Chapter 85

Fang Yun looked at Nunu in astonishment. This little guy was too much on his side, not even caring what it was and just telling him to keep it.

Fang Yun looked at An Chengcai with an embarrassed expression, but to his surprise, An Chengcai said, "Even the fox thinks this thing belongs to you. It seems my decision was right. Keep it well! Fang Yun, I hope you can strengthen your literary courage in the future, and write countless battle poems and good articles to rid our human race of demons!"

Fang Yun replied, "Since I am a human, and since I was born and raised here, I will use all my strength to protect the human race and defend this land!"

Fang Yun's words were resolute. When he first came to the Holy Yuan Continent, he didn't think much, only thinking about survival. But after personally experiencing the destruction of Lujia Town, seeing hundreds of soldiers killed, and watching his classmate being eaten alive by a demon turtle, and being moved by the layers of碧血丹心 (Bixue Danchen, a term for deep loyalty and sacrifice), he had already made up his mind.

"That's good. I can't do much, but now I can only do one last thing. The human race relies on you." An Chengcai suddenly smiled, as if he had put down all his burdens and responsibilities, his eyes incredibly clear.

Fang Yun was taken aback. At this moment, An Chengcai's expression was the same as those who used Bixue Danchen, with a calmness of "sacrificing one's life for righteousness."

"Brother An..."

An Chengcai waved his hand and said, "Let's go." Then he walked forward with large strides.

Fang Yun followed behind, puzzled and unable to understand why An Chengcai had suddenly changed. He was just a child scholar, and even if he sacrificed himself, he couldn't do much.

Nunu looked at An Chengcai, seemingly sighing.

The demon general of the snake clan, seeing that Chen Xibei and others were about to approach, suddenly consumed a large amount of blood and qi, spewing out a thick cloud of toxic mist.

County Magistrate He knew the power of this toxic mist and did not dare to block the way, having to step aside.

The demon general of the snake clan took the opportunity to break through County Magistrate He's blockade and rushed to the mountaintop. However, its body swayed, its massive snake body had lost its former agility, and it was covered with various wounds. It had lost the self-healing ability of a demon general.

Finally, the snake demon coiled its body and stopped at the mountaintop, looking at County Magistrate He with the sinister vertical pupils of a snake, its eyes filled with hatred. Behind it was a hundred-zhang-high cliff.

County Magistrate He said, "Demon snake, your blood and qi are insufficient. Even if you jump down, you won't escape our pursuit. Hand over the defiled text of the Great Scholar, and we will give you a quick death and bury you properly. We won't use it for any other purpose."

"This place is only a few dozen miles from the Yangtze River. I can easily escape into the Yangtze River." The demon snake's appearance was extremely terrifying, but its voice was that of a woman, very pleasant and melodious.

Chen Xibei, with an ancient sword of talent hanging in front of him, said as he walked, "When Scholar Li entered the Yangtze River, the fish demons had already said that you stole the treasures of the Dragon Palace. Once you enter the Yangtze River, you will surely die. Hand over the defiled text of the Great Scholar honestly, or once we get it, we will send you to the Yangtze River to be dealt with by the Dragon Palace! You should know their methods better than we do."

A hint of confusion and helplessness appeared in the demon snake's eyes.

At this moment, An Chengcai, who had been hiding, stepped out of the crowd. He held a sharp dagger in his hand and said as he walked, "Gentlemen, please give me half a moment. I will handle it."

Chen Xibei was about to scold this child scholar but noticed that the demon snake's eyes showed a look of panic. Surprised, he remained silent.

"Brother An!"

"What are you doing!"

An Chengcai ignored the shouts of the crowd and continued to walk towards the demon snake.

The demon snake, however, seemed to be extremely afraid of this child scholar, involuntarily retreating. Part of its snake body appeared over the cliff, and some pebbles were swept off the cliff by its body.

An Chengcai said as he walked, "Transform back to your human form. I don't like your current appearance."

The demon snake hesitated for a moment, then a white mist burst from its body. When the mist dissipated, a beautiful woman in a green robe appeared before everyone.

Many people were taken aback, not expecting this demon snake to be so beautiful.

Her eyes originally had a ring of blood, but it was concealed by her demon magic and slowly dissipated.

All the students who had contact with An Chengcai suddenly understood. The demon general had not fled to the Yangtze River but had escaped to Mi County, transformed into a woman, and was saved by An Chengcai. The two had developed feelings and became husband and wife. Later, the demon turtle somehow discovered the demon snake and chased it to Lujia Town. To avoid exposing her identity, the demon snake used demon magic to change her form during the battle in Lujia Town, so no one initially connected this demon snake with the demon general who had the defiled text of the Great Scholar.

"I... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have deceived you." This demon snake, who had killed countless people, now looked like a shy young wife, completely losing her ferocious appearance.

An Chengcai smiled slightly and said, "I don't blame you for deceiving me. Since I was willing to marry you, I don't care about being deceived. I am willing to do so." An Chengcai's right hand gripped the dagger tighter.

