Chapter 59

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Chapter 59: Purgatory Reunion (XI)

Burst brains mixed with dirty blood and flowed across the floor, filling the air with the disgusting scent of blood.

Ning Zhou was standing in the pool of blood, his dull expression unchanging.

He hadn’t actually done anything. What he did was to tear Mrs Kathleen’s enchantment with the Sword of Judgment, and then stand in the same place and shock this group of lower demons with his influence. However, under the oppressive feeling of terror, the demonic power in this group of lower demons became disordered, and the lower demons who couldn’t control their demonic power had their heads blow up one after another like inflated balloons.

Bodies with destroyed heads fell to the ground, and blood was still streaming from the incomplete skulls. The brains and blood splashed everywhere on the ground, on the walls, and on the sofa, making this originally neat reception room like a slaughterhouse.

Mrs Kathleen was still kneeling on the ground, shivering and afraid to look up at all. Now she only hoped to save her life.

This bloody scene shocked Qi Leren.

Although he had confidence before and he felt that Ning Zhou should be able to handle this barrier, he had not expected…

Standing in the pool of blood, Ning Zhou was like a Devil King who had just come into this world. His eyes emptily looked ahead, but his sight seemed to have penetrated the wall and looked toward an unknown place. He never said a word, and remained as silent as ever. This bloody silence left a trace of gloom on his handsome face, which also made Qi Leren keenly capture his emotion—Ning Zhou was not happy.

Even his heart was in pain.

This kind of power was a kind of torture for him.

Even if he was delivering justice with the evil power, he was not happy. Because this kind of power perpetually lured him into the abyss of sin.

“Let’s go and hand her over to the people from the Courthouse,” Qi Leren whispered, stepping forward and touching Ning Zhou’s arm.

Ning Zhou recovered from his long silence and nodded his head.

Their entire journey back was silent. Qi Leren contacted Celia, the Trial Court’s contact person in Ant City. Celia brought people to take away Mrs Kathleen and her companions, and asked about the informant who had come to investigate before. Fortunately, this informant was still alive, but he was locked in a private prison and had suffered a lot of injustices.

The gambler who had claimed to have seen the Illusionist was dead, and died because of his high gambling debts. As Qi Leren and Ning Zhou had seen in this underground casino, it was even worse than that. All the useful parts of his body were removed, and even the blood was drained clean.

So for the time being, they couldn’t figure out why the Illusionist had come here.

After returning to the Court’s stronghold in the Underground Ant City, Qi Leren talked with the contact Celia about the current situation, intending to take Ning Zhou back to the Village of Dusk after confirming the Illusionist’s safety.

Under the working conditions, the contact Celia was a very capable woman, who worked in perfect order and could handle the subsequent troubles of this underground casino despite having a shortage in manpower. Although she was obviously curious about the relationship between Qi Leren and Ning Zhou, she didn’t ask a word about the things she shouldn’t ask, and turned a blind eye to the two people holding hands all the time.

“This underground casino is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Underground Ant City’s filth. Gambling, prostitution, and drugs in the lower city form a huge interest chain, and there are some higher demons standing behind them. For them, the humans and lower demons here are just slaves without brands.” Celia frowned in disgust. “This Dragon Ant Queen is too careless in managing this place.”

“What are these people thinking when they’re gambling?” Qi Leren couldn’t understand it at all.

“They’re dominated by greedy desires and… greedy witches.” Celia said, “As far as I know, the behind-the-scenes owners of most underground casinos here are Witches of Greed, just as the owners of brothels are mostly Witches of Lust, and this is also the arena where they compete for power.”

Qi Leren seems to understand, but his understanding of “forces” had not jumped out of the concept that ordinary human beings could grasp. Even though he had broken his shell and even touched a higher level, he had not condensed a half-field after all, and he still had little knowledge of his “rebirth” force. When things here were over, he would have to ask Chen Baiqi and the Prophet when he returned to the Village of Dusk.

Celia added, “The letter of request has been sent, but I’m afraid it will be another week until the Court replies.”

“All right, let’s wait another week.” Qi Leren thought about the Illusionist’s safety and decided to stay for one more week. Anyway, now that Ning Zhou had been found, he wasn’t in a hurry.

It was settled. Celia skillfully commanded the staff to interrogate Mrs Kathleen. Sitting on the sofa, Qi Leren suddenly thought of something: “Remember to ask her where the subordinate who came to the Underground Ant City with her is now.”

Qi Leren had a subtle intuition that he couldn’t speak of; it was always right to be vigilant.

Celia looked through Mrs Kathleen’s information. “Okay, I’ll have this added to the interrogation. Take a rest first. I’ve prepared the room for you.”

The room was a private suite with two bedrooms separated by a wall. The shared living room also had a beautiful small terrace where you can see the Underground Ant City’s underground river. Judging from the arrangement of the room, the Ant City’s contact person was a very careful and cautious person, and has a smooth integrity.

