Chapter 499 – Return – The Demon Lord’s Consort Is a Good Person (12)
The little fox watched as Lord Lao and Shenwei endured all that torment without saying a word. He was so angry that tears welled up in his eyes. The Demon Lord had suffered far more than they had, and all of it had been an undeserved disaster.
As he thought about it, countless images of the Demon Lord suffering in the past appeared before Bai Chuansu’s eyes. All of those hardships had been caused by them. Unable to contain his anger, Bai Chuansu stepped forward and kicked Lord Lao several times. If the Demon Lord hadn’t stopped him, the little fox would have loved nothing more than to bite a few chunks of flesh off the old man’s body to vent his hatred.
Lord Lao and Shenwei had lived pampered and privileged lives for far too long. In the end, they could no longer withstand the agony brought on by the soul-searching technique and finally revealed the truth.
It was because of jealousy. They were afraid that the Demon Realm would take away the Heavenly Realm’s position among the Six Realms.
That reason disgusted everyone present.
Each of the Six Realms was irreplaceable. The High Gods who had been manipulated by Lord Lao were even more incredulous. Their eyes widened like copper bells as they struggled to believe that they had actually been manipulated by a High God like this. They had even obeyed his orders and respectfully regarded him as their leader.
Bai Tang gave Lord Lao a disdainful glance.
“And you call yourself a High God?”
Those words voiced what Bai Tang and everyone in the Demon Realm were thinking.
What the hell?
Because of this old man, they had been slandered and falsely accused. They had even been forced to hide in the Demon Realm for hundreds of years, unable to come out. The Demon Lord had nearly died because of his ambush, too. Fortunately, they had their Consort, who had risked everything to descend to the mortal realm and bring the Demon Lord back.
From that moment on, the demon soldiers were filled with immense gratitude toward Bai Chuansu. They wholeheartedly acknowledged the little cat-fox as the Demon Realm’s Consort.
Only someone who devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Demon Lord, even at the cost of his own life, was worthy of becoming their Demon Lord’s partner.
Of course, the most important thing was that the Demon Lord had to love him.
The demon soldiers secretly glanced toward the Demon Lord.
At that moment, the Demon Lord was holding the fox youth in his arms, kissing him again and again. The two fluffy ears on the youth’s head had turned pink, whether from embarrassment or excitement, no one could tell.
So cute~
Everyone cried out inwardly.
Unfortunately, he already belonged to the Demon Lord. There was no chance for them.
The crowd immediately felt disappointed again.
Lord Lao lay prostrate on the ground. He knew that there was no escaping his fate, yet he still clung to the last sliver of hope that North Emperor Immortal Lord might show him some mercy.
He pointed toward where the High Gods were standing, his finger trembling.
“North Emperor Immortal Lord, you can’t blame this entirely on this old subject! The truth is, this old subject was also deceived by someone else~~~”
His dramatic, winding tone, combined with his sorrowful, tearful expression and weathered face, really did make it seem as though there was some hidden story behind everything.
Bai Chuansu didn’t believe for a second that someone as ambitious and self-serving as Lord Lao could have been manipulated by someone else.
As Lord Lao cried out his grievances, an ominous thought slowly surfaced in Bai Chuansu’s mind.
Don’t tell me it was…
Lord Lao said tearfully, “It was the God of Misfortune! The God of Misfortune influenced this old subject! Seeing that the God of Misfortune was still young and ignorant of worldly affairs, this old subject thought I would teach him a thing or two. I never imagined that he was hiding treachery beneath that innocent exterior. He actually took advantage of my unpreparedness and bewitched me! That’s why I became blinded by evil and attacked the Demon Realm…”
The group of High Gods parted from the middle, revealing the petite young man standing at the very back of the crowd.
The petite youth still had no idea what was happening. He looked completely bewildered and confused. In a daze, he seemed to hear someone calling his name.
“Huh? Are you talking about me?”
He hadn’t had anything to eat for a long time. It had taken him quite a while to finally receive an offering—a single cornmeal bun.
“I-I… I only have one bun. I can’t give it to you~” The Little God of Misfortune’s voice was soft, delicate, and sweet. His clear eyes glistened with tears as he looked pleadingly at the gathered gods.
