Chapter 141: Love me the way the heroine loves the hero
Xie Ji knew he had no choice.
The King of Bliss could afford to wait, but he had no time left.
The beast-drawn carriage slowly entered the Demon Palace, an immense structure like a devouring beast, oppressive and dangerous.
Clenching a small vial in his hand, Xie Ji’s knuckles turned white, the bottle cold and slippery in his palm.
A sinister voice echoed from outside the carriage. “Why has King Hanxiao been gone so long? The Lord is waiting for him to begin cultivation.”
The memory of his flesh melting away under Xie Que’s cultivation flashed through Xie Ji’s mind, and his body trembled involuntarily.
But that very pain brought a fierce resolve to his eyes as he opened the vial.
According to the King of Bliss, the liquid inside would merge with his flesh. Once Xie Que absorbed it, his strange cultivation technique would gradually be undone.
Xie Que resided in the largest palace in the Demon Palace. Inside, it was perpetually dark, lit only by two dim lamps.
Unlike Yu Le, once Xie Que had taken control of the Demon Palace, he neglected everything else. He spent most of his time hiding in the palace, cultivating in seclusion.
As he was pushed closer to the dark, hollow palace, Xie Ji thought of Xie Que’s current appearance and could only describe him as a “monster.”
The way he had become was the result of practicing dark arts, and even more so, the consequence of devouring his own blood relatives.
There were only fleeting moments when Xie Ji would recall what his eldest brother once looked like.
The eldest son of the Xie family from Shangshan, a prodigy blessed by the heavens.
Their parents had high hopes for him and set strict demands, and he had always lived up to their expectations.
But later, during an expedition in the secret realm, his brother was crippled in an accident.
He became despondent for a long time, transforming from a gentle and kind brother into a capricious madman.
Their parents were deeply disappointed in him and turned their attention to cultivating Xie Ji instead.
Perhaps out of resentment, anger, despair, or hatred—whatever the reason—his brother practiced demonic cultivation, devoured their parents, and fled to the Demonic Path.
Xie Que, the brother he once knew, had long since died. Now, hiding in that dark palace, was nothing more than a disfigured monster.
When Xie Ji emerged from that dark palace again, his cheekbones were visibly protruding, and his clothes hung loosely on his body, as if a layer of flesh had suddenly been stripped away.
He couldn’t even speak and was silently escorted back to rest by an elderly, low-ranking servant.
*
Near the dark palace, a black figure holding a sword stood in the shadows, glancing at Xie Ji as he was pushed away.
However, the figure didn’t pay much attention to Xie Ji and quickly turned his gaze back to the lightless palace.
This man was none other than Mo Cunzhi.
He had infiltrated the Demon Palace more easily than expected. In such a vast palace, only a few symbolic demon guards were posted at the entrance, and there were no guards or demon generals in the depths of the palace.
This suggested that the current master of the Demon Palace did not have strong control over this palace, or perhaps… the area around his residence was so dangerous that no one dared to approach it.
Mo Cunzhi had heard of Xie Que. Before Xie Que’s infamy spread, he was recognized in the immortal realm as a peerless prodigy.
But, like a falling star, he had disappeared. By the time Mo Cunzhi descended the mountain to eradicate demons and gained fame, there had been no news of Xie Que for a long time.
Mo Cunzhi gazed at the large palace in the night for a while before cautiously approaching.
If it had been in the past, faced with a “Lord of the Demonic Path,” as a disciple of the Immortal Path, he wouldn’t have hesitated to strike without asking questions.
Now, though he no longer held that stance, he still found himself here.
Beyond his desire to challenge stronger opponents and refine his skills, there was another fleeting reason in his mind that he was unwilling to explore deeply.
The black figure gradually approached the palace.
Xie Que’s response from within the palace was quicker than expected, and his attack was equally surprising.
Several thin flesh vines pierced through the windows, striking at Mo Cunzhi. Sensing the vibrant blood and the pure demonic energy within Mo Cunzhi’s body, the flesh vines coiled around him, secreting a saliva-like mucus.
Mo Cunzhi swiftly severed the vines, preventing the strange flesh from getting too close.
However, the severed flesh vines continued to wriggle, and the pieces that fell at his feet wrapped around his leg, preparing to stab into it.
Mo Cunzhi quickly flicked them off and sliced them into countless pieces, leaving the minced flesh writhing on the ground like a swarm of insects.
Mo Cunzhi had never encountered such a bizarre demon before. After weighing his options, he decided to withdraw after a brief probe.
He returned to his previous hiding spot and observed the severed flesh.
After a while, the pieces lost their vitality and dissolved into a pool of blood.
The severed, slightly longer vines of flesh wriggled like snakes, slipping into the cracks and disappearing somewhere unknown.
Suddenly, two slender arms wrapped around Mo Cunzhi’s waist, startling him as he was observing the vines. He instinctively turned and swung his sword, forcing the figure away.
A few steps away, the person standing where his sword pointed was Yu Le, who smiled and complained, “What has Senior Brother so focused that I managed to scare you?”
Mo Cunzhi saw his expression and knew Yu Le had done it on purpose.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to take a look at my future opponent,” Yu Le replied, then asked, “What brings Senior Brother here?”
Seeing Mo Cunzhi sheathe his sword, Yu Le approached with a grin, hands behind his back, teasing, “Could it be that Senior Brother came to help me eliminate my opponent?”
Mo Cunzhi responded, “I’m just here to take a look.”
Frowning at Yu Le’s youthful and carefree expression, Mo Cunzhi warned, “Xie Que is strange. Don’t underestimate him.”
Naturally, Yu Le wouldn’t underestimate Xie Que. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of coercing Xie Ji to cooperate with him.
