Into The Sea

As dusk settled, a message arrived at the Wanxiang Gate, announcing that a Demon Lord was requesting an audience. Lan Yueyao, sitting alone in the empty hall, asked lazily, “Which Demon Lord?”

“Demon Lord Xibo of Qingdu, and Demon Lord Yuan Changning of Mingdu.”

Lan Yueyao raised an eyebrow slightly. “Ji Xing didn’t come?”

“No.”

Lan Yueyao hummed. “Let them in.”

Soon, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Before they even saw the figures, a deep voice boomed from afar. “Your Majesty, we heard you’re planning to negotiate peace with the humans?!” The speaker was none other than Demon Lord Yuan Changning of Mingdu. This lion demon had a head of messy, long hair, a broad back, and a face full of horizontal scars, looking extremely fierce. “Is this really true?”

Xibo, on the other hand, was an extremely delicate-looking man with pale skin and a slender, bamboo-like frame. Unlike Yuan Changning, who was agitated, he seemed much calmer. “This is a critical moment. We’re about to break into Shiling City. How can you consider peace talks now?”

Lan Yueyao rested her chin on her hand, glancing at the two of them with her eyes downcast. “How do you know I’m planning peace talks?”

The two demons were stunned. They exchanged a look, and then Yuan Changning said, “I heard it from some minor demons outside…”

“Which minor demons?” Lan Yueyao raised her lips, tapping her fingers on the armrest of her throne. “I went to Shiling City alone this morning and returned at noon. I didn’t meet any demons along the way. Where did those minor demons get the news that I’m planning peace talks?”

Xibo avoided the question and asked, “So, Your Majesty, are you really planning peace talks?”

Lan Yueyao frowned, her tone becoming increasingly impatient. “Whether I negotiate peace or not, is it any of your business?”

“Your Majesty!” Xibo raised his voice. “We’ve already sacrificed so much. How can we just give up and negotiate peace with the humans? If we stop now, all we’ll gain is this deserted land. How is that any different from the demon realm we already have?”

Lan Yueyao remained noncommittal, looking down. “I thought there might be one or two demons secretly colluding with the humans. Now it seems… there are more than I imagined.”

Xibo was stunned. Before he could speak, Yuan Changning said anxiously, “What do you mean, Your Majesty? Are you suspecting us of colluding with the humans?!”

The woman remained silent. The lion demon suddenly became enraged. “There’s no collusion with the humans! Even if some humans did secretly cooperate with us, they helped us conquer Wangliang City. What’s wrong with that?! On the other hand, Your Majesty, despite your immense power, you’ve refused to personally intervene no matter how much we begged. Because of that, we’ve sacrificed so many lives! Do you really want to lead the demon race to invade the Central Region? Or are you the one who’s colluding with the humans, trying to doom our demon race to eternal ruin…”

With a loud bang, Yuan Changning’s large body was sent flying, crashing into the wall and coughing up blood.

Lan Yueyao said, each word clear and distinct, “You have quite the nerve to speak to me like that.”

Xibo shuddered, quickly averting his gaze and lowering his head.

Lan Yueyao glanced at him, casually flexing her fingers. “I do as I please. My decisions don’t need your commentary. If you’re dissatisfied, find a way to overthrow me. Then, I’ll gladly listen to what you have to say.” She leaned forward, her gaze piercing as she stared at the two demons. “Do you understand?”

An invisible, oppressive demonic energy weighed down on them. Xibo’s scalp tingled. He knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling. “Understood, understood.”

“Then why are you still here?” Lan Yueyao said with disgust. “Go tell all the demons outside to halt the attack. Until the peace talks, there will be no conflict with the humans.”

Xibo gritted his teeth, lowering his head. “What about the cultivators we captured earlier…”

“Release them.”

The man pursed his lips, lowering his head. “Understood.”

After Xibo helped Yuan Changning leave, two other figures quietly emerged from behind the curtains. Having not seen the light of day or moved freely for years, Xuan Yu stumbled, leaning on Yao Zhu for support as she steadied herself at the foot of the jade steps.

The woman sat alone on the high throne, half of her body shrouded in dark shadows. “You should leave too.”

Xuan Yu couldn’t see her face clearly. She asked softly, “Will they really follow those orders you just gave?”

Lan Yueyao glanced at her, saying calmly, “They will.”

Yao Zhu whispered beside her, “Actually… if I were a demon who grew up here and lost many friends and family in this war, I wouldn’t be happy either if we just stopped and started peace talks out of nowhere.”

Lan Yueyao was silent for a moment. “So… giving the order is one thing. Whether they’ll actually comply is another.”

“What should we do then?”

“That’s not your concern.” Lan Yueyao stood up, lifting her robe, and walked down a few steps. “You’d better leave as soon as possible. The sooner, the better.”

Yao Zhu snorted in dissatisfaction. “As if I enjoy being here.”

