Chapter 54 – Astray Demon Lord’s Son (12)
Noticing the gaze from outside the window, Chen Luosong turned his head and saw the two figures standing not far away.
It seemed the disciples on this mountain all knew him; they greeted him silently upon seeing him. The person standing next to the disciple awkwardly waved.
Pushing his hair back, Chen Luosong straightened his posture and stepped out of the room.
The disciple who had brought Qi Ming didn’t linger, leaving after delivering him. Qi Ming stood there, watching Chen Luosong slowly approach.
It had been a while since they last saw each other. The other person looked much the same as before, but the wounds on his body seemed to have healed significantly, and his hands were finally free of bandages.
Without the bandages, the deep scars were more visible.
“What brings you here?”
As they walked together to the courtyard behind the tree, Qi Ming’s gaze lingered on the scars on the other’s hand. He didn’t answer immediately, but when he realized the question had been asked, he finally looked away and blurted out, “Just wanted to have a look around.”
After speaking, he glanced at the person standing in front of him.
The other person was quietly watching him, standing in the light, which blurred the features of his face. The hand hanging by his side twitched slightly, and Qi Ming corrected himself, saying, “I heard you were here and wanted to see you.”
Chen Luosong listened, his faint smile unchanged. He said, “Excuse me,” and raised his hand, his fingers brushing Qi Ming’s cheek through his sleeve.
At the touch, the person standing opposite him was bewildered, his pupils trembling momentarily. Then, visibly, his face and ears turned red, and his mouth tightened.
Qi Ming wanted to speak, but his lips moved twice, and in the end, he couldn’t say anything, just watching as Chen Luosong withdrew his hand.
Chen Luosong retracted his hand, his expression unchanged, and said, “There was something on your face.”
—This emotional tribulation, it seemed, wouldn’t be resolved anytime soon.
Hearing this, Qi Ming turned his head slightly, unconsciously touching the spot that had been briefly touched, and still somewhat dazed, he murmured a thank you.
As he raised his hand, his robe moved, revealing a jade pendant with a green tassel and the sheath of a short knife at his waist. Chen Luosong glanced down at it.
Noticing his gaze, Qi Ming looked down at the jade pendant on his waist and asked, “Are you looking at this?”
As he spoke, he reached to remove the pendant, saying, “If you like it, you can have it.”
Chen Luosong said it wasn’t that and instead looked at the short knife, asking, “You always carry this with you?”
Qi Ming confirmed.
Although he hadn’t used the short knife, he carried it with him most of the time, as a kind of talisman.
Chen Luosong asked, “May I borrow it for a few days?”
Qi Ming didn’t understand why he needed it but handed it over without hesitation.
Chen Luosong accepted the short knife and thanked him.
Unable to stay away from the academy for too long, after a brief conversation, Chen Luosong headed back.
Qi Ming, who had initially said he wanted to look around, watched him leave. Once Chen Luosong’s figure disappeared, Qi Ming returned the way he came.
In the following days, the Elder did not appear again. Instead, the sounds coming from the large, empty valley on one side of the sect became so noticeable that even within the sect, they couldn’t be ignored.
During these days, Chen Luosong stayed at his residence without venturing out. The disciple who delivered the daily medicine in place of the Elder informed him that many sect masters and elders from other sects had arrived in the past few days. The atmosphere was tense, as if something significant had happened.
Although they didn’t know what had occurred, they could sense the external changes. The weather, which should have been warm, had drastically changed. Dark clouds loomed heavily, covering the sky for miles without bringing rain. The pressure was oppressively low, the wind howled through the mountains, and birds and beasts had all but disappeared.
At night, a sudden clap of thunder struck, hitting the vast valley and shattering the fragile peace, waking everyone.
Eighty-one bolts of heavenly thunder heralded the birth of a Great Demon.
This Great Demon, emerging into the world, would bring chaos, overturning heaven and earth. Only the Sword Sovereign, passed down through generations, could seal it.
Following the series of thunderclaps, the valley glowed with a fierce red light, its heat palpable even from a great distance. As lights began to flicker on across the mountains of the Medicine Valley, streaks of light shot across the sky.
When the disciples went to the quiet courtyard to fetch the person staying there, intending to bring him to the gathering hall where everyone was assembling, they found that both the courtyard and the house were empty. The person who had been staying there had left without a trace, and no one knew where he had gone.
Chen Luosong had departed as soon as the first thunderclap struck. The protective formation around Medicine Valley was difficult to enter but easy to exit, allowing those inside to leave without hindrance.
Although the valley was close, it was still some distance away, and many things were not clearly visible. To understand the situation fully, one had to move closer.
The inevitable event had finally come. Of all the plotlines, the only one still following the original narrative was the timely emergence of the Great Demon.
Chen Luosong had come to Medicine Valley precisely for this plot point. From the beginning, he knew that the vast valley beside Medicine Valley was not naturally formed but was the place where great demons had been sealed over the ages.
At this moment, if all went according to expectations, preparations for the formation around the valley had likely already begun.
