Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 419 Awakening
He immediately looked at Governor She: "You've met that Immortal Cui, haven't you?"

"It was I who led him to the Golden Hall. I know him."

"Does he recognize you?"

"Ah? I recognize you! Immortal Cui even praised me, saying I looked easy to refine!"

"Where are these three beside you?"

"These three are the minor demon's officials and yamen runners, and they've always been by my side. Immortal Cui recognizes them all!"

Li Wuxiang turned to look at Zhao Qi: "We need to go to the headquarters of the Blood God Sect. If Cui Daocheng is the master of the Cui Immortal, then the leader of the Blood God Sect might be Jiang Jie. I want to save both of them."

Zhao Qi was taken aback: "Who is Jiang Jie?"

Li Wuxiang replied, "I'll tell you when we get back."

"Alright, what about the other four?"

Governor She was initially confused by their conversation, wondering why Xu the Demon King had suddenly announced his intention to rescue the Blood God Cult. However, upon hearing the question, "What about the four of them?", he began to realize something was amiss.

He was in charge, and Youming was there to help him fill in the gaps. He immediately turned to look at the chicken demon and saw that he had begun to slowly move backward.

Governor She immediately realized something was truly wrong. The person before him was indeed Xu the Demon King, but the other one didn't seem to be the Corpse Immortal of the Blood God Cult! Everyone said Xu the Demon King was dead, yet now he was standing here alive and well… The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became—had Xu the Demon King defected to the Central Plains?! Had he been subdued?!

"We should keep them. Since that Immortal Cui recognizes them, they will definitely be useful when we get to Bixin Lake."

Governor She immediately twisted the snake's body, trying to escape. But then Xu the Demon King suddenly raised his hand towards the four of them—the four demons' vision went black for a moment, then became bright again.

They were all terrified and revealed their true forms, ready to fight to the death. Then they saw the scene around them clearly—twenty or thirty people with knives and spears were surrounding the four of them.

The one they had previously identified as the Corpse Immortal of the Blood God Cult suddenly burst into a burst of crimson flames. The aura and spiritual energy emanating from him made the four demons feel both hot and cold all over, and they dared not move.

"You shouldn't come out," Li Wuxiang said to Zhao Qi. "Lock up the four of them too. They're different from Sun Ji; you need to keep a close eye on them and not let them out of your sight."

Zhao Qi nodded: "Don't worry about this little demon—it's been quite lively these past two days, haha!"

Li Wuxiang's Yin spirit escaped from the Myriad Transformations Formation and found Chang Buqing again: "There's no need to do what needs to be done tonight. Go back and help out—when you get back, Sword Master Zhao will tell you what happened."

Then the spirit returned to its original form and continued walking forward with Kong Youxin.

Just now, his true form was accompanying Kong Youxin—they had heard her master's wailing from afar in the wilderness. Kong Youxin's expression was complex; she seemed puzzled, as if she couldn't understand why Zhou Xiang had lost his composure like this. She also felt a pang of sadness; she should understand that such a loss of composure must signify an unbearable pain in his heart.

As she walked, she silently moved her lips, and Li Wuxiang could hear that she was actually reciting the poems written by Zhou Xiang—Zhou Xiang's poems were so explicit and unrestrained that they had completely startled the child, and might even open the door to a new world for her.

Li Wuxiang didn't speak to her or try to comfort her.

Because he himself is also worried right now.

His original plan was this—

Since Zhou Xiang had many protective spells, he would trick him into falling into several traps to wear down his protective spells.

This is like a wealthy young master with a fortune running off to a remote, impoverished area. Having money gives him the audacity, but if you steal all his money, he'll likely lose all his influence immediately.

In the North Cave, his magic was almost completely worn away, and then he encountered Sun Ji and his apprentice in the South Cave.

According to Li Wuxiang's plan, Sun Ji and Feng Yuxing should also harm him and wear down his remaining protective spells. After experiencing two setbacks in succession, Zhou Xiang should understand how treacherous the outside world is.

So they will trust and rely on you, and then you can try to get information out of them to find out their purpose.

But unexpectedly, Sun Ji planned to use a honey trap.

To everyone's surprise, Zhou Xiang actually fell for it!
At this point, things weren't out of control yet—he had taken Sun Ji and his disciples away, so Zhou Xiang should have realized that "women outside the sect are too good at deceiving people."

But his mentality completely collapsed, and he blurted out everything he wanted to know, even handing over the physical body of the Dao-Merging True Man!

