Cornered by both this woman and his own fate, the panic and hesitation in his eyes scattered like dust swept away by a storm.

What remained was only a bone-deep resolve that made the heart tremble.

So what if Yin Wanderer has returned? I am no longer the boy I was back then!

Suddenly, the void at the woman’s side shattered. Nether One burst forth as if aflame with wrath, leaping through the air. From his rough, clawlike hand exploded a blood-red aura more terrifying than any divine weapon, cleaving straight across.

Faced with this strike that could easily tear her to pieces, the Daoist woman merely cast him a glance. She made no move to resist. A slight smile even touched the corner of her lips.

It was as if she were saying, “Would you really have the heart to destroy me?”

“Stop!”

Just as that crimson aura was about to pierce her skin, Li Xun shouted. Nether One’s hand-blade froze in place, though the lingering force still clashed with the air, letting out a teeth-grating hum that sent Yin Wanderer’s long hair streaming, as if about to take flight.

In that same instant, the Daoist woman’s eyes flared with light. Shifting from brightness to shadow, layered with endless depth, that radiance was the very thing Li Xun had once dreaded, then yearned for, and now. Now it was the source of all his turmoil.

So he closed his eyes, imitating Yin Wanderer. After a moment he opened them again, drawing in a deep breath, keeping his rhythm matched to hers.

Through that simple adjustment, his emotions settled into a fragile calm.

Exhaling one last breath of turbid air, he stepped forward. His first step was hesitant. But once it landed, he wavered no more. He took another, and then another, until he stood so close to the woman that their faces were almost touching.

By now, he was half a head taller than Yin Wanderer. And so, his gaze bore down on her with a kind of lofty, almost contemptuous intensity.

To be honest, he still refused to meet her gaze. The force radiating from those eyes was enough to wipe out the resolve he had just built up.

If he couldn’t win in a battle of eyes, then he would show it through action instead.

He reached out, the same way he had countless times over the past sixty years, to pinch her delicate little chin, like a master handling a servant.

He enjoyed using this gesture to show his overwhelming sense of superiority.

But this time, with just a slight lean back, Yin Wanderer slipped out of reach.

Li Xun’s face darkened with sudden anger, his body tensing at once. In response, Nether One’s blood-red eyes at his side seemed to blaze even hotter.

Swept up by the surge of impulse in his chest, Li Xun’s eyes suddenly turned sharp. For the first time, he actively sought her gaze. Their eyes clashed with brutal force, and her stare still radiated that power that made his whole body uneasy.

But in the end, Li Xun held on.

Then, from deep in his throat, he let out a low growl: “Don’t move!”

The Daoist woman’s body stiffened at once, and then a slight sign of struggle appeared. Yet in that instant, it was as if some invisible force had burst forth between heaven and earth, like an unbreakable chain binding her tightly in place.

This time, Li Xun’s fingers did not miss. They clamped firmly onto her jaw, then spread wide to lock down around her throat.

In that moment, a fierce joy welled up from the depths of his heart. It surged with the pounding of his chest, carried through his blood, and in an instant flooded every corner of his body.

He burst into wild laughter, tightening his grip without the slightest worry that he might strangle this peerless beauty to death on the spot.

The Daoist woman’s eyes quickly dimmed. She half closed them, no longer looking at the face so close to hers. Yet across her brows and features, in the lines of her expression, there was nothing but deep loss and quiet lament.

Seeing that look, Li Xun felt his very blood catch fire.

“You lied to me. Ha! So you really were lying to me! Heh… that was close, so close to fooling me! Bitch!”

He let go, only to drive his fist hard into her the next instant. The dull thud of flesh meeting flesh rang out. Yin Wanderer’s body rocked backward, and before she could straighten up, Li Xun pounced like a ravenous tiger, seizing her throat again. The sheer force of his momentum slammed her down to the ground.

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, one cold, the other burning hot. She let out a sigh so faint it was barely there, opened her eyes, and met Li Xun’s blood-red gaze. It was no less intense now than Nether One’s.

At that very human gesture, a ragged laugh spilled from Li Xun’s throat, shuddering through his body. He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip, refusing to let her make a sound.

Because he was the one who had to speak.

“Aunt-Master, I’ve been waiting for you for such a long time!”

The trembling words seemed to drain every last bit of his strength. Though he still gripped hard, his hands shook so badly that more than once they nearly slipped from her throat.

His voice was hoarse, breaking down to a low murmur that barely clung to his lips.

