I suddenly lifted the sedan curtain, revealing an exquisite and unmatched red wedding dress. But the face under the wedding dress was not Zhuge Jingjun, who is as beautiful as a fairy, but a grotesque and ugly head with six eyes.
"Ah!! Monster!!" The people who saw this scene ran away screaming.
Those six constantly swiveling eyes were waiting for me.
I was sure that the "monster" in front of me was undoubtedly Zhuge Jingjun.
This was the consequence of her misuse of the Bifang Spirit Pearl!
The Six Desires Fiend sucked out of Zhuge Jun was eating away at her at an extraordinary speed.
A strange buzzing sound came from her body, and this ugly head suddenly began to swing from side to side, the six eyes clearly showing signs of pain.
The head shook faster and faster until all I could see was a constantly shaking gray blur. This scene was extremely eerie.
When this abnormal "movement" stopped, Zhuge Jingjun's pale face appeared in front of my eyes. She bit her lip hard, pressing her head tightly with both hands, murmuring to herself, "Hold on... you are Zhuge Jingjun, not a monster... you can't let him control you before you get there..."
She stumbled out of the sedan, running forward unsteadily, her bright dress completely ruined by the rain and mud stains.
I think I guessed right. The place she wanted to go to was that dangerous spot. Being buried in the deep pool with no bones left is the best way to completely eradicate the Six Desires Fiend. She must have thought so.
Time was running out. For the first time in my life, I showed myself in front of her.
"Jingjun!" I called her name and grabbed her arm with one hand.
She turned around, her eyes anxious and unfamiliar.
"Who are you? Let go of me!" She struggled to break free from my grip like a madwoman.
"You're not going anywhere!" I flicked my fingers, and a talisman was caught between my fingers and swiftly stuck onto her vest.
White smoke came out of the talisman and she cried out in pain, her body freezing in place.
However, to my surprise, in just a moment, a layer of black mist gushed out of her body and forcefully dislodged my immobilization talisman.
Her head, in the blink of an eye, turned into an ugly shape again, and her immobile limbs also showed signs of movement.
I know I'm not a very powerful tree demon, at least I have not cultivated enough yet, but I didn't expect my spell to be broken so quickly by the Six Desires Fiend.
In an instant, the person who was restricted from moving became me. The arms of Zhuge Jingjun, who is currently neither human nor monster, became soft yet strong like a snake, winding around my arms in coils, then extending from my arms to my entire body, and finally, of course, my neck.
I couldn't break free. The arms trapping me were weightless yet powerful and felt like sturdy chains that directly gripped my bones through my flesh.
"Don't..." At the critical moment, she shook her head in pain, her strange face changing back to her original appearance.
Inside her, two forces were constantly fighting: one human, one fiendish.
When you see someone constantly changing before your eyes, now human, now monster, in other circumstances, you would find it comical. But I couldn't laugh now. If Zhuge Jingjun's self-struggle fails, I'll become the first food of the Six Desires Fiend.
After a strange long roar, she stopped changing. Her head was fixed in the form of a monster, and not only did she have six eyes, but her head also began to split, from one into six, with the mouth on each head wide open, revealing cyan sharp teeth.
Those ferocious, swiveling eyes cast greedy gazes upon me.
I've never feared death, but I don't want to die at the hands of such a vile creature. Besides, if I die, who will save Zimiao's daughter?
Gathering all the spiritual power within me, I tried to break free, but the harder I tried, the tighter the arms wrapped around me became. It was as if the force I exerted was working against me.
Those arrogant, twisting heads revealed monstrous smiles, their mouths widening more and more, then, simultaneously, they lunged at me.
I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side.
At this moment of imminent peril, a wave of scorching heat brushed past my ears, accompanied by a sound like lightning ripping through the sky, and I, on the verge of suffocating, felt the coils restraining me suddenly release.
Opening my eyes, I saw the two snake-like arms let go, and the demonized Zhuge Jingjun, shaken away by a powerful force, fell heavily ten feet away from me.
I turned around and saw a gigantic dragon covered in purple scales, haughtily hovering in the air, hot steam billowing from its large nostrils.
Evil Dragon Ao Chi?!
I was taken aback.
Zhuge Jingjun got up from the ground, her six heads swaying uncomfortably, her blood-red eyes glaring angrily at the unexpected appearance of Ao Chi.
With a strange shriek, she leapt into the air, fearlessly rushing towards Ao Chi.
Ao Chi regarded her with the disdainful gaze one might give to a cockroach. The always insufferably arrogant evil dragon opened his mouth wide like a yawn.
"Don't hurt her! She's Zimiao's daughter!" I shouted.
Given Ao Chi's fiery temperament, he might refrain from acting, but once he does, it's usually destructive.
However, he didn't seem to hear me at all.
A torrent of golden flames edged with azure spewed from his mouth, instantly engulfing the charging Zhuge Jingjun.
I saw her surrounded by the sea of flames, unable to even scream, just desperately writhing in futile struggle.
The East China Sea Dragon Clan is proficient in both water and fire, and this unruly evil dragon clearly wanted her life.
I watched Zhuge Jingjun turn into a large piece of black carbon thing under the blazing flames and fall from the sky to the ground.
Ao Chi withdrew the flames, reverted to his human form, walked over to the "charcoal" and clicked his tongue, "It's cooked..."
"Ao Chi!" Mad with anger, I marched over and grabbed his collar furiously. "Are you crazy? It's Zimiao's daughter you burned to death! It's his daughter!"
"I saved your life!" Ao Chi emphasized.
"Who asked for your help! Who gave you the right to spew fire indiscriminately!" I was incoherent, wishing to bite this presumptuous man to death.
"Madwoman!" Ao Chi shrugged, like he was too magnanimous to stoop to my level.
