Chapter 116 - 115: Mysterious woman

Chapter 116: Chapter 115: Mysterious woman

"Then..."

The man swallowed the rest of his words as he began to grasp the seriousness of the situation. He shifted in his chair, his fingers anxiously tapping against the armrest.

And his other hand...

He slowly raised it and gestured toward her, a conflicted expression on his face. "W-what about the other events you mentioned earlier?"

He could already tell. Judging by the way the woman was carrying herself, the other pieces of news were hardly any better.

The woman paused, the fearful expression on her face lingering. She swallowed once more, as though recalling something particularly horrifying.

"I don’t know how or why, but it seems the human race is becoming stranger and stranger..."

The woman then briefly recounted the other incidents that had taken place across the surface.

Most of this information had been obtained from their demonic spies, whose existence remained unknown to the vast majority of humanity, including Chen Yuan.

From the Half-Step Golden Core demonic serpent that had appeared in Thousand Wind Mountain...

To the mysterious force known as the Children Lost from the Light, whose origins supposedly stretched back to ancient times and whose true purpose remained unknown.

She also explained what had happened with the Zhao Family’s hidden ancestor, whose strength had proven comparable to that of the Old Ones, as well as the mysterious old man encountered by their spies deep within the western mountain range.

Unfortunately, none of the spies had survived long enough to identify him.

If not for the secret technique they had used to transmit the information back just before their deaths, the terrifying expert’s presence there might have remained a mystery.

One after another, these incidents painted an increasingly troubling picture of the human world.

Too many powerful figures had emerged, and too many unknown forces had begun stirring.

And their appearances had come out of nowhere! How could they possibly believe all of this so easily?

Although the information gathered by the woman’s demonic spies had already spread rapidly throughout the Blackmoon Kingdom, what remained was to inform the true higher-ups of these developments.

In a way, their previous understanding of the surface world was rapidly becoming unreliable.

The king remained silent long after she finished.

His gaze drifted across the table, but his attention was clearly elsewhere. He was nervous. Extremely nervous.

Then, he slowly raised his head.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do with all this information?"

"I have no power to do anything in the face of such a great adversity. All we can do is leave it to the Old Ones to decide..."

The woman looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious.

"What else can you do but deliver the news?"

"D-deliver the news?"

"Me?"

The man swallowed, his neck stiffening as he subconsciously repeated her words.

"Don’t tell me..."

"Deliver it to the Old Ones, of course. Almost all of them are currently asleep... And many have already tried to deliver the news, only to be subconsciously swallowed alive due to their idiocy."

His expression stiffened. For a brief moment, he seemed to consider his options before letting out a quiet breath.

"...I don’t want to."

"What if..."

"I refuse?"

The woman stared at him.

"You don’t want to?"

"Do you have any idea what sort of reaction the Old Ones will have when they hear all this too late? I’d rather not be the one standing before them when they start asking questions."

"Then what?"

She took a step closer to the table, her voice turning slightly colder.

"What happens if they find out about these incidents from someone else before you report them? Do you think they’ll simply overlook your silence?"

"And at the same time, this is also a chance for you to rise to greatness. Getting yourself into the Old Ones’ line of sight is worth the gamble, no?"

"If you won’t be the one to inform them... Then who else?"

"As far as I am aware, you are the only one worthy of that task."

The king said nothing after the woman finished speaking. He silently watched as she turned on her heels and retrieved another glowing eyeball from the glass jar.

With another gulp, she swallowed the entire eyeball as though it were nothing more than a piece of food.

The man didn’t say anything. Instead...

He was contemplating the situation, weighing the advantages...

The Old Ones...

A title reserved for demons who had reached the threshold of Half-Step Golden Core Realm strength. They were the true overlords of the Blackmoon Kingdom, having orchestrated the never-ending war against the southern borders of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Then, his thoughts gradually returned to the present.

"At best, you’ll have to explain why you kept such important information from them. At worst..."

She paused, allowing her words to settle.

