"Just you and me? Or should we wait a bit longer." Qi Yu wasn't very familiar with Feng Mian and felt it would be awkward to go together.
It would be better to have more people go.
Feng Mian looked at Qi Yu, "Alright, but they're all tired and should wake up very late. Evil energy fears sunlight the most. It should be easier to catch them now."
"I didn't expect you to have such a sense of justice," Qi Yu teased Feng Mian, but ultimately, due to their distant relationship, she didn't respond to his statement.
Feng Mian wasn't in a hurry. Seeing Qi Yu not engaging, he sat quietly beside her and waited.
After an unknown amount of time.
Ming Lou walked over slowly, his hands behind his head.
He saw Qi Yu and greeted her before speaking to Feng Mian.
Feng Mian smiled at Ming Lou and brought up the matter of going to Wu Family Village.
Upon hearing this, Ming Lou immediately became excited and ran to call Feng Mingqi and Si Qing.
The group of them headed to Wu Family Village, as Feng Mian had mentioned.
On the way.
Feng Mian flew beside Feng Mingqi on his sword. The atmosphere was a bit heavy, and neither of them spoke.
Qi Yu had previously thought Feng Mian was just quiet, but after testing it, she realized the atmosphere only became so strange when Feng Mian and Feng Mingqi were together, which made her feel puzzled.
Si Qing whispered in Qi Yu's ear, "It seems that in the hundreds of years you were away, Feng Mian and Feng Mingqi had many conflicts over the position of Demon Lord."
"Really?" Qi Yu's expression was surprised, but on reflection, Feng Mian was the eldest son of the Demon Clan, yet the position of Demon Lord fell to Feng Mingqi, the second son. This was indeed a bit strange. "Then why did Mother choose Feng Mingqi for the Demon Lord position? Did Mother tell you?"
"I've heard some things, but not very detailed," Si Qing whispered, "I heard it was because Feng Mian... well... made a mistake."
"Mother was furious when she found out, and then he lost his chance at the Demon Lord position."
Qi Yu raised an eyebrow.
Although she couldn't figure out the details, it was likely not a small matter.
As they spoke, they had already flown above Wu Family Village.
Qi Yu's expression tensed as she looked at the village below, completely enveloped by dense evil energy.
This place was indeed not right.
Logically, a village with so many people should be bustling with life at sunrise.
But Wu Family Village remained lifeless even at sunrise, and it was shrouded in evil energy everywhere.
If one were to look inside the village, it might seem merely desolate, but from above, it was very obvious.
"How strange, is this evil energy related to that faceless man?" Ming Lou squatted on his sword and peered down. "Could this person be hiding in the village?"
"Wu Family Village isn't wealthy. Because it's by the sea, they usually make a living by fishing, so there are more fishermen here," Qi Yu couldn't figure it out either. "If the faceless man was looking for a new body or to absorb human yang energy and evil thoughts, shouldn't he have gone to the capital? Why come to such a remote place?"
Feng Mingqi thought for a moment, "Perhaps it's because this place is easier to hide in. After all, the capital has many people, but the energy is too strong, and they wouldn't have a place to hide."
Qi Yu was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense.
Si Qing descended directly on auspicious clouds, standing in the center of Wu Family Village.
He carried the aura of slaughter from the Heavenly Realm's God of War and the auspicious aura of a Divine Venerable. Upon entering Wu Family Village, the evil energy there dissipated on its own.
Si Qing walked around inside first and found nothing unusual.
Seeing this, Qi Yu and the others also put away their magical artifacts and entered Wu Family Village.
Si Qing walked over from the side and looked at Qi Yu, "Brother, the people in this Wu Family Village are all expressionless, but there's no evil energy on ordinary humans. It seems this evil energy is drifting from somewhere, but I've checked the wells in Wu Family Village, and they're fine. Some people keep dogs in their yards, and the dogs are also fine."
"In other words, rather than Wu Family Village being plagued by evil energy, it's more like this evil energy is a form of illusion," Qi Yu voiced her doubt.
Ming Lou pondered, "The wells in the village are fine, and the dogs aren't barking wildly. These few households seem normal, just expressionless... If someone deliberately created this mass of evil energy as a diversion, what are they trying to hide?"
Qi Yu wasn't particularly skilled at solving cases, so she just shook her head and then raised her hand to the sky, gathering all the evil energy in Wu Family Village into her palm.
Soon, the mass of evil energy condensed into a large clump, resembling purple smoke.
Feng Mian curled his lips from the side, looking at the evil energy in Qi Yu's hand, and quietly counted down in his heart, "3, 2, 1..."
As the last number was counted.
The evil energy, as if it had eyes, lunged at Qi Yu.
Feng Mingqi, Si Qing, and Ming Lou's expressions changed drastically, and they all cried out in surprise.
Unexpectedly, in the next moment, Qi Yu became like a phantom shadow, causing the evil energy to miss.
The scenery around them shifted like clouds and wind. The original Wu Family Village disappeared, replaced by a sky full of frost and snow, a biting cold wind, and surrounding icebergs.
