Illusion demons, naturally born in Jingyang Slope, were completely different from those who turned into demons and other such evil creatures. They were powerful beings fondly looked upon by the heavens. Assuming that things went smoothly, they would have the chance to become spirits of the forest.
It was a shame that several years ago, a large plague broke out and the villagers were unwilling to leave their homes. In any case, the plague spread rapidly and in the blink of an eye, it had swept through the entire village. Just like that, Jingyang Slope turned into a natural cemetery.
The residents of this place encountered this harsh disaster, leaving behind a wasteland covered with corpses with no one to mourn for them. The resentment of the souls of the departed coalesced to form the core of the extremely evil illusion demon.
The illusion demon had its own consciousness and could easily change its form. It could be the wind in the forest, the fog in the woods, or the daughter of the new residents. And once this was known, everything would turn extremely terrifying.
Without a strong opponent, there wouldn't be an interesting plot. In the original work, "Demon Hunters," by the time the story had reached the end of the Jingyang Slope arc, there was a small climax——Liu Fuyi was injured by the illusion demon and pulled into the fissure by the creature, his condition unknown.
Mu Sheng was besieged by demons and at the same time, as if the scene was not already chaotic enough, then came Princess Duanyang who had hurried over.
The Princess, whose confession had been rejected, had spent her days in the palace recalling that painful experience. It was only in the past few days that Pei Yun continued to whisper encouragement in her ears.
Pei Yun told her, "Since you can't make Young Master Liu give up demon catching, then Her Highness should support his career and aid him. You can consider it as returning the favor from when he saved your life."
Princess Duanyang was convinced by her words and immediately picked out the four most powerful Taoists from the Imperial Astronomers Ministry1 to accompany her on her route, wearing herself down to the bones so she could aid Lui Fuyi.
But she did not expect that she would be seeing her last sight of him and that he would be pulled by the illusion demon, the two of them jumping down into a bottomless fissure.
At the time, there was a bloody hole in Liu Fuyi's chest and his face was like gold paper, utterly lifeless.
Duanyang sat beside the fissure crying and grief-stricken. Behind her, the four elder Taoists looked at each other in dismay, bitter looks on each of their faces. They had no clue how to console her and only after a long time passed did they cautiously speak out.
"Princess, that Young Master Liu has already had his heart dug out. Seeing that there's no hope for him, we should return..."
Duanyang's eyes were tinged red and she pushed him forcefully, like a little beast which had gone mad. "You're the one who can't live anymore! Are you not going to slap yourself!"
The Taoist groaned secretly and put on an act of slapping himself a few times. The other elder Taoist paused before tactfully speaking.
"Princess, please calm down...uh...there is a lot of evil present here, and demons run rampant. For the sake of the princess's jade body, it is better to quickly return to the palace..."
When the son of heaven was uninterested in matters related to gods and demons, the Imperial Astronomers lived like good-for-nothings.
These four Taoists had nowhere to use their ability and for them to be picked by the noble Diji as major players, they were obviously shocked.
However, they never would have thought they would be chasing after a man without regard for their own lives. And that she'd be completely unreasonable and unwilling to listen to anyone's words. Only then did the realization dawn upon them that this hot potato couldn't be passed on.
Princess Diji stared at him fiercely. "If you want to return then you can return by yourselves," She gritted her teeth, as if having made up her mind. She pointed at the pitch-black abyss beside them, emphasizing each word she uttered, saying them one by one.
"This.princess.is.going.down.into.the.fissure!"
Miaomiao's mind froze for a moment. The time had come.
Sure enough, Mu Yao, who was on the side and had sustained heavy injuries, was as silent as a shadow until she heard those three words. As if she had been startled awake, she quickly walked forward a few steps and it looked as if she was about to jump into the fissure.
"Hey! Sister Mu!" Miaomiao grabbed her and lowered her voice as she swiftly urged her, "Sister Mu, calm down..."
"Sister!" Mu Sheng fought for an opening through the mass of demons surrounding him and yelled through the air, stopping Mu Yao. The scattered hairs on his forehead had already been soaked through with sweat and his face was deathly pale. From head to toe, he appeared as if he had just been scooped up from a fish tank. His eyes had reddened. "Sister...don't go down, down at the bottom, there could be a trap!"
This time, he wasn't exaggerating.
After the illusion demon jumped into the fissure, it disappeared. If the bottom was the illusion demon's home, then the fissure was the entrance. Why would a great demon steal a treasure and return home only to leave the door open? Could it be waiting for someone to enter and demand for the treasure?
The illusion demon left the fissure because it was waiting for Mu Yao to jump into its trap without a second thought. But no one had any idea what kind of trap was waiting down there.
Of course, Mu Yao understood this logic. But even so, she couldn't afford to worry about whether he was dead or alive at this time. She looked at the fissure and said despairingly, "Fuyi is down there."
