Chapter 342: The Entanglements of the Demon Realm are Like a Tangled Mess

Guihua glanced sideways at the tall human man beside her, grumbling to herself for quite a while.

This man had thick brows and large eyes; though not particularly handsome, he was tall, upright, and full of heroic spirit, which made Guihua's heart flutter—she liked these kinds of mortals the best, for their souls were incredibly delicious to eat.

Yet that dead girl Lingxiang said he was her person, and even told Guihua to look after him well! At the thought of this, Guihua's anger flared up.

Two years ago, Lingxiang had dragged a young member of the Demon Race back from outside, claiming he was a newly accepted disciple.

But Guihua did not know what Lingxiang saw in him; no matter how she looked, he was just a demon of low aptitude, lacking even the demon body that ordinary members of the Demon Race should have.

Fortunately, Lingxiang did not make Guihua worry too much, and Guihua was happy to have one less chore—just serving Lingxiang was enough to exhaust her heart and soul.

Speaking of chores, Guihua was even more furious.

Today, Lingxiang had a sudden whim to buy some things at the market, but once they arrived, she ran off to a teahouse to drink tea, leaving Guihua with only a note and sending her off to buy everything.

The note clearly listed children's toys; to think she, a general of the Demon Realm, was made to buy such things! It was simply outrageous!

However, some of the strange medicinal ingredients on the list took some effort, and she had to visit several pharmacies to find them; as for the "Chongchuan Bian'an," she had even gone to Chongchuan herself to gather it.

Chongchuan is a river in the Netherworld that originates from Jinjishan, stretches for two thousand li, and finally flows into the Wang Chuan river.

At the source of Chongchuan, Nether vegetation is lush, but it is filled with Nether insects and is exceptionally dangerous.

Nether insects is a collective term for the insects of the Netherworld, which feed on Nether Qi and parasitize in the darkness.

Among them is a type of Nether insect called Qingyou, shaped like a maggot, with a cry like an infant, the size of a child, and possessing three tentacles; it loves to eat living souls most of all.

Living souls are the souls of the living.

Whenever the Ghost Gate opens during the Ghost Festival, there are always some living people who accidentally wander into the Guiyu; if their luck is bad and no capable person rescues them, and the ghost messengers do not discover them, they become lost in the Netherworld, and some end up as food for the Qingyou.

Of course, these so-called dangers were simply not worth mentioning to Guihua.

Guihua was born of the Demon Race, and her demon body was that of a Mingxie Nu; most of these snakes, insects, rats, and ants feared her, and they would scurry away long before she even approached.

Therefore, gathering the medicinal ingredients was not a difficult task for Guihua, but the Chongchuan Bian'an was extremely rare, so it did take her quite some effort to find it.

Hmph! That dead girl! She sits there leisurely drinking tea while ordering me around until my legs break!

Guihua cast a vicious glance at Lingxiang, but Lingxiang looked full of worries; Guihua grew suspicious, but since Boluohui was nearby, she could not probe further and had to let it go.

That dead girl was always finding ways to torment her; it was truly better to avoid trouble than to invite it, so she should just leave her be—it would be better if she just died!

As for why Lingxiang was so distracted, she was thinking about what had happened at the teahouse earlier.

Lingxiang had left the palace because she had accepted an invitation from Wumin Jun, but Wumin Jun had hinted beforehand that this meeting must not be made public; Lingxiang did not feel at ease leaving Guihua idle, which was why she had deliberately found those tasks to make things difficult for her.

There were simply too many shocking things today; just taking Wumin Jun's face as an example was enough to make her need a while to recover.

It was the first time Lingxiang had seen such a face...

No! To be precise, it was the first time she had seen a head that could still remain intact after suffering such a severe injury.

A face that should have been whole had been split in two from the top of the skull to the neck; within the shocking gap, one could vaguely see threads connecting the parts.

That was...

It was Spirit Silk!

How could a member of the Demon Race have Spirit Silk?

Fortunately, Wumin Jun did not let Lingxiang guess for long before he explained the origin.

