Chapter 595: Chapter 548: Beiyuan Forest_2

Hong Zhuang did not move, her voice somewhat weak, “There’s no need for such redundant efforts. Trespassing into the Netherworld Palace is a capital offense, even if I survive tonight, the ultimate outcome won’t change.”

Baili An paused to think, then said earnestly, “This is what your sister entrusted me to deliver to you.”

Those simple words instantly brightened her well-like eyes, and Hong Zhuang looked at him with hopeful anticipation, “Really?”

Baili An nodded, “Really.”

Hong Zhuang’s lips curved into a shallow, contented smile as she obligingly swallowed down the Changchun Pill.

She was like a child who had been neglected for a long time and suddenly received a piece of candy, her heart satisfyingly content despite her injuries.

After eating a Changchun Pill, Hong Zhuang’s complexion visibly gained more color, and the bloody gash on her cheek, though not healed, gradually stopped bleeding.

She turned her gaze to meet Baili An’s ice-blue vertical pupils, which were so clear and pure that they could reflect one’s image. Having grown up in the Demon World, she had never seen such untainted eyes.

Even reflecting her own disfigured face, there was no hint of emotion that could make one feel disgraced or inferior.

She was silent for a moment before she slowly said, “Do you think I’m foolish?”

Baili An was taken aback, “What?”

Hong Zhuang pursed her lips, “I knew what the consequences of breaking into the Netherworld Palace to steal the offerings would be. Regardless of success or failure, I would bring trouble to her, but I have no regrets.

She has waited too long for this day. I didn’t want to disappoint her, and I also know that she is not afraid of trouble. Being such a smart person, she will have her own ways to clear herself of suspicion amid this chaos.”

She smiled, “So for many years, I have acted as her sole blade, because no matter what outrageous thing I did, even if I poked a hole in the sky, she would never make me worry about implicating her.”

This time was no different.

Baili An’s mood was complicated, “When do they plan to execute you?”

Hong Zhuang replied calmly, “As a Young Lord’s Demon Servant, they do not have the right to strip me of my qualification to participate in the Monarch’s Return Banquet. The Demon Lord will emerge from seclusion on the day of the banquet, so the earliest I can expect my fate is after it.”

“Is there no way out of this?”

Hong Zhuang smiled, “If Big Sister were to choose to challenge Yihe Shu Ci and survive her, she naturally would have the right to ask the Demon Lord for something. As a reward for the challenge, the Lord will indeed grant any request.”

Yihe Shu Ci’s reputation was too great, her status unshakable. In the hearts of countless people, she was viewed as an entity nearly equivalent to the Demon Lord himself.

To speak of defeating her in a challenge was one thing, but if someone dared to do so, the Demon Lord had said, surviving against her would earn one the right to become a higher-ranking demon of the Mohe and the granting of a boon.

However, since this rule was established, no one had ever dared to challenge her, not even Erhe Zangxin.

Ning Feiyan would certainly not challenge such a death-like figure for Hong Zhuang’s sake. Even if she succeeded and survived, Hong Zhuang believed that she would not waste that precious favor on her.

…

…

“You visited Hong Zhuang in the Water Dungeon?”

Dusk fell.

No sooner had Baili An returned to Chao Mu Hall than he heard Ning Feiyan’s lazy, indifferent voice from beneath the bed curtains.

Underneath the white gauze of the canopy, butterflies danced as if not of this world. Baili An acknowledged with a hum, walked forward, and lifted the curtains, to see countless blue and purple Demon Butterflies perching between her shoulders.

The fierce poison of the Great Emperor’s Tusk, along with the power of the Demon Essence, was absorbed bit by bit by the endless swarm of Demon Butterflies, transforming swiftly into a cold fog and a chilled fragrance.

She was exhausting the power of Mohe to suppress her grave injuries, but in addition to the force of Mohe, Baili An sensed another mysterious power within her body.

Baili An glanced at her before extending his palm, his fingernail slicing across his wrist, blood weightlessly floating out from the cut.

The Blood Pearl floated among the cold mist, the essence of the river of blood surging forth, encapsulating the dissipating auras of the Demon Butterflies.

Demon Butterflies, once demon spirits fallen from grace, had been refined by Witch Souls, but they still retained some indelible demonic nature.

The Blood Feather River possessed the unique ability to incubate and birth demon spirits. With the aid of Baili An’s blood, the beings that were wiped out in the dance of cold layers spun into cocoons and emerged again as butterflies with wings spread.

And on the newly born wings of these Demon Butterflies appeared slight feather patterns.

They reattached themselves to Ning Feiyan’s wounds, and finally, the fissures that had been breaking open day and night started to clot and scab over.

While much of the demon poison and the aura of Demon Essence remained within her body, her injuries were no longer worsening.

Ning Feiyan sounded surprised, “You’re being so kind to me today, don’t tell me you want me to challenge Yihe Shu Ci?”

Baili An licked the wound at his wrist and said, “I’m not that naive.” His gaze shifted subtly, noticing beneath Ning Feiyan’s pillow a red note.

This object was not there when he had left Chao Mu Hall.

Baili An was disinterested in the private affairs of the Demon Clan and did not inquire further.

But Ning Feiyan noticed his glance; she had no intention to hide it.

She casually picked up the note, unfolded it and said, “This morning, my mother traveled through the perilous Beiyuan Forest to come here to the Royal City on the Ming Continent. She sent an invitation to meet tonight. It’s undoubtedly about Hong Zhuang’s matter.”

Baili An looked at the red invitation and asked, “So are you going to go?”

Ning Feiyan smiled, “What are you talking about? She is my mother, after not seeing her for a century. Today she braved danger to come to this Royal City. As her daughter, of course, I must keep the appointment.”