Chapter 772: Words Sharp as Dragon's Roar
The Demon Lord certainly would not die just because someone said a few words, for his nature was cold and his will was iron-hard. Of course, generally speaking, even without such traits, no one would die just because of another's words—this had nothing to do with selfishness, only with the essence of life itself.
But Zhi Zhi was worried about Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng had thoroughly read the Daoist canon since childhood, cultivated according to the Principle of Following One's Heart, and often acted differently from others. Moreover, after the incident at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, there had been new changes in him.
—He now lived too indifferently.
In other words, before that, he had placed immense value on his own life, whether in diet, daily habits, or cultivation—all were entirely for that purpose. But now he had started drinking alcohol, though not much; he ate plenty of beef and mutton, though he still didn't care much for grilled meat. In short, he was no longer as meticulous as before.
He now seemed more concerned with what he could accomplish with his life.
That was why he had left the capital for the greater good, becoming the first Pope in history to be exiled.
That was why he had appeared on the snowy battlefield last year, fighting the wolf cavalry to the brink of death.
That was why the Cinnabar Pill had come into being.
"After leaving the capital, no—I should say before that—I kept thinking, now that I can live for many years, what should I do? At first, I wanted to contribute to the human race on the battlefield, but later I realized that wasn't right, because my cultivation level wasn't enough to change the course of battle. And though my medical skills were decent, they weren't exceptional compared to the divine physicians at the Holy Medical Hall. One person's role was limited. Finally, I suddenly thought of making the Cinnabar Pill."
He said to the Demon Lord, "I truly want to save more people, but you're still wrong on one point. I never thought of saving all living beings—I don't have that kind of power. I can only save specific, visible people. And there's a very important issue: using my true blood to refine the Cinnabar Pill to save people does harm my body, but it won't kill me. You're urging me to save all beings, but that would require me to pay the price of death, so I cannot accept your proposal."
The Demon Lord said, "That last sentence has some merit."
Chen Changsheng said seriously, "Most importantly, you said eating me could ensure the demon race doesn't march south for centuries. For me, that has no meaning."
The Demon Lord said, "Oh? Why does it have no meaning?"
Chen Changsheng said, "Because right now, we don't care at all whether you march south or not. We were already planning to march north. We're going to Xuelao City."
As he said this, his eyes opened wide, bright and clear like an endless lake—so real, so pure, so convincing.
"Truly the youngest Pope in history—more passionate than those old fellows before you, and more interesting. Of course, also more naive."
The Demon Lord looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Did you think I was asking for your opinion?"
"Not asking for an opinion, but persuading, or weakening my resolve."
Chen Changsheng said, "Because you know very well that even if you could kill me, you can no longer subdue me as easily as you did back then. I have the ability to destroy my own body and burn all the blood within me before you succeed, leaving you with nothing and losing your last hope."
In truth, he didn't mention that before the Demon Lord succeeded, he might even have a chance to escape.
He didn't want to alert the other party prematurely, and most importantly, he wanted to try to take the other humans present away with him.
The Demon Lord stared at him silently for a long time.
The crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out, accompanied by an even colder voice.
"You owe us two lives."
Nanke threw the Zhu Clan's emblem and the Songshan Military Command's dispatch token onto the ground before Chen Changsheng.
This statement was even more unreasonable than the Demon Lord's earlier words.
Zhi Zhi pointed at Haidi and said, "We killed a few of your traitors, and we dragged this big guy here for you to deal with. How do you calculate that?"
Nanke thought for a moment and said nothing.
Chen Changsheng felt relieved.
He had never been good at verbal sparring or sophistry, except in front of Xu Yourong. In this regard, he was at a disadvantage against anyone, even against the taciturn Nanke. Fortunately, he had never lacked experts in this area—first there was Luoluo, then Tang Thirty-Six, and now Zhi Zhi.
Nanke seemed to figure something out and said, "Let bygones be bygones. One life for one life—that's fair."
Zhi Zhi's expression shifted slightly, and she asked, "Whose life are you planning to trade for Chen Changsheng's?"
"We won't touch you," Nanke said. "Of course, it's his own life."
Zhi Zhi said, "What nonsense is this?"
