Chapter 133: Exorcising Demons

Cui Yue was tightly entangled by Yuxiu, unable to break free. The pungent smell of gasoline and the stench of blood made him dizzy and lightheaded.

Seeing Cui Yue fall into the pit, Old Wu hurried over to help, but his foot caught on a stone, sending him tumbling headfirst into the pit as well, groaning in pain.

"Damn it, we've really become turtles in a jar now!"

Cui Yue's heart instantly sank to the bottom.

The tall, thin man stood overlooking them from above, staring down into the pit with an eerie expression, a continuous, grim smile playing on his lips.

"Let's see where you can run now!"

"If you've got the guts, get down here!" Old Wu said, picking himself up, battered and bruised, refusing to concede.

"Hmph, your souls are pathetic and filthy. Let the brilliance of the Lord grant you mercy."

With that, the tall, thin man pulled out a lighter, and with a *snap*, a tiny flame flickered to life.

The wavering flame reflected on his gloomy face, making him look exceptionally sinister.

"You are nothing more than a pitiful slave, a pawn brainwashed and used by others!" Cui Yue said with disdain.

"What did you say?!" A cold glint flashed in the tall, thin man's eyes.

"Hmph, although I've never met this so-called Lord of yours, looking at it now, it's obviously no good either—just a despicable villain manipulating human hearts from the shadows!"

"You—you! Shut your mouth! I won't allow you to speak of the supreme Lord that way! You lowly, vulgar wretch!"

The tall, thin man trembled with rage, itching to tear Cui Yue apart limb from limb to vent his fury.

Cui Yue felt an intense hatred for the tall, thin man's actions. Not only did he trample mercilessly on Yuxiu's love for him, but he also treated human lives like grass, sacrificing them to some bullshit Lord.

A cult controlled by distorted and heretical theories could only corrupt human minds, plunging families and nations into chaos!

"You used Yuxiu's love for you, cruelly torturing and murdering her to sacrifice to your so-called Lord. And yet you still dare claim your love for her was sincere and noble?"

The tall, thin man seemed to have been poked in a sore spot. His body shuddered, his expression turning even more ferocious and somewhat hysterical.

"What are you talking about?! My—my feelings for Yuxiu, how could ants like you possibly understand! I did it all for our future! We are going to a paradise free of life and death, peaceful and serene!"

Cui Yue was momentarily laughed to anger by the man's words. Then his expression darkened, his tone shifting with a mix of aggressive pressure and provocation.

"You claim you'd sacrifice anything for that great Lord of yours. Fine! If that's the case, why don't you sacrifice your own soul to the Lord and ascend to that so-called paradise to enjoy yourself?"

***

The tall, thin man paused, then argued, "The Lord has bestowed upon me a more vital mission to complete. I cannot sacrifice my soul to the Lord just yet. Once I have fulfilled the Lord's mission, naturally—"

Cui Yue let out a cold snort, cutting him off. "Sophistry! That is pure, unadulterated sophistry! Yuxiu was merely a pawn you used to please that bullshit Lord. You never truly loved Yuxiu—or perhaps you did once, but now the only thing high and mighty in your heart is your damn Lord!"

For a moment, the tall, thin man was left speechless by the retort, his previous composure completely shattered.

Yuxiu murmured in a daze, "Teacher... Teacher, is what he said true?"

"Yuxiu! Don't—don't listen to his nonsense!" the tall, thin man hastily defended himself.

"Yuxiu, things have come to this, and you still haven't seen through this person? For the sake of his Lord, he can abandon everything! Why, even in death, do you still not understand this truth? Why do you still hold any illusions about him?!"

Cui Yue was truly exasperated, shouting directly at Yuxiu. He felt that Yuxiu was not only pathetic, but increasingly exasperating.

To think someone could become so humble and ignorant for the sake of love, willing to sacrifice themselves without hesitation.

Such a twisted, unnatural relationship should have ended long ago, rather than compounding mistakes, and ridiculously, even after dying and becoming a ghost, she still chose to help this human demon in his atrocities.

The tall, thin man before her was no longer the scholarly, refined teacher of her memories, but a marionette brainwashed by a Lord—a human demon who killed at will to achieve his goals!

"Teacher... You—you said you weren't going anywhere, that you would stay by my side through all lifetimes."

"What are you rambling on about?! I told you, I still have a more important mission. Why can't you understand?! Do you want me to betray the Lord, face the judgment of all deities, be despised by everyone, and plunge into hell for eternity?"

Cui Yue shook his head helplessly. This man was standing in hell and yet remained completely oblivious; his soul and flesh had already been sold to the devil, yet he still harbored delusions of stepping into paradise. How lamentable, how pathetic, and even more, how hateful!

Yuxiu froze. The blood in her eye sockets had long since dried up, and her mutilated corpse grew even colder and stiffer.

"So you are determined to abandon me and pursue your Lord instead!" Yuxiu said with an icy voice, her pupils turning even more ashen-white as the grievance and resentment in her surged instantly.

"Not good!"

Cui Yue clearly sensed the drastic change in Yuxiu's resentment, as her obsession with the tall, thin man transformed into a deep, consuming hatred.

"Ah!…… Ah!"

Yuxiu threw her hands wide and let out a long, piercing scream toward the heavens. The shriek was sharp and grating, and sinister ghostly energy began to seep from the flesh around her corpse.

With a single flick of her hand, she batted away the wooden sword stuck in her chest, sending it clattering obliquely to the ground.

***

Clearly, the tall, thin man had not expected Yuxiu to turn so ferocious, completely different from before.

Old Wu stared at Yuxiu, his face drained of all color; well into his old years, he nearly pissed his pants in terror.

Cui Yue also clutched his chest, leaning against the side of the pit. For some reason, that familiar sympathetic pain flared up in his chest again, stirring restlessly.

The tall, thin man felt fear grip his heart. This Yuxiu was likely no longer under his control.

"All of you filthy souls, go and face the Lord's judgment!"

With that, he flipped his hand, pressing his thumb onto the bizarre totem on his shoulder, and reignited the lighter, preparing to toss it into the pit.

The pupils in Cui Yue's eyes shrank into dangerous pinpricks. This bastard actually wanted to burn them alive!

The pit, including Old Wu and Yuxiu, had been thoroughly soaked in gasoline by the tall, thin man. They were genuinely about to experience a premature cremation!

Old Wu squeezed his eyes shut in terror, his entire body shaking uncontrollably!

At the very split second of life and death!

Mountains stood still while rivers flowed backward; worldly desires turned to dust, and hopes dissolved into ashes.

A shrill scream shattered the air!

A dark shadow surged into the sky, hurtling straight toward Liu Mengran in the clearing!

"This is!"

Cui Yue widened his eyes.

***

Before Liu Mengran could even blink, what pressed close before him was that familiar yet horrifyingly strange face, covered entirely in knife scars! Her ashen-white pupils were filled with boundless hatred!

"Yuxiu, you, you..."

The tall, thin man wanted to say more, but his throat convulsed, and he spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Looking down, he realized a gaping hole had been torn through his chest. Yuxiu's ghostly hand had plunged straight into his torso.

Yuxiu's icy spectral hand clutched his fiercely beating, crimson heart within her palm.

Yet, no amount of warm, gushing blood could ever warm that freezing cold palm again!