Tribulation Period Part 2

And yet, his fearsome reputation outside was second only to Wu Xingxue's.

Someone had said before that every time Wu Xingxue forgot Sang Yu's full name, he was actually doing it on purpose to mock him. Otherwise, how could he not know who "Lord Sang" referred to?

At first, Fang Chu thought so too. But after following Wu Xingxue for a long time, he discovered that his City Lord really wasn't doing it on purpose.

The number of people in the world who could make Wu Xingxue "deliberately" do anything could be counted on one hand.

"Where's Ning Huaishan?" Wu Xingxue asked, setting down the cloth.

"He went out to run some errands," Fang Chu said. "The matter the City Lord assigned him last time, he said he had to finish it in these two days. Yesterday I heard him complaining about feeling cold, so he's probably approaching his Tribulation Period. He won't be able to go out for the next few days."

Hearing "Tribulation Period," Wu Xingxue's expression was indifferent.

Fang Chu, however, glanced cautiously at Wu Xingxue a few times and hesitated, "City Lord, your Tribulation Period these past few days..."

Wu Xingxue turned his gaze on him.

Fang Chu fell silent, not daring to say more.

Wu Xingxue said, "Since the Soul Hook belongs to Sang Yu, then you will come with me to Sang Yu's place."

Fang Chu obediently offered the Soul Hook to him, but couldn't help saying, "How can we let the City Lord go to his place? He should be the one to come crawling to our door to apologize."

"That won't be necessary." Wu Xingxue didn't take the Soul Hook. Hands empty, he walked through the long corridor towards the door. "I can't stand the smell on him. It's best he doesn't come."

Fang Chu offering the Soul Hook was just a gesture. Seeing that he didn't take it, he skillfully stuffed it into his own waist pouch, then said, "Those of the Corpse Refining Path do indeed carry some yin dampness, but Lord Sang has already cultivated to the extreme realm, so there's not much of a smell anymore."

But then he realized that his City Lord was sometimes so particular he hardly seemed like a Demon Lord, so he said no more.

It must have been a cold winter in the dream as well. Zhaoye City was shrouded in mist, and one's breath would turn white upon opening their mouth.

Wu Xingxue stepped down from a black carriage and entered a vast manor.

The Evil Demons of Zhaoye City had many eccentricities, and all sorts of strangely shaped manors existed. This was especially true for those of the Corpse Refining Path, whose residences were often built like underground palaces and tombs.

Sang Yu's, however, was extremely normal. At first glance, it was no different from the grand, red-gated households of the Royal Capital. But it was different once one entered the gates—

In the halls of ordinary homes, guest chairs would be placed on both sides. Here, a circle of dark, heavy coffins was lined up against the walls.

The coffin lids were tightly sealed with a circle of coffin nails and covered with yellow paper talismans. Faint, chattering laughter could be heard.

If any commoner were to come here, they would probably be scared to death by that laughter.

But Wu Xingxue paid it no mind, leading Fang Chu through the hall and into the inner rooms.

Sang Yu's subordinates hurried after them, not daring to get too close, yet trying to stop them. "City Lord, City Lord, City Lord!"

"Speak, I'm listening," Wu Xingxue said, his steps not faltering. He moved at an unhurried pace, yet he would often cross to the other end of a covered bridge in a single step. It was very strange, throwing the Evil Demon subordinates into disarray.

"Our Lord Sang... he... it's not convenient for him to see guests right now," the subordinates said.

Sang Yu had always been arrogant in Zhaoye City, and so were the subordinates in his manor. If anyone else had entered the manor, they would have attacked long ago, not even bothering to open their mouths. But it was Wu Xingxue, so they didn't dare to make a move at all, and could only move their lips.

Wu Xingxue said "oh" and remarked, "Whether it's convenient or not is his business. What does it have to do with me? Did I ask him?"

The subordinates: "..."

He moved as if through an uninhabited land. After a few turns, he came to an instant stop before a tall room.

Needless to say, he knew Sang Yu was in this room. The entire room was shrouded in an extremely dense, yin dampness, so thick it was as if tens of thousands of people had been buried here.

This time, even Fang Chu felt the smell was too strong.

Wu Xingxue frowned, unabashedly pressing his fingertips to the tip of his nose.

The subordinates: "..."

There was nothing they could do to stop him, so they could only shout into the room, "My Lord, the City Lord is here!"

They seemed to want to approach the door but also feared getting close, each of them like emaciated wolfhounds with eyes green from hunger. On one hand, the food they coveted was there; on the other, they were not strong enough and held back.

There was no echo from the room, only some extremely low human voices, as if sealed by a barrier, sticky and indistinct.

And the lingering yin dampness suddenly grew even thicker.

"My Lord—" the subordinates were about to shout again.

A finger on Wu Xingxue's hand, hanging by his side, moved slightly. With a loud "bang," the tightly shut door, sealed with a Restriction, was violently blasted open by an invisible force.

They crashed against the walls, making a heavy sound.

Thick, damp yin energy poured out from the doorway like a billowing gray mist.

Wu Xingxue turned his head to avoid it. When he turned back, he finally saw the scene inside the door clearly—

A bed with its curtains wide open, a room full of the smell of half-dried blood, and tangled, intertwined shadows.

Once the Restriction was broken, the sounds that had been muffled within flowed out unobstructed, hitting the walls, doors, and windows, sometimes muffled, sometimes clear.

Evil Demons had always sought only pleasure. They were heartless and lungless, and lacked the sense of shame and morality of ordinary people.

Sang Yu glanced toward the door, then squinted and turned back. After a moment, he unhurriedly rolled over and sat up on the bed amidst the intertwined figures, one leg propped up.

He said hoarsely to the doorway, "Why has the City Lord come? I happen to be in my Tribulation Period and it's simply too cold, so I called some people over to warm up. I wasn't able to welcome you in the main hall, my apologies."

Wu Xingxue was expressionless, but Fang Chu averted his eyes.

Seeing this, Sang Yu started laughing. "What, isn't this how everyone gets through their Tribulation Period? If not by relying on this, are there other ways?"

He was embraced by several figures, his body covered in sweat. Indeed, he didn't seem cold.

But the sweat dried in an instant. He gave a very light shiver, then grabbed one person's hand and, while still embraced, drank their blood.

The person whose hand was bitten didn't react at first, but after a long while, they began to tremble and struggle.

Sang Yu tossed the hand aside and leaned back against another person, looking at the Great Demon Lord at the door with blood staining the corner of his mouth.

He twitched his nose and sniffed pretentiously a few times. "Hiss— By the way, I heard from my men that the City Lord was also in his Tribulation Period a few days ago."

"Tsk, for cultivators like us, we're unrestrained and everything is great, except for the Tribulation Period, which is hard to endure. The higher the realm, the harder it is to endure," Sang Yu said with a smile. "Then I'm somewhat comforted. At least the City Lord must be suffering much more than I am."

"However, I've never seen the City Lord capture people to take back during his Tribulation Period. How do you get through it? I was really curious, so I sent some people to keep an eye out for me. It seems they won't be coming back?"

He clearly knew why Wu Xingxue had come, so he simply laid it all out without pretense. He feigned a sigh and said, "Two poor things. But these two poor souls told me something very interesting yesterday."

He looked over at Wu Xingxue and said, "I heard that during the City Lord's Tribulation Period these few days, they saw someone in Quebuluo and suspected they were hallucinating. Since those two poor things are already dead, I'll ask for them..."

"City Lord, why, on a day like the Tribulation Period, would High Immortal Tianxiu be in your Quebuluo?"