Bai Fanlu suddenly raised his head. In the darkness, dozens of shadowy figures swayed, slowly converging on him from all directions, with him at their center…

These were the attendants and maids of the residence. Their arms hung limply at their sides, barely moving as their legs shuffled forward, making them seem like floating spirits at first glance.

They no longer kept their heads bowed but instead uniformly faced Bai Fanlu. Their hollow eye sockets lacked pupils, and their blue-tinged white eyes were extremely terrifying.

Cold sweat dripped down Bai Fanlu’s temples. He forced himself to stay calm, scanning his surroundings, when he suddenly noticed that one of the figures was different from the others—taller and more imposing, and dressed in a robe that was not servant attire.

Bai Fanlu’s eyes narrowed, and as he focused, he saw that although this figure’s movements were identical to those of the corpse-like people around him, below his thighs, there seemed to be nothing but empty space—no feet, no shoes, only two wooden stakes as thick as wrists supporting his body.

His clothing was a richly embroidered dark purple robe, with faint traces of golden dragon patterns still visible. And as Bai Fanlu looked closer at his face, although it was gaunter and older than he remembered, the man’s facial features were unmistakable.

This was the real Lord Wei of Yingzhou City, who had also been turned into a corpse!

It was the Ninety-Nine Corpse Array from the original story! So, there had already been ninety-nine people—the ninety-ninth being Wei Lin himself.

Despite his efforts to prevent this, he had failed.

Bai Fanlu’s heart sank. The corpse-like figures were drawing closer and closer, swarming like a mass of black ants searching for food, their clothing brushing against each other with a faint rustling sound.

There were too many of them, and they were too spread out. Bai Fanlu’s gaze darted around as he quickly searched for a specific target within the dark, oppressive array.

At that moment, a faint, low melody began to float through the silent night, drifting in slowly from somewhere distant. It was more hollow than the sound of a flute, more haunting than the sound of a reed pipe.

All at once, the corpse-like figures opened their mouths and emitted a shrill scream toward Bai Fanlu.

In the original story, it was Wei Lin who controlled the array through sorcery, but here, it seemed someone else was in control—someone using sound.

Bai Fanlu wasn’t surprised anymore. With nowhere to run, he stood his ground, watching as the corpses crept closer and closer. He sighed softly.

“Come out. I know it’s you.”

The corpses suddenly froze.

The melody stopped, replaced by a slow, rhythmic tapping sound, as if something was striking the ground.

Step by step, it was the sound of a cane.

From the shadows of the bamboo grove deep in the garden, beside the railing, a delicate figure in a long, water-colored dress slowly emerged. Even in the dark, her serene and gentle face was enough to evoke pity at first glance.

But this was the same weak and innocent merfolk who, in the original story, had no guile and no offensive capability. Now, she stood behind the ninety-nine corpses, smiling faintly like a flower blooming in the mist.

The contrast was shocking enough to be terrifying.

“Brother Bai, when did you realize?”

He Sang lifted her cane and gently brushed aside the branch of a plantain tree that had been hanging in front of her.

Bai Fanlu saw it then—He Sang was holding a conch shell in her right hand. The sound just now must have come from it.

“I had my suspicions since the street parade,” Bai Fanlu admitted. In truth, from the moment He Sang had glanced back, he had felt a chill to his bones.

Unfortunately, he had trusted the original character settings too much, convincing himself that he was overthinking things, leading him to both doubt and dismiss his suspicions repeatedly.

Now, it was clear that the original character settings couldn’t be trusted, and the current storyline had diverged completely. Bai Fanlu wasn’t sure what had caused this, but it was likely his fault—perhaps because he had insisted on splitting up with Yun Zhan?

But there was no point in dwelling on that now. He had to deal with the life-or-death situation at hand first.

He Sang seemed genuinely surprised by Bai Fanlu’s response, then she smiled, her expression soft but with undisguised admiration. “Brother Bai, you truly are impressive. It must have been hard for you, pretending to go along with me.”

Bai Fanlu asked, “Where is Wei Lin’s soul?”

There were only ninety-eight animals in the cages, so did Wei Lin’s soul still exist?

“Dead. It’s gone,” He Sang said lightly.

