The City Lord of Sin City was almost unrecognizable, appearing as a monstrous, walking figure.
Countless vines seemed to have grown rampantly from within her body, wildly flailing their branches, making it impossible to tell whether the vines were controlling a person or a person was controlling the vines.
In addition, the vines were adorned with numerous human eyes, each opening and closing in agony, displaying the resentment of those whose faces had been ripped off while they were still alive.
Lu Mingming's heart tightened. While worried, she looked in Aunt Shi's direction.
Aunt Shi clutched her chest, having bought herself a moment of respite. Three blood streaks marred her skin, one eye was closed, shedding bloody tears. She appeared to have no major injuries, nor any visible fluctuations in her spirit, but it was clear to the naked eye that she was in a state of extreme fatigue.
"Why are you here? Didn't I lock you in the safe house?!"
Aunt Shi suddenly found Lu Mingming close by and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, her face etched with anger.
"I was worried about you..."
Lu Mingming said earnestly.
Aunt Shi was momentarily speechless, then vented her anger onto the two men beside Lu Mingming.
"You two are here to deliberately cause trouble! Hurry up and take her back. This is not a place for outsiders to be involved."
"Aunt Shi, don't worry, the three of us can help."
Since Lu Mingming had come, she had no intention of leaving Aunt Shi to fend for herself.
"There's plenty of time for you to catch up. Don't drive away my honored guests."
The City Lord of Sin City suddenly interrupted, her meters-long vines swaying, dancing like coiled pythons in mid-air.
Lu Mingming's skin crawled, her body going numb with a chilling dread.
The City Lord of Sin City slowly approached: "Let's make a deal. You give me the ghost ginseng, and I won't hold these people accountable for what they've done. The lives of all these people are but a small sacrifice to me.
I can even give up Sin City for the ghost ginseng. What do you think?"
"I don't think anything of it."
Lu Mingming's expression was unreadable.
"Or rather, your cliché attempts at persuasion are outdated."
"Ultimately, you're afraid of my power."
The City Lord of Sin City let out a strange laugh.
"That's true... Heh. There's no resisting great power. A god like me can achieve true immortality."
As he laughed, his withered hands pushed away his cloak, revealing his body.
"What is this ghastly thing?"
Orlanar recoiled in disgust.
"Who knows? It does resemble the mysterious arts of the Wu clan."
Lu Yan replied casually.
The City Lord's old, wrinkled face flowed like water, hanging vertically near his chest.
His eyes were filled with turbidity. His right eye was embedded with a vine seed, surrounded by necrotic flesh.
The vines arrogantly split into hundreds of fine tendrils, piercing the chests of every soldier of the City of Eternal Night.
Each strike passed through the heart, causing instant death. The blood from the still-warm corpses flowed along the living vines, feeding back into the City Lord of Sin City's body.
Within mere breaths, Lu Mingming watched as the City Lord of Sin City grew visibly younger, her skin regaining its smoothness.
"This is..."
Lu Yan finally became serious, a look of apprehension creasing his brow.
He immediately recognized the anomaly and exclaimed: "We need to break it quickly, this is the blood sacrifice technique of the Wu clan."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Shi drew the sharp knife stuck in the ground and unhesitatingly charged towards the City Lord of Sin City, using her twin blades to hack away all the vines in her path, spilling hot blood.
The City Lord of Sin City turned her head mechanically, her eyes as cold as those of some cold-blooded animal.
"You court death."
With a casual wave, the greatly strengthened vines wove themselves into powerful, massive tentacles, whipping towards Aunt Shi with a chilling wind. The remaining vines blocked Aunt Shi's path, creating an inescapable net.
Aunt Shi, unable to fend off hundreds of attacks with just her fists, gritted her teeth and erected a water shield around herself to block.
"It's useless, give up!"
As the City Lord of Sin City had said, a giant tentacle easily smashed Aunt Shi onto the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Aunt Shi curled her body like a shrimp to alleviate the pain, a trail of blood dripping from her lips.
"Aunt Shi!"
The rage Lu Mingming had been suppressing was fanned anew. Her eyes instantly turned red, anger burning like a fierce flame, consuming her reason.
The little boy in her arms and the injured Aunt Shi before her continuously stimulated the energy within her spiritual sea.
"See? I told you not to disobey me."
The City Lord of Sin City turned around indifferently.
"It's time to deal with you."
