camouflage

Do you know what it feels like to drown? When a person is submerged in water without any warning, their hands and feet begin to feel heavy. What is more terrifying than the loss of breath is the deep sense of powerlessness, the despair that arises from the gradual erosion of the hope for life.

Wang Xiaoxia's soul was thus imprisoned within this body. She watched helplessly as her family members lost their lives and blood flowed like a river. This blood gathered together and rushed towards her. She could not escape, could not hide, and could not even shed a tear.

"Xiao Xia," Si Ye called softly. She knelt on the ground and looked up. Lying beside her was her beloved husband.

The father's body was already limp, and the blood flowing out stained the ground beneath him red. As if Ye Sheng had no will to live, she held his face in her hands. The father who loved his daughter the most had now died at the hands of his own daughter.

The cold moonlight shone on Si Ye's dark pupils. The traces of her tears had dried. She looked at her daughter helplessly. The child remained expressionless, and the knife wound on her chest was a horrifying reminder to Si Ye that her child was dead. Her only child was dead!

Wang Xiaoxia wanted to call her "Mother," but she couldn't open her mouth and make a sound.

"Mother, can you see my soul weeping?" Xiao Xia cried out in the darkness.

She wanted her mother to escape quickly, but no matter how hard she tried, the body remained motionless and uncontrollable, with only the strong smell of blood tormenting her.

The sharp blade reflected a cold, chilling light, and fresh blood rolled down its edge. The sword was raised high and then slammed down.

Then, as if in the night, she collapsed limply onto her father's corpse. Warm blood splattered on Wang Xiaoxia's face and rolled down her cheeks like tears of blood, accusing her of her pain.

Unable to struggle, unable to speak, unable to escape.

They couldn't even close their eyes.

A black raven flew overhead with a screech. It was left there by Wu Huan on purpose. It would tell all the ghosts that the daughter of Ghost King Chongli had been killed by her own daughter because she coveted a mortal.

Wang Xiaoxia, carrying a sword, walked barefoot, stepping over the limp corpses of his family members, towards the moonlight. Blood rolled down his ankles as he stepped onto the ground, each step creating a lotus flower.

Just as her body became increasingly light and her feet were no longer under anyone's control, she suddenly collapsed to the ground. The taste of mud mixed with salty, bloody flesh filled her mouth. The blood-stained sword was right in front of her—her mother's blood! Her father's blood! The blood of countless family members! She raised her head, her bloodshot eyes wide, and could no longer control herself as she vomited.

She struggled to her feet, still clutching the sword tightly in her hand. Her name was still clearly engraved on the tassel. Wu Huan had given it to her on her birthday, saying that she, a mortal, could use the sword to protect herself if necessary.

But today she used this sword to kill her entire family.

Wu Huan! Wu Huan!

At this moment, she hated Wu Huan to the extreme, hated the sword to the extreme, and hated her own blood-stained hands to the extreme.

She raised the sword and thrust it fiercely into the hand. Blood gushed out, mingling with her mother's blood. One thrust, two thrusts, three thrusts—she kept stabbing herself, determined to die, as she plunged the sword into her own chest.

Blood kept flowing, but her wounds healed quickly. She had stabbed herself so many times that she was practically a sieve, but no matter what she did, she could never kill herself.

With Wu Huan's help, news of Si Ye's death quickly reached Chong Li. At that time, he was engaged in a fierce battle with the demon race. Cui Heng led the demon army and forced Chong Li to Liangjie Mountain. Chong Li rode on a Bi'an, his feet treading on dark clouds, holding a large knife and pointing it at Cui Heng. He was already covered in wounds, and the outcome was already decided.

"Admit defeat, Chongli!" Cui Heng shouted from atop a jet-black bird.

Chongli burst into laughter. How dare this greenhorn, a mere brat, advise him to admit defeat? He was a king! He would rather die than admit defeat!

He raised his hand and swung the knife with all his might. A fierce white light slashed down along the blade, splitting the Two Realms Mountain in two and creating a huge cliff. Intense, chilling energy rose from the bottom of the cliff, and countless demons and the remaining ghosts were swallowed by the cold energy and fell into the huge crack, their wails echoing across the land.

From then on, the demon realm and the ghost realm were separated. The corpses that flowed like rivers of blood were Chongli's final blow to the demon race. This blow would ensure that the demon race could not invade for a thousand years.

Cui Heng, sitting on the bird's back, was thrown far away by the aftershock. Even with his ancient demon beast body, he could not completely withstand the power of this attack. He flew back and looked at Chong Li in shock. He did not expect that a dying person would still have such great power. If he had not used the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to seriously injure Chong Li once before, the demon race might not have been able to win today.

There are very few people in this world whom Cui Heng can admire, and Chong Li is one of them.

"Little monster, what's your name?" Chongli called out from the other end of the cliff.

