Bullied again

The Demon-Feeding Facility, as its name suggested, was where the Nine Skies Sect kept its demon slaves. It consisted of an entire row of low houses, with hay laid around the inside of each room for the demon slaves to rest and sleep on. Qi Mo leaned against a pile of hay in a corner, a large patch of dried blood covering his shoulder. His face was terribly pale, and he looked sickly.

It was nearly noon, and most of the demon slaves had returned to the courtyard to wait for food. After all, this was their only meal of the day; if they missed it, they could only go hungry.

Before long, two disciples from the Golden Spirit Court directed several demon slaves to carry in a few large buckets of food. The demon slaves rose and headed over, surging forward with their bowls and crowding together. One of the disciples in charge drew a long whip from his waist and cracked it in the air. The deafening sound made all the demon slaves shudder, and only then did they cautiously form a line.

Holding their own bowls, the demon slaves each received a small bowl of vegetable soup from the buckets and a black steamed bun, not daring to look at the two disciples the entire time. Once they had their food, they immediately retreated to the corners, squatted down, and wolfed it down.

Qi Mo stood with some difficulty, went forward to line up for food, then returned to the corner to eat slowly. Several demon slaves quickly finished their food and set their sights on the injured, weakened Qi Mo. The larger-built Green Ox could not restrain himself and came over, reaching out to snatch Qi Mo's food, only for Qi Mo to seize him. His sharp nails instantly tore through Green Ox's wrist. Qi Mo looked up, his eyes filled with a wild beast's ferocity. Green Ox hesitated, then retreated somewhat timidly.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and several disciples in clothes of different colors walked in. These were Outer Sect Disciples of the Nine Skies Sect. Unlike the Inner Sect Disciples, who had uniforms, they all wore their own everyday clothes.

As the disciples entered, the one at their head, who wore a headscarf, instructed a somewhat elderly demon slave by the entrance, "Pick a few to clean the main gate."

The demon slave hurriedly nodded in assent, then came inside and selected several people. Those chosen quickly wolfed down the rest of their food and obediently came out to stand to one side.

The disciple in the headscarf swept his gaze over those disciples, then looked around the Demon-Feeding Facility. His gaze finally settled on Qi Mo in the corner, and he walked over to look down at him.

"You're going too," the man said with a sneer.

Qi Mo looked up and only then recognized him as Lei Chen from before.

Anyone could see that Qi Mo was in no condition to work, but no one here would think of standing up for someone else. Qi Mo looked at the sneering Lei Chen without speaking. He could only put down his food, stand with some difficulty, and follow the others out.

As soon as he left, the other demon slaves swarmed over and snatched up all his food.

The Nine Skies Sect was in shambles after the battle. With solemn faces, the disciples carried away the bodies of their fellow disciples who had died in the fighting. Each corpse was wrapped in plain white cloth, yet blood kept seeping through. Several demon slaves were cleaning the remaining blood from the bloodstained ground, and a faint smell of blood hung in the air.

Disciples from Ink Cloud Hall directed demon slaves to carry away Lei Guang's charred corpse. They were also ordered to pick up and take away every piece of his snake tail, which had broken into several chunks.

At the main gate, Lei Chen watched Lei Guang's unrecognizable corpse from a distance, confusion mingled with a measure of fear on his face. He withdrew his gaze. Below lay a flight of stone steps whose end could not be seen. Half of a gatekeeper disciple's corpse was carried away, dripping black blood all along the way. Not far away, Qi Mo was approaching with a bucket of water.

As Lei Chen looked at him, viciousness surfaced on his face. He had fallen from being an Ink Cloud Hall elder's personal disciple to an Outer Sect Disciple who could only do odd jobs and guard the gate. With the meager cultivation resources allotted to the outer sect, he had no hope of reaching core formation in this lifetime. This had undoubtedly cut off his path of cultivation, and it was all because of this lowly demon slave! As Qi Mo passed him, Lei Chen suddenly kicked him in the knee. Qi Mo fell beside the stairs, bucket and all, and the entire bucket of water spilled over him. His shoulder struck the stone, sending a wave of excruciating pain through him, and he gave a muffled groan.

Hearing the commotion, the disciples nearby glanced over but thought nothing of it. The demon slaves working there did not even dare raise their heads, afraid of being implicated.

Lei Chen went over and kicked him again, cursing, "Stop playing dead. Get up and work!"

Qi Mo raised his eyes and looked at him coldly, a ruthless light in his gaze. Lei Chen grew even angrier and stepped forward to seize his collar. "What's with that look? What right do you have to look at me like that! You're nothing but a lowly beast!"

As Lei Chen spoke, a mocking smile appeared on his face. "You thought everything would be fine once you hooked up with Lin Qingyang? You still got thrown out, didn't you? Did you really think he'd take a fancy to you? Just look at what you are! You worthless slut, I'll toy with you to death sooner or later!"

While Lei Chen was still speaking, Qi Mo suddenly lunged at him and locked his arms around him. Before Lei Chen could react, Qi Mo dragged him down the stairs, and the two rolled down the seemingly endless flight of stone steps together. Lei Chen screamed the whole way, trying to break free, but Qi Mo clung to him in a death grip. The steps grew steeper and steeper. If they kept rolling like this, every bone in their bodies would probably break.

Just then, a figure in blue-green flashed past. Lin Qingyang appeared on the stone steps and caught them, one in each hand.

The two finally stopped. Lei Chen screamed loudly, his legs bent at unnatural angles, clearly both broken in the fall. On the other side, Qi Mo's forehead was covered in blood, and he had already lost consciousness. Seeing this, Lin Qingyang tossed Lei Chen aside and held Qi Mo, drawing another scream from Lei Chen.

Feng Shu hurried down, followed by several disciples.

"Master, are you all right?" Feng Shu asked.

Lin Qingyang coughed softly, suppressing the surging blood within him, and lowered his head to examine Qi Mo in his arms. Blood covered his forehead, and his entire shoulder was soaked through with it. At this wretched sight, Lin Qingyang's face instantly darkened, and he glared furiously at Lei Chen.

Panic flashed across Lei Chen's face, but he immediately pointed at Qi Mo and shouted, "It was him! He tried to kill me!"

Lin Qingyang sneered. "Lei Chen, you're taking me for a fool!"

At the Demon-Feeding Facility, he had learned that Qi Mo had been sent to work here and had hurried over in worry, only to arrive to this scene. It took no thought to know that Lei Chen had deliberately picked on him.

Lei Chen faltered under his gaze, but still protested defiantly, "He was the one who dragged me down! Ask them! They all saw it!"

Faced with this situation, all the other disciples kept their heads lowered, not daring to speak.

Lin Qingyang stared at him darkly and said coldly, "Lei Chen, if you don't want your cultivation either, I can grant your wish!"

Those words frightened Lei Chen into silence. His eyes shifted, then he let out a wail and fainted. Seeing this, the disciples beside him hurried forward and carried him away.

Lin Qingyang paid him no attention. He lowered his head and wiped the blood from Qi Mo's face, then lifted him into his arms and headed back. This little ingrate really was plagued by misfortune. He had ended up like this after being out of sight for just a short while.