"Why..." Hearing Chu Lian's voice coming from within the mirror, Li Xiu'er's grip on the fabric over her thigh tightened. Why was she being so stubborn? Didn't she know this would only hurt herself?
I'm waiting for you, but you shouldn't hurt yourself like this... Don't you know how much you mean to me? I believe you can see this, right? Why... why would you do this...
"Obviously... obviously..." She wanted to say something, yet she knew that saying it would be no different from denying Chu Lian's efforts. But she truly didn't want to see her get hurt. She didn't want to see it.
"Do you think that if she simply gives up resisting, everything will just end?" The ghost cultivator heard her soft murmur from behind and smiled faintly as he explained, "Because if she gives up, she will certainly die. Her soul isn't like yours—yours has already been bound here by me. If she wants to return, it will be unimaginably difficult."
"The moment she stops resisting and abandons that sliver of hope, her soul will begin to decay. It will be contaminated by the deathly aura here. At that point, she won't be able to escape either. As long as she holds onto her conviction, she cannot be corrupted by this deathly energy."
"What a pity. Her strength is still too weak. Even though I've already held back, she still can't withstand the assault of these troops. Her achievements are impressive, but I always feel she should be capable of even more."
"No matter. With the talent and temperament she's shown, she's more than qualified to be my first wife. Hahaha... just imagining it—two thousand years ago, that woman whom three worlds longed for but could never obtain, now, two thousand years later, writhing beneath me in submission... how exhilarating."
He paused, then turned to look at the girl and asked curiously, "I've heard she's your cousin? And judging from your current state—and how worried she is about you—your relationship must be quite extraordinary. That only makes it all the more exciting."
His words made Li Xiu'er's body tremble. It was undeniable proof that what the ghost cultivator said was true—her heart now held only Chu Lian.
"As expected. Two thousand years ago, Xiang Yu was a proud woman who ignored everyone in the world, who didn't place any man in her eyes. She would rather spend her life with a woman than allow a man to touch her. And now, even after so many changes, that pride remains unchanged."
The ghost cultivator's eyes gleamed. What an exhilarating thought—two cousins, both moaning beneath him at the same time, their voices trembling with pleasure and despair. And both of them caring for each other so deeply, yet forced to watch the other be defiled... how long had it been since he experienced something like this?
"You..." Li Xiu'er wasn't foolish. She understood exactly why the ghost cultivator asked such things. Having read enough to recognize such implications, she could clearly see his intentions. Could it be that both her and Chu Lian's futures would be destroyed in his hands?
"No." She had already made her decision. At the very last moment, if nothing could be resolved, she would choose death. That way, Chu Lian would no longer have any reason to come save her... and she would be able to escape. She had to.
This foolish girl believed that she was the one dragging Chu Lian down, that as long as she died, Chu Lian could safely escape. She intended to exchange her own life for Chu Lian's chance to live.
It couldn't be said that this was wrong. But she had forgotten one thing—why Chu Lian came here in the first place, and what her purpose was. If she died, and Chu Lian lost all motivation, falling into complete despair... would she really be able to escape?
"I will never... admit that I've lost." The intense pain wracking her body did not cause Chu Lian to show even the slightest expression. She concealed all of it. Even if she was suffering, even if she had no strength to resist, she would never allow her opponent to believe they had won. That was her pride.
"Hmph, stubborn brat." The three ghost generals striking her shoulders and the backs of her knees failed to force Chu Lian to submit. The one standing before her—the same one who had just sent her flying with a single blow—sneered coldly and extended his spear, striking the back of her hand that held Cold Beauty.
"Mm..." That blow dealt tremendous damage. The main reason Chu Lian had endured for so long was because she held Cold Beauty. With its support, she had managed to remain standing.
But this strike caused her hand to feel as if it were about to split apart, and it momentarily robbed her of strength. Her body, which had barely been supported, bent forward slightly once more.
