Chapter 108: The Identity of the Stranger
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The strange man glanced at Junyang without the slightest hint of fear, then turned his gaze back to You Xiyue.
“I will deal with the affairs of our demon clan. For the time being, please do not interfere.”
Junyang was displeased by his words. “And how exactly do you intend to deal with it? That thing has already taken a life. Besides, who are you? Why should we trust someone from the demon clan?”
The man’s pupils turned pitch-black. The jade hairpin flew from his topknot and began circling beside him. Demonic energy shrouded the entire residence, blotting out the sky and sun. Demonic creatures were drawn from every direction, filling the air as they swirled overhead.
You Xiyue looked at the jade hairpin, her eyes shifting slightly. “The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable?”
The man did not answer. Instead, he vanished from the spot with a horde of demons. His voice drifted back from afar.
“I will personally send him into reincarnation.”
Junyang walked over to You Xiyue and gazed in the direction the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable had flown. “Little Ancestor, should we follow him and take a look?”
“Forget it. Let us wait for him to return.”
“Return? He can still come back? What would he come back for?”
You Xiyue lowered her head and pinched the jade pendant at her waist. “To retrieve this pendant.”
“The jade pendant?” Junyang looked toward it, only then recalling the jade hairpin that had floated beside the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable. “It looks just like that hairpin... They are a pair?”
“Yes, they are. This jade pendant originally belonged to a woman named Bai Ruomei.”
“Bai?” Junyang stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Could she have something to do with that demon who has been slaughtering people surnamed Bai everywhere?”
“Who knows?”
You Xiyue had already removed the pendant from her waist and now held it in her hand. “Still, don’t you think there was something... familiar about the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable’s gaze?”
“Familiar?” Junyang’s memory was poor to begin with. How could he have noticed such a detail? “Not really...”
“Oh...”
You Xiyue did not ask further. She walked to the stone bench in the courtyard, flicked her sleeve to brush away the dust, and sat down, waiting in silence, somewhat lost in thought.
Junyang sat beside her.
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable flew toward the residence of the Bai family, where the head had been discovered. Before long, the house was surrounded by demons. From outside, it was shrouded in darkness, and not even the courtyard walls could be seen.
“Come out,” said the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable.
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“Heh heh heh. I knew you would come to thank me.”
A demon woman whose hair dragged along the ground and whose face was smeared with blood stepped out. She scarcely looked human.
“That Bai woman was never worthy of you.”
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable sighed and walked forward, clutching the jade hairpin tightly in his hand. His expression grave, he looked at the disheveled demon woman.
“Whether she was worthy of me is not for you to decide. It is for me to decide. Even if she truly was the one who brought me to this state, that is a matter between her and me, and has nothing to do with anyone else. Besides, she appears to be from the divine realm. You have gone too far here.”
“Hah. She caused your entire family to die miserably, and you still care about her? Everyone surnamed Bai deserves to die!”
The demon woman’s expression twisted viciously. Her nails dug into her flesh, as though she could not feel the pain.
“Who told you all this?” asked the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable.
The demon woman turned her head away, clearly unwilling to answer.
“You needn’t tell me. I already know.”
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable glanced up at the various demons drifting through the air.
“He merely wants me to sink deeper and deeper into the demon realm. In truth, he has already succeeded.”
The demon woman turned back and tried to seize the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable, but he evaded her. She gave a soft laugh and continued, “The Demon Lord is only acting for your sake. Those female cultivators are the most hypocritical people in the world. You saw that senior sister at the inn just now. She claimed she was protecting her junior brother, yet deliberately mentioned at night that they would be leaving the next day, knowing I would hear her. She used her junior brother as bait to lure me there. They all deserve to die.”
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable’s gaze suddenly softened.
“Those who do wrong should indeed pay a price for their actions. That senior sister must pay, and so must you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the jade hairpin clenched in his palm plunged into the demon woman’s heart.
The demonic energy within her was rapidly drawn into the hairpin.
“You... why...?”
The demon woman stared in disbelief at the hairpin embedded in her chest, then raised her head to look at the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable.
“Why...?”
Her eyes widened as she stared ahead. Soon, her breath faded, and her body fell backward with a heavy thud.
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable withdrew the jade hairpin, wiped it with a handkerchief, and fastened it back into his hair.
The demonic energy that had belonged to the woman was quickly transferred from the hairpin into his body.
The Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable crouched down and placed a hand over the woman’s eyes.
“Go into reincarnation. May you be born into a good family.”
After completing all this, the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable left the Bai residence. He glanced back once more at the woman still lying in the courtyard, then turned and flew away.
Before long, he indeed returned to the courtyard. Approaching You Xiyue, he glanced at the jade pendant in her hand and reported, almost as if giving an account.
“The demon has been dealt with.”
“Is Yuan Yibai still alive?” You Xiyue looked up at him directly. “Yue Si, the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable.”
Yue Si’s pupils contracted slightly, but he soon relaxed. A sudden smile touched his lips.
“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. He is already dead.”
“What?” Junyang abruptly raised his head and looked at Yue Si warily. “You killed him?”
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Yue Si innocently shrugged. “Don’t pin that on me.”
You Xiyue cast him a cool glance. “Did you kill Li Xiaoran?”
“Li Xiaoran? That foolish boy from the lower realm?” Yue Si leisurely sat down opposite You Xiyue. His tone carried a trace of self-mockery. “I truly don’t understand what is so wonderful about the demon clan. He could have remained human, yet he chose to become a villain. Yes, I killed him. If I had handed him over to you, he would have died unjustly. At least I gave him a chance to be reborn through reincarnation.”
“If you despise the demon clan so much, why did you enter it?” Junyang moved closer to You Xiyue, remaining on guard against Yue Si.
Yue Si’s reply was tinged with loneliness. “I... had no choice.”
“Is that so?” Suspicion filled Junyang’s eyes. “Wasn’t it because Yuan Yibai entered the demon clan, and you were the one who killed him as well?”
“I told you, it wasn’t me.”
Yue Si met Junyang’s gaze calmly.
“Your Little Ancestor believes me. Why don’t you?”
Junyang glanced at You Xiyue in confusion, then turned back to Yue Si.
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it? How could he have come to the immortal realm? Wasn’t that the work of your demon realm?”
Yue Si’s expression suddenly turned disdainful.
“You really are slow. Is that how all members of the beast clan are?”
“What did you say?”
Enraged, Junyang rose to his feet and summoned the Ancient Azure Dragon Sword, preparing to strike Yue Si.
The jade hairpin in Yue Si’s hair reacted instantly. It flew out and blocked the sword just as it was drawn.
Junyang had not expected the inconspicuous hairpin to overpower him.
“You!”
“It was only a joke. Why take it so seriously? Yuan Yibai? He has been dead for more than two hundred years. I truly was not the one who killed him...”
“Dead for more than two hundred years?”
The hand with which Junyang held the Ancient Azure Dragon Sword against the jade hairpin suddenly slackened.
“Then who was the person spending every day with us in the upper realm?”
Yue Si lowered his head and chuckled twice before meeting Junyang’s bewildered gaze once more.
“Your Little Ancestor knew this long ago. It was me! Do you think I am called the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable for nothing?”
As he spoke, Yue Si raised his sleeve and covered his entire face. When he lowered it again, the face revealed beneath was unmistakably Yuan Yibai’s.
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