The Demon Lord Relied on His Imagination to Get Together with the Protagonist. - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

“Stop searching. How could we be so lucky to find it this quickly?”

Shi Zhihua didn’t plan on relying on luck. She knew that whenever things got urgent, her luck would be extremely poor. She would almost inevitably run into trouble with whatever she tried to do.

Let alone the current situation. She was just thinking of trying to search; it wasn’t something she was absolutely certain of.

Things she was absolutely certain of were already hard to succeed at, let alone something that relied so heavily on luck.

The reason Shi Zhihua agreed to search was because Tong Siqing insisted on dragging her in and earnestly patted her chest, promising they would definitely find it. If they didn’t, she would be at Shi Zhihua’s disposal tonight.

This trade was worthwhile.

If they found it, it would be a huge celebration. If they didn’t, Tong Siqing would provide a “compensation.” Either way, she wouldn’t lose anything. It was just a waste of a little time. Besides that, it was a sure-fire, profitable business.

Shi Zhihua lazily found a daybed, collapsing onto it bonelessly.

Just as she lay down, before the spot was even warm, she heard Tong Siqing respond:

“Zhihua, I found it!”

Shi Zhihua was not surprised, because she thought Tong Siqing was lying.

They had just entered. How could she find it immediately?

She calmly supported her head: “Talking nonsense again…”

The next moment, Tong Siqing emerged, holding a scroll.

Shi Zhihua: ???

Did she really find it?

Qing Lin and Su Rong also quickly gathered around to look. They leaned their heads closer, reading the words on the scroll with a drawn-out tone and a frown.

“Meridian Gate Bell… and the Entanglement of Love with Prince Ze’an and his… Imperial Concubine… the Two or Three Things That Must Be Told…”

What is this?

Shi Zhihua felt a little helpless: “Whose gossip is written so blatantly at the very beginning? This clearly looks unreliable.”

“There is,” Tong Siqing recalled. “The last time I read a book called ‘Overbearing Demon Lord Falls in Love With Me,’ it also had a writing style that went straight to the point.”

Shi Zhihua: “…That’s a fictional storybook. Can it be the same as this?”

“But the things written in that storybook were quite real. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have discovered the succubus coming to assassinate,” Tong Siqing asked. “Besides, aren’t we looking for storybooks and rumors right now? Normal historical records wouldn’t write about these things, would they?”

Shi Zhihua: “…”

She couldn’t refute it. Tong Siqing was right.

But Shi Zhihua still found it absurd. She asked: “Where did you find it? How did you find it so quickly?”

Tong Siqing pointed: “It was placed right in the middle. This is the only copy. I saw it as soon as I walked over.”

Qing Lin and Su Rong nearly dropped their jaws. They had almost been buried by the pile of books just now, searching with dizzy eyes and finding no clues. How could this scroll be explicitly placed there, waiting for Tong Siqing to pick it up, after she only walked around for a moment!

This was too lucky.

Shi Zhihua was also surprised. She took the scroll from Tong Siqing and reread the title—

Meridian Gate Bell, Prince Ze’an, Imperial Concubine…

Why did that sound so familiar?

Tong Siqing immediately remembered. She said: “That night, when the mirror turned into Immortal Master Fu Luan, it told us a super boring story. The main characters were precisely Prince Ze’an and the Imperial Concubine of Emperor Ze’an.”

However, the Meridian Gate Bell was not mentioned at the time; it was the Lover’s Knot.

Shi Zhihua felt incredibly disgusted whenever she thought of the Lover’s Knot story. If she hadn’t listened to it at the time, she wouldn’t have been tormented by Tong Siqing that night until she couldn’t get out of bed.

“At the beginning of the story, the mirror said that Immortal Master Fu Luan also saw the Lover’s Knot at the same stall where she picked up the mirror,” Tong Siqing recalled for a moment and added: “If we substitute, can we understand it as—the stall where Immortal Master Fu Luan picked up the mirror actually had another item, which was the Meridian Gate Bell.”

