Verification

"Come on, I, the Daoist, will slay gods and immortals alike! What are you, a mere Dongfang Shuo, compared to me!"

Li Shaojun's shouts echoed from the mountain shrouded in purple mist, followed by Gongsun Hong's barely audible mutterings.

Using a cloud-riding spell, Zhang Xuezhou swayed back and forth, constantly dodging the pursuit of the dragon demon.

He reopened the wounds of the dragon demon, causing it to relentlessly pursue him in its rage. Zhang Xuezhou did this hard work, but he had no objection to Gongsun Hong and Li Shaojun's investigation of the Mohists's mechanical city.

If the person below were Zhang Xuezhou himself, his behavior would be no different.

Zhang Xuezhou never expected that both Gongsun Hong and Li Shaojun would fall into a trap on this mountain.

"Handsome and dashing Demon King, how did you manage to escape from this mechanical city?"

Since Gongsun Hong and Li Shaojun were not very reliable, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to investigate further.

He shouted, which startled the relentlessly pursuing dragon demon who had rushed over and regained his balance.

What did you just call me?

The dragon demon was furious, but there was also a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

"Handsome, powerful Demon King!" Zhang Xuezhou shouted, "Are you a little more awake now?"

"Sober? I... I've always been sober," the dragon demon said angrily, his face filled with suspicion. "Weren't you just calling me ugly?"

"How could I possibly insult a demon king as handsome and powerful as you?" Zhang Xuezhou retorted. "You seem to be affected by the purple aura of this mechanical city, which is why you've been chasing me!"

"That's impossible! I clearly heard you cursing me!" the dragon demon said.

"Then you must have been influenced by the Mechanical City," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Even if you didn't insult me, why did you praise my handsomeness?" the dragon demon said. "My appearance is clearly unsightly!"

"How can you belittle yourself like that? If you asked a few more people, you wouldn't believe such a description as 'unpresentable'," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I have two companions who have entered the Mechanized City. You can ask them directly. If they don't say you're handsome, I'll swallow excrement and commit suicide in front of you!"

"Really?"

The dragon demon was stunned for a moment. He looked himself up and down, and even brought down a gust of wind to touch his face as he landed.

Zhang Xuezhou's previous insults were extremely harsh, but his current praise caught the dragon demon completely off guard.

He glanced at the purple aura on the mountain and wondered if he hadn't shaken off the influence, which was why he had misheard what others were saying.

"It must be true. You can have them come down the mountain to verify it," Zhang Xuezhou said confidently.

"If you're trapped on the mountain, getting down on your own is a difficult task," the dragon demon said. "I only managed to leave that place by being pulled by a golden rope!"

"Golden rope?"

"This is one of my Law Treasure. As long as you have metal or gold on you, it can lock you up. If you hadn't been without any metal or gold on you, you would have been bound by me long ago!"

The dragon demon was furious. When targeting Zhang Xuezhou, he couldn't catch up, and his Law Treasure couldn't lock him down. Moreover, his abilities, such as overturning rivers and seas, required a suitable venue to be used.

As for the water method, let's not even talk about it, since he hasn't had any water for months.

"I used to own metal objects!"

Thinking of the Deer-Slaying Blade he once owned, Zhang Xuezhou never imagined that exchanging the knife with Li Guang would save him from disaster.

"Then lock them both up," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Once you've locked them up, ask them, 'Are you handsome or not?'"

"This... this... that's fine too!"

The dragon demon felt a little dizzy.

If asked to actively rescue Gongsun Hong and the others, he certainly wouldn't do such a troublesome and laborious task. However, after verifying his own appearance, the dragon demon felt that the matter was feasible.

He had been bewitched by the mirage demon these past few days, and had been subjected to a lot of criticism about his ugly appearance and ridicule from Ao Li. His psychological trauma was extremely severe, even surpassing his desires to eat, survive, and find treasure.

With new grudges and old hatreds combined, the dragon demon had very little reason left.

He was still somewhat unsure of himself, but he still threw out the golden rope.

The golden rope was a golden thread tied around his waist. It looked unremarkable, but in the hands of the dragon demon, it stretched and extended upwards like a tentacle.

Occasionally, the golden thread would tangle erratically around the floor tiles, forcing the dragon demon to constantly manipulate it.

Whether it gets tangled in the floor tiles or in a person, the feel of it will tell him the answer.

A golden thread nearly ten feet long stretched out, and when the dragon demon had locked the person in place, it reached out and pulled. Zhang Xuezhou heard a series of unsteady, staggering sounds coming from the steps.

A few seconds later, Gongsun Hong's figure appeared in the purple mist.

When the dragon demon pulled him down the mountain, Gongsun Hong, who was carrying a sword, was pulled down in horror.

"Tell me, am I ugly or handsome?"

The dragon demon bound Gongsun Hong and peered down to question him.

A few drops of foul-smelling ambergris landed on Gongsun Hong's face, which made him slightly more awake.

"You... you demon... Dongfang Shuo..."

Before entering the Mechanized City, Gongsun Hong saw the Flood Dragon Demon and Zhang Xuezhou locked in a fierce battle, but when he was pulled out, he discovered that Zhang Xuezhou and the Flood Dragon Demon were actually getting along peacefully.

Zhang Xuezhou may even have used the dragon demon's methods to pull him away from danger.

"This demon king is actually quite good-looking, but he has been deliberately vilified by certain beings," Zhang Xuezhou said. "From our human perspective, he is actually quite handsome, with a robust and rugged appearance; he could be considered a dashing man!"

"You're absolutely right!"

Gongsun Hong was still in shock. It wasn't until Zhang Xuezhou spoke repeatedly that he realized what was happening and reluctantly gave his agreement.

The people had been captured by the dragon demon and were bound by it; Gongsun Hong had no choice but to go against his conscience.

"See? I told you your appearance was fine," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I have a companion. Tie him down with a rope and ask him again to confirm!"

"How many of you came in?" The dragon demon scratched its head and said, "I feel like there are only two of you left!"

"There's one more, so we have three," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I remember killing one with a spear..."

"That's because you were affected by the fog. No one was killed by you," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If you don't believe me, pull him out and listen carefully. He's still making sounds!"

"Something's not right!"

The dragon demon looked at the scattered armor of the Hundred Battles Armor, then at its own body, and then listened to the sounds from the mountain.

He found it difficult to understand these things.

He remembered that he had killed one and carried the victim on his back as if he were prey.

But now the gun is gone, and Zhang Xuezhou is adamant that he didn't kill anyone, and he has even entered the Mechanized City.

"We must have fought several rounds, right?" the dragon demon asked Gongsun Hong. "I remember you have eighteen cyan longswords!"

"No, you must be wrong. I only have twelve swords, not eighteen!"

Gongsun Hong shook his head repeatedly.

He's not stupid; why would he go against Zhang Xuezhou?

The fact that the dragon demon sought his verification was utterly absurd.

Looking at the dragon demon who doubted Long Sheng, Gongsun Hong felt that there were no mirage demons causing trouble outside, but it was better than having mirage demons causing trouble.