Chapter 32: Secrets of the Demon Palace Part 1

The newcomer strode in with steady steps, her blade tip dragging along the ground and sparking a trail of fireflies.

In her left hand, she dragged a corpse dressed in the unmistakable robes of Heavenly Balance Mansion. The body was covered in wounds, with serpentine trails of blood leading all the way, and thick demonic energy swirling around it.

Jiang Xuanji’s sharp cry caught in her throat. Though terrified, she didn’t dare step forward to identify the body.

Yan Zhichuan stared unblinkingly at the arrival—this figure, this long blade, and that Golden Mask she never removed…

Is that Senior Sister Fuyu Sha?

The thought had barely formed when Zhan Yujie let out a relieved, light laugh. “Senior Sister.”

The Snow Weasel snapped out of its daze, kicking free from Yan Zhichuan’s arms and zipping toward Fuyu Sha with excited squeaks. It waved its paws pitifully.

Fuyu Sha stroked the Snow Weasel and fed it a strip of dried meat. Her gaze swept over Zhan Yujie and Yan Zhichuan, then past Chang Zhi and Jiang Cizhu, finally settling on the scalp-numbing Jiang Xuanji. She raised a brow and drawled lazily, “Here, you want it back for your Heavenly Balance Mansion?”

Jiang Xuanji’s face drained of color, panic flickering in her eyes.

Someone had previously warned that a Demon Cultivator lurked in Heavenly Balance Mansion. Was this it?

“What’s going on here?” Jiang Cizhu glanced at the Demon Cultivator Fuyu Sha had tossed aside, then quickly looked away.

Fuyu Sha replied, “I chased it into this Underground Palace. Who’d have thought there’d be a place like this under the Three Ways River.” She’d believed Yan Zhichuan’s story and, upon entering the Three Ways River, had spotted the “Demon Cultivator”—how could she not pursue? Saving people along the way had just been incidental. Fuyu Sha glossed lightly over the battle with the Demon Cultivator and continued, “I searched its soul. This Demon Palace is the resting place left by the Demon Sovereign from ten thousand years ago.”

“How would a Demon Cultivator know that?” Yan Zhichuan asked curiously. That wasn’t centuries or millennia—it was ten thousand years. Demon Cultivators had changed generations countless times. Could lackeys of the Demon Clan really know so much? Or had it read too many storybooks and gone delusional? The Demon Cultivators they’d encountered before hadn’t known half as much.

Fuyu Sha’s eyes darkened. “Because Sky Nether City harbors a revived Demon Clan member—the true master of the Demon Sect.” This was a secret she had to take out with her. But for now, Fuyu Sha said no more. She changed the subject, pointing at the coffin ahead. “If the intel’s right, that coffin seals a drop of blood left by the Demon Sovereign of old.”

Zhan Yujie said, “It’s already sprouted flesh.”

Fuyu Sha grunted in affirmation. “The Demon Clan grows stronger by devouring each other’s bloodlines. That revived Demon Clan member sent the Demon Cultivator here to collect the Demon Sovereign’s remnant soul and essence blood for its own power boost.” The Demon Sovereign had once ruled the Demon Clan, but to them, why revive the old master when they could claim the throne themselves? A new sovereign would rise beyond the Profound Heaven Immortal Barrier, but the one in Sky Nether City might not be content to wait.

Yan Zhichuan listened raptly to Fuyu Sha’s tale, her eyes gleaming. Who knew a ancient ruin could unearth so much buried history?

Zhan Yujie’s expression grew grave. She gazed at the corpse for a moment and said, “We need to send word out first.”

Fuyu Sha shrugged. “I tried. This Underground Palace is special—maybe because it’s an overlapping space. Jade slips can’t transmit anything outward.” She turned, pointing back the way they’d come. “That entrance that appeared at midnight? Gone. If we want to leave, we need another way.”

Fuyu Sha stated their dire straits casually, as if commenting on the weather.

