Chapter 498

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Chapter 498: Master Ronghua, the Yin Yang Master

"I can’t wait any longer!"

Nalan Qingshu lost her patience.

She waited for a whole hour, but no answer came.

She saw the carriage arrive at the palace and sensed the presence of the feudal lords.

She turned pale, anticipating what might happen next.

As she tried to leave, Nalan Jinghuai calmly said from behind, "You cannot leave."

Nalan Qingshu looked at Nalan Jinghuai in confusion, with a pitiful expression on her face. And then, in the next moment, she kicked over the table.

The chessboard, pastries, and teapot were thrown at Nalan Jinghuai, blocking her line of sight.

Nalan Qingshu swiftly crossed the lotus pond with a gust of wind under her feet. She rushed towards the main hall, knowing what was about to happen next, so she wanted to stop what was going to happen.

Even if she wasn’t strong enough, she couldn’t just sit and watch it happen!

Nalan Qingshu arrived in front of the palace and saw her father from a distance. She was about to shout, but suddenly, her voice got stuck in her throat.

Her father came out with a smile on his face, holding the hand of a girl who was smiling happily. It was herself.

The girl’s other hand was also held, and holding her hand was the girl’s mother, who was a prominent figure in the Ming Country.

"How could this be…"

She mumbled, unable to understand.

Why are there two of me and my mother?

That is definitely not me, it is fake!

She wished to immediately run over and expose it, but just as she was about to shout, a chilling voice came from behind, and a hand covered her mouth, holding her in its arms. A deep voice spoke from above her, "Disobedient child, you will be punished…"

Nalan Qingshu lifted her gaze and kept struggling, even landing a punch on the other person’s face.

With that punch, she saw a face on the verge of breaking, as if a broken glass window revealed another face.

Under the shattered illusion, a dark crying mask and pale colorless skin emerged.

"You can only watch…"

"You can’t do anything."

"Just like three years ago."

The masked person held her wrist and calmly explained.

"Next, the lords will join forces to kill the enemy. Lord Bi Fang will die, and the memories of you and your mother will also die. He will fall into despair and madness, and the entire Qingyang City will be burned by fire… Hundreds of thousands of residents, a capital city, all turned into chaos."

Nalan Qingshu tried to speak but couldn’t. She attempted to bite the person’s hand, but as she opened her mouth, his fingers clamped her jaw, making it impossible for her to exert any force.

"Let me tell you Guaiguai, I specially chose a good seat for you to watch, but you didn’t want it…" The masked person stepped back. "Then let’s change the place, we can’t let him see you. But even if he does, it doesn’t matter, he can’t remember anything anymore."

Nalan Qingshu was lifted to the center of the lotus pond like a kitten held by the scruff of its neck. The person let go of her, and she immediately tried to escape as soon as she touched the ground, but she was quickly bounced back even faster.

Below the lotus pond, black rushing water surged out. Like a living creature, it slapped against the front of her forehead and bounced her back, causing her to fall to the ground.

After several attempts, Nalan Qingshu’s face was swollen and bruised. She fell with a heavy head, almost unable to get up.

"Once you break through the southern wall, there’s no turning back. The same goes for Nalan Jing Huai…" The masked person sneered. "If she had given up earlier, perhaps she could have returned to the Ming Country to live out her days. Your mother was stubborn, but you are even more foolish, coming to this place willingly."

"Who… are you?" Nalan Qingshu’s face was covered in bruises. "Where is this place?"

"When I saw it, I understood. This is Qingyang City."

"No, this is not!"

"This is not the Qingyang City you know, but my Qingyang City," the masked person calmly explained. "The enclosed territory that I created."

"Enclosed…"

The use of this word here is truly eerie and unsettling.

Nalan Qingshu opened her mouth but couldn’t find words to say.

"With hundreds of thousands of lost souls and the corpse of a top-level exotic beast, it is nearly impossible to find a more perfect place to nurture the souls. It is the ideal place for dark practitioners and evil cultivators," the masked person said. "This Qingyang City repeats the same scenery you are about to witness every night. Hmm… it’s about to begin."

As soon as the words were spoken.

In the main hall, the life signs of Nalan Jinghuai and Nalan Qingshu, the two memory bodies, suddenly disappeared. The harmonious scene instantly turned incredibly eerie.

