36. Eye-Eater
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Sky Realm...
The view from Clear Water Villa could only be described as divine.
The walls were a beautiful sea blue, with gold finishing, and since light showers fell on it all year round, it was surrounded by fields of exquisite flowers, and framed by a glittering rainbow, even at night!
It was the Central Sky home of the Eastern Sea King, but as much as it was beautiful, it was equally terrifying, and all the fairies and merpeople who worked at Clear Water Villa huddled together in fear, while the head servant knelt before Yin Zhi, the Eastern Sea king.
Yin Zhi was a handsome immortal, despite the cold scowl on his face. He was dressed in the rippling and elegant blues, greens, and silvers of the deep sea, and an intricate silver crown sat atop his long curly hair.
"Eastern Sea king, if you could just tell us what the matter is -." The Head Servant fell silent as Yin Zhi's glare was directed at him.
"Tut tut tut." A voice broke the silence, and all the Servants turned to see a cloaked figure led in by one of the younger maids.
The Head Servant, a fully transformed merman, privately wished he could toss the maid over the Palace's ledge...
When one's master was in such a foul mood, it was customary to turn away all unexpected guests!
'At least she should have announced him first!'
He was still wondering what punishment to give the maid, when she was suddenly surrounded by a wall of water.
The water spiralled with her, and then forcefully slammed her into a wall, with enough force to shake the entire hall.
The girl vomited a worrying amount of blood before collapsing to the floor, gasping for air. The Head Servant and his assistant hurried to carry her away from Yin Zhi's sight.
A shiver of fear went down the remaining servants' backs, and they bowed their heads, not daring to move.
But the cloaked figure shook its head. The cloaked figure was smallish, with a mask covering their face.
"*1st High Immortal Yin, I must admire your disregard for any life that's not yours." It was a female voice, and she folded her arms behind his back.
*(Yin Xing is also 'High Immortal Yin', but Yin Zhi is older, so he's called '1st')
Yin Zhi waved the servants away, and the servants readily hurried out, leaving the two masters alone.
But once the doors shut, Yin Zhi was instantly on his knees.
"Forgive me, Mistress!" He said. "I can't be lenient with the servants!"
The cloaked figure appeared seated on the throne behind him, and then kicked him away some distance.
"Your incompetence is baffling." She began in a bored drawl. "We went to such lengths to kill your brother, so tell me...
"If he's indeed dead, why are immortals still unable to enter CaoYang? Why is it still afloat?
"And why the formation still not working?!"
The hall trembled, and Yin Zhi bowed his head to the ground.
"Forgive me, Mistress! I've investigated to see if he found a way to reincarnate. The Fate Immortal and Night Immortal have also scoured every corner of both realms... I planted spies in their palaces.
"But there isn't a single trace of him!"
"Hao." The Cloaked figure rose. "If I find out you know something you're not telling me, I'll destroy you."
"Y-yes, Mistress!" He touched his forehead to the floor, but with a swish, the cloaked figure vanished.
Yin Zhi gritted his teeth in anger.
Did she think he wasn't worried?!
He himself wondered why Caoyang was still afloat, even though his younger brother was clearly dead!
'Yin Xiaolong! You're a thorn even after death!'
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A sneeze awakened Luoyin, and he shuddered.
It was cold.
There was the sound of running water, the floor was damp and hard, and Luoyin thought he was dreaming.
'Wasn't this how I awoke as Zhang Luoyin?!'
But no... Something was different.
And something was very wrong.
The last thing he remembered was them heading to catch up with Xu Lin's group.
They had run into a strange chilling Miasma, and he had sensed an odd aura.
But then everything had gone dark...
And now he and the disciples all lay tied up, though he was the only one awake.
He looked around, noting they were in some sort of cave, with a pool of moonlight falling on them.
'Could this night be any more difficult?!' He complained. 'First, Zhang Cheng, then beasts, and now this?!'
He wriggled to a sitting position, struggling against the ropes.
"Don't bother." A voice calmly said, shocking him.
He hadn't even sensed the presence.
"Those are Spirit-binding ropes." The speaker was saying. "You won't be able to use your qi."
That explained why Luoyin hadn't sensed anything, and he squinted into the darkness. A cloaked figure, stood in the shadows, staring at him.
"Who are you?" Luoyin demanded, his brows knit in a furrow.
"I'm not your business. But I commend you for waking up first. You clearly have troublesome powers... You even managed to destroy my pets."
"You won't say who you are? Then what do you want?" Luoyin asked, keeping his calm. His hands were tied behind him, so he held one in a seal.
"I already have what I want." The cloaked figure pointed at Weiyan and shot a wave of aura at her.
Weiyan stirred, feeling a bit disoriented.
But then she was instantly alert, assessing their situation. 'That Miasma... We were captured!'
"Who are you?!" She struggled to sit up, as her eyes settled on the cloaked figure.
"Don't you know me?" The cloaked figure stepped into the light, revealing a blank white face with no features, except for hollow eye sockets.
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You're the eye-eating evil spirit we were looking for."
"Evil Spirit?" Luoyin raised an eyebrow.
"It makes no sense. How were we all captured by a Level Three evil spirit? The Miasma should be beyond its capabilities!"
"Hmph." Luoyin scoffed. From what he could see, the cloaked figure before them was not an evil spirit at all!
A thin line appeared on the cloaked figure's white face, cracking open into a creepy hollow smile. "I've been called many names, considering my abilities, but I always found 'evil spirit' to be the most amusing...
"You see, most mortals can no longer tell the difference between an 'evil spirit' and a demon!" His aura suddenly flooded the place, bearing down on them.
The aura was 'Level Nine' and Weiyan sucked in a sharp breath.
Luoyin's brows drew together in concentration.
Truthfully, if this demon's aura was 'Level Nine' according to the beast's level of aura, then it was weak for a demon... Most likely a lackey.
But it was a formless demon, which made its powers unpredictable. Not to mention how difficult it was to kill a formless demon...
Luoyin struggled a bit with the ropes, and he fell over, back to a lying position.
But the demon paid him no attention, his entire focus on Weiyan.
His smile widened. "Do you still not recognise me? Even after I released my aura for you?"
It took Weiyan a few seconds to realize what he meant. 'This aura-!'
Wasn't this the aura she had sensed mere days ago?
Immortal Pei's aura?!
It was different and more powerful, but it was certainly there!
"Y- you are Immortal Pei...?"
His aura centered on Weiyan, locking her in an awful pressure which caused her to wheeze in discomfort.
"I hate that particular name." He simply said, then transformed into Immortal Pei before her eyes. "Though I must admit that killing him and eating his eyes gave me the greatest pleasure!"
He cackled with laughter, the sharp sound bouncing off the walls...
"Immortal Pei... is dead..?" Weiyan choked out, and he sneered.
"Hmph. Immortal Pei was dead before you were born...
"The one you met in Red Grove City, was me!"
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