The Demon Lord Is Carrying My Child - Chapter 31

It was night, and the bright moon hung high in the sky.

Cun Ming lay lazily on the roof of his room with a stalk of foxtail grass dangling from his mouth. A large, shimmering moon reflected in his eyes, swaying in a way that made his heart itch with restlessness.

He moved swiftly across the rooftops; thanks to his lightness of foot, he managed not to disturb a single soul. Unfortunately, the surrounding area was populated entirely by participants of the grand assembly, and the core buildings of the Cangyou Pavilion remained hidden from view.

The Cangyou Pavilion was certainly generous, having specially constructed an entire complex for the guests to rest and enjoy themselves. This pavilion stood on a site with the finest scenery in the entire Southern Mountain, yet the Cangyou Pavilion’s own quarters were concealed so tightly that not a single breath of information leaked out.

The more they acted this way, the more Cun Ming felt they were hiding some unspeakable secret. Otherwise, given the sheer number of buildings the Cangyou Pavilion possessed, how could they possibly fail to accommodate everyone?

“Brother Cun.”

Suddenly hearing someone call him, Cun Ming turned his head and followed the sound with his gaze.

It was Mu Xinghuo. He was standing below, looking up at Cun Ming, scratching his head sheepishly as their eyes met.

Cun Ming dropped to the ground and intentionally put on a stern face, asking, “It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping?”

Mu Xinghuo grew even more embarrassed, but he stated his reason nonetheless: “Brother Cun, I lost to you during the day. I have never lost to anyone with that move before. Could you tell me… how did you break it?”

Mu Xinghuo smiled timidly, perhaps afraid that Cun Ming would think he was crazy for asking such a thing in the dead of night.

“Just for that?” Cun Ming tilted his head. From Mu Xinghuo’s perspective, it truly looked as if he were contemplating whether the lad was indeed out of his mind.

Mu Xinghuo explained flusteredly, “Just for that. But if you are busy, Brother Cun, then never mind. Sorry to disturb you.”

He had asked many people such questions in the past, but most of the time, he received only mockery. Some even told him that the weak would always be weak and could never become strong. Over time, he rarely found the courage to ask anymore; most of the time, he relied on his own clumsy fumbling, picking himself up even when he fell and got hurt.

He came to ask this time only because he had heard that Cun Ming was a good person. He thought that Cun Ming probably wouldn’t reject him. But then again, running out in the middle of the night to ask about techniques anyone would think he was mental.

Cun Ming took in the changes in Mu Xinghuo’s expression; this kid was a true martial arts fanatic. He helplessly pulled back Mu Xinghuo, who was turning to leave. “Are we two going to spar until dawn then?”

“No, no, that’s not necessary,” Mu Xinghuo waved his hands happily. “Any time is fine, I just hoped you would agree, Brother Cun.”

“I agree. How about tomorrow afternoon?”

Tomorrow’s trial would be very simple for Cun Ming. Although a full day was allotted, Cun Ming estimated he could finish in half a day. This time, everyone would be deployed to a place similar to the previous dense forest, but the difficulty would be significantly upgraded. Not only would there be more ferocious creatures, but there would also be the formations the Cangyou Pavilion was most skilled in.

The first stage served as a threshold to select those with genuine strength. The second stage allowed for a “hundred flowers to bloom” no matter the technique, as long as one’s strength was formidable, they could stay. The third stage began to integrate the Cangyou Pavilion’s own specialties, and it was likely that the techniques of various sects would be incorporated in future stages.

Cun Ming was actually quite looking forward to seeing what the Beichen Mountain sword arts would look like when integrated into the trials.

“Great! Thank you, Brother Cun,” Mu Xinghuo laughed with pure, undivided joy.

Cun Ming patted his shoulder. “This habit of yours is very good. Now go back to sleep.”

Mu Xinghuo went back happily. Cun Ming watched his receding figure and shook his head with a smile. If everyone in the world were as obsessed as Mu Xinghuo, wouldn’t everyone under heaven be a master?

When Cun Ming returned to his room, he found Chen Li waiting for him. It looked like he had been there for a while.

“Senior Brother, why are you here?” Cun Ming walked quickly to sit opposite Chen Li.

“Where did you go?” Chen Li looked up at him.

“Just went out for a stroll.”

“I just received some news.”

“What news?”

“The eldest disciple of Cangyou Pavilion, Zhi Ming, has been away from the pavilion this entire time.”

“How did you find out?”

Chen Li, who had been sitting perfectly upright, shifted uncomfortably when he heard Cun Ming’s question. “Mei Wuhen told me.”

“Why would she tell you?” Cun Ming was completely baffled.

Chen Li cleared his throat with a fist to his lips. “We’ll talk about that later. Junior Brother, don’t you think it’s suspicious that the chief disciple of Cangyou Pavilion is absent at such a critical time?”

“Hmm…” Cun Ming stroked his chin.

“If it were our Beichen Mountain hosting this assembly today and I wasn’t on the mountain, what would that imply?”

“It would imply that Master had another urgent matter for you to handle and that this matter is so important that Master was forced to send you away even at such a crucial moment.”

Chen Li nodded in agreement. “Therefore, Zhi Ming must have something important to do. If the Cangyou Pavilion truly intends to sacrifice living souls to the heavens, then such a vital task could only be entrusted to Zhi Ming. No one else would put Sect Leader Liu Shuo at ease.”

