Chapter 66: The King of Hell’s Wedding (46)
Tap, tap—
Yan Luo stood by the stream, gripping Yan Xiang’s hand as he ran forward at full speed. The roaring wind was trampled beneath his feet, the pitch-black night cast behind him, until all that remained before his eyes was the suddenly open riverbank.
“We made it out!” Yan Luo steadied himself, overjoyed. “So what if I didn’t grow the spirit flower? As long as you and I stand united, no one in the entire Heavenly Court can tear us apart!”
“Someone can,” Jian Yuntai said coolly.
Yan Luo froze. “Impossible!” He instinctively looked around, left and right. All he saw were empty fields. Frowning in confusion, he said, “No one knows we escaped here. Look—under this stretch of stars, there’s only the two of us. There isn’t a third person.”
“…………” The hundred or so players nearby.
The scene before them was simply too strange. They clearly knew they were inside an illusion, yet their eyes kept feeding information to their brains as if hypnotizing them—everything looked real. The water was real, the moon was real, heaven and earth were all real.
They had merely been innocently dragged into the illusion, yet even they were starting to struggle to distinguish reality from falsehood—let alone Yan Luo.
“Wh-what kind of skill is this?”
“It’s definitely a Sinister Ghost Type illusion!”
“No… I’m afraid it’s not just an illusion. Have you ever seen an illusion that could confuse someone’s mind like this?”
“If it’s not just an illusion, then what is it?”
Just as everyone was lost in confusion, a streak of light suddenly flashed across the horizon. Someone descended upon the clouds, dropping swiftly to the ground. With a sharp clang, a sword was drawn.
Lord of Dawn pointed his sword at Yan Luo, fury blazing across his face just as it had years ago. “Stop right there!”
“Father.” Yan Luo stiffened for a moment, instinctively shielding Yan Xiang behind him. Bitterly, he said, “Yan Xiang likes me, and I like her. Please… just let us be together.”
Lord of Dawn did not waste words. He raised his hand and swung his sword. A fierce beam of sword light shot forward in an instant.
Yan Luo was stunned. “You actually want to kill me?!”
His expression was bleak and shocked, as if he could not believe Lord of Dawn truly intended to take his life.
Instinctively, Yan Luo thrust his sword forward in retaliation.
Thud—
Blood sprayed three feet into the air.
Even Yan Luo himself did not react in time. His sword had plunged straight into Lord of Dawn’s chest. Lord of Dawn’s figure gradually faded, and under Yan Luo’s increasingly vacant gaze, his face changed, his body shrinking—
He became Yan Xiang.
“?!!!”
Yan Luo froze completely.
He turned stiffly to look behind him. There was no sign of Yan Xiang anymore. Only a patch of withered yellow grass bent low under the cold wind, then rustled and swayed with the breeze, dissolving into the icy moonlight.
How could this be?
The person he had just killed was clearly Lord of Dawn!
How had Lord of Dawn turned into Yan Xiang?!
Wait… who exactly had he just killed?
Yan Luo’s head felt as if it were splitting apart. In agony, he clutched at the loose strands of hair by his temples, fingers digging into his scalp. In his grief-stricken gaze, “Yan Xiang” lay collapsed on the ground, her eyes filled with sorrow as she asked, “Why did you kill me?”
“I didn’t!” Yan Luo shook his head in disbelief, shouting in anguish, “I didn’t kill you!”
As his expression twisted, he suddenly dropped to his knees, a nonhuman scream tearing from his throat.
“I didn’t kill you!”
“It wasn’t me…”
“I—I killed Yan Xiang?”
Meanwhile, from the perspective of the players and the livestream viewers, Jian Yuntai had not moved at all. His scarlet eyes remained locked on Yan Luo. The red pattern at his brow flickered faintly, radiating an overwhelming pressure.
It was almost impossible to look at him directly.
The livestream chat burst into exclamations:
“Back then, when Yan Luo killed Lord of Dawn, he didn’t react like this. Now he’s finally experiencing the pain he should have felt a thousand years ago.”
“When Moon Goddess died, Cui Yu was just as devastated. Even if history repeated itself, Yan Luo probably still wouldn’t repent. But Jian Dadan created a different illusion from back then. Gotta admit, he hit Yan Luo right in his weakest spot.”
“Manipulating Yan Luo’s emotions like this—so insane! My knees are already worn out from kneeling for wife!!!”
Amid the discussion, when Yan Luo lifted his head again, his face was drenched in tears. He practically crawled and stumbled to Yan Xiang’s side, staring helplessly at the blood flowing endlessly from her chest.
