When Ren Kurogane and Yaya returned to Tushan, the three Demon Emperors were just leaving the meeting room, preparing to stage their battle.
Seeing Ren and Yaya, Honghong paused for a moment. Then she turned to the two beside her.
"Wait here a moment. My younger sister seems to have misunderstood something. I'll explain it to her first."
Shi Kuan and Huan Du Qingtian nodded indifferently.
"All right. We also need to tell our subordinates not to do anything reckless."
The three parted ways, and Honghong approached Ren and Yaya.
"Why are you back? Didn't I send you to help Fan Yunfei fulfill his fated bond?"
Ren nodded. "We did. We've already found his fated partner. From here on, it's up to Fan Yunfei himself."
Honghong understood the process of fulfilling a fated bond, so she knew there was little point in Ren and Yaya staying with Fan Yunfei now.
She sighed and explained, "Here's the situation. The three of us Demon Emperors are going to have a fight. They'll lose to me, allowing me to become the leader of the Demon Alliance and bring the entire demon race under my command."
Yaya's face lit up.
"As expected of my amazing big sister! You haven't even fought them, and you've already conquered the other two Demon Emperors!"
Ren grinned as well. "Exactly! That's our Honghong!"
After the two showered her with praise, Honghong smiled.
"All right. I'll fight them now. You two go and stay with Rongrong for the time being. Once everything here is settled, I'll come find you."
"Got it!"
The two transformed into streaks of light and flew toward Rongrong.
Honghong turned around to face Shi Kuan and Huan Du Qingtian as they approached.
The next moment, the three Demon Emperors launched into an earth-shaking battle!
Having just landed, Ren glanced back. The clash between the three Demon Emperors had caused the world around them to tremble across a radius of several hundred meters.
Wow. What a fake performance… Ren grumbled inwardly.
These were three Demon Emperors. Even an ordinary sparring match between them should have thrown all of Tushan into chaos.
Yet they had deliberately confined their battle to an area only a few hundred meters wide. Anyone with half a brain could tell what was going on.
Still, when their Demon Emperor superiors had made their decision, their subordinates could do nothing but respect it.
The battle ended in less than fifteen minutes, with Honghong emerging victorious.
After becoming the leader of the Demon Alliance, Honghong promptly issued her first order.
"Do not provoke humans. If human cultivators target you, come to me immediately. As the alliance leader, I'll resolve the conflict for you."
The demons were bewildered by this order.
They couldn't understand why their newly appointed leader would issue such a strange command.
However, the demon world was simple. An order was an order. Even if they had ten thousand questions, they would still carry it out.
In short, they couldn't be bothered to think too hard about it.
After issuing the order, Honghong went to join Rongrong and the others.
Once the four were together, Ren said, "Honghong, you've got an even heavier burden on your shoulders now!"
"It's nothing. As long as I can fulfill my dream, none of this matters!" Honghong replied with a smile.
Now that the demons had been united, the first step had been successfully completed. She could almost see the bright future ahead of them.
"All right." Ren smiled. "If you need someone to fight, just come to me anytime!"
With that, he prepared to return to his cultivation. He was still a relatively weak Demon Emperor, with a long way to go before reaching the legendary Great Demon Emperor realm.
However, Honghong grabbed him before he could leave.
"You're not going anywhere."
Ren looked at her in confusion.
Honghong explained, "We still need you to come up with ideas for how humans and demons can coexist peacefully. Just like your population census plan!"
Ren tried to pull free, but Honghong held on tightly and refused to let him go.
In the end, he sighed helplessly.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Isn't it obvious? What we should do next!" Honghong released him and continued, "Now that I'm the leader of the Demon Alliance, I can restrain the demons to some extent. But some will certainly refuse to obey me. Others may even oppose me outright. So, what should I do next?"
Ren thought for a moment before answering.
"Next… how about we go to Yao Xin Zhai for a meal first?"
Thump!
Honghong punched him.
"Stop fooling around!"
Ren rubbed his head and grinned. "I was just joking!"
"From now on, you just need to spread the word that we demons want to coexist peacefully with humans. Let them know we're approaching them in good faith."
"What if the humans refuse to accept our goodwill?" Yaya asked.
