Tantai Jin entered the cave. After searching for what felt like an eternity, he finally spotted a figure in the distance, curled up with knees drawn to the chest.
The cavern was pitch black, enveloped in silence except for the rhythmic dripping of water.
Su Su hugged her knees, her face buried in her arms, trembling uncontrollably.
The curse of the World-Toppling Flower was Ye Xi Wu's eternal life. She was Li Susu, yet she had once been Ye Xi Wu. Even in a different shell, those memories were forever etched into her soul.
The scene before her seemed to overlap with the past—no daylight, an enclosed space, the sound of water dripping from the rocks.
Unwanted memories surged over her like a tidal wave.
That year, trapped in the stone chamber with her powers sealed, the World-Toppling Flower tormented her day and night. There was no light, no sound, no hope.
For the first time, Su Su lowered her pride. She frantically pounded on the stone wall, telling that person she was afraid.
She was terrified. The World-Toppling Flower magnified her inner fears countless times, plunging the world into deathly silence. Even when she later heard sounds, they couldn't penetrate the emptiness in her heart. She glimpsed faint shadows of light, only to have them cruelly snatched away the next moment.
The Divine Artifact repeatedly tortured her sanity. A trail of blood trickled from her left eye. Finally, one day, she couldn't bear it any longer and began slamming her hands against the stone wall in desperation.
"Let me out, I beg you, please let me out. Tantai Jin, I'm scared..."
"I can't see anymore, it really hurts."
But no one came. No one spoke to her.
Gradually, she lost all sense of day and night. When fear overwhelmed her, she would tap the stone wall with her fragile knuckles. Any sound... any sound would be better, as long as it disrupted the dripping water.
In those purple eyes lay eternal despair and darkness.
Su Su curled up in the corner. She wanted to leave this world; she never wanted to be Ye Xi Wu again.
For a moment, Su Su couldn't distinguish past from present.
She had thought that under the Path of Ruthlessness, she would never feel fear again, just like when she was first chained in the Cangyuan Secret Realm.
But she had forgotten—no matter how terrible that night had been, moonlight had still appeared.
There had been the sound of wind, and fireflies drifting by.
Now, there was nothing.
Young Master Zhang's cat had died in the darkness of the cave. The Ye Xi Wu in Su Su's memories had died in the dungeon's stone chamber five hundred years ago.
Su Su bit her lip, her entire body shaking.
She needed to get out. Her senior brother was still waiting for her. Don't cry, don't cry. Only the weak cry silently. She remembered the path she had taken; she just needed to retrace her steps to escape.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it. Su Su thought, if she could just rest a little longer, just a little longer...
Suddenly, a hand grasped hers.
Tantai Jin said, "I'll take you out!"
He moved to lift her, noticing her other hand tightly clutching something. Following her right hand, Tantai Jin felt downward.
He found a strap with a cat bell, pinned beneath a rock.
Su Su had no strength left. She trembled silently, unable to pull out the bell yet unwilling to let go.
This was the first time Tantai Jin had seen Li Susu trapped in darkness. How... how could it be like this?
Tantai Jin had thought these five hundred years were nothing but a playful tribulation for the Goddess. That the delusion was his alone, the suffering tasted by him alone.
He thought she had loved Xiao Lin, and because of Xiao Lin's death, she wanted to take revenge on him, to make him suffer day and night.
He thought that when Su Su returned to her rightful place, shedding her mortal shell to become the Goddess once more, that past would leave no trace in her heart.Ye Xi Wu once coldly told Ye Bingshang, "Even a mayfly that lives and dies in a day is better than you." He was once just a despicable mortal man of unknown origins, while she was born noble and auspicious.
He thought that in Su Su's memory, he was merely that insignificant mayfly she spoke of—filthy, cold, and lowly, never leaving any trace behind.
But when Tantai Jin saw Su Su in the cave, he realized that the memory he had left her was one of endless darkness and suffering.
Back then, she had clearly come to beg him for the Flower of Eternal Life, yet he had casually tossed her last hope to someone else.
Trembling, Tantai Jin pleaded, "Let's go out! If we just leave this place, everything will be fine!"
The girl in his arms was silent and unnervingly still. Tantai Jin would have preferred her to hit him, curse him, and vent all her hatred.
