Chapter 143: Born to Die

This came as a complete surprise to the Demon Ancestor Rahu.

The power of the God-Killing Spear was terrifying to the extreme, forcing Rahu to retreat step by step. He leaped into the air, and a surge of malevolent fierce aura assaulted Er Pang.

However, with the God-Killing Spear in hand, that fierce aura could not harm Er Pang in the least; it was completely absorbed into the God-Killing Spear. With a burst of strength in his legs, and with a booming sound, Er Pang likewise leaped into the air and thrust toward Rahu.

"Lin Wu, have you forgotten the deal between us?"

Rahu dodged, leaped onto a mountain cliff, and shouted at Er Pang.

"How could I forget!" Er Pang said.

"Very well, since that is how it is, don't blame me for destroying your primordial spirit!" A fierce glint gathered in Rahu's eyes. He immediately began chanting an incantation.

At that moment, the bloody gash between Er Pang's eyebrows gradually split open, and trails of bloody veins spread in all directions. With a miserable shriek, Er Pang plummeted downward.

The God-Killing Spear fell to the ground, and Er Pang rolled around clutching his head. He felt as though his brain was about to split apart.

Seeing this, Rahu smiled coldly.

He leaped down from the cliff and landed right in front of Er Pang.

"There is only one road for those who betray me, and that is death!"

With those words, Rahu squatted down and extended his right hand, which was wreathed in bloody mist. His fingernails, sharp as blades, thrust toward Er Pang's heart to tear it out.

Rahu intended to destroy Er Pang's heart and completely transform him into a demon.

Yet, just as Rahu's sharp fingernails were about to pierce Er Pang's chest, Er Pang let out an angry roar. Despite the blood streaming from his forehead, he flipped up and grabbed Rahu by the neck with his left hand. A surge of malevolent energy condensed in his right hand, and just as Rahu was about to counterattack, Er Pang slammed his palm squarely onto Rahu's chest.

Under this blow, Rahu flew backward, crashed against the rock wall, and rolled down to the ground, sustaining heavy injuries.

Er Pang wiped the blood from his forehead and said, "I can agree to any other condition, but no one is allowed to touch Lin Yi!"

Clutching his chest, Rahu stood up and raged, "Who is Lin Yi?"

"The Ghost Dao Master you spoke of—he is Lin Yi!"

While speaking, Er Pang picked up the God-Killing Spear from the ground. He gave a bitter smile and continued, "Demon Ancestor, I know you could never let the Ghost Dao Master go. Since that is the case, I will help you make this obsession vanish forever!"

"You want to kill me?" Rahu asked.

"Otherwise, what did you expect?" Er Pang's expression turned intensely cold.

"It won't be that easy!"

Rahu muttered, once again forming hand seals and chanting incantations. The blood vessels on Er Pang's forehead continued to spread, turning his eyes a deep, scarlet red.

However, gritting his teeth, Er Pang stepped closer to Rahu.

Deep in his heart, the name Lin Yi could not be swallowed up, even by demonic blood and demonic souls. The more Rahu chanted—though Er Pang suffered excruciating pain—a strange smile gradually crept onto the corners of Er Pang's mouth.

This smile made the entire dark abyss feel like an ice cellar.

Rahu had never imagined that his demonic arts used for controlling human minds would fail to work on Lin Wu. Holding the God-Killing Spear, Er Pang approached step by step, leaving Rahu with no choice but to believe it.

"Where are the Demon Ancestor's guardians? Kill him!"

Rahu shouted, but no one answered.

"Demon Ancestor, you needn't shout anymore. Today is destined to be your fatal tribulation; the guardians outside have already been killed by me. Did you never expect that you, Rahu, renowned for a lifetime, would die at the hands of a mere mortal?"

With that, Er Pang burst into laughter.

"However, rest assured, Demon Ancestor, the fact that you were killed today will never leak out, and it will never ruin your lifelong reputation. We shall simply pretend that the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation has already reduced you to ashes!"

Hearing these words, Rahu's complexion changed drastically. He sprang up, transformed into a streak of red light, and attempted to flee.

Yet, with a few shifting footwork steps, Er Pang already blocked his path.

A furious Rahu struck out at Er Pang. However, although he possessed a natural primordial spirit, after his demonic seed was reborn without cultivation, his strength was inadequate. Though his single palm strike was filled with malevolent energy, Er Pang met it with a single punch to his palm, the impact sending Rahu stumbling back repeatedly.

Steadied on his feet, Rahu acted like a madman and once again conjured a surge of fierce energy.

However, Er Pang brandished the God-Killing Spear, sucking all of that malevolent energy entirely into the weapon.

