Lian Yin immediately turned around. The young man stood there with his sword in his arms, looking completely uninjured. He was actually unharmed?
“Young Master Xie.”
Xie Sui nodded slightly at Shen Qingle, then looked toward Lian Yin, who was standing close beside her. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. So you’re from the Nine Heavens Sect.”
His tone was calm, but there was a trace of displeasure hidden in his dark eyes, the kind that came from being played.
Lian Yin knew he must have misunderstood something and was about to explain when Shen Qingle smiled and said, “Young Master Xie also thinks Little Lian is suited for the Nine Heavens Sect? I was just persuading her to join.”
That served as an indirect explanation of how they had just met.
Lian Yin followed up, “We were looking for you as well.”
Realizing he had misunderstood, Xie Sui’s expression turned slightly awkward for a moment. “It’s good that you’re fine.”
“Weren’t we going to that pavilion?” he added. “I was worried it might be too dangerous to go alone, but since…”
Lian Yin quickly cut him off. “Don’t you think that pavilion looks like a trap? Like it’s deliberately calling you there? If you were hiding something, would you make it so obvious?”
Xie Sui said, “The more dangerous a place is, the more likely it is to hide a divine artifact. That’s a prophecy calculated by a wisdom cultivator from my family before I set out.”
A prophecy, again.
Lian Yin frowned. “Why risk your life for someone else’s prophecy? What if it’s wrong?”
“He’s very accurate,” Xie Sui replied. “Inviting Miss Shen to assist in this secret realm was also his idea.”
Originally, the Xie family had intended to borrow the Nine Heavens Clear Heart Bell, a powerful artifact capable of suppressing evil and breaking illusions, which would have been highly effective in this secret realm. But it was a treasured possession of the Nine Heavens Sect and could not be lent out, so they instead invited Shen Qingle.
“And besides,” Xie Sui continued, “it’s not just for the artifact. If we want to leave, we have to enter the pavilion. The more dangerous a place is, the more likely the evil spirit is there. Don’t forget, we can only leave after killing it.”
The moment they stepped into the secret realm, finding the artifact and killing the evil spirit had become the same goal.
Lian Yin paused, suddenly realizing she had fallen into a certain way of thinking. She had grown used to being trapped here, used to the idea that some things simply could not be done.
She had thought that avoiding danger meant survival.
But staying in the secret realm meant death.
The three of them crossed a winding corridor bridge and arrived beneath the pavilion.
Before even entering, they could already see the intricate craftsmanship of its builder. Hollowed lattice windows, ice plum patterns, seashell inlays. Whether it was a trap or not, it had clearly been made with care.
With two female cultivators behind him, Xie Sui naturally took the lead, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
It felt like walking into a disturbed old dream.
Paintings!
Countless scrolls hung unfurled, swaying gently in the draft from the opened door, rustling softly like whispering paper.
Lian Yin followed him in, her gaze freezing for a moment at the sight.
How much did he love painting?
He had never even held a brush before, so had he spent three hundred years perfecting this skill?
Her eyes swept over the various lattice windows. Each revealed a different scene. Some showed brilliant morning glow, others deep night. In front of each window hung a painting corresponding to the season, like the snow-covered courtyard she had seen before.
“These are the paintings from the illusion earlier…”
“The master of this secret realm and his wife must have been quite devoted. Who knows what wish he might have left behind?”
As they spoke, a burnt smell suddenly reached their noses. Turning, they saw Lian Yin lighting the paintings with a fire talisman. She stood before a window glowing with crimson clouds, watching the flames rise in silence.
Shen Qingle asked, “What’s wrong with these paintings? Why burn them all of a sudden?”
“Isn’t it pointless to keep them?” Lian Yin replied, her face expressionless in the flickering firelight as she moved on to ignite another scroll. “Didn’t we encounter evil spirits coming out of paintings before? It’s safer to burn them.”
The two fell silent for a moment, then began helping her.
But these seemed to be ordinary paintings. Even after being completely burned, nothing unusual happened.
Once the scrolls were gone, the room looked bare and empty.
They climbed the stairs, the old wooden boards creaking under their weight.
The second floor had no visible doors or windows. The higher they went, the darker it became.
Xie Sui, walking in front, took out a candleholder to light the way.
The moment it lit up, Lian Yin saw a painting on the wall beside them. The figure inside held a dagger, staring down at Xie Sui below.
Her heart tightened. She immediately gripped the fire talisman already in her hand. “Be careful, beside you—”
Shen Qingle instantly summoned the Nine Heavens Clear Heart Bell. The bronze bell engraved with runes chimed softly, and the eerie aura of the figure dissipated at once, leaving behind an ordinary painting hanging quietly.