No matter how you looked at him, he was pitiful—helpless, weak… and quite the little eater.
When the Little God of Misfortune saw that the gods remained unmoved by his pleas, he assumed they weren’t going to give up on his bun. Gritting his teeth, he took the bun out and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Urk, urk…” The Little God of Misfortune choked, repeatedly patting his chest.
No matter how Bai Tang looked at him, he couldn’t believe that the Little God of Misfortune was the kind of person who could hide evil intentions deep inside and actually manipulate a shrewd person like Lord Lao.
Most of the High Gods knew better. The Little God of Misfortune had only been born recently. He knew nothing about the world and rarely interacted with anyone. His divine ability was practically useless, too. Even if he had tried to approach Lord Lao, Lord Lao wouldn’t have paid any attention to a Little God of Misfortune who had no use to him.
However, they glanced again at the Demon Lord, who was currently being affectionate with his Consort.
Lord Lao had already pushed the blame this far. If they didn’t come up with some kind of explanation, the Demon Realm probably wouldn’t agree to a ceasefire.
So, even though they knew perfectly well that it couldn’t possibly have been the Little God of Misfortune’s fault, they insisted on making him the scapegoat.
As mentioned before, the Little God of Misfortune had no powerful background. The only person who had ever protected him was the previous God of Misfortune, but the previous God of Misfortune had long since died and vanished from existence before he could even properly raise the Little God of Misfortune.
The Little God of Misfortune knew nothing and had no power or influence of his own. Blaming everything on him was simply the most convenient option.
“That’s right, that’s right. What Lord Lao said makes sense.”
“You can tell just by looking at his divine title. What good could a god with a divine title like that possibly do?”
“He must be the one, right? He looks so pitiful and innocent, but who would have thought he was actually harboring such vicious ambitions…”
Whether they understood the truth or not, the High Gods all shifted the blame onto the Little God of Misfortune.
At this moment, the Little God of Misfortune still didn’t understand why they were blaming him, but he could tell that whatever was happening was not a good thing.
He was terrible with words, and no one had ever taught him how to handle a situation like this. He was so anxious that tears kept falling from his eyes. He repeatedly waved his hands.
“It’s not me! It’s not me! I didn’t do anything! I haven’t done anything at all! It wasn’t me…”
“You’ve got the wrong person. It wasn’t me…”
No matter how the Little God of Misfortune tried to explain himself, all they wanted was someone to take the blame and bear the Demon Lord and Consort’s wrath.
“The facts speak for themselves. You don’t have the right to argue.”
The Little God of Misfortune cried out as he tried to explain himself, but the Heavenly Soldiers ruthlessly dragged him away. His cries gradually faded into the distance.
The Little God of Misfortune looked so pitiful that even Bai Tang couldn’t bear to watch. He had an innate instinct for distinguishing right from wrong, and the Little God of Misfortune was nothing like what they had accused him of being.
Bai Chuansu was also unwilling to let an innocent person get dragged into this. He was just about to say something when the Demon Lord stopped him.
The two younger ones had never dealt with matters like this before, so they didn’t understand. But Jiang Langwu and Lou Shun knew that this outcome was undoubtedly the best one.
Lord Lao had already pushed someone forward to take the blame. Even if he didn’t want an innocent person to be implicated, the demon soldiers below would never be willing to let someone who was highly likely to be the true culprit off the hook.
Therefore, whether the Little God of Misfortune wanted to take the blame or not, he had no choice but to bear it. If it wasn’t him, it would be someone else. Someone had to step forward and shoulder the responsibility in order to maintain the balance.
Bai Tang and Bai Chuansu exchanged a glance, and both saw the same emotion in each other’s eyes—distress.
Bai Tang truly hated these hypocritical High Gods. He wanted to disregard everything and rush forward to rescue the Little God of Misfortune, but A Wu held him back.
He couldn’t let A Wu lose face in front of the people from the Heavenly and Demon Realms, so he could only suppress his anger and endure it in silence.
Regardless of whether the Little God of Misfortune that Lord Lao had thrown forward was actually the culprit, Lord Lao himself was still the primary mastermind, and he could not escape punishment.
