# Chapter 2191: Shadow
"You... you..."
Long Wangchu's pupils contracted violently, his legs trembling as he slowly retreated.
No matter how dull or stupid he might be, at this moment he knew with terrifying clarity that the Abyss Divine Son before him was no longer a noble and gentle benefactor, but a fierce demon baring its terrifying fangs at him.
Then, an icy chill swept through his entire body, and his limbs suddenly became incredibly heavy. He instinctively wanted to look back, but the immense force that had abruptly descended made his neck feel as if it were completely pinned, unable to turn even a fraction.
His legs, which had tried to flee, were firmly pressed into the ground until he was forced to kneel heavily.
Boom!!
A massive Qilin claw fell from the endless gray sky, heavily pressing down on Long Wangchu's body. The abyssal Qilin's eyes slowly opened at this moment, casting an eerily dark light across this space.
Long Wangchu let out a terrified shriek. His limbs were crushed to the ground, and his body felt as if an impossibly tall mountain were pressing down on him. Not only could he not break free, but even moving a finger for a single moment was an extravagant hope, and he couldn't gather even a trace of profound energy.
With the immense power of the Abyss Qilin, even if Long Wangchu's cultivation were at the Eighth-rank Divine Lord realm, let alone his mere Eighth-rank Divine Lord, he would have absolutely no chance of escape under its crushing force.
If it weren't for Yun Che's control over it greatly suppressing its power, Long Wangchu's body would have been crushed into dark dust even if it were a hundred times stronger.
Dark nightmares filled his dragon soul. Long Wangchu, who had lived since birth surrounded by the flattery and favor of his entire clan, experienced true fear for the first time... and just a few breaths ago, he was about to welcome a grand beautiful dream.
His trembling, nearly bursting pupils saw Yun Che approaching step by step. His footsteps were light, slow, but with every step, Long Wangchu's heart would pound violently, and the fear in his soul, like a startled nightmare, surged madly with his approach.
Finally, Yun Che's steps stopped. He slowly crouched down, looking down at Long Wangchu, who was crushed to the ground like a maggot.
"Abyss... Abyss Divine Son..."
Long Wangchu's lips trembled like chaff, his voice quivering so much it was almost inaudible: "This must... must be... the Dreamfall of your Weaving Dream Divine Kingdom..."
"Yes... yes... yes, a dream... a test... for my dragon soul..."
In extreme absurdity and terror, he seemed to convince himself, desperately clutching the straw he had woven for himself. A hideous smile stretched across his wildly trembling mouth: "I... can endure it. I am, after all, the young master of the Dragon God Clan..."
Yun Che looked at him coldly, not a single gleam of light in his eyes. When hatred and rage reached their peak, he couldn't, for a moment, think of a cruel enough method to take revenge, to vent.
He slowly raised his hand, his five fingers curling in a slight spasm, then suddenly slamming down.
"Waaah——!!"
The five fingers pierced into Long Wangchu's flesh like cruel blunt blades, stabbing into his dragon bone.
Dragon blood splattered, accompanied by a heart-rending scream, but it didn't cause even a trace of change in Yun Che's expression, nor a single moment of vented satisfaction.
Pfft!
Yun Che lifted his fingers, sending flesh and bone fragments flying. Amidst the piercing screams, he stared at the dragon blood staining his palm—every drop was utterly base, utterly filthy.
"I, Yun Che, blessed by the Primordial Divine, bearing the inheritance of the Creation God and the Demon Emperor, overturned the world's order in just twenty years, becoming an emperor of an era."
He murmured softly, each word unique, a pride that others could never replicate, yet in his mouth, it sounded so gloomy and sorrowful:
"My Shen Xi... the only daughter of the Primordial Azure Dragon, the only disciple of the Life Creation God, a miraculous pearl left from the age of the gods..."
"Our daughter... every drop of her blood is how noble... Ha... heh... hahahaha..."
He laughed, endlessly hoarse, endlessly desolate, filled with a bitter mockery—mocking himself, mocking fate.
