Chapter 75: Mud in the Gutter

Gu Xuancang enjoyed the adulation of the crowd.

After Xue Chen appeared, it quietly vanished.

It was the first time the demonic cultivators saw such a young boy like Xue Chen join the Demon Realm so righteously.

The celebration banquet ended.

Xue Chen walked towards Gu Xuancang with a smile. “Vice Sect Leader Gu, are you adapting well to the Demon Realm?”

Gu Xuancang’s face stiffened.

He hated the word “Vice” the most in his life.

He immediately said sarcastically: “This old man adapts nowhere near as fast as Hostage Prince Xue.”

The young man was not angry. He gave a low and short laugh. “Trouble Vice Sect Leader Gu to take me to the dungeon.”

“Do you have a token?” Gu Xuancang deliberately made things difficult. “Hostage Prince Xue also knows that the dungeon is not a place where one can casually…”

Before he could finish.

A black token stamped with flames appeared before his eyes.

His face became even uglier, but ultimately he dared not disobey the Demon Lord. “Hostage Prince Xue, follow me.”

Xue Chen nodded with a bland expression.

Thinking of meeting his good brother, the good ruler of the Heavenly Phoenix Nation soon.

The excitement in his eyes couldn’t be stopped.

The dungeon was in the deepest part of the Demon Realm.

As soon as he entered, he smelled a rotting stench. Xue Chen lifted his arm in disgust to cover his nose and mouth.

“Why did Hostage Prince Xue join the Demon Realm?”

He couldn’t figure it out. A young man who looked unambitious and weak had suddenly transformed and entered the Demon Realm.

“Naturally for power.”

He leisurely observed the layout of the dungeon.

“What? You want to be the Demon Lord?” Gu Xuancang found it ridiculous and inserted the key into the prison door.

“Demon Lord?”

He shook his head and said lightly, “More than that.”

Gu Xuancang’s back paused. He looked back at Xue Chen. Those pitch-black pupils had no emotional fluctuations, looking even scarier than a corpse puppet.

Was this the state a teenage boy should have?

He felt a trace of fear in his heart, but felt unhappy about losing to such a boy at his age.

He held up his face and said.

“The Heavenly Phoenix imperial family is locked inside.”

Xue Chen ignored him and walked straight to the deepest part of the dungeon.

In the dark and damp dungeon.

Xue Heng kicked his concubine impatiently. “Useless things, what use does Zhen have for you?”

“Can’t even seduce a mere demonic cultivator.”

“Useless, useless! Sluts!”

“Your Majesty, this concubine was wrong…”

Several women huddled together, kowtowing and apologizing incessantly.

“I’ll kill you—” Xue Heng grabbed a woman’s neck violently, lifting her up.

Seeing that she couldn’t breathe.

A lazy and cold voice sounded from outside the cell door.

“Long time no see. Imperial Brother still likes to bully the weak so much, so full of hostility.”

Xue Heng froze and turned slowly.

“It’s you?”

“You half-human, half-demon bastard!”

He had been arrogant in front of Xue Chen all his life. Even in prison, he hadn’t changed his temper one bit.

Xue Chen had always known how dirty and despicable the blood of these people was. He wasn’t surprised by the other party’s performance at all.

He took out a pill from his storage ring.

Opened the cell door.

Just like Xue Heng strangled that concubine, he strangled Xue Heng with one hand until his veins bulged.

Xue Chen threw the pill into his mouth.

“Hrk… Xue… what did you give me… to eat?”

He looked up and laughed, pleasure overflowing from his throat. “Something that makes you beg for life but unable to die…”

“…a Gu worm.”

“It’s called the Rotting Heart Leech. It will drill into your blood through your flesh, secreting foul-smelling pus. Your blood will stink, then it will drill into your bone marrow and gnaw it away inch by inch, then slowly corrode your internal organs, until…”

“Every inch of your body is completely rotten.”

“You bastard!” Xue Heng reached into his throat and retched. “Give me the antidote!”

A sharp pain came faintly from his arm.

