The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 70

Several months earlier, the devil realm had announced to the outside world that Qu Linyan, chief of the flood dragon clan, had formed rebellious thoughts, then fled in fear of punishment after failing to assassinate the devil crown prince.
To capture the traitor Qu Linyan, the devil army broke into the demon realm and charged toward Soul-Wounding Valley.
At first, no one in the demon realm cared. They thought this group of devil soldiers was only borrowing a road through the demon realm. After all, the flood dragon clan had long since attached itself to the devil clan and had nothing to do with the demon realm.
If the devil realm wanted to clean its own house, the demon realm could make it convenient. There was no need to clash with the devil realm over such a small matter.
Besides, not long ago, when devil soldiers had gone to the Nether River to shout at the heavenly realm, they had not hindered the demon realm in any way.
But none of the demon clans expected that after those thousands of devil soldiers wiped out the flood dragon clan in Soul-Wounding Valley, they not only failed to leave the demon realm at once, but also drove straight in and pushed deep into the heart of demon territory.
Qu Linyan had vanished. No one saw her alive, and no one found her body. So the devil clan put on an attitude that they would never leave until they found her.
Just like that, thousands of devil soldiers spread a huge search net across the demon realm, disturbing the peace of every clan.
In the vast demon realm, groups of devils could suddenly be seen everywhere. This was the first time in several thousand years.
For a while, the demon clans dared to be angry but did not dare speak.
Among the devil army searching everywhere for the black flood dragon’s whereabouts, one team spent several months searching from flood dragon territory all the way to the demon capital, Hundred Flowers Valley. Then they rushed in with great force.
This finally made the Fox King unable to endure any longer.
Less than half a day after the devils broke into Hundred Flowers Valley, they were “sent” back out in disgrace.
Those devils who fled Hundred Flowers Valley brought their commanding general the demon realm ruler’s harsh words: “The devil clan will withdraw within ten days. After ten days, if any of your people remain inside the demon realm, I will kill every one I see.”
“Those were his exact words?”
“This lowly one does not dare say…”
“Speak!”
In truth, the message had already been made more polite. The original had sounded far worse.
That day, the devils who entered Hundred Flowers Valley worked together to spread a spirit-searching art across the sky and earth, frightening all the demons in the valley into scattering.
All of a sudden, a wild wind swept through. The spiritual power maintaining the search art was blown apart completely.
The next moment, a voice rang out from nowhere.
“You devils have stirred up the demon realm for almost half a year. If that Qu Linyan were truly still here, never mind a flood dragon. Even an earthworm hiding in the mud should have been caught by now, right?”
“The demon realm has shown you enough patience. If you still cannot find her after so long, then either she left this land long ago, or you are all useless trash. Trash, no matter how much time it is given, only fails at what it does and ruins what others have done.”
“There is no need to keep making trouble. Within ten days, get out. Anyone who does not want to get out, or gets out too slowly, can leave their life behind.”
As soon as the voice fell, before they even saw a shadow of the speaker, a wild wind threw them hundreds of li out of Hundred Flowers Valley.
In the entire demon realm, the only one capable of sweeping hundreds of devils out hundreds of li without showing himself was the Fox King.
For several thousand years, the demon and devil realms had not disturbed each other and had not rejected each other. They often traded with one another as well.
In the end, the two races lived so close together that tearing off all courtesy would look bad for everyone.
Now, aside from damaging some flowers, trees, mountains, and streams, the devils had not truly burned, killed, stolen, or looted. Yet the ruler of the demon realm had suddenly issued such an order to drive them out. The leading devil general truly could not understand it.
It was said that even a strong dragon could not crush a local snake. Besides, several thousand devil soldiers in demon territory could not really count as a strong dragon. No one dared make light of this news, and it was sent back to Yuntian City at once.
Yuntian City was only one day’s journey from Hundred Flowers Valley. After Chi Heng learned of it, he quickly sent an envoy to Hundred Flowers Valley, hoping to ask the Fox King to show some flexibility. Who would have thought the envoy would be shut out at the door, unable even to enter Hundred Flowers Valley?
In truth, Chi Heng had already considered that Qu Linyan might really be greedy for life and afraid of death, leaving her clan and Chu Yuebai behind while she fled to the human world alone.
But he had not yet turned the demon realm upside down. He could not be sure whether Qu Linyan had truly left the lower realm, so his heart could not settle.
Half a year. At least within half a year, he absolutely would not allow that madwoman Qu Linyan to come back and ruin his plans.
