Chapter 841: Chapter 657: Masters Clash, Every Move Deadly

After speaking, he seemed unwilling to continue sparring with her, and stood up directly, heading to the bathtub, rolling up his sleeves and unlocking, swiftly and gently fishing up Ning Feiyan.

Although the Female Demon Lord didn’t want to look at this scene too much, her eyes couldn’t help but drift over.

She saw her body covered with traces of intimacy, and the anger surged uncontrollably, causing her eyes to become completely ominous.

Noticing her gaze, Baili An couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart and hurriedly pulled over a light veil to wrap around the woman in his arms, concealing her securely.

The Female Demon Lord sneered: “What? Protecting your treasure so closely, are you afraid I’ll spoil it?”

Baili An was pondering how to respond when the woman in his arms sighed softly, waking up.

The freshly wrapped light veil began to undulate restlessly, as a pair of slender white arms reached out from the veil and hooked around Baili An’s neck.

The beauty rubbed her head against Baili An’s chest like a sleepy kitten, her indistinct voice carrying a hint of unsoftened allure: “Is it already morning? You mustn’t fool around anymore, my waist is terribly weak, spare me, please?”

Baili An immediately recognized that this woman was pretending to be asleep, causing mischief, as in private, she rarely referred to herself as ‘concubine.’

He glanced at the Demon Lord’s expression, which was ominous like dark clouds, very intimidating.

Baili An sighed and looked down, noticing this little enchantress was playfully sticking out her tongue as she gazed at him with bright, crescent-shaped eyes.

Such a troublemaker!

The Female Demon Lord flicked the ashes in her pipe and spoke coldly: “River Lord Ning has been enjoying herself these days.”

Ning Feiyan’s body trembled in a cooperative gesture, awakening as if doused with cold water from a dream of bliss.

Quickly pushing Baili An away, she grasped the light veil to cover herself, and reverently bowed, saying with a respectful voice: “I greet Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness for my impropriety. I was truly exhausted and weak last night, collapsing into unconsciousness. For my negligence in failing to notice Your Majesty’s arrival and ignore etiquette, I beg Your Majesty’s pardon.”

Her attitude was extremely humble and courteous, which to the ignorant, would not reveal any trace of provocation and smugness in her words.

The Female Demon Lord slammed the table, her face cold but her eyes misty, shouting sharply: “Get out of here!”

She then glared fiercely at Baili An: “You stay!”

“I obey!”

Ning Feiyan obediently stood up to leave, then noticed the snow stretching outside the hall, intending to display a troubled look, subtly yet openly kicking Baili An’s calf.

Despite not a word spoken, a tacit understanding seemed to exist between them, as if her porous thoughts like lotus root were always clear to this silly cat.

Baili An really had a headache, though the snow was falling heavily, and the ground was cold, he adamantly refused to believe a bit of snow could hinder her walking, given she was the world-renowned River Lord.

He intended to tell her to behave, but faced with her feigned pitiful expression, he eventually felt amused and exasperated and kicked off his boots silently, gesturing them towards her.

Ning Feiyan put on his boots brazenly, then with every step turned back three times, gazing affectionately at Baili An.

That seemingly reluctant and tender look nearly provoked the Female Demon Lord into action, making her wish she could kill this wretch on the spot!

Ultimately Baili An couldn’t bear it any longer, raised his leg to feign a kick: “Aren’t you done yet?”

Only then did Ning Feiyan hop away like a rabbit, holding her waist.

“Does Your Majesty have orders?” After Ning Feiyan left, Baili An relit the everlasting candles and lamps in the Netherworld Palace.

The darkness in the room was dispelled with it.

The fresh snow of early morning, the sorrowful east wind had not ceased, howling past the windowsill.

The four long curtains suddenly danced lightly, as a sharp wind sound emerged through the drapes, charging directly at Baili An.

Baili An’s gaze flickered, and he reached out to firmly grip the source of the sound.

As he opened his palm, there lay quietly the silver ring of River Lord Shu Ci.

The once blood-stained silver ring was now clean, without a single trace of blood when handed into his hand.

“Why would His Majesty give this to me?” Baili An asked, puzzled.

