Chapter 97-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

After getting the result she wanted, Ye Zheng left the Mirror Palace. She declined the attendant's offer to accompany her and walked alone down the long corridor.

At the end of the corridor, a cool and distant-looking young woman walked toward her.

She walked with her gaze fixed forward, stopping an arm's length away from Ye Zheng, but did not speak.

Ye Zheng stared at Bai Muqing's silent face, then took a step closer, shortening the distance between them.

They hadn't seen each other in a while, and too many things had happened during this time.

"Don't back away. This distance is more suitable for answering your doubts, Muqing."

Bai Muqing frowned but stood rooted to the spot. She opened her mouth and asked, "Is Yin Kong still alive?"

Ye Zheng blinked slowly and returned a light chuckle, almost inaudible in the empty corridor.

Bai Muqing squeezed her eyes shut forcefully. She already knew the answer.

"Muqing, were you close to him?"

"Just average. Classmates and teammates, that's all."

Bai Muqing paused before continuing, "Ye Zheng, did he deserve to die?"

Ye Zheng found this question a bit difficult. She tilted her head, "Perhaps no one ever deserves to die, Muqing. There are only people who must die."

The warm sunlight plated Ye Zheng's black hair, making her silhouette look so warm and gentle. Her black eyes rippled with a hint of confusion, even a touch of cuteness, yet Bai Muqing felt a chill as if she had encountered an evil spirit in broad daylight.

The person in front of her had killed Yin Kong, hidden the true divine sword, and deceived the entire empire. Yet, what chilled her the most was—

Only herself, Bai Muqing, knew the truth. She held the power to overturn this false God's Chosen at any time.

"In your eyes, I am also someone who must die. I know everything."

Hearing Bai Muqing's calm voice, which carried a slight tremor, Ye Zheng, for a rare moment, didn't know what to say. The Saintess, who had been so effortlessly composed in front of Sykes, was actually at a loss for words.

That's right. Bai Muqing was the biggest threat to the Divine Sword Project. She not only had the ability to see through the whole situation but also had overwhelming power behind her. She was far more threatening than Yin Kong!

Once Bai Muqing exposed her, the God's Chosen identity she had worked so hard to build would immediately collapse!

And yet, she had never considered this point.

Looking at those unfocused white pupils, Ye Zheng's tense mind felt like a ship's rope being pulled taut, unable to find its desired mooring. Her fingers subconsciously began to twirl her hair with a hint of anxiety.

Bai Muqing also remained silent, her tightly pressed lips betraying her mood.

"In your eyes, I am also someone who must die. I know everything."

She was clearly making a statement, yet she seemed as nervous as if she were waiting for an answer.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from the distance. Bai Muqing's feet shifted. She sensed someone approaching. It wasn't suitable for the two of them to continue talking here.

Bai Muqing turned her head, deciding to end the fruitless wait. She was about to leave without a word when Ye Zheng suddenly grabbed her arm.

She told her softly, "Muqing, the fact that we can stand here right now means we have already made our decisions."

You will not expose me for the sake of your faith, and I will not kill you to protect my secret.

Her subconscious had deliberately ignored the threat of Bai Muqing. Her heart had unknowingly already made a decision. So, Ye Zheng stopped overthinking. She let go of Bai Muqing's arm, allowing her to leave.

Bai Muqing did not reply to her, just paused for a moment, then headed towards the other end of the corridor.

The [System's] voice suddenly rang out.

[In the original storyline, Bai Muqing was defeated by Percy, and the God of Hope's divine sword chose Percy, so she set aside her pride and greatly assisted Percy, the successor of the God of Hope... She is a hidden danger. Once she learns that Percy is the true choice of the God of Hope, she—]

"System, after Bai Muqing decided to hide the truth for me, she won't go back on her word, and neither will I."

Even if Bai Muqing became her enemy in the future, Ye Zheng was certain she would not use the fake divine sword issue against her.

Ye Zheng did not turn to look at the departing Bai Muqing. She walked towards the other end of the corridor without looking back.

Outside a certain reception room in the palace.

"Muqing, why did you suddenly run off? His Majesty is still waiting for us!"

Bai Mulin, dressed in the red uniform of the Royal Knight Order, grabbed Bai Muqing's arm and looked at her suspiciously, "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"After all, you've invested many years of emotion. I know you'll be reluctant, but we've already come this far, and that person is still inside waiting for you..."

Bai Muqing coldly interrupted her brother, "Let's go in. I won't regret my decision."

Bai Mulin was used to his sister's usual coldness. He let out a sigh of relief, "That's good. You know this matter will be sensational. Father personally stepped in to help you get this opportunity."