Well, he originally wanted to make Zhou Xiang a clown, to force him into a corner and ultimately into danger. At that point, he and Kong Youxin would be on the verge of death, the little girl with tears in her eyes, and then he would suddenly step in and defeat the powerful enemy, leaving the two of them utterly shocked.

Then he smiled slightly and said, "I have long seen through your identities, but I did not know what kind of person you are. Therefore, I did not take action when we encountered various tribulations, just to test you."

By then, even if Zhou Xiang didn't immediately bow down in reverence, he should have understood that "the swordsmen outside the sect all possess such unfathomable chivalrous hearts."

But now... Zhou Xiang is just too upright.

As a result, he became the clown.

Dao Shiye's matter is relatively easy to discuss, but Sun Ji's matter is completely unspeakable. Once many things are involved with romantic relationships, things become entirely different—Sword Sect Master Li Wuxiang has been secretly watching others roll around on the grass these past few days!?
You're despicable! Li Wuxiang mentally slapped himself.

Before encountering the four demons, he could have sent his men to scare Zhou Xiang again. But now that he had actually encountered demons coming to kill him, doing so would be pointless. Not only pointless, but also very dangerous.

Zhou Xiang brought with him thirty-seven Dao-Merging True Person Dharma Bodies; in this world, these things are truly considered priceless treasures.

Who came to kill him? Four lesser demons who hadn't even reached the Nascent Soul stage—their status and cultivation were completely unworthy of participating in the major event of "killing Zhou Xiang," or at least unworthy of being in charge.

This means there might be others. There might be other, even stronger individuals who would take over Zhou Xiang's physical body after the four of them killed him.

Since Zhou Xiang was going to send these things to the Blood God Cult, Li Wuxiang guessed that they were from the Blood God Cult.

Even more precisely, he guessed it might be that Immortal Cui—Immortal Cui had previously visited the Great Western Kingdom, and through the Great Western Kingdom, communicated with the people of the Five Mountains True Form Sect, and then devised this scheme. Certain forces within the True Form Sect eliminated Zhou Xiang, and the Blood God Sect obtained the Dharma Body—a win-win situation.

Since the demons of the Great Western Kingdom have arrived tonight, it is highly likely that the Blood God Cult is also nearby.

He had previously planned to trap the two of them in danger, and now they were truly in peril. However, this danger was beyond Li Wuxiang's complete control. At this moment, Zhou Xiang's emotions seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and he walked at a distance with his hands hanging down. Li Wuxiang and Kong Youxin followed him for about half an hour before Zhou Xiang stopped. After staring blankly in their direction for a while, he suddenly sat down on the grass and remained motionless.

Kong Youxin became anxious and hurriedly called out, "Master!"

She ran over while calling out to him. Li Wuxiang didn't run with her, but followed slowly behind. When they reached Zhou Xiang's side, Kong Youxin had already supported him, and asked timidly, "Master, what's wrong? Are you tired or sick?"

Zhou Xiang looked at her: "Why don't you two go to the Taiyi Sect? Why are you following me?"

"I'm worried about you, Master."

Zhou Xiang smiled and said, "Well, you did see all my embarrassing moments."

Kong Youxin hurriedly shook her head: "It's not an embarrassing scene, Master, you...you..."

She bit her lip, mustered her courage, and said, "Master, at most you've lost your composure. But in my opinion, this kind of loss of composure is good. It's better than... Master, when you took the Jade Blood Pill before. Master, you haven't said yet, are you tired or sick? Your heart fire is agitated, and this makes it easy—"

Zhou Xiang sighed: "I'm neither tired nor sick. I just suddenly thought of something, and then I understood something else. Then, it's like I just jumped out of that strait."

"Jump out? Master, what do you mean?"

Zhou Xiang didn't speak at first, but turned to look at Li Wuxiang and beckoned to him: "Li Xiao, come sit over here and help me think of something."

Li Wuxiang then sat down opposite him. He guessed in his heart that Zhou Xiang had probably had some earth-shattering realization about love again.

“I just feel like I’m not that smart.” Zhou Xiang grabbed a handful of grass from the ground and slowly kneaded it in his palm. “I was thinking about your master’s wife just now, and I felt like the world is so big, where am I going to find her? I felt so bad, I wanted to scream and cry. I actually screamed and cried, and I felt like I’d never felt so good in my life before—although it was very painful, it was a very pleasant kind of pain.”

"But once that initial burst of energy passed, I suddenly felt no more discomfort, only a sense of emptiness and exhaustion..."

