Chapter 2995: Nine Gods Pulling a Carriage
Luo Sha was stunningly beautiful, stepping on the floating duckweed of the lake surface, carrying a captivating fragrant wind as she rushed into the small pavilion by the qin platform. Her snow-white jade arms wrapped around Zhang Ruochen's neck, her long hair fluttering, her face full of joy and sweetness. "You've never said such passionate words to me before. I haven't heard enough. How about saying it again?"
Her eyes, with long lashes, looked at Zhang Ruochen expectantly.
"That was just my true feelings," Zhang Ruochen said.
Luo Sha said, "Exactly! Because it was the truest words from your heart, that's why it moved me so much. I almost cried!"
Zhang Ruochen remained very calm, looking toward the Zangjin Baihu on the water surface. "So you all conspired to deceive me?"
"It has nothing to do with me. Chi Yao ordered it. She said only my spiritual power could evade your perception." Zangjin Baihu rushed out and disappeared in the direction Chi Yao had left.
Luo Sha was unrestrained, clinging to Zhang Ruochen like this, without any of the dignity of a noble princess or the authority of a peerless deity. She laughed loudly, "Chi Yao! This time, this princess has won the bet. You have to accept your loss gracefully!"
"What does winning the bet mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"I'm not telling you."
Luo Sha looked at Zhang Ruochen, seeing his expression was unusual. "What's wrong? Are you angry?"
"A little."
Zhang Ruochen did not embrace Luo Sha, who was holding him. Instead, he casually plucked the qin strings with his fingers.
How could he not be angry?
Before coming, he had been truly worried to death.
After arriving, he had nearly fallen out with Chi Yao, almost drawing his sword against her.
But in the end, he discovered that only he had been taking it seriously.
Luo Sha said, "Look, this has nothing to do with me. I'm just her captive. Everything was her decision! If you're really angry, then I'll have to make it up to you!"
"Make it up to me?" Zhang Ruochen said.
Luo Sha's crystal-clear red lips were inches from Zhang Ruochen's lips, her beautiful eyes shimmering with strong seductive intent. "This princess is right here in your arms, and I'm the one throwing myself at you. Aren't you asking knowingly? Since you're very angry, why not anger her too? This princess doesn't mind suffering a loss. Let her watch, let her hear—I'm willing."
Zhang Ruochen's face darkened. He felt Luo Sha was far too bold. As a deity from the Hell Realm, staying in Doushuai City, she had no sense of danger at all.
Zhang Ruochen was not the kind of petty person who would haggle over gains and losses with his own women. Soon, his mood recovered. "The divine battle on the Starry Sky Battlefield could end at any moment. You must leave!"
"No," Luo Sha said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Hell Realm's operation this time has already failed. It will be very dangerous for you to continue staying in the Heavenly Beginning Civilization Great World."
"So you're worried about me?" Luo Sha smiled at him.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Yes!"
"So you're not angry anymore?" Luo Sha said.
"Being deceived and used as a tool for a bet—how could there be no emotion? This matter won't just be brushed aside. I will punish you both in the future. As for how, you'd better be mentally prepared."
Chi Yao and Luo Sha—one was harder to handle than the other.
The most crucial thing was that Zhang Ruochen's feelings for them were too deep. He simply couldn't treat them with extreme or harsh methods.
That was why, even though the emotions in Zhang Ruochen's heart had dissipated by now, in order to keep them in check, he had to pretend to be very angry, lest they truly become lawless in the future and regard him as nothing.
Luo Sha smiled charmingly, as seductive as a demoness. "This princess fears punishment the least. It's just a pity that this is Doushuai City. Your heart is probably all tied up with that Heavenly Maiden, so you have no mood to punish me."
"Fine, this princess won't cause you trouble. I'll leave now. Although I failed to break the world-protecting formation this time in Heavenly Beginning Civilization, hearing those heartfelt words of yours is a hundred times more joyful than breaking the formation. The gain is too great!"
"Chen Ge, you are sincere to Luo Sha, and Luo Sha will never betray you in this life."
She imitated Chi Yao's tone and said very seriously, "Rescuing Uncle Ling is your matter, and it is also my matter."
Zhang Ruochen personally escorted Luo Sha out of Doushuai City before turning back.
Returning to the Divine Maiden Tower, he saw Chi Yao again.
On the way, Zhang Ruochen had decided to throw a thunderous tantrum to intimidate her. But seeing Chi Yao sitting alone by the window, looking desolate, Zhang Ruochen's heart softened again.
Chi Yao said, "I thought that with the conditions I offered, I could both save her life and rescue Uncle Ling. I was sure you would choose that."
"If I had chosen that, I would have completely broken with Luo Sha and the Hell Realm," Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Yao said, "Isn't that good? In your heart, is the Hell Realm really that good? This isn't you."
"It's not that the Hell Realm is good. In fact, I have never recognized the Hell Realm's philosophy. I even detest it." Zhang Ruochen clasped his hands behind his back, looking out the window. "I just don't want to use means against those I love and care about."
"What is the meaning of cultivation?"
"To end this war? To rebuild a new order in the universe?"
"No! If you can't even hold onto the most basic principles in your own heart, no matter how strong your cultivation becomes, you will eventually become a driver of war, not someone who ends it. If you want to establish a new order, your own heart must first have order."
