Beastmaster of the Ages

A linen sack was dropped in front of Huiye Shi. Tianming and Feiling had erased all evidence of battle before they returned, so naturally they didn't look like they had just been fighting.

"What?!" Huiye Shi could already smell the blood coming from the sack. The thought of Huiyue Yin having gone to mess with them gave her a bad feeling. What am I thinking? My brother's an ascendant! Thinking about how laughably ridiculous it would be if Huiyue Yin's corpse was in the sack, she relaxed and glared at Tianming, then Feiling. That loose bitch!

Lazily, she said, "Oh, and to think you'd give me a gift. Open it to show your sincerity then."

"Sure thing." Tianming tore open the sack with a stream of sword ki, revealing a battered corpse whose eyes were wide open in agony. It only had one arm remaining, and the other limbs were nowhere to be found. The face was contorted and torn apart, but she still instantly recognized it as Huiyue Yin.

Stunned, she rubbed her eyes and looked again. "Huh?" She still thought that she was just seeing things.

"Do you like the gift?"

"A mannequin?" She stepped forwards and looked at the corpse. The longer she looked, the more she began to pale and shake. Her teeth began chattering and she let out a horrifying shriek that almost broke her vocal cords. Then she collapsed as if she had just seen the most terrifying thing in existence and hurriedly scrambled backward. Looking up, she saw Tianming standing before her.

"Would you believe it? I killed Huiyue Yin. He died a horrible death." When he offered his hand to help her up, she shrieked and hurriedly backed off even more. "If you don't believe me, you can take a closer look."

Huiye Shi turned back and looked at the corpse before squealing again, her face losing all color. "How could you possibly do something like that?! That aside, it's over for you! If my parents find out about my brother's death, they'll definitely head over here!"

She was beginning to panic. It was so unbelievable that it didn't feel real to her. She stared at Tianming, still unable to imagine how he would be daring and powerful enough to kill Huiyue Yin, given their completely different status.

"You're in big trouble!" she said with a sobbing tone.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me that we're short on time." He turned to Feiling and said, "Let's start, Ling'er."

"What?" Terror began filling Huiye Shi's mind. "Li Tianming, you can't kill me! I didn't offend you!" She didn't understand why he would do something like this. In her eyes, he was a mad demon.

Tianming merely looked at her wordlessly. By now, Feiling was standing behind her. Then Huiye Shi suddenly moved, perhaps thinking that by taking Feiling hostage, she would be able to survive. Just as she stretched her hand out toward Feiling, her speed suddenly slowed like she had been dumped into a quagmire. The girl she had looked down upon waved, trapping her easily within the Trilife Mirror. If it took even Huiyue Yin quite some time to shatter the mirror, Huiye Shi definitely wouldn't be able to move at all.

"How is this possible...." Her eyeballs darted around as she looked at Feiling with disbelief, understanding full well that this power was coming from her. Feiling was no doubt more powerful than Huiye Shi, and the realization caused her to completely break down. All she did was glare hatefully at Feiling, but she was unable to hide the fear that she felt.

"Ling'er, will it work?" Tianming asked. They looked at Huiye Shi like they would a rabbit roasting on a spit.

"It's fine. We'll just keep roasting her for half an hour and she'll be well done. A little sprinkle of spice and she'll be ready to eat," Feiling teased, winking at him.

"Waaaah!" Huiye Shi paled even more. If she could move, she would immediately kneel to them. The thought of being roasted alive completely terrified her. If she had a chance, she would swear to never offend Feiling ever again. Though, naturally, Feiling was only messing with her.

"I'd wanted to use the Imperial Sword Prison on her. It's already a really stable method, so I can easily control her life with it," Tianming said.

"It's fine, Big Brother. Just trust me. The Latticeheart Curse is even more effective. If you need proof, look at the Archaionfiend's Bloodrose Curse. Even though it isn't as strong as that one in terms of raw power, it has the strongest control according to Xuanyuan Xi's memories. It's a little like the heartscourge worm."

"That's great. I really wonder what kind of being the one who controlled Perpetia used to be to possess so many scary methods. Xuanyuan Xi's Latticeheart Curse must've come from her too."

"Yes. But even though she has many terrifying methods, that doesn't mean she's a terrifying person," Feiling said.

"By the way... Is the 'lattice' the same character as the 'ling' in your name?"

"Yes."

Now it made sense. For the name of the technique to share a character with Feiling's name.... One had to wonder what significance that held. As Tianming wondered that, Feiling began applying the curse.

