A Good-for-Nothing

308. The Demon King’s Reappearance

Translator: Dragon Rider

In the bedroom.

The thunderstorm unaccompanied by any rain gradually died down, and the room was light again. At this time, hundreds of life-size marionettes had filled the spacious room, in the middle of which huddled a small group of people, standing in a standoff with their enemies.

He Zheng, looking at his teammates putting him under heavy protection, felt his eyes burning.

He would be lying if he said he was not touched. His teammates were always at his back and had never thought of giving up on him.

He Zheng’s voice was quavery. They were encircled ring upon ring, and there seemed to be no way out. He felt as though he were trapped in the Gobi Desert, where his death were certain.

So this was how it felt to be in a slough of despair.

A warm, big hand closed around his. At this time beside him stood Li Zong, who felt like a mountain, but who also felt like a crystal clear spring enwrapping He Zheng and giving him infinite powers.

But He Zheng’s legs were somewhat weak, and he was avoiding other people’s eyes. It struck him that he was undeserving of his teammates’ trust in him and Li Zong’s affection for him. He was only human. He was afraid, of death, of permanent separation. He feared that he might not be able to face death as composedly as he wanted.

In that instant, a myriad of thoughts came whirling around in his mind, and he suddenly recalled the question from Zhen Daoyuan on the day of the interview for STTP.

“If one day you’re possessed by a demon, and you could save the world by sacrificing your own life, what would you do?”

He Zheng had an urge to laugh. ‘Damn you, Zhen Daoyuan. You’re a jinx.’

However, after smiling a mirthless smile inwardly, he found himself in guilt and self-accusation, and he kept asking himself what his choice was.

He remembered that on that day he had told the interviewers that if his death could resolve the crisis, he would choose to die, but if his death was needless and could not solve the problem, then he would not give up his life. As long as there was still a chance of eliminating the Demon King, however slim it was, he would try to survive.

However, the providence seemed determined to have him killed. He Zheng found that he had lost his last hope.

‘What should I do when the hangman’s noose was right above my head?’

On that day he had made a reply in severe and categorical terms, but at this moment, He Zheng was hesitant for a second, and afraid for half a second.

He did not want to die.

His momentary cowardice, finally, gave the Demon King biding his time in He Zheng’s body a chance.

Too often the situation had changed in an instant. He Zheng’s head was packed with negative emotions.

‘Why was I born a vessel?’

‘Why am I the son doomed to be sacrificed?’

“Why does everybody want me dead?’

‘Why must I die?!’

None of this should be happening. Those people, those who were eking out precarious existence, what did they have to do with him? Some of them would die, and the others would survive, but why should he sacrifice his own life to ensure those people’s well-being? He had people he cared about too. He wanted to be with Li Zong. He wanted to live just as much as the next person did!

He Zheng wanted to roar, to accuse the providence for being unfair, but what he wanted more was to snap people’s necks with all his strength. He pictured the sensation of a fragile neck being crushed bit by bit in his hand, of bones rubbing against each other, of blood vessels bursting, accompanied by muffled cries for help escaping the victim’s throat … Every bit of that felt so good. It would make him feel so good, wouldn’t it?

No sooner had his bloodlust appeared in his mind when the Demonic Eye on his forehead, as though stimulated by something, started emitting a golden glare. Zhu Jin’s voice, tinged with ferocity and apathy, reprimanded, “Kill He Zheng! When we still can!”

“Kill me?” A chuckle emanated from He Zheng’s throat, and with that his clothes bulged because of whistling outward waves of energy. His voice was gradually changing. It was still He Zheng’s body, but the voice was unmistakably Xiangshan’s!

The others immediately sensed that something was wrong and they all spun around to look at He Zheng.

He Zheng’s features remained unchanged. However, the evil-looking Demonic Eye on his smooth forehead was now wide open, filled by black gas. He Zheng’s sword, Shadow, was humming constantly.

