"Ayase!" When Chu Lian was carried out of the sinkhole by Suicune, her body finally regained the ability to move. She turned back toward the cavern and screamed herself hoarse, jumping off Suicune's back, trying to rush back inside.
But Suicune would not allow her to do something so foolish. It opened its jaws and bit down on her cloak, its eyes filled with pleading.
"Ayase..." Covering her mouth, Chu Lian murmured softly. She did not even know what she should do now. It didn't have to be like this. They could have escaped. Why... why did she have to stay inside and fight him? Could it be that there was truly something that had to be done, no matter the cost?
"Ayase..." Tears streamed down her face as her voice gradually broke into sobs. "Ayase..." "Ayase..." "Ayase..." It felt as though her heart were being torn apart. She could not jump back in, nor could she do anything at all. Her mind was completely blank.
Seeing her leave with her own eyes, compared to the last time when she had only vaguely known Ayase was inside the system and still by her side, was an entirely different feeling.
The latter only made her worried—terribly worried.
But the former gave her the sensation of her heart being ripped from her chest. It was the fear of losing her, the fear of never seeing her again, the fear that she would leave her side forever, the fear that her future would no longer hold that fiery-red silhouette.
Seeing that although Chu Lian was crying, she was gradually calming down, Suicune did not delay. It shouted toward Inori, who was struggling to defend against the attacks of several Earth-rank opponents in the distance, "Inori, Ayase told you to let Eve come out to handle this, then leave. Do not come back."
"Ayase..." Inori was momentarily stunned. She knew that Ayase rarely said much to them. Once she did, it meant the consequences were extremely serious.
Not to mention that this time she had directly issued instructions, telling her to release Eve. The words that followed were practically an order. The meaning behind it was self-evident.
Although she had wanted to temper her strength and gain more combat experience here, when her personal matters conflicted with matters concerning the girls—especially concerning Chu Lian—she did not hesitate in the slightest. She immediately chose them.
"Eve, I'll leave it to you..."
As if by tacit understanding, Chu Chu and Kurosaki Satsuki stepped in front of Inori at the same time, using their bodies and spells to block an incoming attack, giving Inori enough time to awaken Eve.
"My, my, it seems the situation is quite serious." Eve's proud voice rang out as she opened her eyes. Her long pink hair had already turned purple, and her ruby-like pupils had become as clear and crystalline as amethysts.
"Condense—sin."
She extended her hand. A pale violet halo spread outward from her body, sweeping across the spacetime of this area. Everyone except the girls and Suicune—including the Umbral Knights—had their movements frozen. All the undead were immobilized.
Just as the violet halo swept past Chu Lian at the outermost edge, a tall figure flew out from the cavern. The instant he was brushed by the halo, the smug expression that had just appeared on his face froze solid.
"All of you—vanish."
The great void blade in her hand carved a circle through the air. A silver-white arc of nothingness swept outward. In the blink of an eye, every undead creature except the Umbral Knights and the girls lost their lives. Even the lich Ger, who had been in the rear healing and had failed to escape in time, met the same fate.
"It's resolved."
With a soft sigh, time resumed its flow. The cold night wind blew across the motionless undead, reducing them to drifting motes of dust.
Dust to dust, earth to earth. These lives, which should have ended long ago, had finally returned to their proper destination. Whether to soil or to the horizon—was there any place that was not a final resting ground?
Clang—
The guandao fell before Chu Lian's eyes. She did not look at it. Lowering the hand that had covered her lips, she kept her head bowed. After a moment of silence, she raised her hand and wiped the tears from her face. Looking at the sinkhole, where the energy fluctuations were growing increasingly violent, she spoke softly.
"If you haven't returned within three months, I will come to find you. No matter how strong the enemy is, no matter how dangerous my situation may be, I will go. You would give everything for me—so what if I give my life for you? If you make me wait, then I'll let you know just how impulsive I can be."
She lifted her hand and drew the guandao into her grasp. Casting a cold glance at the lifeless, bisected corpse of the Rakshasa warrior, she said disdainfully, "Rakshasa? So you were involved in this as well? I wonder what Wang Hao promised you to make you fight so desperately."
