I didn't feel like crying, nor did I feel sad. Slowly, I stood up and, facing the pursuers behind me and the two "audience members" on the stage, quietly said, "You all deserve to die!"

  The bride's face slightly changed, while Ao Chi suddenly shot her a fierce gre and muttered, "You dare...?"

  If I don't kill those two who trample on human life, I deserve to die even more.

  I no longer felt the pain from my injuries, and the energy that had dissipated returned.

  I needed this state, even if it was only for one minute.

  I pushed aside Jiu Jue, who had come to support me, and turned to walk away.

  "Stop!"

  Someone called out behind me—it wasn't Jiu Jue.

  The voice was full of authority, not angry but commanding, leaving no room for the listener to defy.

  The key is, I had heard this voice for over a thousand years.

  I frozen and turned back.

  The "bodies" of Pang Zi and Shou Zi transformed into a puddle of clean, dry water, gathered together by an unknown force, piling up and stacking higher and higher until it formed a transparent human shape.

  With a whoosh, a crack appeared across the top of the human's head, like the zipper of a garment being pulled open. A tall shadow stepped out from within.

  The eyebrows, the eyes, the skin, the bck-and-purple dragon-patterned clothing, the slightly tilted head, every movement and gesture, even the strands of hair, all exuded an overwhelming, arrogant pride.

  "Ao... Ao..." I, usually so eloquent, stuttered for the first time.

  "Ao, my foot!" The newcomer grabbed my hand, and though it seemed rough, it was actually gentle as he pulled me into his embrace, scolding me in a continuous stream: "If I hadn't shown up, you′d already have been boiled into soup! There′s no woman more foolish than you! After all these years, you still haven't improved."