Chapter 48

The Immortal Mountain of Kunlun

Xuanyue and I turned our heads in unison, staring dumbfounded at Sha Hai. He, however, appeared indifferent, carrying himself with an air of detachment as though none of this concerned him. The Floating Life Emperor, on the other hand, had turned into a spooked ghost staring at his own reflection, nearly scaring himself to death. 

He staggered back several steps, pointing at Sha Hai with trembling lips. “Drought Demon, you’re saying this man is the God Sovereign Yin Ze? Don’t try to fool me!” 

“That’s correct. It’s him,” came the calm reply. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, an enormous half-formed demon floated above the oasis. Its skin was a deep rose-red, its face resembled that of a desiccated corpse, and beneath it burned a fierce black flame. When the Floating Life Emperor had mentioned him earlier, I had already suspected this. So, it truly was the legendary drought demon—Drought Demon. It is said that wherever Drought Demon appears, droughts follow, leaving scorched lands in his wake. For this era, he is nothing short of a calamity. 

The demon floated towards us, his expression menacing and terrifying. Xuanyue and I both instinctively took a step back, but Sha Hai remained calm and composed. The demon stopped in front of Sha Hai and bowed. “Drought Demon greets the God Sovereign Yin Ze.” Yet, after a long moment, he received no response. 

I was completely unconvinced by his words. “What utter nonsense. How could Sha Hai possibly be the God Sovereign Yin Ze?” 

“In the midst of a scorched land, my power is tenfold, if not more, compared to normal. How could I be mistaken?” Drought Demon raised his head again, squinting as he observed Sha Hai for a long moment. Then, his black, cavernous eyes suddenly widened. “Hmm, strange. This is truly strange.” 

The Floating Life Emperor, from the beginning, clearly had no intention of believing him. His chopstick-like fingers stroked his beard twice. “Well? Even you make mistakes from time to time, don’t you?” 

Drought Demon looked puzzled. “I once had the honor of meeting the God Sovereign Yin Ze. His divine power is unmatched, far beyond the reach of ordinary immortals. Moreover, his primordial spirit is imbued with an unmistakable clarity, the sort of pure energy I could never mistake, even after a million years. Just moments ago, even from a great distance, I could sense the God Sovereign’s aura on this demon. But why, now that I’m closer, can I no longer sense even a trace of it…?” 

The Floating Life Emperor rolled his eyes dramatically. “Drought Demon, old fool, there you go sneezing at a cow’s face again. You may have had a single meeting with the God Sovereign Yin Ze, but I’ve met him multiple times! Fooling others is one thing, but trying to fool me? This young man is clearly a thoroughbred demon. Not only does he lack any divine clarity, but he doesn’t even have a hint of demonic aura… Ah! Great Demon Lord, spare me! Spare me!” 

The last cry for mercy came as Sha Hai raised his sword and pointed it at him. Sha Hai said coldly, “Fool. I cannot let you live.” 

The Floating Life Emperor begged frantically, “No, please! I was wrong, I was wrong. It’s all Drought Demon’s fault! He’s the one who speculated about your identity, Great Demon Lord. Kill him, kill him instead!” 

Drought Demon paid no attention to the babbling and instead muttered to himself, “This doesn’t make sense. It truly doesn’t make sense. Could it be… that the God Sovereign Yin Ze has been here before…?” 

I quickly stepped forward and tugged at Sha Hai’s sleeve. “Sha Hai, please spare his life. For all his antics, they’re just petty tricks. Aside from making us uncomfortable, he hasn’t done anything truly harmful.” 

“Sha Hai? Sha Hai?!” The Floating Life Emperor’s legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees, kowtowing furiously. “So you’re the Demon Lord Sha Hai! I was blind, truly blind, to not recognize greatness. Please, Lord Demon, spare my life…” 

Hearing this, even Drought Demon lowered himself and bowed toward Sha Hai. “Greetings to the Demon Lord.” 

I was stunned. “Wait, you’re the Demon Lord?” 

The Floating Life Emperor interjected, “Ah, silly girl, hurry and kneel! Lord Sha Hai was personally appointed by Lord Zixiu as the new Demon Lord. He’s now a towering figure in the demon realm… Ow! I was wrong, I was wrong!” He was cut off as Sha Hai once again pressed the blade of his sword against his throat. 

Sha Hai ordered coldly, “Shut up immediately. I’ll spare your life for now. Get lost.” 

The Floating Life Emperor scrambled away so quickly it was as if he had broken a new record for speed. Drought Demon, on the other hand, was far more composed. He lingered to exchange a few words with Sha Hai before leaving. I pretended to be calling out to Su Shu and Xi He, but in truth, I was eavesdropping on their conversation. Unfortunately, they only discussed matters of the demon realm and made no further mention of the God Sovereign Yin Ze. 

