The palace maids thought the same way. A celestial imprisoned in the Ghost Domain was nothing but a captive. It was already fortunate that the Demon Lord wasn’t torturing her; how could they risk displeasing him by delivering her message?
They ignored Liu Shuang and continued chattering among themselves.
A vein throbbed on Liu Shuang’s forehead. She coldly stated, “If you refuse to go, when the tribulation thunder strikes, everyone in this palace will die together.”
Her words startled the ghost maids. One asked uncertainly: “Tribulation thunder? What tribulation thunder?”
Being ghost cultivators surrounded by yin energy, they naturally feared tribulation thunder more than immortals or demons. Liu Shuang said, “I’m about to undergo a breakthrough. The tribulation thunder could strike at any moment. My powers are locked, and I cannot leave this place. If you won’t inform Yan Chaosheng, fine—we’ll all bear the consequences together.”
The ghost maids were cunning by nature and feared Liu Shuang might be deceiving them. They exchanged glances for quite a while. Seeing that Liu Shuang didn’t appear to be joking, one whispered, “The Demon Lord detests her so much now. If she wanted to suffer less torture, she should avoid seeing the Demon Lord, not request his presence. She’s probably not lying. If what she says is true and the tribulation thunder strikes, we’ll all suffer.”
After deliberation, they decided to send the bravest ghost maid to report to Yan Chaosheng.
Just as that ghost maid stepped out, she encountered Cong Xia, who had come to investigate the situation.
If anyone was most alarmed by Yan Chaosheng bringing Liu Shuang back, it was Cong Xia. While the demons and ghost realm denizens didn’t know the truth, Cong Xia was fully aware that for the past three years, it wasn’t she who had protected the demon race from Feng Fuming’s hands—it was Chi Shui Liu Shuang.
Cong Xia feared that Liu Shuang would reveal the truth to Yan Chaosheng, diminishing her status in the Ghost Domain. She loved her current life too much—even Yan Chaosheng respected her to some degree. She now lived in one of the Ghost Domain’s finest palaces with servant girls attending to her, almost feeling like the Ghost Domain’s mistress.
Although Cong Xia knew that even if Liu Shuang spoke up, Yan Chaosheng probably wouldn’t believe her, she dared not take any chances. Cong Xia didn’t want to lose everything. After much consideration, she decided she must visit the Ghost Domain palace to set her mind at ease.
If necessary, Cong Xia thought grimly, the dead wouldn’t talk.
She encountered the hurrying ghost maid and asked: “Where are you going in such a rush?”
The ghost maid, seeing her as if finding a pillar of support, bowed respectfully: “Thank goodness, it’s Lady Cong Xia.”
The ghost maid explained Liu Shuang’s current situation and then said, “This servant is too lowly to be heard. Could Lady Cong Xia report this matter to the Demon Lord?”
The ghost maids hadn’t received favors from Cong Xia, so they weren’t as respectful or admiring as the demon race. But at the same time, unlike the demon race, they didn’t hate Liu Shuang enough to harm her, which was why Yan Chaosheng had arranged for them to “guard” Liu Shuang.
Cong Xia’s eyes flickered slightly, her heart overjoyed. It seemed even heaven’s will was on her side. She had been contemplating how to prevent Chi Shui Liu Shuang from speaking, and now such an opportunity had presented itself.
Cong Xia said, “I understand. I’ll report to the Demon Lord right away. Go back and watch her, don’t let her escape.”
Relieved at not having to face the fearsome Demon Lord, the ghost maid returned without suspicion.
Cong Xia went to the main hall of the Ghost Domain, faintly hearing discussions inside. The demon guards at the door saw her and bowed respectfully: “Lady Cong Xia has arrived. The Demon Lord is busy at the moment. If you have matters to discuss, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while.”
Cong Xia smiled: “That’s no problem. I’ll wait here.”
Of course, she wasn’t so kind-hearted as to want the Demon Lord to save Chi Shui Liu Shuang’s life. It would be better if Liu Shuang died in the thunder tribulation. She had come to prevent the Demon Lord from rushing over when the thunder tribulation commenced and created a commotion.
Cong Xia thought she needed to find some excuse to delay the Demon Lord for a short while. Without magical powers to protect her, Liu Shuang would surely die.
After waiting for some time, the first to emerge was Su Lun, fanning himself. Seeing her, he narrowed his eyes and smiled: “Lady Cong Xia.”
Cong Xia hurriedly returned the greeting. She dared not meet this man’s gaze directly; his eyes were too profound, filled with a smile that seemed to penetrate one’s thoughts at a glance.