He wanted to start over, but at this point, who could tell him how to turn back time?
Tantai Jin used the Burning Thought Ring to retrieve a bell from beneath the stone wall and placed it in Su Su's palm.
Frantic, he rummaged through the Universe Bag. Pills and demon crystals spilled out, but he paid them no mind. With trembling hands, he finally found a palm-sized luminous pearl.
As soon as the luminous pearl emerged, the entire cave was finally illuminated. Tantai Jin, his eyes red, placed it ingratiatingly into Su Su's hand. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. There's light now."
I will never again leave you in endless darkness.
Tantai Jin lifted her into his arms and, not daring to stop, ran straight toward the cave entrance.
The bell in her hand jingled, echoing through the cave. Su Su clutched the luminous pearl and looked up to see the young man's panicked expression.
He seemed terrified—more afraid than she, who had been trapped in the darkness.
As the first ray of daylight pierced the cave entrance, he suddenly halted, as helpless as a child with no solutions. "Su Su, I'm sorry... I didn't know it would be like this..."
Su Su showed no reaction.
She had witnessed the birth of a natural evil, seen how desperately Tantai Jin fought to survive—his smiles, the naive affection and honesty beneath his defiance, and the way he painstakingly imitated human emotions.
Those laughable, pitiable, and sorrowful moments of growth.
This person was all her memories from five hundred years ago.
As the Soul-Extinguishing Pearl Tears on her gradually transformed from teardrops into sharp nails, he slowly came to understand love and hatred.
The phoenix veil embroidered with mandarin ducks, the young man's upturned lips, and the way he shielded her from a sky full of arrows.
But... it was all in the past.
The unknown, sincere stirrings of the heart had become history; fear, love, and hatred were all left behind.
What did it matter whether he knew or not?
"Tantai Jin," Su Su said softly, "You don't need to apologize. I was just... like you, doing everything to survive."
Why should you suffer? Why should you fear?
The Soul-Extinguishing Pearl Tears were a mission. Interacting with you was a mission. Even returning to five hundred years ago was merely a mission to protect all living beings.
Her failure to kill him was due to her own inadequacy, and the fate she suffered was the consequence of her own lack of ruthlessness.
She protected him for the sake of her principles, yet had to harm him for her mission. And Tantai Jin... had also abandoned her for Ye Bingshang.
Su Su pushed him away, placed the luminous pearl back into his hand, and without another glance at his pale face, slowly walked out.
As daylight streamed in, she saw the vibrant scene outside the cave. She had entered the cave what felt like just a night ago, but in the mortal realm, summer had already dawned.Yaoguang and Cang Hai watched her with concern.
The Path of Ruthlessness silently flowed through her Spiritual Platform, and a golden divine light flickered in her pupils for a moment. The Ruthless Divine Path had actually broken through at such a time.
Su Su looked at her fingers. So it was... no breakthrough without destruction?
Only when she faced her past experiences and emotions squarely would the Path of Ruthlessness truly advance.
All those sorrowful, negative fears were swept away, leaving her Spiritual Platform clear and bright.
Su Su raised her hand, smiling as she revealed the bell in her palm. "I got it!"
Seeing her radiant smile, Yaoguang breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're alright, Junior Sister."
She and Cang Hai had waited outside, anxious yet afraid that rushing in would lead to an endless cycle of searching for one another.
The boy approached, trying to snatch the bell from Su Su's hand.
Su Su withdrew her hand. "It's not that easy. Hand over the Demon Realm token."
Young Master Zhang said, "He went in too. You disobeyed my words."
His small face expressionless, he pointed at Tantai Jin.
Su Su replied, "Is that so? I originally sensed a trace of a remnant soul on this bell and felt pity for it. But since you don't want it, I might as well crush this wisp of a soul."
The usually calm Young Master Zhang changed his expression. "No!"
Su Su tossed the bell into the air, then grabbed it back, clutching a faint, weak soul in her palm.
Humans have three souls and seven spirits, but an animal's soul is noticeably much weaker.
This cat was especially pitiful—its soul had nearly dissipated, leaving only this small white essence.
Without even looking at Young Master Zhang, Su Su exerted force in her palm, as if about to crush the remnant soul.
