After Transmigrating into a Book as Cannon Fodder, I Pampered the Villain - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Missing

In the nick of time, she pushed Yan Huaixi away.

The ghastly shadow of Yan Zheng ripped open his own soul, releasing a primal curse specifically designed for those of the Yan bloodline.

A thousand years ago, during the time Yan Qingxu had vanished from the world, this “evil ghost” had researched a curse aimed solely at his own kin. He first consumed the friends and family who trusted him most, and once his power swelled, he murdered the Clan Head and elders of that era. It was only when Yan Qingxu returned to find her home on the brink of ruin that she struck this monster down.

Before her rise to fame, Yan Qingxu had been viewed as an outlier who couldn’t practice the family’s orthodox arts. Yan Zheng hadn’t spared her a second thought until her power tore through his “invincible” strength in a single exchange.

He had survived only by preserving a sliver of a remnant soul, lurking in the shadows for a millennium. He had tried to decode Yan Qingxu’s techniques, but they were fundamentally incomprehensible to him absurd rules that no normal person should be able to master. Eventually, he gave up on her path and focused on exploiting the weaknesses of the modified arts the Yan family adopted later.

Inside the Soul Tower, the battle reached a fever pitch. Yan Huaixi’s sonic waves had stripped the area of all sound, causing Yan Zheng’s soul vibrations to drift toward a dangerous synchronicity with her “noise.” He tried to chant a counter-spell, only to find his voice had been stolen.

In the gap between his failed chant and his attempt to form hand seals, a blood-red soul sword pierced his chest.

How?! He hadn’t even sensed her approach. The madness in Yan Huaixi’s eyes the resolve to drag him to hell even if it cost her life terrified him. His rhythm broke. As he scrambled to seal the erosion within his soul-body, her next attack followed immediately.

Black curse marks had appeared on Yan Huaixi’s hands, crawling up her forearms toward her heart and dantian. Once they covered her, her spiritual power would be completely suppressed. She knew she was in a race against time; she had to kill him before the curse swallowed her.

“Roar!”

The shadow, weakened enough to reveal its human form, suddenly erupted with power. It absorbed the surrounding pillars of black light, transforming into a massive, fifty-meter-high flame of black soul-fire. The flame split open like a giant maw, threatening to swallow Yan Huaixi whole.

Yan Huaixi’s expression remained unchanged, but she reached for the single puppet thread on her pinky. With one tug, she could sever her connection to Yu Yingxia. She didn’t want the girl to die with her. She believed Teng Yuelan would provide enough protection until Yu Yingxia could stand on her own.

Her sword blazed with soul-fire as she swung it toward the thread.

But just as the blade was about to cut the connection, a familiar power appeared behind her. Sensing who it was, Yan Huaixi felt a mixture of shock and fury.

“Who told you to come here!”

Before she could finish, the black flames lunged. In that fraction of a second, the wounded red figure was pushed aside by a smaller one radiating a soft, white light.

The evil ghost bit down, but instead of Yan Huaixi’s soul, he caught a figure shrouded in Yan Qingxu’s power.

Impossible! How is this… her power?!

The black flame exploded like a firework, covering the small world in darkness as Yan Zheng unleashed a desperate, panicked killing move.

Yan Huaixi was thrown back by the force of the white light. As it touched her palms, it melted like snow, dissolving the curse marks on her skin. She reached out, but the shockwave of Yan Zheng’s explosion sent her tumbling away.

The figure swallowed by the ghost vanished from her sight. A surge of blood hit her throat, accompanied by a near-uncontrollable urge to slaughter. As soon as she could move, she threw herself back toward the monster, desperate to rip it open and dig out the person he had consumed.

The two masters unleashed their ultimate powers without restraint. The secret realm began to groan and crack. Fissures appeared in the sky, revealing the chaotic currents of the void.

The realm was collapsing.

Inside Yan Zheng’s body, Yu Yingxia was struggling. She had thought the light orb would be an all-powerful weapon, but instead, it had merged into her, forcing her to fight using a power she didn’t understand. When she saw Yan Huaixi about to be eaten, her body moved faster than her mind.

Now, she was the one “eaten.”

She used the orb’s power to maintain a barrier against Yan Zheng’s internal attacks. She could feel the orb’s strength waning; soon, she would become his food. But then, she noticed red cracks throughout his internal soul-structure—wounds left by Yan Huaixi.

She diverted her remaining strength into those cracks. The ghost shrieked in agony. She had found his weakness! She began dismantling him from the inside, buying herself time as he writhed in pain.

She hoped to hold on until Yan Huaixi could strike from the outside, but instead, the spatial turbulence of the collapsing realm reached them first. Consciousness faded into darkness. Her last memory was of the black fire lunging at her. In a final act of defiance, she bit back—sinking her teeth into the enemy until everything went black.

When the realm shattered, a pillar of black and red light shot into the sky, visible across the Southern and even parts of the Northern Territory.

“The realm opened early? No… someone split it open from the inside!”

The three families waiting outside fled as spatial rifts began to tear at the environment. The “Graveyard of Souls” was bleeding into the physical world. When the turbulence finally settled, the mountain range where Yan Zheng had been was gone reduced to a flat wasteland.

As the dust cleared, survivors from the three families moved in.

“Look! Someone’s over there!”

A red figure lay on the ground, surrounded by blood-stained earth. A healer approached cautiously. “Daoist? Do you need help?”

Yan Huaixi didn’t answer. She stood up slowly, her red dress blending with the fresh blood on the grass. She stared blankly at the leveled mountains. The void had swallowed the enemy, but it had also taken the scent of peach blossoms.

Why?

How did Yingxia get to the center of the battlefield? How did she push me? Why…

Her crimson-stained eyes looked like a shattered reflection. She stumbled toward the site of the explosion. Yu Yingxia’s aura was fading from the air, but as she reached out, she realized the puppet thread on her pinky was still there.

She cradled the thin line with trembling hands, a spark of hope returning to her eyes.

As long as it isn’t broken… whether you are in the void or the underworld, I will find you.

“Don’t go near her! Her power is wrong!” the healer’s companion shouted, pulling her back.

Death energy began to pour from Yan Huaixi’s body. Thousands of vengeful spirits crawled from the dead earth, and ghostly shadows resembling underworld bailiffs appeared, dragging soul-locking chains. An illusion of the Yellow Springs river cut across the landscape, warping the world into a living hell.

In that moment, the “Eldest Miss” of the Yan family was gone. There was only a soul cultivator who had truly descended into madness.

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