The next day, the concept of morning remained vague within the dungeon, yet Su Yu awoke earlier than ever before.
The Smoke Purple dress had been neatly folded and placed at one corner of the stone bed, while she herself curled up on the other side, her ink-black hair cascading down, concealing her pale face and the heavy dark circles beneath her eyes. You Li’s words, “I’ll take you out tomorrow,” echoed like a curse in her mind, stirring an unknown anticipation.
Footsteps arrived as expected.
You Li pushed the door open. She had changed her attire, no longer appearing in the lazy, homely manner of the previous day. Instead, she wore a sharply tailored black martial outfit, her hair tied high and secured with an ebony hairpin, making her look exceptionally tall, sharp, and more imposing.
“Put it on.”
Su Yu slowly sat up, avoiding You Li’s gaze as she reached out and picked up the Smoke Purple dress.
You Li stepped forward, a Smoke Purple silk ribbon of the same color as the dress appearing in her hand. Without explanation, she gathered Su Yu’s loose hair and loosely tied it at the back with the ribbon, securing it with a simple knot. Her movements were careful, causing no pain.
“Let’s go.” After finishing, You Li took a step back and turned toward the cell door.
Su Yu watched her retreating figure, then glanced down at her own “outing” attire and the black chains still shackled to her wrists and ankles. A chill crept up from her feet. This outfit, this hairstyle—it felt more like preparations made before a “display piece” was taken out.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the sourness in her throat and the slight trembling of her body, and took a step forward.
You Li did not look back but slowed her pace, allowing Su Yu to keep up.
Outside was a deep, winding stone corridor. The walls on either side were embedded with phosphorescent stones emitting a sickly green glow, barely illuminating the path ahead. The air was colder and more oppressive than in the dungeon, and distant, muffled howls and the clanging of metal echoed faintly, as if from deeper prisons.
Su Yu’s heartbeat quickened uncontrollably—not from excitement but from tension and a bone-deep chill. Was this the “outside”? The depths of the demon palace’s dungeon?
You Li walked a few steps ahead, her tall, black-clad figure appearing both upright and indifferent, as if she were a natural part of this shadowy world. She remained silent, only pausing occasionally at intersections, seemingly to discern the direction. Su Yu followed behind, the sound of her chains echoing through the empty corridor.
You Li stopped before a door, raising her hand to press against a complex demonic pattern on its surface. A Dark Red glow emanated from her palm, tracing the pattern’s lines as the iron door slowly swung inward.
An entirely different atmosphere washed over them.
Gone was the dungeon’s cold, damp, and foul air, replaced by a cool, fresh breeze. The light intensified abruptly—not the eerie glow of Moonlit Moss or phosphorescent stones but a Dark Red sky light filtering through thick clouds.
Su Yu instinctively squinted, tears welling up in her eyes from the sudden brightness. It had been far too long since she had been exposed to such “radiant” light, even if it was eerie and oppressive.
She raised a hand to shield her eyes, peering cautiously through her fingers.
Before her lay a space of unimaginable vastness. It resembled an enormous hollowed-out mountain cavern, with a distant, high ceiling from which the strange sky light seeped through gaps in the clouds.
Below lay an abyss of unfathomable darkness, with massive black chains extending from all directions, converging toward a ferocious floating hall at the center. Around the hall, countless smaller floating stone platforms were scattered like islands—some bearing strangely styled structures, others empty and desolate, wrapped only in chains.
Was this the demon palace? No, it seemed more like a prison realm built upon an endless abyss.
Su Yu stood there, forgetting to blink, forgetting to breathe. The sight before her shattered all her preconceptions. The sacred purity of Xuan Yu Zong, the refined elegance of Qing Yin Pavilion, even the imagined gloom of the demonic path—none of it resembled the grandeur, savagery, and overwhelming sense of despair and power before her. A feeling of insignificance, like an ant, mixed with fear of the unknown, gripped her heart.
You Li walked to her side, standing shoulder to shoulder with her as they gazed upon the vast and terrifying scene. Her dark martial attire flapped fiercely in the wind rising from the abyss, and her profile appeared even colder and harder under the dark red sky.
“Welcome to Xuangu Hall, the heart of the Demon Lord’s rule over the Demon Realm, and… the core of your new cage.”
New cage. The words pierced Su Yu’s heart like an ice spike. She whipped her head around to look at You Li.
You Li was already watching her, blood-red eyes reflecting her pale, shocked face. “Did you think ‘getting out’ meant freedom?” A faint, almost mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips. “No. It’s merely exchanging a small cage for a larger, more magnificent one.”
She raised a hand, pointing toward the distant hall constructed of bone and black stone. “See that? The Demon Lord’s residence.” Her finger slowly shifted, pointing to a relatively smaller yet still imposing floating stone platform behind and to the side of the main hall. Upon it stood a dark red palace, shaped like a closed flower. “I reside in ‘Xue E Gong.'”
Finally, her finger returned to Su Yu, lightly tapping over the smoke-purple dress, right above her heart—where the Blood Mark Pact lay dormant.
“And you,” You Li withdrew her hand, declaring in a flat tone, “belong there. Today is just to familiarize you with the way. If you ever get the chance to come out in the future, don’t get lost.”
You Li seemed satisfied with the shock and ensuing dead silence in Su Yu’s eyes. Without another word, she turned and walked toward a narrow stone bridge connected outside the iron gate. The bridge floated above the abyss, wide enough for only one person, with no railings. Below churned an endless darkness swirling with dark red mist.