“So noisy,” he said, languidly tossed Shadow aside as though it were a piece of garbage. The instant Shadow landed on the ground, its blade was covered by red light and the next second it had turned into a man.

“Chief.” Everybody came to understand what happened and eyed He Zheng warily. One of them called Li Zong in spite of themself. Li Zong’s handsome face was icy, but his deep eyes, fixed on He Zheng, were very composed.

“He Zheng.” Li Zong’s voice was very firm, very deep and as magnetic as always. He called He Zheng the same way as he had done numerous times before.

“Oh, He Zheng? That coward has obediently handed his body over to me. It might be rather difficult for you guys to find him,” The Demon King chuckled, the curve of his eyebrows very pleasant to the eye. “Speaking of which, I have to thank you guys. I wouldn’t have found an opportunity to take over if you guys had not made that coward feel afraid.”

“Things have still come to this.” Zhu Jin’s voice was heavy with resignation and grief. “We must kill He Zheng.”

Everybody shifted their gaze to Li Zong.

Li Zong did not use karma flame to burn the demonic Qi around He Zheng. Xiangshan knew what would happen if Li Zong did that, and so did Li Zong. Xiangshan, having possessed He Zheng, had nothing to fear from them, because if they attacked him, He Zheng would be the only victim.

“He Zheng,” Li Zong called again.

The room was silent. Nobody spoke.

Xiangshan grinned, “Save it. He lost his ability to reply to you when he chose to run away from this.”

Li Zong said to Zhu Jin aloud, “Ms. Zhu, help me bind He Zheng.”

Knowing that there was no other way, Zhu Jin did what he asked.

The marionettes stampeded towards He Zheng. Xiangshan, controlling He Zheng’s body, cast one spell after another, but the marionettes, unlike Chen Kai and the others, had no flesh. They did not even have their own free will. All they had was a tiny portion of Zhu Jin’s sentience, so Xiangshan was utterly unable to control any of the marionettes.

Soon He Zheng’s body was exhausted and had no strength to exert.

“This fucking good-for-nothing. These things would never have approached me had I had my original body!” Xiangshan was brought to the ground as he roared.

“You would’ve perished some time ago were it not for He Zheng!” Chen Qianlin reprimanded. “Get out of his body! Now!”

“Kill me! If you have what it takes to do that!” Xiangshan yelled defiantly, the look in his eyes flickering.

“As you wish!” Chen Qianlin raged, lunging at Xiangshan, sword in hand.

“Stay away from him! The demonic Qi around He Zheng has already been substantialized. If you approach him, you could easily get possessed by him.”

Xiangshan chuckled, “It seems you won’t be able to save this stupid boy.”

“I’ll handle He Zheng. You guys may leave. You shouldn’t stay here.” Zhu Jin’s voice was heard in the room again.

Li Zong turned his head a fraction of an inch to one side and told the others, “You guys get out of here first. You could easily fall prey to the demonic Qi.”

“What about you, Supt. Li?” someone asked.

“Don’t worry about me. I got this.” Li Zong cast Zhen Ni a sidelong glance and instructed, “Take them out of here.”

The glance felt like a farewell.

Zhen Ni came to realize what decision Li Zong had made. Her eyes instantly reddened. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke, despite her efforts to make it sound normal. “Let’s get out of here.”

“We’ll be waiting for you outside, Chief,” Zhen Ni said as she reached the door.

Li Zong, standing with his back to them, made no reply, his eyes fixed on He Zheng all along.

Li Zong, Fengren, Zhu Jin and He Zheng were now the only ones left in the room, the latter pinned to the ground.

Zhu Jin, who had been trying hard to keep breathing, was finally unable to hold on to her life any longer. Her voice became very weak. “I hope you could handle this properly, Li Zong. Save his life if you could. He’s my sister’s only child.”

Finally, Zhu Jin’s voice trailed away to nothing.

Li Zong’s eyebrows twitched unnoticeably. It was quite a while before Li Zong’s voice was heard again in the spacious room. “I will.”