Such gentle words, yet they were so chilling and utterly devoid of emotion.

Of course, He Sang’s true affections had never been for the one who took away her freedom and forcibly kept her by his side—Wei Lin—but for Bai Junming.

He Sang’s expression when she mentioned Bai Junming had been genuine; there was no need for her to pretend.

Bai Fanlu paused, “Though I suspected you, I still didn’t think you’d turn out like this.”

After all, there had been no indication in the book that He Sang was the true mastermind. It had always been Wei Lin.

Hearing Bai Fanlu’s words, the smile on He Sang’s face gradually faded. “I’ve always been this way. And you should be like me.”

“What?” Bai Fanlu didn’t understand what she meant.

He Sang’s gaze turned cold. “Since you advised me not to kill the innocent, well then…”

Her voice trailed off with a slight smile as she slowly lifted the conch shell in her hand.

As the conch moved, the corpses tilted their heads back, their empty eyes staring blankly, their wide-open mouths emitting a low, humming sound. In the oppressive silence of the night, it was as if countless little snakes were slithering through the grass, more terrifying than the surround-sound effects in a zombie movie.

But in zombie movies, the people are infected, their brains dead and unable to be revived. However, Bai Fanlu knew that these people…

“Their lives are in my hands now, Brother Bai. Why don’t you teach me? When they want to harm you, how will you manage to protect yourself without killing a single one of them?”

The Ninety-Nine Corpse Array—each of these corpses was technically alive. Although Wei Lin was an exception, the remaining ninety-eight souls had been sealed in those animal bodies. Their flesh was controlled, and any damage to their bodies would mean their souls could never return.

This was what made the array so difficult to handle. Of course, Bai Fanlu could choose to ignore this and attack, but even if only a piece of flesh remained, these bodies would continue to attack. Moreover, attacking ordinary people was a major taboo for a cultivator.

In the original story, Yun Zhan was the righteous protagonist. He couldn’t just escape on his own, so he had broken the array by killing its core, saving everyone.

From Bai Fanlu’s perspective, these were just fictional characters, so in theory, he could use a powerful move that would take out He Sang along with the rest. But he worried that since the original body had been righteous before turning into a demon, it would be out of character to kill innocents. If he killed these people, would it trigger a darkening event?

The system beeped: “This thought is risky; proceed with caution.”

Bai Fanlu: …

It seemed that wasn’t an option.

Bai Fanlu inwardly cursed himself for being slow. He had clearly identified the core of the array earlier—the maid with the black puppet symbol on her ankle. She was the only fake person among the ninety-nine real people, and Bai Fanlu had almost marked her, but he had been a step too slow and missed his chance.

And now, all the maids were gathered together, shoulder to shoulder. It would be difficult to pinpoint the puppet just by recalling her appearance, and he couldn’t attack indiscriminately.

He Sang must have noticed his hesitation when he pretended to twist his ankle and had become cautious. It was a careless mistake.

Now, his only option was to keep talking to the antagonist to buy time and look for an opportunity to find the puppet. Isn’t there a saying that villains die from talking too much?

Bai Fanlu couldn’t help but laugh at his own optimism, even in such a dire situation. But he quickly found a topic. “He Sang, were you lying to me about my uncle?”

He Sang paused her gentle stroking of the conch and said slowly, “No, he truly is my benefactor.”

“Then why…” Why would you target your benefactor’s nephew?

As if reading Bai Fanlu’s thoughts, He Sang smiled, “Are you thinking that if I kill you, my benefactor will be angry?”

Bai Fanlu remained silent.

“I’d be happy to explain. I actually realized you weren’t him during the street parade, but I didn’t expect you to claim to be… Ha! If I’m not mistaken, you must be the young lord of the Demon Realm, correct?”

The fact that the Wei Lin they had just encountered was a puppet had already been confirmed. So the person who truly knew the secrets of the Demon Realm was He Sang.

Bai Fanlu raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

He Sang smiled again, “Because it concerns him, so of course, I had to learn more.”

Mentioning Bai Junming made He Sang’s demeanor soften, or rather, it made her revert to her true self, filled with

 tender feelings, or perhaps it was simply a return to the character she had in the original story.

Bai Fanlu was thoroughly confused.

