"No, Miss, don't kill him..."
Lu Zhu pushed away Luo Laya Ta, her cloak almost falling off, but she clutched it tightly, kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face.
"I owe him. I... I'm sorry to him. Miss, please, let him go."
Wu Cheng had killed her mother, and she could not forgive him.
But back then, if she hadn't hesitated and had agreed to elope with Wu Cheng, leaving the Wu clan, perhaps their ending wouldn't be like this.
They had promised each other back then that they would leave together, but in the end, she had backed down.
She couldn't bear to leave her mother. Her mother's pleas had softened her heart.
"You want me to let him go? He hurt you, and we're just going to let it go?"
Turning her head, Gu Qian Ying looked at Lu Zhu.
She couldn't understand why Lu Zhu was like this.
"I... I don't blame him."
Lu Zhu said, her voice choked with tears.
"Don't blame him? Heh!"
Her red lips curled into a cold smile. Gu Qian Ying raised a slender finger and, from a distance, flicked her hand, delivering a sharp "slap."
Lu Zhu covered half of her face, which was already red and swollen, and remained on the ground with her head bowed, not daring to speak.
"Idiot! If he truly loved you, how could he be so cruel to you? Lu Zhu, wake up!"
Releasing her grip, Gu Qian Ying waved her sleeve, unleashing her demonic power.
Wu Cheng was sent flying backward, utterly powerless under the suppression of the demonic force.
An evil wind seemed to rise, and he fell heavily in front of Lu Zhu, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Gu Qian Ying threw a dagger at Lu Zhu.
"Lu Zhu, kill him, and you won't be in pain anymore."
Gu Qian Ying's alluring eyes were cold and merciless.
"Miss... I... I..."
Looking at the dagger before her, Lu Zhu's lips trembled. She lacked the courage to pick it up.
At this moment.
Nangong Mo, Du Chun, Nangong Li, and Luo Laya Ta all looked at Gu Qian Ying.
The black lotus mark between Gu Qian Ying's brows shimmered with a purple light under the dim candlelight.
"Girl... you..."
Nangong Mo, about to say something, froze when he met Gu Qian Ying's cold gaze.
Could it be that his wife no longer recognized him?
"What? Do you have an opinion about my command?"
Gu Qian Ying's voice was icy, like frozen water, and the distance in her words was evident.
Nangong Mo's heart felt as if it were being pierced by needles, a sharp pain.
His wife no longer recognized him!
He wanted to walk to Gu Qian Ying's side and embrace her.
But his legs felt as heavy as lead, unable to move an inch.
The words he wanted to ask remained unspoken, as he lacked the courage to open his mouth.
He was terrified that his wife had forgotten him.
He was also afraid that she had become a stranger to him, cold and distant.
He dared not speak to confirm, fearing a result he couldn't accept.
Nangong Mo was at a loss for what to do.
Gu Qian Ying looked at him, her cold gaze not lingering on him for long. She withdrew her sight and then looked coldly at Du Chun, Nangong Li, and Luo Laya Ta.
"Or do you three have an opinion about my command?"
Du Chun's eyes remained fixed on Gu Qian Ying's face.
He said nothing.
The Sixth Prince Nangong Li, with his hands behind his back, pulled Luo Laya Ta behind him.
"No... no opinion. We have no opinion at all."
Under Gu Qian Ying's aura, as cold as ten thousand years of ice, Sixth Prince Nangong Li lowered his head and surrendered.
The temperature inside the ancient tomb was very low. Those nine-headed snakes, human-faced bats, Xuan Wang corpses, and spirits, and other strange creatures dared not move without Gu Qian Ying's command.
They knelt respectfully, lay prostrate, or circled in mid-air.
Suddenly, the dagger before Lu Zhu was picked up by someone.
She looked at the person before her in disbelief.
The sharp tip of the dagger grazed her ear, cutting off a few strands of hair.
"Let me go, or I'll kill her!"
Wu Cheng, dagger in hand, held it to Lu Zhu's neck, hiding behind her and holding her hostage.
"Heh! Lu Zhu, is this the man you love?"
Gu Qian Ying sneered, blowing on her lacquered red fingernails, completely unfazed by Wu Cheng's threat.
Lu Zhu's tears streamed down her face. She glanced sideways at the man she had loved for so long.
Looking at his handsome profile, she recalled the years they had spent together.
They had been childhood sweethearts, inseparable, and their affection had always been strong.
Once, he had promised to marry her when they grew up, to make her his most beautiful bride.
