Immortal Paladin

268 A Demon Like a Child

[POV: Gu Jie]

It had been several months since Gu Jie found herself shackled to the most dangerous man in the world. The Heavenly Demon, Ru Qiu, carried ideals that gnawed at the very fabric of morality: that power alone was the truth of existence, that the weak existed only to be devoured, and that true strength was found in severing all attachment to the lesser world. He said these things with conviction, even though he suffered from amnesia and could not recall his own origins. To Gu Jie, it was as if the heavens had cursed her to bear witness to his descent, and to endure his shadow.

A wretched cry broke the stillness of the forest. A cultivator, once proud in the Tenth Realm, now lay crawling in the dirt, reduced to a pitiful, trembling mess. Ru Qiu had stripped him of everything, with his cultivation crippled, his dignity broken, and his body battered until all that remained was desperation. The man begged for mercy, forehead striking the soil, but his voice cracked under the weight of humiliation. Ru Qiu silenced him with a single kick. Bone snapped as the cultivator’s head flew from his body, blood trailing in a ghastly arc before landing squarely at Gu Jie’s feet.

The stench of iron filled the air. Blood splattered across Ru Qiu’s robes, and he looked down at the stains with visible disgust. A dark flame kindled from his palm, and the blood vanished into smoke as fire licked it away. His sneer deepen with a mixture of disdain and boredom. To him, slaughter was as natural as breathing, yet it left him unsatisfied, as though mortals and cultivators alike were unworthy toys to break apart.

Gu Jie remained bound to a tree nearby, heavy chains wrapping her slender frame. Her arms ached from struggling against the restraints, her wrists raw where the iron bit into her skin. The gag that sealed her mouth was suddenly tugged away, leaving her lips dry and cracked. Ru Qiu leaned close, his shadow falling across her face, eyes sharp and cold as blades.

“Why did you run from me again?” His voice was low, carrying both amusement and threat. “This is the fourth time already. I am growing tired of your disobedience. Tell me, should I kill you?”

His words lingered, each syllable soaked in menace. Gu Jie’s heart pounded, but she refused to look away. She had tried countless times to escape him, to flee into mountains, rivers, and ruins, yet every attempt ended in disaster. It was as if fate itself bent to his will, ensuring her recapture. Misfortune stalked her steps whenever she thought freedom was near, and his presence always loomed once more.

Her breath caught as a faint glow flickered in Ru Qiu’s palm. The flame that danced there was no ordinary fire. It was his infamous dark flame boasted in the Demonic Cult as the Divine Flames of Judgment, a blaze that devoured more than flesh, and one that burned away essence itself. He raised it near her face, close enough that she felt the heat sear her skin. The threat was clear: he would scar her, ruin her, and claim her will.

Fear crawled across her spine, yet she clenched her jaw and forced herself to hold steady. She would not cry. She would not beg. If he wanted to mar her, let him. To crumble before him now would only feed his cruelty.

Ru Qiu studied her expression for a long moment, then smirked. With a flick of his wrist, the flames devoured the chains that held her, metal hissing as it turned to ash. “You don’t scare easily,” he remarked, his tone almost mocking, but his eyes gleamed with something more complex. It was curiosity, perhaps, or the faintest hint of approval.

“You are right, I don’t scare easily, so if you want something from me, you need a different strategy.”

“Ugh, kf-kh… you will regret not dying now,” cried a dying cultivator at Ninth realm. “I swear upon the stars, you will get your reckoning…”

The grove had become a slaughterhouse. Bodies in white robes littered the earth, their blood soaking into the roots of trees, staining the soil black and red. Some still wore their white veils, masks of piety now marred with tears, dirt, and the hollow stare of death. The air reeked of iron and smoke, for Ru Qiu had been thorough in slashing, burning, and breaking them until no semblance of order remained. The Heavenly Demon’s shadow loomed across the carnage, his every step leaving a silence more dreadful than the screams that had come before.

“I… k-uff… curse you…”

Among the heap of corpses, one man still clung to life, his breaths ragged and wet with blood. Ru Qiu’s hand shot out, fingers curling around the man’s collar as though he weighed nothing. Lifting him effortlessly, the demon studied him with an expression that was neither rage nor pity, only disdain. His eyes glowed with an eerie purple light, sharp and merciless, as if peeling apart the cultivator’s soul.

“Just who are these fools?” Ru Qiu asked, his voice cutting through the heavy air. “There enthusiasm is admirable, but they lack the skills to back it up. Truly, fools to no end.”

“They are members of a major faction,” she answered. Her eyes fell on the sashes knotted at their waists, each one bearing the same distinct mark. “Do you see the character ‘heaven’ stitched there? They belong to the Heavenly Temple.”

Ru Qiu tilted his head, his sneer deepening as he glanced at the corpses around them. “A temple, you say? How laughable.”

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Gu Jie’s chest tightened. She had no idea why these people were pursuing her. The Heavenly Temple was vast, powerful, and cloaked in mystery, its influence stretching across the realms. Yet she had done nothing to draw their wrath. No crime, no betrayal, no offense she could recall. If anything, it probably involved Da Wei.

Even stranger was how they managed to track her when no one else could. Time and again she had relied on her Destiny Seeking Eyes, a gift that revealed hidden paths and concealed threats, but they had failed her here. Somehow, these pursuers slipped through the very threads of fate itself, appearing where she thought herself safe. Not even Ru Qiu’s oppressive power was unable to sneak past her Destiny Seeking Eyes. The question gnawed at her: what did they want with her?