"Let her speak," Tianming said.

"Okay." She relaxed her control over Huiye Shi, allowing her to beg and cry.

"I beg you, spare me! I won't dare do that ever again! Waaaah!" She still thought she was going to be roasted alive.

Feiling calmly looked at her and said, "I'm going to place a curse on you. It's like a seed that's being planted inside your heart. If you don't do what we say, I'll let it sprout in your heart. It'll then slowly grow, spreading throughout your body over the span of a year. At the end, it'll spread its roots into your brain and begin consuming it. Throughout the entire time, you'll feel unimaginable pain, but it'll even be able to prevent you from committing suicide."

"Aaaaah! Dammit! Are you some kind of pervert?!"

"I knew you wouldn't believe it, so I'll make it sprout a little to make you taste the initial pain. Every day this goes on, the pain will only intensify. A year later, you'll truly feel despair," Feiling said with a beautiful smile, though it looked nightmarish to Huiye Shi.

Ying Huo and the rest were shivering in Tianming's lifebound space.

"I swear I won't ever mess with Ling'er again! She's a closet demon!" Ying Huo said.

"That woman deserves it for calling Ling'er an accessory!" Xian Xian said, delighting in her suffering.

Huiye Shi's expression suddenly changed. Feiling hadn't been joking in the least. The Latticeheart Curse was far more effective at controlling others than Tianming's Imperial Sword Prison. Huiye Shi began to twitch and shriek in pain, her eyes turning bloodshot and her nose, ears, and chin shaking throughout the process. She couldn't even move the other parts of her body. That kind of despair was traumatizing, even though it only lasted an instant. Fortunately, the pain subsided soon enough.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Huiye Shi said, "I submit! I'll kowtow to you, alright? Please don't torture me anymore."

"Big Brother, it's finished. It's your turn," Feiling said, taking a few steps back.

"Beautifully done." He shot her a thumbs-up.

"Tianming, save me... save me, I beg you," Huiye Shi pleaded.

"Don't be afraid. It's over... for now, anyway. As long as you do what we say, that thing in your heart will remain dormant."

"I'm scared...."

"It's in your best interest to remain calm. Listen to everything I say from now on, or the rest of your life will be a living nightmare."

"I will! I will!" She stopped crying and forcibly controlled her emotions, staring hard at Tianming.

"Will you listen now?"

"I will. I'm ready."

"Alright. Listen up." Tianming squinted and whispered in her ear. "When your parents come, tell her that the specters were the ones that killed Huiyue Yin."

"Huh?"

While she was still confused, he continued, "This is your mission! If you don't put up a convincing act and get your parents to kill the specters, you know what'll happen. What you do now isn't for our sake, but yours! Naturally, you're free to tell your parents the truth. Tell them that I was the one who killed him. By then, we'll surely die, but you will too. The only difference is that it'll take you one long year and you'll die a far more horrifying death than anyone else! After we die, nobody will be able to remove the curse. What you felt just now was just an appetizer. When it really starts, you won't even be able to kill yourself!"

Before Tianming had killed Huiyue Yin, he was already planning how to make use of the Divine Moon Realm to take care of the specters. That was the only path through which humanity would make it out alive. Huiyue Yin's parents wouldn't doubt it if Huiye Shi was the one who made the testimony. As long as she accused the specters, no explanation or excuse from the specters would work. The parents would never doubt the eyewitness testimony of their daughter. Not to mention, if they hid Feiling away, nobody else on the Flameyellow Continent would possibly be powerful enough to kill Huiyue Yin. As risky as this was, it was do or die for Tianming, who had been sandwiched between a rock and a hard place between the threat of the specters and the unprovoked animosity from Huiyue Yin.

"Huiye Shi, I want to make sure you understand one thing. Your brother's death and the extermination of the specters come at no cost to you. But if you harm us, you'll pay millions of times for it! It was you all who forced us to do this! You have no grounds to blame us for being cruel, understand? We're weak, and only barely surviving, so we no longer have anything to lose after being forced into a corner. This is the only way we can take to survive both the divine moonrace and the specters! If you do what we say and put up a good act, then both of us will win. Perhaps one day, we might even remove the curse. You can take my word for it. I always keep my word. Know that we never wanted to offend anyone. You were the ones who forced us to do this! When all of this is over, we might even be friends."

After saying that, he relaxed his stern expression and smiled. "Hey, did you understand all that?"