Queen of Ten Thousand Demons Insists on Marrying Me - Chapter 52

Lu Xiaoxiao learned that Wan Xuan’er had publicly announced that she was confined to the Demon Lock Tower for self-reflection. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for her to still parade around with her current face. She retrieved the mask that Tantai Jing had previously given her, which could change her appearance.

“This item is quite novel. Even when I scan it with spiritual energy, I can’t detect it as a magical artifact. I’ve never seen you use it before,” Lu Wanbai commented on Lu Xiaoxiao, whose appearance had become ordinary after putting on the mask.

Lu Xiaoxiao touched the false skin on her face and fell into past memories, answering faintly, “Tantai Jing gave it to me.”

Hearing her mention Tantai Jing again, Lu Wanbai secretly regretted her unnecessary question. She turned her back to Lu Xiaoxiao and coughed twice, “Let’s go.”

The distance between the Xuanjian Sword Sect and Yaoxia Palace was not extremely far, but to reach it quickly, they needed to use a teleportation array. The Yaoxia Palace’s array was unusable, so they had to change their route and fly by sword to Dongchang City.

After many days of traveling day and night, they arrived at Dongchang City over half a month later.

Lu Xiaoxiao sat at a roadside noodle stall, waiting for Lu Wanbai to purchase the token needed for the teleportation array. She casually watched the passing crowds and suddenly felt that Dongchang City was somewhat strange.

The main street of Dongchang City’s outer area was filled with a pervasive demonic aura. Occasionally, a few beast-headed, human-bodied demons passed by. While the residents seemed somewhat fearful of the demons, they didn’t appear overly resistant. Some vendors were even doing business with the demons.

“Customer, your noodles!” The owner’s voice interrupted Lu Xiaoxiao’s thoughts.

Looking at the bowl of plain noodles the owner set down, Lu Xiaoxiao took out a few silver pieces and stopped the owner, asking, “Boss, when I came to Dongchang City a while ago, I didn’t see so many demons. Aren’t humans and demons supposed to be fiercely opposed? Why does it seem like you in Dongchang City are getting along quite harmoniously with them?”

The noodle stall owner was a middle-aged man with a dark complexion and several deep lines etched across his face. Hearing Lu Xiaoxiao’s question, the lines deepened a bit more. He looked nervously left and right, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he sat down next to Lu Xiaoxiao and spoke in a low voice.

“Do you know about the Yaoxia Palace being attacked by the Demon Clan and the Demon Lock Tower being breached a few months ago?”

Lu Xiaoxiao thought to herself, How could I not know? and inwardly mocked herself, I even played a part in it. But her expression remained neutral, and she replied as if she hadn’t heard, “I’m not very sure.”

The noodle stall owner sized up Lu Xiaoxiao with an “I see” look: “Looking at you, you seem to be a cultivator, yet your news is so closed off. Are you a rogue cultivator?”

“Yes, yes. Please quickly tell me what exactly happened. I’ve been to many places, but I’ve never seen a sight like this in Dongchang City.”

The noodle stall owner let out a long sigh: “Alas~ We common folks don’t know what the City Lord is thinking. After the Demon Lock Tower was breached, Yan Gengshen brazenly led a multitude of high-level demons under his command and swaggered into our Dongchang City Lord’s Residence. When this news first came out, the entire city was in an uproar.”

He paused, seeming to wait for Lu Xiaoxiao’s reaction.

Lu Xiaoxiao opened her mouth, putting on an astonished look: “Something like that happened? What happened after?”

“What’s even harder to accept is that just two days later, the City Lord officially released a public announcement, saying that for the peace and tranquility of all living beings, the Human and Demon Races would coexist in our Dongchang City. Furthermore, it was explicitly stated that no one, regardless of who they were, was allowed to fight privately in the city. Violators would be severely punished.”

“As soon as this news came out, the city became even more anxious and abuzz with discussion. Everyone was uneasy, not knowing how they should live their lives from now on.”

The noodle stall owner’s frown deepened as he spoke, and his voice became even quieter.

“Did the cultivators in the city just accept this?”

At this point, the middle-aged man felt a little ashamed and said awkwardly, “They didn’t accept it at first, but they couldn’t stand against Yan Gengshen, who treated the visiting cultivators with courtesy. He also widely distributed ten million spirit stones throughout the city, claiming it was to show the Demon Clan’s sincerity in coexisting with the Human Race, with a share for everyone. Moreover, he strictly punished his subordinates who committed offenses; a few days ago, he even executed several troublemaking demons in the city.”

Lu Xiaoxiao frowned, somewhat disbelieving. Had Dongchang City really fallen so easily?