“How do I save you?” he cried.
“Save me?” Jian Yuntai suddenly curved his lips into a faint smile. His long lashes lowered slowly, and that godlike, indifferent gaze fell once more upon Yan Luo’s neck.
Every inch it passed over felt like a venomous serpent coiling around him, leaving behind the mark of a predator.
“You can’t save me,” he said softly.
Before Yan Luo could respond, those poison-laced words rang out again and again, each sentence louder than the last. They struck against Yan Luo’s straight back like heavy blows, forcing him to bend lower and lower.
“Yan Luo, you killed me.”
“You can’t save me.”
“I died right in front of you.”
Under the fearful and wary gazes of the surrounding players, every sentence Jian Yuntai spoke carried a strange cadence. The trailing notes seemed almost hypnotic. Before long, Yan Luo’s will was in complete disarray. He had clearly collapsed to the brink, sobbing helplessly:
“I killed Yan Xiang… I can’t save you… So it was me who killed you…”
“It’s hypnosis!” In the real world, inside the Zhao’an Team, countless researchers stared blankly at the large public screen on the wall.
After a long moment, someone finally remembered to record it.
“According to previously provided information, the third personality’s codename is Red Lotus. Red Lotus’s temperament… remains to be discussed.”
“Abilities: illusion and hypnosis.”
At this point, the researcher paused for once, his eyes filled with astonishment.
The combination of illusion and hypnosis was simply too terrifying. It could be said outright—before such an ability, the Sinister Monster Type, Sinister Human Type, and Sinister Spirit Type had almost no power to resist. Even the Sinister Ghost Type, who also possessed mental abilities, would struggle.
There was something even more frightening: judging from the instance, Jian Yuntai could very likely hypnotize multiple people at the same time.
He alone could rival an entire army.
“The mental threshold is still rising—where’s Cen Pengyi?” another researcher in the corner asked anxiously. “Wasn’t someone sent to bring Cen Pengyi over? He should’ve arrived by now!”
Immediately, someone went to ask the Inspection Team soldiers. Less than two minutes later, he ran back pale-faced, stammering, “C-Cen Pengyi was intercepted and taken away by the Xiang’an Team…”
“What?!”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
They looked at each other, their faces turning ashen.
The little assistant secretly poked Liang Yan and whispered, “If Jian Yuntai’s mental threshold gets too high… what will happen?”
Liang Yan replied, “Conservatively speaking? He’ll slaughter everyone in the entire instance.”
“???” The little assistant thought he had misheard. But seeing that Liang Yan was not joking at all, he looked back at the screen in terror and shivered again, hugging himself tightly.
The scene shifted once more.
Amid swirling clouds and mist, atop the Fallen Immortal Platform.
Yan Luo was tightly bound by Immortal Binding Ropes, sobbing uncontrollably within the barrier. The murmurs of lesser immortals and heavenly soldiers drifted into his ears as they pointed and whispered:
“The incense ash immortal under the Buddha was killed. Yan Luo will surely be demoted this time.”
“Why did he kill the incense ash immortal?”
“If he couldn’t have her, he’d rather destroy her.”
“I didn’t… I didn’t…” Yan Luo cried in heartbreak, shaking his head and roaring angrily. “It was manslaughter. It was an accident. I—I saw wrong at the time.”
“You’re still shirking responsibility!” Lord of Dawn strode forward in radiant light, disgust written all over his brow. “Yan Luo. I fought for the Heavenly Court for a hundred years, slaughtering demon clans to bring glory to the heavens. And you dared to massacre a Buddhist incense ash immortal behind our backs. Do you have even a shred of shame?!”
Yan Luo lifted his head furiously and shouted, “You gave birth to me but never raised me—what right do you have to criticize me? From childhood until now, you never once cared about me. You only showed up to discipline me when I made mistakes. If I have no shame, then you are unfit to be a father!”
The surrounding lesser immortals erupted in an uproar.
Soon after, Moon Goddess stepped forth upon beams of moonlight, her voice sorrowful. “I bore you and raised you. Do I have the right to criticize you?”
Yan Luo stared at her blankly. “Mother…”
Moon Goddess sighed. “Look at your hands, covered in blood.”
Yan Luo indeed lowered his head, and his fingers were stained with deep crimson blood. The putrid stench filled his nostrils, causing his vision to blur, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.
Moon Goddess’s cold voice echoed again, “Lord of Dawn gave you a sword, hoping that you would have justice in your heart, be firm and magnanimous. But those eight words have nothing to do with you… you… you have truly disappointed me.”