Her listeners felt chills crawl up their scalps and horror grip their hearts, but the speaker remained utterly relaxed, like it was no big deal.

Jiang Xuanji said, “Since this is what the Demon Cultivator wants, won’t more come here?”

Fuyu Sha nodded. “Different Demon Cultivators know different things, depending on their status.” Amusement hid in her eyes as she fixed them on Jiang Xuanji. “The one hiding in your Heavenly Balance Mansion came from high up in Sky Nether City—access to plenty of secrets.”

Jiang Xuanji pressed her lips together, her expression dimming.

She hadn’t known that junior sister was a Demon Cultivator from the start—or that she’d been silently replaced.

“How does the Demon Cultivator plan to take the Demon Sovereign’s remnants?” Zhan Yujie pondered, then frowned.

No matter what, that eerie flesh from the Demon Sovereign’s blood had to go. They couldn’t let the Demon Sovereign revive, nor let Sky Nether City claim it.

“The Demon Cultivator got the Seven Profound Artifacts.” With that, Fuyu Sha produced a lamp. “Not sure if you’ve run into those elusive Demon Shadows—they’re spawned by the Demon Emperor Remnant Soul, carrying its aura too. Shine this Demon-Luring Lamp on them, and they’ll get sucked right in.”

She paused, then added, “Still missing six. Gather all seven, and who knows what phenomenon might trigger.”

Zhan Yujie shook her head calmly. “Five.”

At Zhan Yujie’s signal, Yan Zhichuan pulled out her own lamp. She stared fixedly at the Demon-Luring Lamp in Fuyu Sha’s hand—its patterns more exquisite, its aura richer and more intoxicating.

With the lamp in Fuyu Sha’s grip, Yan Zhichuan had no reservations. She leaned in close to inspect it, sneakily inhaling several wisps of the escaping aura.

“So we just wait here?” Jiang Cizhu asked.

“There’s something ominous about these Demon-Luring Lamps. Gathering them all might bring disaster,” Jiang Xuanji said, a strong unease bubbling inside her. She fidgeted restlessly with the Copper Coin String at her waist, the crisp jingle of coins clashing soothing her nerves a little.

Fuyu Sha glanced at Jiang Xuanji and chuckled. “In a hellhole like this, you expecting good news? We’ll wait here. I’ve scouted around—no exit. Some passages look like they lead somewhere, but they’re dead ends.”

“Could we check further?” Jiang Xuanji asked. Not that she doubted Fuyu Sha, but a blade cultivator might miss array shifts.

Fuyu Sha nodded. “It’s a bit dangerous.”

Jiang Xuanji: “No matter.”

Fuyu Sha snorted, turning to Zhan Yujie. “Junior Sister, I’ll take her for a look. Heavenly Balance Mansion folks are always so paranoid.”

Jiang Xuanji: “…” She was right there, and Fuyu Sha was trash-talking Heavenly Balance Mansion like that? But—shock flashed across Jiang Xuanji’s face. “Aren’t Fellow Daoist Zhan and the others coming?”

Before Zhan Yujie could reply, Fuyu Sha said matter-of-factly, “My junior sisters aren’t curious.”

Jiang Xuanji’s heart thudded, especially after Fuyu Sha reclaimed the Golden Mask from Zhan Yujie and donned it. She turned to Chang Zhi. “Fellow Daoist Chang?”

Chang Zhi whistled, pretending not to hear.

Jiang Xuanji switched targets. “Fellow Daoist Jiang?”

Jiang Cizhu pondered briefly. “Sure.”

Jiang Xuanji and Jiang Cizhu followed Fuyu Sha. The Underground Palace looked uniform in all directions, but as they headed to one spot, the scene blurred and shifted. Demonic clouds and baleful mists roiled, countless fireballs of varying sizes hurtling toward them. Jiang Xuanji startled, flinging talismans from her sleeve like scattering flowers.

