She tossed aside the bloodied "One Ring Moon Crossing" and stood with a flick of her sleeve.
"You said—'You dream of ascending to heaven!'" Blood oozed from the wound on Wang Lingze's lower back, but a strange black insect slowly peeked out from the injury. As the insect emerged, the bleeding slowed. It swayed its head and tail within the wound, gradually spitting out white threads that sealed Wang Lingze's injury. She glared at Bai Suche. "You said, 'For women like us, how difficult it is to achieve the impossible.' Little girl! I am sixty-three years old, and in all my years, you are the only one I’ve heard utter such words. I thought you were promising! Yet you betray us, colluding with those worthless outsiders!"
Bai Suche smiled faintly.
"Stubborn and unyielding—what a pity! What a pity!" Wang Lingze struck her cane against the ground, and red-clad figures swarmed forward. A cloud of dust erupted from her cane as countless bizarre insects crawled out from her body, encircling Bai Suche.
In an instant, crimson shadows surged, and fierce winds erupted. Bai Suche was tackled to the ground by several attackers. Even if she had mastered some extraordinary technique from the "Rebirth Tome," she stood no chance against so many assailants at once.
Wang Lingze’s brow twitched—something was wrong!
Bai Suche had schemed meticulously to reach this point. Would she strike without absolute confidence? The gu insects in her wound, connected to her thoughts, suddenly stopped weaving their silk and immediately tried to burrow back into her flesh.
At that very moment, a hand moved subtly—just as the insect was about to retreat—and plucked it from Wang Lingze’s wound.
The motion was too natural, the distance too close, and the hand’s owner too lifeless.
With a gasp, Wang Lingze vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed. Bai Suche’s blade had failed to deal a fatal blow, but the hand that stole the gu insect caused Wang Lingze to spew blood violently, aging a decade in an instant.
This gu insect was the crux of Wang Lingze’s life!
Her eyes blazed with fury as she stared at the thief—still resembling a skeleton—who promptly stuffed the insect into his mouth and swallowed it. Wang Lingze shrieked, "Yu Konghou! You—"
Yu Konghou, draped in layers of cobwebs like a tattered robe, remained hollow-eyed, as if hovering between life and death. Yet the corners of his lips curled slightly into a faint smile.
"You dare—" Wang Lingze clenched her fists, her arsenal of mind-controlling poisons useless without her gu king. She activated the venom of the spider gu, expecting Yu Konghou and Bai Suche to writhe in agony—but neither reacted. She commanded the red-clad figures to attack Yu Konghou, only to realize that far fewer responded than before.
Suddenly, she turned—where Bai Suche had fallen, a cloud of dust seemed to rise, flickering with flames.
With a deafening roar, a pillar of fire erupted skyward. Wang Lingze saw countless shimmering threads incinerated in the blaze—the omnipresent spider silk of the hall. The red-clad figures pinning Bai Suche were engulfed in the inferno, the flames terrifyingly swift, morphing into a fire dragon that swept across the ground. A second explosion shook the hall—the gates slammed shut, iron barriers descending with a relentless clang. The exit was sealed. They were trapped.Yu Konghou had just swallowed the Gu King when he, too, paled in horror! That wretched Bai Suche had actually set a trap long ago, intending to burn everything in the Hall of the Wind and Moon—including herself—to ashes!
The cruelty of this woman knew no bounds!
Wang Lingze had lost her martial arts, the Gu King, and was severely injured. Her poisons and venomous insects were useless in this fiery inferno. Through the raging flames and black smoke, several staggering, charred figures emerged. Their hands, burned beyond recognition, seized her and dragged her into the fiercest, most consuming fire.
Wang Lingze was utterly terrified. Her face scraped against the scorching ground as she was dragged, her screams piercing the air.
Amid the flames, Bai Suche—her body engulfed in fire—turned and reached out with a blackened hand toward Wang Lingze.
She pulled her into the fire.
Embraced her.
And burned to ashes.
In this world, there is more than just the struggle for survival.
There is also mutual destruction.
I, Bai, am no spy for the righteous factions of the Central Plains.
It’s just… I could not accept it, could not submit, could not bow to fate.
People like "Pine-like Sword" Lin Rusong, "Mountain Gazer" Shao Yuanbai, "Lute Listener" Sha Tangzhou… their lives should not have ended this way. Even children like Qingyan and Guan’er—had it not been for the Wind and Moon’s vile teachings, they might not have strayed onto the wrong path and met untimely deaths.
So, since I, Bai, have miraculously retained my sanity, I swear to heaven: even if it costs me my life, I will fight for justice for all of you.
Even if Wang Lingze commanded countless venomous insects and led armies, even if she was cunning beyond measure with endless schemes—what of it?
I, Bai, do not seek life, so naturally, I do not fear death.
If I do not fear death, how can death frighten me?
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