Chapter 28: The Demon Lord Yunsheng

For several days in a row, Xu Cheng was unable to calm his mind for meditation or cultivation, constantly feeling that something was about to happen. Even an average person with a bit of sense could have guessed: having captured Qingshu, the demon lord Yunsheng behind her would likely come to claim her.

Xu Cheng was no fool; his reliance lay with the Old Demon Qiong. Yet, after so many days, there was still not the slightest reaction from that old demon’s side.

Was opening the Road to the Yellow Springs truly this difficult?

That morning, carrying a few plates of snacks, he went down to the dungeon to see Qingshu.

This demoness, her dantian sealed, could no longer sense the world with her cultivation to stave off hunger. She was no different from an ordinary human now, needing grain and food to survive.

If she wasn’t fed, perhaps she’d become the first demon in history to starve to death.

“Right Envoy, you care for me so thoroughly—could it be you’ve taken a liking to me?” Qingshu raised her beautiful face, a hint of shyness in her tone.

“You’re dreaming! A few months ago, when you boiled my arms and legs for soup, you weren’t so bashful!” Xu Cheng said, squeezing his palm as he spoke. At this, Qingshu was stunned for a long while.

“So it was you! Alas, what a bitter fate I have! Back then, you were just a fledgling at the Talisman Realm, yet not only had you condensed a Seal of Law, but your cultivation was already top-tier among your peers! Ah, to kill or to flay, do as you please!”

She stretched out her neck as if resigned to her fate, but it was clear she was sure Xu Cheng would not really harm her.

“Who are you putting on this act for? If I wanted you dead, you’d be long gone. Why would I wait until now? But will your Yunsheng Demon Lord really come? It’s been seven days already!”

Xu Cheng’s anxiety was all due to the Yunsheng Demon Lord. He both hoped the rumored figure would appear soon and also wished he’d come later.

If he arrived soon, Xu Cheng wanted to see for himself what the legendary demon lord was like, and what would happen if he confronted the Old Demon Qiong.

But if Old Demon Qiong still refused to come out of seclusion, and Yunsheng did arrive, Xu Cheng might not be able to withstand him and could well lose his life.

“The Demon Lord’s mind is not something I can fathom. Perhaps he’s run into someone and is locked in battle. The times are changing too quickly now, and hearts are hidden from view, like the ambitious Martial Emperor of the Grand Xia Dynasty!

By the way, I heard that the Martial Emperor, in order to win over Marquis Wu Wenhou Qu Wenbei, intends to marry him his youngest daughter. But Qu Wenbei already has eighteen wives and concubines! To marry a nineteenth—who knows if his body can handle it!”

At this, Qingshu burst into a slightly manic laugh, showing not the slightest concern for her own life, instead gossiping to Xu Cheng about the trivial affairs of the Grand Xia Dynasty.

“You just—” Xu Cheng had barely begun to speak when a childlike voice sounded at his ear.

“Amitabha! Benefactor, it is time you released my disciple, Qingshu!”

The owner of the voice was surely a child, but why would a demon lord recite the Buddha’s name?

The earth beneath them shifted, and in the next moment, Xu Cheng and Qingshu were swept up and brought straight to the surface.

The scene before Xu Cheng left him dumbfounded. Was Yunsheng Demon Lord truly a bald little monk? Behind him stood the scholar from earlier, and an enormous burly man nearly two zhang tall and enormously fat.

“You… are Yunsheng Demon Lord?” Xu Cheng asked uncertainly.

“Indeed, I am Yunsheng Demon Lord,” the bald youth replied solemnly, though Xu Cheng found it hard to take him seriously.

At that moment, heavy black clouds gathered in the sky, lightning flickering between them. Behind Xu Cheng, a black gate, about three zhang high, rose slowly from the ground. This time, there were no skulls or black dragons—just a few ancient, unreadable characters.

“Enter my Underworld, the souls return to their path—”

This must be what Old Demon Qiong meant by opening the Road to the Yellow Springs.

