Tan Yin instinctively wanted to dissolve the divine crystal, but just then, Han Nü, who was sealed within, suddenly opened her eyes and smiled at her. Startled, Tan Yin stepped back several paces, watching in horror as Han Nü’s consciousness gracefully emerged from behind the crystal.
“I knew you would come,” Han Nü said with a smile. “I helped you. How are you going to thank me?”
“Help?!” Tan Yin, enraged by her pretentious smile, shouted, “You manipulated the battle ghosts, even the fox clan, to kill Yuan Zhong—that’s help?! Forcing me to drink the divine crystal—was that help?!”
Han Nü sighed, “You foolish girl, he had long guessed your identity. I merely gave things a little push. Otherwise, were you planning to pretend to be a mortal until his death?”
Tan Yin quietly stared at her and shook her head. “Han Nü, you never cared about Tai He. You don’t care whether he wakes up or not. If you cared even a little, you wouldn’t have done what you did.”
Han Nü looked up at Tai He’s body, sealed within the divine crystal, her voice gentle. “You’re right. I never loved him. You’ve finally figured it out, though a bit too late.”
“I’ve never wronged you. Why do you keep doing things to make me suffer?” Tan Yin pressed on.
Han Nü laughed heartily, “Are you suffering? Truly suffering? When I took Tai He from you, you didn’t seem to mind. But when I wanted to kill that monk, that’s when you finally jumped up in anger. I thought you’d come here and rip me out of the divine crystal and tear me to pieces!”
Tan Yin finally detected something off in her words. “...Were you waiting for me to come and confront you? Waiting for me to go mad with rage?”
Han Nü laughed even harder, “Yes, foolish child, only now do you realize? I’ve been helping you through your tribulation!”
Before she could finish speaking, a brilliant flash of golden light exploded before her eyes. Tan Yin, without hesitation, slammed a radiant golden talisman into Han Nü. With a scream, Han Nü’s spirit was bound tightly within an enormous mass of golden thorns, immobilizing her. The thorns’ barbs dug into her spirit, causing immense pain, so much that any slight movement would bring unbearable agony—pain so severe it felt like her soul was being torn apart.
Tan Yin, pale-faced, stared coldly at her. “Then I’ll help you through your tribulation first.”
With a wave of her sleeve, thick clouds of black mist emerged, enveloping the divine crystal that encased Han Nü. The human-sized divine crystal rapidly shrank at a visible pace. Tan Yin could have used a gentler method to handle the precious crystal, but in her anger, she no longer cared. In the span of an incense stick’s time, Han Nü’s body collapsed limply onto the ground. The left side of her body and her limbs, which had previously returned to normal, suddenly began to glow blood-red. Moments later, like bubbles, they rapidly dissolved into nothing.
More than half of Han Nü’s body had now vanished.
Tan Yin was shocked and turned back toward Han Nü’s spirit, which was trapped within the golden thorns. “...What is happening?”
Han Nü ceased her struggling, curling up silently within the thorns. The gentle smile on her face had disappeared, and her voice was cold. “This is what’s happening.”
A thousand questions surged in Tan Yin’s heart, but thinking of Han Nü’s cruelty, she was filled with revulsion. She waved her sleeve dismissively, “I warned you before—if you tried anything again, I’d leave you to your fate. Now, take care of yourself.”
Han Nü sneered, “Wu Shuang, do you really want me dead?”
Tan Yin didn’t answer.
“If I die, aren’t you afraid something will happen to Tai He? He loves me.”
Tan Yin shook her head, speaking softly, “Tai He would never love a woman like you. Even if he did, he’d be ashamed of himself for choosing the wrong person.”
Silence fell suddenly behind her. Only Han Nü’s labored breathing remained, louder and louder. Tan Yin didn’t want to look back at her and kept walking toward the exit of the hall. Suddenly, she felt the ground of Tai He’s hall begin to tremble. The divine power behind her surged chaotically, wildly unstable. Startled, she quickly turned around, only to see Han Nü thrashing wildly within the golden thorns like a fish caught in a net. Her spirit was pierced through by the barbed thorns, tearing it apart. Yet she paid no attention to the pain, as though the soul-crushing torment didn’t exist.
Tan Yin was shocked by her madness. She opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say. As Han Nü continued to struggle, releasing waves of divine power, she suddenly lifted her head and stared at Tan Yin with an intensity that seemed almost tangible, as if her gaze could pierce through her body. Tan Yin had never seen such a look before. It felt as if Han Nü were looking at her, but at the same time, it didn’t seem like she was seeing her at all. That gaze sent a chill through Tan Yin, making her heart race in fear.
“Wu Shuang, do you still want to treat me this way?” Han Nü’s voice was hoarse, her eyes strange and bright, as if a burning star was hidden inside them. After a long while, that star seemed to overflow from her eyes, and tears shimmered faintly on her face.
Tan Yin was stunned. Since Tai He had fallen into his slumber, Han Nü had cried countless times, but never had she cried with such madness, such a strange expression and tears. Tan Yin had seen that look only once, when Han Nü had just become a goddess.
“You still want to treat me this way!” Han Nü’s shattered hands gripped the thorny vines tightly as she frantically tried to push her head through the gaps, looking utterly deranged. “Why?! Why?! Why do you want to kill me?!”
Tan Yin abruptly closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and quietly said, “You… brought this upon yourself.”
Han Nü’s voice suddenly became sharp, “I’m not willing! I refuse! Why didn’t I kill you back then?! You killed me! Why didn’t I kill you?! I should never have become a goddess! I should never have become a goddess! Wu Shuang! I’m not willing!”
Tan Yin urgently shouted, “What are you talking about?! Did you mistake me for someone else?!”
Han Nü suddenly fell silent, curling up once more within the thorns. After a long time, she slowly wiped away the tears on her face and looked up at Tan Yin with a strange expression.
“I’m not willing.”
Her eyes suddenly turned blood-red. Her graceful body curled up in an eerily unnatural way, gradually transforming into a semi-transparent mist. The surging divine power vanished in an instant. Tan Yin stared in horror at the misty, human-shaped figure, feeling as though her heart had been struck by a giant hammer—she had seen this somewhere before!
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