“Was there no one who objected?”

The noodle stall owner looked around and leaned close to Lu Xiaoxiao’s ear, whispering, “The main thing is that those who initially voiced objections later agreed for some unknown reason. A few particularly stubborn ones couldn’t defeat the demons and have long since left Dongchang City.”

“Now, several shops opened by the Demon Clan are popping up in the city. Rare spiritual herbs and demon cores are much cheaper than before. And Yan Gengshen is preparing to establish a Sun-Moon Alliance. Cultivators who join the alliance get a 30% discount on purchasing elixirs, spiritual herbs, and demon cores within the city. Rogue cultivators from all over are already flocking here to join.”

“Dongchang City hasn’t fought with the Demon Clan for hundreds of years; any centuries-old feuds have long been extinguished. These people, ah, they’ve forgotten their roots,” the noodle stall owner concluded bitterly.

Lu Xiaoxiao was utterly shocked and couldn’t recover for a long time. Just then, a new customer came in, and the owner collected the silver pieces on the table and hurried off to attend to the next customer.

After a while, Lu Wanbai also returned, looking hurried and having a strange expression. Their eyes met, and they both saw confusion and incomprehension in the other’s gaze.

Lu Wanbai tossed a teleportation array token to Lu Xiaoxiao: “You know about it too?”

Lu Xiaoxiao stood up, took the token, and walked side-by-side with her toward the teleportation array: “I heard some things from the noodle stall owner. Everything he said made it sound like Yan Gengshen did a great service for the city and its people, but it feels odd everywhere.”

As they spoke, the direction of the teleportation array suddenly shone with a blinding light. Immediately after, a magnificent, extremely luxurious carriage slowly flew out.

The carriage was meticulously carved from premium spiritual wood, and its body was covered with intricate golden spiritual patterns.

What was even more shocking was that the luxurious carriage was pulled by five mighty and incomparably powerful Nascent Soul stage Green Feather Deer. These Green Feather Deer were tall, with long and powerful limbs, treading on the clouds as they sped toward the City Lord’s Residence.

As they passed, low-level cultivators were all shaken to their core, suppressed by the powerful cultivation and unable to move.

Lu Wanbai pulled Lu Xiaoxiao away to avoid the carriage and continued, “After Yan Gengshen arrived, Dong Qinglan suddenly reduced the taxes for the mortals in the city by half a percent. Both mortals and cultivators have been bought off by him. And I hear that Nine-Tailed Fox that escaped from the Demon Lock Tower is also involved. We shouldn’t stay here long; we should leave quickly.”

Lu Xiaoxiao’s steps faltered. Since Fu Zhao was here, then Tantai Jing should also be in the city. Thinking this, she tugged at Lu Wanbai’s sleeve: “Senior Sister!”

Lu Wanbai knew what she was thinking. She pulled Lu Xiaoxiao’s wrist forcefully, urging her toward the teleportation array: “Don’t even think about it! These demons are using shape-shifting Nascent Soul stage demonic beasts as mounts. What’s happening in Dongchang City might be a trick by Yan Gengshen and his group. You absolutely cannot stay here.”

Lu Xiaoxiao couldn’t win against her and could only helplessly step into the teleportation array with her. As a burst of dazzling white light suddenly illuminated, and the space was instantly torn apart, their figures quickly vanished from the spot.

However, the carriage they just brushed past concealed a secret.

The interior of the carriage was surprisingly vast, spacious, and bright, furnished in a manner that was both elegant and lavish. It was no less grand than Dongchang City’s most magnificent palace—Dong Qinglan’s sleeping quarters—and perhaps even surpassed it.

Inside, two people sat opposite each other by a low table, a game of chess reaching a critical stage. Tantai Jing, who was playing against Fu Zhao, suddenly furrowed her brow, and the chess piece in her hand involuntarily stopped in mid-air.

“Stop!” she low-key commanded outside the door, quickly stood up, and walked toward the entrance.

After Tantai Jing pushed open the door, the outside scenery abruptly changed. People were coming and going, bustling with noise—it was exactly the area outside the Dongchang City teleportation array.

Seeing this, Fu Zhao quickly rose and walked beside her, asking with concern, “What is it, little Jing’er? Did you sense anything unusual?”

Tantai Jing’s gaze was deep, looking toward the teleportation array: “I think I just sensed Lu Xiaoxiao’s aura.”

No sooner had she spoken than Tantai Jing instantly teleported to the array and asked the array-guarding Elder, “Where did the recently activated teleportation array go?”

