"When did you discover it?" Su Su asked softly.
Tantai Jin lowered his gaze, slipping the bead bracelet onto his own wrist. The red threads resembled the love threads he once lacked.
Tantai Jin said indifferently, "This lord does not understand your words. Accept the return gift and leave. Days are short and nights are long in the Demon Realm. The one who should come to this lord's chambers tonight is not you."
He didn't expose Su Su's identity. Separated by a veil, they met without recognizing each other.
Su Su raised her eyes. "Tantai Jin..."
Before she could finish speaking, an alluring demoness entered with swaying steps.
The demoness smiled charmingly. "Demon Lord, this humble one has been ordered to serve your rest tonight."
The newcomer was Qi Xue'er, the most powerful among all the demonesses under Jingmie's command. Qi Xue'er glanced at Su Su, her eyes filled with obvious hostility.
Qi Xue'er said, "This humble one has also brought something special for the Demon Lord."
"Oh?" Tantai Jin propped his chin on his hand, curling his lips. "Let this lord see."
Qi Xue'er leaned against him with a smile, revealing several golden pills in her palm.
"Please look, Demon Lord. This humble one went through great effort to obtain these."
Su Su's pupils contracted slightly - these golden pills had been gouged from cultivators. Cultivators who trained for centuries could only condense such a golden pill if they possessed exceptional talent.
Five golden pills lay in Qi Xue'er's palm, proving she had killed at least five golden core cultivators.
Without showing any emotion, Tantai Jin picked up one of the golden pills to examine it.
Qi Xue'er leaned close to Tantai Jin's ear, coquettishly complaining, "These golden pills were all obtained from the Carefree Sect. Xue'er heard they once called the Demon Lord a traitor, so I taught them a proper lesson on your behalf. Why won't the Demon Lord praise me?"
Su Su looked at Tantai Jin.
These were all his former martial brothers from the Carefree Sect...
Tantai Jin curved his lips in approval. "You've done well."
Having received praise, Qi Xue'er beamed with joy. She leaned softly against Tantai Jin's shoulder and turned to look at Su Su. "What? Does this sister wish to stay tonight and share pleasure with us?"
People in the Demon Realm were wanton and preferred not to share their spoils.
Su Su's gaze shifted from her to Tantai Jin.
Tantai Jin looked coldly at Su Su. "What, didn't you hear her words? If you don't want to leave, do you wish to stay?"
Su Su stood up, tightening her grip on the thumb ring in her palm. Suppressing her anger, she smiled. "Of course not. I wish the Demon Lord a pleasant night."
She walked out without looking back at that wretched pair.
Su Su repeatedly told herself that Tantai Jin was a scoundrel, a natural evil being. What pure emotions could exist in a demon's heart?
What did it matter that he gave her the thumb ring? His thoughts were always difficult to fathom - perhaps this was just another scheme of his.
But another voice whispered in rebuttal, "That's not true."
"You know he's not that kind of person."
He might have been despicable and malicious before, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals. But someone who didn't love her wouldn't have jumped into the River of Wailing Ghosts, wouldn't have allowed the Chongyu Qin to injure him while he withdrew the God Slaying Crossbow at the last moment.
Su Su leaned against a stone pillar, looking at the thumb ring in her hand.
Once the Nine Revolutions Profound Return Array was destroyed, the War of Immortals and Demons would be imminent. Tantai Jin would become the target of everyone's attacks, with no path of return.
"Su Su, are you hurting?" Chongyu flew out, blinking as it looked at her.
It used to prefer a majestic form, but recently discovered that a smaller size was more suitable for following Su Su.
Su Su said, "No!""Alright, Su Su doesn't." Chongyu said, "Then let's go. Let this Demon Lord fend for himself in the Demon Realm. Once we destroy the Nine Revolutions Profound Return Array, we'll send word to Qu Xuanzi to lead the immortal sect's forces in attacking. We'll wipe out these demonic cultivators completely."
Su Su lowered her long lashes, the crimson ground of the demon realm beneath her feet.
Chongyu stole a glance at Su Su: "Tantai Jin isn't like Brother Gongye. The immortal sect won't show him mercy, they'll only kill him."
"Stop talking." Su Su gritted her teeth. "He brought this upon himself."
