HIDDEN EVIL [XIAO SHUXIANG THE SERIES]
439 - Early Groove (3)

"Shuxiang! Shuxiang, wait!" The Mad Beggar Boy set his foot on a tree branch before darting back following Xiao Shuxiang. The charming young man was currently in front of him.

"Son! What the hell is going on?" The Crazy Beggar boy asked. "What is that cultivator from the Upper Cultivation Realm coming here and making trouble?"

"It's about Wang Zhao," Xiao Shuxiang continued to dart. His words made the man who followed him frown.

The Mad Beggar Boy asked, "What's wrong with Wang Zhao? Why is that guy?"

"Listen," the Mad Beggar Boy said. "I was previously together with Yi Wen and was suddenly attacked by several people. The way they fought and the practices of those people were different, so I could deduce they were cultivators from the Upper Cultivation Realm. Moreover, the rope they used to restrain my movements and Yi Wen is an object that can only be obtained from the Upper Cultivation Realm."

"Crazy Beggar, right now all I can say is that Wang Zhao is the mastermind of everything that happened to you. He's not who we thought he was all along,"

Xiao Shuxiang slowed down his slight delay until the Crazy Beggar Boy now caught up with him. The man darted next to her and she looked over.

Xiao Shuxiang opened his voice, "Have you heard of the Black-Eyed Devil?"

!!

The Crazy Beggar Boy was shocked. His eyes widened as he looked at Xiao Shuxiang. He said, "You! Where'd you get-"

"Wang Zhao is from there." Xiao Shuxiang looked forward and kept darting. He said, "I really don't know if I should believe this or not. Wang Zhao said that he was the demon of my heart who even went through reincarnation. He lived as part of the Black-Eyed Demon clan in the Upper Cultivation Realm,"

Xiao Shuxiang took a breath for a moment before saying, "Because it was created from human hatred and greed, he became extremely powerful. He was the mastermind behind the chaos that had been going on in the Upper Cultivation Realm all along. He planned his own expulsion from the Demonic Valley Sect, tricking the elders in the Cloud Sea Sect, and manipulating the white flow sect to attack the Demon Valley Sect."

"Crazy Beggar," Xiao Shuxiang's expression was bad as he said. "Although it did not directly kill all the people of the Demon Valley Sect, but he was the cause of the massive massacre. He even made the Dragon Lotus Pavilion attack the Thousand Sword Palace and the Cloud Sea Sect by dismantling Liu Wei Lin's identity."

"Hey, hey..! You serious?! A person like Wang Zhao did such a thing?!"

"Are you still in disbelief after everything that happened?!" Xiao Shuxiang had already restrained himself and could no longer. His voice shot up as he said, "The Cold Cloud City was made a mess by him and the Butterfly Sect was also burnt in flames. If only I had not made any preparations, then these two places would have been filled with the scent of human flesh. You and Yi Wen were not there when the mess happened, not even me..."

Xiao Shuxiang set his foot on a tree branch. Without warning, he punched the tree trunk before taking a breath. His voice softly as he said, "I'm trying to learn one of the chapters of the Sun Killing Book that you gave me in preparation against Qian Kun and the Upper Realm cultivators who want this book. But what happened was instead against a figure like Wang Zhao."

The Mad Beggar Boy came to a stop and stepped on the same tree branch as Xiao Shuxiang. He looked at this young man nearby and would only open his voice when the figure beside him spoke again.

"The Crazy Beggar. The heart demon should be inside, right? Then how can I..."

"Devil your heart becomes someone else, is it?" The Mad Beggar Boy said and made Xiao Shuxiang stare at him.

Taking a breath, Xiao Shuxiang began to open his voice. "I don't understand at all. I wanted to reject it and thought that it couldn't happen. It's just... He could read my mind, as if... That he knew me right."

"................." The Mad Beggar Boy stared for quite a while at the young man beside him before asking, "Does he know of your identity that does not come from this world?"

"You mean The Fallen Angel? I don't know. If he was the demon of my heart in the past, then there was a chance that he didn't know that. I just remembered it in my present life. But if he remembers... It'll be a lot worse."

"Shuxiang, I don't actually want to believe it either. But considering that you are reincarnated is also an impossibility, it is no wonder that the heart demon really has its own real form. All you have to do is-"

"Kill him." Xiao Shuxiang interrupted. His tone was firm and his eyes turned cold as he opened his voice.

The Mad Beggar Boy gasped, "Are you sure of what you said?"

"Why should I doubt?" Xiao Shuxiang said, "He is something that should not exist. He may have had a bond with me in the past, but not in this life."

"Wait for Shuxiang!" The Crazy Beggar Boy caught up with Xiao Shuxiang who suddenly shot back away. He said, "If Wang Zhao is indeed a part of you, then there could be an impact that you will experience when facing him. Have you ever heard of the reciprocal effect?!"

"Shuxiang, listen to me." The Mad Beggar Boy said, "Consider Wang Zhao is you. The reciprocal effect of going against a part of yourself will actually hurt you. You are a cultivator and you should know this one important thing-'There has never been a cultivator who fought with his heart's demons'."

!!

Seeing Xiao Shuxiang's reaction made the Mad Beggar Boy say, "There is no way to win against the heart demon by fighting. It's like you're gonna hurt yourself. You must know that well,"

"really. You're right, a reciprocal effect would occur if a cultivator recklessly fought with the demons of his own heart." Xiao Shuxiang looked at the darting man beside him and re-opened his voice.