A jarring alarm came from the medical equipment. Apart from that, Xiangshan’s heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.

The Demonic Eye was giving off demonic Qi constantly, which enwrapped He Zheng’s whole body. Xiangshan gradually calmed down. Looking at Li Zong, he gave a chuckle.

“How are you going to finish me off, Li Zong?”

Li Zong, after a few moments’ silence, raised his foot with the intention to walk towards Xiangshan.

“Li Zong! You’ll be affected as well,” Fengren cautioned, instantly flashing over and blocking Li Zong’s path.

“What choice would you have made if you could save that person at that time?”

A red light flashed across Fengren’s eyes which were looking at He Zheng enveloped in black gas. Even the Nietai Mirror was unable to tell him where his original master’s soul was. Eons had long since turned that person into nothingness, who had used his own body to forge a sword. But were there still a chance to change that, Fengren would not hesitate to sacrifice his own life.

Fengren lapsed into silence.

“Step aside.” Li Zong’s voice was very light.

Fengren made way for him. Li Zong, utterly unafraid, started for Xiangshan. Demonic Qi instantly snaked its way up Li Zong’s body, tightly binding him as though he was some kind of delicious food.

Xiangshan narrowed his eyes, contentment registering on his face.

Soon Li Zong was standing in front of He Zheng. He half knelt on the ground, looking down at He Zheng who was securely restrained. As though not having noticed the demonic Qi which was like a snake flicking its tongue, he reached out a hand and rid He Zheng of the restraint from the marionettes. He Zheng, having just fought the marionettes, looked much the worse for wear.

The demonic Qi started invading Li Zong’s body more frantically, and to Xiangshan’s wonderment, it was much easier than he had expected for his demonic Qi to gain entry into Li Zong – Li Zong’s body was virtually defenseless!

“He Zheng.” Li Zong’s warm, big hand stroked He Zheng’s face. His voice was still so pleasant to the ear, and it sounded no different than usual when he called He Zheng’s name.

Xiangshan sneered, “How very touching.”

While speaking, Xiangshan released more demonic Qi, feeling that things would get thrilling if he turned Li Zong into his underling.

“He Zheng.” Li Zong called He Zheng’s name again. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here with you. I’m not going to let you die.”

He underestimated the demonic Qi, which was ruthlessly eroding his nerves. Soon, stampeding along his nerves, the demonic Qi reached every part of his body, and Li Zong’s eyes were becoming bloodshot.

His mind was filled with a kind of red. All sorts of negative emotions were sweeping over Li Zong: apathy, desire for blood and killing … For an instant he lost control of himself.

“Li Zong!” Fengren’s voice came from behind. Li Zong abruptly recovered himself, looked down and found that Xiangshan, using He Zheng’s body, was smiling a sarcastic, smug smile at him. “Come on, kill me. Kill me and it’ll all be over.”

“Li Zong, you’ll be possessed if you keep doing this!”

Spirits of weapons, like human beings, had sentience and the ability to feel emotions. All demons knew that the quickest way to possess a human being was by manipulating their affections, that with only a tiny effort on it, they could break a man.

“Come on. Kill me, Li Zong,” Xiangshan chuckled.

Li Zong ignored his words. After collecting his thoughts, Li Zong gazed intently into He Zheng’s eyes and called He Zheng’s name yet again.

At first, Xiangshan was positive that all Li Zong’s attempts would be unsuccessful, but gradually, He Zheng seemed to become responsive to it. His eyes which were on the verge of being occupied by demonic Qi and had turned pitch-black regained a whiff of normality. “L–Li Zong,” he murmured weakly.

It was now or never!

A golden light flitted across Li Zong’s eyes as his Qi burst out of his body, whipping his clothes. Xiangshan promptly attempted to take back control of He Zheng’s body, but it was too late. Dan Zhu biding his time in He Zheng’s forehead let out a silvery phoenix squawk. He Zheng felt as though his mind had instantly been dragged out of thick fog.