Though neither Zhengyang Zi nor A’Piao had ever descended into the Nine Abyssal Hell, both felt now as though they were already standing in the middle of it — cold, bone-deep, terrifying, unable to draw a single step closer to Lang Jiuchuan.

Cold. Far, far too cold.

When she spoke of the Rong Family’s crimes, she was like a judge of the dead — holding the ledger of merit and wrongdoing, passing sentence on those who had committed evil, condemning them with a single stroke of the brush. The cold, murderous energy around her surged and crested, pressing down until neither of them could breathe.

Zhengyang Zi’s soul-body trembled and weakened further. “We were only following orders…”

Utter nonsense.

The violent, murderous energy rolling off Lang Jiuchuan surged skyward and swept toward Zhengyang Zi, threatening to shred him into nothing.

A’Piao was frightened by her fury as well, but still stepped forward to intervene, repeating what he had said before. “Keeping him alive is better than killing him.”

Lang Jiuchuan turned to look at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and deep within them, something like golden light seemed to flow and turn.

“Think about your father’s affairs. Without evidence, it makes everything much harder to act on.” A’Piao coaxed her gently.

Lang Jiuchuan walked to one side, closed her eyes slightly, and silently recited the Mind-Calming Mantra twice, pressing the fury back down. She knew, in her heart, that part of this emotion belonged to the original soul’s lingering resentment — but was that unjust? To die so miserably — who would not feel resentment? Who would not harbor hatred?

And the one who had murdered her was right here before them — even though he was already dead, she still wanted to grind his soul into fine powder.

Lang Jiuchuan was perfectly aware that A’Piao was right. Keeping Zhengyang Zi as a witness would give her something to use against the Rong Family in the future — a path left open. But keeping a creature like this alive before her eyes, stabbing at her heart — she truly could not stand it.

The consequence of not being able to stand it was that Lang Jiuchuan set him on fire again.

Zhengyang Zi’s soul was so frayed by now that he couldn’t stop himself from howling, “Just scatter me completely and be done with it!”

Anything was better than being set ablaze by lightning-fire every few moments!

He said it — and somehow, that was what actually made Lang Jiuchuan settle down. She let out a cold laugh. “Death comes too easily, and that would only be letting you off. You should have to endure some of what that child felt — the despair she lived through.”

Zhengyang Zi shuddered.

Lang Jiuchuan looked at him with cold, flat eyes. “Tell me every secret the Rong Family keeps hidden from the outside world. If my mood improves, perhaps someday I’ll let you pass through the ghost gate intact, to be reborn in your next life.”

It was a distant, intangible promise.

Zhengyang Zi didn’t really believe it — but he didn’t dare to explode his own soul into oblivion either. People were like that: as long as even the tiniest sliver of hope remained, who wouldn’t cling to survival?

Maybe someday he would outlast this demoness and find a way to escape from her grasp.

Zhengyang Zi was not a true blood member of the Rong Family — merely a tribute elder. In truth, the two sides had only ever been bound together by mutual interest. Now that his physical body was dead and his soul barely clinging on, any talk of loyalty to the Rong Family was out of the question. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have so casually sworn that oath earlier.

Especially given that the Rong Family had used him as a scapegoat after his death — why should he shield them?

“Whatever you want to know — if I know it, I’ll say it.” Zhengyang Zi spoke in a voice as low and meek as a cowering dog.

A’Piao gave a faint shake of his head. The bearing Zhengyang Zi had once possessed — standing tall with his Eight Trigrams Bow, nearly piercing him with a single talisman arrow — was utterly gone. He was now every bit the stray dog that had lost its home and pack.

A proud and upright cultivator of the Zhengyi Dao — having spent so many years among the Xuanzu — had bent and broken every last trace of his righteous and noble spirit.

A’Piao let out a soft, contemptuous laugh.

Lang Jiuchuan had no urgency to dig out the Rong Family’s other secrets yet. First, she asked who had been present and taken part on the night the original body was killed.

“Aside from me, there was Lingxu Zhenren,” Zhengyang Zi said. “He is the only other Foundation Establishment cultivator the Rong Family has.”

A’Piao arched a brow, his tone caustic. “Just to deal with a girl with no power to even truss a chicken, and they had to mobilize elders of such cultivation — they really did think highly of her.”