Young Master Zhang suddenly said, "I'll trade with you!"
After saying this, he hurriedly pulled out a transparent glass bead from his robe. The whites of his eyes disappeared, turning completely black as he stared fixedly at the bead in his palm.
In the eyes of everyone present, the bead slowly transformed into the shape of a skull token.
A moment later, the boy closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he appeared no different from an ordinary person.
"This is the token you want. Give me my cat."
Cang Hai said, "Wasn't this just a bead a moment ago? Is it really a Demon Realm token?"
Young Master Zhang ignored him, staring intently at Su Su.
Su Su wasn't afraid of the boy deceiving them. If he dared to trick them, crushing the cat's soul would be effortless.
Young Master Zhang seemed eerie, but he wasn't foolish.
Su Su took the token from his hand. It felt cold to the touch, emanating a chilling Demonic Energy.
If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, it would be hard to believe that a token with such convincingly fake energy could be conjured in an instant.
The Illusion Face Pearl truly lived up to its reputation as a fearsome Demonic Artifact. Even within a mortal's body, it possessed such formidable power. No wonder Su Su and the others had found nothing unusual about Young Master Zhang earlier—he was indeed a mortal, merely one who had swallowed a powerful demonic pearl.
Yaoguang hadn't been idle outside either. She leaned close to Su Su's ear and whispered, "Half a year ago, the Three-Headed Demon set up a formation in Ninghe Town to devour Young Master Zhang. His cat stole the Illusion Face Pearl and had Young Master Zhang swallow it. When the Three-Headed Demon tried to kill the cat, it hid in a cave and never came out."
So that was what happened. The Three-Headed Demon was cunning but weak in magic power—that devouring formation had nearly exhausted all his Spiritual Power.
By a twist of fate, a mortal boy had swallowed his treasure. The Three-Headed Demon must have been furious.
That's why whenever Young Master Zhang said he wanted his cat back, the Three-Headed Demon thought the naturally eerie boy was mocking him.
Young Master Zhang clutched the bell tightly in his hand.Cang Hai breathed a sigh of relief upon finally obtaining the token. Recalling the earlier incident, he asked Young Master Zhang, "Why did you kill someone?"
Young Master Zhang ignored him, still lost in his own world.
Cang Hai sighed. Communicating with this strange child was truly troublesome.
Su Su glanced back at Tantai Jin. Ever since leaving the cave, he had remained silent, his lips pressed tightly together as he stared at the ground.
Perhaps Tantai Jin knew the reason.
But this was no longer their concern. Young Master Zhang's killings would be handled by the mortal authorities.
"Sister Yaoguang and I have decided to infiltrate the Demon Realm. What about you?" Su Su asked.
Cang Hai quickly responded, "We'll go too! Master might also be in the Demon Realm."
After all, with no contact from the entire immortal realm yet Zhao You's soul lamp still burning, the most likely place he could be was the Demon Realm.
Now only one problem remained: what to do about the demon pearl inside Young Master Zhang?
Even the three-headed demon couldn't extract it, so naturally they had no means to do so either.
Yaoguang said, "Let's go to the Demon Realm first."
She feared that any further delay would mean Gongye Jiewu's chances of survival would grow slimmer.
Everyone nodded and decided to leave Ninghe Town first.
That night, as Young Master Zhang slept soundly, he suddenly opened his eyes.
His pitch-black pupils fixed on the white-robed youth sitting by the window—clearly Tantai Jin's form.
Young Master Zhang sat up clutching his bell: "You want to kill me."
He stated it calmly.
Tantai Jin gripped his neck: "Yes."
You deserve to die.
Young Master Zhang curved his lips in an eerie smile.
"Don't kill me. I know what you want."
Having swallowed the Illusion Face Pearl, which could mimic anyone's personality, and being its master, Young Master Zhang could see through Su Su's fears—how could he fail to discern what Tantai Jin desired?
Young Master Zhang produced a lustrous pearl from behind his back.
"You fear that one day she will love someone else, completely abandoning you in the mud." The boy's eerie voice was like a chant. "With this power-infused glazed pearl, you can kill whoever she loves and take their form. No one will be able to tell the difference."
So, how about this deal?
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