113. Return The Favour
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Meanwhile, at the outskirts of Yu Shui City, a black butterfly swirled and swiftly transformed into the cloaked woman, and more than a hundred demons appeared around her, all with varying forms of grotesque faces.
Qin Yuelian, the flower deity, appeared as well, now dressed in black robes, and she and all those present swung their right arms across their chests, their hands touching their left shoulders.
Then they fell to one knee and bent forward in a bow, throwing an arm across their chest.
"Paying our respects to the High Priestess!" They all chorused respectfully.
This was the greeting in Shadow Realm and the cloaked woman smiled beneath her veil.
Soon, this would be the norm in all three realms, starting with the Mortal Realm...
She raised her hands and performed a few hand seals, and two large light blue lines fanned along the ground from where they stood, creeping outward to form a giant blue circle of light encompassing the entire Yu Shui City.
Bright blue lines crawled through the circle, forming symbols, all heading towards the Arena which sat at the heart of this glowing formation.
"Congratulations, Mistress!" Qin Yuelian bowed again. "You're finally achieving your goals!"
"Congratulations, High Priestess!" The rest chorused with a bow.
The cloaked lady merely grunted her reply, then moved to stand just within the circle.
"We've come a long way, but there's more to be done..." She turned towards the arena, and the demons around her shrank back in fear, sensing her angry aura.
She had once sought to conquer Sky Realm, but things hadn't gone as planned, and it had led to an infuriating journey spanning almost fifty thousand years!
She drew in a calming breath.
"Tonight, Yin Xiaolong will die here, and we can achieve our goals!"
"Congratulations, High Priestess!" They all chorused again, cruel smiles of glee on their faces.
"Hmph." She smirked.
Yin Xiaolong's existence had hindered her plans for far too many years....
But just as she had done in the past, she would use those around him against him!
At first she sought to lure Luoyin here, using his mortal friends... But why settle for less, when one could have more?
"Since we've managed to draw all three races to the same place, our formation will be even stronger, and with the Pillars of Baishan here, it would be easy for us to conquer Baishan, and then the entire Mortal Realm!"
"Hail! Hail! Hail!" The demons pumped their hands in the air.
"For so many years, we've been locked away in Shadow Realm!" One said.
"Thanks to the High Priestess we can become Kings and Queens!" Another jumped in.
"Yes! I'm going to rule a mortal Kingdom!" Yet another hoped. "I can eat as many mortals as I want, and have the rest serve me!"
"Hao!" The cloaked woman nodded, stepping out of the circle. "If you're ready for your new lives, then move within the formation and begin this new era with me!"
There was loud cheering which continued for a while, as the demons hurried over themselves to step within the glowing ice-blue circle.
But Qin Yuelian quietly smiled, moving to stand beside her Mistress.
~"Mistress, it's almost too cruel!"~ She said through telepathy. ~"These idiots don't know they are part of the formation!"~
The hint of a smirk could be sensed beneath the dark cloak.
~"Hmph. Kings and queens... Do they deserve it?"~
The true demon masters were so powerful that they couldn't be snuck out of Shadow realm.
~"These small fry are merely stepping stones...."~
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Back at the Arena, several eyebrows shot upwards at the reveal, and almost all eyes widened, as shock and outrage spread amongst the dignitaries who could now see the City Master and Gatekeeper's demonic appearances.
They had been living with demons for thousands of years!
"But how?!" The Grand Wulin Master demanded, having risen to his own feet. "How have these devils gone undetected for so many years?!"
"Exactly! Explain Yourselves! What did you do to us?!" Another Wulin elder demanded.
The gatekeeper simply smiled. "Aren't you the dumb ones? Why blame us for your ignorance? It's a world ruled by power and you yourselves know demons must consume humans...
"So wouldn't we naturally come here to consume human essence?!"
With a swish of his brush, the surroundings were swiftly changed, revealing a battered arena, not remotely as grand as it had appeared, and a terrifying aura spread around.
