She rolled off the bed, stood for a moment, and then walked toward the door.
"I'm going out to take a look."
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Author's Note:
Rounding up, they're asleep! (No arguments allowed)
Wow, thank you, Little Angel Calabash, for the rocket launcher and grenades! Lift me high!!
//Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-04-08 22:55:22 and 2022-04-09 22:52:12!
Thank you to the little angel who launched the rocket: 1 Gourd;
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: 1 Gourd;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 128 Swordsman and Demon Slayer (XIV)
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"I'm going too!"
Upon hearing this, Ling Yan hurriedly stood up and steadied herself on the ground.
"No! Your injuries haven't fully healed yet."
Gu Zhong pressed his forehead and gave a stern rebuke.
"My feet are my own body, what right do you have to tell me where I run off to?"
Ling Yan immediately raised her head and sang a dissenting tune, her words leaving Gu Zhong speechless.
"Anyway, if I say no, then no!"
However, this time Gu Zhong did not easily compromise with her and his attitude remained firm.
She opened the door, strode out, and then slammed it shut, never turning around to look at Ling Yan once.
"Hey! Gu Zhong!"
Lingyan ran to the door, wanting to chase after her, but strangely, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open the ordinary wooden door.
She then realized that Gu Zhong possessed other abilities besides swordsmanship that she was unaware of.
If brute force doesn't work, what about magic?
Without hesitation, Lingyan immediately began to try it. She became increasingly anxious, wanting nothing more than to break through the door and get out as quickly as possible, as if something unbearable would happen if she didn't do it.
Stepping out of the narrow, enclosed house, Gu Zhong leaped lightly onto the roof. From this slightly open, elevated vantage point, she could finally see clearly what was happening in the Taoist temple and the source of those eerie sounds.
Countless fine, hazy black mists spread throughout the entire Taoist temple, or rather, the temple was being swallowed up by this unusually vast fog.
Each time a house was swallowed up, a humanoid black mist would stumble and roll out from within. After roaring a few times to the sky, it would crawl on the ground like a puppet, its movements extremely stiff.
—He is a demon-transformer.
Although different from the demonizers they had seen before, this was indeed a demonizer, a manipulated demonizer.
The entire Taoist temple was transformed into a demonic realm overnight, and everyone there was corrupted by demons.
Judging from the direction, those demon-transformed beings were heading towards the four of them, and many of them had already crawled to the vicinity of the courtyard.
Gu Zhong pressed hard on the Xuanjing on her wrist, closed her eyes, her hand trembled uncontrollably, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
However, extreme self-control was of no use, and the aroma grew even stronger.
—The fragrance is right here in this courtyard.
Gu Zhong suddenly opened his eyes, his black pupils completely filled with white, leaving no gaps, his pure black eyes no longer resembling those of a human.
A thicker black mist, even denser than the fog that filled the Taoist temple, emanated from her, blending seamlessly with her black robes and the pitch-black night.
The demon climbed into the courtyard, hesitated, and stopped, looking around as if he didn't know where to go.
More and more demon-transformed individuals climbed into the courtyard, layer upon layer, densely packed together, a sight that made one's scalp tingle.
Their faces were contorted in a grotesque, distorted expression as they roared in frustration at their inability to find their target. The roars were strange and shrill screams that pierced the eardrums of those who heard them, made their heads spin, and left their minds feeling as if they were being polluted.
Gu Zhong stood on the high rooftop, expressionless as he looked at the demons filling the courtyard.
Heavy blows came from the only two houses beneath her feet that were not affected by the demonic energy, and the people inside were trying to break the seal on the door.
Gu Zhong glanced at the other house, as if looking at prey with no chance of escape.
She gripped the sword in her hand, held her breath, and suddenly drew it.
The sword net woven from sword energy was so dazzling in the darkness, its gleaming silver light sweeping straight towards the house, leaving no gaps.
The fine mesh shattered every brick and tile into fragments, and those inside should not escape the same fate.
However, the net still encountered an obstacle. A golden light, like a lampshade, appeared in the middle, dissolving the extremely sharp sword energy into nothingness.
"Elder Gu, what are you doing?"
Waiting for the sword energy to dissipate, Chu Cheng put away the golden bell in his hand, raised his hand and fanned himself, trying to disperse the dust that had been raised by the collapsed building.
