The Unraging monk laughed aloud. “Both of them have a destiny with the buddha, and they’ve both joined our Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Fate has basically bound them together. They’re a match made in heaven. It won’t be easy for you to separate them, senior brother.”
“You need to keep a proper eye over your disciple.”
Although the Dauntless monk was displeased, he instead relaxed slightly inside. Xiao An’s behaviour all along had been too perfect. One was unable to find any flaw at all, which instead brought unease.
Now that she behaved like a regular girl, she seemed much more normal. These feelings between a man and a woman could be eliminated with gradual guidance.
……
Li Qingshan walked towards the open door and suddenly asked, “Duoge, don’t you like women?”
Duoge said, “I’m still young, so I don’t like women. Otherwise, even I don’t know what I’ll do. I can only control myself once I become very strong.”
“Yeah. You need to learn how to control yourself. You can’t let your demon heart twist your conscience.”
Duoge nodded blankly and murmured the word “conscience”. If an eminent monk of buddhism had tried to persuade him to do that, he might not have necessarily accepted it, but since even the venerable had said that, it could not be wrong.
Li Qingshan stepped into the doorway, and his surroundings twisted as if he had been sucked into a vortex. When he returned to his senses, he had already appeared in a golden room, similar to the prison on the upper floor. However, when he raised his head and looked around, he noticed the ceiling was even higher up now.
It only made him more certain about the impressive origins of the Demon Suppression hall. The height of these two floors alone had already exceeded what Great Buddha mountain could hide. If this were to continue, then the height and area of the Demon Suppression hall would probably even exceed Great Buddha mountain and the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga.
He waited for a while in the prison, but he did not see Xiao An or Duoge appear.
“Oh no, I didn’t expect we’d be teleported randomly and not to the square on the lower floor. I forgot to hold Xiao An’s hand. But with Xiao An’s strength, she shouldn’t be in any danger. I only need to look around for her, that’s all.”
……
Watching Li Qingshan and Xiao An pass through the door first, Duoge picked up a few scattered demon hearts on the ground and shoved them into his mouth, but he began to hesitate inside.
The demonfolk on the next floor would definitely be more powerful than the ones on this floor. If he ventured down with his strength, safety was not guaranteed at all. And, after eating these demon hearts, he could feel his body surging with vigour. His strength had increased drastically, and he no longer faced much danger on this floor. It was a good opportunity for him to escape from them.
As the demon hearts entered his body, they were like droplets of water, merging with his own demon heart, which thumped vigorously. An eerie smile that completely contrasted against his age appeared on his face.
“I can obtain even more demon hearts and become even stronger if I follow them. It’ll be worth it to take some risk.”
Before he walked through the door, Duoge raised his head and glanced at the towering Demon Suppression statue again. He was rather confused. He’s clearly not injured, so why is he in so much pain?
He became somewhat lost. He recalled how he had also been in pain when he was almost eaten earlier. His body was not all that ached. He felt pain somewhere else that he was unable to locate, somewhere far, far away.
He subconsciously rubbed his chest. His heart thumped loudly.
Was that his conscience?
To demonfolk, as long as their demon hearts were not destroyed, they would not die even if their hearts were pierced, so they would often forget about its existence.
He heard that as long as he understood the secrets in the statue, he could go home. Go home? He shook his head. His mother had already been eaten. There was no such thing as home anymore.
Suddenly, he pressed against his chest. The strange sensation appeared again. His nose tingled and burned slightly.
His small, dark face scrunched up into a ball. He hated this feeling!
Fortunately, another voice rang out in his heart at this moment. “Quick, follow them, or there will be no more demon hearts to eat. Such a great opportunity rarely appears. You have to make good use of them!”
He let out a breath, and the strange feeling finally vanished. However, when he stepped through the door, the image of the Demon Suppression statue was firmly embedded in his mind. The pair of pained eyes stared right at him.
The moment Duoge touched the ground, he felt his body grow heavy, having been pressed firmly against the ground.
“Look at what I’ve caught. Heh, it’s a small one. Seems like he came down from above. How brave. He’s just enough for a meal for me.”
A fierce-looking fatty pinned Duoge to the ground with one foot. He carried a bloody butcher’s blade in one hand as he showed off to his companion on the side, waving the blade around Duoge. As he laughed aloud, he revealed his mouth full of sharp teeth.
“Venerable, venerable! Save me!”
Duoge cried out in fright, but no one paid any attention to his calls. That was merely the howls of food.
“What enough for a meal for you? Those who see it get a share as well. Cut him right down the middle. We can have half each!”
A demonfolk tall and thin like a bamboo pole stood beside the fat demonfolk. His arms were so abnormally long that they almost touched the ground. He looked like a gibbon. He grabbed one of Duoge’s arms as he made a ruckus unhappily.
“Let go! I caught him, so why should I give you half? I’ll give you an arm at most to have a taste.”
“An arm? Quit dreaming. No, all I want is half!”
The fat demonfolk pinned Duoge to the ground firmly, while the thin demonfolk extended his other hand and grabbed Duoge’s other arm, tugging him hard and refusing to let go.
Duoge felt like his body was about to be ripped apart and let out a painful wail.
Swish! There was a flash of a blade and blood spattered.
The thin demonfolk staggered backwards. His abnormally long arms had been cut in half. He was filled with surprise and anger. “How dare you…”
The fat demonfolk lifted the butcher’s blade and pointed it at him. “Since you refuse, I’ll eat you too then.”
