Chapter 36: A Chance Meeting

At that very moment, several figures rushed into the cabin.

They were actually several dozen Martial Arts experts from the Scholarium patrol ship.

The raging waves unleashed by Wen Daozi had struck and sunk the Warship, killing most of the sailors and warriors.

However, several dozen Scholarium warrior experts had survived, only to be swept directly into the area of the Demon Spirit Sea by the giant waves.

After rushing into the cabin, these Scholarium Martial Arts experts looked at each other in confusion.

The stunningly beautiful Demon Spirit leader gazed at the dozens of people who had charged in and said in a sweet voice, “What’s going on today? Is it my lucky day? So many guests arrived all at once? Sisters, aren’t you going to make yourselves presentable to meet our honored guests?”

Immediately, dozens of beautiful but rotting skeleton women in the hall turned around, and when they turned back again.

The rotting skin on their bodies had vanished. All were now radiant and graceful.

The Demon Spirit leader glanced at the whole human feast on the table and said sweetly again, “Sorry, sorry, these delicacies might not suit our honored guests’ tastes. Let’s change them.”

Then, her jade-like hand waved gently.

Instantly, the whole human feast on the table transformed into the appearance of delicious food.

Honey-glazed bear paws, a whole roasted lamb, roasted ox tongue.

All the blood also turned into fine wine.

The beautiful Demon Spirit leader sweetly urged, “Dear guests, please make yourselves at home. Eat, eat!”

The leader of the Scholarium Martial Arts experts surveyed the scene, then spoke word by word, “Scholarium is supreme. All ghosts and monsters are illusions. Draw your Silver Swords!”

Immediately, dozens of Scholarium experts uniformly drew out slender Silver Swords—weapons specially used against Demon Spirits.

“Kill!”

Then, dozens of Scholarium experts charged toward the Demon Spirits present.

“Thud stab…”

In that instant, all the dozens of Demon Spirit women were pierced. Their originally radiant appearances were once again riddled with holes, rotting and decayed.

“Hahaha…” Then, they burst into fits of wild laughter.

They were already in a state full of holes, with only skeletons beneath their thin Skin Suits, lacking all internal organs. Why would they care about one or two more holes?

Only the Demon Spirit leader possessed a perfectly elastic body.

“Silver Swords, you actually use Silver Swords? Are you trying to make us die laughing?” The beautiful Demon Spirit leader said sweetly, “Or are you trying to shame us to death? Outside the Dark Domain, we would naturally turn to ashes without needing Silver Swords. Inside the Dark Domain, Silver Swords are utterly useless.”

“Alright, that handsome guy earlier performed too well. I’ve had my fun, and I don’t want to act anymore.” The Demon Spirit leader’s delicate jade hands slowly raised.

“Kill!” The leader of the Scholarium warriors looked at her, his gaze filled with fanaticism and fearlessness.

It must be said, the Scholarium was truly formidable.

To train its warriors to be so brave and passionate.

Immediately, dozens of Scholarium warriors madly charged toward the Demon Spirit leader, as if wanting to tear her to pieces.

However… the very next second.

The Demon Spirit leader Lin Sisi gave a gentle squeeze with her hand.

Instantly, all the weapons in the hands of the Scholarium warriors became uncontrollable, sucked up into the air.

This Demon Spirit leader’s supernatural ability was actually magnetic force.

Suddenly, Wuque remembered.

This Demon Spirit Sea was originally very calm, not some Dark Energy field.

But suddenly, it had become a terrifying magnetic vortex. Compasses would fail in this sea area. Any ship with metal that sailed onto this sea would become uncontrollable and sink directly.

And how did the aurora come about?

It was produced when the powerful magnetic field blocked the solar storm.

Because the magnetic field here was too strong, it created the aurora.

And the Demon Spirits born in this environment mastered powerful magnetic force.

These Scholarium experts all had some metal on them. Some even still wore their chainmail armor.

Immediately…

Lin Sisi’s delicate jade hands slowly rose.

The Scholarium warriors all floated into the air, completely out of control.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…”

The dozens of Silver Swords floating in the air seemed controlled by invisible hands, flying toward the Scholarium warriors.

They slashed wildly.

In a very short moment, all the clothes on the Scholarium warriors were cleanly cut away.

Even the hair on their bodies was shaved off.

“Sisters, this meat will last us a long time. For what we can’t finish, let’s make it into preserved meat first.” The Demon Spirit leader said sweetly.

Then, she opened her small mouth and inhaled sharply.

Instantly, light drifted out from the bodies of these dozens of Scholarium warriors and was devoured by her.

In an instant…

These people’s eyes lost all color, becoming Walking Corpses.

And this Demon Spirit leader Lin Sisi became even more dazzlingly beautiful, as if greatly satisfied.

Then, her expression began to show pain.

Her entire body emitted a blinding light, as if her whole body had turned into some kind of refining vessel.

After a long while, the light on her body faded, and she slowly spat out a glowing, swirling pearl.

She gazed at this pearl, her eyes filled with attachment and reluctance.

But she still placed it into a box, as if she could not consume it.

“Sisters, carve the meat!”

Then, dozens of rotting skeleton women picked up knives and swords, and like butchering pigs, they cut up these dozens of Scholarium warriors.

Each part was separated clearly and neatly piled on the table.

Some poured blood into wine bottles, cut out fat to render oil, and salted the meat they couldn’t finish eating to preserve it.

Next, the Demon Spirit leader’s gaze turned toward Wuque.

“Oops, earlier a bunch of people came and caused trouble, I actually forgot about the handsome brother.”

“Sisters, this little brother is handsome, fair and tender. We shouldn’t waste such a treasure. Let’s continue roasting the whole human to eat.”

