"This, this is fake!"
As the demonic treasure shattered, Shen Zhong's heart gave a sharp tug, his eyes filled with regret.
However, when the fragments drifted down before him, he found he couldn't muster any strength.
Demonic treasures were the artifacts of ancient great demons. Even when reduced to dust, each piece should have been imbued with their potent demonic energy.
Yet, these fragments, though outwardly intact, contained pitifully little demonic energy.
They had been deceived.
Recalling how they had just fought each other, wishing to send the other to their doom.
The expressions of the Demon Lords shifted between green and white.
Mo Xin and Ye You, who were most severely injured, almost vomited blood in their rage.
Having unleashed their magical treasures only to end up like this, how could they not hate?
The Earth Demon reached out and grasped the void.
Space fluctuated violently, ripples spreading outward.
Yin Shan's figure suddenly appeared before the demons.
Yin Shan was somewhat bewildered by his sudden appearance, but a moment later, upon seeing the black-robed figure before him, he was jolted awake and called out, "Greetings, Earth Demon."
"Tell them what happened to you in Black City."
"Yes."
With the Earth Demon's order, Yin Shan dared not disobey.
He had witnessed the Earth Demon's power before, and from that moment on, his fear of the Earth Demon was etched into his very bones.
He no longer cared for his reputation and laid out everything that had occurred in Black City, daring not to conceal even the slightest detail.
"The Earth Demon means this was all a trap set by the same demonic designer!"
Wu Bang's head snapped up abruptly, then, remembering the Earth Demon's identity, he quickly lowered his head again, though a storm of shock raged within him.
"Yin Shan, your thoughts."
Yin Shan gritted his teeth. "I believe there's an eighty percent chance. These actions are very much like the work of a single female demon."
He had initially considered it a fifty percent possibility, but now, with the Earth Demon's presence, he was utterly convinced.
Yet, in the Earth Demon's presence, he dared not speak too definitively, so in the end, he voiced it as eighty percent.
"A crude little trinket managed to fool you all so thoroughly. Have the demon worms eaten your brains!"
The Earth Demon's sudden fury made the six Demon Lords tremble. "Earth Demon, please calm yourself."
"The identity of the demon who set this trap is not simple. I give you one month. If you cannot capture this demon within a month, all eighteen Demon Lords will face a great purge. This is not only my will but also the will of the Heavenly Demon. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
After the Earth Demon vanished, Shen Zhong's corpulent body crashed heavily into the ground.
He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his face filled with the lingering terror of having narrowly escaped.
The succubus's expression was also grim. She surveyed the demons before her gaze finally settled on Yin Shan.
"You knew this was a trap all along and deliberately concealed it, just to watch us fight? Yin Shan, you are the most despicable."
Yin Shan replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Succubus, even if I had told you beforehand, you would never have believed me. Why should I have wasted my breath?"
The succubus faltered for a moment. Yin Shan was indeed correct.
Had Yin Shan told her of the events prior, she would have simply mocked him and continued to participate in the treasure hunt.
Even if there was a one percent chance the demonic treasure was real, she wouldn't have let it pass.
"Alright, we should now focus on finding the demon behind this. We only have one month." Ye You spoke up, breaking the tense atmosphere between them.
This was not the time for internal strife; they were all in the same boat.
He had no desire to challenge the Earth Demon's authority.
"Someone in Black City must have seen her. Let's go to Black City and find clues about her, then issue a wanted order throughout Zhuzhou. I refuse to believe that by turning Zhuzhou upside down, we still wouldn't find her."
A fierce glint flashed in the succubus's eyes.
How dare someone set a trap to harm her?
She would scour the earth to find that female demon.
"Let's go, to Black City!"
Shashasha—
Under the Earth Demon's threat, the demons cast aside their past grievances, vowing to expose the insidious female demon and vent their anger.
Ten days later.
The image of a female demon with peculiar patterns on her face circulated throughout Zhuzhou.
...
"Cough, cough!"
Ji Buwang placed a hand over his lips, forcefully transforming the suppressed chuckle that threatened to escape into a low cough.
However, this did little to improve Xu Yi's mood.
She frowned, tilting her head, and stared unblinkingly at the portrait on the white cloth, unmoving, as if petrified.
"Actually, this is also good news," Ji Buwang said after composing himself for a moment. "At least the possibility of you being discovered has greatly decreased."
Xu Yi's face was crestfallen. "You're right. Let's go back and tell them this news."
Within a stone cave a thousand miles from Demonic Mountain.
Bai Shan, sulking, was aggressively grooming a demonic flower he had somehow acquired.
Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he looked towards the cave entrance with delight. "They're back."
The others quickly looked, and after about the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea, Xu Yi and Ji Buwang's figures appeared in their sight.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Yu Xiaoyu rushed to meet them, while Bei Xinghan and Hong Jing exchanged a glance, quickly concealing the suspicion in their eyes.
It was not yet time to reveal it.
"How is it? What's the situation outside now?"
Seeing Xu Yi's glum expression, Xiong Zhuangzhuang's thick brows furrowed unconsciously.
Xu Yi rarely displayed such a heavy demeanor. Could the situation outside be disadvantageous to them?
Xu Yi, feeling everyone's gaze on her, sighed. "There's good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"There's still good news?" Yu Xiaoyu asked, slightly surprised.
"The bad news! Let's hear the bad news first!"
Bai Shan raised his hand and shouted.
The others had no objections and turned their attention to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi: "The bad news is that the demons have discovered our intentions. They have now issued a wanted order, complete with my portrait, and are hunting me throughout Zhuzhou."
Xiong Zhuangzhuang and the others:!
They had considered the possibility of their objective being exposed, but they hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, so soon.
It would now be exceedingly difficult for them to continue causing trouble in Zhuzhou.
Everyone's spirits fell somewhat.
Bai Shan, however, remained unaffected. He craned his neck and asked, "Then what's the good news? The good news isn't that they only want you and not us, right?"
Everyone's hearts tightened again.
Xu Yi shook her head and slowly unfurled a white canvas from her sleeve.
"The good news is that the demon in this portrait bears no resemblance to me whatsoever. Perhaps if I stood before them, they wouldn't recognize me."
On the white cloth was a female demon with a green face, fangs, a crooked mouth, and sinister eyes. Her appearance was ferocious, her face covered in what looked like bloodstains from being cut by a dull blade; she was hideously ugly.
The crowd looked at the portrait, then at Xu Yi holding it, and burst into earth-shattering laughter.
Why had no one told them that demons couldn't draw? This portrait was worse than something drawn with their feet!
"Hahaha, Xu Yi, hahaha, you're perfectly safe! Hahahaha!"
Xu Yi silently put away the canvas. Coincidentally, she thought the same thing.