Lu Yan and Orlanar immediately moved in, flanking her, summoning their spiritual power around Lu Mingming.
"The little cub in your arms has fainted. Do you want to waste more time and send another life to the afterlife? Hand over the ghost ginseng."
The City Lord of Sin City, in a state of frenzied madness, repeated this phrase. A vine coiled around her neck, and from its tip, a mouth filled with sharp teeth opened.
"I think you'll be the one dying next."
Orlanar's palm erupted with flames, unfazed by the threat.
"It will be your honor to be killed by it."
The City Lord of Sin City caressed the vine at her neck as if it were her own offspring.
"Go—Huh?"
A pair of strong hands forcefully gripped his neck, making it difficult for the City Lord of Sin City to breathe.
"Didn't expect me to show up, did you? I've been pretending to be a corpse behind you for a long time. Luckily, I wasn't discovered."
Cain said triumphantly, tightening his grip with his elbow.
"When you killed my teammates and tried to bully my dream lover, did you ever think you'd be counter-killed by me?"
The City Lord of Sin City's face turned from pale to purplish-blue, but he calmly said, "Unfortunately, I think you are about to fail."
As soon as he finished speaking, a vine erupted from the ground, instantly piercing through Cain's abdomen, and in the blink of an eye, it plunged in again, savagely shredding his internal organs.
"..."
Cain's strength suddenly vanished. As he fell, he looked in Lu Mingming's direction, his mouth moving. His pupils dilated, but he couldn't utter a word.
Lu Mingming's heart trembled for a brief second.
Although he was someone she didn't particularly like, at that moment, her heart pounded with unprecedented intensity.
"Thump."
"Thump."
"Thump."
...
"Oh my, your little friend seems to have suffered a great blow."
Lu Mingming snapped back to reality, looking at the City Lord of Sin City's opening and closing mouth, but no sound emerged.
"What is he saying?"
"I told you earlier it was a mistake to involve Lu Mingming in this."
Lu Mingming turned to look at Orlanar. Her eyes were covered by a veil, making her features indistinguishable. He was also silent.
"Never mind, let's finish this quickly. Mingming's state is a bit dangerous. It looks like a mental power surge, very similar to a genetic reversion disease."
Orlanar's words were met with Lu Yan's agreement. The two temporarily ceased their fighting to deal with the external enemy.
"Are you planning to surrender? I told you, if you'd given me the ghost ginseng, none of this would have happened. Think about all the other people out there dying. Can you bear it? It's your fault, little girl."
The City Lord continued to provoke her. His hands transformed into two vines as tall as city walls, demarcating this area as his personal domain, confining the movements of Lu Mingming and her companions.
"You're not planning to surrender meekly? You seem to have lost your will to fight."
"Don't worry, I'll kill you right away."
Orlanar's entire body manifested a half-beast form, sharp canine teeth protruding from his thin lips, his large palms transforming into thick, clawed paws for defense.
Balls of spiritual energy floated around him, each possessing a terrifying energy close to B+.
"Prepare to be blown to bits..."
"May I handle this?"
Lu Mingming suddenly spoke.
Orlanar, who was about to launch his attack, braked abruptly. He and Lu Yan froze in unison.
Lu Mingming placed the little boy at the farthest point to ensure his safety. When she turned back, her aura had completely changed.
A wind swept through the city, carrying the stench of blood and swirling around the vines.
Lu Mingming floated step by step through the air. Her spiritual power obediently manifested as physical energy, encircling her like a crescent moon worshipped by stars, emitting a cold, ethereal glow.
Dark clouds obscured the sky, and lightning danced like a mad serpent, heralding the end of the world.
Though she displayed no killing intent, it felt like a heavy stone pressing down on everyone present, making it difficult to breathe.
Lu Mingming's lips curled into a faint smile as she looked down from above.
"I've thought about it. Killing you with lightning-attribute attacks would be too easy, so how about you try this instead?"
As she spoke, her eyes gleaming with a smile as gentle as water, the crackling silver-white lightning on her fingertips suddenly transformed into countless sharp ice shards, aiming for every open space on the City Lord of Sin City's body.
"A gift for you. Please accept it."
The biting coldness in her words revealed an unmistakable killing intent, which, mixed with the sword-like ice shards, surged forward.
"Insolent brat!"
The City Lord of Sin City retaliated without hesitation.
The two energies collided violently, and for an instant, the world fell silent.