Jie Fu Lian kept keeling in front of the small shrine for six days and seven nights, almost looking as if he was begging for forgiveness.
Jie Yang Zan
Jie Aijuan
Yin Ru
Xian Huan
Xue Liang
Shi XiuYing...
He read the names engraved on the stone tablet again and again as he tried to remember each and every person that had once been a part of his family.
It rained every now and then but Jie Fu Lian did not dare stand up nor did he bother shielding himself from the rain.
The rain droplets got mixed with his tears and gracefully trailed down his face that had become red and bloated. His clothes were completely soaked in the rain and closely clung to his body. It felt cold but he didn't seem to mind it.
Every time he finished reading all the names on the stone tablet, In his mind, there was only one question that he repeated over and over again.
'They are all dead... How can this be possible...?'
Even though the Yan sect wasn't as great as the HuiXue sect or the Jin sect, they were still quite reputable and had enough strength. They were even considered as one of the prominent eight sects so wasn't it a bit unnatural for them to be completely wiped out like this?
Seeing that Hua Tianshu and old Sect Master Quan were still alive, it wasn't even like a thousand years had passed so wasn't it even more unbelievable to think that the Yan sect had been wiped out just like that...?!
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel that he simply could not understand such a result.
Just how long had it been since his death? And just what had happened during his absence?
His home had been destroyed and he was clearly not going to stay still and accept it without any questions.
After a week of mourning, the demon king returned to the demon realm with his clothes completely drenched in rainwater. His face was as pale as a sheet of white paper and there was an emptiness in his eyes that could make anyone shudder in fear.
His subordinates and servants were naturally shocked to see such an appearance but no matter how miserable the man looked, they dare not carelessly approach him.
In the first place itself, the demon king had always been somebody who acted on instinct and whose mood changed like the weather.
His servants prepared a warm bath for him and provided him with a new set of clothes.
Jie Fu Lian took some time as he soaked in the bath and spent some time clearing out and organizing his thoughts.
When he came out, he immediately asked one of his servants a random question, "The Yan sect... When was it destroyed?"
The servant was quite shocked to hear this sudden question and stuttered as she answered, "T-the Yan sect was destroyed s-seven years ago, Sir."
Jie Fu Lian's eyebrows creased together dangerously and when the servant saw this change in expression, she couldn't help but feel a little pity for herself who was probably going to be killed at any given moment now.
"D-Did I say something wrong, Sir?" The woman prayed for her life but immediately realized that no God was ever going to listen to the prayers of a fiend.
"It's nothing. You may go." Surprisingly enough, the female servant was able to keep her life as Jie Fu Lian walked away.
However, she didn't seem to be that delighted as she looked at the moving back of the demon King.
Her face looked to be quite terrified as she wondered, 'Had I offended him...?!'
The demon king that she knew was clearly not a nice person and hence, him asking such a random question and showing such a displeased expression only meant that somebody was about to loose their life and that somebody seemed to be her.
But he had spared her life... Did this mean he was planning something worse than death for her?
She couldn't help but shudder in fear.
Another few days passed just like that and the demon king's mood didn't get any better. His servants and subordinates, who saw him, couldn't help but feel that there was something weird about the man.
He kept himself locked up in his room most of the time. He didn't seem to be interested in his duties and never asked for anything.
He quietly paced around his room with an indecipherable expression on his face.
One day, Kong Xun, one of the Demon King's most trusted subordinates, gathered the courage to knock on his door and interrupted the demon King who had been pacing around in his room.
"Didn't I warn you not to disturb me?" Jie Fu Lian immediately clicked his tongue as he glared at the man who had knocked on the door.
Kong Xun immediately nodded his head and hesitated a little before he spoke, "Demon Venerable Shen, there is a small problem. We need your assistance."
"If it's a 'small' problem, why not solve it yourself?!"
Kong Xu gulped as he heard this and nodded his head as he mentally thought, "It is a small problem but only you can solve it!'
Jie Fu Lian took a deep breath in and sat down on his bed as he calmed himself down a bit before he asked, "What is it?"
"Demon Venerable Shen, there is a troublesome visitor who is constantly bothering us," Kong Xun couldn't help but complain a bit with his shaky voice, "It's been a few days since he has shown up. He keeps asking to meet you personally. Of course, I told him that you were currently not in the mood to meet anyone, but he is quite an impatient pest! He burnt down eight of your concubines' houses"
Somebody actually dared to burn down the houses of the demon King's concubines...?
Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but feel a little surprised as he thought, 'The man's either an exceptionally talented cultivator or a fool fearing neither hell nor heaven.'
Jie Fu Lian's eyebrows creased together as he questioned, "Who does he think I am? Does he think creating a fuzz is enough to make me meet him?"
"Although he is quite famous in the martial world, I also don't believe he's qualified enough to be meeting you for no reason," Kong Xun spoke with a frown and with just that, Jie Fu Lian could already sense that Kong Xun wasn't too impressed with this sudden visitor.
"Just throw him out," Jie Fu Lian waved his hand as he casually ordered with an exhausted tone, "If he resists, kill him and throw his corpse out."
Kong Xun nodded his head as he heard this and spoke, "That is what I also thought of doing."
"And?"
"I was unable to kill him," Kong Xun looked down at the ground with embarrassment as he admitted, "This pest is quite strong."
"Stronger than a high-ranking demon?" With an annoyed expression flashing through his face, Jie Fu Lian raised his voice as he questioned.
Kong Xun gulped as he spoke, "Demon Venerable Shen, he is really a troublesome pest. He isn't anywhere near as powerful as you, so we can definitely kill him. However, his identity is a bit of a problem. You have probably never heard of his name but recently, he is quite famous in the martial world. If we kill him, there would certainly be some trouble coming our way."
Jie Fu Lian clicked his tongue as he finally asked, "Just who is this troublesome pest...?!"
"His name is Hua Tianshu. He is a chief disciple of the HuiXue sect. His reputation is quite good and he's well known even among the mortals who call him a kind-hearted hero."
As soon as the name 'Hua Tianshu' was mentioned, Jie Fu Lian choked on empty air and heard nothing else.
"Demon Venerable Shen, are you okay?" Kang Xun noticed the sudden change in Jie Fu Lian's expression and immediately asked out of worry.
Jie Fu Lian coughed as he tried to maintain his calm and spoke, "I'm fine."
"Could it be that Demon Venerable Shen has also heard of him?" Kong Xun curiously asked as he tried to make sense of Jie Fu Lian's sudden shocked reaction.
"No!" Jie Fu Lian shouted out loud.
"..."
Jie Fu Lian sighed as he stopped himself from letting his emotions show on his face. He straightened his back and closed his eyes as he pretended to be calm and spoke, "I do not know him, but I do recall the name. If I'm not wrong then he also participated in the Xu clan's investigation."
Kang Xun frowned as he heard this and thought about it for a minute before he asked, "Seeing that he's here... Can it be that he has already figured out the truth? Is he here to arrest you...?!"
Jie Fu Lian scoffed as he stood up from the bed and started getting dressed a bit more formally, "Are you afraid that he'll arrest me?"
"Even if he figured out the truth, he would still not be able to arrest you," Kang Xun confidently spoke, "After all, Demon Venerable Shen is still much more powerful than a small troublesome pest like him."
For the first time, Jie Fu Lian heard somebody calling Hua Tianshu a 'troublesome pest' and he couldn't help but automatically feel a little impressed by this Kong Xun.
That Hua Tianshu was truly a troublesome pest.
Finally, somebody shared his thought!