Qing Lin whispered: “Truly a small pond with many turtles.” (A small place with many troubles/important figures).

It was rare for such a small street stall to spawn two troublemakers.

“Let’s first assume that everything the Phantom Mirror said is true,” Shi Zhihua said. “As an inanimate object, the Phantom Mirror could not leave the Xinglin Kingdom. However, it later learned about the royal secrets of the neighboring Ze’an Kingdom. This means… either these things happened when the Meridian Gate Bell was at that stall, or… the mirror and the Meridian Gate Bell met at the stall, separated, and then sought each other out again.”

“They must have separated and then reunited,” Qing Lin stated. “Xinglin was later destroyed by Ze’an. The Ze’an people invaded Xinglin City, and perhaps coincidentally brought the Meridian Gate Bell there as well.”

Shi Zhihua was noncommittal. She opened the scroll and scanned the contents rapidly.

As she read, she suddenly frowned.

Something was wrong. Why was this storybook so concise? Although the title was eye-catching, the content was similar to a historical record, brief and to the point. It seemed to intentionally explain the general story in a succinct manner, as if worried about the reader losing patience.

Shouldn’t a normal storybook be exaggerated and melodramatic? Why was it like this here…

It was too coincidental. So coincidental that Shi Zhihua began to become suspicious.

She threw the scroll away, concluding: “Someone is setting a trap for us.”

Tong Siqing: “…”

No, it’s not a conspiracy!

Tong Siqing knew that Destiny favored her, so the plot also revolved around her. That’s why she suggested they try searching, and naturally, she found the key item immediately.

Furthermore, the subtle guiding force, in order to make things easier for her, had specifically abbreviated and corrected the story, which is why it appeared this way.

Who would have thought that Zhihua would be suspicious?

Tong Siqing quickly retrieved the scroll: “It’s alright. There’s no harm in reading it.”

Shi Zhihua: “But—”

Tong Siqing instinctively offered a sweet remark: “But, Venerable Lord, you are so powerful. Can you be afraid of a small trap set by an inanimate object?”

Shi Zhihua’s brows relaxed. The rest of her half-sentence was long forgotten. She changed the subject, a smile immediately appearing: “Siqing has a point.”

Qing Lin: “…”

Su Rong: “…”

It is said that the Demon Lord cannot resist a beautiful woman’s plea. It seems this has been the case since ancient times.

They thought their Venerable Lord was emotionless and would not be like this, but who knew she was even more excessive.

Qing Lin and Su Rong had nothing to say. They could only read the story along with Tong Siqing.

The scroll laid out the story clearly and understandably for Tong Siqing, so the group quickly grasped the plot.

The story was this: Ze’an had a promiscuous and frivolous prince whose favorite pastime was forcefully seizing common women and collecting beauties everywhere. However, his Imperial Father rarely disciplined him.

Why? Because he had a very powerful Meridian Gate Bell.

The Meridian Gate Bell could retain the souls of the deceased and summon ghost soldiers at midnight, so the Emperor of Ze’an dared not do anything to him.

Then, one day, this Prince Ze’an suddenly changed his ways. He fell in love with an extremely beautiful woman and doted on her immensely, even handing over the Meridian Gate Bell for her to play with.

Who would have thought that this playtime would lead to disaster? The woman immediately buckled the Meridian Gate Bell onto her ankle and ran away.

It turned out she was an informant sent by the Emperor, deliberately trying to steal the Meridian Gate Bell.

After obtaining the item and returning to the Imperial City, the woman transformed, becoming the Emperor’s favored Imperial Concubine, infuriating Prince Ze’an to the point of near-death.

The Emperor and his favored concubine thought they could depose the Prince with this, but who would have thought that Prince Ze’an was also bold? That night, he put on night-traveling clothes and went to the harem, using a bit of muscle-relaxing powder to sedate the Imperial Concubine.