"And yet, for a base waste like you... actually... actually..."
"Abyss... Divine Son... Gah... you..."
Long Wangchu couldn't understand what Yun Che was saying. He struggled desperately to make sounds... not knowing that this terrible nightmare was merely the most trivial beginning.
Eternal Calamity Devil Flame ignited in Yun Che's palm, instantly burning away the filthy dragon blood. Then, his flaming hand slammed down fiercely.
"Wuuuaaahhhh!!!"
The miserable scream seemed to tear apart the gray sky, so sharp it was as if thousands of red-hot iron needles were simultaneously piercing out from Long Wangchu's throat, each wrapped in dragon blood scorched black by the Eternal Calamity Devil Flame.
The soul-burning pain of Eternal Calamity Devil Flame was unbearable even for demigods, let alone the weak-willed Long Wangchu. His screams were like the despairing wailing of a demon from purgatory, echoing far and wide through this world thick with abyssal dust, yet eerily failing to stir any roars from abyssal beasts.
As if this place was a cruel hell existing solely for him.
Flesh and dragon bone turned black under the dark flame, then quickly turned into complete nothingness. Long Wangchu's screams grew more miserable each time. His features twisted like a demon's, his bloodshot eyeballs nearly bursting, every joint in his body spasming in violent dislocation, every inch of skin twitching and heaving as if thousands of maggots were writhing wildly within.
Beneath the vanished flesh and dragon bone, his complete organs gradually appeared... But at this moment, Yun Che flipped his hand, the black devil flame transforming into pure white holy light, covering it with a rich aura of life.
The screams finally slowed down a little. Long Wangchu gasped heavily, but with each breath, large amounts of bloody foam choked out from his torn throat.
"Ah... gurgle... ugh..."
He let out a series of hoarse, strange sounds. It took a long time before he could speak again: "Spare... me... don't... don't kill me... Eh... gurgle..."
"Kill you?"
Yun Che smiled faintly, as if he had regained the gentle and elegant demeanor of the Divine Son: "What are you saying, Brother Wangchu? How could I possibly kill you? I am, after all, the person in this world who least wants you to die."
These words made Long Wangchu, deep in the abyss of pain and fear, grab onto the straw again. His conjecture received the most concrete confirmation: "Indeed... this is indeed a dream... a test..."
He used all his strength to believe it was all just a dream, but the fear didn't diminish in the slightest. He screamed: "No... I don't want it anymore. I don't want any dragon marrow or dragon soul anymore... I beg the Abyss Divine Son to let me leave... let me leave!"
The curve of Yun Che's mouth tilted slightly further. His downward gaze didn't look at a living young master of the Dragon God Clan, but at a base livestock that should be cut into a thousand pieces in the most fitting manner.
"Brother Wangchu, why be so anxious? You've lived so long in the light. Naturally, this time of living in the dark, begging for death, should be just as long."
His finger lightly tapped.
Crack!!
An explosion like thunder sounded on Long Wangchu's body. His dragon spine snapped in an instant. Then, the cruel force, like a merciless torrent, surged into his entire bone marrow. Amidst countless overlapping thunder-like explosions, every dragon bone was crushed to powder, every inch of dragon tendon torn apart.
"Wuuuaaaaahhhhh——!!!"
The scream, which had only paused for a few breaths, tore through the lightless sky again, even more miserable and fragmented than before.
Yun Che narrowed his eyes, watching, listening.
He wanted to know how many years ago this livestock had started demanding essence blood from Yun Xi, and how often, but he never could bring himself to ask.
He, who had walked the edge of death countless times, with a will so tenacious that even the great divine officials marveled, was actually so terrified of that answer.
With his dragon bones shattered and dragon tendons severed, Long Wangchu had completely turned into a pool of living mud. His sweat gushed and steamed like a waterfall. The backflow of dragon blood gradually thickened, emitting a nauseating stench.