"Then it's even simpler!" Ren replied. "Our strength completely surpasses theirs. If they refuse to accept our goodwill, we'll just flip the table!"
Rongrong smiled.
"So, given the current situation between our two races, as long as we demons don't launch an attack on humanity, the humans will be more than willing to make peace with us."
Honghong's eyes lit up. Rongrong was right. Compared to demons, humans were actually much more desperate for peace.
The three women exchanged glances and smiled.
Yaya looked at the three strange people smiling for no apparent reason, a giant question mark practically hanging over her head.
But not wanting to be the odd one out, she immediately joined in and started laughing too.
Soon, the room was filled with the giggles of three women.
Their laughter was so loud that it drowned out Ren's voice entirely.
As Rongrong had predicted, things unfolded smoothly. When the humans learned that the demons wanted to coexist peacefully with them, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. The One Qi Alliance then issued strict orders forbidding its members from provoking demons, warning that anyone who disobeyed would face severe punishment.
Before long, relations between humans and demons had improved tremendously!
One day, Ren and Honghong went on patrol together.
Honghong walked along the city wall, hopping along as she went, her face completely expressionless.
"Ren, have you ever hated someone?" she asked out of the blue.
"Huh?"
Ren had his arms folded behind his head. He turned to look at her in confusion.
"I mean, have you ever hated someone so much that just looking at them makes you want to kill them?"
"Hmm… I suppose so?" Ren replied uncertainly.
As a modern person with the occasional dark thought, he'd certainly imagined killing someone from time to time.
For various reasons, though, those thoughts had never gone beyond his mind.
Honghong turned to face him, her eyes shining.
"What about the kind of hatred where you want to kill someone on the spot, but for some reason, you can't?"
Ren looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected Honghong, who could sometimes be a little absent-minded, to ask such a strange question.
Still, he nodded.
"Yeah. Something like that."
"Then how did you deal with it?"
Ren thought for a moment. Honghong obviously wouldn't ask him something like this for no reason. But why was she asking?
He pondered it for a few seconds, then gave up trying to figure it out.
Why overthink things? If Honghong asked him something, he'd simply answer.
Looking into her shining eyes, he smiled.
"If you can't get your revenge, then let it go."
Honghong froze.
"Huh? Just let it go?"
"Yeah. If there's nothing you can do about it, put it behind you. You'd be better off spending that time thinking about what to eat tomorrow!"
Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, Ren continued.
"Of course, if you really want revenge, then get stronger!"
"Get stronger?" Honghong asked, puzzled.
Ren went on, "You hate that person for a reason. They must have done something unforgivable, like killing all eighteen members of your family or something."
He paused. A faint chill suddenly emanated from Honghong.
When she didn't respond, he continued.
"That's why we need to get stronger!"
He deliberately emphasized the words get stronger.
Honghong finally returned to the present and looked at him.
"What does getting stronger have to do with any of this?"
"Because only by becoming stronger will you have the power to change tragedies like these!" Ren explained. "Think about it. Suppose someone very important to you was killed by your enemy. Wouldn't you need tremendous strength to avenge them? And if you wanted to bring that person back to life, wouldn't you need tremendous strength for that, too?"
"Bring them back to life?"
Honghong hadn't reacted much to his earlier words. Her enemy was herself. She hated herself, but she couldn't bring herself to kill herself.
But when Ren mentioned that becoming stronger might allow someone to resurrect the dead, she suddenly grew agitated.
"What did you just say? Resurrection? You know a way to bring someone back to life? Can becoming stronger really allow someone to be resurrected?"
She seized Ren by the shoulders, her expression startlingly intense.
Ren placed one hand over hers, which was trembling.
"Of course. If you become powerful enough to transcend even time, you can travel upstream along the River of Time, return to the moment that broke your heart, and change everything!"
BOOM!
It was as though countless bolts of thunder had exploded inside Honghong's mind.
Ren's idea was outrageous, almost inconceivable. It went far beyond anything people of this era could imagine.
"Can someone… really become that powerful?"
Honghong stared blankly at him. Her voice was uncertain, but she had already made up her mind.