Qi Yu's phantom shadow also vanished without a trace.
"Where is this place?" Ming Lou was instantly dumbfounded, looking around in confusion.
During this time, Feng Mian remained very calm, standing beside them without speaking or moving around.
Feng Mingqi glanced at Feng Mian.
Si Qing frowned and suddenly raised his hand, reaching towards the sky.
Feng Mingqi and Ming Lou then noticed that at the highest point in the sky, two figures were confronting each other.
One was a purple mist, and in the center of the mist stood the faceless man.
Opposite him was a slender figure radiating a chilling aura. The owner of the figure had pure silver hair fluttering in the cold wind, and a face with a detached expression.
It was Qi Yu, who had suddenly disappeared.
"I never expected that even in my current state, someone would want to possess me," Qi Yu said, looking up at the figure hidden by the dense evil energy opposite her. "Evil Ancestor, since you've already made a move against me, why continue to hide? Why not be straightforward and come out for a good chat?"
This faceless man was indeed the ancient evil god sealed by the previous Heavenly Emperor tens of thousands of years ago.
The master behind the "fake Yu Ge Pavilion Master" they encountered on Jade Mountain earlier, their guess was correct, was this Evil Ancestor.
"You discovered me as soon as you entered Wu Family Village?" the Evil Ancestor's voice was filled with disbelief. "How is that possible? Unless you never trusted Feng Mian from the beginning."
Feng Mingqi and Si Qing both looked in Feng Mian's direction.
Si Qing looked at Feng Mian, somewhat surprised.
Ming Lou looked incredulous, "Feng Mian? What do you mean? Why would this evil god mention Feng Mian? Feng Mian, you... you're actually on the side of the evil god?"
Feng Mian remained silent.
Suddenly, he flashed and appeared beside the Evil Ancestor.
Si Qing and Ming Lou gripped the hilts of their spears and swords. Feng Mingqi suddenly spoke:
"Hundreds of years ago, the position of Demon Clan Crown Prince should have belonged to Big Brother. Later, Mother discovered that Big Brother had contact with the Evil Ancestor, who had not yet broken free from his seal."
"Mother was furious and, in a fit of rage, crippled Big Brother's cultivation and locked him in the Demon Cave. I then became the Demon Clan Crown Prince."
"I thought Big Brother had long since cut ties with the Evil Ancestor, but I didn't expect him to... have maintained contact with the Evil Ancestor all along."
Feng Mingqi's words made Si Qing and Ming Lou immediately understand why the relationship between Feng Mian and Feng Mingqi was so strained.
So that was the problem.
Hearing Feng Mingqi's words, and combining it with what Si Qing had told her on the road, Qi Yu understood a bit more, but her eyes on the Evil Ancestor remained as cold and emotionless as ever.
"It's not that I suspected Feng Mian from the beginning. It's just that on the way to Wu Family Village, I found his aura to be quite comfortable, so I kept an extra eye out."
Ever since she merged with the Cold Hell, every time she encountered beautiful things, her closest friends, and people who liked her, she would experience the pain of her heart shattering.
But Feng Mian didn't give her that feeling.
His aura felt familiar and comfortable. At first, she thought it was because of the demonic energy on him. Later, when she entered Wu Family Village, she realized that the comfortable aura from Feng Mian likely originated from evil energy.
"Never mind, none of this is important," the Evil Ancestor stared into Qi Yu's eyes. "Ice Demon, you have now reached the cultivation of half a tenth heaven. But this Cold Hell has merged with you. Your existence relies on the evil thoughts of the Three Realms. In the end, we are of the same origin."
"Since that's the case, why don't we jointly control a body and command all the evil thoughts and malevolent intentions in the Three Realms? Then, righteousness will not prevail over evil, and the world will be ruled by us! Wouldn't that be delightful!? Hahaha!"
"Listening to you, it does sound delightful," Qi Yu sat cross-legged in mid-air. "But I don't like to share, what should I do?"
"Since we can't come to an agreement, then don't blame me for being impolite!" the Evil Ancestor said, letting out a wild laugh. The evil energy around him grew more and more, and his influence spread, occupying more than half of the sky.
That evil energy descended like arrows, falling in swarms from the sky, fiercely striking at Qi Yu.
"Sister... Brother!" Si Qing manifested his divine form, holding his spear, and flashed forward, about to help.
"I'm fine. You take Feng Mingqi and Ming Lou and hide," Qi Yu raised her hand and set up a barrier just before Si Qing rushed over. Then, with a single strike, she shattered the incoming evil energy with unstoppable force.
"You..." the Evil Ancestor was somewhat shocked. He had calculated the power of his attack. Logically, in a magical confrontation, at the very least, it should have been a stalemate with Qi Yu, not so easily broken by her.
"Evil Ancestor, you actually said one thing wrong just now," Qi Yu looked up, her voice faint. "My cultivation is not half a tenth heaven. As of yesterday, my cultivation has already reached tenth heaven."