"Something that would surely tempt you, perhaps? For example, me—the Daughter of Fate? Or the division of territory after invading the present world? Otherside, this time we are truly at odds. From now on, every time I see you, I will kill you. This is your punishment for separating Ayase and me—and it is the lightest one."
As she spoke, she turned and walked away. No matter the situation now, she still had to deal with what remained—especially how to explain everything that had happened here to the people outside.
Chu Lian's petite figure disappeared from the edge of the sinkhole, leaving behind only a single sentence.
"One day, I will lead an army of thousands into the Otherside. You are used to invading others—so let me invade you instead. Let's see whether this grudge that has lasted for thousands of years will end in my hands. And while I'm at it, every race that participated in this incident... Newborns, children, women, men, the weak and the strong alike—I will slaughter them all..."
"What a terrifying person..."
The Rakshasa who should have died—his body split in two—rejoined itself about an hour after Chu Lian and the others had left. When he opened his eyes and looked at the moon high in the sky, recalling the words that still echoed in his ears, his heart trembled with fear.
"She can absolutely do it. I believe that someone like her can definitely accomplish it. As expected, the Daughters of Fate are all monsters. From ancient times until now, this principle has never been wrong. Xiang Yu was like this, Li Xiang'er was like this, Bai Xue was like this, Wan Hongling was like this—and this generation is no exception..."
He had come to the present world filled with burning ambition, hoping to accomplish what his ancestors had failed to achieve. Yet less than a minute after arriving, he had been effortlessly killed. His weapon had even been taken from him. So what if he was one of the most outstanding among the younger generation of the Rakshasa clan, hailed as the Azure Emperor?
Before a true genius, he was nothing more than an ant to be ignored.
The other party had not panicked at his appearance, nor had she feared his Heaven-rank strength. Instead, she had casually killed him once, as though it were nothing.
If not for the ancient treasure he carried—allowing him to revive as long as more than half his body remained intact—he would truly have died before accomplishing anything.
"The present world is far too terrifying. I need to return to the Otherside and cultivate for a longer time before coming out again. I truly don't understand how those human girls—who look no more than thirteen or sixteen—managed to raise their strength so quickly. Humans are not something we can contend with at all."
This inexplicable death left the Azure Emperor with an overwhelming sense of fear toward the present world. Those girls were simply too terrifying.
It was also his own misfortune. Of all people to encounter, he had run into one of the most monstrously gifted individuals of the current era.
If he were to blame anyone, he could only blame himself for listening to Wang Hao and coming to the present world, dreaming of obtaining the body of the Daughter of Fate.
"I should leave as well. The energy here is too violent. If I'm not careful, I might get dragged into it..."
Only after his injuries had fully recovered did the Azure Emperor push himself up on his somewhat weakened body. Looking toward the distant high walls, he took a few steps, intending to leave.
But now, it was already too late. Had he followed Chu Lian out when she left, there might still have been hope. Unfortunately, an hour had passed. Within a one-kilometer radius of the Wang residence, a cold and strange energy had long since overflowed, shackling movement and preventing energy from circulating at all.
Worse still, just as he grit his teeth and finally made it halfway, the entire sky suddenly darkened. The moonlight was obscured. The night clouds vanished without a trace. Even the wind seemed unable to pierce this barrier to wipe the cold sweat from his face.
"A hundred demons... walk at night..."
This barrier of energy, cast by an unknown hand, transformed the one-kilometer radius around the Wang residence into a different space—an otherworld where gods, demons, and ghosts could move freely. It was also a battlefield of the utmost horror.
"It's over. I actually ended up encountering something like this..."
As dread filled his heart, a burly man in heavy black armor suddenly appeared beside him. His face was fierce, a massive blade strapped to his back. Seeing the still somewhat weakened Rakshasa Azure Emperor, he curled his lip in disdain.
"Bah! How did a weak little girl like you wander into a place like this? You're an eyesore!"
Without giving him any chance to explain, the man drew the great blade from his back and swung it in a single stroke, ending his life once again.
After confirming the other's death, the burly man nodded in satisfaction. Looking around, excitement surged across his face.
"Damn it! Someone finally opened the Hundred Demons Night Parade barrier again so I can come to the present world! When I run into Satan's lackeys this time, I won't spare a single one!"