The Imperial Concubine, worried about the item being stolen, had tied the Meridian Gate Bell to her ankle. After being sedated, she watched helplessly as Prince Ze’an came to untie it.

Prince Ze’an couldn’t untie it immediately and became instantly annoyed. He was about to draw his sword and chop off her feet.

Terrified, the Imperial Concubine constantly pleaded, bringing up their past love and affection, begging Prince Ze’an to spare her.

Prince Ze’an would never agree. Not only did he refuse, but he also killed the Imperial Concubine.

To vent his anger, he continued to whip the corpse after her death, disfiguring her beyond recognition.

After the murder, Prince Ze’an suddenly snapped back to his senses, realizing his mistake. Filled with fear and regret, he felt that the Meridian Gate Bell was a wicked thing that fostered evil thoughts in people’s hearts, and he stumbled and crawled away.

At midnight, as he ran with weak, numb limbs, the sound of the bell relentlessly pursued him, impossible to shake off.

In that moment, he frantically repented, beginning to list his sins.

And then…

And then…

Under the influence of the Meridian Gate Bell, he ascended, the reason being—because of his promiscuity, he became heartless, and coupled with the ‘killing his wife to prove his enlightenment,’ he successfully cultivated the Path of Heartlessness.

Everyone reading the story: “…”

What kind of bizarre ending is this? It was truly frustrating, like a mouthful of old blood stuck in the throat.

It was the first time Tong Siqing had read a story with such indignation. She said: “If this story is true, I must ask those disciples later who ascended in this manner. I will definitely have him demoted again.”

Shi Zhihua stood up: “The righteous path is never short of hypocrites. Let’s go. Let’s root out this worm.”

They quickly contacted Fu Luan, asking her to summon all the disciples under her who practiced the Path of Heartlessness.

Fu Luan pointed to some of the disciples: “Some of them have not successfully cultivated the Path of Heartlessness. You can ask these few disciples here.”

Tong Siqing was curious: “Why would someone who doesn’t cultivate the Path of Heartlessness join the Immortal Master’s heartless sect?”

Fu Luan smiled without speaking.

Everyone understood. It wasn’t that they hadn’t successfully cultivated it. It was that after successfully cultivating it, they broke their dao heart for various reasons. But Immortal Master Fu Luan was kind-hearted and willing to keep them as helpers. Since Xianning could not keep them, the Immortal Master took them along on her travels.

Tong Siqing nodded and said: “When we return, anyone who has broken their dao heart should report to my Father Venerable for punishment. Those with high merit and who have done many good deeds will be dealt with leniently.”

The disciples hastily agreed, not daring to raise their heads.

Shi Zhihua told Fu Luan the approximate time and details of Prince Ze’an’s ascension, asking her to find the person’s immortal title and name.

Fu Luan replied: “There are no people from Ze’an among my disciples. But judging from the time, accounting for an error of three to five years…”

Halfway through her sentence, Fu Luan turned back and asked the disciples: “Does your Senior Brother Cen seem to match?”

Disciples: “Yes, but Senior Brother said that day that he was from Xinglin, just like you.”

Fu Luan said coldly: “I was in a hurry that day and didn’t ask much, but I do know some things. I was the only person from Xinglin to ascend. Soon after, the country was destroyed. How could there be another person? If he were, how would I not know?”

Mortal ascensions are not common, and they are restricted to the Path of Heartlessness sect, so this person is easy to check.

Fu Luan sighed: “I also want to ask him why he pretended to be from Xinglin that day, and why he said my appearance looked very familiar.”

The disciples exchanged glances. Someone weakly offered an explanation: “Perhaps… Senior Brother was trying to get closer to you.”

Fu Luan: “I would prefer him to be an honest disciple.”

“So Cen Letian still hasn’t returned?” Shi Zhihua said. “He’s been gone for so long. Why hasn’t he made a sound?”

Fu Luan lowered her gaze: “It is my failure to teach properly. I have made the Demon Lord laugh.”

