Hidden in the Shadows

Chi Ji finished changing and walked out.

Xu Xian finished looting the corpses and stood up.

Shuer, the little book spirit, crouched on Xu Xian's forehead like a deflated child, looking utterly miserable.

When Chi Ji was changing, it had leaned in to watch with great anticipation, hoping the mystery it had been pondering would finally be revealed.

To its surprise, she hadn't taken anything off at all; she had simply slipped another layer over her clothes.

This left the spirit feeling very dejected.

It felt that saving Chi Ji wasn't even worth it anymore. Someone this stingy wasn't worth the effort.

Xu Xian had no interest in its nonsense and signaled, "Go..."

"Oh!"

Shuer got up to work. Hovering under the night sky, it monitored the entire Ze Capital. The battle had completely concluded. The thirty-plus Crimson Demon Guards, along with the personal maidservants and coachmen, had all been slaughtered. No one survived.

But the massacre did not end there.

The men in black were still searching for Chi Ji's whereabouts. The town's residents were killed the moment they showed their faces. Houses collapsed one after another, and fires broke out in every district.

Twelve pillars of light stood tall and piercing, while a massive formation gradually contracted.

After gathering the necessary information, Xu Xian instructed Chi Ji, "From now on, follow me. Don't speak, and don't wander off."

Chi Ji looked at him and said nothing.

Xu Xian's voice was low, carrying a hint of a warning. "I don't have time to joke with you. If you want to live, you have to listen to me."

Chi Ji still didn't say anything.

"Did you hear me?"

Chi Ji was startled, feeling thirty percent annoyed and seventy percent aggrieved. "Didn't you just tell me not to speak?"

Xu Xian was speechless.

"Then couldn't you have just nodded?" he muttered.

"Oh!"

"Let's go."

Chi Ji nodded.

Xu Xian conjured a ball of fire and set the entire house ablaze. Then, under the cover of the rising flames, he led Chi Ji out.

At this moment, the entire town was shrouded in a sea of fire. Along the banks of the Nether Creek, in the narrow alleys and streets, members of the demon race could be seen lying in pools of blood everywhere.

Doors and window frames were scattered across the ground; broken tiles and earth from collapsed walls rolled everywhere.

On the ground...

Children.

Women.

The elderly.

Strong men.

Bodies were strewn in every direction, some missing their heads.

This was a massacre. Tonight in Ze Capital, over five hundred households and thousands of people were destined to perish without exception.

And all of this was because of Chi Ji.

Chi Ji felt hatred. She felt rage.

Her fists were clenched tight, her eyes filled with hostility. She wished she could rush forward right now and kill all those perpetrators.

She thought that if she hadn't come, they wouldn't have died. If she hadn't run, would they have been spared the slaughter?

Xu Xian keenly captured her emotional fluctuations and felt a rare sense of surprise.

The high and mighty heavenly demon race, the daughter of a demon god—she actually cared about the lives of these ordinary people?

That was certainly a fresh perspective!

Lowering his voice, he whispered a reminder, "Even if you go out now, they'll still die. Whether you run or not, they're doomed. If you don't want them to die in vain, then escape. Only if you live can you seek justice for them. At the very least, they won't have died for nothing."

Chi Ji glanced at him, her thoughts a tangled mess, before finally nodding heavily.

He was right. Only by living could she get justice for them. Then their deaths wouldn't be in vain.

The massacre continued. Xu Xian moved through the chaos with Chi Ji, appearing indifferent and showing no intention of saving anyone.

There were too many enemies. Two at the seventh stage, one at the eighth stage, and dozens at the sixth and fifth stages. They were vastly outnumbered.

Fighting was definitely unwise.

It was better to blend in.

Even if he eventually had to act, it would be best if he could instantly take out the early eighth-rank greater demon king stage expert.

Otherwise, he would have to use the Sword Tower.

But the Sword Tower was too conspicuous. If he used it, he would have to kill everyone here, leaving no survivors.

Chi Ji was very nervous, but Xu Xian was relatively calm.

He knew what he was doing. Even if he couldn't win, he was confident he could escape. As for whether he could save Chi Ji, that was up to fate.

He had Chi Ji set fires and use her blade to smash doors, walls, and houses, slacking off while appearing to help.

He also had Shuer monitor the area. Whenever someone was isolated and unnoticed, he would plunge a blade into their heart.

"I'm one of you..."

"I'm a friendly..."

"I'm really on your side..."

He killed his own 'allies' without hesitation.

Murdering and looting brought him a sense of satisfaction, while Chi Ji followed quietly by his side.

She didn't deny that doing this felt cathartic, but she couldn't help but feel that it was a bit shameless.

"These people are hiding their identities well; they don't even have any tokens on them," Xu Xian muttered.

Chi Ji's expression shifted as if she wanted to say something.

Xu Xian said irritably, "I told you not to speak. Don't you know how to use divine sense communication?"

Chi Ji gave him a calm look.

Xu Xian complained, "Say whatever you want. Otherwise, if you die later, you won't get another chance."

As soon as he spoke, her thoughts echoed in his mind.

'They should be from the Nether Religion.'

'The Nether Religion?'

'Yes.'

Xu Xian was confused. 'Isn't your father a member of the Nether Religion? And one of the ten Elders at that? Why are they turning on their own?'

From what Xu Xian knew, the Nether Religion was the divine religion of the demon race in the Demon Abyss. Its headquarters was the Nether Hall, and the priests and the ten Elders were all at the demon god stage.

The entire Demon Abyss was governed by the Nether Religion. Even the heavenly demon race was subject to its constraints.

When a Nether Religion Command was issued, the entire Demon Abyss obeyed.

Chi Ji gave a bitter smile. There were things she couldn't explain clearly, especially to the man she knew as Bai Mang. What did it matter if they belonged to the same religion?

Besides, she didn't know much herself, but one thing was certain.

In the Demon Abyss, she couldn't think of anyone other than the Nether Religion who would dare to act against her so brazenly and mobilize so many experts in such a short time.

Was it the other nine demon gods?

It was possible, but the probability was minuscule.

She said, 'Fratricide and betrayal for the sake of profit—anything can happen. Never mind being in the same religion; it's not surprising even for those of the same blood to turn their blades on one another.'

Pausing, she sighed. 'Your level is too low; you wouldn't understand. The path to the throne of power is paved with corpses and bloodshed. We heavenly demon race members... haha, you wouldn't understand even if I told you.'

Xu Xian was displeased.

What did she mean by his level being too low?

He was the Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect! Low level?

But he didn't argue.

Affairs of such high-ranking families couldn't be measured by common logic.

Even outside the Demon Abyss, whether among the demon race, the Three Sects in the Central Plains, or the secular dynasties, power struggles never ceased.

The politics of the court were always either turbulent or surging with undercurrents.

Only the Wendao Sword Sect was a breath of fresh air.

They were united from top to bottom, everyone working for the common good without selfish motives.

In the past, Xu Xian hadn't stood high enough or seen far enough, thinking such a sect would find it hard to achieve greatness.

Now, as he gradually approached the peak, he understood.

Only by being united could they endure through the ages.

So many dynasties and sects couldn't escape the fate of rising and then falling, often not due to external forces, but internal rot.

Dynastic shifts and secular changes were no different.

He whispered to himself, "No wonder. This situation is quite troublesome."

A man in black suddenly shouted at the two of them, "What are you two dazed for? Hurry up and search!"

Xu Xian snapped back to reality and replied, "Understood!"

The leading man in black cursed, "We need her alive, or her corpse if she's dead. If we can't find her, none of you will have it easy!"