She carried Xuan Yu a few steps before pausing and looking back at the lonely figure. “Hey—”

Lan Yueyao lowered her eyes, quietly looking at her.

Yao Zhu pursed her lips, gathering her courage. “You… shouldn’t you apologize to Xuan Yu?”

As soon as the words were spoken, the empty hall fell silent. Even Xuan Yu’s breathing seemed to quiet. Yao Zhu stared unblinkingly at Lan Yueyao’s expressionless face, her unease growing. “Alright, if you don’t want to apologize, then forget it. We… no, Xuan Yu isn’t petty…”

Xuan Yu, both annoyed and amused, pinched Yao Zhu’s shoulder lightly.

Finally, Lan Yueyao closed her eyes, sighing softly. “You really are Lan Wu’s friend. Just as annoying as her.”

“If you’re not going to apologize, why are you insulting me?” Yao Zhu muttered, adjusting Xuan Yu on her back as she slowly made her way toward the secret passage leading out of the hall. Lan Yueyao frowned at her retreating figure and couldn’t help but call out.

The fox quickly turned her head, hopeful. “What? Are you going to apologize?”

Lan Yueyao pointed coldly at the long staircase outside the door. “Use the main entrance.”

As night fell, an uneasy restlessness stirred across the vast desert.

“Peace talks? Release all the captives? Is this true? How could the Demon Queen issue such an order?”

“Just do what you’re told!” Yuan Changning said, his face full of anger. “The Demon Queen’s orders are not for us to question!”

The glow of the campfire reflected in his golden eyes as Yuan Changning glanced at the sea of demons before him. Amid the endless clamor, he clenched his fists tightly.

“Where is the Demon Queen now?!”

“The Demon Queen is still in Yandu, preparing for the upcoming peace talks. In short, until the talks begin, we must not engage with the humans.”

“What if the humans attack us?”

“The Demon Queen must have considered that. If she’s calling for peace talks, she must have already reached an agreement with the humans.”

“I don’t agree. We’ve been fighting for so many years, and we haven’t even entered the Central Region. How can we just stop?”

“Whether you agree or not, the Demon Queen has already made her decision.”

All kinds of voices mixed together, chattering like hundreds of ducks quacking in his head. The veins on Yuan Changning’s forehead throbbed. He suddenly roared, “Silence!”

The camp fell silent instantly. All eyes were fixed on him.

Yuan Changning suppressed his anger, saying coldly, “Send a few demons to take all the captured cultivators out and release them.”

Half an hour later, a few torches flickered in the dim desert, slowly moving east.

A wolf demon cursed, shoving a cultivator with bound hands. “You’re lucky. You happened to be captured at this time. Be grateful for the Demon Queen’s mercy.”

His companion was even more dissatisfied. “What is the Demon Queen thinking? Just deciding to negotiate peace out of nowhere, even releasing all the captured cultivators?”

“I heard the Demon Queen went to Shiling City this morning. Maybe she was deceived by the humans’ sweet words?”

“Who knows…”

The demons grumbled as they walked, stopping when they felt they were far enough from the camp. They were about to release the cultivators’ spiritual bindings when faint footsteps sounded from the depths of the desert.

The demons froze, quickly turning around to see a slender figure emerging from the darkness, illuminated by the bright moonlight.

The wolf demon said in surprise, “Lady Ji Xing? Why are you here? Aren’t you in the northern camp?”

Ji Xing hummed lazily. “Your camp is closer to Shiling City.”

The wolf demon was taken aback. “Closer? What do you mean?”

“What I mean is,” Ji Xing said as she slowly approached, her red lips curling into a smile, “to help you seek revenge, Yuan Changning’s group will be the first to reach Shiling City.”

“Revenge…” The wolf demon was still confused. Before he could finish speaking, he felt the world spin. He fell to the ground with a thud. In his blood-red vision, he saw his body still standing in place, but his head was gone.

After a moment of silence, the remaining demons suddenly screamed in horror. Soon, they were cut off, as if their throats had been gripped.

A cold breeze swept through, carrying the scent of blood into the night sky.

Ji Xing tilted her head, looking at the corpses scattered on the ground. After thinking for a moment, she smeared her blood-stained hand on her face. Once done, she casually grabbed a corpse and hummed a tune as she leisurely made her way back to Yuan Changning’s camp.

In the dead of night, the camp, which had finally quieted down, was suddenly shattered by a piercing scream. A woman covered in blood stumbled to the ground, screaming in terror, “Help! Help!”

The sound was so shrill that it instantly drew the attention of all the demons. They rose to their feet, gathering uneasily toward the source of the noise. Yuan Changning violently pushed aside the tent flap and stormed out, bellowing, “What now?!”

The woman’s eyes were bloodshot. She trembled as she revealed the corpse of a demon that had been brutally killed. “We… we were ambushed by the humans ten miles away. Those cultivators who were released worked together with their companions and killed Ah Jiu and the others!”