“Miss Shen!!”
In the night, the ice-cold lake water pressed against Shen Zhili’s chest like a giant boulder, making it hard for her to breathe as it dragged her to the bottom of the lake.
The ripples on the surface, stirred up by her struggle, gradually returned to a calm stillness.
Her mind was clouded. After a brief moment of blankness, countless images surged like a revolving lantern, invading her consciousness.
Shen Zhili was afraid—afraid of this place, afraid of the final mission, afraid of He Chengyuan, and filled with dread for everything.
How could she possibly succeed? She wouldn’t.
There were tens of thousands who wanted to kill He Chengyuan, but in the end, almost no one could even get near him, let alone harm him in the slightest. Her fate would only be the same as those assassins in the secret chamber who had been turned into skin sculptures.
She had seen it just now: under the cold moon, He Chengyuan stood in the center of the pavilion in red robes. As the white gauze fluttered, blood splattered and a head rolled. He hadn’t even blinked; his strike was decisive and ruthless.
Just that dim silhouette had frightened the wits out of her, causing her to flee in panic.
The night was too dark. She hadn’t paid attention to the path ahead, her foot slipped, and she accidentally fell into the icy lake.
System notification: [Final mission: Please complete the assassination within seven days, otherwise the host will be erased.]
Shen Zhili’s accidental fall and subsequent pathetic rescue looked more like a failed suicide attempt.
When she woke up again, it was already two days later. She felt as if she were sitting in an ice cellar, the coldness spreading from the inside out. Though it was only early autumn, she already had to rely on charcoal fires and a fur cloak to stay warm.
The warm sun reflected off her pale face. Her once rosy complexion was now as bloodless as a dying person’s. Shrugging her cloak tighter, she stood in the courtyard and looked at the plants outside. There was no sign of autumn; the sun still filtered through the treetops, and they swayed with the wind, vivid and full of life.
This didn’t look like something that would appear in He Chengyuan’s territory. He loathed anything colorful.
Had she been locked back in You Shui City?
Speaking of which, this was where the two of them had first met.
She had been in this book for over ten years. She had searched for him, followed him, yet she had only seen him a handful of times.
He Chengyuan was bloodthirsty by nature and grew increasingly mad. In just a few short years, he ascended to the position of Demon Lord.
Afterward, blood became his addiction. The cries of people begging for mercy were his source of excitement. Watching those in high positions fall from grace was his hobby. Mercy was something he had never possessed.
Year after year, the heinous demon lord seemed to grow bored. There was nothing in this world he desired or wanted, so he decided to destroy heaven and earth on a whim. War broke out everywhere, and all living things suffered.
Their first meeting was when he massacred You Shui City; she had nearly died under his blade.
She didn’t know what he was looking for, or perhaps he simply had no desire to live; whether he obtained something or not was of no consequence.
The system told her to stand out from the mud and sacrifice herself to him as a way to get close. So she did. Unfazed by the bloody blade he held to her neck, she had been resolute and unswerving, saying she would go with him. This had piqued his interest.
In the years she followed him to the Demon Realm, she rarely saw him. She only knew he needed her blood, though she didn’t know for what. She was discarded in the dim back palace, ignored by everyone, where she stayed for several more years.
She was a bird with clipped wings that he kept in his backyard. When he was in the mood, he would tease her and check if she was dead yet.
She had tried to get close to him by being pleasing, but she never received a response. In the end, she was merely making a fool of herself.
And the only way to gain her freedom—assassinate He Chengyuan.
In the courtyard, a patch of white tumi roses climbed along the corridor. Compared to the other flowers competing for beauty in the garden, these blossoms under the golden sunlight possessed a certain elegance.
Shen Zhili walked forward, intending to find a spot nearby to sit and admire the flowers to pass the dull time. At that moment, the courtyard gate “creaked” and opened a small crack.
Was an attendant here? It had indeed been half a month since the last blood draw; they should be coming today.
