Chapter 64: If You’re Ganged Up On, Kid, You…

At that moment, Pei Tianyi had already suppressed his heart demon and regained his senses. After catching his breath, he opened his eyes and stood up again.

Painting Nightmares hurriedly called out, “Young Master!”

“Shut up!!” Pei Tianyi roared, interrupting it. His expression turned stern as he vehemently denied, “I’m not from the Demon Clan!”

With that, his gaze sharpened abruptly. He thrust his sword backward, piercing straight through Painting Nightmares. Its body shuddered violently, the words it was about to say caught in its throat. It immediately lost all breath, and its form scattered cleanly not long after.

Pei Tianyi sheathed his sword and flicked his sleeve in one fluid motion.

He acted decisively, leaving no loose ends. It happened so quickly that even Gu Changhuai didn’t have time to stop him. He could only shrug at Rong Ye.

After slaying Painting Nightmares, Pei Tianyi turned his gaze to Gu Changhuai, then glanced at Rong Ye. His eyes lingered on the two of them as he pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back as if wary of something.

Gu Changhuai was already fretting. Painting Nightmares had zeroed in on Pei Tianyi so precisely, clearly with some ulterior motive—but they hadn’t gotten the chance to ask what it was.

Moreover, so many days had passed, and Han Ya still hadn’t returned from the Demon Realm. The Demon Clan’s movements were unclear, and who knew if they had other tricks up their sleeves.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Finally.

“You killed it too soon,” Gu Changhuai broke the silence first after some thought. “For now, stick with us.”

Pei Tianyi looked puzzled. “Why?”

Gu Changhuai said gravely, “The demon you killed was Painting Nightmares. It uses paintings as skin and excels at creating painted-skin puppets like this one. Now that this puppet is dead, it won’t be long before others come looking for you—maybe not just one, but a group. And your heart demon hasn’t been fully eradicated yet. You were already struggling against a single one.”

“???” Pei Tianyi, gradually sensing something was off, asked hesitantly, “…A group?”

Gu Changhuai looked at him with concern. “If you’re ganged up on, do you think you can hold out?” That said it all.

Got it. Pei Tianyi deflated. “I’ll follow your lead. What do you need me to do?”

Gu Changhuai nodded approvingly. “Smart.”

*

Fishing with bait for enforcement wasn’t difficult.

Thanks to the miraculous sight of the god manifesting during Qing Tang City’s second day of the Wandering God Ceremony, crowds poured in from all directions on the third day.

Gu Changhuai had long since grown bored of sightseeing, especially with the Demon Clan issue cropping up. He had no intention of lingering.

Besides, there were still two hundred thousand souls to recover. So he traveled with Rong Ye, following the Shura Spirit Compass’s pointer northwest.

Pei Tianyi trailed behind them at a neither-too-close-nor-too-far distance.

They flew on swords northwest for half a day and arrived at the Battlefield.

The Battlefield was vast and remote, dotted haphazardly with rugged Gobi formations. There were no settlements for thirty miles around—just withered grass and an aura of desolation.

From afar, one could sense the chilling yin energy swirling around the Battlefield’s edges. When the wind blew, it even carried faint, chaotic wails like ghostly sobs.

Gu Changhuai had no desire to step foot inside. He simply extended his divine sense to scan the area.

The expansive Battlefield’s layout mirrored the underground palace’s. The Soul-Locking Array was concealed among several Gobi peaks, with inky, fog-like baleful energy drifting faintly around the periphery.

Gu Changhuai’s divine sense caught Rong Ye already at the Battlefield’s center. That tall, cold figure stood atop a Gobi rise, his features impassive. With a single palm strike, he forced the Soul-Locking Array’s true form to emerge. He plunged a black flag straight into the array’s core, purging the baleful energy and destroying the formation.

—So handsome.

The thought popped into Gu Changhuai’s mind unbidden.

He snapped back to himself, feeling something was off. What was this, getting charmed by a guy? No way, no way! He hurriedly withdrew his divine sense, closed his eyes to steady himself, then flicked the paper figure on his shoulder and asked Pei Tianyi, “How’s it going?”

Pei Tianyi’s voice came from the paper figure. “No abnormalities.”

Gu Changhuai casually plucked a blade of grass from nearby and stuck it in his mouth. He leaned lazily against a Gobi outcrop, drawling carelessly, “Then we wait a bit longer.”

Rong Ye was busy destroying the Soul-Locking Array, so Gu Changhuai focused on the fishing operation.

He’d cut two paper figures as mediums—one on Pei Tianyi’s shoulder, one on his own. The paper figures relayed sounds bidirectionally. If Pei Tianyi ran into danger, Gu Changhuai could detect it instantly and rush to his side—though the distance couldn’t be too great.

Pei Tianyi hesitated. “Will demons really come?”

“Obviously,” Gu Changhuai scoffed lightly, brimming with confidence. “Demons all think alike. If one attempt fails, they’ll definitely try again. Just be patient.”

“…” After a moment of silence, Pei Tianyi murmured softly, “You too?”

Gu Changhuai: “…”

What a sharp comeback.

Kid, you’re a bit ungrateful here.