“Let’s see who’s eating who!”
The thin demonfolk’s waist suddenly elongated, lunging towards the fat demonfolk like a snake. Long tentacles grew from the severed stump of his arms, wrapping around the fat demonfolk’s neck.
Duoge’s body crackled. Who knew how many bones in his body had been crushed. He was in great agony.
However, his body became unbearably hot as his demon heart thumped heavily like a drum.
Duoge had devoured several demon hearts all at once. The demonic power in each one was several times greater than what he possessed, so it should have erupted a long time ago. However, he had been right next to the Demon Suppression statue earlier, which constantly gave off the power to suppress demons. Now that he had left the Demon Suppression statue’s side, this power erupted immediately.
And, because he was too young, he did not understand the risks that came with recklessly eating demon hearts.
Foul demon qi surged out, wrapping around his body. His small, skinny hands completely turned into pitch-black claws, scraping around the golden ground and producing ear-piercing screeches, sending sparks flying.
Bone spikes erupted from his body, extending out of his joints. His eyes completely turned into a bright violet as he bellowed, “I’m going to eat you!” In the end, the bellow completely became a wild’s beast’s roar as he put up a fierce struggle.
“He has completely demonified! Kill him quick!” The fat demonfolk experienced a violent force of resistance beneath his foot. Even with his strength, he struggled to keep it from breaking free.
The thin demonfolk cried out, “How can he possess such power!?”
Demonification was the most basic power of demonfolk. Once they used it, their strength would multiply.
However, demonfolk focused on becoming one with the demonic nature. If the power of their demon hearts was too great, and they were unable to keep it under control, it would take over their bodies. They would lose all rationality and become violent, wild beasts, completely demonifying.
Even vicious demonfolk never hoped to end up like that, which was why they were extremely careful when they devoured demon hearts. Normally, eating the demon hearts of demonfolk weaker than them would not have any effect. It would only make their demon qi impure. However, while devouring the demon hearts of powerful demonfolk could increase their strength, it was very easy for them to lose control and completely demonify.
The butcher’s blade was swung viciously towards Duoge’s neck. With a clank, it missed and struck the ground.
Duoge pulled himself out from under the foot, lunging towards the fat demonfolk. With a spurt, he dove into his great big belly. The fat demonfolk seemed heavily pregnant, except a hand extended from here and a leg burst out from there.
The thin demonfolk waved his tentacles around with no idea what to do. The fat demonfolk’s face was filled with malice. He lifted the butcher’s blade and stabbed it into his own body, plunging right through him. In a short while, he stabbed himself seven or eight times. Blood spattered and covered the walls and ground. It was an extremely bloody sight to behold.
With a clatter, the butcher’s blade fell to the ground. The fat demonfolk’s chest bulged, and it erupted with a bang.
Duoge burst out of his body with a demon heart in his mouth. His body was riddled with horrific slashes. Standing on four legs, he was like a vicious, little beast. He chewed up the demon heart messily and swallowed it. His wounds began to recover at a visible rate.
Another three bone spikes grew from his head like horns; his body had swelled up as well. His mouth stretched from ear to ear, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth.
He had completely lost his human shape. Swiveling his head, his violet eyes locked onto the thin demonfolk and he lunged over. The thin demonfolk turned around to run, but it was already too late. Duoge threw him onto the ground.
With a crack, Duoge’s mouth opened to an unbelievable angle before closing together violently. A semicircular chunk vanished from the thin demonfolk’s shoulder. At the same time, Duoge swung his claws about and became covered in blood spatter.
The tentacles coiled around him loosened. Duoge abandoned the corpse and leapt over to one side. After eating the two demon hearts, his body had become even larger. His small, skinny body had now become as sturdy and agile as a panther’s, and he was several times larger than a panther. He was covered in sharp spikes, which made him seem extremely hideous.
Lowering his head and sniffing the ground, he turned around and leapt onto a wall, running off into the corridor.
“The little demonfolk has become a demonic beast. He can’t turn back anymore.” The Unraging monk sighed gently. During the century of guarding the Demon Suppression hall, who knew how many times he had seen similar events already.
“Are you sympathising with demonfolk, junior brother? He might be young, but his demonic nature is deeply rooted. They only have themselves to blame for all of this. They can’t blame anyone else,” the Dauntless monk said coldly.
“You’re right, junior brother. Let’s check on your precious disciple instead. Her situation doesn’t seem too great!”
……
When Li Qingshan stepped through the door, Xiao An sensed something and extended her hand, wanting to grab him, but she was too late. Her surroundings dimmed and brightened, but when she looked around, she could not see even a trace of Li Qingshan anymore. She thought to herself, Did we end up separating?
She was standing in a relatively large cell, equivalent to a spacious hall. It was beautifully decorated just like everywhere else. Several dozen demonfolk either sat or stood around, with a few females among them.
This was probably a nest of demonfolk, and as long as a community existed, there would be a leader.
On the eastern side of the hall, a demonfolk with a head of tumours sat on a platform constructed from white bone. He radiated with a powerful aura as several female demonfolk sat around him.
Clearly, he was the master of this nest, the leader of the demonfolk here, a powerful Demon General.
The moment he saw Xiao An, the Demon General’s eyes shone with undisguised, sunken light. He pushed aside the demonfolk around him and walked down from the platform.