Nanke said calmly, "We could kill him right now, but if we don't, that's sparing his life. Then we let him trade his life for it—that's fair."
"Can that even work?" Zhi Zhi's eyes widened in disbelief.
Nanke looked at Zhi Zhi and asked, "Doesn't it make sense?"
Zhi Zhi said seriously, "It's complete nonsense."
Nanke said, "You need to be reasonable."
Zhi Zhi said, "You need to have some shame."
There were countless young girls in the world, but without a doubt, Nanke and Zhi Zhi were the most powerful and most dangerous among them.
Yet when they argued, they were still just two young girls—somewhat ridiculous, and quite exasperating.
While they were talking, no one noticed Chen Changsheng quietly retreating a few steps.
By now, he was only a few steps away from An Hua and that adjutant. Just two more steps, and he could reach them.
But just as he was about to act, a cold wind suddenly swept across the lakeshore. The air stirred slightly, and countless specks of light scattered behind him.
The specks of light coalesced in the wind, forming a naked beauty and a young lady in a sword dress.
They appeared silently behind An Hua and the adjutant, their hands resting on their throats.
"Now, it's three lives," Nanke said, no longer paying attention to Zhi Zhi, staring expressionlessly at Chen Changsheng.
From the start, Chen Changsheng had been thinking about how to send An Hua and that adjutant away. He never expected that Nanke had already seen through his plan and made arrangements in advance. This made him regretful—he thought, since Nanke was here, how could he have forgotten about Nanke's wings?
Zhi Zhi let out an angry cry.
Her argument with Nanke had been meant to cover Chen Changsheng's movements, but it hadn't succeeded, which naturally annoyed her.
The naked demon beauty gently wrapped her arms around An Hua's neck. A pair of demon horns peeked in and out of her waterfall-like black hair, paired with her picturesque, seductive features—an utterly tempting sight. Zhi Zhi's small face flushed slightly, and she spat, "A shameless master indeed has shameless maidservants."
Those two beauties were spirit bodies, which was why they had evaded the perception of both him and Zhi Zhi, quietly altering the situation on the field.
And because they were spirit bodies, they were especially sensitive. They trembled with fear at the sight of Zhi Zhi, and even when cursed as shameless, they dared not react.
The young lady in the sword dress lowered her head slightly, looking uneasy. The naked demon beauty was a bit bolder; though she didn't dare retort, she chuckled and thrust out her chest, making her soft curves more prominent and the two crimson points more conspicuous.
Zhi Zhi's demonic pupils contracted, and she shouted, "If he weren't here, I'd freeze you and this woman into ice shards!"
The demon beauty was momentarily stunned, wondering why the Dragon Girl harbored such hatred for the woman she was holding.
An Hua was very tense at that moment, but she couldn't help looking up.
Zhi Zhi glared at An Hua and said angrily, "What are you looking at? Isn't all this trouble your fault?"
An Hua's peripheral vision fell on the stretcher nearby, at the dying formation master. She thought, to save this man, so many had already died tonight...
She felt deeply ashamed and lowered her head in silence.
Chen Changsheng looked at Zhi Zhi and said soothingly, "Why be so irritable?"
Since they were talking, naturally their eyes met.
Amid the chatter and the flurry of ice particles, their gazes intersected.
Without any warning, utterly sudden, a sound rang out across the field.
That sound was incredibly complex, containing at least hundreds of syllables, extremely strange and hard to understand. Its resonance was ancient, as if from a distant era, carrying endless information.
The sound came from Zhi Zhi's lips.
Her expression became extraordinarily solemn, even sacred, and her black dress billowed wildly in the wind.
A dragon's roar!
...
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(I have something important to tell everyone. Two years ago, after "The Night" ended, due to some technical issues, the afterword I wrote was finally posted on Weibo and in the review section. I'm not sure if all readers saw it. Last night, I also posted it in the main text of "The Night" on Qidian, in the public chapter's related content section. If you're interested, feel free to take a look. If you're a reader of "The Night" who hasn't seen the afterword, I highly recommend you check it out. Also, there were several instances of "naked" in this chapter, mainly because the words I wanted to use... were all banned. There's no help for it, so I had to settle for this monotony. Please understand. Alright, enough rambling. I wish you all a happy life and rising stocks.)