"Sister... It's dangerous down there, don't go down...
As a group, it was already dangerous, he had to stay watchful and alert of his surroundings but eventually, he would still end up distracted in one way or another.
Whilst he was trying to stop her, he had already taken several hits. In a moment, he had gone from being even to being at a disadvantage.
Mu Yao walked towards the fissure with a poor complexion. "No matter if he's dead or alive, I want to bring Fuyi back up."
Miaomiao's heart leapt to her throat. When the original work had reached this part, the little back-stabbing expert, Ling Yu, who usually hid herself in shadowy corners, reappeared: She mistakenly thought Liu Fuyi was dead.
Heartbroken and inconsolable, her grief turned into hatred within moments. She pushed the hesitant Mu Yao down the fissure and ran into the woods alone.
Mu Sheng's anger soared at seeing this and as a result, he hated her down to his bones.
This was a mission which needed to be completed at her three-fourths progress mark: Right under his eyes, she had to push the sister he loved most into the fissure.
She turned left, then right, so anxious that she could hardly keep herself standing still.
Princess Duanyang, who was on the side, was still arguing with the Taoists. "Why can't I go down into the fissure?
"The Princess's body is invaluable..." Four Taoists with long beards and Taoist robes looked at each other. They gritted their teeth then knelt in unison. "The demon energy down there is very heavy; we fear it is their domain. If the princess takes risks with your body, even if we were to die ten thousand deaths, we still would not be able to escape the blame..."
The princess remained speechless for a moment. After a long time, she asked, "If you don't want me to take risks with my body, can't you accompany this princess down?"
"This..." The Taoists looked at each other in dismay, the looks on their faces equally bad. "It's really too dangerous down there, the princess had better..."
She looked bitterly at the faces of the trembling Taoists kneeling on the ground and felt that they were like paper tigers. They received a royal official's salary but were timid and fearful of getting in trouble upon receiving work. They were entirely unreliable. She pointed at their noses and shouted, "Aren't you the most outstanding Taoists in Chang'an City? How come none of you even dare to accompany this princess into the fissure?"
She began walking in circles, irate. "Fine, this princess will go down herself, there's no need for you to follow me!"
"Princess." Mu Yao suddenly reached out a hand to stop her. Though pale, she still maintained a firm attitude. "Princess, please return. I will go down into the fissure to bring Fuyi out."
Duanyang dazedly looked at Mu Yao's face. Her amber eyes were as clear as gems, a tear-shaped birthmark under the corner of her eye, cold yet beautiful. Though her words were light, they did not allow for room for dispute.
Ling Miaomiao, who was distressed, spotted the princess and she slowly settled.
The corners of Mu Sheng's eyes were blood red and his tone had practically become tinged with desperation, "Sister, I beg you..." He suddenly let go of the Demon Restraining Circlets and beat away the demons which had fought to the forefront. A few sparks appeared in his hand but were only able form a small, slender flame which quickly extinguished due to a lack of strength.
He seemed to be making a difficult compromise. "Wait a moment for me. I will accompany you down."
Mu Yao's back stiffened and Miaomiao also froze.
In the original work, Mu Sheng obstructed Mu Yao from going down into the fissure by all means possible because he was indifferent to Liu Fuyi's life and death. He refused to save him and stubbornly refused to allow his sister to go save him. Their fierce argument was what gave Ling Yu her window of opportunity.
At this point, the plot had already strayed from its original path. Mu Sheng had already retreated to this point and Mu Yao should wait for her brother. Perhaps, she would even turn back to help her brother kill demons.
But Miaomiao's task did not allow her to continue waiting as their next move would determine success or failure.
At this moment, the three, Ling Miaomiao, Mu Yao, and Princess Duanyang, all stood in the same area, very close to each other.
As it turned out, the four Taoists were met with the sight of Duanyang standing by the edge of the fissure. Fearing the princess would be hot-headed and jump in or would step into unstable ground and tumble down, they rushed over and surrounded the princess, wanting to pull her to a safe area.
Next to the fissure, seven people had been gathered and had crowded together for a while.
With swift hands and hate in her eyes, Ling Miaomiao pushed Mu Yao down. After hesitating for half a second, she immediately grabbed onto the edge of her top and jumped in with her while yelling at the top of her lungs, "Wait for me, Sister Mu, I also want to go save Brother Liu!"
Mu Sheng heard her yell and looked over in disbelief, his blood freezing.
Not only did sister obstinately jump down into the fissure, Ling Miaomiao, who was beside her, also followed her without a second thought. In an instant, both of their figures completely disappeared.
She didn't even spare him a glance.
His mind turned blank.
In mere moments, his world fell apart and soon after, the defensive circle he had barely managed to maintain was broken. The offence was like a thirty-three meter high tsunami coming head-first to swallow him whole.
The four Taoists stared down into the depths of the fissure.