“Follow.”
Su Yu stared at the narrow bridge and the dizzying abyss beneath it, her feet suddenly heavy as if filled with lead. The wind grew fiercer, whipping her dress and long hair, threatening to blow her frail body off the edge.
You Li had already reached the middle of the bridge. She stopped and turned back to look at her. The dark red sky formed an oppressive backdrop behind her, her face hidden in shadow, only those blood-red eyes clearly locking onto her.
“Afraid?”
Su Yu bit her lower lip, the faint wounds left from last night stinging. She glanced down at the bottomless abyss beneath her feet, then ahead at You Li’s figure, and further beyond, at Xue E Gong, which symbolized another form of imprisonment.
Then, she lifted her foot and stepped onto the stone bridge. She dared not look down, only fixing her gaze firmly on You Li’s back ahead, forcing herself to inch forward step by step.
The wind was fierce, almost strong enough to blow her off. Several times, she stumbled, nearly losing her balance, the smoke-purple hem of her dress fluttering wildly in the air like a butterfly struggling to take flight but firmly chained down.
You Li never looked back, nor extended a hand, only slowing her pace slightly when Su Yu’s steps grew too sluggish. Her back was straight and steady, a stark contrast to Su Yu, who swayed perilously in the wind.
When Su Yu finally stepped onto the floating stone platform where Xue E Gong stood, her legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed to the ground. The platform’s surface was made of cold black stone slabs, carved with twisted demonic patterns. She gasped heavily, her heart pounding wildly, her back already soaked in cold sweat.
Only then did You Li turn around, looking down at her disheveled state and saying calmly, “Remember this path. From now on, you will walk it yourself.”
Su Yu pushed herself up from the cold ground and looked up at the dark-red palace before her. Up close, it appeared even more massive and oppressive.
“Is this… Xue E Gong?” Su Yu’s voice trembled slightly, whether from the earlier peril or the sight before her.
“My residence, and from now on, aside from the dungeon, the only place you are permitted to stay.”
The palace doors slid open silently, revealing an even darker passageway inside. Embedded in the walls on either side were crystals emitting a dark-red glow, casting the passage in a bloody hue, like the throat of a giant beast.
The air inside the palace was heavier than outside, the scent of blood mingling with a strange, cold fragrance, creating a dizzying aroma. Along the passage, many tightly shut stone doors led to unknown places. Occasionally, demon guards clad in black armor and with indistinct faces passed by silently, bowing to You Li while completely ignoring Su Yu, as if she were nothing more than a moving ornament.
You Li led her deeper inside, finally stopping before a relatively smaller stone door. The door opened automatically, revealing… a room.
No longer the stone bed and iron chains of the dungeon, but a real room with a bed, a table and chairs, and even a large bronze mirror. The room was spacious, the bed carved from a single piece of warm black jade, the table and chairs made of some dark, heavy metal, and the edges of the bronze mirror engraved with twisted demonic patterns. The walls were still made of that dark-red material covered in vein-like textures, with light emanating from several softly glowing red beads embedded in the ceiling.
“You will live here from now on,” You Li said, walking into the room and sitting in the only chair, her posture relaxed as if she had returned to her own domain. “More comfortable than the dungeon, isn’t it?”
Su Yu stood at the doorway, not entering. She looked at the room, at You Li sitting in the chair, and at her own reflection in the bronze mirror—pale-faced, hollow-eyed, clad in smoke-purple robes.
Freedom? It had never existed. The cage had merely grown larger, the scenery more magnificent, but the one who controlled her had never left.
A deep sense of helplessness and absurdity seized her. She didn’t even know whether to cry or laugh.
You Li seemed to see through her thoughts, a faint, almost imperceptible mockery flashing in her blood-red eyes. She extended a hand toward Su Yu and commanded, “Come here.”
Su Yu looked at the hand reaching out to her. Last night, it was this very hand that had guided her through those humiliating motions…
She inched forward step by step, stopping a few paces away from You Li.
You Li’s hand remained extended, only her chin lifting slightly. “Kneel.”
Two words, light as a feather, yet they struck Su Yu’s heart like a heavy hammer. She jerked her head up, looking at You Li, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
“I said,” You Li repeated, her voice turning colder, “kneel.”
It was not a request, not a negotiation, but an order. An unquestionable command issued within this palace that belonged to her, directed at what was hers.
Su Yu looked into You Li’s blood-red eyes, which offered no room for discussion, then glanced around the opulent yet equally suffocating room.
In the end, the last shred of strength she had mustered from being “let out” completely crumbled. Her knees gave way, and she fell heavily onto the cold, hard floor engraved with demonic patterns. The Smoke Purple skirt of her dress spread out around her like a flower abruptly withering.
The sharp, clear pain from her knees hitting the ground was nothing compared to the tearing humiliation in her heart.
You Li watched her kneeling posture, her lowered head and trembling shoulders. Deep within those blood-red eyes, something seemed to settle, growing unfathomably profound. She reached out, this time not touching Su Yu’s face but resting her hand on her head, gently stroking the hair tied up with Smoke Purple silk ribbons.
“Remember this place,” You Li’s voice came from above, calm and steady. “Remember who you are, remember where you belong.”
She withdrew her hand and stood up, looking down at Su Yu kneeling on the ground.
“The dungeon or here—there is no difference,” she said finally, turning to walk out of the room. “The only difference is that here, the ways you serve me can be more varied.”