She had also told him that she would give him several beautiful children.
They would be happy together forever, growing old together.
Even after he had impulsively killed her mother.
She had naively believed that she was at fault first, that her cowardice had driven him to madness, and that his impulsiveness had led to her mother's death.
When she couldn't face him, she chose to escape, leaving the Wu clan and her homeland.
Tears traced paths down her cheeks.
Lu Zhu suddenly reached out and grasped the dagger in Wu Cheng's hand. The sharp tip cut her finger, and blood flowed from between her fingers.
She gave a bitter smile, "Wu Cheng, it turns out the person you love most isn't me!"
As if her deepest thoughts had been exposed, Wu Cheng became flustered.
"No, A Meng, believe me, you are the one I love the most."
"Heh!"
Lu Zhu sneered, "No, Wu Cheng, the one you love most isn't me... it's you... yourself!"
She gripped the dagger's tip, stood on tiptoe, tilted her head up, and suddenly, kissed Wu Cheng.
Wu Cheng's pupils dilated in shock.
His hand, which had been behind her, slowly rose, and he wanted to embrace her, to return her kiss.
"Mmm!"
Lu Zhu, still gripping the dagger, did not let go. She snatched the dagger from Wu Cheng's hand and, turning it around, plunged it fiercely into his chest.
At this moment, Lu Zhu pushed him away.
Wu Cheng looked down at the dagger in his chest and then up at Lu Zhu, staring in disbelief.
His voice filled with anger, "Why! A Meng, why did you kill me!"
Lu Zhu's fingers were still bleeding, but she paid no mind, tears in her eyes, "You killed my mother. I want revenge."
"Hahaha, with just this dagger? You think you can kill me? Heh, overestimating yourself."
Wu Cheng raised his hand, gripped the dagger's hilt, and directly pulled the dagger from his chest.
Blood splattered across Lu Zhu's face.
A wisp of black mist swirled around his fingertips as Wu Cheng chanted his art.
The strange creatures kneeling and bowing around them became agitated.
Gu Qian Ying glanced at them indifferently and opened her lips, "Your old masters are calling you. What are you waiting for? Do you want to be turned to ashes by me?"
The human-faced bats circling above her head suddenly changed direction.
With a burst of attack power, a dense swarm of them flew towards Wu Cheng.
The Xuan Wang corpses kneeling on the ground, as well as the nine-headed snakes, turned and crawled towards Wu Cheng.
Several spirits surrounded Wu Cheng.
Before he could even let out a scream.
When the strange creatures dispersed, a hollow, empty black robe fell to the ground.
Beneath the robe lay only a few white bones.
Nangong Mo paid no attention to this matter.
Du Chun glanced in this direction and said nothing.
Sixth Prince Nangong Li silently covered Luo Laya Ta's eyes and hugged her.
Luo Laya Ta showed no fear; instead, Sixth Prince Nangong Li trembled, sweat beading on his forehead from fright.
Looking at the person before her reduced to a few white bones.
Lu Zhu bit her lower lip and began to cry.
Her vision darkened, and her swaying body was about to collapse.
From behind, a flash of red clothing, and Gu Qian Ying caught the fainting Lu Zhu with one arm.
At this moment, Nangong Mo, Du Chun, Sixth Prince Nangong Li, and Luo Laya Ta all looked at her.
Gu Qian Ying, in a princess carry, lifted Lu Zhu.
She faced Nangong Mo and the others.
"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize me, your Ninth Imperial Consort Gu Qian Ying?"
A smile played on her lips.
Du Chun also smiled.
He knew that even though Gu Qian Ying's appearance had changed, she was still the same Gu Qian Ying as before.
Sixth Prince Nangong Li pushed Luo Laya Ta away and patted his chest vigorously, "Oh, you scared me to death! I thought you, Ninth Imperial Aunt, had become a bloodthirsty demoness and didn't recognize this prince!"
"Wife... do you still recognize me?"
"Of course. You are my husband, the father of the child in my womb, the Ninth Prince of the Eastern Victory Kingdom, Nangong Mo."
"Yes, I am your husband, the father of your child."
Nangong Mo nodded with a smile, his eyes moist.
Meng Yi, who had been waiting outside, entered and, with keen insight, took Lu Zhu from Gu Qian Ying's arms.
At the same time, Du Chun, Sixth Prince Nangong Li, and Luo Laya Ta departed.
The strange creatures also vanished at this moment.
Gu Qian Ying opened her arms to Nangong Mo, smiling and asking, "Do you want a hug?"