After nine lifetimes of reincarnation, the yandere villainous heroine descends.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, almost ear-piercing sound suddenly tore through the air.

Shen Luoning's thoughts abruptly ended, and the illusory scene before her eyes shattered inch by inch.

My gaze returned to the luxurious private room, the light from the crystal chandelier almost blinding.

The difference is that Xie Zhixia is standing next to her now, her palms slightly red, obviously having just been hit.

"You dare hit me?"

The heavily made-up woman next to Shen Luoning covered half of her cheek, her hair was a little disheveled, her eyes were full of disbelief and anger, and her voice was trembling.

"Would I hit you?"

Xie Zhixia sneered, her eyes sharp as knives. "Based on what you just said, I could kill you if I wanted to."

The heavily made-up woman shrank back, startled by the fierce look in her eyes, a flicker of fear involuntarily crossing her own.

But soon, she forced herself to straighten her back.

She didn't believe Xie Zhixia would actually dare to make a move here, especially since Shen Luoning was with her.

She turned to look at Shen Luoning beside her, her eyes filled with obvious pleading.

However, Shen Luoning's gaze did not linger on her for even a moment.

At this moment, Shen Luoning was like a person who had just been dehydrated, her soul not yet returned to its place.

Her mind was filled with the scene she had just witnessed: the majestic palace and the towering pillars.

And then there was the little boy, covered in wounds, who walked towards her step by step, and most importantly, the words "Greetings, Your Excellency."

This scene felt both incredibly real and utterly unreal in Shen Luoning's mind, leaving her momentarily unable to process whether what had just happened was real or not.

Or perhaps it's because of the unusual phenomenon caused by her recent rapid advancement in cultivation.

Seeing that Shen Luoning had no reaction, the heavily made-up woman's face lost even more color, and her gaze toward Xie Zhixia held a hint of fear.

Seeing this, Song Jingchen quickly tried to smooth things over: "Zhixia, why bother arguing with her? Calm down."

Xie Zhixia ignored him, only giving the heavily made-up woman a cold glance: "Watch your mouth. If you dare to talk nonsense again, next time it won't be as simple as a slap."

After saying that, she turned to look at Shen Luoning, who was still in a daze, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Shen Luoning, your dog is running wild in front of me, and you just stand by and watch."

As if startled awake, Shen Luoning slowly turned her gaze from Shen Shuchou's face to the heavily made-up woman beside her.

In response to the pleading look in the other person's eyes, all that was met was a faint voice: "You were the one who spoke rudely first, so you deserved to be slapped."

Upon hearing this, the heavily made-up woman's face turned completely pale. She opened her mouth, but in the end, she lowered her head in humiliation.

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhixia frowned. Looking at Shen Luoning, she suddenly felt that the person in front of her was completely different from the one she used to know.

In the past, she would never have said such a thing.

"Have we... met before?"

Xie Zhixia was pondering to herself when Shen Luoning suddenly spoke, her gaze fixed on Shen Shuchou.

Shen Shuchou did not respond.

From the moment he spoke, he noticed that Shen Luoning's gaze was fixed on him.

What made him even more uneasy was that he sensed a strange emotion emanating from Shen Luoning.

It felt unfamiliar, yet subtly familiar.

But he couldn't quite place where it was familiar.

What surprised Shen Shuchou the most was that Shen Luoning's body was faintly emitting a Nascent Soul Realm energy fluctuation.

Now, the spiritual energy of Earth is recovering, and the concentration and speed of recovery are dozens of times greater than before.

Nascent Soul cultivators are no longer rare, and there are likely many beings at even higher levels who have already emerged.

But Shen Shuchou could see clearly that Shen Luoning was about the same age as him, but her cultivation had already steadily entered the Nascent Soul Realm.

With such talent, even in the real world of cultivation, he would be considered a prodigy.

Before Shen Shuchou could speak, Xie Zhixia's expression turned cold. She stepped forward and shouted sharply, "Shen Luoning, what do you mean?"

Shen Luoning glanced at her indifferently, ignoring her, her gaze remaining fixed on Shen Shuchou, and said softly, "Can I talk to you alone?"

"Shen Luoning, how come I didn't know you had a penchant for stealing men?"

Seeing that she was being ignored again, Xie Zhixia's anger intensified, and she raised her voice several decibels, "He's someone I brought. What's it to you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Luoning felt a sudden surge of inexplicable irritation.

A chilling killing intent suddenly burst forth without warning, instantly transforming into a bone-chilling gleam that hurtled straight toward Xie Zhixia.

Xie Zhixia was just an ordinary person, how could she withstand the killing intent of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? Her face turned pale instantly, and she subconsciously took a step back.

Just then, Shen Shuchou made a move.

