Chapter 92: Hidden in the Bosom

So that’s how it was… so that’s how it was…

Among the corpse shattered into countless pieces, there was one intact eyeball. It twitched and scanned everything that had happened before it.

The prey that had been within reach vanished, and all the living people in Merfolk Moon City disappeared in that instant. If they had been transferred away just now, traces of living breath would surely remain in the city, but now only the filthy aura of the curse lingered. Those people had definitely left long ago.

Upon seeing this, how could the demon not understand?

He had been schemed against by two juniors. It started from the moment he saw them strolling through the streets—or perhaps even earlier, they had been putting on an act for him. He hadn’t fallen into anyone else’s trap for tens of thousands of years, and this sudden event didn’t anger him. Instead, it sparked a flicker of novelty and competitive spirit.

In the next instant, the demon’s eye was also sliced into countless fragments. Yun Heng simply loathed his gaze. She knew that merely destroying his body wasn’t enough; she had to annihilate both his body and soul to prevent resurrection.

An ancient monster who had lived for who-knows-how-many tens of thousands of years had plenty of contingencies. If she didn’t eradicate him completely and add fuel to the fire, who knew if he might pop up again somewhere in a year’s time?

The demon no longer had a mouth, but his divine soul let out a laugh. He wasn’t afraid precisely because he saw the crimson glint in Yun Heng’s eyes.

He feared not a rampaging Immortal Venerable, but one who remained calm and rational.

That girl who bore little resemblance to Yun Heng must be hiding nearby, right? No matter—as long as she was close, even with Yun Heng there, he could find her.

His quartered corpse fragments flew in all directions—not to escape, but to search for Wen Qiwu.

The plan to seize the Dragon Gate had failed, and he should have returned long ago. But because he had spotted Yun Heng here, he stayed and stirred up this mess.

All for the sake of killing Yun Heng!

Killing the greatest obstacle to the Demon Domain mattered more than any Dragon Gate inheritance. With Yun Heng dead, the Five Domains would lose their strongest immortal. This wasn’t like ten thousand years ago, when several Divine Realm experts existed and True Immortal Realm cultivators were too numerous to count on two hands.

Now, the death of a single True Immortal Realm cultivator would severely wound the Five Domains’ vitality. Ha, what a perfect opportunity.

This malice was so overt that when Yun Heng noticed the corpse fragments deliberately searching for something, she immediately grasped his intent.

But how could she let him find A Que?

Yun Heng extended her hand, and an avalanche-like force instantly buried the entire city in snow. The flesh chunks that hadn’t yet escaped were pinned beneath the accumulation.

Even as they struggled forward with all their might, they were dragged back bit by bit.

Array patterns emerged on Merfolk Moon City’s ground. After the first layer shattered, the second erupted in golden light like the sun—the Demon-Suppressing Evil-Slaying Curse. During the Immortal-Demon War ten thousand years ago, when the True Demon personally intervened, an immortal had devised this incantation that could utterly destroy a demon’s body and soul.

Finding him wasn’t easy. From his previous tactics, Yun Heng could roughly gauge his character: a despicable, cunning old codger who cherished his life above all, the type who wouldn’t act without guaranteed success. If he hadn’t used the city’s “people” as bait, he probably wouldn’t have shown himself.

Under the Demon-Suppressing Evil-Slaying Curse, the scattered corpse pieces emitted a foul scorching stench, like burnt flesh. Sizzling sounds came from them, and their surfaces gradually blackened, their power weakening dramatically.

Realizing escape was futile, he gathered the flesh chunks bit by bit into a humanoid form. But corroded by the curse, it couldn’t heal; the Wise Master lost chunks of meat with every word.

“I’m very curious—what method did you use to deceive me?” The Wise Master neither begged nor resisted; instead, he curiously asked Yun Heng where he had gone wrong.

What profound mystic art had slipped past him undetected?

The self-important demon imagined all sorts of arcane profundities, so he would never guess that the spell fooling him stemmed from a children’s game. Wen Qiwu had learned “shadow puppetry” from street performers at temple fairs and built upon it to create a more complex array that encompassed the entire celebration.

Yun Heng then segmented the space, placing the array between two layers. In one empty space, it projected the bustling scene from the other. Only the caster could discern the truth from falsehood.

But Yun Heng wasn’t one for words, much less in the mood to explain her actions mid-battle like he was.

The Demon-Suppressing Evil-Slaying Curse tightened gradually, and pain finally crept into the Wise Master’s voice. After that, he could no longer distract her.

Besides the Demon-Suppressing Evil-Slaying Curse, Yun Heng retrieved numerous anti-demon treasures from her storage pouch. They shared one trait: inflicting agony worse than death on demons, like peeling away layer after layer of skin.