But he still had complete five senses, able to clearly feel the multiplied purgatorial tortures, able to clearly hear the demon's whisper beside his ear.
"You filthy livestock... even if all the dirty blood of your entire clan flowed dry, it wouldn't compare to a single hair of my daughter... and you dared... you dared..."
"Ha... heh... hehehe..."
He laughed, a laugh infinitely piercing, infinitely mocking: "I swore to overthrow everything in this world, yet I specifically excluded the Dragon God Clan, because I once... truly and sincerely felt grateful to the Dragon God Clan. I foolishly believed that the Dragon God Clan treated my daughter well, gave her shelter and a place to stay."
"Such kindness, even if they truly demanded my dragon marrow and dragon soul as repayment, I would not have hesitated!"
"But why... are you all so stupid... so stupid!"
Long Wangchu, his head twisted to the ground, struggled to adjust his vision, looking at Yun Che's face.
His expression, his voice, his hatred... none of it seemed fake, none of it like a dream...
"You... after all... gurgle..."
His voice no longer seemed to come from his throat, but from deep within his torn chest, squeezed out with difficulty from every fragment of his soul being crushed by fear.
"I... Dragon God Clan... never... offended... even less... know your daughter..."
"It must be... a misunderstanding... wuuaaah... spare... my... life... I... Dragon God Clan... will give you... anything..."
"Oh? Anything?" Yun Che lifted his five fingers, laughing coldly: "How rare. My thoughts and this livestock's actually coincide."
"...?" The bloodshot eyes in Long Wangchu's pupils froze briefly.
"How could I disappoint the generous kindness of the young master of your Dragon God Clan? I will take everything from your Dragon God Clan without missing a single hair... including every section of dragon bone, every drop of dragon blood."
The smile on his face had not faded, his voice as calm as the wind, as if describing the most ordinary scene: "Then, I will turn the bodies of your entire clan into the foul stepping stones beneath my feet, dye the dragon blood of your entire clan with a sin that can never be washed away... annihilating your entire clan from this world, then nailing you into the most eternal, most infamous corner of abyssal history!"
"Eh... eh..." Long Wangchu's head twitched like a dying reptile. He had never heard such a terrifying voice, such a vicious curse. Every strand of his soul was spasming and coiling. Extreme fear even overpowered the pain in his body, making it impossible for him to utter a single complete word.
A small jade appeared in Yun Che's hand.
It was only the size of a thumb, pitch black and without luster. Though it existed, it strangely had no aura at all.
Even if a true god were here, unless their sight touched it, they would be completely unaware of its existence.
He touched the black jade to the twitching Long Wangchu, pausing briefly... Immediately, a faint black light rippled across the jade, then vanished in an instant.
He withdrew the jade and touched it to himself... At that moment, Long Wangchu's eyes suddenly bulged, momentarily forgetting to struggle.
Because through his remaining senses, he perceived from Yun Che the most familiar aura in this world, one that he could never mistake...
His own dragon aura!
Putting away the Inverse Abyss Stone, the cruel smile on Yun Che's face also faded slightly, like a thin layer of ice floating on water, silently swallowed by the undercurrent rising from below.
"You've probably heard roughly that three months ago, I endured the Waste Devouring Punishment in the Pure Land. It was indeed an extremely painful torture. But while enduring it, I wasn't without gains."
His voice was faint. On his palm, a faint profound light appeared: "At least, I roughly understood how this torture was applied."
"Actually, it's very simple. It uses the Desolate God's Power to tear apart and repair every strand of life aura and soul thread, then tears them apart again, repairs again... as long as they exist, even within a single hair, there is absolutely no escape."
"Each tear and repair, every instant, is a pain that those who have never experienced could never imagine."
His palm slowly descended, the five spread fingers gradually enlarging in Long Wangchu's pupils: "Unfortunately, I happen to have the Desolate God's Power as well."
"...!!" Long Wangchu's broken body began to tremble chaotically... No matter how shallow his knowledge, he would have heard of the most cruel torture in this abyssal world.