He barely hesitated before pulling Xie Zhixia behind him to protect her, then took a step forward.

His spiritual energy surged forth like a tide, forming an invisible barrier that steadily blocked the killing intent.

With a soft "hum," the two forces collided in the air, creating a faint ripple.

Shen Luoning stared intently at Shen Shuchou, who was blocking her way.

The child's face that I had just caught a glimpse of was now frantically overlapping, tearing apart, and then re-merging with the person in front of me.

The surrounding space was frantically tearing and alternating between the room and the misty palace, causing the world to spin.

A myriad of emotions suddenly welled up in my chest, surging like a tidal wave.

At the same time, two ethereal voices, seemingly from another world, slowly rose from the void.

"Disciple Shen Shuchou pays respects to Your Excellency."

It was a child's voice, innocent yet firm, like a spark carrying dust.

"From now on, I, Lu Wanheng, will be your master. If anyone bullies you in the future, I will seek justice for you."

The woman's voice was clear and cold like moonlight, carrying an undeniable authority.

As the words fell, Shen Luoning saw, through the shattering light and shadow, the woman in white, exuding an ethereal aura, looking down at the young boy kneeling on the steps.

But the next moment, the image suddenly distorted.

The woman in white remained standing in the same spot, but the surrounding clouds and mist around the palace had vanished with a roar, replaced by a desolate and chilling place.

Before her stood the young man wielding a sword with his back straight, and behind him lay a blurry black figure.

"This disciple is willing to accept punishment, please spare her, Master."

The young man's voice was deep and resolute, his sword trembled slightly, yet he did not retreat an inch.

The woman in white looked down at him, her eyes filled with an icy chill, and every word she spoke was bone-chilling.

"You, a mere demoness from the demonic sect, dare to raise your sword against me?"

"Shen Shuchou, you have disappointed me greatly."

The scene shifts rapidly again, with light and shadow breaking and then reforming.

This time, it was the dark and damp bottom of the cliff.

The young man was shirtless, his body covered in hideous wounds, and several chains emanating black energy pierced through his collarbone, binding him tightly to the stone wall.

His head was bowed, his long hair obscuring his face, and only his faint breathing proved that he was still alive.

The woman in white stood before him, looking down at him with no pity in her eyes, only a deathly coldness.

Seeing this scene, Shen Luoning's heart suddenly clenched, and a strange, dull pain surged up without warning. She gazed at that pitiful figure, a feeling of indescribable bitterness welling up in her chest.

But the image shattered completely in a flash.

But what happened next truly suffocated her.

The cold moon hung high in the sky. The woman in white collapsed to the ground, clutching a blood-soaked, lifeless body tightly in her arms.

Blood soaked through her white robes, and corpses littered the surrounding area, leaving the ground a crimson mess.

This time, there was no sound at all.

Only heavy, suppressed breathing slowly penetrated her eardrums.

Shen Luoning felt as if her heart was being ripped apart, a sharp pain suddenly rising, and a suffocating feeling engulfed her like a tidal wave.

"You are the one I raised; you can't leave me."

The woman in white finally spoke, her voice like rusty iron scraping against each other, devoid of any warmth.

Only a deathly silence that seeps into the bones, like a murmur rising from a grave.

"You belong to me, Lu Wanheng. You are mine in this life, and no matter how many reincarnations we go through, you will always be mine."

Every word and phrase, imbued with a fanatical madness, echoes in the emptiness.

Shen Luoning stared blankly, unable to distinguish whether what was before her was an illusion or something else.

Just then, the woman in white in the picture slowly raised her eyes.

Those eyes met Shen Luoning's, filled with a desolate grayness, the shattered light carrying madness and sorrow, making her heart stop.

The next second, a voice that was inches away suddenly rang out:

"I've found you!"

boom--

Shen Luoning's originally clear and cold eyes suddenly became covered with a layer of desolate gray, as if all life had been drained away, leaving only an empty desolation.

Shen Shuchou across from him suddenly shivered, a chill creeping up his spine and down his neck.

The feeling was like being watched by a lurking ferocious beast—cold, dangerous, and with a chilling sense of oppression.

A few breaths later, as the gray tinge faded, the biting chill dissipated.

Meanwhile, in another corner of Yandu.

"What's wrong with you?"

Yu Linghuan keenly sensed the sudden tremor in Fifth Qinghan's soul, her brows furrowed, and she asked in a low voice.

Fifth Qinghan's soul trembled slightly, and he murmured to himself.

"I felt it..."

"What did you feel?" Yu Linghuan quickly asked.

The next instant, Fifth Qinghan's voice suddenly became clear: "I sense that my husband is right here... not far away."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Linghuan's expression froze, and a wave of shock washed over her.

P.S.: Happy New Year everyone! May you all live forever!