"Sensational... Ye Zheng has always been doing things like that."

Bai Muqing murmured.

"Of course! After all—the Royal Knight Order has never had a female member."

"Muqing, seriously, once you join, you will no longer be able to freely go to the church to study and pray or participate in activities. The Knight Order is incompatible with your status as a nun..."

Bai Mulin's hand rested on the large door, not pushing it open. He looked at his sister with some worry. This decision would completely overturn Bai Muqing's previous life.

Her brother's nagging advice filled her ears, but the girl merely lowered her white eyelashes, which trembled slightly. She said, "I gave it up long ago."

The moment she decided to remain silent about Ye Zheng's actions in the Labyrinth Ruins, Bai Muqing had already betrayed her faith. She was no longer a devout believer in the God of Hope.

She didn't know Ye Zheng's purpose; she had shielded her purely out of personal feelings, allowing the God of Hope's divine sword to lie dormant in a murky pool, causing the empire to lose the true successor to the divine sword. Bai Muqing felt not only intense shame but also worry.

But Bai Muqing did not regret it.

"Alright, then let's go in."

Bai Mulin took a deep breath. He nervously and slowly pushed open the heavy door. Sitting inside was the supreme ruler of this empire.

Bai Muqing, at his side, showed no sign of nervousness. She wanted to join the Royal Knight Order not to pledge loyalty to the Emperor, but to take responsibility for her own selfish choice—

If one day, Ye Zheng, wearing the guise of God's Chosen, brought a great disaster to the empire, she who had once covered for Ye Zheng must take responsibility for it.

To do this, she had to walk higher and further.

After entering the reception room, Bai Muqing sensed a gaze fall upon her. Her white pupils trembled imperceptibly. This was the first time she had been so close to the nominal master of this empire.

...She had never liked him, not since she had glimpsed his soul from a distance at a banquet when she was eight years old.

Percy had been absent-minded these past two days, more anxious and erratic than ever. Both of his companions had noticed.

Roy and Caleb exchanged a silent look. They both knew the reason, as they were equally tormented. With no news from Lucy for a day, how could they, as once-inseparable friends, focus on the competition?

Percy glanced at the newly released rankings. For some unknown reason, Sykes seemed to have given up on the competition in the last few days, and his points hadn't budged at all. The Cloud-Soaring Squad had successfully climbed to second place.

As for the first-place team, Wu Shu's, her acquisition of a large number of points from the Blood Flower Demonic Domain had a strong element of luck. The team itself wasn't very strong, so their points were rising slowly. They would soon be overtaken.

Everything was moving toward the goal he most desired, yet Percy couldn't muster a smile.

After making that decision, he had felt a brief moment of relief, but his heart was repeatedly battered and tormented.

The three young men had just finished clearing a Demonic Domain and returned to their most familiar little tavern, sitting around a table. It was clearly the same familiar little room, yet it felt exceptionally empty.

Caleb recalled how the people they rescued from the Demonic Domain today had thanked them gratefully. This used to be their happiest and proudest moment, but these past two days, he couldn't get his spirits up. Because a companion they cared about might be trapped in some unknown Demonic Domain in the West District.

The empire had already dispatched a large number of personnel to investigate. It seemed the West District didn't need the three of them. But what about Lucy? This was when she needed her companions the most, wasn't it?

This thought made Caleb restless. Even he didn't know why he had tacitly agreed to Percy's decision at the time. He felt like he was getting to know Percy all over again, and himself as well.

It turned out they weren't as brave and passionate as they had imagined...

Caleb stole a glance at Percy. Percy was sitting with his head bowed in silence. Suddenly, as if he had made some sort of decision, Percy looked up, his lips slightly parted, seemingly about to say something.

Just then, Roy, who was at the side, seemed to hear something and suddenly walked out, pulling the door shut forcefully. Seeing his action, Percy fell silent again and said nothing.

After a long wait, Roy finally pushed the door open and returned. He stood at the doorway, looking at his two companions with a complex expression, and delivered an unexpected piece of news.

"The Saintess, Ye Zheng, and Crown Prince Sykes will be going to the West District together to rescue the trapped citizens."

Caleb shot up from his seat. He looked first at Roy, then at Percy. If two important members of the Royal Academy Team were going to the West District, what did the competition matter anymore?

Roy's eyes were fixed on Percy. His head was bowed, making his expression unreadable. Roy could only continue, "Are we still going to stay here?"

Under the hopeful gazes of his two teammates, Percy let out a laugh, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It carried a bitter taste, particularly abrupt in the small room.

"We'll go too."

"We should have gone long ago."

Percy's last sentence was almost too quiet to hear.