In a few seconds, the two were swept down like two dumplings being swallowed. Even after a long time, there was no sound of having reached the bottom. The fissure was like a hell which had opened its bloody maw, swallowing whatever came its way, leaving not even bones.
The group of Taoists felt cold sweat rise up over their bodies, fearing that Princess Duanyang would also go down into the fissure. Together, they pulled at her belt leading her away from the edge.
"Let go of this princess! All of you, let go of this princess!" Princess Duanyang struggled with all fours, kicking and punching anything within reach. She was crying so much that it seemed she would collapse soon. "I also want to go save Brother Liu..."
Before her words had even finished, the ground suddenly shook, following which a great gale rose up which shook all of the tree trunks, creating a rain of leaves. Even the sand and dust on the ground rose up into the air, towards the skies.
The high-pitched screams of the monsters suddenly sounded in unison. It was an unbearably wretched sound which almost seemed as if it would rip through the curtain of night.
Blood-curdling screams layered one on top of another and the mass of demons writhed and danced. Tens of thousands of demons cried out in and the yin yang crack which had been half-concealed for all this time, by now, had truly become a bloody purgatory.
"Not good..." Two Taoists raised their heads, a strange red light reflected in their eyes.
The red light came from the horizon, nearly enshrouding half the night sky.
The young man was suspended midair, his hair somewhat messy. The high ponytail had fallen a bit. His hair tie, which was usually tied in a bow, had loosened. The long white hair tie was pulled out and it fluttered in the whistling wind. Occasionally it would stick to his face and other times it would fly in the air like it was pulling the cold silver light of the moon into a line and dance wildly above his head.
His hair was a rich, shining, black like that of copper ore. His sleeves were flapping violently and a sharp ruthlessness was hidden in his eyes, slowly deepening and brewing into an black void. It was as if life, in his eyes, were but only lowly ants to be stepped on, not even worth mentioning.
This was an evil god with the night draped over its body, slaughter serving as cheer, desire allowing it to play with the world in the palm of its hands. But against reason, the tint of red on the edge of his brows and corners of his eyes contrasted with it's black pupils, and paired, it gave a charming yet frail look.
It was beauty and innocence dipped in poison. Those who coveted a second glance would have to pay the price with their death.
"Could it be that Young Master Mu does not know that the upright faction is greatly against using reverse talismans..."
One of the Taoists could hardly believe his own eyes. Before them, was the proud son of a demon hunter family, but he had made no secret of using his own blood to perform this kind of sorcery?
Besides, if he recalled correctly, the collapse of the Mu family back then was because of the reverse talisman of a great demon. The upright demon hunters avoided the reverse talisman like the plague. The Mu family especially, held a great hatred for it. But he actually... he actually dared...
Having said that, this was also his first time seeing that the reverse talisman could release such shocking power. One stroke could just about slaughter all of the demons gathered in the yin-yang fissure. It truly was an unprecedented event... absolutely domineering...
His hands and feet had lost their warmth and he was so still, he was about to turn into a statue. His companion beside him pulled at the corner of his robe and he lowered his voice, the look on his face changing. "I'm afraid it's not just a reverse talisman..."
Mu Sheng slowly lowered his head, his long lashes lowering, looking down at the few hovering talismans by his feet which were stained with his blood. Then he slowly lifted the corners of his lips into an emotionless smile.
Reverse talisman? He didn't just write talismans in blood, he even released his hair band. In one day, he had already broken two rules in a row. But did anyone care about him?
Sister would not wait for him and even if faced with the threat of him loosening the hair tie, this still would not be enough to make her wait.
Even she...did not. In the mist, he heard the crisp voice of the girl yelling to him, "Staying alive is what's important." Only then did he have the strength to break through. She had acquiesced to him sinking into self-indulgence, put up with him doing things which others were not willing to put up with him doing, and even had a sliver of the concern which he wished to cling onto. But when it came down to the most critical moment, the fact was that she jumped into the fathomless abyss for Liu Fuyi without regard for her own safety...
In the end, he was inferior and insignificant...
He slowly fell to the ground, the hostility in his eyes skyrocketing, the emotion in eyes switching constantly between stabilizing and destabilizing, going back and forth. In one moment, it was as if his eyes were as pitch black as night and then in the next moment, it was like a heavy fog in broad daylight; suddenly at a loss and then suddenly cold and ruthless.
The group of Taoists sensed the abnormality in the condition of the person before them. The look on his face was like that of a person looking at a great enemy. After taking stock of the situation, they slowly backed up. They were like unarmed people facing a starving cheetah.
They looked for an opportunity and pulled up the struggling Princess Duanyang before knocking her out with a hand chop. They carried her on their shoulders then turned and ran.
Mu Sheng didn't chase after them. He indifferently looked at their fleeing figures then looked down at the fissure below his feet, a complicated look on his face.
The depths of the fissure were a dark landscape, with a bottomless depth.