Just then, that lump of "charcoal" suddenly made strange movements.
I looked intently and saw countless cracks spreading across it, faint blue light radiating from each fissure.
With a crackling sound, the "charcoal" was abruptly split by those blue lights, breaking into countless pieces and scattering all around.
A completely intact and normal Zhuge Jingjun lay curled up with closed eyes amidst the shattered "charcoal" remains, her chest moving up and down slightly. She looked like a butterfly that had just emerged from its cocoon and was resting peacefully.
Meanwhile, those black charcoal fragments crawled on the ground like insects, finally gathering together to form a black spider-like monster with six heads, six eyes, and six legs, scurrying forward in panic.
With just a flick of his finger, Ao Chi sent a bolt of lightning flying from his fingertip, accurately striking the monster. After a series of odd chitters, the monster turned into a pile of black ash, swiftly swept away by the chilly wind.
"That... that's..." I stared stupidly.
"Just the Six Desires Fiend," Ao Chi dismissed casually. "What did you think it was?"
The legendary Six Desires Fiend, so weird and terrible, and a difficult problem that many have struggled to resolve, was dealt with so easily by the evil dragon?
I glanced at him incredulously and said, "Isn't it said that the Six Desires Fiends won't leave the host's body unless the host dies?"
"There are too many rumors out there, and people who believe everything are fools." Ao Chi rolled his eyes at me proudly. "We, the East China Sea Dragon Clan, are born with the divinity to restrain evil spirits. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Hainan True Fire spewed by my clan is a powerful weapon to eliminate all evil spirits. No evil spirit can stay in the body of a person who has been burned by the Hainan True Fire. In simple terms, the fire I spit wasn't for destruction, but for purification. This woman is fine, and from now on, there won't be any Six Desires Fiend troubling her."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" I punched him.
"Have you ever asked for my opinion?" Ao Chi curled his lips and said disdainfully, "You always act on your own."
"You…" I know I'm in the wrong.
The evil dragon has been with me for eighteen years, during which the thing I've been most passionate about is ignoring him.
"I can't be bothered to talk to you." I stuck out my tongue at him and hurried over to help up the unconscious Zhuge Jingjun, feeling a twinge of pity as I wiped away the sludge sticking to her body.
"No good deed goes unpunished." Ao Chi said unhappily, "Might as well let the Six Desires Fiend eat you."
"How did you know about this?" I remember not mentioning Zhuge Jingjun to him.
"Bug demons know everything." Ao Chi began to boast, "I paid them ten times what you promised. Also, I paid the debt you owed to those guys. No need to thank me."
He looked like a child who had successfully stolen a treat.
In truth, I wanted to thank him.
But seeing his careless look, all words of gratitude were stifled.
"She'll wake up soon, right?" I said, looking at Zhuge Jingjun lying in my arms.
"Within three days at most," Ao Chi replied affirmatively, "but there may be some aftereffects after waking up."
I was alarmed: "What kind of aftereffects?"
"While the Hainan True Fire removed the Six Desires Fiend from her, it also striped away most of the divine power in her body." Ao Chi continued, "In other words, she's no longer the daughter of whatever Water God, but just an ordinary mortal woman. You know, we East China Sea Dragons are exceptionally powerful; we don't even take gods seriously."
Hearing this, I actually felt somewhat relieved.
It's a good thing for her to be an ordinary mortal woman.
"Let's send her back to Zhuge Manor," I suggested. "When she wakes up, the person she most wants to see certainly isn't you or me."
"Up to you." Ao Chi's eyes shifted, "Wait a minute, aren't you planning to deal with Zhuge Jun?"
"If I wanted to deal with him, I would've done so back at Zhuge Manor." I sighed, "The Six Desires Fiend was forcibly sucked out of his mortal body. Now, he's nothing more than a living corpse."
"Are you really letting him go?" Ao Chi couldn't believe it. "Weren't you filled with intense and deep-seated hatred earlier?"
"Do you understand the meaning of 'seeing oneself in the mirror'?'' I countered.
"I hate talking pedantically[1]," he said bluntly.
"Everyone is our mirror. From them, we can always see ourselves." I studied Zhuge Jingjun's face, "Whether it's Zhuge Jingjun or Zhuge Jun, what they've done, in fact, we ourselves have done it before; the emotions they've struggled with, we've experienced too. Everyone who has had desires and obsessions is similar." I looked up at him, "So, letting others go is letting yourself go."
Ao Chi thought about my words carefully and after a while said, "I don't understand, but it seems to make some sense. Anyway, just don't do anything stupid like almost getting eaten by other monsters, and I'll be relieved."
I immediately blushed with embarrassment.
I know that from now on, Ao Chi has another handle[2] to taunt me.
But I'm grateful for his presence from the bottom of my heart.
He carried Zhuge Jingjun on his back, one hand supporting her and the other tightly holding mine.
Riding above the clouds, we headed for Zhuge Manor.
I watched Zhuge Jingjun lying on his shoulder and wondered, when she had inhaled the Six Desires Fiend and intended to die with it, why she chose to wear a wedding dress and a lively wedding procession to walk to her death.
There's only one answer.
To don a wedding dress for her beloved is her purest and most unattainable "desire."
I don't know what will happen after sending her back to Zhuge Manor.
I only know who she wants to see most when she wakes up.
Actually, I still have a knot[3] in my heart about letting Zhuge Jun go.
But compared to this knot, Zhuge Jingjun's happiness is more important.
Since I promised to protect her, why not be a good person and do it to the end…
Footnotes:
[1] 咬文嚼字: to bite on phrases and chew on characters; to pay excessive attention to wording and choice of characters; to nitpick like a grammar Nazi.
[2] 把柄: information that can be used against someone.
[3] Hang-up; problem.
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