Lord Bi Fang saw his wife and daughter mysteriously die, his pupils contracted, a blue fire swept through the hall, and he suddenly rose up, roaring through the hall.

The other lords were all demon kings, and their cultivation levels varied.

The demon kings fought each other, on top of Qingyang City, the eight great demon kings stood facing each other, and a deadly battle of seven against one began.

Nalan Qingshu looked at this scene in despair, she knew what the outcome would be.

"I specifically extracted fragments from my memory to place them here," said the masked man with a sigh. "This spectacular scene is a rare sight. Why don’t you guess how many rounds your father can endure?"

Nalan Qingshu angrily stomped the table and swung her fist at the masked man’s face, but her movement was stopped halfway as black water knocked her back to where she started.

"Like an angry little chick," the masked man laughed heartily. "Your cultivation skills are far from being proficient."

"You motherf***er!" Nalan Qingshu blurted out profanity. "You dirty bastard!"

The masked man glanced at the cursing little girl and coldly said, "Slap yourself!"

The sound of a slap was crisp.

Nalan Qingshu fell to the ground, her lips turning purple.

The mysterious person, who kept hundreds of thousands of lost souls captive, sat here calmly, lifting a cup of tea. He drank it behind his mask, and as the tea went down his throat, he seemed to release years of gloomy air that had been trapped within him.

The memories and lost souls fought fiercely above, but they were just repetitive fragments. It was like a grown-up waving fists and feet in the air, but deeply immersed in it. They couldn’t distinguish between what was real and what was imaginary. The aftershocks of dark power shook the entire Qingyang City. Fiery meteors showered down, igniting the city. Once again, the lost souls recalled the burning scenes of their own demise. Even though the flames hadn’t touched them, they eagerly ignited, running through the streets crying and rolling about.

Yet this shockwave couldn’t reach the lotus pond behind the palace. The black flowing water blocked the flames and cut off any sense of perception. Sitting here was like being separated by the fourth wall, just like characters in a movie who could never influence the audience in theater.

Nalan Qingshu looked up at the burning scene in the sky, the agonizing and suppressed screams coming from Qingyang City.

In the next moment, she struggled to prop herself up with her fingertips, her hateful gaze fixed on the masked figure.

She didn’t want her own wails to become the enemy’s enjoyment.

The masked figure clapped his hands with exaggerated and contemptuous movements.

"You should think about how you will live next, instead of hating with extra strength…"

"Your mother would never let you enter the city, but you broke her final wish."

"When you came to Qingyang City, you walked right into my captive territory. It’s a path to your own demise, and you even gave me a big gift without reason."

"I originally thought that with the Bi Fang bloodline still in existence, your stay in Qingyang City wouldn’t be too secure. Your mother made great efforts to bring you out of the city for safety, but now you have come to me willingly. The causality of time, it’s truly interesting to think about."

The mask-wearing person laughed heartily.

"Oh, Nalan Jinghuai, Nalan Jinghuai, you oppressed me for fifteen years. You probably never imagined that there would be such a good day like today."

"By sitting here, I’m essentially sitting on the soul of your husband, Lord Bi Fang, and at the same time, I have control over your daughter’s life."

"Even I never expected that it would be so easy to eliminate all future troubles at once. It feels too effortless and somewhat fake. But if this was your plan, then it’s also quite laughable. Someone like you, how could you make such reckless actions?"

He wasn’t speaking to Nalan Qingshu, but rather to the deceased Nalan Jinghuai. His words held both respect and fear.

After feeling deeply moved, the masked person looked at Nalan Qingshu jokingly and said, "Why didn’t your mother teach you that survival is more important before your wings have fully grown? You, a young bird, are about to break in my hands even before you can spread your wings. It’s like a stone that falls into a turbulent Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, where not even a single wave can rise. Oh, how pitiful! But making your family reunite is also a good deed. At least I can make your departure less painful."

Nalan Qingshu listened with a chill down her spine and questioned again, "Who are you, after all?"

The masked person smoothed out the wrinkles on their clothes and sat up straight in a grave manner.

"Your mother didn’t tell you for a reason. If I know your name, I might become aware of something."

"I can’t reveal my real name, but you can call me Master Ronghua or Uncle Nineteen. Your mother and I were born into the Nalan family."

"I once learned the art of manipulation from the Ghost Valley Master, but deep down, I am a practitioner of Yin and Yang. And… Your mother is also a practitioner of Yin and Yang."