The array-guarding Elder was a majestic, white-haired Tribulation stage cultivator who sat quietly on the side without lifting her eyelids. She considered herself one of the few Tribulation stage cultivators in Dongchang City and had never taken seriously Dong Qinglan’s words about peaceful coexistence with the Demon Clan.

“Hmph. As for you demons, although I don’t know the City Lord’s exact intentions, one thing is clear to me. That is, I, and everyone in our Dongchang City, will not succumb to the oppression of your Demon Clan.”

Speaking up to this point, she slightly opened her eyes, her gaze sharp, “As for the destination of the teleportation array you asked about, that is a secret of our Dongchang City. How could you easily know it? Please leave quickly and stop bothering me.”

Tantai Jing clenched her hands, and the divine sense of a Mahayana stage cultivator instantly spread out. As her divine sense expanded, the people who were whispering to each other, as well as the array-guarding Elder, all felt their minds tremble under this pressure. They felt a powerful force surging from all directions, submerging them like a giant wave.

The array-guarding Elder’s body immediately became immobile, as if bound by invisible shackles. Her face revealed a look of shock and terror. “Divine sense? You… you are actually a Mahayana stage cultivator.”

Fu Zhao pressed Tantai Jing’s shoulder and whispered, “Little Jing’er, you know that at this critical moment, you cannot clash with human cultivators.”

However, Tantai Jing’s eyes were bloodshot at this moment. She ignored everything else, only wanting to forcibly suppress the array-guarding Elder and compel her to tell her where Lu Xiaoxiao had just teleported.

Fu Zhao’s face was filled with disappointment. She shouted, “Tantai Jing! Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Seeing the array-guarding Elder’s eyes nearly bursting and the bones in her body cracking audibly, Fu Zhao’s expression soured. She was about to reach out and stop Tantai Jing.

“I-it was Wuwang Prefecture. I faintly heard the two of them say they were going to the Xuanjian Sword Sect, which has already been annihilated.”

At this moment, a female cultivator nearby resisted the pressure and spoke. She could feel that if she didn’t tell this demon the answer soon, she would likely be met with shattered bones and a burst dantian (core).

Tantai Jing froze upon hearing this, and only then withdrew her divine sense. The human cultivators surrounding the teleportation array all collapsed to the ground, looking at Tantai Jing and Fu Zhao in horror.

“I need to go to Wuwang Prefecture too.” Tantai Jing threw two pieces of high-grade spirit stone to the array-guarding Elder and prepared to step into the teleportation array.

Fu Zhao was furious now. The veins on her temples were faintly visible, and her face was so dark it looked like it could drip water. She firmly grabbed Tantai Jing’s slender wrist and forcefully pulled her toward the carriage.

“Stop fooling around! Come back with me!” Her voice was low but carried an irresistible authority.

Unexpectedly, Tantai Jing broke free from Fu Zhao’s hand. She turned around to face Fu Zhao. Her eyes were filled with tears, looking as if they could spill over at any moment, and her voice was choked with sobs.

“I… I must go. If I don’t see her again, I’m afraid…”

At this point, her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. Every word seemed to cost her all her strength, and the last few words were caught in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to utter the heart-wrenching words, “I’ll never see her again.”

Fu Zhao frowned. She felt both heartache and helplessness at Tantai Jing’s current obsession. At this moment, she couldn’t tell whether Lu Xiaoxiao or Tantai Jing was afflicted with the Love Gu, that one would be so desperate to see the other, regardless of the consequences.

After a long standoff, Fu Zhao finally said resignedly, “If you insist, then go.”

Despite getting the response, Tantai Jing froze in place, not reacting. It seemed she hadn’t expected Fu Zhao to let her go look for Lu Xiaoxiao.

“Thank you, Godmother. I will try to return as soon as possible.”

Tantai Jing’s voice was tinged with a sob. She took a step forward, lightly hugged Fu Zhao, and then turned to walk toward the teleportation array.

However, just two steps forward, a sharp sting came from her neck. The scenery before her eyes began to blur, and her body swayed unsteadily, as if she would collapse at any moment.

In the moment before she completely lost consciousness, she struggled to turn around and saw Fu Zhao’s figure rapidly approaching her, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

“Godmother… you…” Tantai Jing’s words were intermittent, each one squeezed out of her throat with all her might. She didn’t understand why Fu Zhao would suddenly attack after letting her leave.

Fu Zhao sighed helplessly, a trace of regret flashing in her eyes: “Your body hasn’t fully recovered. There is a lot of hostility toward the Demon Clan outside right now, so I really can’t let you go alone. I’m doing this for your safety.”

Tantai Jing’s vision gradually blurred, and she finally collapsed into Fu Zhao’s arms, losing consciousness.