Chapter 276 - 268: Fallen into Demon

Besides Luo Chengying, Fu Juemin's [Controlling Cranes] had also dragged down Chen Qingyuan, who was in his wheelchair.

Fu Juemin glanced at Chen Qingyuan, then made a casual swipe in his direction.

The tip of his finger sliced a thin blade of light through the air. It flashed through the heavy curtain of rain and, in a mere instant, pierced through Chen Qingyuan's back.

Chen Qingyuan, who had just hit the ground in a heap and was struggling to get up, instantly froze.

When he came to his senses, he hastily checked his body, but there didn't seem to be any injuries.

His face pale, he tried to crawl forward. After dragging himself a short distance, he realized something was wrong. He turned to look back, only to discover that his entire lower body was still in its original spot. In the space between, blood and organs were splattered across the ground...

"AHHH—!!"

Luo Chengying had just scrambled to his feet when he heard the wretched scream. Turning his head, he immediately saw Chen Qingyuan.

One glance was all it took.

The last trace of color instantly drained from his face.

His once-handsome face turned ashen, white as a sheet.

He snapped his head up to look at Fu Juemin, about to say something, but then he saw Fu Juemin raise his hand again.

It was the same motion as before—a casual swipe.

Luo Chengying instinctively raised his arms to shield his face.

But before his arms were even halfway raised, they slid off his shoulders.

They landed on the ground, splashing into the puddles of rain, their fingers still twitching faintly.

Then came his legs.

Luo Chengying didn't even feel the pain. He just felt himself suddenly shrink, and then his entire body toppled over.

He looked down and saw his legs still standing where they were, perfectly straight, while the rest of him was already lying on the ground.

He froze, his mind going completely blank.

Then he began to struggle frantically, as if trying to get up.

After several attempts, Luo Chengying lay prone on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

Then.

He began to cry.

"Fu Lingjun! If you've got any guts, just kill me!"

He howled, lying in the rain, his voice raw and broken. It was impossible to tell if he was crying or screaming. "If you've got guts, then just kill me! AHH—!"

Amid his breakdown, a fair, slender hand descended into his field of vision.

The hand gently touched the stumps of his limbs.

A warm sensation flowed in from the severed ends, and the blood that had been gushing out instantly stopped.

Luo Chengying's cries faltered. He lifted his head and saw Fu Juemin leaning over, looking down at him.

"You can't die just yet."

Fu Juemin's voice was calm.

His index finger slid slowly across Luo Chengying's chest, as gently as if he were painting. Wisps of Five Poison Qi seeped in from his fingertip, burrowing into Luo Chengying's organs.

"You have to live.

Live, so you can go back and let Luo Zhengxiong get a good look at you.

And live to see... how Luo Zhengxiong dies."

A vicious look flashed in Luo Chengying's eyes, as if he was about to spit a curse. But the moment that energy entered his body, his expression twisted in agony.

His mouth gaped open, but no sound came out. He could only writhe in the rain-soaked street like a maggot.

Fu Juemin withdrew his hand and slowly stood up.

He watched Luo Chengying squirming on the ground and gazed at Chen Qingyuan, who was now silent in death. His face was devoid of any expression.

Just then, a shrill laugh suddenly echoed from behind him.

Fu Juemin turned and saw a figure stumbling out from the shattered entrance of the Xianlido.

It was the dancer who had drugged Fu Juemin in the private room earlier, the one named Zhu Zhu.

She was covered in blood from head to toe, her hair and clothes caked with it.

She was still alive.

But in the time it took her to walk with Fu Juemin to the entrance, she had gone completely insane.

"Hahaha—sob sob sob—hahaha—!"

The woman ran barefoot down the corpse-littered street, her laughter mingling with the rain, echoing through the empty thoroughfare.

Fu Juemin watched as the weeping, laughing woman gradually disappeared down the street.

He stood in silence, then suddenly dispersed his body's Protective Qi.

The invisible barrier that had constantly enveloped him, shielding him from everything, vanished in an instant.

The heavy rain immediately fell upon him.

With nothing to block it, the raindrops pelted his face and body.

He stood in the middle of Starlight Road, surrounded by countless corpses, and raised his head to the sky.

The rainy sky was a hazy gray, empty. There were only layer upon layer of dark clouds, piled high like mountains, slowly pressing down.

The sky seemed like a giant, weeping eye, coldly observing all that lay below.

Or perhaps it was a giant void, poised to suck everything into itself.

Fu Juemin stared into this gray void.

A hint of exhaustion suddenly welled up within him.

The exhaustion was faint, like a drop of ink in water that blooms for a moment before vanishing. But it was there.

He closed his eyes.

And spread his arms.

He tried to let the downpour wash away the blood and grime, along with the chaos cluttering his mind.

Gradually, an ineffable aura began to envelop him.

It was an aura impossible to define—like silence, yet also like nothingness; like sorrow, yet also like placidity.

It emanated from Fu Juemin's body, only to seep back in, layer by layer, ring by ring...

Within Fu Juemin's Consciousness, a point of pure blackness began to slowly expand.

This darkness surged from the deepest recesses of his Consciousness, spreading outward little by little until it gradually enveloped his entire being.

