"Kill me? And you're being forced to do it?"
The old man's voice was hoarse. "Heh. Old Bao Ye, is there anyone in this world who can force you to do anything?"
Bao Ye shook his head. "No one can force me to do anything, unless... even I can no longer control myself."
The old man realized what the problem was and frowned. "Burning Lamp Old Man tampered with you?"
Bao Ye nodded. "Back then, to infiltrate Western Heaven Spirit Mountain, I could only pay a certain price. And now, that price has become Burning Lamp Buddha's trump card for keeping me in check."
The old man stared at Bao Ye for a moment. "Why did you choose to do this back then?"
Bao Ye said, "To avenge Old Devil Yi."
The old man could not help but freeze upon hearing that answer.
Clearly, he found it absurd.
Yet Bao Ye offered no further explanation and instead asked, "What about you? How did you end up like this?"
Yellow Sand City was a crumbling, desolate place of the mortal world.
Yet the Five Desires Demon Lord had trapped himself here. He no longer possessed the towering might of old, nor that air of looking down upon the four seas. Instead, he resembled a mortal old man who had fallen into an abyss—his life flickering like a candle in the wind, steeped in the gloom of old age.
Even when his old servant died, he could only swallow his anger and endure.
Even Bao Ye found it indescribably absurd, heartbreaking, and incomprehensible.
The old man shook his head. "Some things, once you accept them, you must bear their punishment and price. As for my affairs... don't ask."
Bao Ye sighed and did not pursue the subject.
His gaze swept over the