Wumin Jun had originally been of the Zi surname, but after the turmoil within the Demon Race many years ago, he had been stripped of his surname.

The Zi surname is rare, and it is certainly not an ordinary one; it was bestowed by Emperor Shun and later became the royal surname of the Shang Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Lingxiang combined it with the books and scrolls she had read in the Demon Realm over the years and guessed Wumin Jun's identity, and what Wumin Jun said next indeed confirmed her speculation.

The order and laws of the Demon Realm were established by the First Demon Venerable, which was understandable, but the Former Demon Venerable had gone even further, not only requiring all citizens to follow the Demon Dao but also demanding that every household offer one soul each month for him to consume and enjoy.

This had greatly disrupted the balance of the Reincarnation.

How the Creator Demon Venerable founded the Demon Race is a story for another time, but over thousands of years, the Demon Realm had parasitized the Netherworld, biding its time; in the long run, it had maintained a delicate balance with the other three realms, but if this matter were discovered by the Heavenly Realm and the Netherworld, the Demon Realm would inevitably face total destruction.

Moreover, the Former Demon Venerable had also decreed that if a household could not offer a soul each month, they had to offer a person from their family for him to consume.

Although they were all people of the Demon Realm, not everyone was brave in battle, nor was everyone cruel and vicious, so many members of the Demon Race lost their lives under such regulations.

During the reign of the Former Demon Venerable, the number of the Demon Race plummeted, and the prosperity the Demon Race had worked so hard to achieve was visibly on the verge of decay.

At that time, there was a man whom the world called Nanshan Jun; he was the nephew of the Former Demon Venerable, and his name was Ciyan.

Nanshan Jun Ciyan could not bear to see the Demon Realm suffer, and fearing that turmoil would descend in the future, he conspired with some officials to launch a mutiny, killing the Former Demon Venerable and seizing the court of the Demon Realm.

After a great battle, Nanshan Jun, who possessed the bloodline of the Creator Demon Venerable, was naturally pushed onto the throne, but even then, many people criticized the legitimacy of Nanshan Jun's position as Demon Lord.

After all, the Former Demon Venerable still had an heir, who is the current Demon Lord—Ziboyan.

At that time, Ziboyan was still young and had not participated in court disputes, nor had he cultivated any power, but as the only heir of the Former Demon Venerable, he was the rightful successor.

Furthermore, many officials at the time, while speaking of legitimacy, had secret intentions to manipulate the young prince and later use the emperor to command the vassals, becoming the ones who controlled the Demon Realm from behind the scenes.

At first, Nanshan Jun had not intended to harm his cousin, but the voices of opposition in the court rose one after another; for the sake of the stability of the Demon Realm, he had no choice but to issue a secret order to assassinate Ziboyan.

At that time, the Grand Tutor Dingyuan Hou received the news and, unable to bear seeing Ziboyan become a discarded pawn of the court, quietly let him out of the city.

Although Boyan escaped, those officials were unwilling to let this opportunity pass and sent their own forces to track the prince's trail.

Perhaps it was because he was in a high position and the treacherous officials were constantly making moves, but Nanshan Jun gradually became uneasy and secretly dispatched several teams to hunt down and kill Ziboyan.

And among them was Wumin Jun.

"So after Demon Lord Boyan gained power, he punished you for this?"

Lingxiang frowned, but she felt something was not quite right.

If what Wumin Jun said was true, these two should be enemies; given Demon Lord Boyan's temperament, would he have left him alive?

Lingxiang did not believe the Demon Lord would be so soft-hearted.

Wumin Jun shook his head, sighed, and said, "I did capture him, but I let him go."

"You let him go!?"

Could it be that this injury was caused by Nanshan Jun?

Wumin Jun guessed what she was thinking, but he shook his head again.

"Ciyan is my father; he has not cast blame upon me."

What?!

Hearing this, Lingxiang was so shocked that her eyeballs nearly popped out.

This...

This really is...

A tangled mess!