The Purgatory Calamity-Chapter 98 - 85 - The Play-Watching Maiden_1

At the entrance of the alleyway.

The girl uncrossed her legs and straightened her petite body, meticulously wiping the grease from the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief before cleaning each of her fingers as well.

Her appearance and demeanor underwent a sudden transformation, and in the blink of an eye, she had become the epitome of an elegant and dignified young lady of a noble family.

"Right, how come you can see me?"

Her beautiful face was full of curiosity.

It was at this moment.

She noticed that the dense and filthy supernatural ability of the Fifth Realm surrounded the young man like a thick wall.

Her gemstone-like eyes showed a hint of astonishment as she stared at Pang Jian, the more she looked, the stranger she found it.

"When I bumped into you earlier, I couldn’t see you."

Fearing she might misunderstand, Pang Jian explained seriously, "Later, I was contaminated by the filth evil power lurking in the darkness. After I endured through it, I could see you."

He never expected that the creature they and Li Jie had been so wary of, the one hiding in the darkness, was actually a girl.

The girl appeared to be around his age, dressed in a pitch-black dress that blended seamlessly with the darkness, her face delicate with a slight baby fat, conveying an adorable and naive charm that made one naturally want to get closer to her.

For some reason.

Pang Jian thought that if she could eat slightly less and lose just a bit more weight, her face would definitely be several times more exquisite than it is now.

However, seeing the table full of braised meat, chicken feet, chicken wings, and the exquisite little wine jug, Pang Jian thought it was unlikely that the girl could slim down.

"Forget it, I’m magnanimous. I won’t hold the earlier bump against you."

The girl said with a slightly guilty wave of her hand.

She had just listened to Pang Jian’s miserable howl and thought he had died. The first thing she said when she saw him was, "How come you’re not dead yet?"

Now that he was right in front of her, clearly alive and well, she felt somewhat embarrassed.

Instigated by a sudden thought, she recalled Pang Jian’s words and frowned, "The Filth Evil Power of the Fifth Realm isn’t something everyone can easily endure through. As far as I know..."

"Forget it!"

Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly shook her head in annoyance and groaned, "The people inside are still telling their story, endless and annoying to death."

After complaining, she took out another reclining chair from her storage ring and placed it on the other side of the table.

She beckoned to Pang Jian, "Since you can also reside in the darkness, do you want to come over and watch together?"

"Okay."

Pang Jian readily agreed.

He was standing some distance from the entrance of the alleyway, and not only was there a mysterious girl there, but also tables and chairs that obstructed his view.

If he stayed where he was, he could only vaguely see a familiar figure who had taken Dong Tianze’s place and was now seated on the high platform.

Beyond that, he could not see clearly.

Seeing the girl extend an invitation, he did not hesitate, quickly walked to the entrance of the alleyway, and plonked down onto the new chair.

Between him and the girl, there was a table filled with food.

Sitting in the chair and looking into the courtyard of the mansion from this angle, Pang Jian’s view suddenly became much broader.

Only then did he see that the person sitting on the platform in front of him was none other than Luo Hongyan!

Dong Tianze, meanwhile, stood next to the pool, Qi Qingsong did the same, and even Lan Xi of the Demon Sect was merely standing by the edge of the pool.

On the high platform, where only three seats remained, it was Luo Hongyan, Yuan Lengshan, and Lin Beiye of Black Valley who were seated.

Pang Jian was taken aback.

"Would you like to eat something?"

The nearby girl kindly asked.

Pang Jian, his mind in turmoil, shook his head subconsciously, still pondering what had happened inside the mansion after he retreated back into the darkness.

When he had left earlier, he thought that Luo Hongyan might be able to exit through the Mirror Tunnel after entering the City Lord Mansion, as she hadn’t participated in the two attempted assassinations against Qi Qingsong.

He felt that Luo Hongyan might be safe as long as she didn’t covet the strange treasure in the pool—without any deep-seated hatred toward the people inside, perhaps she wouldn’t face any life-threatening danger.

A look of surprise suddenly showed in Pang Jian’s eyes, which were lost in thought.

He suddenly saw Luo Hongyan, who was sitting with her back to him, move her hand that had been placed in front of her to her side.

In that hand, she held a White Jade Porcelain Bottle... The Demon Girl had actually joined the treasure hunt!

"Gurgle."

Smelling the tempting scent of meat near him, Pang Jian, who had subconsciously refused earlier, heard his stomach growl uncontrollably.

Then, he realized he was actually quite hungry.

Looking at the table full of delicious food, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Can I eat it?"

"Of course."

The girl squinted her eyes and smiled carelessly, "After all, I can’t finish it by myself. Since you can join me, I’d like to tell you about all the interesting events that happened here after you left."

"Ok, sure."

Pang Jian’s first "Ok" was quite clear, but the following "sure" was somewhat muffled.

—He was stuffing roast chicken into his mouth.

One of the roast chickens closest to him had two glistening chicken legs quickly ripped off and gulped down.

The girl rolled her eyes secretly.

Soon, an entire roast chicken was easily devoured by Pang Jian, and he started reaching for another dish of braised beef.

"My name is Li Yuqing..."

The girl introduced herself.

"Pang Jian."

The boy preoccupied with eating responded indistinctly.

