GD Ch. 48 Part 2

Chapter 48: Why Are We Listening to Stories?

The next morning, Changying, still wrapped in a cold quilt, was pulled from her bed.

Though the southern border was also in winter, it was not as cold as Songling City. There was no snow in the sky, only a howling wind outside. The mortals in the bustling streets dressed slightly thicker than they would in summer.

Changying drowsily opened her eyes and immediately saw a silver-haired, black-robed devil staring at her.

The devil said, “I’ll take you for a walk in the human world.”

Changying was not childish by nature. Hearing these words, she showed no excitement, only quietly followed.

The moment they stepped out the door, Zhuyou’s silver hair turned black in an instant, and even her features shifted into a different appearance.

Downstairs, a young inn servant was wiping down tables. The moment he saw her descend, his eyes went wide, and he stood frozen in place, his hand clutching the rag unmoving.

Changying raised her arm without a word. Her once-icy hand, now somewhat warm, landed lightly on Zhuyou’s wrist.

Zhuyou lowered her gaze and glanced at her. This would not do. They could not continue walking around with her clinging at every turn. How would she ever command her properly like this?

Yet, Changying held her wrist so naturally, as if she were already used to it. When Zhuyou hesitated for a moment, Changying even looked up at her with a questioning gaze.

Zhuyou pinched her wrist gently and then turned to the stunned inn servant. “Do you know which teahouse nearby has the liveliest storytelling sessions?”

The servant snapped out of his daze and pointed across the street. “Over there—Lianchun Teahouse. At noon, there’s a storyteller named Song, and he’s quite good.”

Zhuyou nodded and led Changying in the direction he had pointed.

Sure enough, Lianchun Teahouse stood tall, decorated with bright silk banners. On the high platform, a long-robed storyteller animatedly performed a martial tale. As he spoke, he gestured with his hands, mimicking the punches and strikes of the characters in his story.

An upstairs private room happened to be empty, so she took a seat and ordered a pot of mortal tea. She listened absentmindedly to the storyteller below.

Changying, unsure of what to make of it, leaned against the railing and peered down. She had never known that mortals had people who told stories like this. A thought crossed her mind—Zhuyou always made her read the words in the scrolls. Could it be that she wanted her to tell stories in this way?

She stared intently, thinking that it seemed rather difficult. After all, the storyteller’s voice rose and fell dramatically, and his expressions were particularly animated.

Zhuyou took a sip of tea and set the cup down. As expected, mortal tea was far inferior—slightly bitter and lacking freshness. 

She glanced at Changying and said, “Watch how they tell their stories. Then think back to how you used to read to me.”

This was Changying’s first time attempting it, but her expression remained indifferent and emotionless—it seemed impossible for her to truly learn. She furrowed her brows. Even if she was oblivious to worldly affairs, she could still understand the implication. Wasn’t this devil simply displeased with her way of speaking?

Yet Zhuyou never outright said it was bad. Instead, she simply lifted her chin and urged Changying to listen carefully and not be distracted.

***

While a devil and a dragon sat listening to a storyteller in the human world, the devil’s domain was far from peaceful.

The once bustling Changming Street was now empty, not a single devil in sight. More than half the stalls had been overturned, their trinkets scattered across the ground.

The ornate parasols hanging overhead were now crooked and tattered, several of the flames within them snuffed out. Somehow, specks of blood had even splattered across the parasol fabric.

Looking out across the scene, not a single devil’s shadow could be seen. Only the solemn sound of war drums and horns echoed through the vast desert, their chilling notes spreading to every corner of this land.

No one could have expected it—Heavenly Realm had actually sent troops!

Heavenly fire rained down suddenly. The very moment a spark landed on a rooftop in Changming Street, a thunderous boom erupted. A speck of flame, no larger than dust, instantly flared into a towering blaze. The flames coiled upward, licking at the parasols suspended in the air. The fabric blackened in an instant, burning until even the ribs of the parasols were reduced to nothing.

The inferno illuminated the dark Devil Realm, shining as brightly as a thousand lamps lit at once.

The fire surged outward from Changming Street, spreading rapidly until even the desert sands ignited. From within the flames, figures emerged—Heavenly soldiers, riding celestial horses, brandishing swords as they charged in all directions, their battle cries shaking the heavens and the earth.

Xuanjing and Luo Qing finally appeared, intercepting the advancing Heavenly troops midway.

