Chapter 59: A Conversation Under the Moonlit Night

In the depths of an ancient forest under the moonlit night, a figure ran desperately, her movement hurried and disheveled. Every so often, she glanced anxiously over her shoulder, and only when she found no pursuers did she finally allow herself a sigh of relief.

Leaning against the trunk of a towering tree, she clutched her chest tightly, yet the pain could not be contained. Blood burst from her lips, and her face turned pale with agony.

Without hesitation, she unbuttoned her shirt, exposing skin as white as jade. Yet that flawless skin was marred by a hand-shaped mark, starkly black and white, a blemish upon her beauty. Stranger still, the mark pulsed with mysterious runes, slowly corroding her flesh and deepening her suffering.

“What is this—how can it be so ruthless?” Unable to endure the pain, she touched the mark, and immediately her palm felt as though it were scorched by fire, forcing a scream from her lips.

“Ah…”

Her cry echoed through the mountains, startling the birds from their perches and sending them fluttering into the night sky.

After a long moment, the agony faded from her face, replaced by a cold, bitter anger. She roared with fury, “Ah, Jiang Xiaofei, even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!”

No sooner had she spoken than a sinister wind swept through the darkness, and from its depths stepped a figure—a young man in a black suit, handsome yet exuding a wicked charm.

He flashed a devilish smile at Takagi Qiu beneath the tree. “The mighty Ghost Emperor, who would have thought you’d ever be in such a sorry state? Fate has a strange sense of humor, doesn’t it?”

Takagi Qiu eyed the man warily. “You’re Song Jie… No, you’re not Song Jie. Who are you, really?”

The man said nothing, but crimson vapors began to swirl about him, transforming him into a middle-aged man clad in a blood-red cloak. Upon his brow grew two horns resembling those of a dragon, lending him an uncanny aura.

Takagi Qiu’s expression changed as she recognized him, shock evident in her voice. “You’re the Demon Emperor!”

“Indeed.” The man nodded lightly. “Who would have thought, after centuries, that anyone would still remember me—but it is you, Ghost Emperor.”

Takagi Qiu laughed coldly. “Ha! In ancient times, the Demon Emperor’s name struck terror everywhere—who wouldn’t know you? But weren’t you sealed away in the primal chaos by King Xiao a thousand years ago? How did you escape?”

The man replied calmly, “That hardly matters now. What matters is that I can help you take your revenge.”

Takagi Qiu sneered, “You help me? Impossible.”

The man’s voice was indifferent. “Of course, there are conditions if I am to help you.”

Takagi Qiu frowned slightly. “What conditions?”

The man said, “When your strength returns, you must assist me against someone.”

“Who? To make the Demon Emperor so wary?”

“Lan Lian Shuang.”

Takagi Qiu’s surprise was palpable. “What? You want to go against Lan Lian Shuang? She’s just a mere Xuan-level mage—surely you could kill her a thousand times over alone. Why would you need my help? Are you mocking me, hoping to humiliate me while I’m weak?”

The man answered, “That is not for you to know. For now, you need only understand that with my aid, you can recover your power quickly.”

As the Ghost Emperor hesitated, another voice chimed in, “Quick, agree to his terms.”

Takagi Qiu nodded slightly. “Very well. But how am I to help you? Kill her, or…?”

The man replied, “That is not important now. Consider this a token of my goodwill—I will dispel the poison of that handprint.”

With that, he raised a hand to Takagi Qiu’s chest. Crimson energy flowed from his palm, and under its influence, the mark gradually faded away.

Takagi Qiu felt the oppression lift from her body and rejoiced. “Thank you, Demon Emperor. If I regain my strength, I will aid you with all my might.”

The man said nothing, instead retrieving from his breast a blood-red pill, the size of an egg and throbbing like a heart. “This is the heart of a millennium-old Nether Beast. Swallow it—not to boost your cultivation, but to greatly increase your soul power. It should be enough to deal with Jiang Xiaofei.”

“Thank you,” Takagi Qiu said, grabbing the pill and swallowing it in one gulp, a look of satisfaction spreading across her face.

She felt a wild, domineering power coursing through her body, reaching her spiritual sea, where it was absorbed by the Ghost Emperor at its center.

Seeing her delight, the man smiled. “There are greater treasures yet to come. If you help me fulfill my wish, I’ll give you a Pure Yang vessel to feed on, restoring you to your peak.”

Takagi Qiu’s eyes gleamed at his words, astonished. “You mean the legendary Pure Yang vessel that appears once in a century?”

The man smiled faintly. “Exactly.”

Takagi Qiu was again amazed. “Where is this person now?”

The man spoke coldly, “Ghost Emperor, I advise you to abandon any such thoughts. That person is already under my protection. If you wish to obtain him, you must help me. Only then will I grant him to you.”

Takagi Qiu frowned, skeptical. “A Pure Yang vessel is a priceless treasure. Are you truly willing to give it to me? Do you take me for a fool?”

The man’s smile was indifferent. “It is indeed a treasure. For cultivators, absorbing one would accelerate their progress unimaginably. But I have no need for it anymore.”

Takagi Qiu was shocked. “Have you already reached that realm?”

The man did not answer, only saying, “You need only know that I alone can restore your power. But if you accept my gifts and fail to fulfill your promise, I’ll destroy the Pure Yang vessel rather than hand it to you.”

Takagi Qiu laughed hurriedly. “Ha! I would never break my word. I will do everything in my power!”

“Very well, may our cooperation be fruitful.” The man smiled faintly, then turned and vanished into the darkness.

Once he was gone, Takagi Qiu’s expression darkened. She, the illustrious Ghost Emperor—had it not been for her severely diminished power, she would never have been forced to bow to another.

Yet even so, her heart seethed with resentment. She shouted in fury, “Ghost Immortal, Ghost Daoist, I hate you all! If I recover my strength, I’ll make you suffer as I have suffered!”

Her features twisted in madness as she raved, “No, I’ll make you kneel before me and beg! I’ll make you wish you were dead! Hahaha!”

Another voice spoke then, “Enough. Stop using my body for your insane outbursts.”

The Ghost Emperor replied irritably, “My affairs are none of your concern. If you weren’t still useful, I’d have killed you already. By the way, who exactly is Lan Lian Shuang?”

Takagi Qiu answered, “She’s the treasured daughter of the Lan family in the Mage Association, and my lifelong enemy. It was her family that killed my mother.”

The Ghost Emperor said coolly, “I’m not asking about that—I want to know her origins.”

“I don’t know, but it’s said she was born amidst unusual phenomena.”

At these words, the Ghost Emperor felt a surge of unease. “No wonder the Demon Emperor fears her so much. This could be troublesome indeed.”