Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 118 (1): Lifelong Pain

Zuo Guanglie and his nine close brothers were all laying on the ground, right before Fang Che's astonished eyes.

He took an involuntary step back, his face frozen in incredulity, and he knew that his worst fears had finally been realized.

Ever since he first arrived at the Hall of Protectionists, he had made a conscious effort to keep a distance from everyone, particularly Zuo Guanglie.

Following their two collaborations, he had been constantly giving Zuo Guanglie the cold shoulder for fear that the latter would be implicated through their association.

Fang Che wanted to present himself to Yin Shengong as a loner with no friends or allies. That way, the people around him wouldn't get hurt. However, even his best efforts clearly hadn't been enough.

"Do you recognize them?" Yin Shengong asked.

"I do," Fang Che replied, his face deathly pale. "They're all subordinates of mine at the Hall of Protectionists."

"Given their paltry cultivation bases, I'd say they're hardly even worthy of being your subordinates," Yin Shengong scoffed.

"Indeed, they're very weak and incapable. Would you like me to take them back with me?"

"You want to take them back?" Yin Shengong asked as a dangerous gleam appeared in his eyes.

Before Fang Che had a chance to reply, Yin Shengong slapped him across the face with the force of a sledgehammer, launching him into the cave wall like a cannonball.

Fang Che's head was ringing as he crashed to the ground, and blood had begun pouring out all of his facial orifices.

"What are you doing, Pope Yin!" Mu Linyuan exclaimed. "If you want to educate him, then talk to him! There's no need to attack him!"

"Let's be civilized," Qian Sanjiang pleaded. "Night Demon is still very young and emotional, so it's normal for him to grow attached to those around him! That's no reason to be attacking him!"

Yin Shengong paid no heed to the two elders as turned to Fang Che with a cold expression and commanded, "Get up! You have sorely disappointed me! How could you form emotional attachments to the people at the Hall of Protectionists? Those people are your enemies!"

Fang Che had only just struggled to his haunches when he was sent flying once again by a vicious kick from Yin Shengong.

"Who are you, and who are they? What is your objective? You must remember these things at all times! Does it hurt you to see them suffer? Does it pain you to know that these people must die here today?"

Fang Che clambered to his feet, then knelt down on one knee as he apologized, "I'm sorry, Master."

"What're you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for forming emotional attachments to people from the Hall of Protectionists."

"So you know what you've done wrong. Are you aware that what you're doing is a surefire way to get yourself killed?"

Fang Che lowered his head in silence.

"Stand up!" Yin Shengong ordered. "Now that you're realized your mistake, it's time for you to make amends."

Fang Che rose to his feet, his heart full of dread at what was about to come.

Over the past few days, Yin Shengong had been like a benevolent senior to him.

Fang Che could sense that Yin Shengong still harbored suspicions, but the latter had still chosen to do what was best for him nevertheless, arranging his marriage and showering him with wedding gifts.

These last few days had been like a blissful dream, something that he hadn't experienced across either of his two lifetimes.

He had thought that Yin Shengong had come here with the sole objective of inspecting the branch helm, and that he had only orchestrated the marriage between him and Ye Meng on a whim.

He had thought that Yin Shengong would depart from the White Cloud Prefecture after that, and the storm would be weathered, but it seemed that his luck had run out.

Ultimately, the benevolent senior had been nothing more than a facade, and Yin Shengong was still the same heartless monster that he had always been.

His head was still ringing from the slap across the face, but any physical pain that he felt was completely numbed by the weight of his despair.

***

Yin Shengong tossed Fang Che a white handkerchief.

"Clean yourself up."

Fang Che reflexively caught the handkerchief before wiping it over his face, and it came away bright red.

With a sweep of Yin Shengong's sleeve, a wave of spirit power swept over Zuo Guanglie and the administrators, undoing the seal on their meridians.

Zuo Guanglie's eyes instantly sprang open, and as soon as he regained consciousness, he immediately yelled, "All of you, run! I'll hold him off!"

He then launched himself at Yin Shengong, clearly intending to sacrifice himself to save his companions.

However, Zuo Guanglie then caught sight of the bloodied and battered Fang Che standing next to Yin Shengong, and a look of shock and horror appeared in his eyes as he frantically yelled, "Get out of here, Chief Fang! You're no match for him!"