Chi Yao said, "Perhaps we really don't understand each other well enough. In the end, we will drift apart because of this. What supports us in still meeting as lovers is nothing more than beautiful memories of the past. Perhaps it's just that the beautiful memories in our own hearts are already too few, so we pretend everything is still the same, hiding the barriers in our hearts."
"Don't overthink it. The road ahead is still very long." Zhang Ruochen never expected that it would end up being him comforting her.
Chi Yao sat on the chair, her face leaning sideways against Zhang Ruochen, feeling the reality before her. "Actually, Luo Sha is not bad. I can see that she is sincere to you. But she is very clever, hiding countless secrets in her heart. She is a staunch believer in the Hell Realm's philosophy, believing in fate, and also advocating war and conquest."
Zhang Ruochen certainly knew that Luo Sha had many secrets hidden in her heart. Just like how she could transform into Mo Xiaogu and enter the Space Divine Temple and Truth Divine Temple to cultivate, there must be a sky-reaching force behind her helping her.
But she had never mentioned any of this to Zhang Ruochen.
Compared to Chi Yao, who often showed her emotions on her face, Luo Sha always wore a smile on her face, and the secrets deep in her heart were almost impossible for anyone to truly discern.
Chi Yao said, "Have you sent her away?"
"Mm," Zhang Ruochen said.
Chi Yao said, "You've been deceived by her. She won't leave, at least not for now, not from Heavenly Beginning Civilization."
"Why?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Chi Yao said, "When I was pursuing her, I discovered that the other Rakshasa Clan deities had all gone into hiding. This suggests that when they entered the Heavenly Beginning Civilization Great World, they probably knew from the start that it wouldn't be so easy to destroy the world-protecting formation. Hiding like this must mean they are planning some unknown major operation."
"Luo Sha is the strategist of the Rakshasa Clan and the leader of the deities. How could she possibly leave?"
"The reason she deceived you is simply that she knows about your relationship with the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden. Once you learn of her plan, you will definitely stop her."
Only a woman truly understands a woman—that saying couldn't be more true.
Zhang Ruochen left the Divine Maiden Tower, leading the old yellow ox, and headed straight for Luo Jinshu's mansion. He had to see Luo Ji as soon as possible. Chi Yao's words lingered in his mind, stirring up strong unease.
Had Luo Sha really left?
If she hadn't, what was she plotting?
Truly, not one of them was worry-free.
Ahead, a golden carriage, three zhang tall, came toward him. Pulling it were nine beast-shaped skeletons.
They were nine Bone Clan false gods, but they had been refined. They carried no deathly evil aura. Their bones were crystal clear, emitting faint divine light, and they were clad in golden armor.
Other cultivators on the street could not sense the divine might of the nine Bone Clan false gods and paid little attention to the carriage.
"Imprisoning nine Bone Clan deities as mounts—what boldness," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The golden carriage stopped in front of Zhang Ruochen. From within, a vast, ethereal voice sounded: "Yellow Ox Daoist?"
It seemed the other party had come specifically to find him.
Zhang Ruochen considered himself superior in perception to the vast majority of great gods, but he could not tell whether this voice was male or female, nor could he discern the speaker's identity.
Zhang Ruochen carefully observed the golden carriage before him. On the carriage walls and shafts were imprinted the ancient characters "Xuan Yuan."
On each side of the carriage stood eighteen Great Saints, all clad in battle armor, their aura imposing.
At the front left, Zhang Ruochen actually recognized one person—Xuan Yuan Lie Kong, whom he had met in the Kunlun Realm.
Back then, when the Kunlun Realm Merit Battlefield opened, Xuan Yuan Lie Kong was only at the Saint King Realm, but he was the leader of the Wanxu Realm, the ruling world of the Northern Universe. His talent was extremely high.
Now, over a thousand years had passed. Xuan Yuan Lie Kong's cultivation had reached the Great Saint Supreme Realm. His cultivation speed was certainly not slow.
Zhang Ruochen said, "It is indeed this poor Daoist."
Xuan Yuan Lie Kong bowed to Zhang Ruochen, who was on the ox's back. "My master wishes to invite Senior Yellow Ox to go and resolve the Three Evil Corpse Poison for a Demon Clan great god."
Xuan Yuan Lie Kong's pride was extremely high, and his status was noble. His talent was peerless, with the potential to become a god. For someone like him to respectfully address even a deity as "senior"—who in the carriage could be so extraordinary as to make Xuan Yuan Lie Kong humble like a servant?
Zhang Ruochen hadn't expected that, going around in circles, someone would come to invite him to resolve the Three Evil Corpse Poison again.
Who else could need the corpse poison resolved?
It had to be Tianhu Laolao.
From within the carriage, that vast, ethereal voice sounded again: "Daoist friend, don't rush to refuse. This young master is very sincere and has prepared a generous gift. After seeing this gift, it won't be too late to refuse."
"No need," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Please, Daoist friend, take a look first."
The carriage curtain lifted slightly, and a wooden box flew out, landing in Xuan Yuan Lie Kong's hands.
Zhang Ruochen squinted, trying to see who was inside the carriage, but it seemed to contain a chaotic world that could devour his gaze, revealing nothing.
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