The Demon Soul Seeds within his body began to tremble.

But unexpectedly, they showed no signs of agitation, unease, or resistance.

Instead, one by one, with an unusually docile posture, as if surrendering in fealty, they actively merged with the spreading darkness.

The darkness expanded rapidly, as if it were gestating something that was about to take form.

This sign of impending birth released faint, strange and sinister ripples that spread out silently from Fu Juemin...

No one noticed.

On the vast Starlight Street, the blood flowing rapidly from beneath the countless corpses suddenly stopped.

Then, it began to flow in reverse.

It flowed back toward Fu Juemin's feet.

As if alive, it crept up his leather shoes and trouser cuffs, bit by bit, slowly staining his suit pants a deep, bloody red...

Fu Juemin stood motionless in the rain.

He seemed to be undergoing a bizarre metamorphosis.

The aura around him was changing. It was as if he had activated his [Demon Body], yet it was different—stronger, deeper, and far more obscure.

His appearance hadn't changed, but his figure grew increasingly blurry in the downpour, darker and more difficult to discern. It was as if his very silhouette was slowly melting, disappearing, bit by bit becoming something else.

The result of this metamorphosis was perhaps not what Fu Juemin truly wanted.

But he did nothing to stop it.

In the scene playing out in his Consciousness, the world was empty. A torrent of blood rained from the sky. He stood silently in a boundless crimson landscape, watching scales sprout all over his body as curved, sinister horns slowly grew from his head...

"Fu Lingjun!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the far distance, calling Fu Juemin's name.

The reverse flow of blood on the street came to a sharp halt. The crimson tide that had already climbed to his knees froze in place.

Everything came to an abrupt stop!

Fu Juemin heard the screech of wheels grinding to a halt.

He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head toward the sound.

When he saw who had arrived, he was slightly taken aback. His vacant, unfocused gaze slowly began to sharpen.

"Miss Su..."

Fu Juemin began to speak, his voice a bit hoarse, his tone flat. "What are you doing here?"

On the long street where blood and rainwater intermingled, a rickshaw lay overturned on its side. The puller, terrified, was long gone.

Su Hui stood about a dozen meters away from Fu Juemin. She held no umbrella. Soaked to the bone by the heavy rain, her hair and clothes clung tightly to her frame.

Her face was pale and she seemed cold. Her lips and body trembled slightly, yet she stood her ground, her eyes fixed intently on Fu Juemin.

"I... I was just passing by."

Su Hui's voice trembled slightly, but remained steady enough. "I saw you, so I came over to see."

"Well, now you've seen."

Fu Juemin stood among a pile of corpses, a pale smile touching his lips.

Su Hui's expression was unreadable.

She fell silent for a moment before speaking. "I remember telling you before that I had a younger brother..."

"I remember."

Fu Juemin nodded. "Miss Su did. You also said he was a lot like me."

"Yes. He was a lot like you."

Su Hui said, "But he's dead now. He's buried on Purple Cloud Mountain."

She looked up at Fu Juemin, something shimmering in her eyes.

Her lips twitched.

"Actually... he wasn't supposed to die."

Su Hui spoke, but stopped herself halfway.

She shook her head.

Then she lowered her gaze, her voice softening. "I'm leaving Shenghai. As for where I'm going... I don't know."

"So, you just happened to be passing by to say goodbye, Miss Su."

Fu Juemin nodded, his expression still flat.

"I suppose so."

Su Hui had already turned away. Her final words were lost in the rain, scattering the moment they were spoken.

"You... take care of yourself."

Fu Juemin stood his ground, watching as Su Hui's figure walked away, step by step, gradually receding until she vanished completely into the downpour.

His gaze had become clear again, pristine, as if it had been washed clean by the rain.

The exhaustion, emptiness, and confusion that had haunted his mind moments before now slowly receded, just like the crimson stains on his trousers.

Everything was returning to normal.

He stood there, thought for a moment, then pulled his feet from the pile of corpses and the pool of blood. He walked, step by step, to a relatively clean spot at the side of the road.

Gazing at the street full of bodies and at Luo Chengying, who was still struggling and writhing in the rain, Fu Juemin looked up at the sky. It was still raining.

A faint sense of gratitude for Su Hui suddenly bloomed in his heart.

He didn't know why Su Hui had suddenly appeared at that moment.

He didn't know if she had truly been just passing by, or if she had made a special trip to see him.

But he knew—

if it hadn't been for Su Hui, he might have truly plunged into a state beyond his control, sinking deeper and deeper into that crimson abyss until his will was completely submerged, never to awaken again.

'Was this what Li Tong once called being "Fallen into Demon"?!'

Fu Juemin shook his head.

He wasn't sure if that truly counted as having Fallen into Demon.

But if he really had, the consequences would likely have been far more perilous and unpredictable than for a normal Martial Artist.

After all, the Demon Soul Seeds in his body had been stirred just now, all without his conscious control.

'Still...'

That state felt like it was on the verge of successfully gestating the Demon Magic Dharma Form he had been fixated on.

"Perhaps that's a viable path..."

Fu Juemin gazed at the pouring rain before him, his eyes glinting as he quietly mulled it over.