This change excited the four ghost generals immensely. Was this stubborn girl finally about to kneel before them? Seeing her resist so fiercely had truly been intolerable. They had to make her understand—in this Nether City, ghosts would always be stronger than humans.
Her hands, her shoulders, the backs of her knees—blow after blow landed, each one more painful than the last. At first, Chu Lian could still stubbornly glare at them, but gradually, her head began to droop.
Just as her grip loosened and she was about to release Cold Beauty, her knees beginning to bend, she suddenly spoke. "You... are courting... death..."
"You?" In the brief instant she spoke those words, the aura surrounding the girl underwent a drastic transformation.
The originally pure and harmonious energy shifted entirely into something dark and devouring—an overwhelming sense of destruction.
She raised her head. Her eyes, once black as night, had turned into a strange and eerie violet. The desire to destroy everything became far more apparent the moment those eyes opened.
"You..." The ghost generals all sensed her change, but only the one directly in front of her could see it clearly.
Before it could say more than that single word, Chu Lian—who had been completely powerless moments ago—suddenly underwent a surge in momentum. Her strength leapt from the peak of Spirit rank to half-step Earth rank, infinitely close to Earth rank. Her aura, however, soared to the peak of Earth rank, even faintly approaching half-step Heaven rank.
This aura completely suppressed the four ghost generals before her. Their hands, which had been striking her with weapons, froze in place. They stared blankly at the girl standing upright before them, not daring to attack again.
"Originally, I didn't want to come out... but you've gone too far." Shaking her head, Dark Chu Lian's lips curved into a strange smile. It was both a smile and a cold indifference toward those before her. "Do you know what kind of death is the cruelest?"
Her words left the four ghost generals confused. None of them could answer.
As if expecting that, Dark Chu Lian continued, "Let me show you..."
As she spoke, she drew Cold Beauty and slowly walked toward the ghost general before her—the one who had been completely immobilized by her aura—and swung her blade...
"Ah, a second personality? Or a second soul? It looks more like the latter. Two souls sharing one body? Interesting, very interesting. Is this her ability, or some special condition?" Watching Chu Lian's transformation in the mirror—her smiling as she dismembered a ghost general into hundreds of pieces, then stuffing each piece back into its own mouth—the ghost cultivator came to a realization.
"Hahaha, let me see just how many secrets you still have. Before I make a move, go ahead and display your pride like this. The more moving this pride is, the more precious it becomes. And the more precious it is, the more worthy it is of my collection. You will be the most perfect among all my collections." He did not consider such actions cruel. Compared to what he had done, this was nothing—his own deeds were a thousand, ten thousand times more brutal. Otherwise, why would a great power have personally intervened to imprison him in this subspace?
If not for the master behind him—someone who stood at the very forefront among all realm-level experts—his punishment would not have been mere eternal confinement, but complete annihilation of both body and soul.
After two thousand years here, his sense of time had grown increasingly blurred. The last traces of his humanity had completely vanished. The ghost cultivator now was less a human turned ghost, and more a source of sin wearing the shell of a human with the nature of a ghost.
What Dark Chu Lian was doing might appear cruel and bloody to others, but in his eyes, it was nothing special. If it were him, he could make his victims wish for death while denying them even the chance to beg for mercy.
"Well? Is it fun?" With a single strike, Dark Chu Lian finished off the mangled ghost general before her. Turning around, she looked at the three remaining ghost generals trembling behind her and asked with a smile.
Even with her clothes in tatters, even with severe wounds on her hands, shoulders, and knees, even as blood slowly dripped from the corner of her lips, she remained indifferent—as if none of it had anything to do with her.
The ghost general she pointed her blade at could no longer endure the pressure. Letting out a roar, it charged forward, intending to fight her. Now that she had changed, it knew—running meant death, fighting meant death. Then why not fight?
"I admire your courage, even if it is meaningless." Dark Chu Lian revealed a meaningful smile. Seeing it charge forward with its weapon raised, she neither dodged nor retreated, allowing it to thrust toward her.