Caleb jumped up in excitement, his heart feeling much lighter. Roy, leaning against the door, first broke into a smile, but then a hint of doubt belatedly surfaced in his mind.

Just before he heard the noise and went out, Percy had clearly wanted to say something.

If he hadn't brought back this news... what decision would Percy have made?

Roy couldn't help but wonder.

Following the 263rd chapter update which brought the Zhao Mei incident, countless old readers and new readers who had binged the manga in a week were eagerly awaiting the latest update.

King of the Demonic Domain originally only had "rising star" level popularity on the manga platform. It had gained some fame in the past year, but it couldn't compare to some of the established works that had already been animated. Its overall popularity was considered upper-mid-tier.

But after a series of public opinion storms, this manga's popularity was now second only to a few established, popular manga that had animation support.

Regarding this, Tang Mingxi felt that this manga's creator really needed to kowtow to Ye Zheng.

At eight o'clock sharp, Tang Mingxi clicked into the manga app, already prepared for battle. Although the previous identity reveal plot had gained Ye Zheng many new fans, many old readers had begun to boycott Ye Zheng, publicly demanding a King of the Demonic Domain (Zheng-less Version).

Tang Mingxi was furious. Without Ye Zheng, King of the Demonic Domain would just flop into the earth's core. These people were truly ungrateful!

However, when Tang Mingxi clicked into the manga's table of contents, just as she was about to click on Chapter 264, she suddenly saw that a small extra chapter had also been updated at the very top—A Saintess's Day.

Happiness had arrived so suddenly!

After Tang Mingxi satisfyingly consumed the cute, chibi-style extra chapter and recharged her energy, she decided to enter the forum to fight for Ye Zheng—no matter what was updated, Ye Zheng would definitely be the one getting flamed. As a Ye Zheng mom fan, she was already used to the intense fan wars (xingfengxueyu, lit. 'bloody wind and rain') surrounding her "My Zheng" (Jia Zheng, an affectionate fan nickname).

Without even thinking, she knew that many people in the forum would be jumping mad from this extra chapter. After begging for a "Zheng-less Version" for so long, they instead got an extra chapter purely for Ye Zheng stans to enjoy!

But she hadn't expected that this time, the top hot post on the forum didn't even have Ye Zheng's name in it!

[Am I the only one who thinks Percy is OOC in the latest plot...]

In a short time, this post already had several hundred replies.

Author's Note:

Dears, please interact peacefully! Although it's fun to write about forum fights in the novel, it's not fun when it happens in reality...

This novel is a work born from my experiences as a "mom fan for a female character" in the 2D world. My original intention was just to rant about the 2D environment that "praises male (characters) and steps on female (characters)". I never expected it to rise to the level of feminism, nor did I expect to receive so much love from so many dears, who in turn gave me a lot of inspiration regarding feminism.

After all, the audience for this kind of manga theme is mostly 2D readers, yet this novel is filled with critiques of mainstream 2D phenomena. So when I published the novel, I thought I was writing something very malicious, believing this novel would either be ignored or be heavily flamed by readers who were "shocked/cringed by" (chuangdao) me.

A few years ago, I would have been one of the readers flaming this kind of novel hahaha. In middle school, I almost exclusively read male-perspective novels and genuinely believed that male-centric narratives were more advanced and more worthy of pursuit. Someone in the comments section previously said I only target "fan girls", but actually, it's all a reflection on my former self. Many of those statements were things I used to say myself, which is why I can write them so truthfully.

It wasn't until high school, after experiencing and encountering many things, that I found I could no longer get resonance or satisfaction from male-centric stories. Since then, I've almost exclusively read female-perspective novels and only have the desire to create stories about women.

My own feminist consciousness still has many flaws. I currently can't quit otaku culture and idol culture(though I only stan girls). Before writing, I was a blogger, mainly relying on serving the beauty sentence (fumeiyi, a term for the oppressive labor of maintaining beauty standards) to earn money to support myself through university. In the previous chapters, many sharp-eyed dears noticed that my descriptions of Zheng's appearance subconsciously carried a "gaze". This is heavily related to my own severe "bondage of beauty". But it's precisely because I saw everyone's reminders that I slowly, consciously corrected it.

I'm quite ashamed. I chose to start web-novel writing as a side-job precisely because I was tired of meticulously presenting myself in front of the camera, even giving up a part-time social media job that earned over ten thousand a month for it. Yet, when I write, I still subconsciously make my female protagonist more in line with mainstream society's aesthetic standards of a slender and beautiful woman.

That's why I hope even more that everyone can interact harmoniously. Even I, the author, still have a lot of room for improvement.

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