To Lin Jing, it was as though this other person was some sort of unfortunate imitation. Perhaps this was someone who’d gotten plastic surgery to look like his boss’s so-called wife—surgery by someone rather unskilled, that was. There was no question that this person was the ugly bootleg version.
The bootleg slowly opened his mouth. “I’m a sentimental person, but you forced my hand. I have no choice but to kill you, my brother.”
As he spoke, his eyes sparkled with a strange light, as though he was both reluctant and yearning at once. The Chaos Kings of the Gui had entered the world as twins, neither superior to the other. But only Shen Wei had received Kunlun-jun’s protection; he alone had attained divinity and now stood unaffected by the Great Seal…
“If I consume you, do you think I could break through the whole Seal?”
Even nailed to the Ancient Merit Tree, Shen Wei still laughed at him. The laugh was weak but mocking. “What, has your scheme with the Four Hallowed Artifacts failed already? What happened to the Reincarnation Dial? Did it turn into an ordinary rock in your hands?”
Ghost Face’s eyelid twitched violently. He slapped Shen Wei across the face, and his brother’s head snapped to the side with the force of it. The blow broke the skin inside his mouth on his gritted teeth.
Shen Wei spat the blood out, then said, “The Reincarnation Dial was made from the Three-Life Rock, and the Three-Life Rock and the Ancient Merit Tree are each connected to one of every person’s seven corporeal souls. They are connected through the souls of the living. Only the Mountain-River Awl contains both yin and yang within itself as one.
“The Awl can trap anything in the world. I lured you out with it and put a tracking spell on you. Then, exactly as I expected, you brought out the Soul-Tempering Cauldron, and then the Merit Brush, where everyone could see. The most important hearthstone under the Soul-Tempering Cauldron is from the Three-Life Rock. As for where you found such a fragment…I don’t even need to guess. The moment the Merit Brush appeared in the world, I found the Reincarnation Dial and put it in the Mountain-River Awl. How do you suppose that cauldron ended up in your hands so easily? Did you really think yourself so lucky that someone would just give you a pillow the moment you felt sleepy?”
“Mountain-River Awl… The Mountain-River Awl was in your hands all along? You were the one who planned for it to appear in Qingxi Village?”
“Can’t you read? ‘Mountain-River.’ ‘Mountain-River.’ The thirty-six mountains begin with Kunlun Mountain. I inherited the Mountain God’s power and an inherent connection to the ten thousand great mountains. Why would I fight you for something…that has always been in my hands?” Cold sweat dripped into Shen Wei’s mouth. Unbothered, he licked his lips. “One more thing you might want to know. Remember the bait you used to lure me here? That wisp of Chaos you took from your own body? Where do you suppose it is now, after I sucked it away?”
His expression twisting into something nearly savage, Ghost Face’s countenance went blue and then red. His hand lashed out and grasped the icicle in Shen Wei’s chest. The blood drenching Shen Wei’s robes stuck flesh and fabric together tightly. He was a tragic sight.
Ghost Face gave the icicle a brutal twist. “I couldn’t care less.” His breath came heavily as he leaned in close to Shen Wei’s face. “I don’t need to know anything. I can simply bleed you out until you can no longer maintain this human form. Then I can pull Kunlun’s tendon out of you and consume you, one mouthful at a time, and ever after, there will be only one King of the Gui in the world. I. Will. Truly. Be. Unmatched.”
Agony left Shen Wei unable to speak, but the mocking smile that seemed carved into the corner of his lips was still loud and clear: You’re welcome to try.
Ghost Face pulled the icicle halfway out, only to fiercely thrust it back in. Shen Wei’s body convulsed. At long last, he passed out and hung motionless, head dangling limply.
In a flash, Ghost Face vanished into the endless darkness.