However, the more Mo Cunzhi warned him, the more Yu Le wanted to tease him. Putting on an arrogant face, he confidently declared, “He’ll just be another of my defeated foes. Killing him will be easy—nothing to worry about.”
In the original storyline, Xie Que was killed by the protagonist.
The dark arts Xie Que practiced had turned him into a horrifying flesh cauldron, ultimately producing a strange “fake demon core.”
This fake demon core was forcibly fused with the protagonist, greatly boosting his cultivation and helping him reach the pinnacle of power, dominating both the immortal and demonic realms.
In short, Xie Que was essentially an experience bag for the protagonist.
Now that Yu Le had already stolen the protagonist’s demon core, there was no way he would pass up Xie Que either.
He was determined to win.
Seeing Yu Le’s overconfidence and indifference to his warning, Mo Cunzhi gave him a long, thoughtful look before turning toward the dark palace once again, drawing out those flesh vines.
After sparring with Xie Que for a while, Mo Cunzhi returned to his original position and pointed at the writhing flesh vines on the ground, saying to Yu Le, “Did you see clearly? He’s far more difficult than you think. You can’t be careless.”
“Got it,” Yu Le replied, looking Mo Cunzhi up and down before resting his chin on his hand, asking playfully, “Senior Brother is so worried about me, I’m starting to wonder if you might actually like me.”
Mo Cunzhi remained silent, his expression unreadable, before turning away and disappearing into the night.
Yu Le didn’t chase after him. Instead, he leaned against the spot where Mo Cunzhi had been standing, gazing at the flesh vines with a hint of curiosity.
Xie Que was indeed difficult to deal with, but the greater challenge lay in the fake demon core that had formed inside his body.
Even when the protagonist had forcibly fused with it, he had suffered greatly.
That fake demon core drove him into madness, causing erratic behavior—he not only harmed others but also inflicted self-damage.
In the original storyline, it was the heroine, who loved him, that stayed by his side and cared for him, gradually helping him regain his consciousness.
If he couldn’t regain his mind, he would have remained a terrifying lunatic.
Losing consciousness, alternating between bouts of extreme power and weakness—falling into such a state would be dangerous for Yu Le.
He needed someone who could stop him when he went mad, someone who would never hurt him, no matter what.
No matter what, they would never harm him.
The first person Yu Le thought of was Mo Cunzhi, and besides him, there was no one else.
The realization startled Yu Le.
Since when had he come to trust someone so deeply?
He believed that even if he went insane, even if he got hurt, Mo Cunzhi wouldn’t harm him or abandon him.
In the darkness, Yu Le covered his face and let out a muffled laugh.
—Senior brother, I trust you so much. You have to love me the way the heroine loves the hero.
…
Xie Ji had lost so much flesh that he now resembled a skeleton.
He barely managed to climb into the beast-drawn carriage, asking to be taken to the place where he had arranged to meet Yu Le.
“I’ve done what you told me to. Why haven’t you attacked the Demon Palace yet?”
Xie Ji spoke anxiously, “After Xie Que devoured several demon generals, the rest are too scared to approach him. Xie Que is the only one left that’s hard to deal with in the palace. Now is the perfect opportunity…”
“Did you really do exactly what I told you?” Yu Le asked in return.
Xie Ji’s eyes flickered. “What do you mean?”
Yu Le responded, “If you really followed my instructions and drank everything I gave you, you wouldn’t be here, all lively, causing me trouble.”
“You said it wouldn’t harm my body!”
“A dead person doesn’t have a future. Naturally, there would be no harm.”
Hearing Yu Le’s casual tone, Xie Ji finally realized that he wasn’t the only one with hidden intentions—Yu Le had been deceiving him as well.
That thing Yu Le had given him? He had never intended for Xie Ji to survive!
Yu Le’s smile faded. “You wanted to trick me into believing Xie Que had already consumed the ‘poison,’ hoping to pit us against each other until we both lost.”
“But unfortunately for you, I’m not as foolish as you are.”
After hearing those words, despair and frustration crept onto Xie Ji’s face, and the aura of death around him grew heavier.
Yu Le patted his face. “I told you, you only have one path. If you don’t follow my instructions, you won’t even get to see Xie Que’s death.”
Xie Ji knew he didn’t have much longer to live. Before he died, he at least wanted to witness Xie Que’s death with his own eyes.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally grasped the small vial and, with one swift motion, drank its contents.
After being sent back to Xie Que’s palace once more, Xie Ji’s body had wasted away, leaving him nothing but skin and bones, his cheeks sunken in grotesquely. He was barely clinging to life, breathing heavily with only his sheer will keeping him alive.
Sensing that the servant pushing his wheelchair had changed, he used the last of his strength to tilt his head back and utter two hopeful, rasping sounds.
This time, I’ve done what he asked! Hurry! Hurry and kill Xie Que!
The servant pushing him responded, “Our Lord said he’ll come once you’re dead.”
Xie Ji jerked suddenly, his eyes bulging and bloodshot.
“Ha… ha… he… he lied! Hah—”
Like a fish flailing out of water, he convulsed violently, spitting out a hoarse, enraged cry. His eyes remained wide open, refusing to take his final breath.
After a long while, his stiff, lifeless body slumped back into the wheelchair.
Xie Ji was dead—perhaps drained by Xie Que, or perhaps simply killed by his own rage.
He died silently, unnoticed by anyone. The servant pushing the wheelchair didn’t even pause, continuing to push away what was left of Xie Ji’s frail remains.
At that moment, even if someone had noticed his death, no one would have cared.
Above the Demon Palace, dark clouds churned as the chariot of the King of Bliss brazenly descended upon the palace.