"···"
Gu Zhong did not answer. She simply raised her sword and continued her attack, each move swift and deadly, without any hesitation.
"Can't you see it? Look around!"
Ling Ying grabbed Chu Cheng and hurriedly fled, occasionally turning back to cast two spells to hinder Gu Zhong's pursuit.
"Demons? No, demons!? What's going on?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Cheng looked up and was immediately terrified, his face turning deathly pale.
Although the demon-transformers weren't particularly strong, their sheer number was far beyond what they could handle, not to mention Gu Zhong, who was relentlessly chasing and hacking at them like a madman.
"Elder Gu also..."
Chu Cheng couldn't help but turn around and glance at Gu Zhong. He saw that Gu Zhong was surrounded by black mist, the whites of his eyes had completely disappeared, and his expression was wooden and indifferent, as if he were not human.
"Perhaps...she was originally a demon?"
After hesitating for a moment, Ling Ying said something.
"Impossible. When have you ever seen a demon move freely and be mentally sharp like a normal person? Besides, both the Imperial Preceptor's residence and the Royal Palace are protected by restrictions. A demon would be discovered no matter what—"
Chu Cheng immediately and decisively denied Ling Ying's words, but he suddenly stopped when he finished speaking.
"—Mr. Chu, you've realized it? When have you ever seen such a powerful demon possessor? Perhaps there really is some kind of demon that can possess a body, just like possessing a queen, enough to evade all detection."
Ling Ying continued to patiently guide him.
"Impossible. If it were truly a demon, why would it lead us to the idea of possession? Wouldn't that be exposing its own weakness?"
Chu Cheng's thoughts were in disarray, and in a moment of carelessness, he was almost slashed on the neck by Gu Zhong's sword energy.
Although he was growing increasingly displeased with Gu Zhong, he would never believe that she was truly a demon in disguise. Considering the several times she had saved his life, he shouldn't have doubted her.
Moreover, what benefit could one possibly gain from deliberately getting close to them? Without a convincing motive, such speculation is truly hard to believe.
"Perhaps demons aren't always demons? But now isn't the time to get to the bottom of things. Gu Zhong is clearly a demon right now. Let's think about how to survive tonight..."
With a sigh, Ling Ying then changed the subject to the current situation.
"Wait, Miss Ling—"
In his haste to escape, Chu Cheng only just realized that there was one person who had not appeared at all.
"I'm afraid the odds are against us. How could we possibly survive being in the same room as such a powerful demon?"
Seeing that Chu Cheng was going mad and seemed about to turn back, Ling Ying quickly dissuaded him.
"But--"
Even knowing that Ling Ying's words were most likely true, Chu Cheng was still unwilling to accept that Ling Yan would really be in trouble.
"No buts! We must get back alive to get this message out!"
Ling Ying interrupted him, her eyes filled with indifference and determination.
They ran and leaped along the rooftops, chasing after hordes of demon-transformed individuals, occasionally leaping onto the rooftops to try and pull them down.
Gu Zhong was getting closer and closer from behind, his sword flashing from time to time, tearing their once neat and expensive clothes to shreds, making the two of them look like refugees fleeing a disaster.
The bright moon hung in the sky, silently watching this silent chase.
Just as the two were starting to lose their strength and were about to be surrounded, a white streak of light came rushing in from behind at this critical moment.
The white ribbon passed through Gu Zhong, who was chasing from behind, and transformed into a human figure, landing behind her.
Gu Zhong stopped. She looked down at her chest and saw a hand piercing through it.
Black liquid, accompanied by black mist, slowly seeped from the hole—this body had no more blood to flow.
Gu Zhong took a difficult step forward and slowly turned around.
Lingyan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Gu Zhong?!"
"This isn't just being considerate, it's demonic!"
Not far away, Ling Ying let out a hoarse roar.
Gu Zhong stared straight at Ling Yan, whose face remained expressionless, her eyes pure black—she really wasn't human.
"You are... a demon."
Still unable to believe it, Lingyan muttered the same sentence in a daze.
She looked down at her hands, her once fair and jade-like hands now stained with black.
A similar scene flashed before my eyes, as if this hand had once pierced the same chest.
The blackness in Gu Zhong's eyes vanished for a moment, then vanished again, covering her pupils once more.
She held the sword loosely at her side, looking at Ling Yan without making any move, seemingly not wanting to hurt her.