He needed that time to refine Chu Yuebai completely into his puppet, then use Chu Yuebai to find and control the green lizard clan hidden in the shadows of the devil realm. Only then could he strengthen the future power and position of the red-eyed blood wolf clan.
So even though he knew Qu Linyan had most likely fled the lower realm, he still kept devil soldiers in the demon realm to continue searching, just in case.
The demon clans had always had few rules, scattered hearts, and half their people lived in the human world. If they clashed with the devil clan, they would surely gain nothing good.
In Chi Heng’s eyes, being able to maintain good relations with the devil realm was the demon realm’s good fortune. The demons should feel awe toward the devils. Because of that, the devil clan had never taken the demon realm seriously. When they broke into the demon realm to search for Qu Linyan, they had not worried too much.
In the devil clan’s understanding, demons ought to swallow their anger.
And in fact, during the devils’ half year of searching, they truly had not met any resistance.
But now, they had been stopped outside Hundred Flowers Valley. Not only that, the whole demon realm had suddenly ordered them to leave.
The current ruler of the demon realm was a fox. Foxes were clever creatures and ought to know how to follow power and advantage. Why had he suddenly eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard?
This truly puzzled people. The more Chi Heng thought about it, the more he felt the demon realm must be sheltering the black flood dragon.
If he had not wanted to avoid clashing with the demon realm while his own power was still unstable and causing unnecessary trouble, he would never have recalled all the devil soldiers scattered across the demon realm back to Yuntian City.
After he ordered the army to withdraw, Chi Heng only grew angrier the more he thought about it.
Sooner or later, he would settle this debt properly with the ruler of the demon realm.
But before that, the fire in his heart had to find somewhere to vent.
*
When Qu Linyan’s group returned to the lower realm, they had thought they would need to hide and dodge all the way ahead. They had not expected that in today’s demon realm, they would not even see half a devil’s shadow.
On the road toward the devil realm, Ciyin asked small demons they met along the way and finally learned that the devils had searched all the way to Hundred Flowers Valley. The ruler of the demon realm, who had endured them for a long time, had suddenly lost his temper, spoken harshly to the devils, and driven them all out.
At night, when they stopped to rest, the four of them sat around a campfire. Two roast chickens were held over the flames with wooden sticks, sizzling as they cooked.
The devil realm lay ahead. Ciyin told everyone the news she had heard during the day.
“The devils have always thought the demons have no temper. When I first entered the devil realm, many devils also looked down on the flood dragon clan.” As Qu Linyan spoke, she casually mocked, “Just like those immortals in heaven, looking down on everyone. The only difference is that devils are crude, while immortals are pedantic and stubborn.”
“Who are you talking about!” Ciyin glared at Qu Linyan through gritted teeth.
“Exactly, who are you talking about!” Yun Su also looked unhappy.
Qu Linyan realized she had misspoken and quickly coughed hard twice. “Uh… I mean, the devils’ arrogance really should be checked. They are only prisoners trapped in the lower realm. What are they so wild about!”
“What did you just say? Devils are crude, and immortals are what?” Yun Su raised her eyes and questioned Qu Linyan.
“I was wrong. I will never dare again…” Qu Linyan gently tugged Yun Su’s sleeve, her eyes full of pleading. “Nothing is absolute. I was talking about those old fellows who have lived for tens of thousands of years and spend every day saying this is not allowed and that is not allowed.”
Ciyin planted her hands on her hips and shouted, “So you mean Divine Lord Zhiming? You really are an ungrateful wolf!”
Yun Su nodded. “Zhiming has helped us so much!”
“I… I did not.” Qu Linyan felt wronged. How could they match people to her words like that? She had it too hard.
Fu Zhuochen could not help laughing. Qu Linyan happened to see him from the corner of her eye and quickly cried injustice, trying to drag one more person into the water. “Hey, someone here is secretly laughing. I do not believe his thoughts are different from mine! Fu Zhuochen, you say it. Does the heavenly realm have a whole group of stubborn old people or not?”
When Fu Zhuochen saw Yun Su and Ciyin turn their gazes toward him, he changed the subject without hesitation. “Did you hear any news about Yuntian City?”
“Yes! I met a small demon who escaped from Yuntian City. He said that the devil crown prince seems to think the Fox King acted to shelter Qu Linyan, so he is furious!” Ciyin lowered her voice. “Those little demons also said that lately, all the demons in Yuntian City have been abandoning their homes and businesses to flee. It seems… it is because the devil crown prince has chosen more than ten demon men in the city and brought them into the palace one after another. Every one of them was tortured to death!”
“Ah…” Yun Su covered her mouth in shock. “They were abused and killed?”
