Chapter 786: Born with an Illness
Looking at the golden blood on the Demon Lord's body, Nanke's gaze grew dim.
This meant he had already obtained the true inheritance of the Demon Lord.
Thinking of the wind in the abyss that tore at her soul and the maggots that devoured flesh and blood, she felt unwilling, even somewhat despairing.
A cry of pain and anger burst from her lips.
The shout echoed through the snow valley as she used the huge Southern Cross Sword to prop herself up and stand.
The weeping from the cracks in her wings abruptly ceased. Her wings began to beat again, as if trying to tear this night apart.
Her eyes were no longer dim but became as indifferent as ice and snow. The speed of her wings grew faster and faster, until they seemed to become mere afterimages.
A powerful aura, difficult to describe, radiated from her petite body in all directions.
This aura was supremely noble, yet it disdained to command the masses. It danced alone on the other side of the towering mountains, indescribably cold and aloof.
This was the peacock. This was Nanke. This was the Yue Bird. This was the most unique existence among all birds—even the phoenix could not make her bow her head.
The Demon Lord's expression grew increasingly solemn. His voice turned cold as ice and sharp as a blade as he shouted, "Do you want to die!"
Nanke stared at him without speaking. The hidden green deep in her eyes had already burned into flames, giving her a maddened look.
"Don't forget what the military advisor said back then. If you truly let your soul fully awaken a second time, you'll become an idiot."
The Demon Lord looked at her and said, "Little sister, don't be foolish anymore. Come back to Snow Old City with me. You want to prove Father wrong? No, why do you think Father never considered passing the throne to you? It's because you're sick! You've been sick since birth!"
He spoke these words harshly, yet mockingly, full of contempt and pity.
This was the attitude Nanke least wanted to accept, but she had to face the truth—the Demon Lord was speaking the truth.
When she was very young, the peacock's soul had awakened within her body, proclaiming to all of Snow Old City that she possessed the most noble and powerful talent bloodline.
No one expected that this also meant she had begun to be ill from that very day.
Her talent and comprehension were too strong, so the peacock's soul awakened far too early, far exceeding the speed of her body's maturation. The peacock's soul grew continuously between her eyes, causing the distance between her eyes to widen, making her look increasingly dull. If she allowed the peacock's soul to continue growing and complete its second awakening before she had fully matured, she would truly become an idiot, or even possibly explode and die on the spot.
The Demon Lord's words exposed all the truth, gave all the explanations, and cut off all her hopes.
Nanke stood at the bottom of the lake, her dress covered in mud, her hair slightly disheveled, looking like a little girl who had just come back from cutting pigweed—pitiful.
Even if she completed the second soul awakening she had begun in the abyss right now, what good would it do?
Even if she could defeat him at this moment, what then?
She would die, or become an idiot. In the end, she could never become her father's successor, could never become the master of the demon race.
In this world, no one could cure her illness.
Her all-powerful imperial father could not. Her all-knowing teacher could not.
The Southern Cross Sword in Nanke's hand slowly lowered, just like her head and her spirits.
Just then, a voice sounded behind her.
"I can cure it."
...
...
That voice was very clear. Even though its owner had been fighting for so long, was severely injured, and quite exhausted, his voice was still so calming and peaceful. Perhaps it was because of what he said, or perhaps because he had always been easy to trust.
—Whether for his friends, his enemies, or those who were neither.
This was Chen Changsheng's voice.
Back in the Zhou Garden, beside the Never-Setting Sun Grassland, the first thing he said when he saw Nanke was: You're sick.
Then he said to Nanke: I can cure it.
Years later, he said the same thing.
Nanke looked at him, as if seeing the young man standing among the water plants back then. Her eyes, which had grown dim, brightened again.
At the same time, she raised the Southern Cross Sword in her hand once more.
They say change is the theme of the world, but in truth, many things are hard to change.
Back then, Chen Changsheng's condition was that she let him and Xu Yourong go. Now, his condition was equally clear.
Nanke was the little princess of the demon race. The reason she attacked the young Demon Lord was her disappointment and anger toward her father and teacher. It did not mean she was willing to betray the demon race and ally with Chen Changsheng, the human Pope. Nor did it mean she had any fondness for Chen Changsheng or wanted to help him.
Chen Changsheng's words offered a possibility.
He could cure her, so it would make sense for her to help him.
But Nanke's thinking was more extreme than Chen Changsheng's.
She looked at Chen Changsheng, pointed her sword at the Demon Lord, and said, "Let's join forces and kill him."
Very straightforward, very fierce, with a hint of simple bluntness—that was Nanke.
"My injuries are too severe," Chen Changsheng said. "The chances aren't great."
As if to prove his words, the countless swords silently hanging in the night sky began to hum faintly.
This showed that his spiritual perception was now barely able to perfectly control these swords.
Nanke raised an eyebrow slightly, about to say something, when her expression suddenly changed. She looked into the distance beyond the snowy ridge.
The distance was to the north.
North of the snowy ridge, a thousand li away, a demon figure wrapped entirely in a black robe appeared among some hills.
Starlight fell, illuminating the snowfield an exceptionally pure white. Logically, it should have made him very conspicuous.
But even the sharpest-eyed Red Eagle of the Zhou army could not detect his presence.
He was like an inconspicuous black rock in the snowfield.
Because he was the demon race's military advisor, Black Robe, the most skilled in concealing his tracks on the continent.
Black Robe's gaze fell on a worn iron plate before him.
Starlight fell on the iron plate, as if it were the same as in years past, as if nothing had changed. But in truth, tonight's starlight was different from the starlight of the past thousand years.
The brightest star in the northern night sky had become exceptionally dim. No one knew when it would shine again.
A faint sigh drifted out from beneath the black robe, its emotions extremely complex.
As one who had assisted the Demon Lord for nearly a thousand years, facing the Demon Lord's passing, how could he truly remain unmoved?
If he truly felt nothing, why were his jade-like fingers, resting on the iron plate, trembling slightly?
...
...
When Black Robe's fingers touched that iron plate, both Nanke and Chen Changsheng sensed great danger.
Nanke felt it through the connection between master and disciple, while Chen Changsheng relied on the orthodox national religion's life-star perception.
Without any hesitation, Chen Changsheng shouted, "Kui, Bei, Zhen, Four-Eight has evidence."
Nanke spread her wings and shot swiftly into the night sky.