“To extract the spiritual meridians and Dao bones without the slightest damage, there could be absolutely no margin for error — after all, they needed to be transplanted into the young master. Every precaution had to be taken. Moreover, the collapse of the young master’s bones and meridians was an extremely sensitive secret. The family head couldn’t trust an ordinary disciple with something like that, and they wouldn’t have the ability anyway.”

But Lang Jiuchuan’s concern was for the original soul’s bound spirit. “If that’s so, why did they bind her soul?”

“The Fourth Madam’s intention was to shatter her soul completely — to ensure she could never be reborn.” Zhengyang Zi, having long since lost any sense of allegiance to the Rong Family elders, concealed nothing. “The way she looked at that child was as though she were looking at a sworn blood enemy. Looking back on it now, it was somewhat strange — otherwise, why would she have been so vicious? The procedure could have been carried out simply, and there was no need for the Fourth Madam to be present at all, yet she insisted on watching with her own eyes. She said it was for the young master’s sake — but who can say whether there was some other motive behind it?”

He even glanced at Lang Jiuchuan as he said this.

His tone carried the unmistakable suggestion of someone trying to redirect hatred toward a different target.

Seeing that Lang Jiuchuan appeared entirely unmoved, he let it go with a resigned expression and continued, “As for the soul binding — that was the young master’s own idea.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s expression went cold in an instant. “Rong Huanxuan was there at the scene as well?”

That was truly an unexpected piece of information.

A’Piao frowned as well, his face twisting with contempt. “She had just suffered a serious ordeal — she should have been resting and recovering. And given her standing, with all of you servants at her beck and call, why would she come in person? Wasn’t she afraid of dirtying her hands?”

“That, I cannot say. In any case, my role and Lingxu’s was simply to carry out the family head’s instructions — extract the meridians and bones. We had never intended to torment or abuse her. Killing is one thing, but cruelty wounds the heavenly order, and we feared the weight of such karmic debt.”

Lang Jiuchuan let out a laugh of cold fury. “You dare speak such words? No matter how much you feared it, you still took on that karmic burden.”

Zhengyang Zi smiled bitterly. “Which is precisely why you came along.”

Lang Jiuchuan gave a cold snort and pressed on. “You acted behind the Rong family head’s back — did he know what you were doing behind closed doors?”

“He knew. The Madam and the young master went to him personally to confess. The family head was furious, but ultimately said nothing — only allowed the young master to have her meridians and bones reconnected, so that she could begin cultivating again.”

A’Piao was doubtful. “Did it actually work?”

“Why wouldn’t it? I’ve observed that you, my honored one, have also repaired and patched up quite a deal within this body — and you’re still walking among the living, aren’t you?” Zhengyang Zi nodded and looked at Lang Jiuchuan. “As I said — if someone had led the original owner of this body into cultivation, her spiritual aptitude would not have been inferior to the Rong young master’s. And furthermore, you and the Rong young master must share a blood connection, which is precisely why there was no rejection when the meridians and bones were transplanted.”

“What do you know?” Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes deepened like a cold, still abyss.

“When the meridians and bones were reattached, not only was there no rejection whatsoever — the integration happened with remarkable speed and ease. As I’m sure you know, using another person’s bones and meridians and transplanting them into one’s own body typically requires cultivation of extreme power to suppress with divine soul and spiritual force and force a fusion. But she had just suffered a cultivation deviation — her cultivation had regressed — so suppression through spiritual power was out of the question. That left only one possibility: bloodline. When two bloodlines harmonize, transplanting meridians and bones carries virtually no rejection, and the integration can proceed much more swiftly and completely.” Zhengyang Zi said it evenly. “Though your current appearance has changed considerably, before that, this body bore a faint resemblance to the Rong young master.”

He looked at Lang Jiuchuan. “Every family has secrets it keeps from the outside world — even people of our standing would not have full knowledge of them. Lingxu and I never dug into it — but we both came to the same conclusion: this body you now inhabit is in all likelihood Rong Family blood.”

Which was why they had felt that pang of regret — and puzzlement at the family head’s decision. If he had known from the start that this girl was of Rong blood and possessed such aptitude, why had he not brought her back to be cultivated? Why instead use her to reconnect the young master’s meridians and bones?