Qi Leren’s spirit had been overloaded recently, but the compulsory monthly task had been put off until it couldn’t be put off any longer. So after dinner, he greeted Ning Zhou and went to do this month’s compulsory task—for a person who has already glimpsed his original force, the compulsory task of a novice was really too simple to mention.

It was only ten o'clock in the evening after completing this month’s compulsory task. Qi Leren, who was exhausted physically and mentally, thought he could have a good night’s sleep. However, he was haunted by nightmares, and various death scenes appeared in his dreams over and over again, forcing him to relive the tragic deaths again and again. After experiencing the Star Death Reality Show copy, he had experienced some new ways of dying. The horrible laser net was really a psychological shadow, and finally there was the fall into the deep glacier when he had fought Leviathan, which worsened how horrifying his nightmares were.

Amidst the weightlessness of the fall and the severe pain of his nerves, Qi Leren suddenly sat up from the bed and gasped. When he came to, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and his temples were still throbbing with the same frequency as his heartbeat, bringing a spasm of pain each time.

Qi Leren took the water cup at the head of the bed and drank half a cup of cold water, which made him calm down from his extreme panic.

It’s no use. I’m going to lose sleep again.

Qi Leren took out the sleeping pills he had brought with him, but the pills stopped before they reached his mouth.

It wasn’t a good thing to sleep by taking medicine, so he shouldn’t do it unless he had to. Qi Leren swallowed the temptation of taking medicine and getting a good night’s sleep, got out of bed in exhaustion, and prepared to go to the balcony to smoke, relieve his mood, and slowly adjust himself to sleep.

Opening the bedroom door, ahead of him was the living room with no lights on, and beyond the living room was the open terrace. There was a figure standing behind the curtains blown by the night wind, standing on the terrace with his back to him.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Ning Zhou looked back and met Qi Leren’s eyes.

Both of them didn’t speak. In this gentle evening breeze, the unexpected encounter in the middle of the night was as beautiful as an otherworldly dream.

Qi Leren trotted over and stood beside Ning Zhou, watching the underground river in the distance. There were several boats with lights floating on the river’s calm waves, and the surrounding streets were lit with streetlights. Sparse pedestrians walked along them, humans and demons alike. They walked silently on their own roads and were indifferent to everything around them.

But Qi Leren cared. He thought of the silent man beside him, and he could feel his inner unrest.

“Let’s talk,” Qi Leren said to him.

“Talk about what?” Ning Zhou asked him.

“Anything will do.” After Qi Leren finished saying this, he felt that he had not fulfilled his responsibility to guide the conversation, and started a temporary topic. “After I was resurrected, I saw your mother, Ms. Maria.”

Seeing Ning Zhou’s eyes focus, Qi Leren considered his words and said: “Later, I happened to learn some things about her and the Devil of Destruction… Speaking of which, had she never mentioned it to you before?”

Ning Zhou shook his head: “She chose to send me to Neverland, so that I wouldn’t find out.”

Perhaps the Holy Nun had already foreseen such a cruel possibility, that one day she and the Destroyer’s child would follow the same path as his father, so she cut off this path from the beginning and guided him to condense a half-field that would incompatible with his original force by way of the Holy See. If there hadn’t been the accident of meeting Qi Leren, Ning Zhou would have walked on the clouds all his life, and he would have fought with demons and finished his life with inner peace and contentment.

“She didn’t really hate him,” Ning Zhou said.

Qi Leren could vaguely feel it.

“She said that he was a lost man.” Ning Zhou watched the distant lights, which were reflected in his eyes. The ethereal flickering lights became spirited in his beautiful eyes. The light generated from pain and despair lit up his soul.

Qi Leren was almost stunned. He suddenly wanted to kiss his beautiful blue eyes.

“Maybe one day, I will become lost like him, and step by step go down the path of destruction. If that day comes… it will be enough for me alone to be in Hell,” Ning Zhou said quietly. At this moment, he suddenly felt something called “fate”, which was once cruel, and would only become even crueler.

Qi Leren, who was in a daze, asked him, “What about me?”

Ning Zhou looked at him and whispered, “I hope you can always stand in the sun.”

Qi Leren’s throat tightened, and the lights in front of him suddenly blurred. Always, this person always tried every means to protect him and the world. He was too gentle and kind. The world treated him so cruelly, but he didn’t know what resentment was and didn’t want to lash out. Even if one day he fell into Hell, he didn’t want to take anyone with him, even the one he loved.

He would rather bear the pain and loneliness alone, and go to ruin silently.

“Then I’ll tell you, I don’t want to,” Qi Leren choked up and said.

As Ning Zhou was stunned, Qi Leren hugged him.

“You listen up: I don’t care if you are a human being or a demon, or if your force is destruction or something else. I don’t care if I stand in the sun. Only you, Ning Zhou, only you are something I must not lose, do you understand?”

Ning Zhou didn’t answer. He hesitated, wrapped his arms around Qi Leren gently and carefully, and felt the people in his arms embrace him harder, so he hugged him too.

It was like holding the only salvation in the world.

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