Chapter 101
Chapter 101
The Black-robed Figure laughed hoarsely. “Compared to that, shouldn’t you be more concerned about your own futures? Do you want to go back, or do you want to stay here forever and turn into monsters like the ones outside?”
Everyone fell silent.
What kind of question was that? It was practically nonsense.
“I want to go back!” a female disciple cried, trembling. “I don’t want to turn into those hideous monsters…”
“You think those monsters are hideous?”
The Black-robed Figure was displeased. With a cold laugh, they said, “Do you know what the ugliest thing in this world is? It is the hearts of you humans!”
They enunciated each word. “Across the Three Realms, there is nothing uglier or more sinful than the human heart!”
Ye Piaoling said, “Why do you feel so strongly about this, honored one? Please, tell us your story.”
The Black-robed Figure said, “Don’t even think about tricking me into talking. Right now, you are in my hands. You will listen to whatever I say, but you have no right to ask questions.”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
Mm-hmm, fine, fine. You’re so impressive. Keep talking, then!
The Black-robed Figure said, “To demonstrate the ugliness of the human heart, let us play a game.”
“What game?” Xiao Chengxu asked nervously.
The Black-robed Figure raised a hand and conjured a talisman. Slowly, they said, “This talisman can manifest an illusion of one’s inner demon. As long as one of you is willing to reveal your inner demon and defeat it before everyone, I will let you return.”
At those words, everyone wore different expressions.
An inner demon was often the most secret, darkest part of a person’s heart-the resentment that could never be resolved, the desires that could never be satisfied…
Never mind whether they could defeat it. Just revealing it in public was no different from exposing their most unbearable secrets!
The cave suddenly sank into deathly silence.
The disciples looked at one another. Not a single person was willing to step forward.
Ximen Chunqiu clenched his fingers. He was the Top Disciple. In a matter like this, he should have been the first to volunteer.
But having grown up amid the schemes and intrigues of a great clan, he had too many secrets of the Ximen Clan hidden in his heart. Some of them absolutely could not be shown to others. He had no confidence they would not be manifested as his inner demon, and he did not dare take that risk!
Hua Wuhuang’s brows were also tightly furrowed. His inner demon…
If it were truly displayed in the form of an illusion, everyone would probably see him and Lu Yin bowing to Heaven and Earth in marriage, perhaps even scenes of their wedding night…
Red candles, a bridal bed, the startled gasps of a desperate entanglement, Lu Yin’s crazed laughter…
The moment he thought of those images, Hua Wuhuang’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He clearly hated them to the bone, yet he could not stop himself from thinking about them, like a nightmare that refused to leave.
How could something so forbidden be released for others to see?!
As for Xiao Chengxu, there was even less need to mention him. He knew better than anyone how many filthy things the Duke’s Mansion had done. His inner demons and desires were piled up in heaps. There was no way he would expose them in public.
Ye Xiangxiang had already begun trembling the moment she heard the words “inner demon.” The scene of her being violated in the abandoned courtyard surfaced in her mind… She never wanted to see that sight a second time!
Xiao Changye, on the other hand, was in no hurry. He looked as though he were watching a show.
With so much rabble here, surely it would never fall to him, the emperor, to take the risk, right?
Ye Piaoling sank into thought on her own.
Love, hate, greed, anger, obsession-when attachments ran too deep, they gave birth to inner demons.
Did she have any inner demons?
If they were talking about resentment, the Regent King’s Bed being too expensive could count as one. But although she was unwilling to let that go, it had not reached the point where it would breed an inner demon…
She had always been broad-minded. If the sky collapsed, she would simply lie flat and wait for death. After thinking it over carefully, from her previous life to this one, she really did not seem to have any inner demons.
The Black-robed Figure sneered. “Do you see? Not a single person here dares face the ugliness of their own heart. In that case, you have no right to despise the monsters outside for being ugly. Go keep them company…”
“Wait!”
Ye Piaoling suddenly raised her hand high. “I’ll do it!”
“Oh?”
The Black-robed Figure looked at her with interest.
As expected of you…
Ye Piaoling smiled. “It’s just an inner demon. It probably isn’t anything to be afraid of.”
The Black-robed Figure said, “You had better think this through. If these people make it back alive, your inner demon will be made known to all.”
Xiao Chengxu immediately encouraged her. “Junior Sister Ye, don’t worry. We will definitely keep your secret for you!”
“That’s right!” Several other disciples hurriedly echoed him. “Even if we see your inner demon, we absolutely won’t tell anyone else!”
Ye Piaoling chuckled.
“Whatever. Hand over the talisman!”
“Xiao Yezi!” Hua Wuhuang called out to her worriedly.
“It’s fine.” Ye Piaoling smiled and said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t even know what my own inner demon is…”
“Today, I’ll let it out and see what that thing actually looks like!”
She lifted a brow and took the talisman.
She was very curious too. Across two lifetimes, what exactly was it that could drive her mad inside, the hurdle she could not get past?
She squeezed hard, and the talisman instantly burst in her hand with a cloud of eerie purple light!
Her inner demon manifested along with it-
In an instant, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.