zero o'clock

【A Corner of Truth】

"Nine Tails, you are too arrogant!"

The Nightmare roared angrily, and raised its pale arms to the side.

At that moment, as if affected by Nightmare's monstrous anger, the second stage of the dream was thunder and lightning, the clouds rolled, and the cold rain poured down, as if the whole world was shaken in an extremely unstable state.

Qi Jingyu stood tall, the coercion of high-level monsters blocked the rain, and the fox-fur cloak wasn't even half-stained with water vapor.Under the hood, the man's delicate eye feathers drooped slightly to cover the pair of freezing amber eyes. He quietly watched the condescending Nightmare with a look of death, his thin lips parted slightly, He calmly said calmly: "You must know that since ancient times, there has been no lack of arrogant people in this world. I, the nine-tailed demon fox, have cultivated for more than three thousand years. Even Chong Ye, one of the four spirits, has no choice but to avoid me three times. How many points, if this deity is not arrogant, how many people are qualified to be arrogant?!"

Nightmare sneered disdainfully when he heard the words, and sneered: "Don't think I don't know, now you only have one soul in your body, even if you are the leader of monsters, with only this soul protecting your body, you can't be a thousand-year-old soul. The name of the nine-tailed demon fox who was a disaster before. Qi Jingyu, it was you who degenerated yourself into an ordinary little demon with your own hands, and had to hide in a teahouse in the world, and lived a life no different from that mortal. "

While speaking, the black air slowly gathered in her palm, rolled and stretched.

Immediately after the sound of sharp blades being released, the trident halberd made by Ugin seemed to emerge from the mist, and the terrifying air wave dissipated in an instant. Nightmare pulled out the trident and twisted in midair Turning around, the robe fluttered, and she held the halberd in both hands, leaned down without hesitation, and shot Qi Jingyu brazenly.

Qi Jingyu stood motionless on the spot, neither refusing the challenge nor showing any intention of avoiding it.

"You're right. In recent years, this deity has indeed been called a demon fox." The corners of Qi Jingyu's mouth curled up, revealing a sneering smile that was not obvious, "But how do you know that this deity is incompetent, rather than unwilling?"

As the final sound fell, the beast tails danced behind Qi Jingyu, and the huge nine-tailed fox soul showed a pearl-colored translucent figure, as if coveting its prey, slightly narrowing its beast eyes that had dissipated green light.

The moment their eyes met, the narrow vertical pupils of the nine-tailed fox soul suddenly tightened.

Nightmare only felt her heart tremble, as if something sharp had penetrated into the depths of her soul, an indescribable sense of fear lingered on her back, and her long-trained sensitive senses sensed the danger, and she subconsciously wanted to get out Retreat temporarily, but the attack has reached this point and there is no turning back.The man in front of him remained motionless, but that smiling and warm face became more ferocious and terrifying the more he looked at it.

The sharp edge of the trident flashed with cold light, and it rushed towards Qi Jingyu in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the sharp bird's cry sounded, and the Chongming bird's wingspan spread out and set off a strong wind, disturbing the heavy rain in Erchong's dream.

The shadow shrouded it, the Nightmare's face turned pale, and he could no longer care about the man in front of him, so he couldn't help but look up in fear.

The huge bird body of the Chongming Bird covered the sky, and a blurry figure leaped down from the bird's back in the chaos, joining the battle in an instant. Qi Jingyu stopped half an inch before his heart.

Terrifying force came along the body of the halberd, which shattered the tiger's mouth. Nightmare's face turned pale from the pain, staring blankly at the rain-drenched beautiful profile of the man.

"Hey, our teacher has apprentices, so it seems inappropriate for you to speak so arrogantly that he can't do it?"

The soft black hair covered the eyebrows and eyes, water droplets gathered and slid down the cheeks, the eyelashes were raised, Li Huan's narrow eyes were slightly narrowed, and the light in his eyes turned to look sideways at the panic-stricken demon.

His voice fell, and Tang Dao's right hand, which was clenched tightly, flipped violently, and Tang Dao was just a touch of the state of holding the trident tightly.The black blood spurted out and splashed at the feet of the three of them. The Nightmare screamed uncontrollably, and the hem of the fluttering skirt turned into black air, and it suddenly pulled back and fled.

Li Huan raised his hand to wipe off the blood from his cheeks, lowered his head and licked it expressionlessly, and raised his head again, the eyes that were originally dark were radiant, as if after a bloodbath, as if they would bleed in the next moment.

"So the devil's blood tastes like this." He licked his lips insatiably, looked at the Nightmare with gentle and cruel eyes, and said with a half-smile, "It seems that after you are dealt with, even the corpses will not be wasted. It's over." After finishing speaking, Tang Dao straightened his body, and Li Huan stepped on his feet, rubbing his body and following in an instant.

Nightmare was defeated by a sneak attack, knowing that he couldn't attack by force, he immediately fled into the air with the black energy.

Just at this time, the Chongming bird went back and forth, gliding along the ground at low altitude.Holding a knife in both hands, Li Huan jumped onto the bird's back, and the Chongming bird flew up from the ground with wings flapping, carrying him in pursuit of the Nightmare.

