The ugly truth was suddenly laid bare before him, and Lingyao opened his thin lips in dejection, but he never uttered a single word.

It turns out that the third-realm demonic beast was arranged by Yin Ming. It turns out that in his eyes, his life was just something to be played with.

He could easily put on a show and make the man grateful and loyal to him. Loyalty can be so cheap.

Then he probably never had any real feelings for him. The truth built on a false foundation is, in essence, also false.

Besides, that wasn't really real; it was all just acting.

Yin Ming's slash finally struck Ling Yao squarely in the heart.

Yin Ming looked down at the devastated Ling Yao, like a high god looking down at an ant as insignificant as dust, "It was quite interesting to watch you wander around and struggle to survive from behind the scenes at first."

"But later you became too numb, and I got bored. I thought you might need new stimulation to feel the emotions you should have again, so I changed the rules of the game, became your savior, and came to your side."

"I played a good guy for four years, and to be honest, it was exhausting. But seeing you looking like this, half-dead, makes it all worth it."

What he thought was salvation turned out to be merely a means to push him into an even darker abyss.

Lingyao clutched his chest in pain, as if he had been hit hard by a hammer, and something had shattered.

Is this what Yin Ming wanted? To revive his withered heart, just so he could feel pain again, and then die completely.

What kind of demon lies hidden beneath his harmless exterior...?

"And guess why I'm perfectly fine right now?"

"The truth is, the Eight Realms Qiongqi just now was also summoned by me. It wasn't bewitched by the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, but rather received my orders to target me... well, to be precise, to target you."

"And the reason I shielded you from harm was simply because you gave me the Xuan Tie Armor. You've been so good to me, how could I let you down? Of course, I had to put on another show to make you grateful to me."

"Of course, the serious injuries were all an illusion. You have no idea how pathetic and ridiculous you looked when you stumbled and ran towards me just now."

"I just didn't expect you to be promoted so suddenly; it was quite unexpected."

"Hmm, because of you, I've lost another Eighth Realm Qiongqi. Tell me, how are you going to compensate me?"

Not only did they toy with his feelings, they also trampled on his sincerity... Lingyao clenched his fist tightly, so hard that his nails dug into his palm, and blood dripped down, quickly covering his entire right fist.

Yin Ming used to be unable to bear seeing him get injured, and would always bandage his wounds immediately when he saw them. But now he turns a blind eye to it and treats it indifferently.

The sweetest candies of the past have now become the sharpest blades, piercing him relentlessly, leaving him utterly wounded. Even the heavy snowfall could not compare to the chill in his heart.

Taking advantage of his moment of despondency, Yin Ming snatched the magical beast space ring from his left hand and brazenly pulled out the still-sleeping fox cub.

The fox cub was awakened by his rough movements and made a soft, babyish whimpering sound. Yin Ming ignored its weak cries for help and grabbed its hind paws, suspending it in the air.

"Otherwise, let's use this spirit fox as collateral."

Yin Ming turned the fox cub's body around, glanced quickly at Ling Yao, and then looked back at the furry creature in his hand.

"You seem to really like this little guy? But what can I do? I hate it. I actually hate animals like this the most."

Yin Ming raised his other hand and grabbed the fox cub by the neck, tightening his grip as he looked at Ling Yao provocatively.

"No!" Lingyao wanted to rush over to stop him, but saw Yin Ming suddenly wave his hand, and his body was bound tightly by the Immortal Binding Rope without any warning.

Unable to move an inch, Lingyao could only shout urgently at Yin Ming, "You were clearly targeting me, why did you hurt it?!"

Yin Ming casually tossed the motionless fox cub to the ground and wiped his hands with a handkerchief without any hesitation.

“I’m happy. Everything I’ve done these past few years is because I’m happy. As you know, cultivators live longer than ordinary people. To you, we are no different from gods.”

"When a person's life is too long, they will think about finding some pastimes to do for their own entertainment."

Lingyao gazed at the lifeless fox cub lying silently in the snow, no longer asking whether she believed him or not. The light in her starry eyes dimmed. "Why me?"

Yin Ming blinked innocently, his tone casual, "Well, I don't have much to explain about this. You're just unlucky."

"Someone will thank you, because if it weren't you, someone else would have to suffer these things. Someone as kind as you would definitely choose to go to hell yourself, right?"

Lingyao chuckled softly, then closed her eyes in despair. "Do you really have no heart?"

Yin Ming shook his head disapprovingly. "Ah Yao, don't you think that's ridiculous? Whatever I do to you lowly people is none of my business, after all—"

"Would you really care whether an ant lives or dies?"

"You'll understand when you're in my position... Oh, sorry, I forgot, you probably won't have the chance to stand in the same position as me."

"I've recently taken a liking to studying body organs. You seem ready, so I'm going to begin."

"It might hurt a little, just bear with it."

Yin Ming's tone was ambiguous, but his actions were brutal and cruel.

If Lingyao had previously held a skeptical attitude, he became utterly desperate when Yinming cut out his eighth-realm cultivation pill through the wound in his abdomen.

Yin Ming looked at Ling Yao, who was no longer speaking and staring at him with a fierce look in his eyes, and bit his tongue hard.

Fortunately, Lingyao already believed him, otherwise he really didn't know what else he could say to provoke him.

His tongue was bitten and bled profusely from the dense blood vessels. Yin Ming was already used to the strong, bloody taste in his mouth. He swallowed the blood back without making a sound, determined not to let even a drop spill out and let Ling Yao see it.

This is good; the more intense the physical pain, the better he feels.

I'm sorry, Yao, you're not alone in your suffering. I'm here with you.

"Yin Ming... I will never forget what you did today! You better pray that I will perish, otherwise, I will spare no effort to grind you to dust!"

Yin Ming listened to his threat in a daze, and at this moment the plot finally overlapped with the original work again.

When he read the novel, he didn't pay too much attention to the emotions contained in that sentence. But now, hearing it with his own ears, the intense despair and hatred it conveyed made Yin Ming's heart clench.

Since he was powerless to change anything, the only thing he could do was let everything proceed as it was originally intended.

At least that way, Lingyao will have a fairly good future.

Yin Ming parted his thin lips slightly and uttered the exact same answer as the villain in the original work.

"Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be praying you die soon."