The Endless Promise

37. Red Grove City

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"The one you met in Red Grove City, was me!" The demon's voice reverberated around the cave, as Weiyan went through several layers of shock.

She had always thought Immortal Pei's aura had been strange, and she now know why.

He had been a demon!

And that little girl had most likely been him as well!

"I don't want to talk much..." The demon was saying. "Last year, I only showed you a small, 'specific' part of the story, so why don't I show you the entire thing now?!"

He held a hand towards Weiyan, and she felt an unbelievable pain, as strange images played out in her head.

She saw the eye-eating demon stealthily hovering around a much older Red Grove City, and watched him descend on a frightened family, a man, a woman, and a young boy, all huddled in an alley.

"Eating a person's eyes feeds me and fills me with strength, letting me take on their appearance, since I have no face of my own." The demon's voice filled her head, explaining what her eyes were seeing.

The family was dead, their eye sockets hollow, and the eye-eater left the alley with the appearance of the now dead young boy.

"Before I can eat a person's eyes, they have to be filled with immense fear, and Red Grove City was perfect for that!"

In those days, the Black Dragon's attacks on the neighbouring regions filled the Red Grove citizens with fear, making them easy targets for the eye-eater, and after years and years of feeding on them, he rose to a level Weiyan couldn't even identify.

"Everyone in Red Grove City assumed I was an evil spirit," The voice explained, "...and that helped me avoid Sky Realm's detection, as evil spirits are largely human business.

"But then your parents arrived! They were traveling cultivators, and instantly recognized my aura..."

Weiyan watched as the same couple who had run with their children, first arrived in Red Grove. They saved another little boy from the Eye-eater's attack, but were not strong enough to face him, only managing to escape with the child.

"Unfortunately, they had ties to a powerful Sect, and before I knew it, Immortal Pei arrived to destroy me!"

Immortal Pei and the eye-eater fought in a powerful battle which awed Weiyan, but the eye-eater was soon defeated.

"I was forced to flee, hiding in the shadows, near dead for almost ten years!"

He sighed. "But they didn't know my mistress's power... Eighteen years ago, she appeared!"

A smallish cloaked figure held a hand over the weakened eye-eater, and he was suddenly filled with strength, though not as strong as before.

"A demon never forgets his enemies..." The eye-eater said, and the scene changed to show him and the cloaked figure attacking Immortal Pei. The cloaked figure sprinkled some sort of powder on Immortal Pei, which made him grasp his head and scream in sheer terror.

And in that state, the eye-eater struck, killing him and eating his eyes.

"After that, I could easily go after your family!" The demon explained with another mad cackle.

But he didn't simply go after her family... He and the cloaked figure set up a mighty red formation surrounding Red Grove City, and to Weiyan's astonishment, the black dragon appeared!

With every swing of the cloaked figure's arms, the dragon moved in a new direction, destroying everything in its path.

Meanwhile, the Eye-eater in Immortal Pei's form, had approached Weiyan's parents, who had settled in Red Grove to help the fledgling citizens.