Chapter 781: The Young Demon Lord, the Truth Behind the Mist
He addressed the Pope, yet there was not a shred of respect, instead carrying mockery and derision.
Whether friend or foe, this innate demeanor indicated that the true identity of this young formation master was anything but ordinary.
Earlier, when Chen Changsheng was about to leave, he had tried to send this person into the Zhou Garden to save his life. But he was ambushed by an extremely faint wisp of true essence, his Nether Palace was shaken, his Yekshi Steps disrupted, and not only did he fail to send the other into the Zhou Garden, he himself encountered great danger, nearly being killed by Nanke.
Now, it was clear that this person was the one who had made the move.
Chen Changsheng looked at the black short sword in his hand and felt a chill.
This black short sword likely had a similar origin to his Stainless Sword, both forged from true dragon whiskers.
His Stainless Sword was made from the whisker of the Golden Giant Dragon, while this black short sword was presumably forged from the whisker of the Frost Giant Dragon of yore.
He just didn’t know if it was a prize the Demon Lord had obtained upon entering the Zhou Garden or if it had a bloodier origin. Either way, it sent a chill through his heart.
Just like the conversation and actions of the father and son before him.
Yes, the Demon Lord was the father of this young formation master.
From the moment the young formation master called out the word "Father," Chen Changsheng knew who he was.
Over two years ago, after the rebellion in Xuelao City, all of the Demon Lord’s sons were either dead or imprisoned, with only one exception.
That was the new Demon Lord.
Which was this young formation master.
Across the entire continent, only he dared to show such contempt for Chen Changsheng, the human Pope.
Chen Changsheng understood very well that tonight he might not be able to change anything, but he wanted to say a few words, because he needed to clarify one matter.
If this matter had nothing to do with him, he naturally wouldn’t care. But on both sides of the broken bridge lay several corpses.
These people had come from the Songshan Mountains. The mountain path was long, covered in ice and snow, and they had to carry a stretcher—it was no easy task.
They had finally made it here, and the young formation master on the stretcher had opened his eyes, but these people were dead.
Thinking back further, the young formation master had pretended to be gravely wounded and was rescued from the battlefield, which must have cost many lives.
If Zhou Tong were still alive, if Mo Yu were present at this moment, they would likely be able to quickly analyze the whole situation. But Chen Changsheng could recite the Three Thousand Daoist Canons backward, yet he couldn’t see through these things, so he had to seek an answer for the sake of those who had died. However, as the young formation master said, even if he found out, what more could he do?
Chen Changsheng wouldn’t dwell on that and continued to ask, "Even if you had traitors in the Songshan Military Command to assist you, how could you have fooled so many people?"
"Ensuring that someone could find you and carry me here was indeed very troublesome. With so many wounded in the Songshan Military Command and the complicated rules you set, it was truly difficult to calculate everything perfectly. Even if the Military Advisor himself had personally arranged it, it would have been nearly impossible."
The young Demon Lord smiled and said, "Fortunately, I didn’t need to worry about these matters. Someone else naturally handled them for me."
Chen Changsheng looked into his eyes and asked, "Who?"
The young Demon Lord said, "Besides the Tang clan, many people in your court have also been trying to find the master of the Cinnabar Pill, haven’t they?"
Chen Changsheng’s expression grew serious. "What are you trying to say?"
"I’m not talking about those useless people just now. I’m talking about your teacher. My father and sister, who have been on the run for two years, could figure out that you are the master of the Cinnabar Pill. How could he not have thought of it? It’s just that you hid it very well. If not for your lack of experience and his deep understanding of you, it wouldn’t have been easy to find you."
The young Demon Lord raised an eyebrow slightly, with a hint of mockery and sympathy. "Do you understand now? I never needed to consider how to fool these people in the Songshan Military Command or how to deceive the Tang clan, because this was never my scheme. It was your teacher Shang Xingzhou’s scheme."
Whether it was the Tang clan’s intentions, or the thoughts of Zhu Ye, Ning Shiyi, the Tianhai clan, and the Prince of Xiang—these great figures in the court—none could ultimately surpass Shang Xingzhou’s will. As the undisputed foremost figure of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he stood the highest, saw the farthest, and had the most comprehensive and accurate grasp of the situation, allowing him to borrow from it at will.
Borrowing the situation was for the sake of killing.
The person Shang Xingzhou wanted to kill was, of course, Chen Changsheng.
The snowy ridge was slightly cold, the lake garden already in ruins. Chen Changsheng lowered his head, solitary and alone.
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On a desolate cliff of the snowy ridge, the Seventeenth Master of the Tang clan clutched his throat and slowly collapsed, his face filled with terror and disbelief.
The cliff was littered with corpses and frozen blood—these were the people he had killed earlier. Now, he had become one of them. Though blood still flowed endlessly from between his fingers, there was little difference to be seen.
The former Archbishop of the Yinghua Hall walked up to the Seventeenth Master of the Tang clan. The nervousness, unease, and fear on his face had long vanished, replaced by a cold indifference.
"The Second Master’s meaning is simple. You know that killing the Pope is a great merit, but it is also a great crime. Our Wenshui Tang clan cannot bear that burden either. So you killed all these people. But the problem is, you, who personally arranged this, could you really have lived on? After you die, no one will ever connect the Pope’s death to our Wenshui City. On the contrary, our Tang clan can use this incident to attack the Zhu and Tianhai clans. Perhaps in a few years, the Peerless Sect in Hanqiu City will have to change its name."
The priest’s robe fluttered gently in the cold night wind, as did his graying hair and indifferent voice. The Seventeenth Master was already dead and couldn’t speak, but he still explained very seriously, giving the impression that after tonight, he might never have another chance to speak again, making him cherish it all the more, even greedily.
"This is what it means to die a worthy death, to have one’s death serve a purpose. Otherwise, you’d just be a waste." The former Archbishop looked at the horrific wound on the Seventeenth Master’s neck and said coldly, "Don’t you think about it? If the Second Master hadn’t let you know, how could you, with your abilities, have found the Pope?"
After saying this, he looked down at the lake garden below. Though it was too far away to see the details clearly, he could already envision the future—everyone who appeared tonight would die, and no one would ever know the truth, or who was truly responsible for the death of Pope Chen Changsheng.
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"You’re lying."
Chen Changsheng suddenly raised his head and looked at the young Demon Lord. "The one working with you couldn’t have been him. It was someone else."
The young Demon Lord was somewhat surprised that he had made this judgment so quickly. "Why? Do you think your teacher is a benevolent gentleman?"
Chen Changsheng said, "Of course he’s not a benevolent gentleman. I don’t like many of his methods, but I know he’s not that kind of person. Back then, to overthrow Empress Tianhai, he could reach an understanding with the Black-robed, but he would never borrow power from the demon race, let alone cooperate with you, the Demon Lord."
The young Demon Lord asked with interest, "Why?"
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(I know this chapter title is terrible... I thought about it for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything suitable. Also, this is the thirteenth consecutive day of updates. What’s going on? I’m about to ascend to heaven!)