There was a pause before she said, “I regret giving birth to you.”
“……”
Yan Luo was struck as though by a thunderclap. He stood frozen, staring at Moon Goddess, unable to utter a single word.
The players were confused, but the livestream viewers suddenly became excited:
“Damn! Moon Goddess’s personality doesn’t allow her to say something like that. Back then, it was Yan Luo who insulted her—‘You are unworthy of being a mother!’”
“Jian Yuntai actually remembered that line and gave it back to Yan Luo! This is too satisfying!”
“What a beautiful face, what a ruthless heart! I love this kind of streamer, keep going!!!”
Moon Goddess seemed to have grown weary of Yan Luo. She subtly stepped aside, and another figure, resembling a fallen immortal, appeared. His white hair fluttered in the wind, and he exuded the presence of a celestial being at a glance.
Upon seeing him, Yan Luo’s previously shattered heart seemed to stabilize. It was as if a huge wave of hope had rushed through him. He scrambled to the barrier’s edge, crying out, “Cui Yu, Cui Yu! Help me!”
Cui Yu looked down, asking, “How do you want me to help you?”
Hope flared even brighter in Yan Luo’s eyes, and he said with great expectation, “You’re the smartest, aren’t you? Back when I angered the Moon Elder, you helped me settle it. Go and beg the Divine Lord for me. I don’t want to be demoted! I was born to be a high and mighty immortal, how could I end up in the filthy Underworld?!”
“And what about Yan Xiang?” Cui Yu asked flatly, showing no emotion. “You killed Yan Xiang. Shouldn’t you pay the price? If you don’t get demoted, who will take your punishment?”
“I didn’t mean to kill her!” Yan Luo shot back, angry and tearful as he shook his head. “It was an accident… I will find her soul and help her ascend again. If I’m demoted, there will be no one left to save Yan Xiang!”
Cui Yu responded coolly, “I can.”
“…………”
Yan Luo froze, as if his throat had been gripped tightly. His face turned pale, and he remained silent for a long time.
Cui Yu continued, “I can help her ascend again. Do you have any other reasons for not wanting to be demoted?”
Though it was highly inappropriate, the livestream audience couldn’t help but burst into laughter:
“Holy crap, hahahahaha, this line is too savage. Yan Luo doesn’t want to be demoted and keeps making excuses for himself, and Cui Yu just bluntly pointed it out.”
“No, it’s not Cui Yu, hahahah, you guys forgot that last time, Cui Yu couldn’t even argue back with Yan Luo in the Yin Law Division? It was Jian Dadan who stepped in and made Yan Luo shut up. Now, it’s Jian Dadan, not Cui Yu, hahahah!”
“With just an illusion, Jian Dadan easily sees through Yan Luo. I thought he was deeply in love, but it turns out that all these years of obsession with Yan Xiang were just because he thought Cui Yu killed her, and Moon Goddess… Seems like what he can’t accept is the demotion, so now he’s taking his frustration out on Cui Yu.”
“I only realized this now, damn.”
“I never noticed how cunning Jian Dadan is, I’m dying of laughter, he’s been dealing with Yan Luo for over a hundred years!”
“If you don’t have any reason, then go ahead and accept your fate.” With that, Cui Yu turned without hesitation, following Moon Goddess and Lord of Dawn as they left. The surrounding heavenly soldiers stepped aside, and the three figures gradually receded from sight, slowly disappearing into the distance.
After going through fear, anxiety, collapse, and rage, Yan Luo was left only with hopelessness.
Bang, bang—
He relentlessly struck the barrier, just like Cui Yu had done years ago.
But the barrier was too sturdy. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge. All he could do was watch as his family slowly distanced themselves from him. In the end, his hands were drenched in blood, and Yan Luo finally spat out blood with a loud “pfft.”
Betrayed by all, this was the result.
He collapsed, sitting within the barrier, his tears mixing with blood. His face was filled with utter despair.
※※※
“I think Jian Yuntai… might not be mentally stable?” After watching the livestream for a long time, Cen Pengyi finally couldn’t hold back and asked this question.
At this point, Wei Shenglu’s mental threshold had stabilized and had dropped below 140. However, the Xiang’an Team still wouldn’t let him leave, saying they were concerned that his mental state might rise again.
“Why do you think he’s mentally unstable?” one of the Xiang’an Team researchers asked curiously.
Cen Pengyi scratched his head and said, “It’s his eyes! Look at his eyes, are they naturally red?”
“No…”
“Does he always have a killing intent when looking at people?”