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. In the end, he could not help but burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! Hundred Demons Night Parade! I love this damn thing! Haha! Not just Satan's bastards—Hades, Yama—every single one of you can die!"
Within the faint glow, the image of a white tiger seemed to rise and roar toward the heavens from his blade, echoing his words.
"Hundred Demons Night Parade..."
Outside the barrier, Li Mingxue lowered her hand. Looking at the barrier that enveloped the surroundings, she let out a breath of relief.
"Good thing I sealed it in time. If those vengeful spirits had drifted away, all of Sucheng would have become a ghost domain. Rather than that, it's better to use them to forge a separate space and let a Hundred Demons Night Parade unfold."
"Mom..."
Seeing the fatigue on her mother's face, Chu Lian—who had already recovered—felt a bit embarrassed. If not for her, her mother would not have needed to work so hard.
After eliminating Ger and his subordinates, they had not lingered at all. They had all climbed onto Suicune's back and hurried away.
Fortunately, they had left quickly enough. Otherwise, when the countless wandering souls left behind over centuries—those who had died while fighting to seize or guard the spacetime rift—awakened under the summoning of the vengeful spirits of the massacred Wang family, leaving would not have been so simple.
Nearly the entire Wang family had perished in Wang Hao's scheme. Their flesh had been used in a Dedication, their exact fate unknown. Their souls, however, had absorbed boundless resentment and deathly energy, long since transforming into the most vicious of vengeful spirits.
It was only because of Wang Hao's prior preparations that they had been suppressed deep beneath the Wang residence, within the innermost hidden chamber, unable to emerge. That was why Chu Lian and the others had overlooked them.
When Wang Hao fled into the Otherside and the spacetime rift collapsed, all suppression and shackles vanished. The vengeful spirits awakened completely and began their most terrifying revenge—dragging every living being into hell, tormenting and slaughtering them before turning them into subordinates.
Chu Lian's departure had been perfectly timed—just as the vengeful spirits broke free of all restraints and reached the surface.
Due to certain Rules, they were temporarily unable to leave the Wang residence. They could only watch helplessly as the girls departed.
In contrast, the Rakshasa Azure Emperor represented the pinnacle of misfortune. Because his body had been severed and he had not yet revived, he had shown no signs of life and was ignored by the vengeful spirits.
But the moment he revived, he happened to coincide with Li Mingxue erecting the barrier, transforming this place into a pseudo-otherworld.
His strength was not weak. Yet in a Hundred Demons Night Parade filled with Heaven-rank and even Transcendence Realm entities, he could only be instantly killed.
Such deaths would likely follow him for a long time. At the very least, until this Hundred Demons Night Parade ended, he would have no hope of escaping that fate. Yet was this not also a form of the most extreme training? What he would ultimately achieve depended entirely on himself.
Fate, timing, fortune, and the Dao. Everything was fair. If he could endure through countless deaths, he might obtain a great opportunity—though in truth, no one could know the outcome until the very end. It was nothing more than words.
As for Chu Lian and the others who had escaped, although they wanted to explain the situation inside to the cultivators guarding the area, when Chu Lian saw that it was already past midnight, she did not dare delay. She immediately dragged everyone and rushed home at full speed, finally arriving at 12:57.
Li Mingxue relaxed, and Anna no longer had any excuse to lose control. Sucheng was temporarily preserved—temporarily, because who knew what kind of dangerous decisions this pair—a mother hopelessly doting on her daughter and a daughter obsessively attached to her mother—might make if Chu Lian encountered danger again in the future?
However, Chu Lian had no time to rest. She briefly recounted what had happened at the Wang residence. Even Ayase's departure was mentioned only lightly. The focus was on the existence of those vengeful spirits.
The severity of the situation made Li Mingxue realize how serious it was, prompting her to personally come to the Wang residence and, using their nearly inexhaustible deathly and resentful energy as a foundation, unfold the grand barrier of the Hundred Demons Night Parade.
Chu Lian's concerned words warmed Li Mingxue's heart, dispersing much of her fatigue. Looking at Chu Lian's gloomy expression, she asked softly, "What is it? Missing Ayase?"
"Mm..."
Nodding lightly, Chu Lian turned her body and gazed at the black barrier before her, her thoughts gradually falling into turmoil...