Jin Se

Chapter 60

Bai Li stilled for a minute, as if he hadn't understood his words. He asked, "What?"

Having been closely observing his expression, Shi Wuduan could tell that Bai Li was truly unaware. He hesitated, then conjured a small flame at his fingertip and pointed it towards Bai Li.

Bai Li, following his gaze, looked down and saw that his shadow was swaying, gone one moment and present the next. Though he thought it was quite bizarre, it felt strangely familiar - as if he knew the reason behind it, yet was incapable of remembering. It was just a vague notion buried inside his chest.

It was far more uncomfortable than holding in pee. Shi Wuduan saw Bai Li stare blankly at the ground for a moment before his expression twisted. Then, the person who'd just been energetically spewing a whole lot of crap swayed and suddenly collapsed. He curled into a ball and groaned, then frenziedly began banging his head against a rock as if he was convulsing.

His actions scared the hell out of Shi Wuduan. He saw a small fleck of light near Bai Li's forehead, but it was so dim that even in the eerie darkness of this realm's night, it was hardly visible. Still, the image of Bai Li seemingly attempting to bash his brains out on a rock made Shi Wuduan unthinkingly reach out and try to hold him down by his shoulders, but there was a kind of explosive energy coiled up within him, and sure enough, in a moment of carelessness, Shi Wuduan was thrashed aside.

His hand unintentionally brushed past the speck of light on Bai Li's forehead. Only then did he realize that it wasn't a simple glow. It was almost like there was something solid in there, something cold, like a still pool on an autumn night, freezing to the touch.

Shi Wuduan frowned, then pressed his knee into Bai Li's back. Then, despite his wild struggling, he managed to viciously elbow him in the side of the neck. Bai Li finally collapsed soundlessly, and was more cooperative than ever.

Shi Wuduan sat down by the side and looked at the scratches on the back of Bai Li's well-defined hand. The blood that flowed from it was pure black, reminding him every second of how inhuman this person was.

He scoffed, looked up at the sky that had no intention of brightening, wrinkled his nose, and kicked away the mangled bird corpse by his foot. He muttered to himself, "What the fuck even is all this damn shit?"

He sat for a while, then sighed. The hand he was resting on his knee tapped lightly against it as he gazed into the sky. These three creepy, uncanny realms, that separated the Hall of Demons and the human realm, had an eighteen-day cycle, had no light, but still had water and grass and beasts - just what were they?

Crevices?

How had that ancient cultivator, lost to the annals of history, sealed the Hall of Demons? And those shadows, remnants of the dead... he turned to the side, almost as if he could see that endless sea of black qi seeping in from some unseen rift, holding the shattered country together, thread by thread, the sky overcast as the seven deceitful lanterns floated away, a vague flash of red light hinting at an even more convoluted and uncontrollable finale.

Bai Li's body unconsciously twitched. Shi Wuduan looked down at him with a complicated expression. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow; an idea surfaced in his mind - if he killed the Hall of Demon's master, if......

The thought was bewitchingly tempting. Shi Wuduan slowly sat up. Threads of ghostly silk flickered at his fingertips and approached Bai Li's exposed neck. It was soft and slack as his head lolled to the side, making him seem so very fragile - the Demon Lord... was merely this, after all.