Demon Spirit: Shut Up, You Madman!!

A mad grin spread across Ye Feng's face at those words. With a wild gleam in his eyes, he shoved the demon spirit's head toward his own open mouth! Seeing his jaws gape wide, the demon spirit shrank back in terror, stammering, "W-What... what, what, what are you doing?!" "No!! Don't... don't do this!!" "Even if you eat me, it won't change a thing!!" Ye Feng's eyes burned with madness as he stared coldly at the creature. "Now that you... have emotions... you should be able to feel fear too, shouldn't you?" With that, he sank his teeth viciously into the demon spirit's head, like biting into an apple! His teeth cracked and shattered under the force, but he tore away a massive chunk of its head regardless! "Aaaagh! Madman! You're an absolute madman!" Ye Feng kept his mouth closed, chewing with heavy, deliberate crunches. It tasted like gnawing on a rotten, foul-smelling pig bone. Gulp... Ye Feng grinned, his mouth dripping with blood and rank stench. Beneath the demon spirit's terrified gaze, he tore off another huge mouthful. "Ahhh! Help me!" "Aaaagh! Master! He—he's insane!" The screams echoed into the sky, yet no one paid any heed, for Sha was currently examining what Song Zhi'ang had tried so desperately to hide. Inside the silent hall, Sha pinned Song Zhi'ang down into the black pool with one hand, completely indifferent to how she screamed and struggled in vain. Sha lowered his eyes slightly and casually pressed that strand of spiritual light against his glabella. A moment later, however, his expression shifted. The hidden memories Song Zhi'ang guarded so fiercely were not at all what he had anticipated. Within those sealed recollections, there was neither knowledge nor speculation concerning his identity. The entire memory fragment contained nothing but the treasured moments she had shared with Li Guanqi. The Li Guanqi in her memories was still raw and youthful, yet his eyes held an unwavering resolve. Sha pulled the memory fragment from his brow and scoffed, "A boy in white robes... He truly is the darling of your heart, isn't he?" With that, he moved to crush the fragment in his grip. Suddenly! Song Zhi'ang reached out with all her might to seize his hand. Though she remained submerged in the pool, her corroded, pitted skeletal hand still clamped tightly onto his wrist. Sha's eyes flickered. After a brief pause, he smiled. Glancing down at the spiritual light in his hand, his thoughts unreadable, he did not crush it, nor did he return it whole to Song Zhi'ang. Instead, he broke the memories into fragments, returning half to her and keeping the rest for himself. Releasing his grip, Sha let Song Zhi'ang drag herself onto the floor with the last of her strength. She lay shivering on the ground, yet her hand still desperately clutched the fragment of light bearing her memories of Li Guanqi. Sha slowly sank back into the black pool, his voice icy. "Perform well, and I will return this portion of your memories to you in time." Song Zhi'ang lay trembling on the floor, scarcely a patch of intact flesh left on her body. With quivering hands, she integrated that half of the spiritual light back into herself. This time, she no longer had to hide the memories she held so dear from Sha. Half of her face was reduced to bare bone, yet as the memory fragment merged into her, the corner of her lips tilted up slightly, and her eyes curved into crescent moons. She simply lay there in silence, motionless. Eventually, an unseen force expelled her from the hall, and a frigid voice rang in Ye Feng's ears. "Take her to the black pool in the bedchamber." His mouth smeared with blood, Ye Feng nodded silently, stuffed the last remnant of the demon spirit's head into his mouth, and dragged Song Zhi'ang by the hair toward the back mountain. As the two departed, the entire black hall was enveloped in a heavy, dark barrier. Sha was currently in an exceptionally weakened state; during the period in which he remolded his physical body, he would allow no one to leave the domain, nor would he let anyone approach the hall. Dragging Song Zhi'ang along, Ye Feng did not look back. Only when he sensed that the hall's barrier had fully solidified did he dare send a voice transmission: "We can speak now. I've temporarily suppressed the demon spirit." Song Zhi'ang's eyelids fluttered open, and she sent a faint transmission: "Your... your... sword..." Whoosh! Nu Sha instantly materialized. Song Zhi'ang mustered all her remaining strength to press a finger against the blade. In an instant, a wisp of demonic qi emerged from atop the mottled bloodstains of Nu Sha! At that moment, Song Zhi'ang rasped aloud, "Keep... this... on you!" "If... one day... I die... you'll... know..." With that, she slipped into unconsciousness. Ye Feng did not know what it was that Song Zhi'ang had left behind. He harbored no goodwill toward this woman. The girl who had once smiled like a gentle spring breeze was long gone; given the chance, Ye Feng would execute the present Song Zhi'ang without the slightest hesitation. Yet his current situation was precarious, and he could not afford to kill her. "What are you doing?" Having regenerated, the demon spirit eyed Ye Feng warily as he stood there looking down at Song Zhi'ang. Ye Feng turned toward the demon spirit with a sneer. A large hand shot out to grab its head, and he tilted his neck with a grin. "I was just telling her... how awful you taste." Crunch! "Demon! Don't—aaaaagh!" With graying hair, Ye Feng dragged Song Zhi'ang by her hair with one hand while the other held the demon spirit's head to his mouth, gnawing away with a numb expression as he walked toward the back mountain. Ye Feng did not know what it would look like when he and his brothers crossed paths again after this separation. Nor did he know what tortures Sha would inflict on him once his strength and fleshly body were restored— Or how Sha would turn him into a "demon" as well. He looked up at the demonic qi cloaking the entire domain and let out a sigh in his heart. His jaws clamped down even harder, entirely indifferent to the demon spirit's shrieks and wails. Li Guanqi opened his eyes in the void. His cultivation and realm were not yet fully stabilized, and he still had to expend mental effort to suppress the turbulent power stirring within him. Seeing Li Guanqi rubbing his glabella ever since he woke, Meng Wanshu asked with concern, "Are you alright?" Frowning, Li Guanqi shook his head and said softly, "I'm fine." "I just... can't shake this feeling of unease for some reason..." Meng Wanshu offered gentle reassurance. "Too much has happened lately, and Han Cizhi left quite a few faith gu inside you as well, didn't he?" Li Guanqi gave a wry smile and shook his head in silence. He could not help feeling that his restlessness had nothing to do with that immortal projection. Yet he could not make sense of it either; in that fleeting moment earlier, the very first thought to cross his mind was of Ye Feng, who had been taken away. At the thought of Sha escaping this time, the killing intent in Li Guanqi's heart flared uncontrollably. Only after taking several deep breaths did he gradually calm his inner turmoil. He turned to look at Pengluo, who shook its head with a dimmed expression. Pengluo had always excelled at tracking—otherwise, they never would have caught Cang Lu. Yet now, even Pengluo could not detect the slightest trace of Ye Feng's aura. "How much longer?" Looking out into the void ahead, Meng Wanshu replied softly, "It should be soon. It won't take long to reach the coordinates Xuan Lin gave us." Rising to his feet, Li Guanqi gave a silent nod. His complexion remained somewhat grim, haunted by a lingering, unshakable dread.