“Not exactly…”
“Well, then something’s wrong with him!” Cen Pengyi continued scratching his head, surprised. “Am I the only one who thinks Jian Yuntai isn’t normal? If I stood in front of him, my legs would probably give way. I’d feel like I’m about to be killed any second.”
He paused, then frowned. “I remember that the first requirement for recruitment into the Zhao’an Team is mental stability. Does Jian Yuntai seem mentally stable to you? He doesn’t look like it.”
“He… isn’t very stable.” The researchers seemed to avoid the topic. No matter how much Cen Pengyi pressed, they wouldn’t say more.
And of course, they couldn’t tell him.
If it came out that Jian Yuntai had once been a part of the Xiang’an Team, Cen Pengyi might have immediately turned and joined the Zhao’an Team to help. They had finally managed to recruit such a valuable asset, so they absolutely couldn’t let him find out.
Cen Pengyi wasn’t a fool; he had already sensed something was off.
Just as he was about to secretly check Jian Yuntai’s background on his phone, a terrified shout echoed from inside the room: “Wei Shenglu’s mental threshold has suddenly increased by fifty!”
The room was filled with stunned gasps.
Everyone turned to the researcher who had spoken, their disbelief evident.
How could this happen so suddenly?!
The terrifying part followed: the researcher, pale as a ghost, shouted out another number, each one feeling like a punch landing on everyone’s face.
“197! 203! 215… 240!”
It was even higher than before!
Everyone instinctively looked toward Cen Pengyi.
A cold sweat instantly formed on his forehead, and he stammered, “Wh-why are you all looking at me?!”
“Has your ability ever failed before?”
“My abilities can’t fail! Unless something new has happened that triggered a change in Wei Shenglu’s emotions.”
A new event?
What could have possibly happened? Right now, Jian Yuntai, the players, and Yan Luo were all still trapped in the main hall’s illusion.
They hadn’t even interacted with Wei Shenglu, so what could have changed?
The group wracked their brains, trying to figure out a reason, but none of them could come up with anything. Finally, the old professor sighed and said, “We’ll need to ask you to use your abilities once more.”
Cen Pengyi had no objections. After all, if he helped the Xiang’an Team, he’d get paid. Taking a few steps forward, he suddenly gasped and turned back, saying, “I almost forgot to tell you. Just now, I found that there are two memories sealed inside Wei Shenglu’s mental sea. That’s why he’s been so agitated. I cleared those two memories and let him remember…”
The rest of his words grew softer and softer under the suffocating stares of everyone in the room. In the end, Cen Pengyi braced himself and asked, “Uh… did I cause trouble?”
“…………”
The entire room looked at him with ashen faces.
They had all watched the full livestream. There was no need to think—those two memories had to be from the first and second rounds of the King of Hell’s wedding instance.
In the first round, King of Hell had stolen the bride and forced Cui Yu’s hand.
In the second round, Jian Yuntai had “died” before Cui Yu’s eyes.
And now, at a moment like this, making Wei Shenglu remember those two memories—wasn’t this completely disastrous?!
※※※
When the scene returned to the main hall, the players felt as though they were Zhuang Zhou dreaming of being a butterfly. For a fleeting moment, they couldn’t tell whether they were in reality or illusion.
Yan Luo was even more unable to distinguish between the two.
Tap, tap—
Jian Yuntai stepped forward.
In an instant, chaotic footsteps overlapped and echoed.
This time it wasn’t just Cha Huafeng who retreated several steps—every player instinctively backed away a great distance, scrambling to hide behind others, terrified of meeting Jian Yuntai’s gaze.
Yet Jian Yuntai didn’t even glance at them. His scarlet pupils were ghostlike, carrying a divine indifference as he lowered his eyes slightly to look at Yan Luo.
Yan Luo’s crown was crooked, his hair disheveled. It was as if he had only just noticed Jian Yuntai. After staring blankly for a few seconds, he crawled forward and threw himself at Jian Yuntai’s feet, weeping uncontrollably.
“Yan Xiang, I didn’t kill you. Believe me! No one else believes me—you have to believe me!”
A trace of disgust crossed Jian Yuntai’s fair, delicate face. Slowly, he lifted his foot. The black boot gently pressed down onto Yan Luo’s shoulder.
Little by little.
He forced him downward.
At the end, he let out a soft laugh, the tip of his boot tilting up Yan Luo’s chin. With an almost childlike confusion in his tone, he asked cruelly, “On such a joyous wedding day, why are you crying?”
