CHAPTER 532: CHAPTER 531: FORGETFULNESS

"Senior, could you please not pause so dramatically when you speak?! It’s terrifying!!"

Gongyang Han felt his heartbeat flutter like a roller coaster. He subconsciously pressed a hand to his chest, a pale, ingratiating smile plastered on his face. "Senior, since you are on good terms with our White Lotus Cult, and I am a White Lotus Disciple, it’s only natural that I should help rescue you from this predicament..."

"Good terms?" Miss Chai’s voice turned bone-chillingly cold. "All of this was his conspiracy! He lied to me, claiming my junior sister was disloyal! But in truth, from beginning to end, there *was* no junior sister! My so-called fiancée was actually *him*! He used that cursed Jusenkyo, which can turn a man into a woman, to disguise himself! All of it was a plot! He waited until the day of my ascension tribulation to tell me the truth! He wanted to destroy my Dao heart, to shatter my Dao will, to make me fail my tribulation! He wanted me to be doomed to eternal damnation, to sink into oblivion forever, forced to rely on this Corpse Dissolve Plate, to spend an eternity of solitude in this dark, lightless Underground Palace..."

Miss Chai fiercely gripped the hilt of her sword. She thrust the tip of her paper Frost of Sorrow violently into the ground. Instantly, huge cracks spiderwebbed across the Pyramid. Shattered bricks and millstone-sized stone blocks flew out, smashing into beams and pillars, causing the entire Underground Palace to tremble violently.

"And you say..." Miss Chai opened her icy-blue eyes, lifted Frost of Sorrow, and angled the sword tip down towards Gongyang Han below. Menacingly, she continued, "I hate him that much. And now, a group of White Lotus Disciples, from the same cursed lineage as him, has invaded my tomb. Tell me, should I keep them here... forever?"

As Miss Chai uttered the final word, the Special Effect Worms lurking in the dome immediately activated. The ceiling tiles slid open, and a host of massive dark shadows plummeted down.

BOOM!

The sound of heavy objects crashing to the floor thundered through the Underground Palace. By the flickering candlelight, everyone clearly saw the true forms of the shadows.

They were a group of Deformed Monsters clad in Frost Armor. Their overall shape was humanoid, but their skin was withered, their bodies emaciated and skeletal. Parts of their bodies were covered in a layer of white, fur-like mycelium—identical to what Gongyang Han and the others had seen on the insect corpses in the tunnel.

Amidst the silent, imposing skeletal soldiers in their heavy armor stood a collection of monstrous War Machines. Among these monstrosities were Warcraft-style meat grinders constructed from chariot bodies and serrated blades; towering, hulking Giants covered in grotesque tumors, one arm mutated into a beastly claw like a Tyrant from Resident Evil; three-meter-tall, orange, spider-like creatures resembling the Antagonist Bug Clan from the old movie *Starship Troopers*; and a horde of indescribable Dead Space-style horrors.

These terrifying beings from various fictional works stood in silence, their gazes, devoid of any warmth, fixed on the two groups of intruders.

In truth, Li Ang hadn’t had enough time or energy, nor could he have perfectly replicated these monsters from various fictional works. The creatures present, whether Tyrants or Giant bugs, were all paper tigers—impressive on the outside but useless in reality, all show and no substance. Forget Cultivators; even a group of Farmers with pitchforks could easily pierce their shells. Their only offensive capability lay in the layer of mycelium covering their bodies.

Of course, Gongyang Han and Yu Qingqiu were unaware of this. The Worms hidden in the stone walls worked diligently to produce Special Effects, releasing clouds of dry ice fog and providing sound effects for these monsters, which were mere shells incapable of making actual noise.

"HUFF..."

"URGH..."

"HISSS..."

The low growls and hisses of the monster legion echoed throughout the Underground Palace. Beads of sweat, large as beans, trickled down the faces of both groups of humans. They feared that in the next moment, the imposing Scourge Legion before them would surge forward and overwhelm them completely.

"Senior..." Gongyang Han, forcing himself, said with difficulty, "On behalf of the forebears of the White Lotus Cult, I deeply apologize for what they did to you. Even a thousand deaths would not be enough to atone for the injustices you’ve suffered. But, Senior, you are trapped in this Underground Palace, enduring unbearable loneliness. Perhaps you would allow me to assist you? I can see if there’s a way to break the seals on this Underground Palace and free you."

"Hmph!" Miss Chai snarled viciously. "He brought me to this wretched state! Even if my soul shatters and I am denied reincarnation for eternity, I will never accept charity from the White Lotus Cult! Unless... you bring me his coffin! I will place it here, cast my spells, find his soul which has already entered the cycle of reincarnation, and drag out his reincarnated self to torture him a thousand, no, ten thousand times! Only then will my rage be appeased!"

Miss Chai bellowed, and the Scourge Legion below the Pyramid, infected by her fury, also roared at the sky.

"Wait a minute," Miss Chai suddenly said, as if remembering something. She lowered her sword, and the light and sound effects ceased. "I think I already killed him and obliterated his soul before my Corpse Dissolution. Oh. Then never mind."

The chill that permeated the Underground Palace abruptly dissipated. Miss Chai’s frost-covered helmet drooped low on her neck, as if she were lost in a deep memory, unable to extricate herself.

The temperature in the Underground Palace rose slightly, and the frost on the ground slowly receded. People’s hands and feet were no longer as frozen stiff as before.

However, no one dared to move. Her mere mood swings could affect the surrounding environment. The Ancient Demon hidden within this armor, whose cultivation had likely reached the unfathomable state of Unity of Heaven and Man, was not someone these battered remnants could afford to provoke. This was especially true given that the demon’s mental state was clearly unstable. They dared not make a wrong move or say a wrong word, lest they invite their own doom.

"..."

Miss Chai maintained her silent, sword-in-hand stance, standing motionless like an eternal, silent sculpture.

She stood like that for a full five minutes. Yu Qingqiu, Gongyang Han, and the others exchanged uneasy glances with the Scourge Legion; no one dared to move.

"What was I going to say..." Miss Chai muttered to herself, scratching her helmet with a steel-gauntleted finger, producing a faint scraping sound. "I’ve been trapped for too long... I feel like my mind is getting a bit addled..."

She looked down at Gongyang Han and the others, her anger flaring suddenly. "Who are you?! Why are you in my Underground Palace?! Speak! Are you assassins?! WAAAAAH! I was imprisoned for ten thousand years! I was exiled from my own homeland! And now, you dare trespass in my tomb?! You’re courting death!"

Just great...

Everyone present, including Gongyang Han, felt a nauseating lurch. An intensely uncomfortable sensation, the kind described by the internet slang "aching balls and a tight sphincter," washed over them. To fall into the hands of a delirious, memory-addled, senile Ancient Demon... this had to be the most miserable fate in the world...