"You’ll become nothing more than food. A helpless little demon, eaten painfully to the very last bit."

The king swallowed. His gaze briefly shifted toward the doors, as though the Old Ones might already be listening from somewhere beyond them.

The woman watched him, her crimson eyes glistening faintly in the light. A shadow seemed to pass over her figure, stretching across the floor before disappearing.

"Well?" she asked. "Do you still not want to go?"

The king took a deep breath. His body trembled slightly, as though he were still hesitating over whether he should go through with it.

He stared at her for a moment before clicking his tongue.

"You little wretch. You really know how to make trouble for me. I’m beginning to regret initiating that contract with you. Why was I so foolish...?"

"But being a foolish demon can be useful in its own way, no?"

The woman licked her lips, tapping them several times with the index finger of her left hand. Her eyes narrowed with a devilish glint as her hips swayed slightly.

"You scum..."

The man cursed again.

"How adorable..."

The woman burst into laughter, seemingly quite pleased with his reaction.

"How unfortunate. But you should know better than anyone that those with lower blood concentration have little choice but to obey those with higher blood concentration."

The king gritted his teeth.

He looked as though he wanted to argue, but the words never came. After a brief struggle, he finally lowered his head, forcing himself to accept the situation.

"...Fine."

He raised his eyes toward her again.

"But the very least you can do is accompany me, can’t you?"

The woman’s smile widened.

"Why, of course. We’re going to meet my father, after all. A higher chance for you to improve your luck..."

The king gave her a disgruntled look but said nothing more. Inwardly, he was complaining to why she didn’t deliver the news herself. But knowing her, she probably knew something that he wasn’t aware of to why she was trying to use him.

In the end, he had no choice.

A demon with higher blood concentration possesed a great autonomy over those with lower blood concentration.

After all, he was originally once a human before...

The man sighed, and shook his thoughts away as if those regrets could be turned away just like that.

He rose from his chair, straightened his ceremonial robes, and brushed away a few wrinkles before turning toward the doors.

However, just as he took his first step, his figure began to dissolve.

His body broke apart into countless streaks of crimson, which twisted and merged into a mass of bloody shadows before vanishing from the chamber.

The woman watched the place where he had stood.

Her crimson eyes began to glow faintly. A moment later, her figure blurred and disappeared, leaving the chamber completely empty.

Meanwhile, far away from the Blackmoon Kingdom, within the grounds of the Chen Family...

A young man was walking along one of the stone pathways, carrying a wooden tray in both hands.

Several dishes had been carefully arranged upon it, accompanied by a small pot of tea and two porcelain cups.

The food was still warm, with faint wisps of steam rising from the dishes as he made his way through the family grounds.

It was Chen Yichen.

He walked at an unhurried pace, following the familiar pathways that connected the various courtyards and gardens.

Occasionally, other members of the family would cross his path. Some greeted him with a nod, while others simply stepped aside to let him pass.

Yet, more often than not, their eyes lingered on him longer than necessary. But who could blame them?

For someone who had fallen from grace to pass before them, how could they not feel some sympathy? And once he had walked far enough away, whispers would inevitably follow.

"Isn’t that...?"

"Yeah, it’s him..."

"He looks... miserable."

"Ah... Poor boy."

"The woman... What was her name again? Was it Chen Xiaoyu? Or Xiawu? I can’t quite remember."

"Whatever her name was, it must have been terrible. To lose someone, especially during his first mission outside the family..."

A middle-aged man shook his head.

"Who would’ve expected something like that to happen? He had barely begun experiencing the outside world."

"Did the Ancestor punish him for it? I heard their recklessness was what led to this unfortunate situation."

"No. From what I’ve heard, the Ancestor didn’t punish him at all."

"Then that’s even worse, isn’t it?"

The speaker lowered his voice, his face creasing with concern.

"Perhaps that’s the greatest punishment he could have received. Imagine having to live with the guilt of knowing you couldn’t save someone who died right in front of you."