Immediately following, with another rapid shift of his footwork, Er Pang thrust the God-Killing Spear forward with a whistle. This single thrust concentrated all of Er Pang's strength.

The demonic heart of the Demon Ancestor Rahu was pierced straight through by the spear.

Rahu froze in place. He stared at his pierced chest in sheer disbelief.

He turned his head and glared at Er Pang.

"Lin Wu, in the name of the Demon Ancestor, I curse you..." Before he could finish, Er Pang violently yanked the God-Killing Spear out and said, "Don't forget, Rahu, you can't even lift the God-Killing Spear right now; you are no longer the Demon Ancestor. Save your curse for yourself!"

A spurt of fresh blood gushed forth, and a demonic heart was dragged out by the God-Killing Spear.

The malevolent energy enveloping the demonic heart was entirely absorbed into the spear, and instantly, the heart shriveled, withered, and dropped to the ground.

Strangely enough, Rahu, now heartless, continued to walk forward.

He bypassed Er Pang and staggered toward the exit of the cave like a walking corpse.

Er Pang was astonished and could not help muttering:

"Even like this, he still won't die?"

If Rahu did not die, he would ultimately remain a disaster.

Thinking of this, Er Pang grasped the God-Killing Spear and immediately gave chase.

A heartless Rahu only needed someone to tell him that he was still alive, and even without a heart, he could continue to exist—such was the Demon Ancestor. Although he was heartless now, perhaps by a coincidence of fate, he might find a heart again; and once he found a heart, he could resurrect.

Just like Rahu's original demonic heart, which he had once found in the depths of the Demon Domain.

However, how could Er Pang ever give him such a chance?

As Rahu walked out of the cave, Er Pang was standing right at the entrance.

Because Rahu lacked a heart, he no longer recognized Er Pang at this moment. True to his nature, whenever he saw someone, he would inevitably ask one question: "Do you think I can still live?"

Er Pang had been waiting for precisely those words.

"You cannot live anymore! Take a good look at yourself, you don't even have a heart, you're just an empty shell—how could you possibly live?"

The words struck like a thunderclap.

Rahu collapsed to the ground instantly.

"From this day forward, I shall be the Demon Ancestor in your stead!"

After Rahu fell, blood gushed from his chest. Bathed in the sunlight for just a moment, he completely melted into a pool of pus, merging into the mountains and earth veins.

Er Pang stood before the cave entrance and waved his spear once.

The mountains split and the earth cracked, completely destroying the entrance to this dark abyss. The truth about the Demon Ancestor was thus buried deep beneath the mountain ruins.

Among the rolling, emerald-green mountains.

The Nu Tong Village.

Beneath the wooden stilted building.

I leaned against the wall and sat down on the floor, falling asleep at some unknown point.

When I woke up.

There was an extra blanket draped over my shoulders, and Hua Yuyan was sitting right beside me.

I did not know how long I had slept, only feeling that sleeping against the wooden building was intensely uncomfortable. By then, my lower back felt as though it was about to break.

Hua Yuyan's complexion looked fine; it seemed the Mountain Ghost had indeed helped her clear away the poison of the Six-Yao Insect. As it turned out, my blood truly possessed the power to detoxify.

Had I known this earlier, Weiyang wouldn't have had to shield me from the Six-Yao Insect back then.

Perhaps subsequent events would never have occurred.

A myriad of thoughts churned in my mind.

"Yuyan, are you alright now?" I asked her.

She seemed lost in thought about something and appeared somewhat absent-minded. When I called out to her, it gave her a start. She had been gazing blankly into the distance just moments before, and now she said, "I'm fine!"

"That's good," I said, standing up to stretch my joints. I felt sore and aching all over, with not a single part of me feeling right.

However, the wound on my chest had already been tended to. When I peeled back the gauze, I discovered that the wound had completely healed.

Ordinary medicine could not mend wounds this quickly; no doubt it was the effect of the lingering trace of aura my mother had left within my body.

During breakfast, the Mountain Ghost pulled me aside and told me privately, "Lin Yi, after that girl's insect poison was removed, she stayed by your side the entire night yesterday. I saw her crying the whole night through..."

I had no idea how to respond to these words.

Fortunately, Hua Yuyan returned to the room at that moment, so I left it unsaid.

After finishing breakfast, when I prepared to return to the Wutong Ancient Land, Hua Yuyan said, "Lin Yi, I won't accompany you to the Wutong Ancient Land this time!"

This statement caught me somewhat off guard, but I still nodded and said, "Very well. Yuyan, stay here in Nu Tong Village to recover, Sister Mountain Ghost will take care of you!"

"Lin Yi, I am leaving!" she said.

Her words made me pause in surprise. I constantly felt that her emotional state was amiss, so I asked, "Yuyan, what is wrong?"