With a slight turn of her wrist, her blade deflected the spear, and in the next instant, her sword descended from its forehead straight down its body, splitting it cleanly into two halves.
"And you?" She still retained a basic level of respect for the brave—she neither tortured nor dismembered it. Looking at the remaining two, she was curious about what choice they would make.
After exchanging a glance, the two ghost generals suddenly screamed wildly, then... fled in opposite directions.
They had no choice but to run. The girl before them had become far too terrifying—so terrifying that they had no ability to resist. The way she had brutally tortured their companion, the ease with which she split another in half—this was not something mere underlings like them could handle.
Even if the ghost cultivator punished them later, they might still have a chance to live. But if they didn't run now, they would truly die here. They didn't want that. They didn't want to die.
As long as there was even a sliver of hope, then surely they could escape... escape... right?
Clinging to that thought, one of the ghost generals was quickly caught by Dark Chu Lian. Cold Beauty pierced straight through its chest, and with a flick of her hand, she carved it into evenly sized pieces within mere seconds.
Although such ghostly bodies would dissipate upon death, the visual impact of this scene was undeniably shocking... and terrifying.
"I... survived..." Since Dark Chu Lian had gone after the other one, the ghost general fleeing to the right relaxed slightly after half a minute passed without pursuit.
These ghost soldiers were useless. When they had the advantage, they could assist in suppressing the enemy. But now, when even they themselves were being utterly overwhelmed, they didn't dare move at all—just watching their superiors die.
This job was too dangerous. It didn't want to be a ghost general anymore. If it could escape, then it definitely... definitely...
"Ugh..." Looking at the blade tip piercing out from its chest, it wanted to say something, to turn around and see the girl behind it—but it no longer had the chance.
With light, casual movements, she sliced once, then again, then again—dismantling its limbs and stuffing them piece by piece into its own torso...
"Well? Is it fun?" The eerie violet in her eyes radiated a presence that both drew one closer and repelled at the same time. She looked at the grotesquely swollen "sphere" before her and asked softly.
Seeing the lifeless despair in its eyes, she immediately lost interest and ended it with a single strike.
Turning back, she looked at the ghost soldiers slowly retreating behind her. She wanted to continue, but did not truly make that decision—because Chu Lian's consciousness had already awakened.
It turned out that during the earlier torment, she had unknowingly lost consciousness. That was why Dark Chu Lian—whose resolve had been quietly fading—could not help but emerge to assist her.
"Is it over? Again, huh..." Cold Beauty transformed into a blade-jade bracelet around her wrist. Covering her injured right hand, Chu Lian endured the pain throughout her body as she walked forward—her steps unsteady, her gait slightly limping.
Yet even so, facing over eighty thousand—nearly ninety thousand—ghost soldiers, this girl remained utterly calm, as if unafraid of being harmed at all.
Wherever she advanced, the ghost soldiers stepped back. Eventually, they parted entirely, forming a path, watching her progress forward little by little with fear in their eyes.
Even knowing she was severely injured, even knowing that if they acted together they might achieve something the earlier ghost generals could not, they still did not dare to make a move.
Hadn't she shown signs of yielding just moments ago? And what happened then?
She erupted—easily slaughtering the four ghost generals who had seemed invincible to them, suppressing them so completely with her aura that they couldn't even move.
With such strength, how could she possibly collapse so easily? She must be hiding even greater power, simply unwilling to waste time on them.
Letting her leave now would at least preserve their lives. But if they angered her and she began a massacre, then the freedom they had waited for over centuries would be utterly meaningless.
In the dark space, the cold wind lifted the girl's long hair that fell to her hips.
Covered in wounds, with blood still staining the corner of her lips, she moved forward with pride.
Just like she had been back then—unchanged.
"Xiu'er, wait for me. I'm coming to take you home..." Holding onto that belief, she trusted that she would succeed.