Chapter 128.2: The Great Demon's Endless Reincarnation

Bai Ze's eyes widened. He thought of something and said solemnly, "This is an illusion, not reality. He is trapped within the Great Demon's reincarnation. This isn't his experiences, but the Great Demon's past."

All of it was merely the Great Demon's past. To Qi Yuan, none of it was real. But to the golden canary—the girl who tirelessly tried to rouse the blood-robed man—it did.

In the mirror, the blood-robed figure left the mountains. Akin to a devil freed from Pandora's box, he massacred left and right.

On a rainy night, he butchered an entire household.

The girl appeared again, calling anxiously, "Blood-Drop..."

With murderous eyes, he said toward empty air, "I am not Blood-Drop. I am the Great Demon. All demons are hated by heaven and man alike. All demons must slaughter all living things."

The girl clutched him tightly, refusing to let go.

"Die!"

Another merciless strike followed. Her garments were dyed red as blood dripped from her lips.

Time continued to pass. The Great Demon slaughtered all living beings as if that was his sole life purpose.

Ten years later, experts from the Eight Great Sects joined forces to suppress the Great Demon.

In the battle at Heavenly Severing Cliff, the Great Demon slew half his enemies, before exhausting his strength. There was no fear in his eyes, only confusion and endless bloodlust.

Then, the familiar girl appeared again. She held his limp body, leaping with him into the bottomless lava below. That lifetime ended in desolation.

In the first life, he laid countless lives to waste, was captured by an army, and burned alive. She held him tightly and perished with him.

In the second life, he killed endlessly, was besieged by the Eight Great Sects, and she jumped into the molten lava with him.

The third life began.

She locked him away in an ancient pagoda, wearing plain robes and praying for him every day.

One night, he recalled once again that he was the Great Demon.

He broke free, bringing endless slaughter. Finally, he was suppressed in the Ancient Ke Hell by three thousand Buddhas. She accompanied him, suffering fifty years of burning, piercing, and freezing.

In the fourth life, he brought calamity upon a region, and was sunk into the ocean. She searched the entire seabed before sinking together with him.

Life after life passed.

The blood-robed figure only killed, killed, killed. He seemed to have forgotten who he was, only remembering he was the Great Demon, and that he had to end everything.

As for her, she simply watched and accompanied him, following him through every reincarnation.

A thousand condemnations. A world of enemies. Heaven's punishment fell upon the Great Demon and Blood-Drop. Yet she always stood by his side.

Everyone was moved. Even Ning Tao felt numb.

She did not know how many times the girl had been stabbed. She did not know how much pain the girl had suffered. She only knew how unbearable it was.

No matter what happened, the girl stood by his side, supporting him without hesitation. She showed him boundless devotion that was utterly beyond comprehension.

Then, Bai Ze, who had been silent, said again, "The scenes in the ancient mirror could be mere illusions. Back then, Master had entered the Myriad Evil Gate alone to save all living beings and suppress his inner demon... Afterward, you also entered to awaken him..."

Everyone seemed shocked. If it was an illusion, it was at least easier to accept. Regardless, the countless, bloody reincarnations were too painful to bear.

Even as onlookers, they could feel the girl's suffering. How much worse had it been for the girl herself? She was slain by her closest, dearest one, again and again. How could one even begin to describe such agony?

"An illusion?" someone mockingly said. A woman in white appeared, with a seductive smile and boundless charm. "Is it truly an illusion? No, this is clearly the Great Demon's lifetime, merely reenacted through an illusion. Blood-Drop is obviously the true Great Demon!"

Seeing her, everyone's eyes shrank sharply. "Supreme One!"

The White Supreme's face darkened. "Supreme One, do not distort the facts!"

The newcomer was the Supreme One's avatar.

"Bai Ze, why deceive yourself? For the sake of your so-called master, you won't even believe your own wife... you won't even call me by name?" She smiled alluringly, her voice mellowing with sorrow. "You never wish to believe me. Look at that Demoness! Even when the Great Demon slaughtered all beings, even when he struck her again and again, she never abandoned him, always trying to awaken him. What a pity. Her love is deep, but the Great Demon is heartless. Bai Ze, can you trust me the way she trusts him?"

Seven terrifying figures descended behind her, each exuding the aura of a Great Supreme. They surrounded Bai Ze and the Thirteen Northern Demons.

Bai Ze's expression dimmed. "Yanran, must you persist with this baseless suspicion? The Slate of Fate has clouded your mind far too much."