Nightmare saw that he could not get any benefit from one against two, so he put his index finger against his lower lip and whistled long.Upon being summoned, the monsters scattered in every corner of the double dreamland roared in unison, brandishing their giant axes and rushing towards Qi Jingyu who was calmly watching the battle.

Before those monsters got close, a full-grown gray wolf appeared in an instant, blocked Qi Jingyu, opened its bloody mouth and directly bit the neck of the nearest monster, and the monster rushed over from another direction to protect him. behind.Seeing this, Qi Jingyu couldn't help smiling hurtfully in his cold eyes, and looked at the man who came late with a little surprise.

"I thought you'd rather see me being attacked."

Xing Yi manipulated the three puppets at the same time, he only glanced at him lightly, and said indifferently: "You guessed right, if Li Huan is not here, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."

Qi Jingyu smiled and said, "That's really thanks to my little apprentice." Speaking of this, he moved his gaze down to the densely packed lead wires connected to the other's fingers, and couldn't help being a little curious, "How many puppets can you control at the same time?"

Xing Yi said: "Ordinary puppets are five, but if there are puppets of your level, there are three."

These words were very provocative, Qi Jingyu raised his eyebrows slightly, and said with a smirk: "Mr. Xing really has a lot of ambitions, and he wants to control this deity again?"

"Once? You really underestimated my ambition." While concentrating on manipulating the three puppets to attack, Xing Yi spared some energy to tease Qi Jingyu, saying, "What I want is to draw out your last wisp of demon soul, Seal the seven souls, choose a good animal skin to make a scroll, and seal the real body of Nine Tails into it, so that you can become a puppet that you can use whenever you want."

"Good idea," Qi Jingyu said sincerely, "If I really have a day when my life span is exhausted, I don't mind helping you."

Xing Yi frowned, and finally looked straight at him: "Really?"

"Of course it's true." Qi Jingyu smiled calmly and said, "Xiaohuan chose you, and the last thing I can do for him as a teacher is probably to be used by you, to be a puppet, and to be good in the real body of Nine Tails." Protect him forever."

Xing Yi: "I would venture to ask, do you really think he is just an apprentice, without any other feelings?"

Qi Jingyu couldn't help laughing out loud, and then shook his head like a sigh: "You humans really have too short a lifespan and too little experience. Xing Yi, now you have a wisp of Vermilion Bird soul, if given time you are lucky enough to become a real monster , after a thousand years, if you think about the questions you ask me now, you will realize how ridiculous you are."

"Love in the world is only a hundred years old, but for a demon, there is no emotion that can accompany us through this immortal life. I have long since lived to this day. I no longer need love, and I have no family affection. Now I have It’s just that among these three apprentices, Xiao Huan not only has the soul of a phoenix but also inherits the appearance of my elder brother Feng Chi. I don’t deny that he is special to me, but back then I only had brotherly feelings for Feng Chi. Now It’s just a deeper master-student relationship for him.”

Withdrawing his gaze, Xing Yi looked again at the monster Chong Huang at the other end of the wire, and wrote lightly, "Why did Feng Chi die that year?"

Hearing this, the smile on Qi Jingyu's lips froze for a moment, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Although we are high-level monsters, we will encounter bottlenecks when our cultivation reaches a certain level. There is no room for improvement in status, Feng Chi has always been aloof from the world, but he is very persistent in this regard."

Xing Yi heard the clue, and subconsciously asked: "What method does he want to use to break through?"

The last trace of smile disappeared from the bottom of his eyes, Qi Jingyu took a deep breath, and said coldly: "Become a demon."

Xing Yi was stunned for a moment: "Can a demon really become a demon?"

Qi Jingyu: "Of course, it's just very difficult, and there are different opinions about this method of becoming a demon. It is impossible to verify whether it is true or not. The risk is extremely high. Feng Chi was also fascinated, so he desperately went to find someone... "

Xing Yi vaguely realized what it was, his brows tightened, and he guessed: "He went to Yan Moluo to find a way to become a demon?"

"Smart." Qi Jingyu said, "It's Qingluan who came to the door. The Feng family is full of treasures. Mo Luo has no reason to refuse. When I know, the deal has been concluded."

……

At the same time, Li Huan, who had finally caught up with the Nightmare, had red eyes. He stepped on the bird's head and soared into the air, and Tang Dao turned and slashed down.The Nightmare had no choice but to turn around and fight, but she held a halberd with both hands and blocked it with her body.But at this moment, the Chongming Bird came across from another direction, and with a muffled puff, blood splashed, and the bird's claws were directly inserted into the chest from behind.

The Nightmare screamed in pain, and the trident plunged straight into the muddy ground. As she was seriously injured, the bodies of those monsters transformed from dreams were shattered and gradually dissipated into black air.

Chongmingniao led the two back to the ground, and Xing Yi put away the wolf and was about to come over on the yellow, but was stopped by Qi Jingyu on the side.

"Let him do it himself," Qi Jingyu said, "He is protected too well by me. If he wants to survive in this world, he needs to be cruel."

