Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 612 - 305: Familiar Demon_2

Chapter 612: Chapter 305: Familiar Demon_2

The ground was likewise strewn with numerous corpses, their deaths equally gruesome, various organs scattered all about.

After observing the layout of the great hall, Yelü Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise,

"It’s very similar to the underground palace beneath Capital’s Huailan Lake, it seems that the Myriad Phenomena God Sect’s forbidden area was built according to the underground palaces left by the previous dynasty."

The underground palace... Qu Hongling’s beautiful eyes flickered, and after thinking, she said:

"I heard that in the underground palaces left by the previous dynasty, each one held a demon imprisoned within its sacrificial altar. Underneath the Capital’s Huailan Lake was the Nine-tailed Fox, recently in Qingzhou’s underground palace it was the Azure Dragon, and then there’s the Red Skeleton beneath that river..."

At this point, Qu Hongling lowered her voice:

"Do you think the one who killed these people might be the demon imprisoned in this underground palace?"

Yelü Miaomiao understood her meaning.

The three great mystical altars of the Myriad Phenomena God Sect were destroyed, resulting in the breach of the forbidden area.

So it was very likely that the imprisoned demon had escaped.

Looking at the corpses strewn about, Yelü Miaomiao said, "To kill so many experts, this demon must be no ordinary creature."

Qu Hongling slowly nodded, "So we need to be more careful."

As a Sect Master of the Demon Clan, she had a deep understanding of demons.

Demons are a species distinct from humans, but for the convenience of spiritual cultivation and pursuing the Dao, they use various methods to transform into human shapes.

The advantage is easier acceptance by the heavenly order, but the disadvantage is losing some of the demons’ inherent strengths.

Simply put, at the same realm, a demon in human form is not as strong as a demon maintaining its beast form, whether in terms of strength or bloodline suppression, they are at a disadvantage.

That is why Thousand Beasts Forest dared to contend for the leadership of the Demon Clan over so many years.

Once a demon close to perfection releases its inherent beastliness and ferocity, its strength can significantly increase.

It could completely dominate opponents of the same realm and even fight across levels.

Especially those demons imprisoned in such underground palaces, they inherently possess unique advantages, otherwise the previous dynasty would not have chosen to imprison them instead of killing them directly.

Since the layout of the underground palaces was essentially the same, the three easily found the passage leading to the inner altar.

The passage was eerily quiet; no more bodies were seen, only scattered bloodstains. Some blood was splattered on the ground, some smeared on the walls, but curiously, no footprints were found.

As they neared the altar, the trail of blood ended.

What appeared in front of the trio was a tightly closed secret stone door.

Above the door, there was a keyhole.

Yelü Miaomiao asked in confusion, "The demon didn’t break the door directly but used a mechanism to operate this door, how did it enter and exit without a key?"

Qu Hongling, caressing the keyhole, found it to be sticky, akin to a glue-like liquid.

At that moment, a woman in black opened her mouth.

After retching several times, she spat out a bone key the size of a pinky finger.

"So the exquisite bone was swallowed by you,"

Yelü Miaomiao said with a smile.

The woman in black did not respond, possibly fearing that Qu Hongling and the others would snatch the key, she quickly inserted the exquisite bone into the keyhole and turned it forcefully.

With a rumbling sound, the stone door slowly opened.

Yelü Miaomiao and Qu Hongling instinctively stepped back to keep on guard.

The woman in black, however, squeezed through the half-open door too impatient to wait, disappearing from sight before Qu Hongling could warn her.

"Are we that frightening?" Yelü Miaomiao murmured quietly.

The two women did not dare to take risks like the woman, waiting until it was safe before entering through the stone door.

What met their eyes was indeed a giant altar, but next to the altar, there was a formation similar to a beehive, roughly containing about thirty holes.

The woman in black had already vanished, presumably having entered one of the holes.

"This woman is truly mad,"

Yelü Miaomiao muttered under her breath, "There must be demons hidden inside, she doesn’t even care about her life in pursuit of treasures."

Qu Hongling observed the altar and spoke softly, "The trigram positions are indistinct; this altar is essentially ruined. Moreover, I don’t sense the presence of any demon, which is very strange."

Yelü Miaomiao continued to have the Little Flower Demon scout the path ahead.

The petite and light Little Flower Demon fluttered through several branching caves, eventually choosing a hole towards the middle right.

"Dare to explore it?"

Yelü Miaomiao’s beautiful eyes flashed towards Qu Hongling.

