[Did… did something just kiss me? Did my dream just come true?!]

Le Gui’s eyelashes trembled as she stared at Di Jiang, stunned.

He leaned back on the couch with a lazy air. “You may leave now.”

Le Gui finally snapped out of her daze. Clutching her mouth in mock outrage, she gasped dramatically, “What are you doing, you pervert?!”

Di Jiang glanced at her lazily, clearly uninterested in her theatrics.

Seeing that he wasn’t taking the bait, Le Gui simply scooted closer again. “Your Lordship, why did you kiss me?”

“What do you think?” Di Jiang threw the question back at her.

Le Gui grinned. “Because you’ve fallen for me.”

“…You’re overthinking it.”

Le Gui clutched her chest in exaggerated heartbreak. “Then it must be because you suddenly wanted to take advantage of me.”

Di Jiang knew she wasn’t finished speaking and watched her with an amused look, waiting to see what else she had to say.

Sure enough, she chuckled, “Your Lordship must like me. Otherwise, why would you choose to take advantage of me instead of someone else?”

That was unexpected. Di Jiang picked up his wine cup and let her speculate as she pleased.

Le Gui ignored his expression, lost in her own delight. “Ah, I never thought Your Lordship would have moments where you couldn’t hold back. I was wondering why you didn’t just force me to attend the Trial Tournament. Why promise me the queen’s position instead? Turns out, you’ve been longing for me—”

Before she could finish, she met Di Jiang’s thoughtful gaze.

Le Gui: “…”

“Yes,” he drawled lazily, his tone effortlessly carrying a sense of leisure. “If I truly wanted to force you, I could have just done so. Why would I need to make a promise?”

“…Your Lordship, please continue resting. I have to prepare for the third trial. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. I’ll definitely win first place and become your queen!”

Afraid he might take back his promise, she quickly turned and bolted for the door.

Before she could escape, Di Jiang flicked his fingers, and an unseen force yanked her back.

Le Gui crashed into his firm chest and nearly burst into tears. “Your Lordship, you already promised. You can’t go back on your word…”

Di Jiang leaned down, his nose brushing lightly against her neck as if he were about to bury his face there.

Le Gui stiffened, instinctively falling silent.

“Where did you run off to?” He lifted his head and asked, his tone unreadable. “You stink.”

“Nowhere,” the Seer Mirror suddenly spoke.

Le Gui understood its hint and quickly nodded. “That’s right, I didn’t go anywhere.”

Di Jiang stared at her, his pitch-black eyes seeming to pierce into her soul. Le Gui felt guilty under his gaze and dove into his arms, feigning innocence. “Your Lordship, why didn’t you come to watch my match today?”

“Boring,” he said flatly. “What was there to see?”

Le Gui was indignant. “How can you say that? I was the star of the competition today!”

“Did they accept you?” Di Jiang asked bluntly.

Le Gui hesitated. “…No.”

A low, amused chuckle escaped his throat. “Then let them be.”

[That was too easy. This isn’t like him.]

Le Gui was puzzled but climbed out of his embrace and met his gaze.

After a long silence, she hesitantly asked, “Can you tell me now why you insisted on having me enter the Trial Tournament?”

“You’ll know after the third match,” Di Jiang said. He reached out, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. His fingers were naturally cold, and the chill seared her skin, turning it slightly red.

Le Gui pressed her dry lips together. “Is this about the grudge with the Soul-Extinguishing Formation?”

Di Jiang didn’t answer.

That meant it was. Le Gui grew even more confused. “Didn’t you kill everyone who attacked you in that formation?”

“It wasn’t enough.” Di Jiang’s gaze lingered on the reddened patch of her skin. As if discovering something amusing, he rubbed his fingertips over the spot repeatedly. “Have you heard of training a dog?”

“Training… a dog?”

“Mm. If you want a fierce dog to obey, beating it into submission isn’t enough. You must make it fear you. Let it understand the cost of disobedience, so that even the thought of rebelling will terrify it.”

The great hall fell silent, his voice chilling the air. Le Gui and the Seer Mirror both shuddered.

“Do you understand?” Di Jiang looked at her.

Le Gui blankly shook her head.

“Then forget it,” he said with a cryptic smile.

Le Gui awkwardly straightened. “W-Well, if there’s nothing else, I… I’ll take my leave now…”

She backed away step by step. The moment she reached the center of the hall, she turned and sprinted out.

Di Jiang watched her hasty retreat, looking utterly bored. “If you really went nowhere, where did that filth on you come from?”

He let go of his wine cup. As it hit the ground, the dark energy clinging to Le Gui’s back burst apart, dissolving into the air.

Unaware of what had just happened, Le Gui ran all the way back to the Hehuan Sect’s residence, dashed into her room, and locked the door behind her. Only then did she pat her chest and sigh. “Terrifying. His Lordship is too terrifying.”

