"Huiming, who told you that blood slaves could suppress the city of compassion beneath it?" Abbess Xianjing shook her, as if trying to wake her. "Whose rumors did you believe? Why didn't you discuss it with us before making this decision?"
Abbess Huiming looked at Abbess Xianjing with trembling, pained eyes. "I, I don't know either. That person had a pair of red eyes. The moment I saw those eyes, I couldn't doubt her. I... I remember!"
Abbess Huiming suddenly broke free from Abbess Xianjing, clutching her head, her whites of her eyes completely bloodshot, panting and moaning in agony as if driven mad.
"Xianjing, kill me—"
Abbess Xianjing panicked, at a loss. Everything before her was so chaotic and entangled that her eyes and mind were clouded with confusion, unable to even make a correct move.
"Huiming, Huiming, what's wrong?"
At this moment, Gu Junshi's voice from above ended the internal conflict and interrogation she had instigated. "Her mind is controlled by a demon蛊 (gu). The more she resists, the more she will suffer from the backlash of the蛊 poison."
Her words guided Abbess Xianjing's only possible reaction. "Then what should we do?"
"Demon-Slaying Arrow."
Her words instantly froze Abbess Xianjing.
"To save her, to save everyone present, the only way is to use the Demon-Slaying Arrow. So, Xianjing... tell me, how do I use it?"
Gu Junshi was not a prophet, and this was the first time she had witnessed the existence of the Demon-Slaying Arrow. But she had learned in some unknown life that the Demon-Slaying Arrow was a legendary immortal artifact, possessing divine power to slay demons and evil. All unholy beings feared it.
Abbess Xianjing did not possess the sharp, perceptive eyes of Abbess Huiming. She saw Gu Junshi holding the Demon-Slaying Arrow steadily, which indicated she was not an evil person. However, out of caution, she found it difficult to readily agree.
"If you are unwilling to say, perhaps I should take it and use it myself. After all, if we delay any longer, not only Abbess Huiming, but everyone trapped in the blood gourd will be refined into essence and blood to nourish the Ghost King."
Her tone was light, but the content struck Abbess Xianjing's heart heavily.
She fiercely clutched her prayer beads.
If she had the strength to use the Demon-Slaying Arrow, she wouldn't have waited for the city of compassion to reach such a dire state before allowing an outsider to retrieve it.
They allowed the Buddha's son and others to retrieve the Demon-Slaying Arrow, partly to verify if there were any traitors and also to see if anyone could actually retrieve it.
Now that she had retrieved it, and possessed the ability to tear through the void, she was undoubtedly the best candidate to break this stalemate by using the Demon-Slaying Arrow.
After much deliberation, Abbess Xianjing finally yielded to reality, submitting to the fact that human lives were at stake. She said, "A flick can stir the winds and clouds, a second flick can change heaven and earth. The Primordial Disk Golden Bow, transform the divine weapon into a sharp arrow, to vanquish demons and expel evil."
Gu Junshi smiled.
Content, as if approving of Abbess Xianjing's wise choice at this moment.
But Abbess Xianjing felt a sense of unease, as if she had done something wrong, or taken a misstep and was about to fall.
Although Gu Junshi's palm was already reddened by the "Demon-Slaying Arrow," her expression remained unchanged. She lightly recited the incantation from Abbess Xianjing, using her power to melt the bow-shaped Demon-Slaying Arrow into a molten iron-like substance, and then transforming it into an arrow as thick as a finger.
This Demon-Slaying Arrow was different from ordinary arrows; it only had a tip and no fletching. It did not require mortals to balance and maintain its direction. This was a true immortal artifact. Once shot, it was destined to be like a surging tide swallowing the sun, dispelling all darkness and gloom.
"Mother..."
Gu Sijun, who had been silently acting as a bolster, saw her hand and reached out with worry and fear. When he touched her palm, the scalding power seemed to be soothed.
Gu Junshi looked at him with surprise.
Gu Sijun didn't know why either, but if he could do even a little to help his mother alleviate her pain, he certainly wouldn't back down.
He released the hand around her neck and then grasped her with both hands.
"Mother, I'll help you!"
Gu Junshi seemed to be infected by his smiling face and smiled faintly.
"Okay."
She conjured a black bow with her power.
She nocked the Demon-Slaying Arrow onto the string, drew the true arrow body, pulled back... and released!
Black and golden light immediately spread over the people below.
Gu Junshi's冥力 (ming li - dark/underworld power) was not purely good or evil, and was therefore disliked by the Demon-Slaying Arrow. However, it did not generate hateful destructive power. With Gu Sijun mediating, it seemed to accept the power she imbued it with—
As this arrow pierced the sky, it was like a perfectly round sunset skimming the desert's edge. The earth's dimness was dispelled by it, revealing a layer of dazzling red light. All spirits emerged and burst forth, colliding with the surging blood sea. Great changes occurred in an instant.
"Crackling" The compressed realm was forced to retreat and flee. The narrow space and the approaching sky finally welcomed an expansive view. Within that dazzling golden light, they seemed to be able to breathe the fresh, free air outside.
At the same time, another dazzling, vast ghostly aura, like a tsunami breaking against the shore, tore through the bloodiness. In this collapsing blood-colored space, dense beams of light shot in from above, along with a hot and chilling, eerie wind. In the center of the light, a black male silhouette was cast.
This was a man with a cold, detached demeanor, mature and icy yet handsome and wicked. Part of his face and body were wrapped in bandages. His lowered face exuded an ominous, terrifying pressure. His emerald green eyes, due to the surge of power, scanned the area and then fell upon Gu Junshi.
He licked his somewhat dry lips, his eyes showing undisguised predatory desire. The blood-colored fragments around him shattered and disintegrated.
"My wife, your husband has come to bring you home."
This magnetic, sexy, low voice, laced with a teasing or mocking tone, almost exploded the sky.
The group that had just fled the underground palace, the group rushing towards this square from the stone tablet gate, whether it was Gu Junshi's three villainous subordinates, or Liu Jiang Fusheng, Li Sheng, Cheng Hong, and others, all raised their heads at almost the same time.
The sky was no longer the oppressive, murky bloody color it had been before. The mottled fragments had disappeared, and the area had returned to its original state belonging to the city of compassion, with a gray-blue sky, dark green mountains, and the shattered city that could never be restored.
And high in the sky, a man and woman of similar colors, even radiating the same aura, were very close. They must have been very familiar and tacit. While one charged from within, the other was already outside, ready to receive, working together to completely break the abnormal space created by the blood gourd.
Cheng Hong, having been severely teased by Gu Junshi inside the stone gate, still felt awkward and flushed when he emerged. But when he saw the man in the sky, his entire body felt as if it had been doused with ice water, chilling him to the bone.