Chapter 25#
The Breathtaking Great Demon Ba Snake#
What followed seemed perfectly natural—the two fell in love once more.
Min, immersed in the joy of their reunion, had no way of knowing that even the same soul, having endured different experiences, could produce an entirely different person. The Princess of Linyang was no longer the young maiden who had been unwaveringly devoted to love.
In the capital, the Princess of Linyang was known to all—not only for her beauty, but also for her many romantic exploits. The Princess of Linyang had a penchant for collecting handsome men of every kind. Whoever caught her eye, she would employ every means imaginable to win. Yet once she had them, she quickly grew bored.
It was because of this notorious daughter that Prince Gong had left the capital and moved his entire household to his territory. In the capital, apart from the sycophants who clung to the powerful, no noble house would dare take such a woman as a bride—even if she was Prince Gong’s legitimate daughter.
As the saying goes, mountains may be moved, but nature cannot be changed. The Princess of Linyang, now arrived in Linjiang City, remained just as she had always been. Min was the first man to catch her eye, but he would certainly not be the last.
Before long, the Princess of Linyang grew bored of him. Min, meanwhile, felt he could not keep secrets from his lover and told her that he was a Jade-tracked Fox. What happened after that unfolded just as Shikong had told Lu Heng—betrayed by his lover, Min lost his mind, killed mortals, attracted the high monks of the Fanyin Temple, and was imprisoned in the Demon-Locking Pagoda.
However, what followed differed somewhat from what Lu Heng and the others had been told. Min, who had managed to escape the Demon-Locking Pagoda thanks to an earthquake, unwilling to accept his fate, returned to Linjiang City to find the Princess of Linyang. But she deceived him once more, using a scheme to trap him within this mysterious formation set by some unknown expert, and extracted his demon core.
Lu Heng thought for a moment, then asked, “Was that personal maid killed by you?”
“I am a great demon who cultivates the righteous path—how could I trouble a mortal woman? Those mortals I killed back then were only because I had momentarily fallen into demonic madness.”
Shikong and Lu Heng had examined the maid’s body and confirmed she had died under demonic arts. Coupled with the Princess of Linyang’s actions that night, it was not difficult to deduce who had taken the maid’s life. Yet she was merely a mortal woman—where had she obtained these secret arts connected to the demon race?
Still puzzled, Lu Heng turned to Shikong, hoping for an answer. But he saw Shikong standing beside a bookshelf in the corner of the secret chamber, holding a noticeably aged volume and studying it closely.
Lu Heng walked over, casually pulled out a book, and discovered it was the Princess of Linyang’s personal journal. To his astonishment, it detailed every man she had ever been involved with—how they met, how they came to know each other, their courtship, and ultimately how her feelings turned to disgust. Lu Heng’s jaw practically hit the floor.
He flipped to the later portions of the journal. After Min, the pages were entirely filled with entries about Shikong.
From the journal, it was clear that the Princess of Linyang’s attitude toward Shikong was vastly different from her treatment of the men before. One could say she had been driven to the brink of madness by her infatuation. Perhaps what is unattainable is always the most coveted. For a full three years, the Princess of Linyang had not so much as glanced at another man—Shikong consumed her every thought and every gaze. She had even threatened her own life when Prince Gong tried to arrange a marriage for her, all for Shikong’s sake.
Lu Heng looked at Shikong with a complex expression. He hadn’t realized Shikong was this charismatic. But gazing at Shikong’s striking features—his brows and eyes as if painted by an artist, yet always wearing that cold, expressionless face—Lu Heng suddenly found himself understanding the Princess of Linyang’s feelings.
Seemingly sensing Lu Heng’s gaze, Shikong set down the volume in his hands and looked over at him with a hint of curiosity.
Caught red-handed staring, Lu Heng’s weathered face flushed. Then he remembered that his current appearance was that of a seven- or eight-year-old child—what was there to be afraid of? Emboldened, he stared right at Shikong and said, “What’s written in that book in your hands?”
“Some matters concerning the demon race, likely left behind by the expert who set up this formation,” Shikong replied. “Is there anything of importance in the book you’re holding?”
Lu Heng instinctively hid the journal behind his back. “Nothing, just some miscellaneous notes or something.”
Hearing this, Shikong didn’t press further. The two searched through the bookshelves for a while and finally found a method to break the formation.
Once Min broke free from the formation, his strength had been too heavily depleted—his body rapidly shrank until he was the size of a cat. Lu Heng picked him up, and together with Shikong, they walked out of the secret chamber.
The Princess of Linyang, who had been standing frozen in the room, looked panicked when she saw Lu Heng’s group—two people and one fox. Lu Heng had assumed her fear stemmed from having her evil deeds discovered and a guilty conscience. But after Shikong dispelled the silence-binding spell on her, he realized just how naive he had been.
“Master Shikong, I had no improper relations with this fox! He was the one who used demonic arts to bewitch me back then!” the Princess of Linyang said anxiously.
Although Lu Heng knew the ancient nobility had never valued the lives of their servants, still—having used evil arts to kill everyone in an entire courtyard—and upon being discovered, this was the first thing she said? Lu Heng was genuinely astounded by her wickedness.
“Is there anything you want to say to her?” Lu Heng asked Min. “I can pass it on for you.”