The fire talisman ignited the scroll.
Flames spread from the figure outward. Perhaps fearing the bell, it did not emerge to attack again, only glancing repeatedly behind Xie Sui. Ink-like streaks streamed down its cheeks like silent tears.
Lian Yin knew it was looking at her.
After dealing with the incident, they reached the second floor. The moment they stepped in, the bell in Shen Qingle’s hand rang once and then fell silent. When Lian Yin turned her head, Shen Qingle was gone.
“Senior Sister Shen has disappeared,” Lian Yin said.
Xie Sui’s expression grew serious. “Be careful. The master of the secret realm might be here…”
Before he could finish, Lian Yin felt a familiar cold presence wrap around her.
“Yinyin…” a soft whisper called.
Perhaps because she already knew what she would see, Lian Yin felt much calmer this time as she turned around.
In the candlelight stood the young man, his body faint and ghostlike. He gazed at her with obsession, murmuring her name.
The next moment, she felt something coil around her legs. Not just one pair of hands.
The evil spirits in the room surged toward them from all directions.
Xie Sui could not stand still to avoid the relentless attacks, and he was gradually separated from Lian Yin.
What unfolded before her felt like a nightmare.
Countless ghosts of Lu Ying surrounded her, embracing her, calling her name, telling her they loved her. She had thought she could calmly face anything in this secret realm, but every time, he found new, more revolting ways to push her limits.
Her breathing grew uneven. The spirits clinging to her should have had no weight, yet her body felt as though it were sinking into the ocean, cold and heavy.
In the darkness, someone took her hand. Their temperature was just as cold as hers.
The spirits began to retreat, as if fearing this presence.
Lian Yin turned.
The young man stood there, untouched by the darkness. He looked almost luminous, dressed in spotless white, his demeanor gentle and harmless.
“Realm spirit?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
As she was about to check on Xie Sui, the realm spirit spoke with a faint smile, “The more you care about them, the faster they’ll die.”
He stepped closer, his tone tinged with a hint of coquettishness. “When you’re with me, don’t divide your attention.”
Lian Yin forced herself to stop turning her head and looked back at him.
Pleased, he took her hand and led her upstairs. “Let’s talk somewhere quieter. It’s too noisy here.”
As they walked, she glanced at the floating spirits that dared not approach and asked, “What are these? Did you create them?”
“These… are failures,” he replied with a smile that carried an unreadable meaning. “You could say I created them.”
Failures!
That made sense. They only repeated a few dull phrases and their bodies were incomplete. Whatever he had originally intended to create, it could not have been anything good.
She did not pursue the topic. “What were you doing earlier? Will you have something to do later?”
“I was cleaning the secret realm,” he said. “It’s clean now. I have nothing to do. I can stay with you.”
Cleaning probably meant dealing with the Xie family cultivators.
Lian Yin silently guessed.
Lu Ying always glossed over such things. If one didn’t listen carefully, it was easy to miss what he had done.
“Why did you burn our paintings?” the realm spirit asked, puzzled. “Didn’t you like them? Did I draw them badly?”
“I don’t like anything that involves you,” she replied.
“If I weren’t in them, would you like them?” he asked. “There’s none of me upstairs.”
At the top floor, the doors and windows were wide open. Sunlight and wind poured in, making the paintings on the walls flutter loudly.
The girl in the paintings seemed to come alive, her hair and skirt moving in the wind.
Lian Yin stared at them, lost in thought.
The realm spirit thought she liked them, but the next moment she took out a talisman.
“… ”
She infused it with spiritual energy, and flames began to burn.
He stepped forward and snatched the talisman, freezing the fire in his hand.
As the master of the secret realm, he could control everything within it, even time itself.
He looked at her, his beautiful eyes tinged with sadness. “Why burn them?”
“I hate your paintings,” she said coldly. “I hate everything about you.”
Hating him, hurting him, contradicting him had become instinct. She could not be gentle.
“What about the heavenly punishment?” she asked.
He did not answer, only waved the talisman between his fingers.
“If you want me to answer,” he said innocently, “you should make me happy first.”
“… ”
“You don’t want to know how your two friends are doing?” he added. “If I’m in a good mood, I might let them go for now.”
Lian Yin reached for the talisman. “What was that heavenly punishment? Why didn’t I die?”
“Of course I saved you,” he said with a smile.
“How?”
“I sacrificed myself.”
His tone was casual, but her expression turned cold with disgust.
She hated him most for this. He had bound her life to his.
Seeing her reaction, his smile faded, confusion flickering in his eyes.