Seeing her quail-like, a frightened quail, Su Lun raised an eyebrow. This Cong Xia was problematic. Since returning to the Ghost Domain, Su Lun had noticed that although the butterfly spirit’s magic was decent, she hardly seemed the capable type.
Three years ago, when Yan Chaosheng was trapped and killed by Chi Shui Liu Shuang, the Demon Palace under the Primordial Mirror had only held out for a few days before being breached by Feng Fuming. At that time, Cong Xia had stepped forward, led the surviving demons to disperse, forcibly opened the Ghost Domain’s access gate, and ensured all demons remained safe until now.
She was the entire demon race’s benefactor; thus, every demon respected her immensely, second only to Yan Chaosheng.
But in Su Lun’s view, the person in these circulating stories didn’t sound like Cong Xia at all. Setting aside how she knew how to open the Ghost Domain’s gate, just the composure in crisis and the spirit to confront Feng Fuming didn’t seem like something this shifty-eyed demon spirit could possess.
However, Su Lun didn’t expose her. If he could see through this, surely the Demon Lord could too.
It was simply that, considering her current prestige and the demons’ faith in her, the Demon Lord was temporarily treating her well to appease the demon race.
Knowing the Demon Lord would handle this, Su Lun left leisurely without interfering.
The Ghost Domain differed from the demon race. Their soul bodies came from various races in the mortal world, like scattered sand.
In the past, it had taken Yan Chaosheng decades to make them acknowledge him as their master and submit to him.
The current Yan Chaosheng was not the struggling youth of before; he knew well how to exploit the Ghost Domain denizens’ weaknesses. Though he had returned for barely half a month, many affairs in the Ghost Domain were already in good order.
Today was the day Feng Fuming would negotiate with Kun Lun, exchanging Ji Mo Shao You’s life for the Kun Lun spirit vein and ten thousand years of submission. Yan Chaosheng had sent someone to keep watch, ensuring Ji Mo Shao You didn’t die.
Thinking of Ji Mo Shao You, Yan Chaosheng lowered his gaze.
When Liu Shuang was still a little immortal grass, Shao You had sacrificed himself to the spirit vein, transforming into an endless spirit spring that nourished all of Kun Lun, preserving the Kun Lun spirit vein for a thousand years.
He had watched Ji Mo Shao You die without intervening. Such a sacrifice was something every young master bearing a clan’s mission would make.
Including Yan Chaosheng himself, whose path to revive the royal family had been unimaginably heavy. But the sacrificial artifact Ji Mo Shao You used had been given by him. Thus, Kun Lun’s feelings toward Yan Chaosheng were complex—both grateful and hateful.
That day, when Yan Chaosheng returned to find the innocent, adorable little immortal grass in his bedchamber, listening to her chatter about his absence, he remained silent for a long time before smiling without telling her of Ji Mo Shao You’s death.
He wasn’t yet skilled at loving someone, but he knew that since he had facilitated Shao You’s death, she might hate him for it.
Until the day she died under heavenly thunder, she never knew that Ji Mo Shao You had been dead for nearly a hundred years. During those hundred years, whenever she packed her little bundle, intending to visit her old friend, he had gently yet firmly stopped her.
Yan Chaosheng rubbed his fingers. Perhaps he truly was a scoundrel, deceiving her for so long. Until her death, she never knew the truth.
Yan Chaosheng’s soul-driving carriage was leaving through the side gate when Cong Xia almost failed to intercept him. Seeing Yan Chaosheng, she sighed in relief and pleaded: “Demon Lord, this humble demon has important matters to discuss with you. Could you grace this humble demon’s palace with your presence?”
Yan Chaosheng looked down at her, his expression pausing before he smiled: “Speak here.”
Yan Chaosheng was unyielding. Cong Xia hadn’t thought of an excuse yet, but now she gritted her teeth and said: “It’s about Bai Zhuixu—the one who died in the Primordial Mirror before. Don’t you want to know news of him?”
Yan Chaosheng gazed at her calmly, seemingly lost in thought.
Bai Zhuixu. This person didn’t leave much impression in his consciousness, but in the memories belonging to his younger self, it was quite vivid.
A general of Kung Sang, once the youngest and most promising disciple under Chi Shui Chong. He was also a link in the grievances between Liu Shuang and his current self. That was Liu Shuang’s brother, for whom the youth had used half an inner core to save his soul.
“Let’s go.”
Yan Chaosheng followed her, curious to hear what Cong Xia wanted to say.
