Niu Youdao said slowly, "Now that you've fallen to this state, does it still matter who I am?"
Lü Wushuang said, "If it were you, would you be willing to accept not even knowing whose hands you'd fallen into?"
Niu Youdao said, "And what if I'm unwilling?"
Lü Wushuang asked, word by word, "Niu Youdao? Are you Niu Youdao?" Almost every time they met, she pressed him with this same question.
Niu Youdao fell silent for a moment. Then he slowly raised a hand to his neck, seized the false face, and ripped it off with a swish, revealing his true features. He looked at her with a faint smile and asked, "As you wished. How about it?"
Lü Wushuang's eyes widened as she stared hard at him, her face full of disbelief. "It really is you. How is that possible?"
Niu Youdao shrugged, looking every bit the genuine article.
"You were clearly dead! No, the one who died wasn't you—it was a substitute. Your death was a trap you set, wasn't it?" Lü Wushuang asked.
Niu Youdao answered, "More or less."
"How did you leave the Sacred Realm? Did you have an insider in the Sacred Realm?" Lü Wushuang asked.
Niu Youdao answered, "The Nine Saints have long since lost the people's hearts. Finding an insider in the Sacred Realm wasn't actually that difficult."
"You set a trap in the Fifth Realm. How did you know the Fifth Realm existed?" Lü Wushuang asked.
Faced with the woman's relentless questioning, Niu Youdao knew she had many doubts in her heart. He raised a hand to stop her. "There's plenty of time. There's no need to rush. We can talk slowly later. Contact your people first and let them escape this calamity." He turned back to Yuan Gang. "Prepare brush, ink,