“Yinyin, isn’t it good to be alive? You said when you were young that your health was poor, that you wanted to live, wanted to leave home—”
“I also said I’m fine now!” she interrupted sharply. “I told you to stop following me! I told you to die! Did you listen?”
He paused, then said helplessly, “Alright! I didn’t sacrifice myself. I was selfish. I didn’t want you to die, I like you. I want to stay with you forever…”
That only made her angrier.
He always admitted his faults so lightly, as if he remembered everything she said, yet never listened, never understood, never respected.
“But I don’t want that!” she shouted, grabbing his collar. “You don’t even like me. You only like yourself! Even if I die, you won’t let me go. You just want to torment me…”
Her voice broke. She let go and collapsed to her knees, crying uncontrollably.
She didn’t know what she had done wrong, what she had done to Lu Ying to deserve this ruin in the name of love.
She knew she must look insane, but she hadn’t always been like this. Without him, she could still be a normal person.
A cold hand touched her cheek. For once, the man who excelled at sophistry said nothing, only silently wiped her tears.
Jealousy was wrong. Possession was wrong. Even giving was wrong.
Everything he did only made her more miserable.
“Yinyin.”
She looked up through blurred tears. Seeing his face, all her hatred found its target. Her fingers closed around his throat.
He did not resist. He let himself fall, and she pressed him down, choking him, her tears falling onto his face.
He lay there, watching her like a trapped beast thrashing in despair, with nowhere to go.
This could not relieve her, nor could it truly harm him.
So he offered her a dagger.
Her hand trembled when she saw it. Without hesitation, she plunged it into his chest.
Blood spread across his white clothing, vivid and thick, reminding her of a wedding…
Her parents had already died. She had been falsely accused of being a disaster and forced to leave her sect.
The one who orchestrated it all was her future Dao companion.
Back then, she had also been filled with desperate hatred. When Lu Ying handed her a sword, she had driven it into her lover’s heart without hesitation.
The smell of blood filled the air.
Lu Ying watched her, his beautiful eyes filled with pity, like a benevolent god.
He pitied her foolishness, her helplessness.
He was granting her mercy.
So she gouged out his eyes, ruined his face, cut off his hands, tore out his heart.
She hated him.
But when she came back to her senses, faced with blood and broken remains, all she felt was deeper despair.
She had nothing left.
Then she noticed the fallen sword.
If she died too, they could all be together again.
As she reached for it, someone embraced her.
“Yinyin.”
She turned, stunned, and saw his flawless face, completely clean, while she was drenched in blood.
“…Lu Ying?”
She had been tricked again.
He gently wiped the blood from her face and coaxed her softly, “It’s late. Shall we consummate our marriage first? If you’re unhappy, we can play again next time…”
She nearly lost her mind. “Why are you still alive?”
“I’m a Heavenly Demon,” he said patiently. “My soul cannot be destroyed. No matter how many times I die, it doesn’t matter. But it still hurts when I’m injured.”
He smiled faintly. “Yinyin, let’s consummate the marriage. Then we’ll truly be Dao companions, and our names will never be separated…”
When Lian Yin came back to her senses, she looked at the blood before her and slowly pulled out the dagger. Blood immediately gushed out.
She threw the dagger away.
She hated the version of herself from that wedding night.
She had been like a demon, like a madwoman, like Lu Ying… anything but herself.
But she didn’t know what to do anymore.
Lu Ying could always stir her emotions, turning her into someone out of control.
She hated harsh words, hated arguments, hated shouting, but she forced herself to use them because they could hurt him.
It was her only weapon.
He could deceive her, possess her, even take away her right to live or die.
And she could do nothing.
Realizing this again, tears streamed down her face as her shoulders trembled.
“Lu Ying…” she whispered, over and over.
He looked at her, his gaze fractured with something like sorrow. Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms and pressed her down.
The faint smell of blood filled the air as he kissed her, no longer gentle, ignoring her resistance.
The metallic taste mixed with tears, bitter and inescapable.
She remembered the earlier kiss in the illusion, playful and shy, so different from this.
Back then, she had feared he would kill her.
She had been wrong.
That, perhaps, was worse.
Everyone she met would be killed by him, turned into hostages, used to torment her.
Her life should have ended long ago.
Why had she awakened again?
Just as despair consumed her, a strand of light appeared.
“If I disappear from your world forever, if you can believe that I truly love you, stop hating me, and listen to me…”
“I can let you leave.”
Her first thought was simple.
A lie.
He was deceiving her again.
The realm spirit said, “He is already dead. His wish was not to stay with you forever, but…”