Cong Xia was grateful that when Liu Shuang had tried to save people, she had helped find some things in the Ghost Domain. Otherwise, she would have had nothing to delay Yan Chaosheng even for a moment.
Stalling for time, she brewed a cup of tea for the Demon Lord. Yan Chaosheng tapped his finger on the table: “Speak.”
Cong Xia said, “I heard he’s still alive, saved by Chi Shui Liu Shuang. These years, she has spared no effort to save that person.”
Rhetoric was also a skill; she was misleading Yan Chaosheng: See, she could spend three years running around to save that person, could go to the battlefield with Ji Mo Shao You to oppose Feng Fuming, but only with you—she killed you and hasn’t mentioned you in three years.
Yan Chaosheng looked up and smiled: “Are you finished?”
Cong Xia bit her lip.
His eyes carried a chill. Cong Xia had intended to fabricate something to deceive him, but inexplicably felt a freezing sensation like a shiver.
Whether by intuition or something else, he suddenly glanced outside the window. With that glance, his expression instantly changed. Gone was the previous false sentiment; the aura around him became terrifying in an instant.
He turned back, unleashing his pressure. Before Cong Xia could react, her body had already collapsed to her knees.
Her heart pounded wildly, as if an invisible hand was clutching her throat. She was terrified, experiencing the fear of death.
The man’s face was shrouded in shadow, silver scales like jade pearls at the corners of his eyes, cold enough to frighten.
“You’d better pray nothing has happened to her.”
The window fluttered in the ghostly wind. Cong Xia prostrated on the ground. When she raised her head again, she realized her clothes were soaked with sweat, and Yan Chaosheng, who had been standing in the room, had vanished without a trace.
By the time Yan Chaosheng reached the palace, the tribulation thunder in the sky had already formed and was about to strike.
Several ghost maids were fleeing in panic, completely disregarding the person inside. Yan Chaosheng’s face turned ashen. The nightmare that had tormented him for ten thousand years seemed to replay in this moment.
His body began to tremble, his immense composure dissolving into nothing.
For the ten thousand years after Liu Shuang’s death, he had repeatedly revisited this scene in nightmares. He dreamed of her dying in a spring rain in the mortal world, himself staggering toward her, only to witness her transform into a feather, unable even to preserve her body.
Yan Chaosheng had thought that after experiencing so much, he feared nothing. Yet what one most hates and fears often reveals itself in an instant. He had looked down on his younger self for being useless, yet forgot that he, too, had things he feared.
He moved against the tide of panicking little ghosts, rushing forward almost madly. Reaching the great hall, he saw Liu Shuang, dressed in a goose-yellow jacket, bound to the couch by chains.
Her head was bowed, cold sweat beading on her forehead. Not giving up hope for survival, she was trying to break the Spirit-Binding Contract.
As the first bolt of lightning fell, she looked up in alarm. Suddenly, a mass of black mist condensed before her, blocking all the tribulation thunder.
The mist slowly solidified before her eyes, becoming an incomparably handsome man with a gloomy aura.
He stood much taller than her, facing her with arms spread, blocking one bolt of tribulation thunder after another. Gritting his teeth, he absorbed all the thunder, appearing ready to fight heaven’s law to the death. Liu Shuang gripped the chains in a daze, looking up at his actions with a somewhat foolish expression.
This scene overlapped with one from many years ago.
Liu Shuang suddenly remembered when she was still a little immortal grass, terrified even of the lowest-level bloodline tribulation, screaming as she was struck. Back then, he had shielded her like this, mockingly watching her.
Now, when she thought Yan Chaosheng no longer cared whether she lived or died, even hoping she would be reduced to ashes, at the last moment, he had returned.
Liu Shuang was unwilling to admit she feared tribulation thunder. Dying in tribulation thunder in her previous life had become her ineradicable nightmare.
It was too painful—bones and tendons completely severed, soul scattered.
Now Yan Chaosheng came against the light and shadow, frantically seeming ready to tear apart the heavenly tribulation. She gripped the chains in a daze, doubting whether she had misread Yan Chaosheng’s expression at this moment.
His face was expressionless, yet he trembled violently. From his eye socket, a drop of black soul essence rolled down, landing on the back of her hand, so cold that she trembled slightly.
She opened her mouth. Shielding another from tribulation thunder would only make it more fierce, punishing the arrogant being who didn’t know their mortality. Divine thunder enveloped Yan Chaosheng, as if determined to strike this wretched creature dead.
“You…”
He cupped her face, with an expression between tears and laughter: “I am here, always have been.”