Perhaps entertained by his expression, He Sang seemed quite pleased to continue enlightening him.

“First, whether you are truly the young lord of the Demon Realm remains to be confirmed because, as far as I know, the previous Demon King left no heir. Second, even if you are, my benefactor wouldn’t blame me. What do you think he considers you to be?”

What else? A pawn, of course. Bai Fanlu was well aware of that, but he figured that this pawn shouldn’t be discarded just yet, right?

“It seems you understand perfectly well,” He Sang said coldly. “So now, let me tell you the real reason you were ‘invited’ here, so you can depart with a clear understanding.”

As Bai Fanlu listened, his hands, hidden behind his back, finally managed to release a trace of Cang Jin’s power.

In the original story, Yun Zhan had been lucky. When He Sang interrupted Wei Lin, he noticed that one of the puppets among the people around him moved differently from the others, and sensing she was fake, he was able to break the array by chance.

But now, Bai Fanlu was surrounded and outnumbered, with He Sang already on guard. Finding the array’s core through small movements was not feasible.

However, in the later stages of the story, the original protagonist learned puppet techniques, using Cang Jin to control them. Bai Fanlu thought that perhaps he could use this to reverse-detect the puppet’s presence.

He Sang seemed unaware of his small actions and continued, “I said you are like me because you have a pure yin constitution. From the moment you entered the city, I noticed it. Your legs are the most suitable for me, and I’ve been waiting for them.”

“My… legs?” Bai Fanlu hadn’t expected this. “So when you mentioned guidance from a master…”

“That was indeed his guidance,” He Sang replied. “But how could a fish tail transform into legs? Did you really believe that?”

Please, in this world, what is there not to believe? Was that master truly an immortal? How could he teach He Sang such a ridiculous thing as cutting off someone’s legs for personal use?

“And your current legs…” Bai Fanlu started to say something, then suddenly stopped, unable to continue.

“Heh, it seems you’ve figured it out. Yes, they’re Wei Lin’s.” He Sang’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “He was truly devoted to me, treating me exceptionally well, but unfortunately, I utterly despised him!”

Bai Fanlu was in utter disbelief, gritting his teeth, and after a long moment, he muttered, “So… Wei Lin was already killed by you. You’ve been controlling his puppet all along, acting in front of me to gain my trust and trap me. If not for that recent accident, when my soul left my body, you would have easily taken my body and used it for your own purposes?”

He Sang let out a soft laugh, neither confirming nor denying.

Bai Fanlu didn’t know how to describe the shock he felt. What he had thought was a naive and innocent character turned out to be a completely black-hearted lotus. The plot had deviated far too much.

And in that moment of distraction, he didn’t even notice when a figure approached him from behind.

Cang Jin? There was a reaction!

By the time Bai Fanlu realized it, he was struck hard on the back of the head, his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

In the final moment before losing consciousness, he thought to himself, this must be the real “villains die from talking too much,” right? Had he just cursed himself?

He Sang coldly watched him fall and murmured softly, “If you’d been more obedient and let your soul leave your body, you wouldn’t have had to suffer. Now that I’m going to sever your legs, don’t cry from the pain.”

He slowly walked over, and a cold gleam appeared in his hand. But before he could touch Bai Fanlu’s body, a sudden force from somewhere flung him away, sending him flying several meters back.

“Who’s there?!”

A golden light gradually grew brighter from a certain direction. He Sang focused his gaze and saw that the small white monkey lying quietly on the ground was emitting several streams of golden light, which then flew toward Bai Fanlu, wrapping around him in a tight cocoon.

Boom! A massive surge of spiritual energy burst forth, the golden light dissipating to reveal a humanoid figure.

A young man knelt on one knee, his head slightly lowered, looking at the unconscious Bai Fanlu in his arms. His ink-black hair and blue robes billowed in the stirred spiritual energy. He wrapped his left arm around Bai Fanlu’s shoulders and slowly raised a sword with his right hand.

Behind him, the head of the maid who had attacked Bai Fanlu silently rolled off her shoulders and tumbled into the darkness.

The young man raised his sword, pointing it directly at He Sang.

The blade was as thin as a cicada’s wing, and the sword’s light was as cold as the underworld.

Bilu, Huangquan.