The demon god had never seen her tear apart that mask of calculated composure since their battle began.
Yet, this was precisely what He had anticipated and desired.
Simultaneously, He craved to witness her more in a state of panic and sorrow.
At this moment, the demon god had no leisure to analyze His own psyche. The arrogance He once held over Gu Junshi seemed to be eroding, bit by bit.
His current state of mind not only saw Gu Junshi as the greatest obstacle and stumbling block, but also harbored an indescribable… apprehension.
This was something He would never admit.
Thus, He couldn't help but want to prove through suppression, bullying, and torment that He could never be afraid of a woman who had just ascended to the immortal realm through unorthodox means.
She posed no threat to Him!
The demon god awoke the comatose twins.
The twins had no idea what had transpired. They opened their eyes hazily and were stunned to find their surroundings in utter chaos.
Gu Junshi had protected them well, keeping them hidden within her spiritual consciousness. However, sensing Gu Junshi’s weakness, the demon god had used some unknown method to transfer them out.
The sudden tightening of a force around them quickly brought the twins back to their senses. Realizing they were bound and suspended by ropes fashioned from demonic energy, they instinctively used their spiritual power and struggled desperately.
However, this only resulted in greater discomfort. The demonic energy surged towards their throats, making it difficult for them to even breathe.
"Mother, save us—"
"Let us go—"
The twins no longer attempted to save themselves but instinctively cried out for the person they trusted and longed to see the most.
The demon god’s vertically slit red eyes rolled, filled with His deepest amusement and anticipation.
He deliberately tied the twins together, placing them in Gu Junshi’s line of sight like bait, visible but untouchable, ultimately leading her to a fate of eternal damnation as He desired.
Gu Junshi raised her voice, drawing their attention: "Don't be afraid, Mother is here."
Hearing the familiar voice, they indeed quieted down.
Within the swirling demonic energy, they finally saw Gu Junshi not far away. Gu Junshi at this moment looked vastly different from their memories, yet perhaps due to the bond between mother and child, they recognized her as their mother at a glance.
But the demon god had no intention of letting them have an easy time. The demonic energy that brushed past the twins left behind deep bruises, like coiled serpents. As the demonic energy seeped in, they could not endure it, trembling and gritting their teeth.
"Ah… Mother~ I'm not afraid. With you here, I know you'll come save us."
"Yes, Mother, we're not afraid. You… you shouldn't be sad either."
Perhaps seeing Gu Junshi’s face as dark as water, her entire being like a taut bowstring, the twins, despite their fear and pain, were sensible enough not to cry out for help but instead tried to comfort her.
Faced with the trusting and affectionate gazes of her two children, Gu Junshi felt a thousand pounds pressing down on her chest. For the first time, she felt a sense of uncertainty. She did not want to admit it… facing the demon god, she had almost no confidence or ability to protect them.
Her throat tightened slightly, and she suppressed the overwhelming rage and malevolence: "...Mm."
The demon god wiggled His fingers and asked with malice, "Gu Junshi, do you feel very angry now? Very powerless?"
Gu Junshi’s face was cold and distant, her clear eyes appearing demonic and yet Buddha-like. She knew the demon god would not make things easy for her; He was doing all this to see her suffer and hear her beg for mercy.
She could hold on stubbornly, showing no weakness or emotion, but it was already too late. The demon god had already probed her thoughts. If she insisted on denying it, He would kill the twins directly out of spite.
As a mother, she had not had much time to adapt, but she had never forgotten him (them) over the years.
Once the heir of her family, she had been cultivated and cherished with all her family’s might. From childhood, she had been taught that the family’s interests were paramount.
Family members had always held an important position for her. Those past relatives were now as if from another lifetime. Although this life had taken a wrong turn, it had allowed her to regain her closest kin.
Although she had always been a sophisticated egoist, never deliberately intending to manage a family or have children, she had thought her career ambition would always come first. But people always make bold pronouncements about things that haven't happened. Once they truly encountered them… she never imagined she could abandon everything for the sake of the child in her womb.
Now, she couldn't afford to consider her own situation. Her mind held only one thought: she didn't want to lose them again.