When Su Shu and Xi He woke from their nightmares, I cared for them, and then we continued westward on camelback. Along the way, Sha Hai stayed close to me. Thinking of what Drought Demon had said earlier, I couldn’t help but remark, “I never would have guessed you’re the Demon Lord.” 

“There’s nothing surprising about it,” Sha Hai replied without turning his gaze, continuing forward. 

“Earlier, when Hanba said you were the God Sovereign Yin Ze, I was really scared,” I admitted. 

“I’m a demon. Isn’t that obvious?” Sha Hai replied calmly. 

“But if you don’t have any special identity, why do you always wear a mask? Could it be because you’re… ugly?” 

He paused, thinking for a moment before answering slowly, “Not ugly. Frightening.” 

“How frightening?” 

“If you see my face, you might not be able to sleep tonight.” 

I laughed. “The way you say it only makes me more curious. Would you mind showing your face to me?” 

“I don’t mind. As long as you don’t regret it.” 

With that, he untied the white cloth around his neck and removed his mask. At that very moment, a gust of yellow sand swept through, obscuring his features. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the sand, catching only faint glimpses through the hazy veil. I noticed black markings on his face, and my heartbeat quickened. 

Finally, the wind and sand settled, the cloth around his waist fluttering gently, and his features became clear: below his hairline and above his nose were all black stripes. These markings crisscrossed in chaotic patterns, even extending to the corners of his eyes, as though someone had pressed the back of his head against a freshly painted ink painting. 

However, these were not painted on, nor were they tattoos. They were slightly recessed skin textures. His skin was pale, and when contrasted with the black markings, the effect was startling—it almost resembled a skull at first glance. 

I must admit, my heart skipped a beat when I first saw his face, but I maintained a composed and polite demeanor. “It’s not that bad. There are far scarier appearances among the creatures in the underworld and demon realms, and I don’t see them covering their faces.” 

“You don’t have to say things you don’t mean. Don’t worry, I only cover my face for convenience when traveling. I never wear a mask in the demon realm,” he said with a faint smile, the markings on his face stretching like blooming black plum blossoms. 

In truth, I felt a wave of relief. Over the past few days, my emotions had been stirred by him in ways that were unsettlingly familiar to how I once felt toward Yin Ze. Allowing such feelings to grow would be dangerous; falling for a demon would surely be even harder than falling for a god. Now that I’d seen his appearance, I no longer had to worry about that possibility. 

A few days later, we arrived at the true nation of Liuhuang, home of the Feng Clan. To my surprise, the Floating Life Emperor had been accurate in his description—both inside and outside the city mirrored what I’d seen in the dream. However, there was a notable difference: the real Liuhuang was not only prosperous and beautiful but also fragrant with the scent of flowers and the earthy freshness of rain-kissed grass. 

As we walked through the city, the sensation of water droplets splashing on our skin was so vivid it constantly reminded me of my distant homeland. Just as in the dream, the monarch of the Feng Clan personally came to welcome us and hosted a banquet in our honor. 

During the toast, I asked, “Your Majesty, the world is currently plagued by severe drought, and the journey here was through endless deserts. How is it that your nation is blessed with such abundant water sources?” 

The monarch replied, “To be honest, our protection comes from the treasure left by the immortal She Zheng.” 

“I see.” It seemed the Floating Life Emperor had not lied. If this conversation continued, everything would proceed just as it had in the dream. 

Su Shu asked, “An immortal’s treasure?” 

“This treasure is called the Tide Pearl, crafted by the great immortal She Zheng from his own eye.” The monarch smiled. “If you’re interested, I can take you to see it.” 

It was clear that the others—Su Shu, Guang Yue, and Sha Hai—were unaware of the specific details from the dream. They didn’t realize that this was the Rain Summoning Pearl. Before they could speak, I raised my hand and said, “There’s no need. We have to continue our journey tomorrow, but if there’s an opportunity in the future, we’d love to see it. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your hospitality.” 

“As you wish,” the monarch said with a warm smile, raising his glass to us once more. 

After the banquet, we were hosted for the night in the prime minister’s residence. At dawn, we left early. Just before we passed through the city gates, Su Shu whispered, “Princess, I’ve been thinking about something all night. I’m not sure if I should say it.” 

“What is it?” 

“The Tide Pearl mentioned by the Feng Clan monarch—could it be the Rain Summoning Pearl?” 

“It isn’t. I secretly went to their treasure room yesterday and checked. It’s just an ordinary marble. Their water abundance comes from being surrounded on three sides by water,” I said nonchalantly. 

The Feng Clan monarch had prepared a large supply of camels, food, and water for us and personally saw us off at the city gates. We expressed our gratitude, mounted our camels, and set off. This time, no matter how far we traveled, the rivers of Liuhuang did not follow us. 