“This is venting anger. He wants to pour his rage onto the demons living in Yuntian City.” Qu Linyan fell into thought.
Ciyin tilted her head and frowned with worry. “Then what do we do? With this trouble, has our plan not fallen apart?”
“I think this is heaven helping us.” Qu Linyan looked toward Fu Zhuochen and propped her chin on her hand. “Originally, I was still wondering how to get you to Chi Heng’s side. Now it seems very simple.”
“Ah?” Ciyin cried in surprise. “How can that work! That Chi Heng hates demons so much right now. If Big Brother Fu enters Yuntian City, I fear he will be caught and killed before he can even get close to Chi Heng…”
“He will definitely see him,” Qu Linyan said with certainty.
“How?” Ciyin frowned. “I do not really understand. Is Chi Heng not taking revenge on demons right now? He… he caught those demons and killed them…”
Qu Linyan cleared her throat. “Little Flower God may not understand the word ‘torture’ quite correctly…”
Yun Su tilted her head blankly from the side. Clearly, she also did not quite understand what Qu Linyan was thinking.
Fu Zhuochen, who had been silent for a long time, gave them a hint. “The ones Chi Heng caught were all men.”
“Right. All men.” Qu Linyan raised one finger and analyzed, “When he sent his subordinates deep into the heart of the demon realm, he clearly never imagined the demon realm would dare say even half a word against him. But in fact, the demon realm became angry and refused to give him face anymore. He is furious, but he does not want to make trouble before his foundation is stable, so he can only endure it.”
“Since he has to endure, he should not do anything that angers the demon realm. He did not kill every demon in Yuntian City. He only caught some demon men. That means…” Qu Linyan paused under Yun Su and Ciyin’s curious gazes, which were only half understanding. When it looked as if both of them were about to roll up their sleeves and hit her, she quickly continued, “He is not taking revenge, nor is he showing off. He is simply venting another kind of fire.”
“Venting fire? How is that different from revenge?” Ciyin shook her head to show she did not understand.
“I thought I said it very clearly.” Qu Linyan did not know whether to laugh or cry. She reached out and pulled Yun Su, who was sitting properly beside her, into her arms. Then she asked softly by Yun Su’s ear, “Does Xiaoba understand?”
Yun Su suddenly lowered her head in embarrassment.
Venting fire. Of course she understood that.
Before she had recovered all her memories, during the days when she was angriest, she had wanted every day to press Qu Linyan onto the bed and then…
“It, it is just… that,” Yun Su said, her voice growing smaller and smaller.
Ciyin could not help widening her eyes.
After a moment of confusion, several strange scenes suddenly appeared in her mind. They were from the human erotic books she had once secretly read at the Temple of the Matchmaker.
“That, that… can it really cause death?” Ciyin looked unable to believe it.
“Perhaps there were too many tricks, and he played them to death. Then he did not want them anymore, so he killed them,” Qu Linyan said very calmly. After attaching herself to the devil clan for so long, she had long since become used to such things. “Most devils are cruel and savage by nature. Things like this happen often in the devil realm. This time, he has merely changed the targets to demons.”
“Played them to death!” Ciyin instinctively covered her mouth and turned to look at Fu Zhuochen in shock and worry. “Big Brother Fu will not be in trouble, right…”
“I…” Fu Zhuochen was briefly speechless.
Could the little girl not think of something better? Her head was full of strange things.
Qu Linyan laughed from the side. “Little Flower God worries too much. Your Big Brother Fu is going there to kill someone, not truly to accompany someone in pleasure. He knows what he is doing. Could he really lose the purity he has guarded for more than four thousand years?”
“Can you close your mouth?” Fu Zhuochen could not help drawing in a heavy breath.
Qu Linyan curved her brows and smiled. Suddenly, she raised her eyes and looked for a long time in the direction of the devil realm.
The moonlight was dim. Naturally, she could not see the even darker distance clearly.
After a long time, Qu Linyan came back to herself and said, “After tonight, if we continue forward, we will enter the devil realm.”
“The city closest to here is Luoye City in the devil realm. After entering the city, leave by the north gate, keep going north, cross the Wasteland and Cangjia Mountain, and beyond that is Yuntian City.”
“After we enter the devil realm, Ciyin and I must enter a dream. Once inside, I will seal the dream from within. Only Xiaoba’s spiritual power can wake us. Everything else depends on you two adapting as things happen.” As Qu Linyan spoke, she looked toward Yun Su with some unease. “Be careful in everything. You must put your own safety first!”
