"Chongqing? Why did you lock me in here?"
Yu Ning remembered that she hadn't locked the door at all—she'd only pulled it shut behind her. Besides, Pei Chongqing had gone out, and with the Blood Moon Period upon them, it was unlikely he'd be back.
Yet the voice coming through the Translator and that tall silhouette really did look like him.
The jade hidden beneath her collar grew faintly cool, sending a subtle sensation through her. Yu Ning rose to her feet and, without overthinking it, moved to open the door—but the next instant, her hand was caught by the man beside her.
An ice-cold hand, utterly devoid of warmth, its touch not even particularly soft. Yu Ning's heart gave a small tremble, and she couldn't help but look at the man.
"Yu Ning, it hurts."
The golden-haired man repeated the words he'd been saying all along, his glass-marble eyes rolling upward in their sockets to meet her gaze. He couldn't muster an expression of pleading or pitiful appeal—nothing like that had been recorded in his observations—so he could only curve his lips into a smile for Yu Ning.
An utterly grotesque smile, enough to constitute spiritual contamination, but the jade at her chest warmed and grew hot, soothing her mind. She managed to maintain logical coherence, concluding that this man, like Pei Chongqing, simply wasn't in his right mind—and so a flicker of sympathy even rose in her heart.
"I know. Wait for me a moment," Yu Ning said softly, brushing his hand away and hurrying to the bathroom door in a few quick steps.
She turned the lock, but it caught unexpectedly and wouldn't budge. Yu Ning froze for a moment, about to try again, when a cold fleshy tendril snaked up from below, coiling around her wrist.
By the time she noticed the tendril, it was no longer just her hand being wrapped—her thigh, her waist, her neck were all slowly constricted by tendrils crawling upward along her body.
Yu Ning jerked her chin up in terror, lips parting slightly, too frightened to make a sound. She stared at the "fleshy tendril" on her hand—though "tendril" wasn't quite accurate either. It had the plump, engorged texture of flesh, flushed with red and blue veins, yet it bristled with thorns like brambles.
The thorny vines clung loosely to her body, not yet fully contracting. Yu Ning couldn't bear to imagine what it would feel like to have those barbs sink into her flesh, but her hairs were already standing on end, brushing against the spikes.
The thorns tilted and retracted, deliberately gliding across her skin—not piercing her, but leaving faint white lines in their wake.
Yu Ning couldn't move, and dared not try. Only the corner of her eye, through the mirror, could glimpse her situation—
A massive man covered in writhing flesh-vines and thorns was clinging to her from behind. His slender upper body still vaguely retained human form, but beneath the disheveled golden hair, he was no longer the handsome man from moments ago—only the lower half of his face remained intact.
Yu Ning's pupils contracted. She recognized him at once—the monster she'd seen outside the study window.
In that instant of clarity, memories flooded back like a tide. The kitchen blinds, the fragrant vase on the nightstand, door after door, Jiang Xian's pleas for help… Those loops had merely been illusions conjured by temptation, all designed to make her open the door herself.
"Can't… open the door."
Warm, moist breath brushed past her ear from behind, and the golden-haired man curled his lips into a crescent smile as he spoke to her. His mouth split nearly ear to ear, saliva dripping through sparse gaps between his teeth, falling in droplets onto her shoulder.
Yu Ning couldn't stop trembling, her stomach churning violently.
The golden-haired monster seemed dissatisfied that she was still gripping the doorknob, and used one of its tendrils—barbs retracted—to peel her hand away from it.
It seemed to realize that this couldn't hurt her, so it retracted its barbs and tightened its grip once more.
Yu Ning's thigh flesh was squeezed taut by it. She gasped in shock, tears welling up in her eyes, and let out a very soft plea: "Don't…"
Hearing her voice, the golden-haired monster found it amusing. It let out a snickering breath, then extended further and bound her even tighter.
It had originally planned to simply abduct Yu Ning, but now that it had her bound like this, it found itself so enamored that it couldn't help but linger.
It had been wandering near this area for a long time, observing for just as long. It had waited until the Spirit Lord of this Domain finally left, planning to completely rewrite this woman's memories and then usurp her place. But unexpectedly, this Spirit Lord, who had been playing at human housekeeping games, would be willing to return during the Blood Moon Period, unafraid of exposing its true form.
What surprised it even more was that both this Domain and the jade stone hanging from the woman's chest were things it had nourished by splitting off its own flesh, blood, and Soul-spirit.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
An unusual vibration struck the door panel, growing closer from far away, as if it were being chiseled through from the depths.