The skies were dark, with black wraiths circling the arena, and the city in the distance looked shriveled and dead. The whole place was covered by fog, the ground looked burned, the trees were mere husks of ash, and not a single building in sight was unbroken.
But the scariest change was the citizens themselves.
Every single one of them now looked pale and gaunt, with hairs and clothes tattered beyond recognition.
Yet... They still mindlessly clawed away at the barrier!
As the guests watched, the dark wraiths flew lower, and ghostly bits of essence seeped from the clueless citizens, flying into the wraiths. Then the gatekeeper held out a hand, and the wraiths shot jets of qi at him which he happily absorbed.
"For thousands of years, we've existed here, feeding on you mindless humans..." He boasted. "The Fortune demon not only steals fortune, but his aura pulls in more and more citizens to come here, so there's an endless supply of essence!"
"Heh!" The City Master continued. "And my friend here simply paints away their memories, so no one remembers anyone else after they eventually die and vanish
"Or whenever..." He waved his own hand and a few citizens suddenly dropped dead, their essences flying over to him. "...we get impatient and kill at once!"
The two laughed, their laughter ringing across the now desolate place.
Meanwhile, every guest present, from the Wulin, Sect Leaders, Elders, House Heads, to the Sect Warriors, senior and junior disciples, had received the biggest shock of their lives.
And it was fast turning into the biggest fear of their lives.
Such powerful demons who had been absorbing human essence for thousands of year... Even the Grand Wulin Master had been fooled by them, and could not break the barrier holding him!
What hope was there for the rest of them??!!
Even Luoyin daunted by the sheer number of humans who had died at the hands of these two evil demons through the years, and his earlier uncertainty had returned.
'Now that these demons' identities are revealed, what will they do?!' He wondered, and his apprehension rose when the gatekeeper moved his brush again, making the citizens disappear from sight.
A few could be seen through the fog, resuming their normal lives, traders calling out to non-existent passersby, trying to sell non-existent goods, and farmers tilling blackened, rock-hard soil, a blank smile on their faces...
There was dead silence at the arena.
"I'm curious, little mortal human..." The gatekeeper began with a smug smile, his hand swishing his brush, each stroke returning the desolate space to the perfect beauty. "Even your so-called Wulin Master couldn't any fault with my masterpiece. And he can't even free himself from my barrier.
"So tell me..." *Swish* "How could you simply break free and even recognize us for what we are?"
The question had the desired effect, and the guests were now shooting furtive glances at Luoyin.
"I also wondered how he got past both barriers!" An Elder mused aloud.
"And we still don't know how he defeated those four traitors!"
"How does he know so much?!"
"He even investigated the Grand Wulin Master!"
"Who is he?!"
Luoyin's eyes widened slowly in realization.
'Not good!' He thought, realizing the demons' intent a little too late, and he watched in horror as the gatekeeper's brush raised in slow motion.
"You've gone to such lengths to expose us... Wouldn't we return the favour?"
The gatekeeper brought his brush down in a final swish, and a swirl of brilliant lights surrounded Luoyin.
"You might be powerful, but I'm not useless!" The gatekeeper declared. "Within my boundary space, I can shatter all illusions and disguises, making every being reveal their true selves!"
The lights around Luoyin swirled violently, and the dignitaries craned their necks to see, but when the lights cleared, Luoyin remained unchanged, except...
"W- white hair!"
"Look at his eyes!"
"Golden Irises!"
"And is he glowing?!"
"Are my eyes hurting me?"
"Then mine are hurting as well...
"Isn't this an Immortal?!"
It was true...
Standing before them all wasn't the Luoyin they knew, and this Luoyin had long silvery white hair, golden irises in black-lined eyes widened with shock, and his skin bore a perfect luster and faint glow.
"You lowly mortals, you adopted a deadly serpent, treating it as one of you!" The City Master thundered. "This fellow is indeed an immortal, but not just any immortal!"
The gatekeeper took it from there. "This fellow is none other than the enemy of all three realms...
"Yin. Xiao. Long...!!"
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