A distant voice echoed far and wide. Xu Cheng felt nothing, having already been tempered by the aura of the Yellow Springs.

Lü Tai and his servants, however, fell to their knees before the gate, devout as worshippers.

The little monk remained serene, but Qingshu, the burly giant, and the scholar all lost the light in their eyes and began walking dazedly toward the gate.

The black gate lasted just over a minute before vanishing.

Had the attempt failed? Xu Cheng wondered silently, when a striking figure rushed over—it was the Old Demon Qiong.

“Ah, little baldy! It’s been so long, and you’re still like this!” The old demon, heedless of the wary Qingshu and the others, began petting Yunsheng Demon Lord’s head with great familiarity.

Yunsheng showed no anger, but pinched his fingers to divine something, a faint smile appearing on his face. “So it’s you, Qiong Yue. Indeed, it’s been a long time.”

“And he?” Yunsheng looked at Xu Cheng.

“He’s like me now. What, are you here to snatch the Immortal Record as well?” The Old Demon Qiong’s kindly smile faded entirely, the temperature in the air seeming to drop with it.

“The Immortal Record! So that’s it, that’s it! No wonder the Martial Emperor of Grand Xia could cultivate the Dragon Transformation Immortal Art!” Yunsheng’s young face was full of astonishment. “Still, I have no intention of robbing you. Even if I wanted to, it would be too late—the Immortal Record has already been used to open that gate, hasn’t it?”

“As expected of that one’s disciple, you see things clearly! But you little monk, why learn so many Daoist and Immortal arts? You’d do better to study properly under your master!”

Upon hearing Yunsheng was not after the Immortal Record, the Old Demon Qiong’s expression relaxed at once.

Xu Cheng chuckled inwardly, thinking the old fellow must have mastered the face-changing tricks of his previous life’s Sichuan opera—one moment a smile, the next a scowl. But this little bald monk’s origins seemed even more mysterious; even the usually brazen Old Demon Qiong did not dare call him by name.

“I am both myself and not myself. To learn Daoist and Immortal arts is simply to broaden my horizons, nothing more,” Yunsheng replied, his words cryptic as ever.

“I see. Very well.” The Old Demon Qiong smiled again, seeming to understand the hidden meaning behind Yunsheng’s words.

“The world is in chaos. Since we are both on the same side, would you join forces with me?” the little monk suddenly proposed.

“Join forces? I agree. Alone, each of us is too weak,” the Old Demon Qiong replied, quickly divining the situation but finding the future shrouded in chaos, which made him even more willing—especially considering the figure behind Yunsheng.

“Excellent! Zhu Yan, Ju Hua, which of you wishes to stay?” the little monk asked the two behind him.

“I am willing to stay!” the two replied in unison.

“I am closest to Qingshu, so it’s best if I stay!” the scholar—Ju Hua—added hastily.

“Very well. Ju Hua and Qingshu will stay. You two are clever and have spells to change your appearance, so there’s little worry for your safety. Zhu Yan, your size is too conspicuous—come back with me,” Yunsheng said, patting Zhu Yan’s belly, whose hanging fat nearly touched the ground. Yunsheng, not even two feet tall, could easily reach it.

Watching Zhu Yan’s quivering belly, Xu Cheng looked at the scholar Ju Hua and then at Qingshu beside him, silently glad it wasn’t Zhu Yan who stayed behind.

Xu Cheng could guess why Qingshu and Ju Hua remained—it would make contact between both sides easier, and also serve as a form of mutual surveillance.

As the saying goes, it’s best not to expose what you see through. The Old Demon Qiong understood this too, and so allowed Xu Cheng to remove all the Underworld Flame chains from Qingshu.

The grand opening of the Road to the Yellow Springs had been sensed by all the great powers at the Primordial Spirit level among the Grand Xia Dynasty, the Daoist and Buddhist sects, and the demon immortals. It seemed a storm was about to break, and the time had come for dragons and serpents to rise from the earth.