As the sun rose higher, the city stood steadfast in the desert like an unyielding sentinel, its history stretching into the distant future. Looking ahead at the vast, endless desert, I knew the road ahead would be just as boundless, a desolate emptiness devoid of direction. 

“Mother, mother, mother…” 

At some point, I realized Xi He had been calling me for a long time. Turning my head, I saw her sitting in front of Su Shu, waving her little hands at me. “What is it?” I asked. 

“Nothing, it’s just… Mother looks like she’s about to cry…” 

“Mother isn’t crying.” 

“You don’t have to say it; we all know,” Xi He said, lowering her head and looking up at me with a pitiful expression. “That Tide Pearl—isn’t it really the Rain Summoning Pearl?” 

Su Shu, Guang Yue, and Sha Hai all looked at me with expressions that said, Don’t bother explaining. We already know. Unable to keep lying, I brushed it off. “It’s none of your concern. Little girl, stay out of adult matters.” 

Xi He had always been afraid of me and dared not press further. Su Shu said, “Princess, we all think you did the right thing.” 

Sha Hai added, “Agreed.” 

Guang Yue let out a howl and nodded vigorously. 

I stared at them in silence, feeling a sudden sting in my eyes. I could only walk ahead to keep them from seeing my vulnerability. 

In truth, how could they understand? What I had given up wasn’t just an opportunity to save Su Zhao—it was so much more… 

The scorching, turbulent winds tugged at my skirts. Any woman walking here would hope the one they longed for would ride with them, sit behind them, and hold them tightly in strong arms. 

I would never forget the final embrace Yin Ze gave me in that fleeting dream. That familiar yet distant warmth, the scent I yearned for, and the gaze full of love—all of it would never come again. 

In truth, I had long known that I had no fate with him in this life. Even if there were no other factors hindering us, it was a well-established fact that his heart was set on Shang Yan, and that would never change. No matter how heartbroken I felt, it would be foolish not to realize this. At this moment, he was probably holding Shang Yan in his arms, enjoying the view and drinking wine under the nine heavens, their ears brushing together, cherishing the time they had spent together for thousands of years. Could he understand even a fraction of my pain?

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my waist, and I was once again pulled off the camel and dragged onto another camel’s back. Sha Hai silently held me from behind. I struggled, trying to jump out, “Why are you pulling me over again? Let me go back.”

“Where do you plan to go next?” he ignored my words, but his grip tightened even more.

As the saying goes, “With courtesy comes peace; without it, danger.” His attitude was extremely rude. But in his arms, I actually felt a sense of security. It wasn’t the passion of a kiss or the excitement of eye contact, it was simply the feeling that it wouldn’t be so bad to be like this for a little while longer. I pretended not to be affected and said, “Since we’ve come this far, let’s go to Kunlun and see if we can learn something.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

“You’re going to Kunlun?” I said, incredulously, “Do you know what Kunlun is? It’s the imperial capital established by the Heavenly Emperor, the boundary between the human and immortal realms.”

“I know, and I’m not afraid.”

“You’re not afraid, but I am. I don’t want people to think I’m colluding with demons.”

“Don’t worry, with your abilities, you won’t even make it to the top of Kunlun. The immortals halfway up the mountain aren’t my match, and I won’t be discovered.”

“No, I can’t take that risk.”

“Don’t forget, you promised me you’d let me devour you.” Seeing that his words stunned me, he chuckled lightly, “It’s only natural to protect your food.”

Being treated like this was absurd. But deep down, I felt a little relieved that he hadn’t said, “Then I won’t care about you.” Even more fortunate was that, from then on, no matter how much we quarreled, he never let me return to my own camel.

After a few more weeks, we arrived at Kunlun Mountain. Kunlun was the central pillar of heaven, with a radius of eight hundred meters and a height of tens of thousands of feet, the tallest mountain in the world. Each of its sides had nine large gates, and nine jade wells. The gate facing the eastern sunrise was called the Opening Gate, guarded by the Opening Beast, a half-human, half-beast creature with nine tiger heads, all facing east.

This Opening Beast was a gatekeeper that judged whether the guest’s aura was pure. Those who were not pure in spirit were not allowed entry. As a result, the unfortunate Xuan Yue was blocked at the foot of the mountain, while Sha Hai was allowed in. I really didn’t know what kind of magic he used.

As Sha Hai had said, Kunlun was indeed difficult to climb. With my spiritual power, I couldn’t go too high. So, we stayed halfway up the mountain that day. The mountain was desolate, and the first moon was as white as snow. The pavilions and towers were rimmed with frost, and the trees grew white hair. Such a beautiful scene was hard to find anywhere in the world. To stay there, one just needed to pay the immortal currency to prove they were from the immortal realm.