“Thank you for raising me. To think I can speak to you like this now… How did you regain your mind? Ah, it must have been the Yin Charm Scripture! Thanks to your niece, she told me where to find that fragment. And thanks to that bastard Zhong Yin; who else would think of collecting such scraps and broken texts…”

Muttering words nobody could understand, he buried his head deep, rubbing his face against hers.

The clash of burning heat and icy cold skin made his body tremble all the harder. At last, he pressed his lips to her ear and whispered, his mouth barely moving.

“If it weren’t for this, how many more years would I have to wait? You have no idea how much it hurt, how bitter it was to long for you! To hell with that so-called forty-nine years of regained mind. You call that true awareness? The Nether Two from before wasn’t even a fraction as good as you!

“From now on, don’t use that name anymore… Do you remember how angry I used to get? I hit you, cursed you, and you never reacted. It was so damn dull.

“But now. Now it’s perfect! Sure, you gave me quite a scare, but that was my own stupidity. How did I not see it sooner? Even if your mind returned, even if you were just as formidable as before… no, even if you were ten times stronger, you’d still be in the palm of my hand!”

He stopped to catch his breath, then pressed on. “Isn’t it great now? You’re awake, just as brilliant, just as powerful, and just as beautiful as you used to be… But now, ha! The tables have turned!”

With that strange onomatopoeia, a jagged mix of gasps and laughter burst from him. At last he released Yin Wanderer's throat, only to slip around behind her. Putting his hand on her delicate shoulders, he half lifted her up, ready to change positions for their little ‘heart-to-heart.’

Yin Wanderer’s face twisted with disgust as she tried to struggle, but Li Xun was faster. With a single thought, he reached into the hidden depths of the void, and the ancient law that bound them answered.

Yin Wanderer had no chance. Her body went limp, drained of all strength. Even the defiance in her mind was ground down by more than half.

Li Xun took it all in, his delight only growing. “See? Now, left or right, it’s all up to me. The tables have turned, haven’t they? When you treated me this way back then, did you ever imagine today would come? Ha! Let me think… what method should I use to welcome you, Aunt-Master?”

His face flushed with an unhealthy red as countless thoughts churned through his mind. In the end, he chose the most direct one.

Speaking as he moved, he slid one hand to part her robes and began untying the silk sash at her waist.

Yin Wanderer naturally understood his intent. She gave a cold laugh and stopped resisting. Yet the more she acted like that, the more Li Xun hesitated. He pulled his hand back and turned his face toward her. “What are you laughing at?”

She shot him a glance, then suddenly smiled with calm composure. “It’s just that old saying; when the tiger falls to the plain, even dogs dare bite. That I’ve fallen so low, perhaps it’s heaven’s will, not anyone else’s fault. But you… these sixty years, sitting on such resources, and all you’ve done is go from a tail-wagging little dog to a mad dog that only knows how to bite. How could I not laugh?”

With a sharp smack, she took another heavy blow to the face. But with the Vajra-like body of a Nethermyst puppet, the strike didn’t harm her in the least.

For Li Xun, however, it marked the beginning of his return to reason.

He drew a breath and shook his stinging hand. Much of the fury that had just burned away his sanity had been vented through that single slap.

So he laughed. “Bitten, mounted, and used like a tool by a mad dog. And you still put it off on heaven’s will? Ha! That is truly Aunt-Master’s skill. Your disciple can only bow in admiration! Guess I’ll just have to keep living up to my mad dog reputation…”

He yanked hard, and the silk sash at her waist snapped apart.

“You villain, stop your insolence!”

The sudden shout made Li Xun’s hair stand on end. He leapt to his feet and spun around, only to find no one there.

Only then did he realize the voice had come from beyond the mountain, some hotheaded fool’s thunderous cry, carrying for more than ten li as if it had been shouted right beside his ear.

Wait... that voice sounded so familiar! His heart stirred, and he turned back to look at Yin Wanderer, only to see that she made no effort to straighten her disheveled clothes. She just sat on the ground, watching him coldly.

It was precisely that indifference that gave her a different kind of allure. And it made the fire in Li Xun’s chest flare up again.

But from beyond the mountain came the faint whistling of swords. A sign that people on the other side were locked in fierce battle.

Normally Li Xun wouldn’t have cared much, but he thought of the fellow disciples who had flown past not long ago, and of that voice he knew so well. If he stayed here just to indulge himself, he couldn’t stomach it.

Drawing in a few sharp breaths, he forced down his restless urge. Then he formed the hand-seal, activating the binding law that governed the link between a master and their puppet.

Whether it was the obedient Nether Two or the self-aware Yin Sanren, both vanished soundlessly into the void under the power of the technique.

Li Xun rose into the air on his qi, heading straight for the spot where the energy ripples were most intense.