The Empress's face instantly turned ashen, her body flickering in and out of visibility, as if on the verge of dissipating.
Clutching her chest, her expression turned frigid, radiating murderous intent. She let out a cold snort, "You dare touch my heart? Do you truly wish for a mutual destruction?"
The Empress was originally a manifestation of a goddess's desire to achieve enlightenment through killing, her heart having been gouged out to form her human shape.
That shattered heart was her true form; once it was destroyed, she too would vanish into nothingness.
The current situation clearly indicated that her heart had been tampered with, and the Four Giants were now making their move against her.
At this critical juncture, she hurriedly circulated her cultivation technique, attempting to recall her oil-paper umbrella.
With that rare treasure, she could protect her spiritual body from annihilation, allowing her to survive for a period even after her heart was destroyed, and in her dying moments, she could still eliminate the Four Giants, dragging them down with her.
However, after several attempts to summon it, she felt no sign of the oil-paper umbrella returning.
Then, a terrifying event occurred.
The Empress sensed that the connection between her and the oil-paper umbrella was slowly fading.
She had completely lost control of the oil-paper umbrella.
"What's going on? Is it because my body is injured? Or is it that man, acting suspiciously, messing with my oil-paper umbrella?"
The Empress's heart plummeted to the abyss, a profound sense of powerlessness flashing in her pupils.
The innocent face of Ji Mo surfaced in her mind, and she refused to believe that he possessed such deep cunning, aiming to trick her out of her treasured item.
"Pfft..."
The Empress's body trembled, and she spat out another mouthful of blood, her exquisite face completely devoid of color.
She staggered back into the courtyard, only to hear the Iron Eater within complaining.
"Damn Ji cook, I hate you! Weren't you here to save me? Why did you come and then leave?"
"I was wrong, I'll never run away from home again, okay? You can't abandon Little Tuan Tuan."
"Hurry back and save your adorable Little Tuan Tuan, or I'll draw circles and curse you, making all your future children be chubby boys and none of them daughters."
Little Tuan Tuan pouted, its eyes welling up with tears, filled with immense sadness.
It had clearly heard Ji Mo arrive, but after exchanging a couple of words with the Empress, he had simply patted his backside and left, showing no intention of saving it.
It believed it had been abandoned and felt extremely wronged.
Honestly, all it did was run away from home, how could such a big man be so petty?
If it weren't for the Empress confining it within the courtyard, the Iron Eater truly wanted to rush out and question Ji Mo, asking if love truly disappears.
He used to treat it as a national treasure, and now he wouldn't even acknowledge it, how heartless.
The Empress heard the Iron Eater's resentful words, and her body stiffened.
Her face instantly turned ashen, and she immediately grabbed Little Tuan Tuan, demanding, "You're saying that the man who just appeared is your master?"
"Yes."
Little Tuan Tuan nodded, then sadly shook its head, "Probably not anymore. Ji cook is fickle and unfaithful, always seeking new things and discarding the old. This scumbag doesn't want me anymore. Woo woo..."
*Slap!*
Without any preamble, the Empress raised her hand and delivered another sound beating to Little Tuan Tuan.
"Despicable, shameless, vulgar, insidious, cunning... Ah, I'm going to kill him! I will definitely kill this bastard!"
The Empress was on the verge of collapse, her eyes blazing with rage, a torrent of fury rising within her.
She felt she had been deceived.
That damned Ji Mo had deceived her feelings and also swindled her oil-paper umbrella.
What about "The sky is azure, waiting for the rain, and I am waiting for you."
What about "The most beautiful thing is the eaves where we took shelter from the rain."
Lies, all of it was a lie...
The Empress's heart felt as if it were being cut by a knife, tears flickering in her eyes.
Her body began to emit wisps of dense black energy, and demonic patterns flickered across her face.
She was enveloped by an aura of death, becoming increasingly cold and heartless.
"Oh dear, then go kill him! Why are you hitting me? I'm just an innocent and pitiable baby who's been abandoned."
Little Tuan Tuan felt incredibly wronged; it hadn't done anything.
Then it asked in confusion, "What did he do to you?"
"He shamelessly declared he wanted to have chubby babies with me, and now he's deliberately tricked me... to steal my treasure. That scumbag, I won't let him get away with it."
The Empress's face was filled with resentment, and the dark radiance on her body grew even more intense.
Little Tuan Tuan was utterly bewildered. He just sang a song and said a couple of words, how did he trick you?
Besides, didn't you give him the umbrella yourself?
Ji cook had several divine artifacts on him, why would he want your tattered umbrella?
As for the matter of having chubby babies, it felt a pang of guilt. That was something it had made up randomly back then, and the Empress had actually taken it seriously. What was to be done now?
Little Tuan Tuan was stunned, feeling as if it had somehow set up Ji Mo.
It hurriedly tried to explain, "Actually, you've misunderstood, I lied to you..."
However, the Empress no longer had the inclination to listen and knocked it unconscious with a single blow.
Ji Mo rapidly departed from the valley. Only after he had traveled a considerable distance did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then he collected himself and couldn't help but curse himself for being a coward.
Really, what was there to be afraid of?
With his current abilities, dealing with some minor demons and monsters was not a problem. Why the hasty retreat, how embarrassing!
Moreover, that female ghost might not have had malicious intentions.
On a rainy day, what ill intentions could a girl who gives you her only umbrella have?
Even if she was a ghost, she was still a kind-hearted and beautiful ghost girl.
Ji Mo looked at the slightly worn oil-paper umbrella in his hand, feeling a touch of regret.
He felt that his previous actions might have hurt her feelings and wanted to go back to apologize.
But after thinking about it, he decided it was better to leave first, fix the oil-paper umbrella properly, and then come back to apologize in a couple of days.
He opened the oil-paper umbrella, inhaling the faint fragrance that wafted from it, and his mind drifted to the plot of "A Chinese Ghost Story," his heart stirred.
He actually began to look forward to his next meeting with the ghost girl.
...
In a dark underground cave.
The Ghost was incredibly excited, its body emitting a faint white glow, sprouting countless tendrils that reached into a crystal box before it.
Inside the box lay a heart full of cracks, utterly shattered.
This was the Empress's broken heart.
And the Ghost was madly absorbing the power contained within the heart.
"Heaven helps me! I've finally found a weakness and seized an opportunity. My Empress Majesty, what exactly happened? How did you lose the protection of the oil-paper umbrella?"
That oil-paper umbrella could be considered the Empress's lifeline. With its protection, it was almost impossible for the Ghost to absorb the heart's energy on a large scale.
Previously, it could only absorb the heart's energy bit by bit, which was also the reason for the Empress's gradual weakening in recent times.
But now, it suddenly discovered that the protective power around the heart had vanished.
Therefore, the Ghost would not let go of such a golden opportunity, madly devouring the heart's vitality and energy.
It was precisely because of this that the Empress suffered such a severe blow.
Suddenly.
The Empress's heart pulsed with a strong dark radiance, an evil power breeding within. The crimson heart surprisingly began to turn black.
"Is this... blackening? Haha, you've actually blackened! Interesting, very interesting."