Puncturing the Disguise! A Deception Spanning Two Lifetimes!

Xiao Wu saw the Third Brother she constantly yearned for, his ankle tendons being severed by the blade wielded by Hu Liena beside him!

She also heard Tang San's heart-rending, feral, stray-dog-like screams!

"No... Impossible... This is impossible!"

Xiao Wu covered her mouth, tears streaming out as she shook her head desperately,

"Third Brother is a Twin Spirits user... He has the Mystic Heaven Skill... How could he be crippled by you people..."

The scene within the light curtain continued.

A bloody radiance descended from the skies, and a tall elder landed.

"This is... Great-grandfather!"

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, as if she had grasped at a straw.

In her previous life, she had heard Tang San mention Tang Chen, knowing that he was Tang San's great-grandfather.

Yet the very next second.

Not only did that great-grandfather fail to rescue Tang San, but instead pinched Tang San's neck like lifting a small chick, greed and cruelty flickering within his eyes.

Then it turned into a streak of blood-red light, and Tang San vanished amidst a despairing cry.

The light curtain dissipated.

Dead silence enveloped the banks of the Lake of Life.

Daming and Erming, frozen in place by the domain, had their eyes bulging almost out of their sockets, their gazes filled with shock and disbelief.

That Tang San, who was invincible in their hearts, had just been crippled like this?

And dragged away by a monster?

"Did you see that?"

Ye Yuan put away the Primordial Bell, looking at Xiao Wu collapsed on the ground,:

"Your Third Brother neither plotted a counterattack nor was he invincible under heaven. Right now, he is merely a five-year-old cripple with severed ankle tendons, treated as blood-food and a cauldron by the Nine-Headed Bat King hiding within the Capital of Slaughter, fighting dead men for meat in a cesspit every day."

"You won't live to wait for him to come to Nuoding Academy to find you."

Ye Yuan slowly leaned down, looking into Xiao Wu's eyes, which had lost their focus due to grief:

"Right now, that piece of trash cannot even protect himself. Guess what—does he still have the ability to come and save you?"

"No... This isn't true! You're lying to me!!!"

Following a brief, dead silence, Xiao Wu shrieked like a madwoman.

She lunged recklessly at Ye Yuan, those originally adorable big eyes bloodshot, tears gushing out like a breached dam:

"That's an illusion! It's a fake image you created with your spirit to deceive me! My Third Brother is the Child of Destiny, he could never lose so miserably!"

"Bang!"

Xiao Wu failed even to touch the corner of Ye Yuan's clothes before Hu Liena kicked her fiercely in the stomach, sending her flying heavily and rolling several times over the grass before she finally stopped.

"Little beast, if you dare touch Brother Xiaoyuan again, I'll skin you alive right now."

Hu Liena toyed with the short blade in her hand, her fox eyes filled with icy killing intent.

"Cough, cough..."

Xiao Wu clutched her stomach and curled up on the ground, raising her head to look in utter despair at the two elder brothers frozen in place, and then at the lofty Ye Yuan before her.

"An illusion? You are also a reincarnator; can you not sense the soul aura belonging to Tang San within that imagery?"

Ye Yuan walked slowly to Xiao Wu, squatting down as though looking at an interesting toy:

"However, since you refuse to give up, this sovereign shall show mercy and tell you another story."

"A monstrous lie spanning two lifetimes, concerning the good Third Brother you yearn for so deeply."

Xiao Wu shivered all over, biting her lip as she stared fixedly at him.

"You and Tang San met at Nuoding Academy in your previous life. He was six, and you were six as well. You were childhood sweethearts, innocent and pure, weren't you?"

The corners of Ye Yuan's mouth curled into a mocking arc:

"Yet have you ever considered why a six-year-old farm child possessed scheming depths comparable to an adult? Why did he master hidden weapons and footwork unheard of anywhere on Douluo Continent?"

"Because... Because Third Brother was a genius..."

Xiao Wu defended herself pale-faced.

"A genius? No, because he was never a six-year-old child to begin with."

Ye Yuan ruthlessly tore away Tang San's final layer of disguise:

"He was an old ghost from another world carrying the adult memories of a past life! His true age was that of a half-hundred old ghost."

"Hum!"

A loud boom resounded in Xiao Wu's mind, as if a thunderbolt had split the skies.

"Think carefully."

Ye Yuan's voice was like a devil's whisper, piercing straight into the depths of her soul:

"An old monster with an adult intellect—why would he lavish endless flattery on a newly met, worldly-inexperienced little girl, and even take her as a sworn younger sister?"

"Could it be because he lacked love? Or perhaps..."

Ye Yuan deliberately dragged out his tone, his gaze sweeping over the frozen Daming and Erming:

"Or perhaps that shrewd old ghost, the very first time he laid eyes on you, had already seen through the fact that you were a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that had taken human form to re-cultivate?"

"Shut up! Shut your mouth!! Third Brother isn't that kind of person! He truly loved me!"

Xiao Wu covered her ears, shaking her head frantically.

"Love? Perhaps there was some later on. But that initial approach was absolute calculated, meticulous investment."

Ye Yuan stood up:

"He knew you were a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, which is why he kept you by his side. That was equivalent to carrying around an ATM with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone that would automatically grow!"

"You thought you were his lover? In the calculations of his past life, you were merely the most useful sacrificial trump card for when he encountered life-or-death crises!"

Ye Yuan turned his head to look at Daming and Erming, his voice exploding within the minds of the two fierce beasts:

"Including you two fools! You thought sacrificing yourselves for him in the past life was a great sacrifice? You were nothing more than stepping stones on his path to becoming a God King!"

"He became the Dual God Kings, standing high above. Yet what did he ever do for your soul beast clan? Did he change the destiny of soul beasts being hunted by humans? No! He merely stepped upon your corpses and contentedly enjoyed his divine throne!"

The eyes of the frozen Daming and Erming erupted with violent fluctuations.

Though their bodies could not move, Ye Yuan's words were like sharp daggers, ruthlessly stabbing into that tragic memory from their previous lives.

Indeed... After Tang San became a god, had the destiny of soul beasts ever changed by even a fraction?

"No... This isn't true..."

Xiao Wu completely collapsed, sitting limply on the ground with hollow eyes.

Under Ye Yuan's heart-piercing words, her faith as a beast across two lifetimes began to shatter inch by inch.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Ye Yuan put away his smile and delivered the final ultimatum:

"Little rabbit, right now, this sovereign gives you two choices."

Ye Yuan pointed at the frozen Daming and Erming:

"First, this sovereign will have Yue Guan and Guimei lift their domain right now, and then skin these two fools, pull out their tendons, carve their bones, and extract their rings right before your eyes."

Xiao Wu jerked her head up, her eyes filled with terror:

"No! I beg you, don't hurt Daming and Erming!"

"Then choose the second path."

Ye Yuan looked down at her, not a trace of pity in his gaze:

"Be an obedient dog and follow me obediently. Go and serve as the scabbard in this sovereign's hand, used to draw the Asura Divine Sword."

"As long as you are obedient enough, this sovereign can spare the lives of these two beasts."