The golden-haired monster snapped back to attention, staring at the door before it. It had cast a spell here, not only preventing the door from opening normally but also reinforcing it with thousands upon thousands of outer shells—like what humans called "Russian nesting dolls."
Each time one shell was chiseled through, it meant the other party was disregarding the power leaking from their body, digging through the entrance at a speed no ordinary person could match.
—But wasn't he unwilling to expose his true form?
The golden-haired monster knew it was no match for him. It only needed to escape with this woman while it had the chance. But suddenly, it felt like gambling—to devour his power and eliminate the threat once and for all.
After all, hadn't he poured so much of his power into this house and this woman?
The moment it made up its mind, the glass door before it shattered from the onrushing gust of air.
Fine shards of glass flew through the air, about to embed themselves into Yu Ning, who was closest. But in that instant, Pei Chongqing swept his hand back, reversing the airflow and absorbing every shard of glass into his own body.
In the seconds it took to chisel through the door, thick fluid had already begun leaking from his seven orifices, bursting through his overburdened Skin-shell and pouring out in streams. When the glass shards embedded themselves into his body, the wounds they carved gushed with blood.
From between the gaps in the vines that had burst forth behind her, Yu Ning clearly saw her husband with his skin split open, his body covered in viscous fluid.
Her eyes widened in stunned disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, yet the tightening sensation in her chest was unmistakably real.
The flesh vines about to lash Pei Chongqing were chopped to pieces by the scythe that materialized from his arm. The binding on Yu Ning suddenly released, and her legs went so weak she nearly collapsed to the ground.
The monster behind her let out a roar and clung to the ceiling, about to grow new vines to pull her back into its embrace. But Pei Chongqing was faster—he conjured tentacles that not only caught Yu Ning securely but also covered her eyes, depriving her of sight, and carried her safely to the side.
Yu Wan howled twice on the ground, pacing in anxious circles. It feared Yu Ning might fall from midair, especially since with its current size, it would be very difficult to catch her.
It resolved to guard the Spirit Lord's wife during the fight, but the Spirit Lord clearly didn't care about its opinion.
Pei Chongqing had absolute control over Yu Ning. Whenever he returned home, he would take everything upon himself, refusing to delegate to anyone else.
But this was a critical moment, and Yu Wan wanted to contribute too—to make up for its failure to keep a close watch on Yu Ning.
Besides, during a fight like this, who could guarantee that Yu Ning wouldn't be harmed?
The golden-haired monster that had climbed from the bathroom roof onto the living room wall seized the right moment and launched another attack.
It fought with complete disregard for Yu Ning's life, nor did it care about the damage to the household furnishings—for it, there were only two choices: to possess, or to destroy.
Yu Wan knew that the Spirit Lord's power absolutely crushed the opponent's, but holding the line while protecting Yu Ning and the nest was undoubtedly a thankless task.
Flesh vines lashed relentlessly against Pei Chongqing. Even when he severed and tore them away, the barbs still embedded themselves in his body like shards of glass. Those thorns not only burrowed deeper on their own but also injected a measure of toxin.
—A vine monster capable of illusions, its main body composed of various poisonous strains.
Pei Chongqing's expression remained impassive as he identified the opponent's identity and traits through the entanglement. The blood in his veins flowed and boiled at high speed, burning away the weakness the toxin brought.
In this gap, the poison vine quickly discerned Pei Chongqing's desire to protect the home. It grinned savagely and proceeded to destroy every piece of furniture in sight.
Pei Chongqing took all of its attacks with his physical body. As the toxin in his system increased, so did his antibodies. When the vine monster could no longer grow new thorn vines, he closed in, raising the scythe on his arm and hacking fiercely at the flower bud atop its head.
Blood spurted out with a hiss.
But not from the poison vine's flower bud—from its neck.
The poison vine extended its neck, struggling free from the massive fleshy flower-vine mass, and opened a huge split-lipped mouth, lunging to bite at his skull.
Pei Chongqing dodged backward, but its extraordinarily elongated tongue gouged a chunk of flesh from his neck.
With a wet thud, the piece of flesh splattered to the ground. Unable to neutralize the injected toxin, it instantly turned to ash and dispersed.
Pei Chongqing retreated to the wall. His head, due to the powerful impact and the half-severed neck, tilted involuntarily to one side, swaying precariously.
His expression did not change. He only used his peripheral vision to check Yu Ning suspended high above. Confirming she was unharmed, merely missing a layer of protective shell, he covered her with another. And because of this, his regeneration and healing abilities could not be used to stitch his own flesh back together.