She instinctively turned around, abandoning her thoughts of flower-watching. But just as she lifted her leg, she noticed the person who pushed the door open was peeking in stealthily. Then, they began to look around, their fingers nervously gripping the door.
Usually, those who came to draw blood would push the door wide and stride in. They didn’t act like a thief sneaking around like this.
Shen Zhili felt something was wrong. Could it be that He Chengyuan was tired of her and had sent someone to take her life? No, that wasn’t right. If he wanted her dead, he wouldn’t need to go through such trouble.
She crouched behind a pillar, prepared to act according to the situation and seize an opportunity to slip out.
“Miss Shen, why are you hiding here?”
Just as Shen Zhili moved half a step to hide herself, the sneaky person found her. Clad in black and fully covered, she stood outside the long corridor staring at her. Shen Zhili was startled and fell onto her bottom.
“Who are you?!”
In her agitation, a breath caught in her chest. She gasped for air and coughed until her face turned even paler.
The person in black spoke in a lowered female voice. She said extremely nervously, “Miss Shen, my young master wants to see you. Come with me quickly.”
“Your young master? He Chengyuan?” Shen Zhili patted the dust off her fox fur cloak and stood up by leaning against the pillar.
“N-no.” The person in black asked in confusion, “Miss… don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“Miss, you said before that you would take my young master and escape overnight. My young master has already broken free from his shackles. Once he leaves, he won’t return. He doesn’t want to involve you; he only wants to see you one last time.”
Shen Zhili was stunned, completely failing to understand what she was saying. “I don’t understand… what are you talking about?”
The person in black looked panicked, glancing back toward the courtyard gate every now and then. She vaulted over the corridor and grabbed Shen Zhili’s wrist. Her grip was so strong that she pulled her along, hurrying outside.
“How can you go back on your word, Miss? My young master has suffered endless torment in the Dark Prison, and his body is no longer what it used to be. Now, he doesn’t want to involve you and only asks for one last meeting. Why are you pretending not to know? How can you break your promise!”
She was emotional, and the hand firmly gripping Shen Zhili was trembling. She was desperate to take her somewhere. Shen Zhili was weak from falling into the water and couldn’t break free. She also thought that she might have truly forgotten something. Besides, the time for the blood draw hadn’t arrived yet; it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look.
“What is your young master’s name?”
The person in black stopped abruptly. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Miss… you will know when we get there.”
…
The person in black was extremely familiar with the streets and alleys of You Shui City. She led Shen Zhili past He Chengyuan’s subordinates, twisting and turning until they reached a Dark Prison. She had even knocked the guards unconscious in advance, leading her smoothly to the young master she had mentioned.
The young master was covered in bloodstains and locked in the damp, cold Dark Prison. A pair of rusted shackles lay on the ground. He slowly turned around; only the white cloth covering his eyes was clean.
Although his clothes were so stained that their original color was unrecognizable, the fine embroidery on the sleeves still showed some of his former nobility.
He was once a gentle young master, but why had he fallen into such a state? He Chengyuan had locked him here, broken his fingers, crippled his legs, and gouged out his eyes. Yet, she couldn’t find a single memory of him.
Xie Gubai couldn’t see her, but he could hear her take a startled step back. He hurriedly raised his hand to touch the white cloth covering his eyes, afraid it would fall and frighten her. “Did my appearance… scare A’Li?”
Shen Zhili: “N-no.”
“A’Li… are you still unwilling to leave with me?”
“He Chengyuan is a man who is violent by nature, cold-hearted, and heartless. He became famous in his teens for patricide. He is a born demon seed who should be eliminated and killed. A’Li, do not be deceived by his facade.”
Shen Zhili naturally knew what kind of person He Chengyuan was. Having stayed by his side for so many years, she knew how cold-blooded and unpredictable he was. One moment he could be talking and laughing with someone, and the next his expression would change and he would twist their head off.