Min was silent for a long time before letting out a single sigh. “What needed to be said was already said the day I came to find her. As for the rest, since she no longer cares for me, it would be futile to say it. Only my demon core—leaving it inside a mortal’s body is not right.”
“Do you have a way to extract the demon core from her body?” Lu Heng asked.
Min propped himself up with some effort, nodded, and then opened his mouth to release a beam of light. Under the pull of that radiance, a pearl gradually emerged from the Princess of Linyang’s mouth. The pearl was wreathed in golden light—a demon core belonging to a demon cultivator of the righteous path.
The demon core fell into Lu Heng’s palm. Upon closer inspection, wisps of black energy coiled around it—presumably the result of the Princess of Linyang practicing evil arts and taking lives.
“Can you dispel this black energy?” Lu Heng looked up at Shikong.
Shikong nodded, formed a hand seal, and chanted several lines of sutra in silence. The black energy on the demon core slowly faded away.
Lu Heng brought the demon core to Min’s mouth and urged him to retrieve his own core. For the demon race, having their core outside their body for too long would cause tremendous harm.
But Min shook his head. “My vital energy has been completely absorbed by that formation. My life force is extinguished. The demon core is of no further use to me.”
Meanwhile, the Princess of Linyang, having had her demon core extracted, was still raging: “You wretched fox! How dare you treat me this way!”
Min exhaled a wisp of vital essence into the Princess of Linyang’s body, then turned to Lu Heng and said, “She once saved my life. Now, as a mortal practicing evil arts, her lifespan has been shortened. I will gift her my remaining years, to settle the karmic debt of that time.”
Min gazed once more at the Princess of Linyang—perhaps saying farewell to his lover from a past life. “Zheng, I give you my demon core. Do not worry—a demon core willingly given, once you absorb its cultivation, will bring you no ill consequences. I only ask that you return my bones to my clan’s homeland.”
When a bird flies, it returns to its homeland; when a fox dies, it must face the hill where it was born.
Having settled his final wishes, Min closed his eyes in peace.
After a long silence, Lu Heng finally composed himself. He noticed that the Princess of Linyang’s once-full, supple skin had suddenly begun to wither and wrinkle. Her masses of black hair turned white in an instant, and she aged before his eyes into a wretched old woman of eighty. Yet in stark contrast, the life force within her was extraordinarily abundant—she had enough remaining years to live another seventy or eighty. However, for someone like the Princess of Linyang, who had always prided herself on her beauty, this was hardly a blessing.
“Why is this?” Lu Heng asked.
“Using evil arts through a mortal body always comes with certain adverse consequences,” Shikong explained.
“Do you think Min knew this would happen when he gave the Princess of Linyang his remaining years?” Lu Heng murmured with emotion.
“This has nothing to do with either of us. With this matter concluded, it is time we take our leave.” Shikong retrieved the memory-recording pearl that had captured the entire event and folded it into a paper crane, sending it to Prince Gong. He then waved his sleeve to dispel the immobilization spell on the Princess of Linyang, and led Lu Heng away from Prince Gong’s estate.
Lu Heng hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder. “The Princess of Linyang took so many lives—are we really just going to leave it at that?”
“Those who cultivate the path should, to avoid accruing karmic debt, refrain from taking mortal lives.”
“Karmic debt?”
“The heavier one’s karmic debt, the harder it is to pass the Heavenly Tribulation. Remember this: before attempting to face the Heavenly Tribulation, all karmic debts must be settled.”
Lu Heng thought he heard a piercing, bloodcurdling scream from within the courtyard—most likely, the Princess of Linyang had caught sight of her own reflection.
After storing Min’s bones safely in a storage pouch, Lu Heng found himself at a loss. His cultivation was still shallow, and the inheritance he had received was incomplete. Among the limited teachings passed down to him, there was no mention whatsoever of where the demon race’s ancestral homeland was located.
Lu Heng told Shikong this in discouragement. Shikong thought for a moment, then said, “For now, return to the mountain forest from before and continue your cultivation.”
Hearing the note of parting in Shikong’s words, Lu Heng asked urgently, “And what about you? Where will you go? Will you come back?”
“I need to return to my sect and report what has transpired here. Along the way, I will also look through the sect’s archives for information on demon cultivation.” Shikong glanced at Lu Heng, and seeing the reluctance on his face, added, “Some of my fellow disciples harbor prejudice against the demon race. It would be better for you to stay here and cultivate.”
After Shikong departed, Lu Heng dared not slack off in the slightest when it came to his cultivation—after all, Shikong had clearly stated he would examine his progress upon his return. But without Shikong’s company, living in the desolate mountains with no soul in sight was enough to drive someone from the modern world to the brink of insanity.
“How I wish I had an Apple!” One day, Lu Heng shouted at the empty forest in sheer frustration—a kind of emotional release, if nothing else.
“Um… as for apples, I know where you can find some.”
Lu Heng heard a timid voice from behind. He turned around and saw a young man with delicate, handsome features. The youth looked terrified—his entire body hidden behind a tree, with only his head peeking out.
“Really?” Though he knew full well this was not the kind of apple he meant, Lu Heng was still delighted to finally have someone to talk to.
Seeing Lu Heng’s bright, beaming smile, the young man gathered his courage and stepped out from behind the tree. “My name is Bai. I’m from the Snow Rabbit clan.”