Chapter Text
Pain.
That is all that he could feel.
The pain that he felt being tortured and the loss of the his Golden core did not add to the one he is currently suffering from.
He could feel his veins being set on fire. His heart freezing into solid ice. Lightning coursing through his entire body.
The worse was the voices. They howl. They wail. They scream. They roar. They cry. They shriek.
They whisper. They whisper terrible things into his soul.
“Soon…Sandu Shengshou. Either the procedure kills you and the world will be happier for it or you live to be the monster the world was right to call you.” The voice outside mocks him. “Either way, everyone will know what a vile loveless monster you truly are.”
Is he loveless?
Is he vile?
Is he a monster?
‘Don’t worry…We won’t let you die yet.’ A deep smooth melodious voice comforts him. A demon who thrives in the shadows.
‘Blood…’ A bestial voice growls
‘Skin them alive…’ A sadistic voice sings
‘Hurt them…’ A solemn voice murmurs.
‘The fun is only beginning.’ The demon sings.
He doesn’t remember what happens next.
Everything happened like a dream.
‘A nightmare really…’ the demon corrects him.
He could taste the iron in his jaws, wet with the blood of screaming people.
A woman screams as he pulls her hair and skin her. He laughs as if her screams amuse him.
He watches in fascination as he stomps a man’s head to mush. The blood and gore that splatters on the ground a beautiful red.
A man in black robes tries to play a flute, hoping that it would spare him from what’s coming next.
The man in black was set on fire.
At least he dances with grace until he falls down.
Then it was a series of screams and sounds of bone breaking, blood spilling and bodies falling on the floor. He doesn’t remember much what happens next.
The next he remembers is that he’s home and in bed. His disciples having found him washed ashore somewhere, hurriedly carried back to the sect.
They were worried about him.
But somewhere deep inside, he wants sink his jaws on their necks. Foolish sheep that accidentally brought a wolf into their home thinking it was a guard dog.
‘Now, now… not yet my friends.’ The demon spoke. ‘We should wait until our host welcomes us in. After all it is rude to enter uninvited.’
The other voices scream at the unfairness of the demon’s decision.
‘He will let us in eventually. And when that time comes, we can keep him company all we want.’
‘Sooner or later, he will break.’
The voices quieten and there they have kept silent, always watching and hearing. Years went by and their patience was finally bearing fruit.
They watch and hear as the Yiling Patriach returns. They scheme and plan for the future.
They watch and hear as the Yiling Patriach and Hanguang Jun enter the ancestral hall and the ugly truth was revealed.
They looked on excitedly as the walls of the soul began to crumble.
They cheered after the events of Guanyin Temple and Sandu Sengshou was told to leave the past behind. They did not even need to lift a finger.
They celebrated when Jiang Cheng tried to reconcile with his former shixiong, only to be rebuffed by the Second Jade of Gusu who wants to protect his husband from the vile Sandu Sengshou.
They dance with joy when Sandu Sengshou’s heart was broken by the First Jade of Lan, when the other still harboured feelings for his late sworn brother.
They sang praises to the newly Sect Leader of Lanling Jin as the arguments between uncle and nephew reached to a breaking point and the uncle’s heart shatters even more as words not meant to be said pierced the already damaged heart.
Oh those wonderful fools have delivered Jiang Cheng to Them on a silver platter.
They drank deeply off the pain and despair that Jiang Cheng suffered as he tried very hard to mend the broken pieces.
They prepare their way when one day Jiang Cheng was invited to a night hunt that included those wonderful fools and for some reason the demonic cultivator was meddling with time travel.
Who cares?
Jiang Cheng was lethally wounded and there’s no one close by to heal him as they were too preoccupied to deal with the enemy.
No one to watch as the life began to fade out from his eyes.
No one near him to watch as he welcomed the darkness into his soul.
Even as he would breath his last breath, he was not surrounded by loved ones, but by demons and monsters of regret, malice and resentment.
A flash of light erupts the whole ritual room.
‘It matters not to us. We are here.’ The voices say.
‘We will keep you company.’