The guard didn’t return that day.
Nor did he return the next day.
When Yun Ji woke up on the third day, she didn’t immediately sit up as usual.
The death row prison remained as silent as ever, with only faint light dancing in one dark corner.
She shifted her gaze toward the Soul Lamp placed beside her.
Wei Sheng was a light sleeper. The moment she woke, even without moving much, he opened his eyes.
Held in her embrace, he silently listened to her increasingly faint heartbeat.
Yun Ji suddenly asked:
[By the way, what kind of lamp is this? Nuclear-powered? How can it keep burning without going out?]
Wei Sheng looked utterly disgusted: “How do you not know anything? This is a Soul Lamp, fueled by souls. One lamp can burn for at least several hundred years before extinguishing.”
So that’s how it is!
Another product of this fantasy world, truly marvelous!
She wanted to lift Wei Sheng up, but was too weak from hunger. Instead, she rolled over to lie prone on the ground, placing Wei Sheng in front of her. Resting her head on her arm, she smiled at him:
[Are there many lamps outside that never go out? Are the nights very bright then? Bright as daytime?]
[What are your means of transportation out there? How do you get around? Sword Flight or riding some flying Mystical Beast?]
[Are there those secret realms that supposedly only open once in a long while, where each time someone like a protagonist barges in and takes all the good stuff?]
Wei Sheng listened to Yun Ji’s enthusiastic “aowu” sounds, then looked at her face so close to his. Some emotion flickered in his eyes, and he instinctively tried to turn his head away.
But he had no neck.
He was forced to meet Yun Ji’s sparkling eyes instead.
Angrily, he squeezed his eyes shut:
“Have you listened to what you’re asking! Don’t you already know what it’s like outside?”
Yun Ji played along without blinking: [No, I don’t. I’ve lost my memory.]
Wei Sheng: ?
Shen Yinshuo couldn’t help interjecting: “You’ve lost your memory?”
Yun Ji: “Yep.”
For once, Wei Sheng and Shen Yinshuo’s thought processes aligned, both concluding that the poison affecting her must have damaged her memory.
They didn’t know what poison she carried, but could tell it was viciously potent, intended to take her life.
Even though she had struggled to survive until now, she still hadn’t escaped her inevitable death.
Now with no food and her physical cultivation insufficient, her body would only grow weaker, until the poison inevitably flared up again.
While Shen Yinshuo remained silent, Wei Sheng rolled his eyes:
“Forgetting might be for the best. There’s nothing good outside anyway.”
He paused, then glanced casually at Yun Ji’s swollen, pale hand:
“The lamps you mentioned do exist – bright as daylight, like moons. This venerable one used to have quite a few in my private collection.”
“Transportation? Yes, there are means of movement. Sword Flight works, beast riding works too. If you prefer, I still have a Jade Carriage stored away – quite spacious, you could roll around inside it. There’s even a set of Blood Jade Chess Pieces hidden under the seats, very beautiful.”
“As for secret realms – never been to one.”
As he finished speaking, Shen Yinshuo continued:
“There are indeed secret realms that only open once every thousand years, but normally no one can take everything inside. They’re too vast, and not just anyone qualifies to enter anyway.”
Yun Ji listened with great interest.
Confined to the death row prison, she had no real sense of connection to this world.
But she truly had entered a fantasy world.
But this place felt more like an immersive horror escape room—complete with supernatural phenomena and companion NPCs. Perhaps once she died, she could leave this room.
So what exactly was this world like?
What was the ocean like? What color was the sky? How did people live here?
There were too many things she wanted to know.
Having come to this world, wouldn’t it be a pity to leave knowing nothing, as if she had never existed at all?
Even Sun Wukong left a “Sun Wukong was here” mark in Rulai Buddha’s palm.
Her eyes sparkled. Since the topic had been brought up, she seized the opportunity and asked everything she wanted to know.
Shen Yinshuo answered as patiently as possible. When he found his emotions becoming hard to control, he would stop and let Wei Sheng take over.
Wei Sheng answered with a mix of grumbling and boasting, flaunting how wealthy he had been outside, belittling Shen Yinshuo, and accusing Yun Ji of various things—including, but not limited to, failing to place his head on a soft silk cushion.
【Where am I supposed to find a soft silk cushion for you? Can you be a little more realistic?】
Yun Ji pinched Wei Sheng’s cheek irritably, distorting his face:
【Even if there were a cushion, I’d use it first! Any extra would be my blanket—definitely not for you!】
Wei Sheng, provoked by her pinching, snapped angrily:
“Let go!”
“Don’t touch my face so casually—it’s improper!”
“Stop rubbing! You haven’t even washed your hands!”
Yun Ji ignored him, picked him up slowly, and held him tightly.
It felt as if she were using all her strength.
While he was still stunned, she quickly rushed over to Shen Yinshuo and gave him a big hug as well.
【Thank you both for staying with me during this time.】
Shen Yinshuo had been suppressing the inner demons raging inside him. His vision was blurred, and he could hardly see.
Suddenly embraced, the moment he felt her warmth, he saw Yun Ji’s face clearly—like stars emerging from behind dispersing clouds, appearing vividly before him.
The frenzied inner demons were subdued in his astonishment, followed by a flustered exclamation:
“How can you—how can you hug men so casually again!”
Wei Sheng was also furious: “You hugged me and then him?!”
Shen Yinshuo: ?
Is that the point?
Wei Sheng thought for two seconds, then glared even more furiously at Shen Yinshuo: “What do you mean, ‘again’? She hugged you before? You shameless scoundrel—even nailed to the wall, you can’t behave!”
Shen Yinshuo: ??
Shen Yinshuo: ?????
Shen Yinshuo decided not to dwell on Wei Sheng’s thought process, lest he be infected by the foolishness of someone with a brain the size of a flea.
He simply hardened his expression and stared coldly at Yun Ji, who was still smiling:
“All of us are heinous villains—not a single decent one among us. Aren’t you afraid of us?”
Yun Ji blinked:
【We’re all in the Death Row Prison—what decent people could we be?】
“……”
Shen Yinshuo, “True.”
Yun Ji added:
【But I might be a good one, since I’ve lost my memory. I don’t know what I was like before.】
Wei Sheng sneered sarcastically: “You sure know how to flatter yourself. So we’re all villains, and you’re the only good one?”
【Exactly!】
Yun Ji even dared to put her hands on her hips and agree.
Wei Sheng was so angry he nearly fainted.
Yun Ji smiled faintly, gazing toward the bars but failing to see the familiar glow.
She had wanted to thank the kind Guard as well—what a pity.
Sliding down against the stone where Shen Yinshuo was pinned, she gently laid Wei Sheng beside her.
Wei Sheng seemed to be calling her name, his voice panicked.
But her consciousness was already fading as she closed her eyes.
Blood seeped from her body in great, spreading stains.
The pain was overwhelming; from the moment she woke today, every part of her had been aching.
【Though I’m a little afraid of death, there’s no helping it.】
【So I’m sorry.】