At this moment, only Chongli and Cui Heng could survive in this vast Liangjie Mountain.

"My name is Cui Heng," Cui Heng replied. Even though he was impersonating the illegitimate son of the demon king, he had not changed his name. After all, people only knew the demon beast Bai Ze, so why would anyone care about the demon beast's real name?

"You little demon, if you have such abilities, why did you have to impersonate that old monster's son? You have no grudge against me, so why did you have to frame me?" Chong Li continued to ask. He was not angry; his tone was full of appreciation for this young man who had driven him to the brink of despair.

"How did you recognize me?" Cui Heng couldn't help but ask. He had never revealed his true face in front of others, so why did Chong Li recognize him so easily?

“My mother is from the Bluebird Clan, and I have had an exceptionally keen sense of smell since childhood. Your scent cannot deceive me,” Chong Li said. He laughed, blood still flowing from his wounds, but he was not afraid of death.

In the midst of a vortex, death is the most common thing.

“Xuanming saved me once a thousand years ago. He left behind a son, and I should help him. The one you injured and who fled to the human world that day was that young son, Wuhuan,” Cui Heng said.

He rode on a black bird, his hair was jet black, and his pupils had turned black as well—this was a demon's disguise.

It turned out that Chongli had known his identity all along but had never exposed him. He was grateful and told him everything so that he could die knowing the truth.

"So I was left with a young child? This is probably my fate," Chongli murmured. He was old and now all alone, with no reason to live any longer.

"Since Ye is dead, I will also die today. I just wonder if my granddaughter, whom I have never met, is still alive?" Chong Li asked in a low voice, a faint smile on his face, a calm acceptance of death and the last thought of a grandfather.

“She has become a puppet with Wu Huan. She lives when Wu Huan lives and dies when Wu Huan dies,” Cui Heng said bluntly, without holding back at all.

He respected this person from the bottom of his heart.

Chong Li understood now. He knew about the puppet gu, and naturally he also knew that the child was controlling the killing of his own family. How pitiful.

“Fine, since you’ve already burdened her with the crime of murdering her parents, then stop torturing her. She’s just a mortal who has lost her memory, so just spare her life. I’ll kill myself in front of you, so you won’t have to bear the hatred of killing her grandfather,” Chongli said frankly.

“Cui Heng, I find you to be more loyal than Wu Huan. That child’s eyes are dark and lifeless. I entrust my child to you, hoping only that she will live a normal life in the future,” Chong Li said.

“Okay,” Cui Heng replied solemnly.

Chongli looked up at the misty sky, reflecting on his life. Back then, the Ghost Realm was in turmoil, and he and Qiong Cang joined forces to start a rebellion and fight everywhere. How carefree those days were! Now, he was all alone in the world. He couldn't help but laugh twice, then raised his knife and slit his throat to die.

The waters of the River of Oblivion were icy cold. Cui Heng rushed downstream following the flow of blood. The river seemed to be made of knives; with each slit, it sliced ​​a bloody gash into Cui Heng's snow-white body. The blood pooled and stained the entire river red. Ignoring the pain, he continued to plunge downstream until he swallowed the small body into his enormous mouth. Wang Xiaoxia's thick blood gradually turned a dark reddish-brown and flowed from the corners of Cui Heng's mouth. Cui Heng suddenly turned around and, with all his might, pulled him and Xiaoxia out of the River of Oblivion.

A huge white monster carrying a human body burst out of the River of Oblivion, but the water did not ripple at all, as if a huge, scarlet round mirror remained completely still.

The demonic beast finally staggered and landed in a sea of ​​blood-red flowers. It opened its mouth, and the person it was carrying fell from its enormous jaws, crashing into the flowers and crushing the cluster of spider lilies. Only then did the demonic beast finally breathe a sigh of relief, collapsing exhausted beside the person. A red light appeared, and Cui Heng transformed back into human form, lying unconscious beside Wang Xiaoxia, covered in blood.

Wang Xiaoxia's body was still bleeding dark red blood, as if it were the liquid flowing from a person who had been dead for a long time. The blood was lifeless and deathly.

One by one, bloody holes revealed the true form of her body, from which blackish-red pus and blood gushed incessantly. Her body, hands, and even neck were covered in such bloody holes, marks left by her attempt to kill herself.

The River of Oblivion took away her disguise, leaving behind her most authentic self.

The so-called puppet gu is nothing more than making people falsely become walking corpses; the blood on her feet never dried because her wounds never healed.

The River of Oblivion has now returned to its original clarity, as if no one had ever fallen in there.

The red spider lilies bloom along the banks of the River of Oblivion, carrying a faint floral fragrance. They bloom without leaves, and the flowers and leaves never meet.

Two people lay on this sea of ​​blood-red flowers, one alive, one dead.