The man in front of her was perfect in every way, with countless merits and virtues. But the fact that he didn’t love her was a flaw she could never change.

Every line on this man’s face was cold and perfect, his sharp features like a sculpture. He didn’t dare to blink, his eyelashes trembling fiercely because his eyes were wide open. In that moment, time felt like grains of sand slipping through the air, as if the sorrowful wind was unveiling the truth hidden beneath.

The sound of crushed sand underfoot and the glow from the fiery rock walls made him unwilling to disturb this moment.

He dared not reveal an overly intense gaze, not wanting to scare the person in front of him.

You Ji, as if possessed, reached out foolishly toward the figure before him.

Long Ming could feel You Ji inching closer and closer, yet he couldn’t move. Perhaps it was because that gaze was too focused, too sorrowful, as if it was tearing at his soul and ripping apart his sanity.

Suddenly, the stone door swung open.

The voice of a guard came from outside, “King You, you…”

In that instant, as You Ji turned around, the figure in front of him vanished from sight. His hand hung frozen mid-air, like a string that had been cut, lifelessly falling down.

Once again, it was just another mirage. But this time, it felt so real—so real that he truly believed he had seen him.

The guard stared in horror at the overwhelming killing intent radiating from You Ji, so thick that even from a distance, it was suffocating. Even breathing felt difficult. And then, upon closer inspection, the guard noticed that You Ji had somehow broken free from his chains. He was now completely unbound.

Terror surged through the guard’s chest, threatening to escape his throat like a piercing blade. But just as he was about to cry out, his voice was suddenly choked off.

You Ji was like a dark creature from the underworld, his eyes shrouded in shadow, entirely lost to madness.

The guards who rushed to the scene found the bodies of those who had already been slain by You Ji at the entrance. He stepped forward, walking outside, his disheveled red hair looking like a razor-sharp blade slicing through the air. His face, too handsome to be stared at directly, was stained with splatters of blood, making him resemble a demon on a killing spree.

There was no time to alert Sha Yu. The guards who arrived were quickly cut down, their bodies littering the ground.

You Ji didn’t stop, his entire being immersed in his own world, like a madman. His twisted expression resembled a great beast that had been cruelly wounded, numbing himself with bloodshed.

A drop of blood splattered on the corner of his eye, trickling down slowly.

His bloodshot eyes held only despair and the frenzied madness of someone on the verge of losing their mind.

He had killed all the guards outside.

Anyone who saw the scene, rivers of blood flowing everywhere, would have instinctively backed away. The stench of blood filled the entire underground cave, so thick it was suffocating.

Long Ming never would have imagined that in his attempt to leave early and avoid being discovered, he would instead hear the sound of a one-sided slaughter from within. He wasn’t some heartless monster, so how could he remain indifferent? When he returned, cloaked in invisibility, the scene that greeted him was that of a hellish battlefield. And there, amidst the pile of corpses, was You Ji, either aware of Long Ming’s position or simply wanting to escape.

His body, as if bathed in blood, exuded a bleak and desolate aura as he made his way step by step toward the dark tunnel leading outside.

But his severe injuries and drained mental state soon became too much to bear.

With a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

The path behind him was marked by trails of blood dripping with each step, the crimson drops so scorching they seemed to burn.

Propping himself up on his elbows, he used the last of his strength to crawl toward the exit.

“No one… can stop me from finding you…” Anyone who tries to stop me deserves to die.

After uttering those words, You Ji suddenly lost all his strength, his body collapsing like a broken puppet, crashing heavily onto the ground.