Shang Yanran stepped forward, unleashing a crushing aura. The Thirteen Northern Demons felt immense pressure. Even Ning Tao was scared senseless. She just knew she couldn't withstand such power.

"The Slate of Fate is just a treasure. How could it affect me?" Shang Yanran sneered. "Anyway, keep watching. Bai Ze, whether your master is the Great Demon or the Demoness, can you kill them for the sake of the world? This is the only way to bring the North South Pact to an end and restore peace to the Flowing Wind World."

Bai Ze hesitated.

Shang Yanran smiled, knowing she could not persuade him yet. Still, something was nagging at her mind. How exactly did the Blood Master escape from the Myriad Evil Gate? Unlike the Myriad Demon Gate, the Myriad Evil Gate wasn't easy to overcome. Anyone trapped in it would become the Great Demon. They would walk the same paths and endure the same past.

Seven great powers stood behind her, watching coldly.

The White Supreme's avatar was anxious. Not only could he barely fend off her avatar, even the Thirteen Northern Demons wouldn't be able to deal with the seven Great Supremes.

He said nothing more and kept watching the ancient mirror.

The endless cycle of reincarnation continued.

For the blood-robed figure, it was slaughter without end.

For the small girl, she was wounded by her loved one again and again, before finally dying with him.

A cycle with no solution.

A thousand years. Ten thousand years. Only the most indelible memories resurfaced.

No one could count how many times she was cut and died. All they saw was a fraction of her pain. How much more had happened off-screen?

As the north wind roared, the blood-robed figure slaughtered another city. But this time, he didn't cut her down. He peered into her delicate, pear-blossoms-like face, stained with tears.

For the first time, his voice trembled. "Do not follow me. I am a demon. You should not follow me. I have never seen you. I don't know where you are. Perhaps you never existed in the first place, and I am just hallucinating. This city is named the City of No Return. Wait for me here. Whether a thousand years or ten thousand. If I can return, I will come see you. If I cannot, then leave."

After endless ages of killing, something resurfaced within him.

When he entered the Myriad Evil Gate, he

became

the Great Demon. He

was

the Great Demon.

The girl held his sleeve tightly, unwilling to let go. "Blood-Drop..."

The blood-robed figure raised his sword. The girl stubbornly stared at him, refusing to release her grip.

The Thirteen Northern Demons held their breath. Would this sword fall, just as in all the past lives?

A blood-red flash. Blood splattered. He had severed the arm she was grasping. Then, he vanished into the boundless desert.

The girl clutched the arm tightly. Only after he had truly left could she finally say clearly, "Blood-Drop... remember, you are not the Great Demon!"

That was her purpose in coming. The moment he believed he was the Great Demon, he would never awaken again.

She sat in the desolate city, all alone, waiting for him.

Peach blossoms bloomed across the mortal world. Boats drifted through mountain rivers. The spring breeze was sealed inside letters. When opened, the absent beloved in winter could also feel its warmth.

Time passed. Seas dried. Mountains changed.

The girl sat atop the city walls every day.

Ten years. A hundred years. A thousand years. Ten thousand years...

After endless eras, the blood-robed figure decimated another city.

Suddenly, he chuckled. "I am not the Great Demon..."

When he stepped into the Myriad Evil Gate, he had become the Great Demon. But now, he had forgotten. "If I am not the Great Demon, then who am I...?"

***

Inside the barrier, Shang Yanran's eyes flashed with shock.

Regardless of who the Blood Master had been, once he entered the Myriad Evil Gate, he would become the Great Demon. If so, how had he broken free? She could not understand.

Of course, she had no way of knowing about Qi Yuan's Great Forgetfulness Sutra. He forgot that he was the Great Demon, breaking the cycle of the Myriad Evil Gate once and for all.

Thus, he was not the Great Demon.

***

The image in the ancient mirror blurred.

The blood-robed figure no longer killed, but wandered through the mortal world.

Sometimes, he stood bedazedly by a creek, muttering, "Who am I?"

Sometimes, he crouched under eaves, watching the rainfall. "What have I forgotten?"

Sometimes, he watched ants crawling. "I think... I can no longer recall anything."

He squatted there as though he were a stone. Dust settled on him. Withered leaves fell on his shoulders. Eventually, he became a boulder in the deep mountains.

Thousands of years. Ten thousand years. Endless cycles passed.

Then, someone said, "A city has appeared in the desert. There, a woman has been waiting for someone."

A city?

The stone pondered.

Then, it shattered, and a blood-red figure emerged. Countless thoughts flashed in his eyes.

"Someone is still waiting for me..."