“Ah—” The concubines looked at Xue Heng’s arm, fear flashing through their eyes followed by disgust.

It was too disgusting.

Half of his arm had been eaten down to the bone.

Rotten flesh hung sporadically on the white bone.

“Who allowed you to despise Zhen?” Xue Heng stared viciously at the group of women.

Then he pounced madly at Xue Chen.

Kneeling on the ground.

“I beg you, give me the antidote. Zhen was wrong. Father is dead, Heavenly Phoenix is yours. For the sake of us being brothers…”

“Give me the antidote, please, ah!!!”

He rolled on the ground in pain.

Xue Chen looked down at him from above. “Father should be glad he died early, otherwise he would only be more miserable than you.”

“Oh right, you won’t die immediately. The Rotting Heart Leech will eat your heart last…”

He smiled, looked up, and thought for a moment. “Mm… you can probably live for another two months. Enjoy your last days of living.”

“My… Imperial Brother…”

The young man turned and left with satisfaction, letting Xue Heng crawl and scream on the ground.

Out of the dungeon.

He took out the token and said to the guarding demonic cultivator, “Release all the women of the Heavenly Phoenix imperial family.”

“Yes, Protector!”

Xue Chen actually didn’t care whether that group of people lived or died. It was just that he knew Ning Shengsheng liked him being this way.

On second thought.

Xue Heng curling up alone in the dark dungeon until his life completely faded away.

Was also quite interesting.

…

Returning to Great Ning from the Demon Realm, Xue Chen stood outside Zhaoxia Palace.

Clearly, his great revenge had been avenged, but he wasn’t very happy. It wasn’t even as good as playing a game of chess or drinking a cup of tea with her.

He looked down at his hands.

He had been stained with such dirty blood today.

She probably wouldn’t like it.

After all, she was such a pure and kind person.

Xue Chen pursed his thin lips tightly, messy hair covering his eyes.

It didn’t matter.

Just a peek would be fine.

“Zaoni, kick it higher!”

“So stupid, kick it over here!”

The girl’s cheerful and crisp laughter came from the courtyard. She was playing shuttlecock with her maids.

Her smile was as dazzling as ever.

“Eh, Princess, Hostage Prince Xue is outside.”

Songgao noticed keenly.

Ning Shengsheng turned her head, but the young man’s figure was already gone. Only a flash of green robe corner was seen behind the door.

Xue Chen fled in panic.

Her smile was too bright, highlighting him like the most disgusting mud in the gutter. He couldn’t let her see him.

He just wanted to hide.

Xue Chen stumbled back to the pear courtyard.

Sitting under the tree in a daze.

Snowball approached with cat steps. Seeing its owner actually crying, it jumped onto Xue Chen’s knee.

“Meow…?”

The young man remained unmoved, burying half his face behind his sleeve, tears slowly flowing through his fingers.

Snowball didn’t understand why he was crying.

But it knew someone could help its master.

It leaped over the wall and ran towards Zhaoxia Palace.

“Hm? Why is Snowball here?”

Ning Shengsheng had just finished playing shuttlecock and was drinking water because of the heat.

“Meow~”

Snowball pawed at her skirt, its cat paw pointing to the pear courtyard.

“Xue Chen is looking for me?”

“Meow!”

“Then I’ll go later tonight, okay?” Ning Shengsheng picked up Snowball, smiling and stroking the fluff on its back.

“Awoo meow~”

Snowball jumped down and waited for her at the door.

“Looks like it’s urgent.” Ning Shengsheng turned back and instructed Songgao, “We’re having roasted lamb tonight, prepare it.”

As soon as her voice fell, she followed Snowball to the pear courtyard.

Pushing open the courtyard door.

She saw the young man curled up under the tree, his whole face buried in his sleeve, his shoulders shrugging slightly.

She hurried over.

“Xue Wuyin, what’s wrong?”

She gently pushed his shoulder.

Unexpectedly, the low sobbing stopped.

The next second.

She was tightly hugged by the young man.