What facade did he have? He was neither gentle nor considerate; how could she be deceived? But she also knew why she had endured for so many years. It was simply to wait for the mission to be issued, complete the assassination… and leave this place.
The person in black: “Young master, let us leave quickly. The outside has been cleared, and the people meeting us are in position.”
Shen Zhili also urged, “Leave as quickly as possible. When the people outside wake up, I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to leave. Besides… if the person He Chengyuan sent to draw blood doesn’t see me in a while… there will be no good end if he is provoked.”
The young master addressed her intimately and spoke softly. Perhaps they really had known each other, and she had just forgotten some things. When that girl had taken her away earlier, she was very emotional. Their agreement didn’t seem like a lie. Presumably, today’s escape plan was particularly important to them.
Xie Gubai frowned and said, “Blood draw?! A’Li, he’s taking your blood? You are willing to let him treat you like this rather than leave with me!”
Shen Zhili: “I have my reasons for staying… I can’t remember some things from the past ever since the day I fell into the water.”
“Forgotten?” Xie Gubai’s hand, which had reached out to hold hers, suddenly froze in mid-air. “Is it… that you don’t want to remember, or have you truly forgotten? Do you even know my name?”
Shen Zhili shook her head helplessly. “I truly… forgot.”
Xie Gubai’s shoulders trembled, and a trail of bloody tears fell, staining the pure white cloth. “A’Li… back then you said that all of heaven and earth could be leveled, and you wanted to be my wife. We were going to get married.”
In the end, all he got was a “forgot.”
Shen Zhili looked away. “Although I’ve forgotten, I will keep our agreement. I will stall for time for you. Leave quickly.”
The person in black supported him and said worriedly, “Young master, let’s go. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late.”
Xie Gubai smiled bitterly, then after a moment, he began to laugh like a madman. The white cloth was stained beyond recognition by blood. “Leave? We can’t leave anymore. That demon lord! He has likely already cut off our retreat! A’Zi, the ones who were truly ‘cleared’ were our people! The blood draw? It was nothing more than a ruse!”
Shen Zhili was completely confused, failing to understand what he was saying.
The damp Dark Prison emitted a bone-chilling cold. The water dripping from the corner sounded like a death knell hitting the ground.
Suddenly, a sneer overlapped with the sound of the water droplets, accompanied by a sinister wind that rushed toward Shen Zhili.
“Leave? Leave for where?”
The tone was all too familiar—contemptuous and mocking. It sent a shiver down Shen Zhili’s entire body.
A man dressed in a red and gold robe stood against the dim, silvery light. With his hands crossed over his chest, he leaned lazily against the cell door. The half-mask covering his face blended into the darkness, looking like a sharp, glinting blade.
“I should have cut out your tongue back then.”
Upon hearing this voice, Xie Gubai’s face turned pale instantly, revealing an irrepressible fear.
In the past, the two of them had been rivals of equal standing. Now, he had been defeated and become a prisoner. He was in a wretched state, suffering through torment, and even subconsciously felt dread.
His legs had been broken so he couldn’t find her; his eyes gouged out so he could no longer see her; his fingers severed to erase his vows to her.
His methods were cruel and direct.
“He Chengyuan! Do you think you can have her this way?”
A pair of boots stepped unhurriedly into a puddle. He Chengyuan shot him a cold glance and stopped behind her. His powerful hand, carrying a hint of suppressed rage, clamped firmly onto her waist.
He leaned down slightly and whispered in her ear.
“The first thing you do when you wake up is find your old lover?”
Shen Zhili’s hands and feet went cold. Her body went rigid as she stood frozen in place.
She didn’t dare provoke this unpredictable madman.
“He—”
“Kill him.”
Before she could finish, He Chengyuan interrupted her directly and gave an unquestionable death order.
Instantly, the attendants who had been faking unconsciousness on the ground walked into the cell.
Shen Zhili: “Wait!”
He Chengyuan turned a deaf ear and forcibly dragged her away until the screams behind them gradually faded into silence.