"You love, Yu Ning."
The poison vine parted its lips and sneered, nodding in agreement: "I also like, Yu Ning."
"Her blood, sweet…"
Before it could finish, the scythe on Pei Chongqing's arm struck again.
A hint of mockery flashed in the poison vine's eyes. It swept past his scythe and clung tightly to the protective shell encasing Yu Ning.
Pei Chongqing turned to look, his eyes bloodshot to the point of near black.
The poison vine laughed even more brazenly: "You, not calm. Will also, suffocate her."
"Can you feel it? Her, breathing, is very weak."
Thanks to its powerful mimicry abilities, it commanded no fewer languages than Pei Chongqing.
At least in the art of taunting, its skill far surpassed his.
The poison vine knew its abilities were unremarkable among high-tier monsters, but fortunately its brain was decent enough to know how to use words to provoke them into reckless tactics.
This one called "Pei" was far more formidable than it had imagined. If not for Yu Ning and this house holding him back, it probably couldn't have withstood even a few strikes.
—Get lost.
Pei Chongqing strained his hollow throat and let out a guttural roar that could hardly be called language.
They never communicated in human language; the vibrations of their chest cavities alone sufficed for them to understand one another. The reason they kept using human speech was purely because they knew Pei Chongqing would resent them for having such a fine voice.
But the Poison Vine suspected that, with its intellect, it probably didn't even understand what that emotion was.
Its smile did not fade as it extended its tongue, dissecting the protective shell.
Pei Chongqing was clearly provoked by its actions, lunging over with an attack both swift and fierce.
The Poison Vine dodged around the cocoon-like protective shell, evading downward. Its sharp tongue swept in a circle, carving out the unconscious woman within the shell.
Catching sight of his wife's pallid face, Pei Chongqing's attack slowed for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, the Poison Vine grew another tendril and plunged it abruptly into the shell.
In the nick of time, Pei Chongqing layered another membrane-thin protective shell over Yu Ning, but failed to notice the Poison Vine snatching the jade from Yu Ning's neck and hurling it against the wall, shattering it with a violent crack.
It had used all its strength, and as a result, it was forced to retreat back into its original vine body, which had been shredded into fine pieces.
Pei Chongqing's suspended form sank downward and landed.
Half a heart, bereft of its vessel, did not completely disintegrate but dissolved into black mist, swirling and scattering throughout the room.
Yu Wan, the ground-bound dog who had been unable to help all along, finally managed to contribute a meager effort by gathering that Soul Power.
Its heart ached as if bleeding, knowing full well that these vessel-less Soul Powers would eventually fade away.
The Poison Vine stirred its entire body, greedily seeking to profit from the chaos and deliver a final blow. Unexpectedly, Pei Chongqing recovered quickly and withstood its assault through sheer force.
Its tactics remained the same—enduring with its flesh, as if those venomous spikes had no effect on it, and the loss of half its heart was nothing to speak of.
No, it had to leave.
This opponent was far harder to fight than anticipated.
Glancing disdainfully at the barely damaged house, the Poison Vine had already mapped out its escape route through the window. It knew well that Pei Chongqing likely wouldn't give chase, so as it leaped out from the windowsill, it was secretly gloating.
But then, it felt its tail vine being viciously clamped down by something—
Its vision swept backward, catching sight of that clump of pitch-black fluff. Without a second thought, the Poison Vine violently flicked its tail vine, flinging it away.
With a bang, the black fluff was slammed into the wall, punching a massive hole. It had bitten down with such force that even as it was hurled away, it refused to let go, so much so that a large portion of the tail vine was severed clean off.
"What a vile thing!"
The Poison Vine mimicked Yu Ning's words, letting out a dark snort, but never once looked back as it fled in panic.
The sky drew to a close, and the Blood Moon grew ever more vivid and red.
Pei Chongqing lowered his misshapen head, slowly drawing near to Yu Ning's side, gazing at her with blackened eyes.
His vision was unclear; he could no longer inspect her condition by sight, so he followed what he had learned from books, reaching out to feel for her breath. Before extending his hand, he knew his body was oozing pus and reeking of filth, so he took care to wipe it somewhat clean on the carpet before touching her.
Confirming that she was still breathing, and that the heart beneath her chest still beat, his features relaxed and the corners of his lips curved slightly upward. But his cracked skin could no longer support any expression—the corners of his mouth split all the way to his ears, and, losing their anchor, fell straight to the ground.
Plop, plop. Strips of skin and flesh peeled off one by one.