Gu Junshi calmed her gaze, preventing the demon god from trying to decipher her thoughts. She said in a hoarse voice, "If you let them go, I will sever both my arms. If that’s not enough…"
Upon hearing this, the demon god frowned, sizing her up for a long time, and suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"How can physical torment compare to spiritual pain? You cripple my arms, and I take your children; that's only fair. Hahaha, you actually feel nervous… It seems the mortals are right, even tigers don't eat their cubs."
"—Too bad!" The demon god's eyes suddenly snapped open, His face filled with viciousness: "You are destined to lose them."
Gu Junshi instantly understood what He was about to do. However, despite her countless schemes, faced with this sudden turn of events, she could only be helpless.
"Wait a moment!"
She cried out urgently.
But this time, no matter how eloquent she was, the demon god gave her no further opportunity. He transformed the Nine Nether demonic energy into blood orbs, encasing the twins and Wei Li, who had been turned into a fox.
"Mother—"
The twins' eyes widened, and they stretched their hands towards her in terror, but they couldn't resist the force of the demonic energy and were dragged into the blood orbs.
Their eyes were swollen and red, their faces flushed, appearing extremely restrained and pitiable. However, their lips were tightly shut, refusing to cry out loudly.
It was as if they already knew everything was beyond recovery, but at least until the end, they didn't want their mother to be troubled or saddened by their deaths.
Gu Junshi's pupils froze. An ominous premonition enveloped her. She unleashed the "Gate of the Yellow Springs" without hesitation.
A colossal black gate emerged from the black mist, and the deathly aura of the underworld surged out like tidal waves. It plunged the space in front of the border into a frozen, perpetual night. However, as swift as her actions were, the demon god’s were swifter.
High-pressure demonic energy transformed into countless sharp needles, piercing into the depths of the demonic orbs. Instantly, the air was filled with a thick scent of blood.
Moreover, with a "snap," like a ripe fruit being stomped on, crushed and squeezed by the demonic energy… they were annihilated, leaving not even bone fragments.
Everything happened too quickly. Gu Junshi hadn't even prepared herself mentally.
The devouring darkness that had spread from her feet and was halfway through its path shattered violently. The suspended time could no longer hold anything.
And the demon god stood there, leisurely and sinister, as if very pleased with everything He had witnessed. Wearing the stern face of the ghost infant, He reveled in His morbid joy.
"Did you hear that? That was the last time they called out to you. Want to know what they were thinking before they died?"
Gu Junshi stared blankly, her eyes blood red, her mind exploding as everything crumbled and shattered.
Yet, the demon god’s insidious voice, which seemed to penetrate everywhere, refused to leave her alone.
"Your two sons were surprisingly sensible and well-behaved. To give you no worries, not to become a burden to you, and fearing you would be saddened by their deaths, they didn't even dare to cry out loudly at the very end… They were scared. They didn't want to die."
Hearing these words, Gu Junshi's heart felt as if it were being twisted into a knot, and her vision violently vibrated.
"Didn't you want to sever all worldly affections? I personally helped you fulfill your wish. From now on, there will be no more blood descendants of you, Gu Junshi, in this world. Or rather, the only being who will soon stand in this realm will be Me."
"You seem very angry right now. So, Gu Junshi, who could kill her husband and destroy the world without batting an eye, can also show such an expression."
The people of Fengdu had also witnessed firsthand how cruelly the demon god had murdered Gu Junshi’s children. They shivered, and at that moment, they didn't know what to feel in their hearts.
If they had to say, perhaps it was… empathy.
Although Gu Junshi's kin had died here, in other places unseen by them, countless people had died and been injured. They had their own relatives and loved ones there, and the pain of losing family was surely the same for everyone.
"Sister…"
Gu Er was on the verge of madness. He desperately wanted to go to his sister, but others held him back tightly.
"Do you think she's not suffering enough? If the demon god discovers your presence, you won't escape His clutches either!" The Human Emperor punched him fiercely.
Gu Er fell to the ground, but he clenched a handful of dirt and beat the ground in frustration.
"Calm down! It's happened, and no one can do anything about it. We can't do anything. Other than not adding to her distress and not being used as hostages by the demon god to harm her, we can do nothing!"
Dan Ya, her hair disheveled, yelled at him, venting her inner pain.
Ru Lan, who had been crying uncontrollably, also fell to the ground. When her brother died, she hated Gu Junshi, but now, facing Gu Junshi, who had also lost her loved ones, she felt an unbearable surge of sympathy.