The cultivator dangled helplessly in Ru Qiu’s grasp, his legs thrashing weakly. The purple glow from Ru Qiu’s eyes intensified, pressing against the man’s will, demanding submission. “Tell me,” Ru Qiu said at last, his tone deceptively calm. “What business do you and your temple have with this woman?” His grip tightened until the man gasped for breath. “Answer me, and I may grant you a peaceful death. Refuse…” A faint flame flickered at his fingertip, black and cruel. “…and I will teach you the meaning of hell.”

The man’s robes were torn and soaked crimson, his chest heaving with each strained breath, yet a mocking grin twisted across his face despite his condition as he burst laughing. “Hah~! Hah~!! Ha ha ha ha ha~!”

“A mere Ninth Realm cultivator, and you still dare laugh?” Ru Qiu murmured, his voice dripping with disdain. His purple eyes burned, boring into the man’s soul.

The cultivator coughed blood, yet his grin widened, his voice rasping but laced with arrogance. “Hell? Hahahahaha~! Such a moronic thing to say. If only you knew… hell serve us—”

He never finished. Ru Qiu’s hand tightened, and in that instant the man convulsed violently. His scream tore through the night as Ru Qiu’s grip crushed not his body, but his very essence. Flesh quivered, his veins bulged, and then… his astral body was wrenched free. The sight made Gu Jie’s skin crawl. The soul, glowing faint and pale, was dragged out screaming from its mortal shell, eyes wide in horror as it struggled against Ru Qiu’s grasp.

“Wrong answer,” Ru Qiu said coldly. His voice carried no emotion, only judgment.

The cultivator’s physical body collapsed like an empty husk, eyes staring blankly at the canopy above. Yet the astral form, trembling and luminous, remained caught in Ru Qiu’s hand. For a heartbeat, silence reigned. Then black flames coiled around the spectral figure.

The spirit shrieked, its voice not of man but of something hollow and vengeful, the kind that made Gu Jie’s bones ache. The flames clung greedily, devouring the essence, and in that single second, the man was twisted into something monstrous. His spiritual form warped into a vengeful specter, and the world recoiled. The grass at Gu Jie’s feet withered to ash, then ignited in patches of fire that crawled outward, the ground itself protesting the abomination. The trees swayed as though caught in a storm, their leaves curling at the edges from the heat.

Gu Jie turned her face away, yet she could not block out the sight nor the sound. She had witnessed slaughter before, but this was worse. This was torment beyond death. And still, Ru Qiu only sneered, his black flames roaring higher.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~!”

“SKREEEEEEEEEE-!”

The air stank of scorched essence, the grass still smoldered from the unholy fire, and Ru Qiu stood in the middle of it all as though he were emperor of the carnage. His expression carried not a shred of remorse, only cold amusement.

Only now did Gu Jie grasp the true depth of his power. She had known the Heavenly Demon was dangerous, but seeing him unravel a Ninth Realm cultivator’s very soul as if it were nothing, while supposedly suffering amnesia, shook her to the core. Her father, Da Wei, had fought this man, had defeated him, yet how? Had her father grown even more unfathomable than she thought, or was there some trick, some unseen circumstance that allowed the impossible? The question gnawed at her, making her doubt even her own memories of that time. If Ru Qiu was this strong while amnesiac, what would he become once whole again?

Ru Qiu’s violet eyes turned toward her,

“I propose a deal,” he said, his voice silken and edged with menace. “In exchange for my protection, you will tell me everything you know about me.”

The audacity of the demand struck her, yet Gu Jie found herself unable to laugh it off. Protection from him was laughable. He was the very storm from which she needed protection. Still, the weight of his power pressed on her, and she knew this was not a request but a tether being offered in place of chains.

She lifted her chin, steadying her breath. “Fine,” she answered, though her words came measured, cautious. “But if I agree, there are rules.”

Ru Qiu’s eyes narrowed slightly, though not with anger. Probably, curiosity, as though he were eager to hear what limits she would dare impose.

Gu Jie continued, each word sharp. “You will not kill unless I permit it. You will not force me to act against my morals. And above all—” her voice hardened like steel, “—you must never harm a civilian.”

For a long breath, he said nothing. Then the corners of his lips curved, and he let out a quiet, amused laugh. “So bold,” he murmured. “Very well. I accept your terms.”

The ease of his compliance stunned her. Gu Jie had expected resistance, mockery, or even punishment for daring to set conditions. Instead, he had agreed without hesitation, as though the rules themselves were nothing but a game to him.

“But first, before we seal this… arrangement of ours,” he said smoothly, “tell me something. What is a civilian?”

The question caught her off guard. Gu Jie blinked, taken aback that someone who could peel a soul from flesh like fruit from its rind would stumble over such a simple concept. Still, she kept her voice steady. “A civilian is someone who does not cultivate, who has no ties to war, sects, or politics. They are ordinary people… farmers, merchants, children, families. The ones who live their lives outside the battles of the powerful.”

Ru Qiu tilted his head, eyes narrowing as though puzzling over a riddle. His voice came slow, deliberate. “So… the man I just killed… was he a civilian? He might as well be an ant.”

Her mouth dropped open before she could stop herself. “No!” she snapped, frustration leaking through. “He was a Ninth Realm cultivator, a warrior of the Heavenly Temple. How could you possibly confuse that with a civilian?”

Ru Qiu frowned, seemingly displeased, though not at her anger, but more at his own misunderstanding. “Strange,” he muttered, almost to himself. “You mortals make so many distinctions. To me, all who fall are simply weak. Civilian, cultivator… is there truly a difference?”

Gu Jie felt the vein on her temple twitch. She dragged her palm down her face in exasperation, muffling the groan threatening to escape. In that moment, she realized with bitter clarity that this so-called Heavenly Demon was as much a child as he was a monster right as of this moment.