Volume 6: Chaos Gives Birth to Demons Chapter 7: The Secret of the Demon Cult (Part 1)
It wasn't until dawn broke that Xuan Xuan slowly opened her listless large eyes.
"Xiao Bai, my whole body hurts," Xuan Xuan said, her eyes brimming with tears.
Dugu Baitian felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. He hadn't expected the usually troublesome little enchantress to have such a vulnerable side, appearing utterly pitiable. This was probably the first time the young girl had suffered a setback, her delicate, girlish demeanor fully revealed.
"There, there, don't cry. Your Baitian哥哥 will definitely avenge you. I'll definitely beat that so-called Emperor realm expert until he's utterly defeated."
"Hehe…" Xuan Xuan couldn't help but laugh, then immediately put on a stern face. "Who are you calling 哥哥? You're my follower." As she spoke, she waved her small fist at him.
Dugu Baitian smiled wryly. Xuan Xuan, who had just been acting like a delicate young lady, had reverted to her little enchantress self in just a short moment.
"Whether it's 哥哥 or follower, right now you have to listen to me. Close your eyes and rest for a while. I'll have someone prepare some tonics for you. Your body is too weak." As he spoke, he helped the little enchantress lie down slowly on the bed.
Xuan Xuan glared at him a few times, lay there puffing her cheeks in anger, but soon fell fast asleep.
Dugu Baitian called the two women attending him from the guest room. First, he instructed them not to disclose anything about Xuan Xuan, then warned them not to step beyond the courtyard half a step.
The two women were initially somewhat afraid, but gradually calmed down, nodding repeatedly in agreement.
Finally, Dugu Baitian instructed them to prepare some nourishing items. Shortly after, the two women brought up a bowl of ginseng soup.
Dugu Baitian nodded inwardly. Since they had such potent tonics here, Xuan Xuan's injuries should recover fairly quickly.
"Xuan Xuan, wake up."
"Stop making noise, I'm dead tired," the little enchantress said lazily, turning over.
"Xuan Xuan, eat something first."
"Not eating, not eating, stop bothering me." Xuan Xuan pulled the quilt over her head.
"Hehe…" Looking at the little enchantress acting like a child, Dugu Baitian couldn't help but laugh. "If you don't get up, I'm going to pull your quilt off."
"You wouldn't dare!" The little enchantress immediately poked her head out.
"Quick, drink this bowl of ginseng soup. Your injuries will recover soon."
Xuan Xuan, now awake, gradually showed a hint of a smile on her face. "Oh, so you have a conscience after all, thinking so thoughtfully."
When Xuan Xuan fell deeply asleep again, Dugu Baitian left the room. He began wandering purposefully within the Heavenly Demon Valley, searching for medicinal herbs to treat the little enchantress's injuries. He wasn't worried about leaving her alone in the room; he believed even if members of the Demon Cult discovered Xuan Xuan's whereabouts, they wouldn't dare do anything to her because, at this moment, the little enchantress was his guest, Dugu Baitian's. Of course, he still hoped the Demon Cult members wouldn't discover Xuan Xuan.
Suddenly, Dugu Baitian spotted a familiar figure in the Heavenly Demon Valley. The figure flashed past the front of a small courtyard and disappeared.
"That damned rabbit Hua Yunfei! Wearing... wearing women's clothes!?" He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Was I seeing things?" When he looked again, the figure had already entered the courtyard.
"It can't be my eyes playing tricks on me. Gods! Demons! It can't really be that damned rabbit, can it? How did this guy end up in the Demon Cult's holy land, the Heavenly Demon Valley? And he's wearing women's clothes, that pervert!"
"Could it be that the righteous path has started dealing with the Demon Cult, and this damned rabbit just infiltrated?" Dugu Baitian wondered silently, but felt it was unlikely.
Another terrifying thought surfaced in his mind. "Could it be that damned rabbit was originally a member of the Demon Cult, hiding all along in the Martial Arts Sacred Land as a mole?" This thought startled him greatly. If that were true, then the situation was serious. The Five Great Sacred Lands were always extremely cautious when selecting disciples, often taking them in as infants to raise on their mountains. If so, didn't that mean the Demon Cult had started scheming against those so-called righteous path figures over a decade ago?
"The Demon Cult's cunning runs too deep! That damned rabbit must be the child of an important figure in the Demon Cult. Right! Child... he... she is a woman!" Thinking of this, Dugu Baitian was greatly shocked.
"This is just too absurd. That disgusting man is actually a woman? Heavens! I should have thought of it earlier. What man would be so perverted? Who said having an Adam's apple necessarily means one is a man? This guy's acting talent is simply too great. Knowing her own stunning beauty made it hard to disguise as a man, she deliberately acted affected and perverted. You damned rabbit, you're too cunning."
Dugu Baitian felt his heart race from his own bold conjecture. He carefully recalled Hua Yunfei's actions and became increasingly convinced she was a member of the Demon Cult; otherwise, she wouldn't have helped him repeatedly.
"This damned Demon Cult's ambition is truly immense, actually extending its claws directly into the righteous path's Martial Arts Sacred Lands. I wonder if only Misty Rain Pavilion has been infiltrated, or if all the Sacred Lands have already been penetrated."
Simultaneously, he remembered the unnamed eldest young master of the南宫世家. He must be a hidden piece placed by the南宫世家 on Misty Peak. It was he who had sent word to the南宫 family, revealing the secret of Dugu Baitian's past demonic transformation.
"It seems the Five Great Sacred Lands are truly in decline, being infiltrated by so many external forces yet remaining completely unaware. The peak of prosperity precedes decline!"
"Screw them all. You're all a bunch of scoundrels anyway. Fight amongst yourselves. I'll happily sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight." Dugu Baitian thought maliciously. He gathered some herbs for treating internal injuries within the Heavenly Demon Valley and hurried back to his residence.
Looking at the sleeping Xuan Xuan, Dugu Baitian felt waves of warmth in his heart. At a time when everyone in the world was his enemy, only she was constantly helping him in the shadows.
Dugu Baitian called the two women attending him and said, "You two, take good care of her. Brew these herbs and feed them to her when she wakes up."
"Yes, Young Master."
"I need to go out for a bit. If someone discovers her traces and investigates here, tell the visitor that this young lady is my, Dugu Baitian's, best friend. If anyone dares to touch a single hair on her head, I, Dugu Baitian, will fight them to the death. And they shouldn't even think about me helping to lift the seal anymore."
After leaving the room, Dugu Baitian headed straight for the quiet small courtyard where he had earlier spotted Hua Yunfei.
It was a solitary courtyard with no other buildings around it. Outside the courtyard was a large garden, the scent of flowers wafting towards him. He used the Divine Void Step, arriving noiselessly outside the courtyard and slipping into a flower bed. From within the flowers, he observed the surroundings and finally determined that the owner of this place held an extraordinary status. It seemed to be the residence of high-ranking members of the Demon Cult, as there were very few people moving about, and no one dared to make loud noises here.
Dugu Baitian's figure drifted into the courtyard like a wisp of smoke. He dodged behind a trellis of flowering vines and carefully observed the courtyard.
In the courtyard was a small pond. The water's surface was covered with lotus leaves like jade plates, dotted with countless pink lotus flowers. A lightly made-up woman sat barefoot by the pond, her jade-like feet gently swaying in the water. Her expression was serene, possessing an indescribable poetic beauty.
Dugu Baitian sighed inwardly, "So beautiful!"