Such a cold-blooded and heartless person could even negotiate with someone in such a tone, offering to harm herself in exchange for a slim chance of survival for her family.
If one pair of arms wasn't enough, would she offer her legs as well?
If that was still not enough, would she disregard all costs?
"If she loses, what will happen to us, and to our families?"
People they once thought were distant, or perhaps different, now seemed no different in their eyes.
They all had people to protect, people they couldn't afford to lose, people they were willing to abandon their pride and everything they possessed to protect.
Gu Junshi finally moved. Her eyes were glazed as she looked at the demon god, her eyes bloodshot, and she said softly, "Very good…"
The demon god paused: "Hm?"
He hadn't misheard her; with His powerful demonic consciousness, He was aware of every rustle. He just wondered if Gu Junshi had gone mad. With her children dead before her eyes, she still felt it was "very good"?
"My last, remaining, useless sanity, attachments, and humanity have all been destroyed by you."
She gave a weeping laugh, but it was like ice blades scraping her face, bringing sorrow to the heavens and earth: "Demon God, you and I… no, death, no, rest! Either I will be buried in the Yellow Springs forever, or you will fall into the eternal abyss of Yanluo!"
The "Gate of the Yellow Springs" opened once more. But this time, it was not as tranquil and mysterious as before. Instead, it resembled a great rift torn open, with howling winds rushing out from within. Simultaneously, a dark river appeared in the sky.
This was the River of Forgetfulness, the resting place of souls. She leaped into the misty, ethereal river water, her long hair instantly growing to ankle length. From the murmuring black river, she pulled out a soul-bone scythe with her bare hands.
The river water flowed down the blade of the soul-bone scythe, and as the black river thinned into a film, it became as vibrant as solidified silk flowers.
Sensing a faint but undeniable sense of urgency emanating from Gu Junshi, the demon god, where His arms were lost, spread His demonic energy like wings. He was dismissive of Gu Junshi's words, mockingly retorting, "A mere Immortal. With what confidence do you dare to speak such words to this god? You don't actually think that by sacrificing yourself, you can succeed in this futile endeavor, do you?"
Gu Junshi was half-submerged in the River of Forgetfulness, and instantly, the scene became a tempest of blood and wind. Innumerable lonely souls, unable to be reborn, floated up in the river. Insects and snakes abounded, and a great, foul wind rushed towards her, forming a hurricane vortex that surrounded Gu Junshi.
The mark on her forehead faded and disappeared, replaced by a protruding crystal. Her pupils turned completely black, with no trace of any other color, a black purer than the darkest night, reflecting no dappled light even when the sun’s rays fell upon it.
A mortal body could not cross the River of Forgetfulness; this was a rule of the underworld. But the King of the Underworld was the master of the underworld, naturally possessing the right to walk through several realms with a physical body.
Now, immersing her physical body within the River of Forgetfulness, her flesh was cleansed by the waters of the underworld. Every minute texture of her body was imbued with immense strength, but she was only half corporeal, merging with half her phantom form.
Now, she appeared as if her soul and body had been separated, flickering between the ethereal and the real.
"She, how did she become like this…"
The others stared with wide eyes, gasping in astonishment.
"Perhaps this is the true form of the King of the Underworld. Neither human nor ghost nor immortal, yet capable of being human, ghost, and immortal," said True Man Huang Shou uncertainly.
Venerable Nan Yuan, however, was greatly surprised: "She is cleansing her physical body with the River of Forgetfulness. What is the meaning of this?"
Only Gu Er among those present understood what she intended to do and the resolve she had made.
His eyes were filled with tears, his whole body trembling like a sieve. He choked back his sobs, gritting his teeth, and said, "She is going to… fight to the death!"
He had once heard Gu Junshi say that the River of Forgetfulness was the boundary river of the entire underworld, as well as the primordial river of the underworld's birth. It had once nurtured deities and was a place of both birth and destruction.
The living could not cross the River of Forgetfulness; it carried only dead souls. Moreover, dead souls could not pass directly through the river. Either benevolent souls passed over the Bridge of Sighs, or malevolent souls were guided by the ferryman across the river's surface. If one accidentally fell into the river, they would be dragged down by the vengeful spirits and malevolent souls within, becoming scapegoats, with no possibility of reincarnation.