Xing Yi frowned slightly, and he didn't really agree with this approach in his heart. After all, Qi Jingyu was Li Huan's teacher. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to respect him.

Over there, Li Huan tightened the neckline of the Nightmare and tore her off the bird's claws. The black blood trickled down the robe and fell into the stagnant water under their feet. The smell of blood was strong in the air. Dryness, the body seems to be dried by the heat caused by blood addiction.

He pulled Nightmare's neck, turned her head to one side, and impatiently bit down on the carotid artery, greedily sucking up the demonic blood.A few minutes later, when the blood addiction subsided a bit, Li Huan threw the weak Mo to the ground, put the knife across her neck, and said coldly, "Where are the souls of those people you collected?"

Nightmare covered the bleeding wound on his chest, pursed his lips palely, and did not answer.

Li Huan was not in a hurry, he curled his mouth with a sneer, and the Tang knife moved down, and then used an extremely slow force to cut into the flesh bit by bit, and set it on the cartilage of the shoulder joint.A layer of cold sweat broke out on Nightmare's forehead, and he stared at him resentfully.

"Let's play a game. I'll ask you and answer. If you don't say anything or say something wrong, I'll just pick a joint and cut it off. You are a devil, and this kind of damage can't kill you, but it still hurts a little bit, right?" Li Huan laughed, "Of course you can also choose to keep silent, but you have to know that those people are already dead, and we are monsters after all. decides your life."

The Nightmare fell silent for an instant, and Li Huan said, "Who did you trade the human soul to? Is it related to Chongye?!"

"Master does not interfere with my private transactions, that matter has nothing to do with him." Nightmare lowered his eyelids weakly, and whispered, "The demon who needs human souls never trades with me directly, but sends his men to pick up the goods , the human soul is not very useful, and it probably can only be eaten by monsters."

"Where did his men trade with you?"

"Once every four months, after zero o'clock, there is a tea house called Zisha Yayuan in Panjiayuan. The next time it happens to be half of May, I promise to trade 200 souls to them."

Li Huan pondered for a moment, then asked: "Then the owner of the tea house is a human or a demon?"

"It's a human, but he must know what he often trades with, and he may also know the monster I traded with." Nightmare said, "There are often underground auctions or black market transactions related to playthings in that area. A person who is not a demon may be dirtier than a demon."

Li Huan: "What about Chongye? What are you doing for him?"

Nightmare pursed his lips tightly, and shook his head slowly: "I can't say anything about the master, otherwise even if you let me go, he will kill me, you can kill me."

Now it was Li Huan who hesitated. It would be better if the demon was tougher, but at worst, a bunch of karma would directly kill her, but he really... can't do anything about things like torture and not kill.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed his knife-holding hand, and the man's chest pressed against his back. Before Li Huan could turn around, his eyes were covered by the man, and then the man pulled the knife in his hand, He quickly removed one of Nightmare's arms.

The woman screamed in pain, and the trembling along the blade was extremely obvious.

Li Huan froze all over, feeling something splashed on his face, and then he heard Xing Yi say in a cold tone, "Qinglong is looking for you for someone?"

Li Huan's eyes were still blindfolded, he couldn't see Nightmare's reaction, but he clearly noticed that the woman's panting stopped for a few seconds after Xing Yi finished asking this question.

"It seems I'm right," Xing Yi said, "Who does he need? Are they being used for demonization experiments? Where are these people being sent? Tell me!"

The Nightmare was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled. There was a sense of irony in that laughter, and she said: "I remember you, you are a demon-subduing master—why do you want to know who the master needs? really do not know?"

"It's really ironic to say that the most perfect human being fused with a demon soul is actually a demon subduing master like you who is suitable for hunting monsters for a living... Hahahaha! I am really impressed by you!"

"Do you know? Your parents are demon-subduing masters, so you can give birth to a descendant with superior spiritual power like you. You have been chosen by the master since you were not born. To become a vessel for the fusion of Suzaku's soul, I have to wait for you." Remember the night when you were snatched away, how badly your parents died to protect you..."

As soon as these words came out, the three present were shocked at the same time.

Qi Jingyu was the first to react, and said anxiously: "Xing Yi, save this demon's life first!"

Li Huan was completely shocked. He subconsciously grabbed Xing Yi's wrist and pulled down the hand that was blocking his eyes. He was also afraid that Xing Yi would accidentally kill the Nightmare on impulse, so he hurriedly took the Tang Dao in his hand, but what happened? He didn't dare to look into Xing Yi's eyes either.

In the end, it was Xing Yi who touched his head with his hand, "Don't worry."

Li Huan's heart trembled violently, his eyes were flushed, and finally he looked up at him with a complicated expression: "I..."

"You don't need to say anything." Xing Yi's voice was low and gentle, as if to comfort him, "I have no impression of them, nor have I ever had any feelings for them. I've already gotten used to living alone."

"I can tell that this demon knows that he is doomed to have no way out. Instead of being tortured by Zhong Ye, he would rather provoke me and want to have fun. Unfortunately, it is impossible to provoke me with someone I don't know well."

Li Huan was speechless, he was shocked by Xing Yi's calmness, and felt even more distressed by that calmness.

- To Be Continued