Meanwhile, Jing Kexin had just emerged from the snake pit. The delicate features of her face contorted with fury, her usual smile nowhere to be found. A pale hand gripped a flower-patterned snake, her body covered in fresh bite marks left by countless snakes.

She had intended to go to the Grand Hall and demand an explanation, but just as she turned, she was met with the sight of a sky ablaze with divine fire—flames imbued with celestial power, unmistakably sent down by the Heavenly Realm!

When she turned back again, Changming Street had already been reduced to nothing but scorched earth. Smoke and ash clouded her vision—there were no more parasols, no more lively street vendors.

Hongqu had been hiding in the shadows for quite some time. Her true form remained within the Grand Hall, and after seeing that the doors had been closed for so long—giving the impression that no one was inside—she finally mustered the courage to push them open and sneaked her way in.

Inside, the hall was eerily silent. Even the phoenix fire that usually burned atop the gauzy canopy had vanished, leaving only the dim devil flames flickering within the wall-mounted lamps.

She hurriedly pulled her true form out of a flowerpot, clutching it tightly to her chest. The relief of regaining it was so overwhelming that she nearly wept.

Once she had safely stored it away, she tiptoed toward the exit, cautiously glancing back as she went, just in case that peafowl demon caught sight of her.

The moment she stepped outside, she ran into the Third Lord. Her devil aura was impossible to conceal, even tinting her own face with a faint trace of darkness.

Hongqu thought to herself, Why am I running into the Third Lord here? And why does she look like she’s about to devour someone alive?

Jing Kexin’s expression darkened. Why was this little devil the one emerging from the Grand Hall?

Before Jing Kexin could even speak, Hongqu seized the opportunity and reported, “Her Grace is no longer in the Grand Hall. The peafowl demon’s whereabouts are also unknown.”

Jing Kexin let out a cold, delicate laugh. “Unknown?”

The moment the words left her lips, a sharp pain suddenly throbbed at her temple. She whirled around and rushed toward Heart-Questioning Rock, but before she even got halfway there, Luo Qing’s voice rang through her mind—

The Crystal of Law is gone.

Jing Kexin’s breath caught. “Gone? How?!”

“I don’t know,” Luo Qing replied.

Jing Kexin’s mind immediately jumped to that divine offspring who had fallen into devilhood. She ground her teeth. “Could it be… her? How dare she!”

Hongqu, walking beside her, could not hear Luo Qing’s telepathic message. She only saw Jing Kexin’s expression shift dramatically and thought to herself, The only one who could make the Third Lord panic like this must be the one inside Heart-Questioning Rock.

The Third Lord had come rushing to the Grand Hall, only to leave just as quickly—surely, this had something to do with the divine offspring who had become a devil.

Hongqu was quick-witted and immediately added, “I’ve always said she was never truly on our side—she must have colluded with the Heavenly Realm.”

“Colluded?” Jing Kexin knew full well how much Zhuyou despised the Heavenly Realm. She lowered her gaze and let out a soft, sinister chuckle. “That’s unlikely. But she must have taken something.”

Upon hearing what the Second Lord had said, the Third Lord abandoned the idea of heading to Heart-Questioning Rock. With divine fire continuing to rain from the heavens like a bloody downpour, she hurried off to assist in the battle instead.

Luo Qing and Xuanjing were no easy opponents—especially Xuanjing. Despite being a devil, his origins were a mystery. Rumor had it that he had only fallen into devilhood after losing his master. Even after all these years, no one knew his true form.

It was said that this sword demon had been terrifyingly violent when the Devil Lord was still alive, to the point where even the Devil Lord himself could not wield him. If that was the case, just how powerful must his former master have been?

In the past, the devil’s domain had remained relatively peaceful, so Xuanjing rarely had reason to act. Most matters were handled by Luo Qing. But now that the Heavenly soldiers had come so suddenly, Luo Qing alone would not be enough to hold them off—forcing Xuanjing to finally make his move.

With a simple turn of his palm, an ancient sword materialized in his grasp. The blade measured four feet and eight inches in length, its scabbard’s tip an icy white, as if encased in frost. The hilt, in contrast, was black as ink, adorned with several razor-sharp scales that shimmered with a cold, piercing light. It was a striking weapon, yet no one could tell what kind of creature those scales had come from.

Xuanjing swung his sword once, unleashing a single arc of sword energy. In an instant, hundreds of Heavenly soldiers were sent staggering backward.

The bloodthirst he had long suppressed finally broke free, and his lips curled into a grin.

“I have been masterless for many years,” he murmured. “It has been far too long since I last tasted blood.”