Chenghong recognized Rulan's undisguised, high-pitched voice and turned his gaze.
He saw her face flushed red, perhaps due to the influence of demonic energy earlier, causing her emotions to be particularly intense now, as if she desperately wanted to grab a sledgehammer and charge out to fight the demons.
Hearing her words, a conflicted expression of hatred, love, and inability to stop herself, made him recall a time long, long ago.
So long ago, perhaps even another lifetime.
Gu Junshi possessed the face of a righteous gentleman. Her composure and serene demeanor made her appear like a descendant cultivated by old aristocratic families. Although dressed simply and elegantly, she was learned and skilled in the seven arts.
The first time he met her, he felt an indescribable sensation, perhaps not the breathtaking glance often spoken of by the world.
Yet, he, a ascetic focused only on chanting scriptures, burning incense, and comprehending the mysteries of Buddhist dharma, remembered her after just one meeting.
Later, she intentionally approached him, using her unique and insightful understanding of Buddhism to seek him out.
However, Chenghong did not believe she would hold any special significance in his life. He only exchanged views on Buddhist dharma with her, their interaction as pure as flowing water between gentlemen.
Initially, Chenghong was not proactive. Instead, whenever she had free time, she would visit the temple where he was temporarily staying to find him.
On a clear day after a snow, in the temple courtyard with red walls and yellow tiles, under a hundred-year-old yellow apricot tree, he often played chess with Gu Junshi at a gray stone table.
He initially thought she would enjoy such elegant activities, but in reality, she was not skilled at them.
At first, she didn't say anything, and no one could guess her thoughts. Only after she had steadily placed several pieces did he discover her absentmindedness from the flow of the game.
However, she never regretted her moves. She didn't deny her losses and, on the contrary, found pleasure in it.
Just as he thought she didn't care about winning or losing, that playing chess was merely for cultivating temperament and self-improvement,
He never expected that after losing several games, she would tell him something.
"Thank you, Buddha's Son, for your generous hospitality these past days. Now that you have won the game, and I have successfully obtained the thousand-year Sarira, we have both achieved what we wanted. You are happy, and I am satisfied. I will not bother you any further."
Chenghong was stunned, his expression bewildered.
Was that it?
He had initially believed she was destined for Buddhism, and for him.
... He actually knew that her persistent attention to him from the beginning had another purpose, he just hadn't guessed what it was.
He thought her goal was him, that his status as the Buddha's Son of Mahavira Temple was enough to attract countless people who wished to associate with him.
He never imagined that he was merely a prop she used to gain what she desired.
Listen to her righteous words.
Clearly, she could have simply snatched it. Instead, she had to lose several games to him to appease him, making him feel a sense of wry amusement.
Although, at the beginning of playing chess with her, he merely thought she would enjoy it.
Her disposition was indeed wicked. All her sincerity and honesty were coated in a poisonous sweetness, making it impossible to see the true her beneath.
Only after falling under her spell did one realize that she possessed none of the virtues attributed to noble ladies in all the ancient texts, such as sincerity, innocence, gentleness, and wifely virtues.
And yet, she had such a proper-looking face.
In the end, Chenghong could only let out a long, faint sigh.
Now, his temperament had been honed to the point of being unfazed by worldly matters. Perhaps he could now laugh off past events, but in that moment, he was greatly angered and unwilling to let it go.
After that... it was him who ended up chasing after Gu Junshi.
Danyuan was not far from Chenghong. Seeing him turn his head back, Danyuan followed his gaze and saw the impassioned Rulan, also hearing Rulan's shout.
He smiled playfully at this and said thoughtfully.
"Indeed, everything is a matter of comparison. If there were no Demon God, Gu Junshi would probably be the devil in everyone's hearts. Now, many people have forgotten her past intention to destroy the world and instead place their hopes on her."
After speaking, he remembered and glanced at Chenghong with a forced smile, "Earlier, it was thanks to the Buddha's Son's quick wit and eloquent tongue that he was able to stop Gu Junshi at the critical moment and save our lives."
However, Chenghong shook his head upon hearing this, his expression indifferent.
"The one who could turn the tide was not this poor monk, but the Lay Follower Liujiang."
Danyuan lowered his face, his eyes unfathomable, but his lips curved up with pleasure.
"But... he is already dead."
If Liujiang Fusheng were not dead, Danyuan suspected he would be driven mad with jealousy.
To be able to make a woman like Gu Junshi care for him, fall for him, and even influence her decisions after death, Liujiang Fusheng truly commanded Danyuan's utmost admiration.
However, he was already dead.
There was no need to be overly concerned with a dead person.
Chenghong seemed to sense his abnormality.
He had always known that people who would fall for Gu Junshi were generally not of ordinary disposition.
Chenghong knew that the sea of suffering was boundless. As he had not yet reached the shore, he could naturally understand the possessive darkness hidden in Danyuan's eyes.
"Lay Follower Dan, all conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew, like lightning; thus should they be contemplated."
The inability to obtain is a common state of life. One must see through the unfulfilled to be able to let go, rather than being trapped in sorrow and cultivating inner demons.