Qu Hongling smiled broadly, "We’ve come this far, what’s there to fear? Besides, I owe you a favor, it’s time I repaid it, isn’t it? Otherwise, if you go back and spread the word in the Demon Clan, it wouldn’t look good for me as the Sect Master, right?"

"Heh, well spoken, but every time you intentionally stay half a step behind me, are you afraid I might make a move on you, or... are you preparing to ambush me?"

Yelü Miaomiao said, half-smiling.

Qu Hongling tilted her head, a picture of innocence, "Really?"

Neither woman was a fool, they wouldn’t form a deep friendship based only on brief interactions. They were cautious around each other.

Yelü Miaomiao gave a faint smile, too lazy to expose the other’s cautious thoughts, and took the lead entering the cave.

Qu Hongling pursed her lips and followed behind.

The tunnel was winding, somewhat similar to the layout of mosquito coils, circling round and round. After many turns, the two finally entered a square stone chamber.

The doors within the stone chamber were open.

To their surprise, the chamber indeed contained numerous treasures, including cultivation technique books, talismans, magic artifacts... However, all these treasures were, without exception, destroyed.

Upon closer observation, one could see that the treasures were all gnawed on, with debris scattered around.

The bite marks appeared to be from rats.

"How could this be?"

After her shock, Yelü Miaomiao quickly began searching for the Divine Ghost Eight Array Diagram.

Qu Hongling noticed some mucus on the wall, similar to the slime they had found earlier in the keyhole.

She dabbed some onto her finger, rubbing it gently between her fingertips, finding no toxins nor could she determine what type of demon the mucus belonged to.

Qu Hongling then squatted down, casually picking up a long sword that had been chewed and ruined.

The material of this sword was rare, engraved with numerous talismanic characters making the blade extremely tough... But looking at the bite marks on the blade, it seemed as if the sword was made of paper.

Yelü Miaomiao searched the stone chamber for a while but couldn’t locate the Divine Ghost Eight Array Diagram.

Either the demon had eaten the treasure, or the Divine Ghost Eight Array Diagram was not there.

"Eh? There’s blood here..."

As Qu Hongling rummaged through the damaged treasures, she accidentally spotted a pool of dark blood on the ground, similar to the blood they had seen in the corridor before.

Qu Hongling said, "It seems that the demon was injured as well."

She tapped on the floor, found it to be hollow underneath, then turned to Yelü Miaomiao, "There’s a secret chamber below. The demon is likely hiding in there."

Yelü Miaomiao quickly came over.

She tried to force it open with brute strength, but the floor did not budge.

"There must be a mechanism."

Qu Hongling began searching inside the stone chamber and soon found a protruding button in a corner.

When she pressed it hard, a passage in the floor appeared.

A foul smell hit them immediately.

The two women pinched their noses and hurriedly stepped back. After waiting for a moment and seeing no demon emerge, they cautiously moved forward to inspect.

The stairs descended layer by layer into the darkness below.

There was no source of light anywhere nearby.

Yelü Miaomiao wanted the Flower Fairy to enter the passage for a reconnaissance, but the sensibly sharp Flower Fairy trembled, clutching the edge of the bell, unwilling to go in.

"There’s definitely a demon below, should we go in?"

Qu Hongling looked at Yelü Miaomiao.

Yelü Miaomiao, however, hesitated.

She had entered the forbidden area just to find the Divine Ghost Eight Array Diagram on behalf of the Empress Dowager, but if she were to lose her life here, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Maybe... forget it?

However, to her surprise, Qu Hongling was the first to enter the passage.

Yelü Miaomiao was stunned for a moment, then instinctively grabbed Qu Hongling’s sleeve, "Are you not afraid of dying?"

Qu Hongling’s expression was calm. She looked down into the dark passage and said, "I’m a bit curious to see what kind of demon it is."

For some reason, Qu Hongling always felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity; perhaps the demon was of her same kin, like the Phoenix.

"But..."

Before Yelü Miaomiao could continue persuading, Qu Hongling continued walking down.

"Another lunatic!"

Watching the girl’s retreating figure, Yelü Miaomiao muttered under her breath.

After hesitating several times, she finally decided to follow behind Qu Hongling, muttering softly, "Just so you know, if there’s danger, I’m running first. I’m not risking my life to save you."

"Hm."

Qu Hongling replied, saying, "I wouldn’t either."

Yelü Miaomiao raised an eyebrow, rolled her eyes, and didn’t bother contradicting her. After a few steps, she suddenly pushed Qu Hongling aside and squeezed past, walking ahead.

Qu Hongling paused, then smiled secretly.

This girl did have a kind heart.

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