Cen Letian’s vision blurred. When he woke up, he didn’t know how many hours had passed.

He supported himself with his sword sheath and struggled to his feet—

When he saw the scene before him, his pupils contracted, and he almost knelt down.

This was Ze’an, his former country, and he was in his own Eastern Palace.

Cen Letian’s legs trembled violently. He looked around and saw the painting on the wall. The person in the painting was dressed in a red wedding gown, her beautiful eyes indifferent, looking down at the common people with pity…

Cen Letian was instantly stunned.

No wonder the wedding gown his Master wore that day looked so familiar. It turned out that his old hanging painting was modeled after her.

Cen Letian slowly knelt down to the painting on the wall, struggling to bow his head: “Master, this disciple has failed you.”

He was a villain in the mortal world, indulging in evil deeds and favoring beauties. After inexplicably receiving a painting of a beautiful woman, he set out to search the world for the person. Unable to find her, he looked for someone with similar looks and temperament.

Who would have thought that the person he finally found was the informant sent by his Imperial Father?

It was also that informant who led him to commit the deepest sin of murder, scaring him nearly out of his wits.

If he hadn’t ascended in time, he would probably have been scared to death by his own actions.

“Master…” Cen Letian crawled forward on his knees, crying: “I am truly not a villain. Since ascending, I have abandoned all my mortal habits, remaining pure and free from desires, diligently cultivating, and becoming an Immortal who upholds justice, just like you. I, I, I really haven’t made a mistake again.”

How strange. He was weeping uncontrollably in front of a painting.

The year he ascended, he was too ashamed to report to Xianning. He randomly found a remote mountain village and hid himself there, becoming a woodcutter, living a life of asceticism.

Later, it was his Master who learned that a heartless dao disciple hadn’t found Xianning and personally came down to the mortal world from thousands of miles away to take him back.

At that time, looking at the Immortal with hair like frost and snow, he was determined to be an honest and kind-hearted disciple.

Many years passed in a flash. He did good deeds every day, wanting to atone for his past sins.

Born into royalty, with a jade-like countenance, his appearance was exceptionally handsome and refined. Everyone in the sect praised him for maintaining his original intention and successfully cultivating the Path of Heartlessness despite his superior appearance. But he knew himself that he didn’t succeed because he was honest. It was because he was promiscuous, heartless, and committed the sin of “killing his wife.”

However, no one knew any of this.

In everyone’s eyes, he was just a righteous and dutiful Senior Brother.

Since the day he ascended, he had never had a single wicked thought. He pretended so well that he even deceived himself. As time went by, it seemed as if he had no past. He was born to be the heartless dao Senior Brother with boundless kindness.

Everyone said that people could never truly separate from their past, but he prided himself on being able to do so.

He had indeed succeeded…

If he hadn’t seen this painting.

The moment he saw the painting, a torrent of regret overwhelmed Cen Letian. He hated his past foolishness, the grievous sins he committed, which resulted in him always feeling guilty, no matter what he did afterward, like someone trying to hide a secret.

Cen Letian stared blankly at the painting on the wall.

He thought—

Was he the universally condemned Prince Ze’an, or the Immortal widely supported by the common people?

He was also confused. Scenes of old events flashed before his eyes.

He still remembered that the feeling of being scorned by the world was unbearable. So much so that when he became an Immortal by chance, and the common people chased him out to express their gratitude, he thought those people were chasing him to curse him.

Under his Master’s gentle gaze, he saw the villagers stuff sweet melons they had grown into his arms, their tone enthusiastic and grateful.

They bowed to him and his Master—

“Thank you, Immortals. You are living Bodhisattvas.”

“Immortals must always be well and protect the people of the world.”

“May the Immortals have ten thousand years of peace and be free from illness and disaster.”

Cen Letian looked at the villagers in a daze, suddenly wondering why he committed evil when he was the Crown Prince.

