Chapter 164: Escaping This World

Yang Qiu, who had frightened Mephisto out of his wits, was now at home, filled with endless regret. The energy consumed this time was a bit too excessive; one-fifth of the concentrated energy blocks that Olaf and his men had just transported back was depleted in the blink of an eye. The cost-performance ratio was simply too low.

Unless faced with a situation where he had no choice but to ignore the cost-performance ratio, Yang Qiu swore he would never resort to using the Annals of History again.

That being said, one had to admit—using that power felt immensely satisfying!

Half an hour after Mephisto's departure in the hotel, Shendu finally used the shadow soldiers to control and inlay the Rat Talisman into his own body.

"I... have finally revived!"

Restoring his dragon body, Shendu lowered his voice. He had not yet fully recovered from the lingering trauma of witnessing the Annals of History, so he had to keep his joy in check to avoid stirring up any more catastrophic trouble.

With his head lowered and his body hunched, he moved around the room for a moment before walking over to the window to ponder his next move.

There were still eleven talismans in other people's hands. Without gathering all the talismans, his strength would plummet from the very top among the Eight Demons straight to the absolute bottom—a reality Shendu found difficult to accept.

He had broken his promises to his seven siblings far too many times in the past. Without a certain level of power, he feared he would be beaten to death shortly after his resurrection.

As for not releasing the other seven demons, that was not an option either. The pacts and agreements didn't matter much—after all, it was common knowledge that he, Shendu, had always been one to break his word.

The main reason he wanted to release his brothers and sisters was that Shendu did not wish to remain in this world any longer. He hadn't had a choice before, but now Mephisto's appearance had offered him an alternative. Going to the Hell dimension seemed like a pretty good idea; at the very least, it couldn't possibly be worse than staying here any longer.

Getting there was one problem, but securing a foothold there was quite another. Even with all twelve talismans gathered, Shendu wouldn't dare claim he was stronger than Li Xiaoyao. Since Li Xiaoyao had been beaten to that state, wouldn't going over there mean having to kneel at Mephisto's feet just to beg for scraps?

No! Absolutely not!

After pondering for a long time, Shendu realized that it was impossible for him to retrieve the talismans alone, nor could he peacefully survive in the Hell dimension by himself. Therefore, he still had to seek out his siblings. He just hoped their memories were poor and that they had forgotten about past grievances.

"Go, extend the booking for this room, and don't let anyone come and disturb me!" Shendu glared at Valmont, who was huddled in the corner, clutching his head in a defensive crouch.

Valmont nodded frantically, supporting himself against the wall as he stood up. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, trembling at a frequency far higher than the hand tremors of a Parkinson's patient.

Once Valmont left the room, Shendu summoned the Shadowkhan once more, filling the entire space. Then, sitting cross-legged in the living room of the presidential suite, he sank his consciousness deep within his own body.

Why was the Rat Talisman the one Shendu desired the most? Because without it, he had no way to move, whereas the abilities corresponding to the other talismans could be substituted by other means.

Soon enough, Valmont walked back obediently. He had no choice; a shadow soldier lurking in his shadow could take his head at any moment.

Crouching back down in the corner, Valmont watched as a glowing portal tore open before Shendu, immediately after which Shendu's physical body slumped limply.

Did his soul just travel through that?

Valmont wondered, inching bit by bit toward the door, when suddenly a ninja materialized from the side of the wall, blocking his path. The ninja looked down at him silently, seeming to ask: *Are you trying to commit suicide?*

Valmont silently scuttled back to his spot and resumed his defensive posture of clutching his head.

In the land of demon imprisonment, the arrival of Shendu's soul seemed to spark a frenzy.

"Who is this? My little dragon? If I remember correctly, shouldn't you have let us out long ago?!"

Zhong Su unleashed dazzling lightning from his fingertips, electrocuting Shendu—who had been immobilized by Tchang Zu—into a chorus of continuous wails.

The reason these seven demons hated Shendu so much was that long ago, after all eight of them were sealed away by the Eight Immortals, the other seven had found an opportunity to send Shendu out from this place, hoping he would break their seals as well.

Naturally, anyone could guess the outcome. Treating betrayal as a daily routine, Shendu had no intention whatsoever of minding his brothers and sisters, leaving them to rot in this desolate void for so long.

"Third Brother, listen to me, listen to me! I'm really here to save everyone this time!" Shendu lowered his posture and shouted loudly.

"You should address me as master, you earthworm!" Zhong Su roared. He was a textbook megalomaniac who had always looked down on Shendu. Why should a stunted Chinese dragon, poorly developed during its growth phase, dare to call them brothers?!

"Stop wasting breath on him! I've been starving for ages, I want to eat him!" Po Kong, the Earth Demon, floated over. She hadn't eaten in who knows how long, and her body had shrunk considerably, leaving her only a few dozen meters tall.

"Brothers and sisters! Don't you want to get out of here anymore?!" Shendu roared at the top of his lungs. If this kept up any longer, he really was going to get eaten!

"Shendu, I think you won't have a chance to deceive us again this time!" Bai Tza stared intently at Shendu. She had the closest relationship with him—relatively speaking, of course.

Swish!

An elusive shadow flashed by, and Xiao Fung hovered directly above Shendu's head. "You'd better explain everything clearly, or I swear, I really want to tear you apart!"

"Yes, yes, yes." With extreme humility, Shendu spilled everything, holding back not a single detail.

Listening to Shendu's account, the seven demon sorcerers fell silent. Shendu's reasoning was sound, and the logic held up across the board, but why on earth did they find it so hard to believe?

"Everyone, you didn't kill me simply because you wanted to know why I could stay outside for so long without being captured again, right?" Shendu continued. "Actually, I was sealed into a statue and my power was stripped away, which is why no one paid attention to me. You wouldn't want to end up like that either, would you?"

"If we simply leave this place, I don't think it will take long. The moment the Heavenly Court frees up its hands, the moment those immortals who once sealed us descend again, we'll just be locked back up in this wretched place. So changing to a completely different place is a genuinely good idea, isn't it?"

Shendu kept up his persuasion. He had to convince his brothers and sisters, or else everything was over.

Tchang Zu waved his hand, adding several more layers of binding constraints onto Shendu's soul, before floating off to the side with the other six demons.

"What do you all think?"

"If he isn't lying, it truly is a fine destination. As long as the eight of us form the Post-Heaven *Bagua* formation, even if we can't defeat that Hell Lord, survival shouldn't be a problem," Bai Tza said.

"I'm hungry," Po Kong muttered, having no other thoughts on her mind. "Shendu isn't enough to eat, and mortals can't be consumed, but the demons in that world he mentioned should taste pretty good."

"I just want out! This place is too small! Too small!" As Xiao Fung spoke, he had already circled the area several times. It had been far too long since he last enjoyed a proper flight.

Each of the demons had their own reasons, but their unified thought was clear: they did not want to stay here a moment longer!