Kong Youxin grabbed his arms with both hands: "Master, this is because you have been holding back your emotions for a long time, and now that they have suddenly been released, this is why you are like this."

Zhou Xiang shook his head: "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about thoughts or feelings, but about my mind. For example, when I took the Jade Blood Pill before, I felt like I was floating on air and didn't care about anything in the world. But when the effects of the pill wore off, I felt heavy and depressed in my heart."

"That's what I'm talking about. Like the matter of taking the Jade Blood Pill—when your master's wife was by my side, I admired and was infatuated with her. After she left, I was extremely sad and felt that I could ignore everything else in order to find her. I walked like that for several quarters of an hour, but just now, I suddenly felt tired and exhausted, and then I suddenly felt... that she wasn't so good after all. Tell me, why is that?"

Kong Youxin was stunned for a moment: "Yes..."

“I might have taken some medicine,” Zhou Xiang sighed. “I might have been drugged by your master’s wife.”

"what?!"

Li Wuxiang also let out a silent "Ah!" in his heart. He genuinely hadn't realized Sun Ji had drugged Zhou Xiang—was this man's method really that sophisticated? Was it for real?

"If she gave the medicine to someone else, it might have lasted a long time. But I took too much medicine when I was on the mountain, and the medicinal properties in my body were too mixed. The medicine that your master's wife gave me was neither strong nor domineering. As soon as she left, my energy dissipated, and perhaps some of it was neutralized by the medicinal power in my body, while the rest was dispersed by me. That's how I broke free and became clear-headed."

Kong Youxin was speechless.

She was stunned when Zhou Xiang handed over the thirty-six Dao-Merging True Person Dharma Bodies.

Now Zhou Xiang says that the effects of the medicine have worn off and she has woken up, which has stunned her again.

Her master's emotions were changing so quickly that she couldn't keep up.

"Master, so you... still call her Master's Wife?"

Zhou Xiang was silent for a moment, then said, "It's because I think she might not have wanted to drug me at first, but was forced by someone."

"After she drugged me, she probably really fell in love with me. Whatever the reason... whether it was because of my character or my background, she probably really liked me."

"Then, the person who forced her to drug me back then forced her to leave. She was forced into it at first, and she was forced into it in the end. I don't care about her initial intentions, I only care about her final outcome. So if you can find her, she will still be your master's wife."

Kong Youxin's mouth gaped slightly, speechless for a moment. Li Wuxiang was also speechless—he thought Zhou Xiang had suddenly figured things out, but it turned out she was still deeply in love!

"—So, Li Xiao, is Sun Ji still alive?" Zhou Xiang looked him straight in the eye. "Dao Shiye, Sun Ji, you arranged everything along the way, didn't you?"

Li Wuxiang was taken aback—his mind had truly been opened.

"You want the Dao-Merging True Person's body that I possess—where are you from? Taiyi Sect? Blood God Sect? Or are you simply not human?"

Now that things had come to this, he had no intention of lying any longer. He simply shook his head: "I knew about it, but I didn't arrange it. Sun Ji and Dao Shiye are not my people."

Zhou Xiang took a deep breath and stood up: "Is Sun Ji still alive?"

“Alive. But Zhou Xiang—” Li Wuxiang paused here. Then he slowly stood up and took two steps back diagonally.

He and Zhou Xiang were originally sitting face to face, but now they stepped back, with a distance of three or four steps between them, as if the two were facing off.

Kong Youxin felt that she had been in a daze and shocked all night. She stood up helplessly, not knowing what to do.

"But what?" Zhou Xiang asked.

Li Wuxiang didn't answer, but just looked at him—pursing his lips and slightly frowning. To Zhou Xiang, this expression seemed to convey both dissatisfaction and wariness.

The suppressed, cold anger within him, the anger that had been temporarily subdued by Sun Ji, was suddenly stirred up by this expression. Before he could even react, his right palm had already slammed towards Li Wuxiang: "I asked you, 'But what?!'"

The person opposite did not dodge; his palm struck "Li Xiao" solidly. But the next moment, Zhou Xiang's eyes widened in shock—his palm strike, imbued with hatred, brushed past Li Xiao's body like a gentle breeze, without even a slight sway of his clothes!
What he heard next left him just as bewildered as Kong Youxin—

"Come behind me," Li Wuxiang said.

He still had the same expression as before, unchanged. Zhou Xiang suddenly realized—he wasn't looking at her, but at what was behind her!

(End of this chapter)