Chapter 171 - 128: Between True and False

Chapter 171: Chapter 128: Between True and False

The answer was already clear.

The Painting Demon had come to the tomb, coveting what was inside. But opening the tomb took time, and it was now at the most critical juncture.

Coupled with the arrival of Lu Changyuan and Qiu Yuehan, which terrified it, it knew it was too weak to defeat them. So, it constructed a painting, hoping to delay them until it could take what was inside the tomb.

Lu Changyuan looked to the sky. "The so-called ’disappearing in the rain,’ and even Xue Yanluo, were all just to make us believe we weren’t in a painting. If we had truly trusted Xue Yanluo, she would have led us in circles for days. In the end, Xue Yanluo would have rushed into the rain and vanished, and you and I would have become even more convinced that we couldn’t get rained on."

Once we believed it, we wouldn’t be able to act whenever it rained, and time would inevitably be consumed in the process.

The Moon Fairy pondered for a moment, as if she’d finally sorted out the connections. "But could it not have imagined that you and I could just force our way out?"

"That’s precisely the problem. If you and I had never realized this was a painting, we would only think of leaving through the village entrance."

Go out the way you came in.

That’s human nature.

Lu Changyuan sneered. "But if we were to attack the exit it erased, it would have gladly let us out. It finds us to be an eyesore, too. But if we left through that exit, we would never be able to find its true body."

"Then... can we get rained on or not?"

The Moon Fairy hesitated.

They had only been here for barely a night, yet she already couldn’t tell what was real from what was fake.

’This is so much trouble. Why couldn’t they just tell me who to kill?’

Lu Changyuan smiled faintly, walked outside, and stretched his hand out to touch the raindrops. Aside from his arm being stained with a bit of black, nothing else happened. He certainly didn’t vanish in the rain like the Leg-Eating Monk.

"Did I disappear?"

There was never any rule about not touching the rain. The whole thing was just a massive deception.

As Lu Changyuan’s words fell.

The rain suddenly ceased.

The Painting Demon realized it had been seen through, so it simply withdrew the rain. The sky became like a sheet of paper for a painting. A single splotch of ink bloomed and spread, swallowing all light.

The surrounding houses began to fade, transforming into the ink-wash buildings Lu Changyuan had seen before in Ancestor Red Simurgh’s landscape painting.

RUMBLE.

Something had descended.

It was a colossal, eyeless monster—a pulsating black mountain of flesh covered in wet, sticky fur. Innumerable black, goat-hoof-like legs clung to its fleshy mass. Each leg bore a massive mouth, which split open to drool a disgusting slime before churning out a shriek that made one’s eardrums tremble.

Sixth Realm.

’The Painting Demon saw it couldn’t delay us anymore and decided to flip the table?’

Lu Changyuan stated expressionlessly, "It’s getting desperate."

The Ink-Wash Demons painted before had been far too weak for Lu Changyuan and Qiu Yuehan; they hadn’t even reached the Fifth Realm. Qiu Yuehan could clear the field with a single sword strike. Only now did this monster have some of the bearing of the Three Thousand Great Demons.

Her black dress fluttering, Qiu Yuehan asked, "And what monster is this?"

Lu Changyuan thought, ’I’ve never seen this thing. If you don’t know, how could I possibly know?’ He could only reply, "I’m not sure either."

"Should we go kill it?"

Lu Changyuan shot Qiu Yuehan an exasperated look. "So you didn’t listen to a single word I just said? We’re supposed to find its true body. We have to find it by breaking its Magic."

"Then this thing..."

"Regardless of whether this is its true body, its purpose is undoubtedly to stall you and me."

"But if we don’t kill it, we won’t be able to get away. It will just keep chasing us, and we’ll be unable to do anything."

’That’s true,’ Lu Changyuan thought. He said aloud, "So, we need to split up. This thing won’t be easy to kill."

Qiu Yuehan said, "I’ll stay here. You go do what you have to do."

For Qiu Yuehan, killing was much simpler.

"Hmm..." Lu Changyuan hesitated. "What are your chances?"

Qiu Yuehan paused, a smile touching her lips. "Are you asking about winning, or just holding it off?"

"Stall it. Just until I can tear this painting apart."

The Moon Fairy smiled faintly. Amidst the ink-wash scenery, her black dress and pale skin made her look as though she had stepped out of a painting herself. "A hundred percent," she said.

After all, her opponent was at the Sixth Realm, and crossing a realm was as difficult as ascending to heaven. No matter how strong she was, Qiu Yuehan was still only at the Fifth Realm of the Red Dust Sword Dao. Unless she were to immediately take up the Death Path, which would allow her to crush her opponent, having a hundred percent certainty of just stalling it was already impressive.

Lu Changyuan nodded. This matched his current assessment of the Miao Yu Palace Chief’s combat strength.

’There shouldn’t be a problem,’ he thought. So, Lu Changyuan prepared to leave.

But the black-clad young woman’s voice stopped him. "You should have one more question to ask."

’What question...? Oh.’ Lu Changyuan seemed to recall something and asked with a sigh of resignation, "And what about winning?"

The Fairy replied unhurriedly, "Also a hundred percent."

’That powerful?’

Lu Changyuan turned back to look at the Moon Fairy. Her black dress billowed with the wind, and an incredibly terrifying aura began to emanate from her body.

Qiu Yuehan’s sword was extremely light. The lighter the sword, the deadlier it was, its strikes aimed solely at vital points.

Billowing Red Dust Qi poured from the Fairy’s graceful figure. Within that Magic, so dense it had nearly solidified, was even a trace of Nether Qi, which symbolized death.

A flash of sword light, bright enough to shatter the darkness, poured from the incredibly light longsword.

A Sword from the West!

This tyrannical Swordsmanship, capable of annihilating all living things, was truly a perfect fit for a Nether Monarch. The brilliant sword light sliced the bizarre monster in half at the waist. Its massive body crashed to the ground, splashing up droplets from puddles that had yet to dry.

Hoarse shrieks erupted from the hundreds of mouths. The severed half of the body that had fallen to the ground quickly dissipated. At the point of severing, countless splotches of ink appeared from thin air, as if someone were painting the monster, making it whole again.

Qiu Yuehan gave her longsword a shake. "If I can’t kill you in one blow, I’ll just kill you a thousand times over."