As Yun Che's palm approached inch by inch, his body became a sickly pale, as if completely drained of blood.
"Don't be afraid," Yun Che "mercifully" comforted. "The Waste Devouring Punishment never takes a life. But I've heard that most of those sinners who endured the Waste Devouring Punishment in the Pure Land chose to kill themselves to escape the pain... Tsk, tsk, truly too cruel."
"But Brother Wangchu, you need not worry at all. Because I am far more merciful than the Pure Land. I absolutely, absolutely will not give Brother Wangchu the chance to kill himself."
Even though his bones and tendons were all broken, Long Wangchu's body trembled even more violently—his soul, filled with boundless fear, was fleeing, tearing and assaulting his flesh.
"I will also ensure you live well, at least until the day... you and your father reunite!"
As the words fell, a withered yellow profound light shot out from Yun Che's palm, turning into countless hair-thin light needles that descended straight onto Long Wangchu's broken body, surging into his limbs and bones in an instant, reaching every bit of his skin, hair, blood, bones, meridians, marrow, and soul...
Long Wangchu's body stiffened for a moment, then a heart-rending, soul-tearing scream erupted from his torn throat.
Extreme pain, extreme itch, soul-burning heat, piercing cold...
All the ultimate tortures imaginable and unimaginable by any living being exploded wildly on Long Wangchu's body. His veins burst one by one. Beneath the Qilin's crushing foot, his body writhed as if pulled by thousands of hands, his skin and flesh jumping madly.
"Wuaaaaaahhhh!!!"
Just the first instant of his scream was miserable enough to terrify demons and make night-wraiths wail.
Deep in Yun Che's soul sea, Li Suo let out a very soft sigh.
Yun Che had never taken pleasure in bullying the weak or torturing the vulnerable.
But at this moment, even if it meant losing dignity, even if it dirtied his hands, he would use the cruellest methods to personally torment this young master of the Dragon God Clan, whom he deemed only worthy of being called waste.
"Eh... aaaahhh... uwaaah!"
"Aaaaaah... wuaaaaah——"
The ceaseless screams were no longer the sound of a human or a dragon, but as if they were the very embodiment of pain that had become tangible.
Yun Che slowly stood up. He narrowed his eyes, watching the wretched lump of flesh, listening to its bloody screams. Not a single trace of reluctance or pity could rise in his heart.
"Enjoy it slowly, young master of the Dragon God Clan," he said flatly. "You must thank your father well. If not for him, a base thing like you would not even be worthy of enduring the Waste Devouring Punishment."
"Wuuaaah... aah..."
He convulsed madly, screamed madly, tears and blood streaming from his eyes. He could not utter a single word... not for begging for mercy, not for killing himself.
"Heh!"
An extremely faint laugh came from the stillness behind him, easily swallowed by the soul-tearing screams.
It seemed like a fleeting, mocking laugh.
Yun Che's figure shot out like lightning. The thick abyssal dust could not obstruct his senses or his form... In an instant, he was ten li away. Between his tightly clenched fingers was the throat of an abyssal ghost.
"Gah... heh..."
The abyssal ghost's eyes flickered with a strange light. From its crushed throat came a strange sound like a cold laugh.
It seemed to be a profound practitioner who had been recently abyssalized, with traces of dark clothing still not fully devoured.
Yun Che swung his arm, throwing the abyssal ghost far away, then let out a slight breath.
He had been so filled with anger and hatred that this abyssal ghost had approached within ten li without his notice.
Out of caution, he did not immediately retract his extended senses but concentrated on scanning the surrounding space. After a few breaths, he withdrew his senses and turned back to where the Abyss Qilin was.
But just as his figure turned, behind a dark tree ten steps away, a shadow silently moved away, its back to him.
As close as ten steps...
Yun Che was completely unaware.
She walked away unhurriedly at such a close distance...
And Yun Che did not turn back at all.
As if... she was a shadow without breath or soul.