Within a hundred meters of the Demon Venerable Pavilion.
Without the Demon Venerable's permission, no one was allowed to trespass.
Everyone in the Blood Rain Cult knew this. It could even be called an ironclad law.
Yet today, a sleazy middle-aged man with a sword on his back climbed the steps and headed straight for the Demon Venerable Pavilion.
He was none other than one of the Demon Cult's Eight Great Protectors: the Soul-Severing Sword, Zhang Sheng!
An expert in the Great Grandmaster Realm.
Ranked thirtieth on the Heavenly Ranking, he was only a hair's breadth from the Threefold Summit.
The souls who had perished beneath his sword were beyond counting.
In the Tang Kingdom, merely announcing his name was enough to make countless people tremble at the sound.
Ordinarily, Zhang Sheng treated the Demon Venerable with utmost reverence. Everyone called him the Demon Venerable's most loyal hound.
Offering up his mother and his wife, he stopped at nothing.
But in truth, only Zhang Sheng knew just how much he hated the Demon Venerable.
He was extraordinarily gifted, but the Demon Venerable was even more so.
He was lustful, but the Demon Venerable was even more lustful!
Both had left a trail of sordid deeds across the Tang Kingdom.
The only difference was that when women called him disgusting, they genuinely found him disgusting.
But many women who called the Demon Venerable disgusting were really complaining that he had not abducted them. In their hearts, they had long since swept their beds clean and waited for him.
And all of this was because the Demon Venerable was exceptionally handsome.
For a ravisher, good looks were absolutely the deadliest weapon-and the Demon Venerable happened to possess them.
Thus, all these years, he had felt as though he lived in the Demon Venerable's shadow.
Now that he finally had a chance for revenge, he naturally would not let it slip away.
The veil of night gradually receded, and the sky began to brighten!
Zhang Sheng walked forward one step at a time. From beginning to end, no one stopped him.
Before long, he had reached the entrance to the Demon Venerable Pavilion's great hall.
He cast a cold glance inside.
Then he stepped across the threshold.
He walked straight into the great hall.
The hall was cold and gloomy, shrouded in darkness all year round.
Chill drafts swept through from time to time, making the candle flames flicker.
He continued forward, step by step, and soon reached the foot of the enormous throne.
A shadowy figure sat upon it.
Long hair draped over his shoulders, and his black robes billowed.
A chilling aura emanated from him.
His face was somewhat pale.
A trace of blood still marked the corner of his mouth.
He was the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, a figure whose very name struck terror into every heart.
Yet now, he resembled a tiger on the verge of dying from illness.
He sat in the darkness.
That magnificent throne had once been his crown, but now it was his tomb!
Zhang Sheng had expected to see the Demon Venerable at his most wretched, but for some reason...
As he looked at the Demon Venerable's weakened, fallen state.
He actually found him even more handsome, even more captivating, possessed of a desolate beauty.
It even left him feeling ashamed of his own ugliness.
And that made him even angrier.
He walked to the foot of the steps and looked up at the Demon Venerable.
"You've come?"
Fang Yang's voice was hoarse, his breath as faint as a thread.
"That's right. I've come."
Zhang Sheng sneered. The black longsword on his back hummed incessantly, ready to leave its sheath at any moment.
"Demon Venerable, I've waited a long time for this day. You never expected it to be me, did you? The man you once trusted most has now betrayed you. Like a knife plunging into your chest, shattering your heart to pieces. I know your heart aches. The taste of suffering is the hardest to swallow..."
He prattled on and on, feeling utterly exhilarated.
It was as though this were the most glorious moment of his life.
He could hardly wait to see the Demon Venerable weeping rivers of tears.
Yet...
Upon the throne, Fang Yang's brows were tightly furrowed.
Without any of the Demon Venerable's memories, he looked at the ugly man babbling endlessly before him and wanted to ask only one thing.
"Who are you?"
Chapter 24: My Only Complaint Is That the Commotion Isn't Big Enough!
In the darkness, Fang Yang was already growing impatient.
Although he had been the Demon Venerable for some time now.
He still knew very little about the Demon Cult.
Despite how calmly he had delivered that "You've come" just now, he actually had no idea who the man was.
He had said it purely to pretend they knew each other.
And, while he was at it, to coax the man into revealing his true identity so he could keep up the act.
But...
The fellow had talked for so long without saying a single thing that mattered.
Even now, Fang Yang could not work out who he was.
Although the Demon Venerable's diary was so detailed that it covered practically everything, not every stray cat or dog merited an entry.
At last, when he heard the word "protector," he searched his mind.
Finally, something came back to him.
A sword on his back!
And such a sleazy, ugly face.
It could only be Zhang Sheng, one of the Demon Cult's Eight Great Protectors.
Those were his most distinctive traits.
No one else could match them.
At that thought, he said in a low voice.
"Have you said enough? If you have, then shut your mouth!"
"Zhang Sheng, do you know the consequences of entering the Demon Venerable Pavilion without my permission?"
"Of course I do. Death, isn't it? But the problem is, my esteemed Demon Venerable, look at the state you're in. The one who's going to die isn't me. It's you."
"Heh..."
Fang Yang sneered and slowly rose from his throne. Though his figure remained tall and imposing, it carried an air of desolation.
"Are you really so confident you can kill me?"
"If you were the Demon Venerable of old, of course I wouldn't be confident. There probably aren't more than a handful of people in the entire Tang Kingdom who would be. But now, Demon Venerable, you've suffered cultivation deviation. How much of your strength can you still wield? Do you think you can evade my soul-severing sword?"
"..."
Fang Yang fell silent, saying nothing. Only after a long while did he slowly speak.
"No matter what, I am still the Demon Venerable of the Blood Rain Cult. Do you see the Bell of All Life overhead?"
"As long as I ring that bell, the entire Demon Cult will hear it. Countless people will come to defend me, and your death will be certain!"
"Defend you?"
Zhang Sheng let out a derisive laugh, as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world.
"Demon Venerable, have you failed to grasp the situation?"
"You were cruel and bloodthirsty, ruling by your own whims. Countless people in the cult want you dead. They simply feared your tyrannical might too much to resist."
"Take a guess. When the Bell of All Life rings, will more people come to kill you, or to protect you?"
"..."
Seeing Fang Yang remain silent, Zhang Sheng grew even more confident.
"Demon Venerable, dying by my hand is an honor for you. If you don't ring the Bell of All Life and keep the commotion down, with just the two of us fighting, you might still have a chance to survive."
"But once the bell rings and the commotion grows even a little louder, countless enemies will come swarming in. Then your death will be certain."
"Is that so?"
In the darkness, Fang Yang rubbed the space between his brows and sighed weakly.
"It seems I have only one choice left."
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