If Yun Su stayed by Fu Zhuochen’s side the whole time, there would not be much to worry about. But in the end, the two of them had to act separately.
Yun Su understood Qu Linyan’s worry. She quickly shook her head and smiled. “Do not worry. I am not stupid. You and A-Yin can sleep obediently. When you wake up, you will definitely see Miss Chu.”
Even though she said this, Qu Linyan still could not help worrying.
Yun Su was used to acting passively. When she was alone, she might very easily lose her direction.
The only thing that reassured Qu Linyan was that right now, Yun Su had no aura of her own at all. With her cultivation, she could easily hide herself and keep anyone from sensing her.
When they entered Yuntian City, Yun Su would surely be much safer moving around than Fu Zhuochen.
Thinking of this, Qu Linyan gripped Yun Su’s hands tightly and warned her seriously, “If you meet danger, do not force yourself to hold on. Wake me. I can protect you!”
“I know!” Yun Su’s eyes were full of warmth.
Their eyes met. The two of them slowly leaned toward each other, and Yun Su instinctively closed her eyes.
Ciyin suddenly cleared her throat. The two of them hurriedly sat upright.
After a burst of awkwardness, Ciyin pointed at the two roast chickens over the fire. “Are they cooked yet? It has been so long!”
Qu Linyan quickly reached out and turned the chickens over. “They still need a while.”
After she spoke, no one knew where she took out a pile of bottles and jars, but she began sprinkling seasoning with great skill.
“You even brought these?” Fu Zhuochen could not help feeling surprised.
“I bought them in the human world along the way.” As Qu Linyan spoke, she performed as if doing a magic trick. Pots, bowls, ladles, and plates each appeared in her hand in turn before she stored them all back into her spirit pouch. “If I did not bring these things, would any of you have brought them?”
Ciyin and Yun Su both shook their heads. Fu Zhuochen was silent.
Qu Linyan said, “Exactly. Without these, how could we eat well in the wilderness?”
If she were alone, she could make do with some fruit picked at random.
But now Yun Su was here. She could let anyone go hungry, but she could not let that little food lover who was willing to follow her through life and death go hungry.
*
Before stepping into the devil realm, Yun Su carefully placed Ciyin, who had turned into a spiritual flower and fallen asleep, into her spirit pouch.
Although Qu Linyan could no longer stay with her every moment, she did not feel afraid at all. Because she knew Qu Linyan was sleeping inside Ciyin’s dream. As long as Yun Su needed her, she could wake her at any time.
Across the demon clans, after reaching the age of Heavenly Dao lightning tribulations, not many demons could survive a tribulation. Fu Zhuochen was one of them.
Because of that, even in the devil realm, which was completely cut off from the human world, anyone with some ears and eyes knew his name. They knew that in the three realms there was such a unique red peacock, always dressed in red, handsome and elegant.
Though Fu Zhuochen had never dealt with any devil, he still had to hide his identity to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After entering the devil realm, Fu Zhuochen gave himself the alias Fu Zichu and changed into white clothes.
Qu Linyan said that she had once followed Chu Yuebai and seen Chi Heng many times. The male favorites around Chi Heng came and went, but most wore white, had clean faces, and looked like young men whose childishness had not yet faded.
It seemed Chi Heng especially liked that style.
Although Fu Zhuochen and the words “young man” could hardly be linked at all, he was naturally tall, slender, and beautiful. In white, he looked pure and unworldly. Even compared with the bright moon far beyond mortal dust, he did not lose in the slightest.
Yun Su stared blankly from the side. Only after quite a while did she come back to herself and follow Fu Zhuochen’s steps. She looked up at the side of his face and smiled with curved brows. “Brother, this is the first time I have seen you not wearing red.”
Fu Zhuochen could not help asking, “Does it look very strange?”
“No. It looks especially good.” As Yun Su spoke, her fingers twisted the thin gauze on her sleeve. She raised her eyes and asked, “Right, why did Brother choose the name Zichu? Where did it come from?”
“Order,” Fu Zhuochen said with a faint smile.
“Order?” Yun Su could not quite understand.
Fu Zhuochen explained, “Zi is the first of the twelve earthly branches, the beginning of each day. You can see it as ‘one.'”
“Is that not the same as Xiaoba? They are both just numbers. Why do they sound so different…” Yun Su lowered her brows and thought. Suddenly, she felt a little unwilling and quickly tugged Fu Zhuochen’s sleeve. “I also need an alias. Brother, give me one.”
Fu Zhuochen asked back, “What alias do you need? Has anyone heard of you?”