"Do you really not blame me?" the demon snake asked worriedly.

"Of course. Because I know that you were willing to marry me, truly treating me as your husband, and truly wanting to live a peaceful life with me."

The demon snake suddenly burst into tears, crying and saying, "Yes, I really want to be your wife, to grow old with you."

An Chengcai still smiled, nodded, but then suddenly shouted in anger, "I don't blame you for deceiving me, but why did you kill people! Why did you eat people! Did you kill all the people in the two villages in Qishui County! Did you eat Mr. Yang! Speak!"

The demon snake was stunned, her eyes filled with regret and despair, her head slightly lowered, and she silently cried.

"Speak! Why don't you speak! Why did you eat them! Why! They are living people like me, are you going to eat me too!"

The demon snake hurriedly said, "No... no, I won't eat you. I ate them because I was injured, I... I won't eat you, I would rather die."

"I know you won't eat me, but because you were injured, you could eat Mr. Yang, and you could eat my uncle. If my parents were still alive, you could eat them. If you had children, would you eat them too?" An Chengcai took a step closer to the demon snake.

The demon snake covered her face with her hands, just crying, unable to say a word.

An Chengcai walked to the demon snake, pressed the dagger against her left chest, and looked into her eyes, saying, "I have many flaws. I even married a demon snake, a demon snake that eats people, a demon snake that ate my teacher. I don't regret it, I still don't regret it. But, I am a scholar! Since you eat people, I must kill you!"

An Chengcai, tears streaming down his face, slowly stabbed the dagger into the demon snake's heart. Blood flowed from the wound, staining her dress red.

The demon snake did not dodge, just cried silently, looking at An Chengcai silently.

An Chengcai said slowly, "My lady, if there is a next life, if we are both demons or both humans, will you marry me?"

"I will! Will you marry me?" the demon snake asked.

"I will." An Chengcai said firmly.

"Sorry, I won't eat people anymore, I won't eat people anymore. Can you forgive me?" the demon snake asked softly.

An Chengcai smiled bitterly and said, "What about the lives of those hundreds of villagers? What about the lives of those hundreds of soldiers? I don't have the right to forgive you on behalf of the dead, nor can I forgive you on behalf of their families! If I forgive you, can those people come back to life! Some sins cannot be forgiven, they can only be repaid with blood and life!"

"Sorry... sorry..." the demon snake kept repeating the same words, tears and blood streaming down her face.

An Chengcai reached out to caress the demon snake's face, saying softly, "I am human, you are a demon. Since you eat people, I must kill you. But you are also my wife, so I will die with you."

An Chengcai finished speaking, suddenly pulled the dagger out of the demon snake's body, and stabbed it into his own heart.

"Thud!"

An Chengcai's blood splattered the demon snake's face.

"Husband!" the demon snake let out a heart-wrenching scream.

An Chengcai's face was pale, tears streaming down, and he said softly, "My lady, if you are still a demon in the next life, don't eat people."

"I won't eat, I won't eat people anymore..." the demon snake wailed.

"Yes, let's be husband and wife in the next life." An Chengcai slowly closed his eyes.

The demon snake held An Chengcai's body and cried out loud.

Not far away, many people lowered their heads, wiping their tears with their sleeves.

Nunu cried, wiping her tears with her paws.

After a long time, the demon snake, holding An Chengcai's body, stood up unsteadily and bowed to the crowd.

"Sorry, I won't eat people anymore." Then the demon snake, holding An Chengcai's body, jumped off the cliff.

The night sky was silent.

After a long time, a faint sound came from the bottom of the cliff.

Everyone knew the demon snake could not survive either.

County Magistrate He said softly, "I will go down and bury them." Then, using the power of a swift poem, he glided down the mountain.

Everyone sighed, none of them expecting the situation to turn out this way.

"What a sigh."

"He is a scholar." Chen Xibei said solemnly.

The little fox was still crying in Fang Yun's arms. Fang Yun stroked its head, comforting it softly.

After a long time, the little fox raised its head, tears in its eyes, covering its mouth with its paws.

Fang Yun smiled and said, "I know you won't eat people."

The little fox nodded vigorously.

"Wait here for the Dean. We will go and handle the demon corpses." Chen Xibei said.

A few old soldiers walked and whispered to each other.

"Damn, that scholar was too pitiful! He shouldn't have died with that demon woman! Human lives are more valuable than demon lives!"

"He did the right thing. Demons kill people, we must kill them! We humans are the masters of the Holy Yuan Continent!"

"Alas, my cousin was killed by that demon turtle! How hateful!"

Some old soldiers collected the bodies of their comrades, while others dismembered the valuable demon corpses, taking out useful parts and processing them, especially the body of the demon turtle, which required a scholar-soldier to handle personally.

Fang Yun watched the old soldiers work quietly. An Chengcai had made him understand the meaning of killing demons.

"My sword will not be put down."

Not long after, a white cloud raced across the sky, and the figure of Scholar Li Wenyi appeared in everyone's view.

(End of the page)