While the sect did not have the ability to seal the Great Demon, they could assist in setting up the formation, maintaining its operation before the final sealing, thereby saving time and reducing the Sword Sovereign’s energy expenditure.
The Elder’s recent absence was likely due to his participation in this critical formation work.
In the middle of the night, amidst the continuous thunderclaps and flashes of lightning, Chen Luosong descended the mountain and made his way to the cliffside adjacent to Medicine Valley.
The cliff was steep and towering, but the clouds below had dissipated with each thunderstrike, allowing a clear view of the entire valley.
Where there had been no light, fiery red glows now emanated from the fissures in the valley floor, stinging the eyes.
Above the valley, a complex formation gradually took shape in midair. Golden light flowed, illuminating half the sky, and each operation of the formation sent gusts of wind sweeping across the vast wilderness.
The crucial Sword Sovereign had not yet arrived.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, Chen Luosong looked towards the darkened horizon before lowering his gaze to the exquisite short knife in his hand. In the relentless wind, he slowly put away the knife.
From this vantage point, he could see the brightest spots of light on the mountains of Medicine Valley. The sect members were likely gathered in one place, waiting together for the ordeal to pass.
If the Great Demon was not sealed, everything, near or far, would be reduced to nothingness. Rather than fleeing, it was better to wait in place. Although gathering together might not make a difference in the outcome, it could at least provide some comfort, sharing the burden of fear and pain, which might be better for them than facing it alone.
In the cold wind, the blood-red jade pendant that had been kept in his pocket began to glow softly.
High above the empty valley, in midair, the elders of Medicine Valley, whose cultivation focused not on spiritual energy accumulation but on other aspects, had been sustaining a continuous outflow of spiritual energy. They had resorted to consuming several pills to maintain the formation. Within a short span, they swallowed several more, enabling them to keep up their efforts.
They had to hold out at least until the Sword Sovereign emerged from seclusion.
The Sword Sovereign should not have emerged from seclusion without overcoming the emotional tribulation. However, the current situation necessitated his presence, forcing a premature break from seclusion. This process required time, the duration of which varied depending on the circumstances.
As the enormous white pupils became vaguely visible in the giant valley, the assembled elders felt that they might not have the luxury of waiting much longer for the Sword Sovereign.
What was already a dire situation became even more alarming as the surrounding air grew thick with demonic energy, nearly tangible in its bloodthirsty essence. The edges of the formation trembled under the weight of the approaching malevolent force.
A demonic cultivator had arrived, a formidable one.
Exchanging glances, some of the elders within the formation tightened their grip on their sword hilts. The blood-soaked aura passed by without lingering, heading in a direction that was adjacent to but not directly within Medicine Valley.
Meanwhile, in the valley’s crevices, the enormous eye began to move slowly.
With no time to spare for distractions, the people at the edges of the formation immediately refocused their efforts.
一一
On the cliff above, Chen Luosong stood in the relentless wind, holding the blood-red jade pendant that had grown warm to the touch. Hearing movement behind him, he turned to see a familiar figure approaching.
It was Zhou Ji. Though they hadn’t seen each other in some time, Zhou Ji seemed both changed and unchanged, smiling at him with the same foolish sincerity as before.
Chen Luosong asked, “Why are you here?”
Zhou Ji responded, saying he could sense the location of the jade pendant. He then added, “I came to deliver medicine.”
He put in some effort and finally got hold of the medicine herbs. Originally, he had planned to find the Elder at the Medicine Valley to deliver the medicine. Upon arrival, he noticed some commotion here, so he quickened his pace.
There was some commotion, but it didn’t seem like anything had happened yet. He turned to the person beside him and said, “It’s dangerous here, I’ll take you away first.”
Chen Luosong looked at him.
This person had been chased since childhood and later stayed here with him, completely unaware of the affairs of the cultivators. He had no contact with people who practiced Taoism. It seemed that he didn’t know about the Great Demon.
Chen Luosong said, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”
Zhou Xiaoji always unconditionally followed his words, so he agreed to wait.
Putting back the blood-colored jade pendant around his waist, Chen Luosong smiled and asked, “Is the pharmacy doing well?”
Zhou Ji replied that it was doing well, then took out a jade box and said, “I found something good.”
Inside the box was a flower, palm-sized, dark blue, with nearly transparent petals.
He said, “With this, your illness can be cured.”
Chen Luosong took the flower and looked up.
Behind the transparent petals, white light extended from the horizon, quickly piercing through the black clouds. The dim and intricate grand formation gradually restored its brightness, and the clear sound of a sword echoed from afar, landing on the formation. The white eyes peering from the cracks in the giant valley immediately closed.
The Sword Sovereign had arrived.
Light streaked across the sky, easily penetrating the black clouds. The ground, long devoid of light, finally saw some brightness.
But the light would eventually fade, and the black clouds would gather, blocking the daylight.
Chen Luosong gently placed the small flower down and smiled, saying, “I originally thought I could stay with you a bit longer.”
This was the first time Zhou Ji saw his smile with no trace of joy in his eyes.
