Chapter Ninety-One: Junyang’s Astonishment

How could it be the Green Sandalwood Demon King?

The eagle demon cursed under his breath as he forced himself forward with clenched teeth.

That damned fiend.

Green Sandalwood had always treated the eagle demon well. Though they had known each other only a few days, it had been enough for the eagle demon to be willing to stake his life on him.

The hearts of demons were simple, and so they trusted others with ease.

Drawing a little closer, he could already hear Green Sandalwood’s roars.

The sound was enough to make one’s heart feel as though it were being torn apart.

Green Sandalwood Demon King! Bosses, hurry!

The eagle demon no longer had the strength to shout, and yet he kept repeating those words over and over in his mouth.

Unfortunately, until he finally passed out, he never saw You Xiyue or Junyang arrive.

You Xiyue had come the moment the eagle demon crushed the jade token.

Even Junyang had heard Green Sandalwood’s agonized cries.

“Little Ancestor, aren’t we going in to save him?”

“No.”

Junyang held himself back with difficulty and sent a message to You Xiyue. “Why not, Little Ancestor? If we don’t go in to save him, Green Sandalwood will die. And didn’t we still need to catch Hongchen?”

You Xiyue was truly getting irritated by Junyang’s noise in her sea of consciousness, and finally said, “That isn’t Green Sandalwood.”

“What?!”

Junyang was so shocked he nearly cried out. “That isn’t Green Sandalwood? Then who is it?”

You Xiyue shot him a warning glance, telling him to keep it down, before saying, “That’s Xun Yu’s clone.”

“!”

Junyang was even more stunned. “Xun Yu? Little Ancestor, how did you know?”

“The wine.”

“Wine?”

Only then did Junyang suddenly remember the wine Green Sandalwood had brought them that afternoon. “The one who brought the wine was Xun Yu, not Green Sandalwood?”

You Xiyue nodded. “Do you remember Crimson Flame City?”

“Crimson Flame City?” Junyang frowned and tried hard to think.

There was no helping it; as one grew older, memory always seemed a little less reliable.

Still, he eventually remembered. “That town where cultivators and demons lived in peace?”

“Do you remember what happened there?” You Xiyue’s expression had clearly turned somewhat unpleasant when she asked.

“What happened there?”

Junyang kept thinking. “We met Green Sandalwood, went to a tavern, drank some wine...”

“Wine! That day, Little Ancestor, you drank too much and fell asleep! The wine that day tasted exactly like the wine today.”

You Xiyue sighed helplessly. At last, he had caught on.

Junyang came to a sudden realization. “No wonder that wine seemed somewhat familiar to me. No wonder that Green Sandalwood dared to stare at Little Ancestor so brazenly at noon and even said not to drink to excess.”

Then he complained, “Little Ancestor, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

You Xiyue rolled her eyes at him. “What good would it have done to tell you sooner?”

Junyang fell silent for a moment. That did seem to be true enough.

“So you had already worked out a plan with Xun Yu back then? Still, shouldn’t the eagle demon have been Hongchen’s target this time?”

“Would Hongchen really go to such lengths for a small demon like the eagle demon? More importantly, from the very beginning, every great demon swallowed by the Demon-Devouring Pearl was a powerful one.”

Junyang was once again filled with both grievance and admiration. So the Little Ancestor had known Hongchen’s true target from the start.

“So we were acting for Hongchen too, to make him lower his guard?”

“Yes.”

“But... how did he know we were in Devouring Heaven City, and that our target was him?”

You Xiyue gave Junyang a sidelong glance, feeling that he really did seem like someone with ten thousand why’s.

Junyang chuckled awkwardly and shut his mouth.

In the end, You Xiyue still patiently explained, “The one devouring Xun Yu’s clone inside the house isn’t Hongchen. It’s a bat demon with exceptionally keen hearing. If my guess is correct, the bear demon beside Green Sandalwood, the one with a remarkably sensitive sense of smell, has also been controlled by Hongchen. From the moment we stepped into this city, he already knew.”

“From the moment we...” Junyang found it almost unbelievable and glanced at You Xiyue again.

He could not help grumbling inwardly, So you’ve been acting ever since you came in?

What defensive formation? What Green Sandalwood and the eagle demon’s conspiracy? It was all for someone’s eyes to see...

While Junyang was still marveling over it, You Xiyue pulled him up and led him onward step by step.

The two of them maintained the same pace all the way.

Only when they reached a dense forest did You Xiyue stop and say to Junyang, “Stay here and keep watch.”

“Alright.” Junyang nodded obediently and watched as You Xiyue moved forward little by little.

She had already probed the bat demon’s hearing before.

This very forest was where the eagle demon had ambushed them earlier, and back then she had already estimated the approximate range the bat demon could detect.

She was certain she could approach Hongchen’s hiding place without being discovered.

As for Junyang, she could not be sure. So she had him stop there.

The bat demon flew swiftly toward a cave deep within the forest.

That cave was also exceptionally well hidden, tucked away behind a cluster of demon graves.

The thick demonic aura completely masked Hongchen’s scent.

“No wonder I could never trace him.”

You Xiyue was somewhat impressed. Hongchen truly was meticulous.

Still, she did not dare act rashly now, fearing that some array in the cave might be something she did not understand from the demon world and give Hongchen a chance to flee.

She had finally seized this opportunity, and she did not want to lose it so easily.

Just as she was hesitating, snowflakes suddenly began to drift down from the sky.

Yet the scent of that snow was all too familiar.

A powerful aura, utterly unhidden, crashed down from above.

Inside the cave, Hongchen and the two demons also panicked.

The bear demon was the first to sense that something was wrong.

“Boss, it seems to be the scent of the Sacred Demon Xun Yu.”

“The Sacred Demon Xun Yu?”

Hongchen’s knowledge of Xun Yu came only from these two demons.

Just a demon with a somewhat higher status.

“Once I finish absorbing the demonic aura in this Demon-Devouring Pearl, he will be nothing. What is there for you to panic over?”

Hongchen took the Demon-Devouring Pearl from the bat demon’s hand and quickly began to devour it.

Unfortunately, after only a few gulps, he sensed that something was wrong.

“This Demon-Devouring Pearl is wrong! What it’s devouring isn’t demonic aura at all! How... how is it spiritual energy?”

Hongchen frantically examined his body. Though he had only absorbed a little spiritual energy, it still produced a violent rejection with the demonic aura within him.

“Ah!” Hongchen clutched at his throat in agony, rolling over and over on the ground.

Seeing this, You Xiyue charged straight into the cave. With nothing more than a glance, she sent the bear demon and bat demon unconscious.

Hongchen still wanted to resist, but the Cloud-Swirling Ribbon struck first, winding around him.

The hand clutching the Soul-Devouring Pearl remained exposed. As the ribbon tightened, his grip weakened bit by bit, until at last the pearl fell to the ground and rolled to You Xiyue’s feet.

You Xiyue looked down at the pearl, then raised her left hand and moved the red bracelet on her wrist. Instantly, a strand of ghostly flame erupted from the ground, wrapping the pearl in its embrace.

The Demon-Devouring Pearl shrank at a visible pace, until it finally turned into a wisp of smoke.

“No, no, no!” Hongchen struggled desperately, watching in utter despair as the Soul-Devouring Pearl was destroyed. His bloodshot eyes were fierce and crimson, like a demon driven mad beyond reason.