This deduction brought both a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. The good news was that as long as they found Zhi Ming, they would know the location of the soul sacrifice. The bad news was that this location was not within the Cangyou Pavilion itself.

“I plan to find an excuse with Master to leave the Cangyou Pavilion tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with you.”

They had originally only come to accompany Yu Chu, so they didn’t have much interest in the assembly. At this moment, the matter of the soul sacrifice was clearly more important.

“Alright. What time?”

“After the hour of Wei (2 PM), I suppose. I promised Mu Xinghuo I’d help him analyze his moves.”

“Fine.”

Just as Chen Li was about to walk out, Cun Ming pulled him back. He turned to see his usually irreverent junior brother winking at him, asking the question Chen Li least wanted to face once again: “Senior Brother, you still haven’t told me… why did Mei Wuhen tell you that news?”

“I don’t know.” Chen Li emphasized the “don’t” and, after shaking off Cun Ming’s hand, almost fled the room in a panic.

Anything that could make his Senior Brother retreat so hastily had to be a matter of the heart. Since his Senior Brother wouldn’t say, Cun Ming would just have to imagine it for himself.

The next day, West Mountain.

“You little girl! You come here and then you have to ransack me before you leave? Is this any way to behave?” Liu Wushuang looked at his rare herbs, which had been picked clean, with heartache. He glared and scolded Ji Shutao for being outrageous while gripping her bundle tightly.

Ji Shutao patted Liu Wushuang’s hand and asked with a look of righteousness, “Did you or did you not agree yesterday to be my child’s godfather?”

Yesterday, Ji Shutao had said she would never forget Liu Wushuang’s great kindness and that he was the “reborn Matchmaker” for her and Zhuang Yi. She had rambled on with a long list of grateful words, finally offering to let her child recognize Liu Wushuang as a godfather and Sang Man as a godmother to repay their kindness. Liu Wushuang had been dazed by her chatter; not even understanding what a “reborn Matchmaker” was, he had confusedly agreed.

“Yes, I agreed.”

“But now Zhuang Yi’s body is weak. If she is weak, your god-grandchild will certainly suffer. With rare medicinal herbs right in front of us, how can we not use them?” Ji Shutao appealed to his emotions and reason.

She was probably the only person who dared to be so insolent to the Divine Doctor.

Liu Wushuang finally realized that this had been Ji Shutao’s plan all along. He was literally laughed at by the girl’s audacity. “You truly are a clever little devil.”

Ji Shutao and the others planned to descend the mountain today. Even if Ji Shutao hadn’t asked, Liu Wushuang would have given them some things. After all, his house hadn’t been this chaotic and lively in a long time. Though Ji Shutao was noisy, she was also entertaining.

Ji Shutao grinned broadly. “Everyone praises me for being a big genius.”

As they were about to leave, Liu Wushuang asked them, “Where do you plan to go?”

“Back to the Demon Realm first.”

Zhuang Yi wanted to confirm if the forbidden book had been taken by Xi Xiao and to handle some other matters.

“A few days ago, I remembered the matter of the living soul sacrifice you mentioned,” Liu Wushuang said. “Sacrificing souls to the heavens cannot be done just anywhere. It is best done in a place where Yin energy surges to the sky.”

Yin energy surging to the sky?

Ji Shutao glanced at Zhuang Yi, who shook her head, indicating she didn’t know of such a place.

“Mount Wuming doesn’t look like a place with surging Yin energy no matter how you look at it.”

“Surging Yin energy isn’t judged by feeling or the naked eye. A hundred miles from the West Mountain, there is a place called Mount Huai. Legend has it that the mountain is covered in locust trees (Huai trees), and locust trees have very heavy Yin energy. That mountain is not far from the Demon Realm; you can go take a look on your way.”

This was a truly unexpected surprise. Zhuang Yi knew of Mount Huai, but she hadn’t realized that the site for a soul sacrifice required such heavy Yin energy; she had assumed finding a person with a Pure Yin soul was sufficient.

Liu Wushuang smiled and stroked his beard. “Since ancient times, sacrifices whether human or animal have involved extremely complex procedures. The location of the sacrifice cannot be chosen carelessly. The Cangyou Pavilion excels at incantations and curses; they will likely use some sort of array to assist. Since you are returning to the Demon Realm, stopping by to check won’t take much time.”

When Ji Shutao heard the word “curse,” a chill suddenly ran through her heart. She instinctively sought the source of her unease and remembered something she had long since forgotten.

She grabbed Zhuang Yi’s hand urgently. “Zhuang Yi, the curse on Yi Ran!”

Zhuang Yi’s heart skipped a beat. They had been rushing about for days and had completely forgotten about it.

Cangyou Pavilion probably wouldn’t have gone to Mount Huai so soon; in other words, they wouldn’t allow the optimal timing to pass them by.

“Maybe they have a way to pause the curse. After all, people with Pure Yin souls are hard to find. They wouldn’t waste someone they worked so hard to find,” Zhuang Yi speculated, trying to comfort Ji Shutao.

“I hope so,” Ji Shutao said, her spirit flagging. She could only think that way. How could she have forgotten such an important matter?

Zhuang Yi squeezed her hand. “It’s not your fault. Even if you had remembered then, it would have been very difficult for us to find Ye Yiran and the others.”

The Cangyou Pavilion had been able to wipe away all traces so cleanly because they were clearly well-prepared. Since they were prepared, they wouldn’t be easily found.

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