"Of course!" Ren said firmly. "This isn't a world without supernatural powers. As long as we keep cultivating, I believe we'll eventually surpass the Heavenly Dao itself. Even time will be nothing more than a plaything in our hands!"
After a brief daze, Honghong took a deep breath.
"Fine. I'll cultivate harder. One day, I'll travel upstream along the River of Time and save him."
Perhaps Ren had painted an impossibly grand picture for her. Perhaps that picture was the only hope she could hold on to. Either way, Honghong had no desire to question whether it was true.
As long as there was even the slightest chance that it might be possible, she would try.
Just as she had gone to Mutian City all those years ago!
Save him?
Ren paused.
Then it suddenly clicked.
"I see!"
He finally understood what had been going on.
Honghong personally killed the little Taoist who wanted to save her and her sisters. She's been tormented by guilt all these years. The deathly aura I've sensed around her… If I'm not mistaken, she was planning to kill herself but couldn't bring herself to do it for some reason. That's why she asked me those questions.
What a pity. The later parts of Fox Spirit Matchmaker have so many tragic twists that I skipped through a lot of them. I missed a great deal of information…
Honghong's mood had improved considerably. Ren could even see a determination in her eyes that had never been there before.
The deathly aura surrounding her had also vanished. It was as though a barren patch of earth had finally sprouted a tiny seedling, bringing new life to the land.
Seeing this, Ren smiled at her.
"So, Honghong, let's work hard together! Even if you never reach that level, as long as I do, I'll help you fulfill your dream. I'll bring that person back to life for you!"
Honghong stared at his sunny smile, momentarily lost in thought. Then she smiled softly.
"All right. From now on, we'll work hard together."
"Oh, and after we finish patrolling today, come with me somewhere," Honghong added with a smile.
"Sure! As long as we don't miss dinner!" Ren replied.
"You're a Demon Emperor now, and your strength is no weaker than mine. Why are you still thinking about food and other worldly pleasures every day?"
"Hey, that's not fair! I cultivate to become stronger so I can enjoy life. And good food is a very important part of enjoying life!" Ren declared righteously.
Honghong walked ahead of him, a happy smile on her face.
In the past, she had been trapped in a world of self-hatred. But after today, her goal had changed.
She would become stronger. She would travel upstream along the River of Time and save that little Taoist.
In doing so, she would finally be able to redeem herself.
Their patrol passed without incident.
Afterward, Honghong took Ren straight to a cave in the back mountains.
The moment they entered, Ren felt a wave of cold wash over him.
The cave was covered in ice, rather like the place where Yaya cultivated.
Honghong led him to a block of ice. Inside it lay a frozen corpse.
Its face was covered in disfiguring scars, but the rest of its body had been cleaned thoroughly. Someone had clearly taken care to wash it.
"So this is…" Ren murmured, but stopped himself before finishing.
Honghong smiled.
"You recognize him, don't you?"
"I don't."
"Don't lie. You already gave yourself away." Honghong sighed helplessly. "Though I suppose you don't know what happened between us. Would you like to hear the story?"
"I'd be honored to listen."
Ren sat down beside her, looking ready to listen carefully.
Honghong slowly recounted the events of her childhood.
It had all started because she was young and naive. She had taken her younger sister, Rongrong, out to play.
Unfortunately, human cultivators had captured them, intending to sell the sisters to a brothel.
"This little Taoist was one of them back then…"
Honghong looked at the frozen child, pain flickering in her eyes.
Ren patted her shoulder.
"If you want to cry, you can borrow my shoulder."
Honghong shook her head with a smile.
"No. I'm not a child anymore."
"On the night we were captured, the little Taoist quietly came to the cage where we were being held…"
Honghong had thought he intended to do something vile to her and her sister. Enraged, she unleashed her power and drove a claw straight through his heart.
But the little Taoist merely smiled. He tore off the talisman sealing their cage and told them to run.
Then he died right in front of her.
Afterward, endless hatred and regret consumed Honghong. When she returned to Tushan, her demonic power surged dramatically, but from that day onward, the desire to die had never truly left her.
After hearing her story, Ren didn't know what to say for a while.
In the end, almost without thinking, he reached out and gently stroked her golden hair.
"There's always a way to make things right. Don't keep thinking about killing yourself. Death won't solve anything."