Danyuan's demonic nature was once again provoked. He concealed his pair of fiendishly beautiful blood-red eyes and chuckled softly, "I do not cultivate Buddhism, so your Buddhist ways are useless against me."
-------------------------------------
The sky was red and black, like a vast sea divided into two halves, with the Demon God and Gu Junshi's respective forces occupying one side each.
The Demon God's pair of red eyes kept narrowing, coldly piercing, with an eerie red light flashing in his pupils. "Gu Junshi, you have only just become the King of Hell. How dare you lead the Underworld to battle?"
His questioning tone deepened, eventually transforming into a terrifying crimson hue.
The Demon God's shock was almost undisguised. He had initially believed Gu Junshi was merely given the title of ruler of the Underworld, a King of Hell pushed into position through a backdoor in the Heavenly Way. Who among the Ten Kings of Hell could truly obey her?
Therefore, he thought she should be utterly incapable of mobilizing the power of the Ten Kings of Hell, but what was being displayed before him?
"How dare I?" Gu Junshi drew out her words, her cold, emotionless eyes curving slightly. "By ensuring that those who defy me will be eternally imprisoned in the Underworld. Demon God, you must have forgotten that when you hunted the Ten Kings of Hell and destroyed all the realm gates, the only realm gate that can now be utilized—the Yellow Springs Gate—happens to be in my hands."
The Demon God's pupils widened.
"Speaking of which, everything going so smoothly is all thanks to the Demon God's earlier efforts planting trees, allowing Gu Junshi, the descendant, to enjoy the shade."
The Demon God's red pupils gradually became beast-like, as if splitting open from within, the red growing redder, the white growing whiter.
"Gu Junshi, my hands have stained the Underworld with countless amounts of blood, but I believe I have ultimately been merciful to the Underworld. This time, you and the Underworld will disappear together from the Six Realms."
"Go—"
Heavy, sharp cries and hoarse roars converged, forming a sound wave that pierced the eardrums. In an instant, human hearing was pushed to its limit, and everyone involuntarily covered their heads and bowed them in pain, moaning and screaming.
Gu Junshi furrowed her brow, also feeling discomfort, but she sank down, her deathly aura spreading layer by layer. The hellish creatures behind her leaped forward.
A gust of wind streaked past, so fast that not even a shadow could be seen. The sky-obscuring horde advanced, having been unleashed in full force.
The demons of the Demon Realm and the ghosts of the Underworld collided like two torrents, the violent force of the collision directly distorting the surrounding air.
Everyone who witnessed this scene gasped in unison. The powerful winds buffeted them, flipping them over several times. Just as they got up, they saw the sky, where the sun and moon were obscured, erupt with intense light explosions, almost blinding their eyes that had adapted to the darkness.
"They've... they've started fighting."
"With their way of fighting, will they poke a hole in the sky?"
"This is the first time I've ever seen such a breathtaking and extraordinary battle scene..."
After their eyes adapted, they could clearly see the dragons coiled and tigers roaring above, demonic and monstrous clouds with dark lightning consuming the sky, a chaotic scene where both sides were incredibly powerful, their combat prowess unmatched, and neither willing to yield.
Gu Junshi, however, was not waiting for the outcome of the battle. She took this opportunity to divide her soul into three bodies, transforming into three and flanking towards the rear to confront the Demon God.
His eyes suddenly turned, rolling around, and then fixed fiercely, red and eerie, filled with demonic power.
"Foolishness. Opposing me is the greatest mistake you have ever made."
Gu Junshi remained silent, her eyes devoid of any unnecessary emotion. She was like a combat machine, her entire being filled with fighting spirit, her eyes fixed only on the enemy.
Her sword, originally straight and rigid, became soft and twisted into a strip as she unleashed her deathly aura to wrap around its blade.
She swooped down, and the black sword transformed into countless black threads, shooting towards the Demon God.
However, just as it was about to touch the Demon God, it was halted by a red light.
But Gu Junshi's reaction was incredibly swift. Knowing she could not withdraw, she smoothly twisted her supple waist in mid-air, her deathly aura bursting forth, transforming into a pair of black flame bat wings.
"Still not going to make a move?"
Gu Junshi rapidly formed hand seals, but unlike the complex gestures of mortal cultivators, hers were simple: two movements—her palms separated and pushed forward.
Instantly, rows upon rows of dense formations emanated. East, south, west, north—they formed barriers around the Demon God. As gilded dark light flowed through the formations, and the formations began to surge with heat, filling every formation line, countless flame projectiles were shot out like a machine gun.
The Demon God was trapped within, with nowhere to hide.
Boom!
A mass of black and blue flames, concentrated in one spot, formed a series of large-scale explosions, followed by compressed energy being shot out to form a piercing beam of light that extended infinitely east and west. Anything touched by the beam of light was turned to dust.
After a moment of silent ringing in her ears, as the heavy smoke dissipated, the Demon God's trace was nowhere to be found at the center of the attack range.
Naturally, He would not be so easily annihilated by flame projectiles.
Gu Junshi was not surprised by this outcome. She floated in the air, her gaze seemingly wandering aimlessly, but in reality, she was piercing through every inch of space, locking onto her target.
She wanted to ascertain one thing, which was of paramount importance to her.