That night, at Yang Kai's manor!
Torches blazing all around illuminated the entire estate in brilliant light. The moon hung bright in the sky with only a few scattered stars, and the war city's night was utterly tranquil.
"Has she arrived?" Yang Kai, who had been sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes. They gleamed brightly in the darkness, and a playful smile hung at the corner of his lips.
The Earth Demon, standing guard beside him, let out two eerie cackles of laughter, making the peaceful night feel all the more sinister and unsettling.
"Since you're here, why not show yourself openly?" Yang Kai called out in a clear, loud voice.
The door was suddenly flung open. Yang Kai's gaze sharpened as he looked ahead. Beneath the radiant moonlight, an almost transparent figure stood at the doorway. Just like during the day, it was as though clear flowing water had stepped through the entrance—the person strode into the room and came to a halt roughly ten zhang from Yang Kai.
The Earth Demon quietly channeled his power. Shadow Nine, hidden in the darkness, also focused every ounce of his attention on this mysterious expert, not daring to let his guard down for even a moment.
"Cowardly as a rat!" A voice of contempt came from where the near-transparent figure stood—still that same crisp, melodious, and youthful female voice. She was clearly scoffing at the fact that Yang Kai had brought two powerful fighters to a meeting with her.
"Show your true face!" Yang Kai said, unperturbed, his tone casual.
"A lowlife like you doesn't deserve to see the real me!" The figure before him gave a light snort, then paused before adding, "Unless you make these two people beside you leave!"
Yang Kai smiled with amusement, idly toying with a small doll crafted from pale blue hair in one hand, saying nothing.
It was plain to feel that the woman's gaze across from him had locked onto the doll. Her beautiful eyes seemed to brim with wariness and frustration, as if she wanted nothing more than to snatch the little figure away and destroy it on the spot.
After a long moment, Yang Kai finally waved his hand.
"Young Master!" The Earth Demon's expression shifted slightly as he spoke in a low voice.
"It's fine," Yang Kai said, shaking his head.
The Earth Demon frowned but eventually nodded. "Then this old servant and Shadow Nine will wait outside the door. Just call out if you need anything!"
With that, he turned and walked out. As he passed by the mysterious woman, the Earth Demon suddenly let out an eerie laugh. "Don't provoke my Young Master, or you'll have no peaceful days ahead."
The mysterious woman let out a derisive scoff.
Only after the Earth Demon and Shadow Nine had both stepped outside did the mysterious woman finally relax. With two experts stationed inside the room, even she had been somewhat tense.
Yang Kai took in her subtle shift and chuckled softly. "It seems you're not all that powerful."
If she was wary of both Shadow Nine and the Earth Demon, she clearly wasn't a top-tier powerhouse.
"As long as I'm more powerful than you, that's enough," the woman shot back coldly, showing no intention of backing down.
Yang Kai couldn't help but furrow his brow. This woman... actually bickering with him—her temperament was clearly immature. Just how old was she? Yang Kai was genuinely curious about that.
"Now, as you wished, my two subordinates have left. Show me your true appearance!"
"Hee hee..." The woman let out a string of delicate giggles, her almost-transparent body flickering in and out of visibility, her bearing graceful and striking. She reined in her laughter and said sweetly, "You're that eager to see me?"
"That's right," Yang Kai said, slowly rising to his feet. He walked toward her, one step at a time.
The mysterious woman's aura suddenly stuttered. She hadn't expected Yang Kai to be so brazen—to approach her directly without any guards at all.
As he drew closer, the woman, who should have had every reason to feel secure, actually began to sense a sliver of danger.
She slowly shook her head, dispelling the unease in her heart. Her aura abruptly turned threatening, and she said in an icy voice, "I'll give you one chance. Hand over what's in your hand."
"And if I refuse?"
"Anyone who anger's this lady has never met a good end!" The woman's cold shout rang out, and her water-like body suddenly burst apart. The dispersed mist instantly filled the entire room. Within that haze, eerie streams of energy drifted about, converging on Yang Kai from every direction.
Sensing the commotion inside, Shadow Nine at the doorway shifted, ready to rush in to help, but the Earth Demon grabbed him and held him back.
The Earth Demon shook his head slowly and said calmly, "The Young Master will be fine."
"If anything happens to him, you die," Shadow Nine said coldly.
The Earth Demon cackled. "When it comes to loyalty, I'm no less devoted than you. Relax—that woman's the one who's going to regret it. Daring to anger the Young Master, she'll have a miserable end, that's for sure."
No sooner had his words fallen than a shrill scream suddenly erupted from inside the room—it was the woman's voice. From the sound of it, she was suffering some kind of utterly merciless torment.
Interspersed with her screams were Yang Kai's low, lecherous chuckles.
Shadow Nine's expression grew oddly peculiar as an image involuntarily formed in his mind—a hulking, brutish bully forcing himself upon a delicate, helpless young maiden with no power to resist.
Quite the blood-pumping scene.
Inside the room, Yang Kai stood rooted in place, pinching the small doll between his fingers and flicking it lightly. Each flick drew a more piercing scream from the woman.
After a moment, a figure suddenly materialized before him. The mist was too thick to make out clearly, but wracked with pain, the woman was curled up on the ground like a quail in the depths of winter, her slender body trembling violently. Her pale blue hair cascaded across the floor in a disheveled waterfall, making her look so fragile and helpless, so pitiable.