Xiao Shuxiang said, "But even though he is the demon of my heart, we are not bound to each other. He experienced reincarnation and became part of the Black-Eyed Demon clan. To me... He was nothing more than someone who failed in cultivating demons so had to change his body once for several years."

"Shuxiang-"

"And even though there's a risk that I'm taking for it - I won't regret it." Xiao Shuxiang said, "I've experienced many things. There is no pain I do not feel. Even I am the one who best understands how painful death is. I'm not afraid I'll have to experience it again,"

"Why don't you even like it?" Xiao Shuxiang snorted, "Hmph. Just chill. Your Highness Xiao Shuxiang, this handsome, charming, and extraordinary friend of yours will not die that easily. And again... What would the world be if there were no amazing people like me? I'm too amazing to forget,"

The Crazy Beggar Boy blinked. His upper lip twitched and then said, "Well. I shouldn't have sympathized with you. My worry is in vain for worrying about people like you. You're a bitch,"

Xiao Shuxiang smiled, "You feel good now?"

"Xiao Shuxiang, this is you. What is good when you hear what you like to exalt yourself. You-"

"The Crazy Beggar. Think of it as a warm-up to what we're going to be up against next,"

!!

*

*

The location where Xiao Shuxiang and the Mad Beggar Boy were heading to was now the place where the fight between Ling Qing Zhu and Wang Zhao took place.

The two people had already fought so fiercely that they had moved away from the cave where Xiao Shuxiang had been held before. Even this location is now in a field that is quite close to the Star Dust City region.

Ling Qing Zhu was seen standing with trembling hands while holding his sword. He had a calm expression, yet at this moment compared to his face - his tiredness was clearly evident in the look in his eyes.

Wang Zhao himself was at a considerable distance away from Ling Qing Zhu. He said, "I didn't think that a person like you could have made it this far. It's just that your abilities still need some upgrades,"

Ling Qing Zhu did not say anything. She silently tried to calm herself down while improving her breath control. His vision was slightly blurry and there were some incisions on his clothes and body. He had no small injuries at all.

Wang Zhao drew his sword. He himself looked still fine and only his clothes were torn in pieces. He actually also had some injuries due to Ling Qing Zhu, but the great regeneration of his body made his condition quickly recover.

"I'm honestly upset," Wang Zhao opened his voice and said, "You're the girl who doesn't know how to give up. I've given you a chance to get out of here, but you want more freedom at the end of my sword."

Wang Zhao again enveloped his weapon with an extremely powerful spiritual energy. His gaze sharpened as he swung his sword and the attack came from a distance away.

A thunderbolt-like sound rang out and Wang Zhao's sword swing was not just that. A violent burst of acid came back and this time it led straight to the place where Ling Qing Zhu was.

!!!

The reason why the white-haired girl had not been injured before was because Ling Qing Zhu used a spiritual energy change technique. He coated his body with spiritual energy that was converted into ice-cold energy.

It was not visible on Ling Qing Zhu's body directly, but if one stood up even when it was seven meters away from the girl - then it could feel how cold the air around the veiled girl was.

The change in spiritual energy to such a level was a rare technique. Not all cultivators could do it and that was why the acid Wang Zhao had that was hot and capable of melting the skin would feel warm when it hit Ling Qing Zhu's body. The white-haired girl could think of this because she was indeed talented and a genius.

The problem is, despite having high intelligence - in fact Ling Qing Zhu lost when it came to stamina. Moreover, he had no regeneration as terrifying as his opponent right now. The condition he was in right now was really in a severe situation.

Ling Qing Zhu was already exhausted. He was unable to use the changes in spiritual energy as such techniques also required a lot of natural energy. He had also exerted a lot of energy just to attack Wang Zhao and injure him. Too bad his main enemy was the regeneration of the young man's body.

Wang Zhao should be exhausted as well and have suffered many severe injuries, but let alone look tired - the young man actually looked very fit and was even able to mount such a terrifying attack.

Just as Ling Qing Zhu thought that this was all the end for him, something suddenly shot up and resisted Wang Zhao's devastating attack. A loud rumble accompanied by five lightning strikes, as if coming out of the ground bears witness to how great the impact was.

Wang Zhao's acid and attack were held back by spiritual energy which looked like a round of black wind. Wang Zhao's eyes widened and even Ling Qing Zhu was shocked by what he saw, right before his eyes.

!

There was someone standing in front of Ling Qing Zhu. The man's long hair and white robe made him look amazing. Not to mention in his hand was a sword that had a golden lightning-shaped line in the middle of its blade. The gentle stroking of a forehead ribbon made Ling Qing Zhu know the identity of this subject.

"...................." Ling Qing Zhu wanted to talk, but his body condition was not good. He had already completely reached the limit of his abilities by now and was honestly regretting that he could not defeat Wang Zhao.

On the other hand, Wang Zhao's expression only got worse. The figure he saw before him was none other than Lan Guan Zhi. His hands clenched tightly as if holding back an anger.

"If he was here, would Wang Hu Zhuang have been..." Wang Zhao stared intently at the subject standing with that perfect posture. He did not like the nature of the young man standing before him.

"...................." Lan Guan Zhi himself did not say anything. He had already witnessed for himself the impact of Wang Zhao's fight against Ling Qing Zhu and became dislikeful of this young man. Wang Zhao was already inexcusable again.

******