Ming Zhao did not respond to Li Ya. A fish on the verge of death was not worth wasting any more words on.
Li Ya had not meant to demand an answer from Ming Zhao. She had merely given herself a reason to attack him.
Other than when hunting for food or fighting enemies, she had never taken the initiative to harm another living being.
Since Ming Zhao wanted her Soul Ring and Soul Bone, he naturally fell into the ranks of her enemies, and Li Ya could kill him without holding back.
Never mind whether Li Ya's code of conduct was foolish; at least, she had lived by it since birth.
A beautiful song once again emerged from Li Ya's lips, but unlike the gentle singing from before, which had sounded like celestial music that made one's ears tingle, her voice now soared high, brimming with killing intent.
"La~ la la la~"
"La la la~ la la la~~"
Wherever the song passed, sound waves rippled visibly through the air. Each successive ring carried a devastating mental impact.
When those mental impacts struck the water ghosts and female ghosts, their spirit bodies suffered heavy blows. Wisps of ghost Qi were blasted from them, and the water ghosts and female ghosts let out piercing shrieks.
Ming Zhao, with his unusual fate, had no fear of holy powers.
But a purely mental attack like this was one of the few abilities that could deal real damage to him.
Even the ghost domain created by Red and White Colliding Calamities was torn open with fine cracks by Li Ya's song, laden as it was with killing intent.
As one wave of song ended, an even stronger mental impact followed.
Mermaid Duet!
"La la la-"
"Wu~a-"
Crack...
Those ordinary water ghosts and female ghosts, who had been killed by Ming Zhao and turned into low-level ghosts, were shattered completely by Li Ya's melodious mermaid song, becoming a skyful of tiny specks of soul light.
With the water ghosts and female ghosts no longer there to carry them, the ghost coffin and ghost sedan chair also came to a halt, floating quietly on the water.
"You've got some tricks." Ming Zhao's voice was frighteningly calm.
Clad in a long red-and-black robe, he rose little by little from the murky seawater, then stood on the surface as though it were solid ground, staring coldly at Li Ya.
He raised his hand and gently wiped the tip of his nose.
He looked down and saw a streak of glaring scarlet on his thumb.
The hundred-thousand-year-old Sea Princess lived up to her reputation.
But it was useless.
"Hmph! Human, leave now, and I'll forgive your disrespect and offense against me!" Li Ya gave a soft huff, one hand on her hip and the other gently stroking her hair, her tone carrying a hint of delight.
Ming Zhao merely twitched the corner of his mouth, somewhat speechless, as Soul Rings rose one after another from beneath his feet.
"Do you think you've won? Haven't you noticed yet?"
"What...?" Li Ya's eyes widened as she looked around in some panic.
When did it happen?!
The clear blue seawater had turned into murky yellow-green filth. Wisps of fishy stench rose into the sky along with a powerful surge of Yin Qi and resentment, making Li Ya, who had always been holy and fond of cleanliness, feel her hair stand on end and prickles run down her back.
"Wait! The sea has become like this, so..."
"Finally noticed?" Ming Zhao grinned, baring a mouthful of white teeth, his smile especially cruel and vicious. "But you're too late, country bumpkin!"
"While you were dealing with the little ghosts, I already took care of your followers and lackeys! Hee~"
"Bastard, you demon!" Li Ya showed anger for the first time. "They weren't my followers or my lackeys! They were my friends and companions!"
"But you... you did that to all of them... unforgivable!"
"Oh?" Ming Zhao ignored her insignificant anger and instead noticed another important detail.
"You're saying... they were all your friends and companions?"
"Yes! I'll avenge them! Human, don't even think about leaving. Stay in the Ice Sea forever!" Li Ya cried out in grief, scalding tears streaming from her eyes.
Ming Zhao laughed again.
Friendship and bonds-how truly touching!
"In that case..."
Gurgle... gurgle...
Foul-smelling bubbles began to rise from the murky sea. Dark shapes surfaced one after another, poking their heads out and "watching" Li Ya with empty, eyeless sockets as she hovered thirty centimeters above the surface, afraid to touch the seawater.
Among them were tuna, whale sharks, clownfish, groupers, sunfish, triggerfish...
They had all once been Li Ya's companions, often traveling with her through the vast Ice Sea.
But now they had only one identity: Ming Zhao's loyal evil spirits!
Watching the terrified expression on Li Ya's face grow increasingly vacant, Ming Zhao burst into wild laughter and suddenly spread his hands. Dense gray-black ghost Qi erupted.
"Avenge them! Hahaha, come avenge your friends! I just wonder if you can bring yourself to do it?!"
The ghost Qi spread unchecked, once again filling the entire domain of the Red and White Colliding Calamities Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Wedding music and funeral dirges rang out once more, even more fervently than before.
Ghosts rose from beneath the water, lifted the ghost coffin and ghost sedan chair, and walked head to tail around Li Ya, trapping her in the middle.
But the ones truly trapping her were her friends!
"Your Highness..."
"I don't want to die!"
"Please, Your Highness, save us!"
"It hurts! It hurts!!!"
"Kill me! Kill me, quickly!"
"Ah!!"
One ghost fish after another writhed slowly forward through the filthy water. Their flesh was rotting, their ragged skin and scales barely clinging to their skeletons, and their bodies gave off a pungent, fishy stench.
They opened their rotten mouths, spraying green corrosive miasma as they screamed.
Their agonized screams and wails made tears pour down Li Ya's face like rain. Her heart felt as though it were being cut with a knife, and she clenched her fists in midair, trembling all over.
She desperately wanted to flee.
Though she would not admit it aloud, all Li Ya felt toward her former companions was fear. She was afraid of her friends' hideous, ghastly appearance now.
"No, don't come near me... none of you, come near me!"
Li Ya's fearful voice, thick with tears, reached the ghost fishes' ears. They stopped moving and came no closer to her.
Had they understood Her Highness's fear and awakened their former memories?
No!
They had grown excited!
"Your Highness, you don't want us anymore!"
"Boo-hoo... Her Highness has abandoned us..."
"Why are you so cruel?!"
"I hate you!"
"Die! Hurry up and join us!"
"A vicious creature like you doesn't deserve to live!"
Li Ya's body froze. The ghost fishes' venomous curses and abuse echoed in her ears, while all she could see were the pained, hideous faces of her former friends.
"I..."
Before she could speak again, the ghost fish swarmed forward. Like ugly vultures catching the scent of carrion, they leaped from the filthy water and pounced on Li Ya, tearing at her beautiful body with their sharp teeth.
"I'm sorry..."