"There's something Chongyu has been hiding from Su Su. I never intended to say it, but today on the street, the way Tantai Jin looked at you... Chongyu thought he seemed rather pitiful."
"Aren't you a divine artifact? How can the spirit of a divine artifact sympathize with humans?"
Chongyu gently nuzzled her cheek, its voice clear and melodious: "Gods love all beings."
Everyone believes gods should be desireless and emotionless, but cutting off emotions only makes one a walking corpse - how could that be worthy of being called a god?
"Gods love all beings." Su Su repeated softly, suddenly remembering Ji Ze's gentle and tolerant nature in the Desolate Abyss, how he maintained kindness even toward the demonic beasts there.
That was a true ancient god.
"In the Cangyuan Secret Realm, when you fell off the cliff, Chongyu placed you in the Thousand Miles Painting to nurture your soul. At that time you were in the form of a little girl, growing day by day. Your blood activated the Past Mirror fragment, and the wraiths outside coveted your soul every day. It was Tantai Jin who protected you."
"Later you promised him that after leaving the Thousand Miles Painting, you would find him and bring him home."
Chongyu pressed against Su Su's forehead, showing her the scenes from the Thousand Miles Painting.
Su Su closed her eyes, the missing memories flooding into her mind.
The girl emerged from her shell, looking at the youth in black robes.
"I know you like me!"
After leaving the Thousand Miles Painting, Tantai Jin stopped wearing black robes - all because she had once said they looked good on him.
Because of one compliment about looking good, he never took off his white robes even when they were stained with blood.
She promised him they would start over, but then forgot him, wounded him, and finally abandoned him.
Su Su opened her eyes.
Chongyu thought she would still hesitate, but instead she smiled and said: "Let's go back, Chongyu."
A promise made should be kept.
Qi Xue'er leaned against the man's chest, her heart fluttering.
Who in the demon and monster realms didn't revere the Demon Lord? Thinking about soon being intimate with this person, Qi Xue'er grew excited.
Filled with jealousy, Qi Xue'er tried to undermine Su Su's standing, cooing sweetly: "My Lord, this concubine is much better at serving you than that little girl Xiao Jue. I don't know why you favored her yesterday - she must have displeased you quite a bit, didn't she?"
Her fingers twirled circles on Tantai Jin's belt.
"Indeed." That person had trampled his heart over and over again.
Qi Xue'er didn't see the mockery in his red demonic pupils, thinking her words had been affirmed. The powerful demonic energy surrounding Tantai Jin both oppressed Qi Xue'er, making her uncomfortable, while also making her yearn for the Demon God's strength.
Enduring her discomfort, she tremblingly reached to remove his clothes.
Tantai Jin tilted his head and looked at her indifferently, as if examining a piece of meat on a cutting board.
Just as Qi Xue'er touched his collar, the bedchamber doors were kicked open.
The demonic energy in Tantai Jin's palm stilled as he looked toward the entrance.
Su Su stood there.
The hairpin he had personally placed in her hair adorned her locks as she pressed her lips together, watching him and Qi Xue'er.
Tantai Jin's gaze remained cold and unmoving.Had it been in the past, he might have still wanted to explain, but now, since he was already the worst in her eyes, a little more or less didn't matter.
Qi Xue'er's brows and eyes filled with anger: "How dare you barge into the Demon Lord's bedchamber without permission! Demon Lord, this little wretch has repeatedly offended you, you... Ah!"
Su Su made a hand seal with her fingers, and Qi Xue'er tumbled down from Tantai Jin's skeletal stone throne.
She rolled all the way to Su Su's feet.
"You... you!" Qi Xue'er stared at Su Su in shock and disbelief. Clearly, her cultivation wasn't as high as hers, so how could this happen?
Su Su looked at her with a smile: "Will you leave on your own, or shall I kill you?"
Qi Xue'er trembled inexplicably. Covering the wound on her face, she pitifully glanced back at Tantai Jin, hoping the Demon Lord would uphold justice for her.
But the Demon Lord's gaze remained fixed unwaveringly on the woman beside her.
Tantai Jin said coldly to Su Su: "What are you trying to do now?"
You've achieved your goal, so why come back? What else do you want from me?
