As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Chensha's phantom form turned into a streak of dark-golden light and slipped into Zhu Zhuqing's forehead.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't dare waste time. She immediately gathered her thoughts and, in an instant, drew the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor into her body.
"Creak."
The wooden door was gently pushed open from outside.
The moment she looked up, Zhu Zhuqing's breath caught slightly.
The first thing to strike her eyes was a dazzling beauty that seemed to rush straight at her.
The young woman standing outside was tall and well-proportioned, her close-fitting outfit tracing nearly perfect curves.
Her shoulders and back were straight, her waist slender. There wasn't a trace of frailty about her. Instead, she was like a lone wolf poised to pounce, every line of her body concealing coiled explosive power.
Above that was skin as delicate and pale as porcelain.
Her peach-blossom eyes, with their slightly upturned corners, held an innate allure. Her nose was high-bridged, and her full lips were a vivid red.
She was like a red rose in full bloom beneath the blazing sun, beautiful in a way that was almost aggressive.
Zhu Zhuqing could sense that the Soul Power fluctuations within her were condensed and powerful, far beyond Zhu Zhuqing's current Soul Power.
Seeing that Zhu Zhuqing had already risen from the bed, the young woman spoke first.
"You're finally awake. How do you feel? Is anything bothering you?"
Her voice was somewhat husky, yet somehow full of charm.
But Zhu Zhuqing was like a startled kitten. Her back stiffened at once, and she regarded the woman with utter wariness.
"Who are you? Where is this?"
She said nothing else, acting as though she remembered nothing at all.
Gu Chensha, in her sea of consciousness, was quite pleased with her behavior.
She was very obedient, following his instructions to the letter.
A good, obedient girl naturally deserved a generous reward later.
The young woman paused, as though she'd immediately understood something, then softened her tone to reassure her.
"Don't be afraid. This is Spirit City. I'm not a bad person."
"My name is Hu Liena. A senior and I found you in the Star Dou Great Forest. You were covered in wounds, so we brought you back."
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's tense expression, she didn't move any closer.
She simply tried to soften her expression and appear less threatening.
"Do you remember anything? For example, what happened before you passed out? Where is your home? Why did you pass out in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Zhu Zhuqing's lashes trembled slightly. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke in a low voice.
"I...I only remember that my name is Zhu Zhuqing. Everything else...I can't remember."
"Is that so?"
Hu Liena met her gaze, the allure in the corners of her eyes growing stronger.
"...Mm."
The instant Zhu Zhuqing answered, her eyes suddenly widened.
As their gazes locked, a faint, sweet fragrance slipped into her nostrils with her breath.
She watched Hu Liena's lips curl into a smile and stared at those full, rosy lips. An absurd urge suddenly welled up within her.
She wanted to lean in and find out whether those lips were as soft and sweet as they looked.
Her heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and her breathing grew shallow. A faint heat spread across her skin.
The woman stood several steps away, yet her lazy, dangerous allure wrapped around Zhu Zhuqing like a rising tide, leaving her weak all over.
At that moment, all Zhu Zhuqing wanted was to follow the other woman's lead and tell her everything, holding nothing back.
Suddenly—
Snap!
A crisp snap rang out in her mind, yanking her out of the hazy enchantment.
Immediately afterward, Gu Chensha's cold, demonic voice sounded in her sea of consciousness:
"That's nothing but a fox's bewitching trick."
Zhu Zhuqing snapped back to her senses.
A cold sweat broke out across her back, and even the tips of her ears burned.
She had nearly been drawn in. She hadn't even noticed when the other woman had made her move.
"Don't be nervous. She used her Soul Skill on you as soon as she opened the door. It's normal that you couldn't detect it at your current cultivation."
"Don't let it unsettle you. Just do as I told you, and nothing will go wrong."
Zhu Zhuqing shuddered at the thought of what might have happened. Without Gu Chensha, she would probably have revealed everything just now.
She instinctively responded in her sea of consciousness.
"Thank you, Devil Emperor..."
"I told you not to call me senior."
"Yes, senior..."
"...Fine. Call me whatever you like."
Gu Chensha replied helplessly. Old habits really were hard to break.
"Next, just play along with her act."
At that moment, Hu Liena spoke again.
"Zhuqing, think carefully. Are you sure you don't remember anything at all?"
Following Gu Chensha's instructions, Zhu Zhuqing deliberately let her gaze grow unfocused and bewildered, as if she still hadn't recovered from the enchantment.
"I...I remember that at first, someone seemed to be chasing me...I just kept running and running..."
"And then? Do you remember who was chasing you?"
Zhu Zhuqing shook her head, her voice trembling. "I don't remember."
"Do you remember what happened after that?"
"There...there was a terrifying Man Faced Demon Spider...Then...I...can't remember...My head hurts!"
Zhu Zhuqing clutched her head and groaned in pain.
She curled up beside the bed, her shoulders trembling violently.
Seeing this, Hu Liena immediately stepped closer and gently soothed her.
"All right, all right. If you can't remember, don't force yourself. It's okay."
"Your injuries haven't healed yet. Get some rest first. Someone will come by later to check how you're recovering."
With that, she turned and left, gently closing the door behind her.
But Zhu Zhuqing kept up her pained expression behind the door, groaning softly as if she really had fallen into the despair of having her memories torn apart.
Hu Liena watched every bit of it through the crack in the door.
It certainly didn't look like anything was amiss.
At last, she closed the door completely and turned to look at the person leaning against the wall.
He was a strikingly androgynous figure with an eerie beauty.
His skin was as delicate as a baby's, and his enchanting features held a peculiar, bewitching quality. In his hand, he toyed with a golden chrysanthemum as strange and beautiful as he was.
If not for the distinct Adam's apple on his neck, no one would have believed he was a man.
He wore the grand red robes reserved for Titled Douluo, their fabric embroidered with gold and silver patterns. The golden gem the size of a baby's fist on his chest only made him seem even more dazzlingly noble.
He was none other than the Spirit Hall elder, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.
"How was it?"
He spoke in a voice impossible to place as male or female, with no discernible age.
"She really does seem to have lost her memory. She only remembers her own name."
Hu Liena shook her head and lowered her voice.
"I've repeatedly tested her with Soul Skills and examined her body these past few days, but I haven't found anything unusual."
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan paused with his fingers on the petals, rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a moment.
"Three days ago, in the Star Dou Great Forest, she really did pass out near the Devil Emperor."
"Later, we caught several Soul Masters from the Star Luo Zhu Family and learned what had happened."
"That girl really was being hunted by her family. She lost her way in her panic and stumbled into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest. It seems her encounter with the Devil Emperor truly was a matter of chance."
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