The other nine administrators had also come to, and they immediately Zuo Guanglie in their defense of Fang Che.

Even though they knew that their resistance was completely futile against the almighty Yin Shengong, they had still immediately sprung to Fang Che's aid without any hesitation.

"Get out of here as soon as the battle begins, Chief Fang," Zuo Guanglie urged in an agitated and guilt-ridden voice. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. You have to get out of here? Don't worry about us!"

Fang Che's face was stiff and devoid of expression, and even the light seemed to have been drained from his eyes.

"Looks like all of you are very devote to Chief Fang," Yin Shengong remarked with a faint smile.

Zuo Guanglie turned to Yin Shengong with a defiant expression as he yelled, "What do you want, Yin Shengong?"

"What do I want?"

Yin Shengong erupted into laughter, and it echoed throughout the cave like rumbling thunder.

"Chief Fang, you shouldn't have come to try and save us!" Zuo Guanglie said in a low and frantic voice. "Our fates were sealed from the moment that Yin Shengong captured us! You should've just left us to die!"

Fang Che wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words, and he felt like a red-hot dagger had been stabbed into his heart.

"How dare you speak to me with such insolence? Mere ants like you should be honored just to be in my presence!" Yin Shengong scoffed in a cold voice.

"Yin Shengong, you demented old scoundrel! I wish you the most excruciating demise imaginable!" Zuo Guanglie cursed.

"You're just going to stand there and let these people speak ill of your master, Night Demon?" Yin Shengong asked in a cold voice.

"Night Demon? Where?"

The administrators all spun around in bewilderment.

They had all heard of Night Demon's feats during the Parasite Ascension Project, and they knew he had the potential to grow into an extremely formidable foe for the Guardians.

The ten administrators were frantically looking around, and it was clear that the possibility of Fang Che and Night Demon being one and the same hadn't even occurred to them.

Fang Che stood as stiff as a board, his eyes full of despair.

Yin Shengong had just exposed him in front of the ten administrators, which meant their fates were truly sealed.

Then immense mental anguish that Fang Che was feeling was manifesting itself as physical agony, and it was more excruciating than anything he had ever experienced.

"I'm speaking to you, Night Demon!" Yin Shengong asserted as a dangerous tone crept into his voice.

Fang Che finally stepped forward and lowered his head as he extended a submissive bow.

"I'm here, Master."

"Master?!"

Looks of incredulity and bewilderment appeared on the faces of the ten administrators as they stumbled away from Fang Che in shock.

"Chief Fang? You're Night Demon?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Even as the question left Zuo Guanglie's mouth, he felt it to be utterly absurd, but the cold, harsh reality was staring him right in the face, giving him nowhere to hide.

"I am Night Demon," Fang Che confirmed in a flat, lifeless voice.

Zuo Guanglie continued to stare at Fang Che, and the incredulity in his eyes slowly turned to disappointment, then unadulterated rage.

"So you've been Night Demon all along! Ha! You sure managed to fool us all!" Zuo Guanglie chortled, his voice sharp and ragged from the betrayal that he felt. "Night Demon came to our Hall of Protectionists and became our superior! Out of all of the colleagues I've had over the years, you're the one that I admire the most, yet you're now telling me that you've been Night Demon all along?

“No wonder you've been able to pluck out demonic church members faster and better than everyone else, you're being fed insider information! What a complete and utter joke this is! Man, if I can recall this in my next life, I'll probably immediately laugh myself to death again!"

"I'm sorry, Brother Zuo, and I'm sorry to all of you as well. I am Night Demon," Fang Che repeated in a low voice.

"Shut up!" Zuo Guanglie yelled, his eyes full of burning fury.

If looks could kill, then Fang Che would've already died ten times over by now.

"What right do you have to call me your brother? What right do you have to apologize to me? A heinous piece of scum like you doesn't even deserve to live!"

Fang Che took a deep breath, then said in a cold voice, "I'm sure you understand the situation you're in now, Zuo Guanglie. This will be the final resting place for you and your band of brothers."

"You're going to kill us, is that it? What do you want me to do, get down on my knees and beg for my life?" Zuo Guanglie chortled in a mocking voice. "I've never knelt down anyone aside from my parents! Who the hell do you think you are?!"