Su Su took a few steps to his side, pulled him up from the skeletal stone throne, and looked at him seriously.
"Tantai Jin! Whether you believe it or not," Su Su said, "that day I came to Zhahe City, I was actually looking for you."
This was the first time Su Su had said such words to Tantai Jin. Even she found it hard to speak them, but she still did.
Tantai Jin's fingers tightened on the stone throne.
The girl before him spoke word by word: "I remember the promise in the nightmare demon's dream. I said I'd wait for you to return. But I didn't keep you in Zhahe City—you fell into demonhood. I also remembered the promise I made to you in the Thousand-Mile Scroll. I promised to take you home, to start over with you. I remember it all now. What about you? Do you still remember what you said?"
Su Su took a breath and looked at his handsome, beautiful face: "Are you willing to leave the Demon Realm and start over?"
His red Demonic Pupils rippled with emotions Su Su couldn't decipher. After a long while, those emotions settled into coldness.
Tantai Jin carelessly lowered his gaze and pried Su Su's fingers open one by one.
"Start over?" He let out a vague, mocking laugh. "Li Susu, what makes you think you compare to everything I have now? Start from where? From that powerless, cowardly, pitiful mortal? Or return to the Carefree Sect to be a disciple sweeping floors and running errands every day?"
Tantai Jin laughed as if he had heard the most amusing joke, unable to contain himself.
"Hmm? Or did you think I would abandon being their Demon Lord for you, only to linger by your side like a dog begging for a glance? How could you forget—in my heart," he said in a cruel tone close to her ear, "you have always been a liar from start to finish."
Tantai Jin watched the light in her eyes fade bit by bit.
Her fingers, pried open by him, fell limply through the air.
"You're lying to me," Su Su pressed her lips together and said. "If it's truly as you say, why didn't you expose me? Why did you still give me the ring to open the Barrier?"
Tantai Jin looked at her with amusement: "If I exposed you, how could this play continue? A Goddess who consorts with demons—Li Susu, you're the first in tens of thousands of years."
"As for the ring," his tone turned cold, "whether you can survive the forbidden land after obtaining it is another matter. People change, let alone demons. Do you think I still need you now?"The Heaven Severing Sword solidified in his grasp. "How audacious of you to come to my domain and harm those under my protection."
Killing intent permeated the space between them. Even Chongyu hadn't anticipated that Su Su's visit to Tantai Jin would lead to such an outcome.
The melody from the Heavy Feather Konghou resonated urgently, pressing Su Su to leave immediately.
The Heaven Severing Sword could slay Gods. He truly intended to kill you!
Su Su took a step back.
Tantai Jin's crimson Demonic Pupils regarded her coldly. Once Chongyu was drawn, blood sacrifice was inevitable.
Su Su's long lashes fluttered as she shook her head. "Was it all just a game?"
He remained silent.
Meeting his gaze, Su Su neither affirmed nor denied her belief. Her form gradually faded until she vanished completely from the bedchamber.
Qi Xue'er approached Tantai Jin, her voice trembling with uncertainty. "Demon Lord, are you just letting that little wench go? From what she said earlier, she's not from our Demon Realm!"
Tantai Jin asked calmly, "What did you call her?"
Qi Xue'er finally sensed something amiss. Whirling around, she met a pair of blood-red eyes.
Sudden fear gripped her - the instinctive warning that she had overplayed her hand.
In the next moment, she saw the young man before her smile.
His smile was pure and innocent. Were it not for the overwhelming Demonic Energy, Qi Xue'er might have mistaken him for an ordinary, shy mortal.
Clutching her abdomen, she watched blood gush forth, streaming from her mouth.
"Sa...save..." Qi Xue'er could no longer form complete words.
Tantai Jin, his hands drenched in blood, toyed with the purple Demon Core in his palm.
He smiled and asked her, "How does this feel?"
As the Heaven Severing Sword pierced through Qi Xue'er's body, she dissolved into a wisp of Demonic Energy, silently merging into the Profound Return Array.
Tantai Jin turned and resumed his seat upon the lonely, icy throne.
Gazing at the empty bedchamber, he murmured distantly, "If only you had said those words to me sooner."
He reached out, touching the empty air, his smile gentle and shy.
"I promise."
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