Li Qingshan glanced back at the Gate of Xuanpin before walking off, choosing a path and venturing off into the depths of this Blood maze with determination.
Every chamber had several doorways. He stopped in every chamber and produced the same amount of clones, venturing off into different chambers.
Up ahead, he heard the sounds of talking, so Li Qingshan raised his guard and approached them slowly. He entered a new chamber. As he gazed out, there was actually a demonfolk settlement.
Even though he had already prepared himself mentally, he still widened his eyes, unable to hide his surprise.
The demon city populated by a hundred million demonfolk he had just seen recently was far greater than any city he had witnessed in his past and present life. It even had a science fiction vibe of postmodernism to it.
Yet the demonfolk settlement right before him was even more primitive than the primitive tribes of cannibals. There was no proper structure, or more accurately, there was not even a shanty box. Regardless of their age or gender, all of them were unclothed.
Bare naked, they either walked around or stood, sat around or laid down, atop the flesh.
Several thousand demonfolk were scattered in the large space in groups of threes and fives. This entire place was covered in fungus, forming bright-red and plump clusters that glistened with light.
Some of the demonfolk were tasked with collecting them. Actually, that could not be described as a task at all. They shoved them into their mouths as soon as they picked them, filling themselves after just eating a few before laying down lazily, exactly where they were, to rest. That must have been their source of food and moisture.
There were other demonfolk doing what they loved, panting and grunting and moaning away. The others did not even look at them, feeling neither embarrassed nor tempted. Some of them even found it noisy, curling up in a corner to sleep as they cussed away.
However, regardless of what they did, whether it was eating, sleeping, or breeding, all of the demonfolk seemed to have a veil draped over their faces. Their expressions were clueless.
I might be able to find someone to show me the way here.
With that thought in mind, Li Qingshan chose the demonfolk that seemed the oldest and lunged towards him with his Origin Soul of great liberty.
The old demonfolk was a bag of bent bones, curled up in a distant corner, sleeping. His body was covered with liver spots, and he gave off a stench. He seemed like he was close to meeting his end. His body stiffened up slightly, but no one noticed it.
Li Qingshan used a soul-searching technique and easily obtained everything he wanted, but the end result left him disappointed.
The old demonfolk had lived for a total of eighty-nine years. He spent his life roaming from place to place, having travelled through many of the chambers. He moved wherever the food was, moving onto the next chamber once all the fungus in one chamber was eaten.
However, in his life, apart from eating, there was only just fucking. Sometimes, due to some random reason, he would fight with the other demonfolk too. He was quite lucky that he had not been beaten to death yet. There was nothing else apart from that.
Li Qingshan realised what that veil over their faces was now.
That was the ignorance of not having to think or feel. Their clueless expressions were not something that a human or even a beast should have possessed.
At the very least, the demonfolk outside still had to fight for the sake of survival, scheming against one another and facing one another. In particular, the demonfolk of the lowest level were forced to fight in wars and invade other worlds. They had to learn how to follow orders, and if they handled it badly, they would be tortured to death.
An old demonfolk as useless and feeble as him could not live for long at all. Once he was past his prime, he would definitely be eliminated, or even reduced to the food of other demonfolk.
But in this Blood maze, the demonfolk neither had to participate in the twelve Demon Gods’ wars, nor did they have to face the threat of hunger and cold. The climate here would always be suitable, and the food here would always be abundant. It would even be rather delicious, at least according to them. They had food to eat and something to do every single day, so who knew how easy life was. This place could basically be described as a little Sukhāvatī in the Demon domain.
However, there were still intrinsic differences. Sukhāvatī was filled with kind people chosen by the buddha. They had all faced the trials of mortal life and endured the torment of suffering. No matter how fertile the land in Sukhāvatī was, it still required some labour and waiting.
However, the demonfolk in the Blood maze were just migrants among the chambers. They ate wherever they went, slept if they were tired, and did the deed if they felt like it. They were like infants trapped in their mother’s womb from birth to death.
The Origin Soul of great liberty left the body, and the old demonfolk died silently. Even up until the moment of death, his expression was still so clueless as if he did not understand what “death” was and that it was just usual rest.
They lived like they were floating on empty bliss, and they died like they were resting.
Of course, no one noticed this either.
The flesh wriggled, and his hunched body gradually merged with it, vanishing very soon. Afterwards, even more fungus grew. The clusters were all bright-red and eye-catching, glistening with light and flourishing in the environment.
“And that’s a lifetime!” Qian Rongzhi sighed.
Li Qingshan suddenly felt the chills. The flesh in the surroundings wriggled violently and pressed in from all directions, taking his breath away from him. He gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to slash out.
He suddenly shook his head and discovered that the chamber was still as spacious. The demonfolk lived easily, while those panting and grunting and moaning demonfolk all fell quiet too, loosening up, closing their eyes, and falling asleep.
There was no dreamland—they spent their days without thoughts and nights without dreams.
Li Qingshan fished out an alcohol skin and took a few sips. He exhaled deeply. “This place sure is absolutely terrifying.”
Actually, it was not that he was afraid of death. Instead, he feared a life like this even more, without thought or feeling, without dreams. That was why he had to fight and kill, as well as face the endless painful setbacks, recovering while heavily wounded, reborning in despair.
“Hiss hiss. I heard that even before birth, people already possess sense and memories. They might not remember it after birth, but it’s actually buried deeply in their seas of consciousness, which is why people will always search for a peaceful and comfortable environment like this. When cultivators undergo the cycle of reincarnation, the thing they most fear is the confusions of the womb, not only because the feeble body of an infant was unable to contain their consciousness, but also perhaps because they would be captivated and enraptured by it.”
“Hmph, that’s some mad nonsense. Are you talking about yourself?” Li Qingshan sneered. “Once I leave here, if you don’t want to leave, I can leave you here. Perhaps Jiuying will be willing to accept you as a goddaughter.”
“Daughter? Hehe.” Qian Rongzhi sighed with a smile. “These muddle-headed demonfolk are actually more fortunate than many people in the world.
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“Are you saying that not being born is the most fortunate?” Li Qingshan disagreed.
“Yeah, not being born would be the most fortunate.” Qian Rongzhi actually nodded and expressed her agreement.
“Then why don’t you go and die?” Li Qingshan countered with a question.
“Because I want to make the people of the world understand a little more,” Qian Rongzhi said like it was common sense. Her cold snake eyes actually gave off a sense of determination and fervency.
Li Qingshan felt like there was something wrong with his head for trying to communicate with a madwoman. As a result, he said nothing more and continued onwards after splitting up his clones.
“You should be asking me…” Qian Rongzhi copied Li Qingshan’s voice and said gruffly, “Oi, bitch, you’re contradicting yourself. In reality, you just want to live, don’t you!?”
Li Qingshan shot a glare at her, but she answered her own question, “And I would answer, hiss hiss, I am self-contradictory. You’re not different.”
Li Qingshan suddenly stopped and stressed each word, “If you dare to put me on the same level as you again…”
“Forgive me, spare me, sir. I’ll never do it again. Hiss hiss~”