As a disciple of Yinzé, I was afforded many special privileges. For example, I could freely browse books in the library and come and go from the cultivation halls. Unfortunately for Xuan Yue, he could only wait pitifully at the foot of the mountain.

In the middle of the night, wind and snow blew on the mountain. I was worried about Xuan Yue’s safety, so I planned to check on the situation at the foot of the mountain. Leaving my room, I intended to ask Sha Hai to come with me. But when I knocked on his door, there was no response. Assuming he had gone to sleep, I was about to leave, but then I noticed the loud howling wind coming from his room, with the door and windows banging.

Was he really leaving the windows open in this weather? I paused in front of his door, then suddenly snapped to my senses and kicked the door open. As expected, his room was empty, the window wide open, and the curtains billowing in the cold wind. I climbed through the window and flew out, but I immediately saw horrifying bloodstains on the snow.

Following the scattered red marks, I found the black figure huddled at the foot of the snow-covered mountain. He was holding a small heart, walking lightly toward it. His mask was embedded in the snow, and Sha Hai was pressing a wild deer that had been torn apart by five horses, digging into its innards and eating it raw. Even amidst the howling wind, I could hear his beast-like sobs. What was he doing, eating the raw flesh of a wild animal? No matter how hungry he was, it shouldn’t be like this...

I hesitated and reached out to tap his shoulder. But suddenly, he swatted my hand away, growling hoarsely, and with arms like a giant ape, he threw himself down to the ground, then turned to face me. The moment I saw his face, I regretted my impulsive decision to seek him out. My insides churned with regret.

His hair was disheveled, a few strands lightly brushing over his face. That bloodied face seemed to have only two glowing red eyes. He emitted strange hissing noises through his mouth, revealing two sharp, blade-like fangs. “Yah, yah, yah—sshh—sshh—”

As he cried out, blood dripped from his gums, falling onto the ground. I felt a wave of numbness over my scalp and took several steps back. Then, like an ape, he began crawling toward me. In my panic, I was overwhelmed with terror and screamed as I rushed back to my room.

I slammed the door shut and barricaded it with all the furniture, too terrified to go outside. After some time, I saw his hunched figure wandering outside my door. I was so scared that my clothes were soaked in cold sweat, yet I didn’t make a sound.

Finally, after circling around for a while and not finding me, he disappeared into the white moonlight.

The next day, heavy snow once again blanketed everything in white, covering the temple and the pavilions with frost. Only the plum blossoms remained, shaking off frost and snow, still blooming a brilliant red. Looking around, Kunlun’s immortal realm seemed like a bright painting: pure white snow, fiery red plum blossoms, and immortals riding dragons and flying swords, leaving a silver-white trail.

I hadn’t slept a wink that night, and as soon as the sun rose, I went to knock on Sha Hai’s door.

As expected, he seemed unharmed. His voice came from inside, still as cold as ever, “Come in.”

With a creak, the door opened, and I saw Sha Hai sitting by the cold window reading a book. This morning, he wasn’t wearing his mask. Instead, he let the wind ruffle his thick hair, and strands of hair brushed against his face like a spider’s web.

A few petals of plum blossoms fell onto the table, but he didn’t even lift his eyelids. “You saw it yesterday.”

“I don’t understand, why have you become like this… Is it because you’ve been possessed?” I remembered seeing my brother act like this before, though his situation wasn’t as severe. Could it be that demons all go through something like this?

“Demons are inherently unrighteous, so how can possession be the cause?”

“Then every night you leave the group and go off on your own, is that the reason?”

“Yes, I’ve been like this for many years.” He said it casually.

“Many years?” I repeated slowly. “Doesn’t that mean you’ve been suffering to the point of death? So, each time it happens, you recover by the next day?”

“If I recovered, would I still have these marks on my face?”

“Why do you have such marks? Not every demon has them, right?”

He quickly scanned a few lines of text, then finally couldn’t continue reading. He flipped the book upside down on the table. “It’s none of your business.”

With that, he stood up, brushing past me and lifting the hem of his clothes, intending to leave. Though his face was still the same, strange and terrifying, his eyes were filled with a sense of almost resigned emptiness. Logically speaking, after seeing his condition the day before, I should have been afraid. But sometimes, people are simple and foolish like that—just a single glance, a look, or a smile can change everything.

I quickly raised my head and said, “Sha Hai, I don’t mind.”

He froze for a moment. “What?”

“I don’t mind that you look like this. It’s okay if you change at night. I...” I realized I was the one who was truly possessed. Before I could finish speaking, I took a step forward and hugged him tightly.

At that moment, everything became still, the fragrance of ink filling the room, and his body stiffened like iron.