Liang Ziyu bitterly smiled and said, "Huawu, we were wrong, terribly wrong. You shouldn’t have used that Forbidden Technique to save me, sacrificing your lifespan and cultivation. I was merely a wandering soul at the time, just wanting to follow my family away. You shouldn’t have forcefully kept me here. Now, everything is merely returning to the right path. Please, let me go."
Huawu shook her head, "No, Ziyu, if you die, there will be no chance for reincarnation. You will vanish completely. I don’t want that ending."
"Don’t you often ask me if I love you? I do love you, Ziyu. Otherwise, why would I pay such a price to keep you? Do you really have no feelings for me at all?"
"Yes! There were feelings, once!"
Liang Ziyu lowered his eyelids and spoke slowly, "What I liked was the innocent and carefree Huawu living in the Liang Family, not the mirror demon who stained her hands with blood for my sake. Now, I’ve been devoured by ghostly energy, manipulated by them, and I won’t live for long. Huawu, seek your own life, don’t pour all your thoughts on me. I’m really not worth it."
"Liang Ziyu!"
Huawu was genuinely furious; she lunged forward and embraced him.
Feeling the sweet aura of the mirror demon, the evil spirits within Liang Ziyu emerged, starting to erode Huawu’s demonic power.
"Ah!"
Huawu cried out in pain but resolutely held onto Liang Ziyu.
"Let go, let go quickly! You’ll turn into someone like me." Liang Ziyu tried to push Huawu away.
Huawu refused, "No, I’ll never let go, even if I die."
"The love between you two mirror demons is really touching the heavens and the earth."
Duke Luu sneered and said, "Why not let me use you both then?"
He took out a bell and shook it.
Ding-a-ling—
The bell’s sharp ringing echoed, and Liang Ziyu raised his head, crying out in agony, the evil spirits swarming out, circling the two mirror demons, voraciously consuming their demonic power.
Another part of the evil spirits crazily burrowed into Huawu’s body, trying to seize this shell.
Yu Nianzhao frowned deeply, displeased, "How dare you act so boldly in front of me? Jiu, tear them apart, devour them."
[Alright, Master.]
Jiu was awoken, having just had a full nap and feeling hungry, with a buffet laid out before him. It would be a shame not to eat.
A serpent’s head opened its bloody maw, and with one gulp, it devoured the nearby evil spirits.
Duke Luu’s face turned ashen, "These were evil spirits I bought at a high price, and you just destroyed them like that?"
Unbelieving, he pulled out a talisman radiating black energy from his chest and slapped it onto the ground.
Rumble!
The ground trembled as a shadowy mass rose skyward like a small mountain.
"You have a fierce beast, I have prepared a countermeasure for your beast."
Duke Luu snidely laughed, and with a wave of his hand, the massive shadow lunged toward Jiu.
"What is this pathetic shadow of a fierce beast from who-knows-where?"
Seeing the four-legged beast’s shadow, Yu Nianzhao felt speechless; never had there been a weaker fierce beast’s shadow.
Sure enough, as it charged at Jiu, it was scattered with a flick of Jiu’s tail.
Duke Luu broke out in a cold sweat and stepped back several paces, a cold sword suddenly pressed against his throat.
"Duke Luu, you’re really seeking your own demise."
Xie Jiuxiao coldly declared, leaving Duke Luu speechless; he knew he had lost.
"Ziyu, are you alright?"
As peace returned, Huawu anxiously checked his condition.
Liang Ziyu was far from alright, severely unwell.
After being possessed by evil spirits, his demon body was riddled with wounds, his soul unstable, ready to scatter at any moment.
"Huawu, forget about me."
Liang Ziyu slumped in Huawu’s arms, speaking weakly, "Actually, from the beginning, I saw you as a sister. There was more of a sibling bond between us. Huawu, I’m sorry for giving you a bad start; you could have cultivated to become immortal."
Huawu panicked, "What immortality? I don’t care about that, I only want you, Ziyu. Don’t leave me, I’m so foolish. Without you, what should I do?"
"The world is vast; you can go and see it. Don’t focus solely on me, I beg you, let me go. I need to find my family."
Liang Ziyu’s lips curved into a gentle smile, gazing into the sky as if seeing his family.
"It’s been hundreds of rounds of reincarnation; your family has long moved on, becoming strangers. I’m your true family, how can you bear to leave me alone?"
Huawu shook her head firmly, "Fine, since you want to go, then take me with you. I want no one else, only you."
Huawu damaged her demonic power, spitting blood, powerless as she lay on Liang Ziyu.
Liang Ziyu was distraught; he tightly embraced Huawu, shocked, "Huawu, have you lost your mind? Why are you doing this? You’re a mirror demon, you have a future, don’t stop for me."
Huawu tearfully said, "Liang Ziyu, you mean everything to me. I need nothing else."
Liang Ziyu grew desperate, pleading with Yu Nianzhao, "Master, please save her. She shouldn’t die."
Yu Nianzhao, pained by their racket, pursed her lips and said, "You really don’t value your lives."
At this moment, Huawu’s body emitted a faint golden glow, and a golden lotus emerged from her.
"This is..."
Yu Nianzhao looked surprised at the golden lotus, "Buddha’s light? No wonder... A mirror demon tainted by human life walks a wicked path, yet Huawu has been turned back; so it was due to Buddhist fate."
Huawu weakly said, "Yes, a long time ago, I met a monk. He purified me of my sins and taught me how to help Ziyu become a mirror demon."
"A monk?"
Yu Nianzhao frowned tightly, recalling hearing of such Buddhist fate before. Could it just be a coincidence?
"You are marked by Buddhist fate, it’s not your time to end."
Yu Nianzhao looked away, using the Seven Star Brush to draw a Soul Gathering Talisman on Huawu.
Huawu immediately felt comforted, yet anxiously protested, "Master, no, I don’t want to live. I want to die with Ziyu."
"What’s all this talk of dying? You’re a demon; having cultivated to this point, don’t you want to ascend even higher? Wanting to die?"
Yu Nianzhao, exasperated, snapped, "You better pull yourself together!"
"But..."
"There’s no ’but’!"
Yu Nianzhao cut her off with a snort, "You’re going to work for me your whole life!"
"There may be a way to keep Liang Ziyu alive after all!"
Seeing Huawu’s wilting state, Yu Nianzhao sighed, "If you transfer your Buddhist fate and demonic power to Liang Ziyu, I can help purify the evil spirits in him."