Several skeleton women began singing again, starting to rotate Wuque’s roasting rack.

They stripped off his clothes, lit ghostly flames, preparing to roast and eat him whole.

But right at that moment.

The beautiful Demon Spirit leader exclaimed in surprise, “Wait!”

Because a black jade pendant had fallen out of Wuque’s pocket.

Seeing this pendant, the Demon Spirit leader was instantly stunned.

Her delicate body trembled continuously, tears streaming down endlessly.

“Where did you get this pendant?” the Demon Spirit leader trembled as she spoke.

Wuque said slowly, “Rourou, may I call you that?”

The Demon Spirit leader, the beautiful Lin Sisi, said, “You, who are you? How do you know the nickname between him and me? What is your relationship with him?”

Because Lin Sisi was plump and enchanting, making people unable to resist her, Li Jia gave her this overly affectionate nickname. And this Li Jia was the middle-aged man Wuque had once prepared for burial, who had drowned himself, holding that black jade pendant. Wuque had extracted his memories, along with a sigh. Was this a dark version of the Titanic?

Wuque said, “Him? You mean your beloved, Li Jia?”

The Demon Spirit leader Lin Sisi hissed, “No, he was not my beloved. He doesn’t deserve that, he doesn’t deserve it.”

Wuque said, “Yes, he doesn’t deserve it. Because after the ship hit the rocks, the two of you clung to a piece of driftwood that could only support one person’s weight. In the end, he pushed you into the sea, choosing to save his own life. This black jade is very precious, the token of love you gave him, right?”

Lin Sisi wept, her face covered in tears, “To save him, I killed my husband. I abandoned a life of wealth and luxury to elope with him. He was just a penniless, down-and-out scholar, do you know? At the last moment, I had already decided to sacrifice myself to let him live. Who knew that this heartless man would push me into the sea and choose to survive on his own?”

“All men in this world are no good. They all deserve to die, every single one!”

In her rage,

Lin Sisi transformed instantly.

Her hair grew rapidly, a full ten feet long, floating like seaweed.

Her slender hands, with nails that suddenly grew sharp and long.

Her beautiful face turned pale, colorless like a corpse.

Her eyes flashed with green fire.

“I died, but my body drifted into the Demon Spirit Sea, so I came back to life.”

“I will hunt down all the men in the world.”

“Men are no good, they all deserve to die, every single one…”

As she roared, the sea suddenly stirred with raging winds, lightning, and thunder.

The surrounding seawater turned blood-red.

Wuque said slowly, “He is already dead, the man you loved and hated so deeply is already dead.”

Lin Sisi said, “How did he die?”

Wuque replied, “He drowned himself, filled with endless guilt. He tied a stone to himself and sank into the water. I will show you one more thing.”

Lin Sisi waved her jade-like hand.

The ropes around Wuque untied automatically. He opened his pack, put on a snow-white scholar’s robe, and took out a human skin mask, placing it over his face.

Instantly…

His appearance changed. He became that Li Jia who had drowned himself.

Only, not in his twenties, but in his fifties.

“Rourou, my treasure…” Wuque’s voice changed too, becoming exactly like Li Jia’s.

Lin Sisi trembled, the Demon Spirit appearance vanishing without a trace, returning to the beautiful woman she once was.

“Is… is it really you?” Lin Sisi asked, trembling.

“It’s me, the last remnant of my soul. I am your Li Jia, that cowardly, shameful, weak man.”

“Sisi, the luckiest thing in my life was meeting you on that ship.”

“The thing I regret the most, the thing that torments me the most, is pushing you into the sea and choosing to live on my own.”

“Sisi, my mind was a mess back then. On one side was jumping into the sea myself to let you live. On the other was pushing you in and surviving alone. I… I was so close to choosing the first option.”

“Of course… I’m not making excuses for myself. I am an ugly, weak man.”

“For decades, I lived in pain and regret every single day. I kept that old ship ticket forever.”

“So I chose to end my life. I wanted to come to this sea to die, but… I couldn’t face it.”

“Perhaps the pain and regret in my heart were too heavy, not even death could wash them away. I left behind a trace of unwilling spirit. Shen Wuque prepared my body for burial, so I appeared in his dreams, begging him to bring me here, to at least be buried with you in the same sea.”

“I never thought… you would become a Demon Spirit. I can see you again, it makes me so happy. Even if I die a hundred, a thousand times, it would be worth it.”

“This is heaven giving me a chance to make amends, so I reenacted what happened back then. I should have sacrificed myself to let you live. I truly regret not doing that. And this time… I did it, fulfilling the deepest regret in my heart.”

In that moment, Lin Sisi could no longer hold back, tears pouring out uncontrollably.

No wonder, no wonder.

He acted so deeply, so immersed in the role.

Even the details were exactly the same as back then.

“Sisi, don’t forgive me. I deserve to die a thousand deaths, I deserve to fall into the Eighteenth Layer of Hell,” Wuque trembled as he spoke. “But I beg you, don’t suffer, don’t torture yourself, and… don’t lure men here to reenact what happened to us over and over, okay? I… I would be too jealous.”

“Sisi, promise me, promise me. Otherwise, I will never rest in peace!”

Lin Sisi cried, “Okay, I promise you, I promise. But I will never forgive you, not in a hundred years, not in a thousand.”

“Good, don’t forgive me…” Wuque smiled. “I should leave now. This black jade pendant will take my place, staying with you for all eternity. My treasure, even though you became a Demon Spirit, at least you are alive in another way. I am so happy, so glad…”

Then…

The human skin mask on Wuque’s face began to turn to ashes, inch by inch.

“Treasure, I’m leaving…” His voice faded away.

…