The Female Demon Lord replied coolly, “This ring is called ‘Xinglan.’ This was personally retrieved from Shu Ci’s body when I killed her. As for the secrets within this ring, I cannot decipher them. I hope Si Chen, River Lord, can solve this mystery for me.”

Baili An’s heart shook with surprise.

Shu Ci was actually killed by the Demon Lord?

But wasn’t she supposed to be immortal? How could she be killed?

Why would the Demon Lord want to kill such a powerful River Lord?

“You want to ask why I killed Shu Ci?” The Female Demon Lord understood Baili An’s thoughts clearly.

Baili An frowned and said, “Shu Ci, as the oldest river of Mohe, witnessed the birth of three generations of Demon Lords. Her cultivation strength is unmatched by the combined forces of the other five rivers. She is also the only River Lord with the ability of twin river demons. I truly don’t understand what would drive His Majesty to make such a great sacrifice to kill her?”

The Female Demon Lord sneered coldly, “She betrayed me, and thus deserved death.”

Baili An said, “If we talk about betrayal… Young Lord Mi Lu, Erhe Zangxin, and even most of the current Demon Ministers on Ming Continent, including myself, all harbor divided loyalties towards His Majesty. By this reasoning, it’s not just her who deserves to die.”

Amused by his honesty, the Female Demon Lord chuckled and said, “You are wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“What is betrayal? Betrayal can only exist where there was once loyalty. Those people you mentioned, including yourself, were never purely loyal to me from the start, so how can there be talk of betrayal?”

The Female Demon Lord was indifferent as she unveiled her deepest maneuvers, revealing her greatest secret to him.

“But Shu Ci was different. She was loyal to me, dedicated her heart to me, swore to be my sword and shield. Therefore, I cannot tolerate the breaking of vows, the betrayal of me!”

Baili An was greatly shocked; it was truly overwhelming.

According to his understanding over these days, Shu Ci was an ambitious demon, and since the opening of the Bronze Gate, she had always been the one leading the counterplans to stop the revival of the Demon Lord.

Looking at the factions, every indication was that she seemed to be part of Young Lord Mi Lu’s camp, even to the extent that Baili An believed she coveted the Demon Lord’s throne.

How could hearing today’s words reveal that Shu Ci was originally the Demon Lord’s person?!

“Why be so surprised?” The Female Demon Lord smiled as she looked at his astonished expression, “Do you think that the person Shu Ci supported was my elder brother, determined to use all means to prevent me from breaking free and reviving?”

“…According to what I’ve seen and felt, Shu Ci indeed put a great deal of effort into supporting Mi Lu.”

“But I’ve revived, emerged from that deathly place, standing before all beings.”

The Female Demon Lord’s gaze was intense, solemnly saying, “Though I am arrogant and confident, facing such desperate circumstances, under the glaring eyes of the Empress, facing the ancient serpent’s gaze, do you truly believe that with my own means alone, I could break free from the prison trap set by the joint efforts of three Venerable Immortals?”

Baili An was rendered speechless.

“Oh, and…,” the Female Demon Lord continued, “there’s also your corpse demon sister, one of the few remaining Bloodline members of the Royal Family. She is indeed strong, but I heard she lost her Corpse Pearl, and her strength has diminished severely.

In the Red Flame Quicksand Land, she faced Shu Ci at her peak, an ancient immortal Great Demon True Demon. Do you think, if Shu Ci hadn’t gone easy on her, she could have possibly brought me back my own head?”

Baili An slightly parted his lips, unable to say a word.

He had not anticipated that the truth was so intricately woven, hiding so many mysteries.

“Of course, even during that battle at the Monarch’s Return Banquet, it was under my orders that she didn’t take your life.”

The Female Demon Lord rubbed her brows and said, “Otherwise, with one strike from Shu Ci, she could have obliterated your soul. But I did not expect that the destructive Shu Ci, restrained by her own murderous intent, would genuinely be defeated by you, eventually allowing you to seize the position of Shouhe.”

Another surprising truth revealed.

Baili An speculated, “Could it be that because of that order, Shu Ci lost the title of Shouhe, harbored resentment, and thus betrayed you, His Majesty?”

The Female Demon Lord chuckled lightly, “How could she betray me for such a trivial matter?”

Baili An: “…”