Yun Su choked. Her hand gripped Fu Zhuochen’s sleeve tightly as she followed him for quite a while before finally frowning and saying, “You, you clearly owe me a name!”
Fu Zhuochen glanced sideways at Yun Su and smiled. “I will not pay it back.”
“…” Yun Su gave a few wronged hums. Seeing that Fu Zhuochen ignored her, she quieted down in a puff of anger.
Most parts of the devil realm never saw the light of day and were dark and dim. Aside from several relatively stable cities, the rest of the land had been unmanaged for years. Everywhere, one could see people who drank blood and ate raw flesh. It was truly a place where the weak were prey to the strong.
Yun Su followed tightly beside Fu Zhuochen along the way. She did not know how many times they met sneak attacks from behind or groups coming out to hunt and kill them.
But none of them could even get close to Fu Zhuochen.
Fu Zhuochen said those were the lowborn among the devil clan. They had no money, no power, and low cultivation. They did not even qualify to live inside a city. They could only risk their lives for food and live one day at a time.
Most of those devils kept half-beast forms. First, it made attacking and defending easier. Second, they did not want to waste unnecessary spiritual power on taking human shape.
Such devils were more like wild beasts than people.
They only looked at what was before their eyes and did not think of tomorrow. After all, only those who had food could live. It was no exaggeration to say that if these fellows failed during a hunt, they could close their eyes forever.
Yun Su lived high in the nine heavens and had never known that the three realms still held such a savage land. Now that she saw it, her heart could not calm for a long time.
Along the road, Fu Zhuochen took a devil bone from a dying devil, sealed its aura inside, and handed it to Yun Su.
This way, as long as Yun Su carried this bone, in other people’s eyes she would be a devil.
The two traveled from Luoye City to Yuntian City day and night, taking only five days.
Yuntian City was the only place in the entire devil realm where one could see the sun rise and the moon set.
Tens of thousands of years ago, it had been the holy city of the Cangling clan. Later, after the Cangling were destroyed, it changed hands several times and finally became the capital every generation of Devil Venerables had to seize.
Now it was under the control of the red-eyed blood wolf clan, so most devils in the city had claws and spurs, dragged long tails, and only kept half-human shapes.
These devils who lived in the city were different from those outside. They did not turn fully human because they believed beast bodies symbolized strength and did not need to be completely cast away.
The devil clan worshiped strength, and that had not changed for tens of thousands of years.
Because of this, even the little devil girls bouncing around the streets and alleys still kept sharp teeth and claws, putting on a fierce little baby look.
Qu Linyan had once said that in the devil realm, most devils who liked to take a full human shape were noble and had been taught human knowledge since childhood.
Aside from those, almost all were savages, and the kind that could swallow a living person whole.
This sounded exaggerated, but thinking carefully, the devil clan had been imprisoned in the dark lower realm for almost five thousand years. It was already not easy that their intelligence had not greatly declined. One truly should not expect them to have kept much human likeness.
As Yun Su walked on the road, the more she looked, the more she felt that she and Fu Zhuochen did not fit here at all.
After hesitating for a while, she hid in a small alley and changed herself a pair of wolf ears, a dark red wolf tail, and clawed hands. Then she turned and bared her teeth at Fu Zhuochen for several seconds.
After that, she put her hands behind her back and smiled with curved brows. “I have decided to follow local customs. It will make moving around easier. How is it? Do I look like one?”
Fu Zhuochen smiled. “A little.”
Yun Su said, “Then now you are the only one who does not fit!”
Fu Zhuochen raised his eyes toward the distance. “We split up here. I will find a chance to get close to Chi Heng. You think of a way to find Chu Yuebai.”
Thinking that she was about to act alone, Yun Su could not help growing nervous.
She took two deep breaths in a row before nodding hard. “Be careful in everything!”
“You too. If there is danger, then…”
“Then wake Little Black and A-Yin!” Yun Su interrupted him seriously.
“…” Fu Zhuochen was silent for a moment, then continued, “Then burn the tail feather I gave you before.”
“Oh, oh, oh!” Yun Su raised her hand. The red feather was already pinched between her fingers, and she shook it left and right obediently. “I brought it!”
Just as her voice fell, Fu Zhuochen had already vanished before her eyes.
“He left too fast, did he not?”
Yun Su pouted, reached back to smooth that fake tail behind her, and walked out of the alley. Looking at the unfamiliar devils coming and going, she fell into confusion.
If only Qu Linyan were here…
After thinking this for a while, she suddenly shook her head and cheered herself on in her heart.
Is it not just finding someone? I can do it!