“…………”
Yan Luo froze for a long while before murmuring in a daze, “Right… today is our wedding day. I shouldn’t cry. I shouldn’t cry! Back then, I accidentally killed you. But from today onward, I will treat you well in every way imaginable.”
Perhaps he was already envisioning a happy future. New hope had taken root, and the joy on Yan Luo’s face was like a withered tree blooming again in spring, almost overflowing.
Under everyone’s horrified gazes, he suddenly stood up and pulled Jian Yuntai into his arms.
“Ahhhhhh!” The livestream comments instantly went berserk. “Yan Luo, what are you doing? Let go of my wife!!!”
“Cui Yu is 800 meters away and closing in!”
“Damn it, just talk if you want to talk! Cui Yu hasn’t even hugged wife that many times—who the hell do you think you are?!”
“You guys can still call him ‘wife’? Damn, you’re brave. He’s so dominant I don’t even dare anymore.”
“What’s there to be scared of? Wife, wife, wife.”
Red sleeves fluttered. The phoenix crown shimmered faintly.
Just when everyone thought Jian Yuntai would shove Yan Luo away without hesitation, he instead raised one arm and gently stroked Yan Luo’s back. His smile carried a hint of childlike innocence.
“Then will you treat me very well from now on?” he asked.
“Yes! I will, absolutely!” Yan Luo promised repeatedly, a sweet smile appearing on his face.
“We’ve endured so many hardships and setbacks. After I marry you… I will protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again, not even myself!”
Just as he said.
After so much suffering and turmoil, Heaven had actually given him another chance. New hope crackled and grew within him, and his eyes were filled with longing for the future.
But in the very next second, the smile on his face froze and twisted into disbelief.
“You… you!”
A cold hand had latched onto the back of his neck. It tightened slowly, gripping his vital point and rendering him unable to move. The person in his arms still wore a clean, innocent smile. Tilting his head slightly, he spoke with extreme cruelty:
“You want to marry me? But I don’t want to marry you.”
After a brief pause, he asked in puzzlement, “What should we do?”
Crack—
Crack—
The sound of bones breaking echoed clearly in the deathly silent main hall. The air seemed to thin. The Ten Halls imps stood far away, appearing as if they wanted to step forward to save Yan Luo—but none dared to move.
Everyone felt suffocated.
In the distance, a beam of light shot into the sky—it seemed Cui Yu had finally left the pavilion by the Sea of Life and Death. The entire hall trembled, yet no one even remembered to run, as if their feet had taken root.
All they could do was stare blankly at Yan Luo’s back—and the pale, ghostly arm on it.
The red sleeve slipped down, revealing a wrist that turned gently—
And then came a scalp-numbing sound.
You want to marry me, but I don’t want to marry you.
What should we do? Then I suppose you’ll just have to die.
“…………”
Yan Luo could only emit hissing sounds from his throat. In utter disbelief and heart-shattering despair, his head suddenly twisted sharply to one side!
His entire body went limp and crashed heavily to the ground.
The body fell.
But the head remained suspended in midair, supported by that pale hand.
Then, with a dull thud—
The head was tossed to the ground. It rolled several circles with a “gulu gulu” sound before coming to a stop in front of the players.
Yan Luo died with eyes wide open. His sweet smile had not yet faded, yet terror and despair—after hope had been brutally shattered—already filled his eyes.
Looking up again—
The exquisitely featured youth stood quietly in place. His ghostlike scarlet pupils shifted slightly as he curiously examined his own palm.
Those long, slender fingers were drenched in blood. It seeped through his fingers, flowed over the back of his hand, and slid down his wrist. The stark contrast between vivid red and deathly pale created an overwhelming visual impact.
Before anyone could react, the youth suddenly raised his hand—
And, smiling faintly, licked the blood from his fingertips.
His red tongue slid slowly across the even redder blood.
“Sweet,” he said in surprise.
“Hiss—” Several sharp intakes of breath sounded throughout the hall.
The scene before them exceeded everyone’s understanding, causing the players’ hair to stand on end.
The livestream viewers, who had just been screaming “wife, wife,” all fell silent at once. They even forgot to send comments.
The hall was deathly quiet.
“Is everyone’s blood sweet?” The boy’s long black hair had grown to his waist. His smile was clean and innocent, yet carried a cruel, childlike curiosity.
No one could answer that question.
As chills crawled down their spines, they saw his scarlet eyes slowly sweep across everyone’s necks in the hall.
When he lifted his gaze again, violent malice had already surfaced in his brows.
“Who else… wants to marry me?”
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