka, who was trapped there.

"Are you alright? You look terrified. Were you abused? But don't worry, you're safe now."

Under Ye Jie's comforting words, Kanishka's trembling body gradually calmed down. However, the lingering fear in his eyes could not be dispelled, and it took him a while to be able to utter a complete sentence:

"It's over...we're all finished..."

"What?" Ye Jie glanced at him and slowly explained the situation, "The enemy who captured you has escaped. No one can hurt you now. You are safe."

Kanishka simply shook his head: "No...you don't understand. The power of the Heavenly Demons is already established, and all living beings are in danger..."

With Kanishka's explanation, Ye Jie understood the whole story and finally realized why everyone here looked so lifeless.

It turned out that his battle with Emperor Gouchen had shattered the ridge of the sacred mountain, and the celestial realm connected to the sacred mountain was also affected, losing its support.

The Heavenly Demon, who had been lying in wait, acted decisively and seized control of the Upper Realm in one fell swoop. The immortals responsible for the defense suffered a complete defeat. When Emperor Gouchen learned of this, he couldn't care less about continuing his fight with Ye Jie and rushed to the Heavenly Realm to provide reinforcements, but it was too late.

"I see... No wonder he left in such a hurry. I didn't expect there to be such a reason. However, if he hadn't been so aggressive and unable to distinguish right from wrong, how could things have come to this? It's all his own fault," Ye Jie commented slowly.

Kanishka was sweating profusely with anxiety:

"Now that things have come to this, how can a simple 'it's their own fault' absolve them of all responsibility? Even the Venerables of the Ksitigarbha Hall had long anticipated the rumors about the Heavenly Demons, but no one expected them to arrive so quickly. Once the Thirty-Three Heavens fall, no one in this world will be able to stop the Heavenly Demons from descending, and all living beings will be doomed!"

Yao Bai pursed her lips; no matter what the situation, her first reaction was always disbelief and skepticism.
"What Heavenly Demon? In my opinion, it's just your discrimination, just like many immortals discriminate against demon immortals, thinking that demon immortals should be inferior to humans. Heavenly Demon is just a different way of saying it."

Kanishka simply shook his head:

"Things are not as you think. The Heavenly Demon comes from beyond the heavens. Although it looks like a human, its thoughts are completely different from ours. It is born for destruction. Once the Heavenly Demon gains power, the earth will be devastated and its people will suffer. It is something that demon immortals cannot compare to."

Ye Jie seemed to remember something and asked, "Since you say that the Heavenly Demon looks like a human, how exactly can one distinguish between a Heavenly Demon and a non-Heavenly Demon?"

Kanishka answered truthfully: "Don't you have the Book of Life and Death in your hand? The files of the demons are completely different from those of the beings in this world. You can tell at a glance."

Ye Jie was somewhat puzzled and pressed for details: "Different? What kind of different method is it? Could it be that the Heavenly Demon doesn't have any records and can't find it in the Book of Life and Death?"

Kanishka shook his head and explained, "No, there are indeed people in the world who have escaped the Heavenly Dao, and their records will not appear in the Book of Life and Death. But the Heavenly Demons are different. The Heavenly Demons have their own records. However, the Book of Life and Death cannot find their specific records. If you really meet a Heavenly Demon, his record will be full of question marks."

"Question mark? Wait a minute, you mean..." Upon hearing this, Ye Jie frowned at first. Soon, past memories struck his mind like lightning. He seemed to recall something crucial and turned his gaze to Nan Linghe. Their eyes met in space.

Nan Linghe blinked and recalled, "I remember when I became a ghost messenger, the first person I encountered had a file full of question marks."

"That's right... If all of this is true, we might have already encountered the Heavenly Demon!"

Ye Jie took a deep breath and carefully recalled that since he obtained the main account of the Book of Life and Death, no one's file had shown a question mark.

Originally, Ye Jie thought it was because the Book of Life and Death had increased its access level, allowing him to access the relevant files. However, looking back on the years he had been a ghost messenger, the question mark had only appeared in the files once, and that time it was for Lu Xi, Nan Linghe's first mission target.

Upon careful reflection, there were indeed things about Lucy that defied common sense: her language was incomprehensible to everyone else, her strength was enough to easily defeat the judge of the underworld, and she possessed unprecedented magical abilities. If she were a celestial demon, everything could be reasonably explained.

"Should we say you're unlucky? No, maybe you're incredibly lucky. Your first mission after becoming a ghost messenger was to encounter a celestial demon. That's truly..."

The thought that the Heavenly Demon had been hiding right beside him for so long without anyone noticing filled Ye Jie with lingering fear. It was fortunate that Lucy had lost her original memories; otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble it might have caused.

"What's wrong? Have you perhaps seen the Heavenly Demon?"

Seeing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, and the fact that they seemed to be hiding something from each other, Kanishka also sensed something was amiss and immediately spoke up: "The Heavenly Demon is intolerable to this world and is the enemy of all living beings. Once you see him, kill him without mercy. Do not believe the Heavenly Demon's words!"

Ye Jie took a deep breath, gradually calming his thoughts, and transmitted his voice to everyone: "No matter what, only we know about the Heavenly Demon. Even if we tell others now, it will probably be of no use. Lucy did not come here with us, but is still in our era. Let's not say anything and cause trouble. If there is anything, we can talk about it later."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Nan Linghe, who looked puzzled. She still remembered how happy everyone had been back then.

At that time, everyone's strength was still very weak, and becoming an immortal was a long way off. Ye Jie taught Xia Wei cultivation techniques, and she taught Lu Xi to read. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, everyone's fate underwent earth-shattering changes. Xia Wei was the reincarnation of the most noble Xuan Nu in the Three Realms, while Lu Xi was the so-called Heavenly Demon, an enemy of all living beings.

Thinking of this, Nan Linghe couldn't help but look at Ye Jie with gentle eyes, her gaze filled with tender affection.

Noticing Nan Linghe's gaze, Ye Jie asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Nan Linghe gently shook his head: "It's nothing... It's just that when I think about how everyone back then had such extraordinary identities, I'm quite surprised. It seems that among us, only Jie Ge and I are not reincarnations of immortals or gods, but ordinary mortals."

Ye Jie smiled faintly, his memory returning to the past as Nan Linghe spoke: "So this is what you're talking about. So what if you're a reincarnated immortal or a demon? One day, we will all meet again. Until then, I will always be by your side."

(End of this chapter)