Lord Lao and Shenwei were subjected to the same punishment: their tendons were torn out, their bones stripped, and their immortal roots destroyed.
However, instead of being thrown into the mortal realm, they were cast into the Netherworld, where they would suffer endless torment.
The Heavenly Realm and the Demon Realm finally declared a ceasefire and signed a peace treaty. The Six Realms had, for the time being, returned to a state of peace.
During the Heavenly Realm’s conflict with the Demon Realm, the mortal realm had suffered the most. After the ceasefire, the disasters that had plagued the mortal world from time to time finally disappeared.
The common people were overjoyed. They danced and celebrated, then knelt and worshipped the High Gods, grateful for their divine protection and mercy.
Jiang Langwu was so busy that he barely had time to rest. Every day, he had to arrange for people to repair the damage inflicted upon the mortal realm, search for the souls of innocent people who had died in the war between the gods and demons, and send them on to a good reincarnation.
Whenever Bai Tang thought about the innocent Little God of Misfortune who had been dragged into all this, his heart ached.
By now, everyone in the Heavenly Realm knew that Bai Tang was the North Emperor’s Consort. He could freely enter and leave the Heavenly Court, and no one dared to make things difficult for him.
He took Qiu’er and Xiao A to the Heavenly Prison to visit the Little God of Misfortune.
The Little God of Misfortune was curled up in the corner of his cell. When he saw the North Emperor’s Consort arrive, his eyes immediately filled with tears. He grabbed hold of the bars of the prison door.
“Consort, please help me explain it to them. I really didn’t do it. I never manipulated Lord Lao. I’ve never even met him before, so how could I possibly have bewitched him?”
The Little God of Misfortune they had seen on the battlefield had not been as extravagantly dressed as the other High Gods, but he had at least been clean and neat. Now, however, after being thrown into the Heavenly Prison, he looked utterly miserable.
As he clung to the bars of the prison door, his loose sleeves had slipped up to his elbows, revealing rows of whip marks that had yet to scab over. His face was covered in dirt, and the only thing that remained bright was his pair of round, clear eyes.
“Consort, please, I beg you. I really didn’t do it. It wasn’t me…”
Tears streamed down the youth’s face. He couldn’t understand why he had been charged with such a crime. But he couldn’t see anyone who could help him, and the Heavenly Soldiers who had tortured him would only repeat his so-called “crimes” and demand that he sign the confession.
But he hadn’t done any of it. How could he possibly sign it?
Bai Tang’s nose stung, and tears began to fall uncontrollably from his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”
The Little God of Misfortune’s charges had already been formally drawn up, and his punishment had already been decided. There was nothing Bai Tang could do.
Bai Tang took the Little God of Misfortune’s hand and apologized to him through his tears.
The Little God of Misfortune looked at him and asked softly, “Consort, do you believe me?”
“I do. But I can’t help you. In fact… I even indirectly helped bring all of this about…” By standing by and watching coldly, he had become one of the executioners, too.
“You believe me, Consort. That’s good. No one else believes me. Only you believe me…”
The Little God of Misfortune seemed to have resigned himself to his fate.
When the Heavenly Soldiers had tortured him until he lost consciousness, they had forcibly grabbed his hand and used it to sign the confession. Any attempt to explain himself was completely futile.
“Bai Tang, don’t cry anymore. This isn’t your fault,” Qiu’er comforted him.
A gentle green light flashed.
Bai Tang used his healing ability to heal all the wounds on the Little God of Misfortune’s body. At the very least, he could keep him from suffering any more pain.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore~” The Little God of Misfortune no longer had to endure the agony, and a happy smile appeared on his face. “Thank you, Consort.”
“You’re welcome.”
This was all Bai Tang could do for him.
Xiao A had originally been a Good Luck System. After learning about Bai Tang’s guilt and the punishment awaiting the Little God of Misfortune, he suddenly took the Little God of Misfortune’s hand and transferred some of his accumulated blessings to him.
A stream of shimmering light flowed into the Little God of Misfortune’s body, startling him.
“I’ll give you some good fortune. After you go down to the mortal realm, it might have some unexpected effects~”
Xiao A didn’t explain further. Something like blessings could have different effects depending on the person who received them. No one could say for certain what would happen.