He didn’t understand, so he desperately buried the past, keeping silent even when his Master asked.

Until…

Until the day his Master was dressing in front of the mirror, changing into a red gown. In a moment of intense emotion, he falsely claimed that he was also from Xinglin.

He knew his Master was from Xinglin and did not dare to admit his identity as a Ze’an person, because Xinglin was destroyed by Ze’an.

He deliberately said he was also from Xinglin, thinking he would see surprise in his Master’s eyes, but who would have thought his Master did not believe him much.

Cen Letian lowered his head, feeling a bit disappointed.

He had thought that his Master, knowing he was also from Xinglin, would treat him better.

Cen Letian took the painting off the wall.

He wondered, where is his Master now? After realizing he was missing, was she as anxious as he was when he discovered she was gone?

Cen Letian’s gaze was vacant. Although he was in another place, he was not panicked.

Because he always felt that he had his Master, and his Master would surely find a way to rescue him.

Cen Letian slumped onto the ground.

Suddenly, he heard a clear chime of a bell by his ear.

“The Phantom Mirror and the Meridian Gate Bell appeared simultaneously at the street stall in Xinglin. After the Phantom Mirror was taken away, the Meridian Gate Bell soon drifted to Xinglin’s neighboring country, Ze’an, and eventually ended up in the hands of Prince Ze’an,” Shi Zhihua said as she walked. “After the great fire in Xinglin, it was destroyed by Ze’an. Then, something happened in Ze’an. The Prince ran away, and the Meridian Gate Bell coincidentally went to Xinglin and hooked up with the Phantom Mirror.”

After all the speculation, Shi Zhihua still found it very strange.

Could these two broken things, the Phantom Mirror and the Meridian Gate Bell, really cause such a big commotion? And actually come to the Scarlet Sky Realm?

“Weren’t Xinglin or Ze’an enough for the two of them to cause trouble in?” Shi Zhihua sighed. “The Scarlet Sky Realm was originally a good place, far from wars and disputes, for recuperation, but it was destroyed by the two of them.”

Fu Luan, walking behind, heard this and was silent for a moment before saying: “Don’t blame the Phantom Mirror. Blame me.”

Tong Siqing: “How can you blame yourself?”

Fu Luan: “In those days when Xinglin was besieged by the people of the Demon Realm, I told the mirror countless times that I wanted to escape the war, to take my millions of Xinglin people to a good place without war.”

A place without war—the Scarlet Sky Realm.

Tong Siqing was startled: “Then, those skeletons in the Meridian Gate and the people in the Scarlet Sky Realm with black Death qi on their faces, are they…”

“That’s right. I always felt they looked familiar, because… they are my subjects,” Fu Luan lowered her eyes, her voice calm and still. “They all died in the war originally, but their souls were collected by the mirror and the Meridian Gate Bell, brought to the Scarlet Sky Realm, and are reliving that wedding, mimicking the past, every full moon night.”

The mirror was trapped in the Xinglin Imperial Palace, so it couldn’t personally witness the grand event. It replayed the wedding in its mind every day, even casting itself as the bride, longing to meet Fu Luan and recreate the grand marriage.

In order to wait for Fu Luan to return, it brought all her deceased subjects here, firstly to fulfill her wish, and secondly, hoping that… for the sake of so many people, she would come back to the mortal world for a look.

“There are still some people here whose faces do not have Death qi,” Tong Siqing said. “And they are the people who were able to obtain the invitation letters.”

Shi Zhihua sighed: “Those people you mentioned are the original residents of the Scarlet Sky Realm.”

The mirror and the Meridian Gate Bell did not harm them. Instead, they issued invitations to every original resident, asking them to create an atmosphere for the wedding.

The souls of the deceased that were retained were gradually dissipating. This wedding, which the bride never came to, was becoming increasingly desolate. The two stubborn Immortal Artifacts relentlessly pulled people in, both to restore the scene and to maintain the status quo.

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