The Demon-Suppressing Evil-Slaying Curse was to kill him; these were for vengeance.

She dumped them all at once. One artifact took effect—his skin peeled off in sheets.

Yun Heng still felt it wasn’t enough. Even dismembering him a thousand times over couldn’t quell her rage; the churning killing intent was dyeing her vision red.

“Senior Sister!” A small fluffy head suddenly poked from her bosom—it was Wen Qiwu, the very one the Wise Master sought everywhere. From the start, she had been right in front of him, disguised as the little phoenix hidden in her Senior Sister’s collar.

Even if that demon turned the entire Cang Sea Domain upside down, he wouldn’t find Wen Qiwu. She had been lying still until her Senior Sister’s turbulent emotions reached her, prompting her to poke her head out anxiously.

Yun Heng snapped back at her Junior Sister’s call. She clutched the warm little phoenix to conceal her.

“It’s fine.” Yun Heng stroked the bird fluff’s head. Wen Qiwu nuzzled her Senior Sister’s finger, but her movement was too big—she accidentally slipped from the collar.

Fortunately, she hadn’t fully emerged, so even as she tumbled, she only fell into Yun Heng’s clothes, landing on an unusually soft spot.

The little phoenix froze. She cautiously tried to shift, but her Senior Sister’s new movements jostled her back—face-first this time!

But she couldn’t disturb her Senior Sister now, so she held herself rigid, turning into a “crimson fire phoenix” from embarrassment.

“Yun Heng, you’re indeed a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius. Unfortunately… you’ve gained a weakness.”

Wen Qiwu in Yun Heng’s bosom suddenly heard the demon’s voice. Her feathers puffed uncontrollably. His tone sounded normal, without a trace of weakness. She sensed something amiss but didn’t dare investigate.

Outside, the demon—who should have been torn to shreds and tormented to death by the Demon-Suppressing Evil-Exterminating Curse—reappeared intact before Yun Heng.

Soul Chains bound his body, as if freshly captured. The sly old thing—if Yun Heng hadn’t regained her composure in time, she might not have spotted his escape.

“I know you imprisoned the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord for decades, all to find a way to revive your Junior Sister. Those fools failed, but I have methods obtained from the True Demon…” The demon’s pupils contracted sharply.

Before he finished, Yun Heng detonated the several seals she had placed nearby. The explosion’s force cracked the space itself—even a Golden Immortal would be gravely wounded, let alone hardier foes.

Yun Heng confirmed he hadn’t escaped the blast’s core this time, but the anomalous energy at the center furrowed her brow.

She charged in sword-first, the blade piercing something so hard it met resistance.

A monstrous screech of pain followed, then a tearing sound. Yun Heng retreated, dodging a furry palm.

As the explosion’s aftermath dissipated, Yun Heng beheld the ape-like monster.

Its form was wretched: covered in wounds, worst of all a gash in its chest revealing a throbbing black heart.

“True Immortal Realm…” Yun Heng uttered gravely.

She hadn’t expected the Demon Domain to hide an unknown True Immortal Realm expert.

“Good eye.” The ape panted roughly. With Yun Heng’s old wounds unhealed, he could have gained the upper hand, but a moment’s carelessness cost him initiative.

Can’t let him live.

The human and demon shared the thought.

The ape unleashed his power unrestrained; True Immortal Realm pressure swept out, dyeing the moonlight crimson.

Yun Heng’s sword cleaved his outburst in two. She slipped through the gap, nearly crushing his heart.

Their clash shook the space to its limits. After dozens of exchanges, Yun Heng pierced both his body and soul.

The demon plummeted into the curse flooding the city like a tide. Without the city’s immortal cultivators’ power, his strength waned sharply. He tried dragging Yun Heng into the abyss via the curse, unaware the blood-red moon had faded.

The “crescent moon” in the sky melted, trickling down. Just before touching the ground, the gentle moonlight formed a chilling sword, stabbing into the world’s filth.

Wherever the moonlight flowed, filth vanished. The impaled ape’s eyes flashed ferocity; runes flickered in his hand. He raised it, gathering power rivaling the moon sword above Yun Heng.

But then his bulging eyes widened in shock and panic. His power dissipated; his body convulsed into a half-rotted corpse. He whimpered something, but before Yun Heng could make it out, the moonlight purified it utterly.

Yun Heng gently soothed the uneasy little phoenix in her bosom. With a thought, she crossed space to a mountainside. White flames blazed fiercely, coiling upward into a phoenix shape—less ethereal, more savage, like a hunting beast.