Pei Chongqing's gloomy eyes flickered with a trace of bewilderment—something he had never encountered before. He hurriedly gathered the peeling fragments, but they were coming off far faster than he had imagined.
A piece of shed skin landed beside Yu Ning's hand.
Pei Chongqing's movements froze. His hollow eyes rolled slowly, fixing their gaze on her plain, clean face.
He slowed his breathing as he reached to pick it up, and when his fingers brushed against her cold hand, his heart jolted. He realized his wife could not simply lie here like this.
Pei Chongqing set down the skin fragments in his arms and was about to lift Yu Ning horizontally through the protective shell when a Soul-spirit radiating a faint, dark glow emerged from a crack in the floor and hopped onto the shell.
The Soul-spirit's light was dim—it was Yu Wan, having lost her physical body, returning to find her Spirit Lord. He had been so fond of Yu Wan's appearance that even his Soul-spirit retained the form of a miniature, translucent Yu Wan.
Yu Wan prostrated herself on the shell, knocking her head repeatedly in kowtow, clearly begging forgiveness for having lost her body.
Pei Chongqing's gaze was faint and indifferent. He paid no heed to her pleas, nor did he disperse her condensed self-awareness. Instead, he absorbed her into his palm, returning her to his main body.
For the time being, Pei Chongqing set aside the matter of Yu Wan's corpse and did not dwell on how he would explain things to Yu Ning later. His Soul Consciousness was scattered and loose, no longer able to sustain his mind's functioning—only one thought remained: to settle her somewhere safe.
He rose, lifting Yu Ning in her protective shell. His body, riddled with decay and loss, made his steps agonizingly slow, and he trailed a winding smear of thick fluid behind him.
He climbed to the second-floor bedroom, set Yu Ning down, then turned toward the bathroom. In the mirror's reflection, he saw himself—no longer bearing any semblance of a human form.
His breathing grew rapid and heavy. For the first time, he found his own appearance hideous, and he hurled a fist at the mirror.
Dark, filthy blood slid down the mirror's surface. Pei Chongqing bowed his head, bracing himself against the washbasin, chest heaving with ragged breaths. With difficulty and utter weakness, he reached into his neck, where his vocal cords had rotted away, while hot, bloody tears spilled from his eyes.
When Yu Ning woke, her head throbbed with splitting pain, and her chest ached dully, making it hard to breathe.
It took her a long while to recover. When she opened her eyes and found herself in bed, she felt somewhat dazed.
Yu Ning thought she had endured a long, dreadful nightmare—but when her hand brushed against the cocoon shell beneath her, she realized those things seemed… to have truly happened.
Her face went pale. She curled her legs and shuffled away from the cocoon fragments, a wave of nausea rising in her throat. And indeed, she clamped a hand over her mouth and rushed to the bathroom to vomit—especially upon seeing the bloodstains splattered across the walls and floor.
Her stomach was empty, so she could only retch up thin saliva. Yu Ning collapsed to the floor, vomiting until she was spent, until her throat burned with pain.
Gazing at the scene in the bathroom, she inevitably recalled the images she had seen before fainting. Fragmented images, not seeming false, yet hard for her to accept.
She could not believe she had been lured by a monster, brought it into her home, and wounded her own husband.
The jade… the jade…
Yu Ning felt at her hollow chest, searching her body frantically. When she realized the jade was gone, a chill ran through her scalp.
Perhaps it had shattered at some point, allowing the monster to break in.
Then… had the monster been defeated?
Yu Ning could imagine that Pei Chongqing must have fought desperately—otherwise, she would not be lying here in bed, whole and unharmed.
More than the jade at her chest, Yu Ning worried for her husband. She pushed herself up, supporting herself against the wall step by step until she reached the door, and turned the handle with a sweat-dampened hand.
She had already steeled herself to go out alone in search of her husband, but the door wouldn't budge—no matter how she pushed, it wouldn't open at all.
Yu Ning froze for a moment, then tried turning the handle again.
Unpleasant memories surged back to her mind, but the key point was that there were no vines here, and the lock was already undone—it just wouldn't open.
After an internal struggle, Yu Ning bit her lip and prepared to ram the door with her body. She was stepping back when she heard a stumbling, strained electronic translation voice from behind the door.
"Wife… rest…"
If one listened closely, one could hear a sticky, dripping sound accompanying it, but Yu Ning didn't pay it any mind—she only felt a weight lift from her heart.
She couldn't help but ask, "Chongqing? Why did you lock me inside?"
She was certain the person outside the door was definitely her husband.