"I know you’re called Pang Jian, I heard earlier."

"Yeah."

Pang Jian no longer responded.

His hands flew swiftly, sweeping the table clean of its luxurious delicacies with a vigor as if he were trying to swallow mountains and rivers, quickly devouring the various meats within the bowls and plates.

Once his mind relaxed, he realized that his transformed body urgently needed a large amount of food to replenish its strength.

It was like when he emerged from the stone path earlier, his desperation so great that he could even eat raw fish.

The self-introduced girl fell silent.

If she had been eating alone and Pang Jian had just been watching, it would have made her feel embarrassed, which is why she invited Pang Jian to join her.

Who would have known that Pang Jian didn’t know the first thing about courtesy?

In just a short while, he had demolished more than half of the table filled with braised meat, roasted chicken, and beef.

Pang Jian showed no signs of stopping!

"Didn’t you want to hear about what happened at the mansion after you left?"

She glared at Pang Jian in annoyance.

"Yeah, go on,"

Pang Jian said nonchalantly, his mouth stuffed with meat.

"Forget it, let’s talk later."

The girl sighed.

By the time she finished explaining, the feast she had been looking forward to would likely be devoured by Pang Jian.

Now silent, she began to compete with Pang Jian for the food on the table in a rather petulant manner.

At the mansion, Yuan Lengshan’s story continued.

In the dark alleyway entrance, the young boy and girl both sidled up, using both hands to grab food from the table.

The girl’s cheeks were puffed out as she continuously stuffed her mouth.

Pang Jian had been doing this for a while already.

Soon, the food nearest to the two of them was obliterated, and both their hands reached toward the center of the table for the greasy braised chicken feet and wings.

Two greasy hands collided over a chicken wing.

Pang Jian paused, and then he suddenly realized what had happened.

He looked at the girl across the table, to find her staring fiercely at him with her mouth full of grease, looking incredibly intimidating.

Under the girl’s fearsome gaze, Pang Jian guiltily withdrew his hand.

With a huff, the girl snatched up the chicken wing, thinking to herself, "Smart move, kid."

"Uh..."

Pang Jian burped, feeling the intense hunger from his stomach subsiding, and he stopped reaching for food on the table.

"Cough cough!"

Having never scrambled for food so frantically before, the girl ended up choking on what was stuck in her throat. After a few coughs and a fierce glare at Pang Jian, she accused, "This is all your fault!"

Pang Jian awkwardly said, "I was just too hungry."

"Forget it."

Seeing Pang Jian admitting his mistake and no longer competing with her for food, the girl finally slowed down her eating pace.

Hidden in the shadows and continuously monitoring the situation inside the mansion, she didn’t have a bad impression of Pang Jian.

Initially, to protect Luo Hongyan, Su Meng, and Jiang Li from being slaughtered at the back door of the City Lord Mansion just to make up the death toll, Pang Jian stepped forward, long spear in hand, and struck down a dozen or so men.

She had noticed Pang Jian then.

Later on, inside the mansion, Pang Jian had the guts to attack Qi Qingsong at the Meridians Channeling Realm for the sake of Zhou Qingchen, which also took her by surprise.

Finally.

When Pang Jian used the last of his strength to send Zhou Qingchen through the Mirror Tunnel and himself recklessly charged into darkness, she was inwardly moved.

It was for this reason that, when she was suddenly knocked to the ground, she didn’t view Pang Jian with hostility.

But she had no power to save Pang Jian, who was afflicted by the Filth Evil Power, so when he wailed in agony, she could only feel pity and helplessness.

After Pang Jian appeared alive, her willingness to offer him a seat to watch the match stemmed from the good impression created by his previous actions.

Including the part where she offered him something to eat, which was based on those favorable feelings from before.

But she had not expected Pang Jian to eat so voraciously.

"The woman with you, the one who didn’t leave, has another soul in her body."

The girl spoke leisurely, now having the leisure to discuss the situation in the mansion with Pang Jian, "After you charged into the darkness, the soul within her no longer concealed itself and made itself known."

The girl recounted what happened after Pang Jian had left.

"I know, there’s another soul within her, she’s a ruthless Demon Girl..." Pang Jian nodded his understanding.

"Demon Girl?"

Recalling carefully, the girl furrowed her brows and said, "She’s actually pretty decent to you. From what she’s doing now, it seems like she’s trying to take revenge for you. Also, when you went into the darkness, her worry and nervousness... seemed genuine."

Pang Jian was taken aback, his eyes filled with complex emotions as he looked at Luo Hongyan, who was sitting on a high platform, exchanging meaningless pleasantries with several people from the mansion.

"Wash your hands, and we can continue talking after."

Having related the matters inside the mansion, the girl fetched a copper basin filled with water and placed it on the table to clean the grease off her hands.

Pang Jian also stood up to wash his hands.

"You wait!" she snapped at Pang Jian fiercely, "Let me wash first!"

"Oh."

Pang Jian obediently stopped.

He watched her carefully clean her hands free of grease. Only after she took out a towel to wipe her hands did Pang Jian use the copper basin she had used to wash his own hands.

"Hey, how did you manage to break through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm after just wandering around in the darkness?"

The girl asked curiously, her face full of wonder.

...