The room was silent, and the Seer Mirror remained eerily quiet.

Le Gui cleared her throat and finally remembered her previous errand. She pulled out the mirror and placed it on the table.

“Mirror? Seer Mirror?” She tapped on its surface.

No response.

“Seer Mirror! Seer Mirror! Seer Mirror!” Le Gui’s face paled.

“…I’m ignoring you because I don’t want to talk,” the mirror finally responded. “Shouldn’t you be quiet at a time like this?”

“Why don’t you want to talk to me?” Le Gui asked. “Did you forget who took you to find that person? Who covered for you when we lied to His Lordship?”

The Seer Mirror remained silent, unable to refute her words.

Le Gui huffed and asked what mattered most to her. “Why did you say I wanted Wuliangdu?”

[Does it actually know that I need Wuliangdu to return to the real world?]

The mirror hesitated briefly before speaking softly. “Because that’s what my master said…”

It wasn’t a lie. Di Jiang was the one who told her that Le Gui believed the Three Realms were just in a book.

Le Gui froze before realization dawned on her. “So, when I stole Wuliangdu that time, he actually told you about it?”

Then she reconsidered. That might not have been the only time. She had brought up Wuliangdu with Di Jiang before, and the Seer Mirror had always been nearby. It wouldn’t be surprising if it knew.

[…For a moment, I thought it actually knew I was from another world.]

Le Gui felt both disappointed and relieved at the same time.

The Seer Mirror, noticing her shifting expressions, was puzzled. “?” When did she ever steal Wuliangdu?

“I still have a few more questions for you,” Le Gui added.

The mirror remained silent.

“Mirror, mirror, are you still alive? Why aren’t you speaking again? Did you forget who just helped you out?” Le Gui tapped the mirror against the table.

Still, no response.

After waiting in vain for an answer, Le Gui placed the mirror back on the table. However, the moment she set it down, the mirror was suddenly enveloped in a swirl of demonic energy. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a large bronze mirror. Le Gui rubbed her eyes, just about to ask why it had changed back when she suddenly froze.

“If you have questions, just ask,” the little ghost girl spoke in a cold voice.

Le Gui swallowed hard, doing her best to avoid looking directly at her. “Why did you suddenly come out? It’s daytime.”

“You really think I’m an ordinary vengeful spirit?” The ghost girl was impatient. “Even if ten golden crows were shining down on me, they wouldn’t be able to burn me away.”

“That’s… impressive,” Le Gui muttered, turning her head slightly. The next second, she caught a glimpse of the two hollow sockets beneath the ghost girl’s eyebrows. She quickly turned her head back, body stiff.

[…This is too much. Even in broad daylight, it’s terrifying.]

“You think I’m ugly?” The ghost girl’s voice was eerie.

Le Gui cleared her throat. “Not exactly.”

“Then look at me.”

Le Gui replied, “I don’t really like making eye contact with people.”

“You sure didn’t act that way when you were all cozy with my master earlier.”

Le Gui’s expression stiffened. “Let me remind you that it was completely one-sided. He kissed me. It was not ‘cozying up’.”

“Enough nonsense. Look at me!” A fierce gust of wind suddenly surged through the room, rattling the tightly shut windows and doors.

Le Gui had no choice but to look at her. “What’s with you? You get upset if I don’t look at you?”

“That’s right. I’m upset. So from now on, you have to keep looking at me,” the ghost girl sneered, the corners of her blood-red lips curling.

Le Gui could only silently stare at her.

Now that she was out of the mirror, her voice hadn’t improved in the slightest. It was still raspy and rough. Le Gui took a closer look and noticed a bloody hole in her throat, likely the reason for her damaged voice. Who could have done this to her?

The ghost girl hadn’t expected Le Gui to keep staring. After a brief silence, she suddenly seemed awkward. Her hair was still in the long braids Le Gui had given her last time, her clothes were filthy and tattered, and bloodstains covered her body. Even her skin was covered in wounds. She had previously disliked how dirty Le Gui was after selling her enchanted robes, but now it seemed she was even filthier herself.

Annoyed, she was about to pull a scary face to spook Le Gui when the girl suddenly asked, “Does it hurt?”

The ghost girl paused. “What?”

“I mean… does it still hurt?” Le Gui gestured toward the bloody hole on her wrist. The ghost girl instinctively tugged at her sleeve, but since the fabric was also torn, it did little to hide the wound.

The room fell into silence for a moment. The ghost girl turned her head blankly. “My soul has been like this ever since I left my body. There’s nothing to feel pain about.”

“You’ve looked like this since you became a spirit, but does that really mean it doesn’t hurt?” Le Gui didn’t understand.

The ghost girl clicked her tongue. “You really don’t know anything. Souls have no form of their own. They can only appear in the state they were in at the moment of death. Do you get it now?”