“Save your strength.” Fuyu Sha stood nonchalantly amid the fireballs, unconcerned as flames licked her hair ends, charring them with a burnt smell.

Jiang Xuanji blinked in astonishment, suspicion creeping into her gaze at Fuyu Sha. But before she could speak, they reached the passage’s end. Ahead stood several zombies in colorful Daoist robes, their skin wrinkled like tree bark, eerie eyes glowing like torches with pulsing red light. Withered arms swung, unleashing radiant beams that spun toward them with devastating force.

Gruesome cackles echoed, jeering from all sides.

Fuyu Sha drew her blade. Metallic clashes rang out as her saber light slashed the zombies, leaving only faint white scars.

“Look carefully for anything unusual. Nothing? We retreat,” Fuyu Sha said. She couldn’t handle this horde alone. Time was merciless—the fallen Daoists had mutated, a twisted “vitality” birthed in their dead flesh. They were no longer human, just bloodthirsty monsters.

As the zombies shuffled, golden sparks whirled and red beams erupted like falling fire rain. Those caught in the midst bobbed like a lone boat in raging waves, dodging desperately in the whirlpools.

This wasn’t “a bit dangerous”—it was deadly!

Panic aside, Jiang Xuanji kept her goal in mind: search dead ends for new paths.

Two quarters of an hour later, Fuyu Sha swept her long blade wide, forcing one monster back. Sweat beaded her forehead, her aura growing chaotic. “Done?” Fuyu Sha asked, impatience creeping in.

Jiang Xuanji had no doubt she’d get slashed if she said no.

“No way out,” Jiang Xuanji said.

Fuyu Sha grunted. “Withdraw.” These zombies were bound here, unable to stray far.

When the familiar Underground Palace reappeared, Jiang Xuanji exhaled heavily, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Other passages. Want to go?” Fuyu Sha asked, her masked eyes sparkling with mischief.

Jiang Xuanji gritted her teeth. “Yes!”

She wouldn’t trust any “exit” from a Demon Cultivator.

–

Meanwhile, Zhan Yujie, Yan Zhichuan, and Chang Zhi guarded the coffin, wary of the guards stirring again.

But with the cauldron flames dimming, the grotesque guards stayed still.

Tired of standing, Yan Zhichuan flopped lazily onto Cloudy, drifting periodically toward the coffin.

Zhan Yujie patiently inspected the coffin when a shadow loomed suddenly. Her eyelids twitched; she thrust her sword forward and shoved Cloudy aside.

Yan Zhichuan licked her lips, grinning brightly. She drifted away briefly, only to float back—pushed off again. This repeated several times.

Chang Zhi watched, baffled. Finally, she couldn’t hold back. “What are you playing at?”

Some newfangled swing?

Yan Zhichuan blinked innocently. “Nothing.”

Zhan Yujie stiffened, feeling Chang Zhi’s stare like needles.

She sheathed her sword and turned to Yan Zhichuan sternly. “Junior Sister, stop drifting around!”

Yan Zhichuan “oh”-ed, still beaming happily.

She hopped off Cloudy. “Did you find anything, Senior Sister?”

Zhan Yujie: “…No.”

Yan Zhichuan pressed, “This flesh is newborn, not very powerful, so Sky Nether City sees it as fuel. Maybe we open the coffin and kill it dead for good.” Then I can get whatever’s in there that’s been tempting me.

Zhan Yujie’s eyelids twitched. She approached the peeking Yan Zhichuan and pulled her back.

Frowning, she said, “We’re not afraid of the tumor.”

Yan Zhichuan asked blankly, “Then what?”

Chang Zhi cut in: “Demonic energy.” The Demon Shadows from the Demon Emperor Remnant Soul were already hard to dispel—what of the Demon Sovereign’s “legacy”? Without a solid way to handle the demonic energy, opening the coffin meant they’d all fall to corruption!

Yan Zhichuan felt regret.