The old man finished speaking, raised his hands, and his ten fingers transformed into ten chains, coiling towards the little demoness!
Perhaps it was the suppression of power, or perhaps the little demoness was truly terrified.
She was captured without any resistance and bound in the void!
"No... don't come near me..."
The fear the little demoness had suppressed for tens of thousands of years erupted instantly!
"It's perfect timing, my research has made new progress," the mad old man said, approaching the little demoness with a bottle. "With this, you will become even more perfect!"
"Swoosh—!"
As soon as the mad old man finished speaking, his left palm, imbued with true qi, slashed towards the little demoness's left shoulder!
The little demoness's entire left arm flew off, showering the air with blood!
"Ah—!"
The intense pain made the little demoness cry out miserably.
The mad old man, with excitement in his eyes, poured the contents of the bottle onto the little demoness's severed arm.
The foul-smelling liquid seemed to have a life of its own, burrowing into the little demoness's body!
The little demoness felt her right side go numb, and then completely lost all sensation...
Then she watched, with her own eyes, as the flesh on her right shoulder began to writhe wildly!
New bone and flesh grew at an astonishing rate, eventually forming a disgusting and ugly shape!
The newly grown right arm looked like the limb of some monstrous beast, but it was undoubtedly more grotesque than any beast she had ever seen!
And with the appearance of this right arm, the little demoness felt a certain darkness within her heart awaken!
When she came to her senses again, she found herself in a village.
The surrounding houses were all collapsed.
The ground was littered with dismembered corpses.
The little demoness felt something on her right arm and looked down...
At that sight, she nearly collapsed!
Clinging to her right hand was a pregnant woman...
More accurately, her right arm had pierced through her body!
And her own body was also covered in blood!
The little demoness's head buzzed!
All of this...
Was I responsible...?
No...
No—!
Then, something even more devastating happened!
Her right arm, out of her control, flung the woman away!
And in her right hand, she was still clutching an unborn fetus...
Then, a mouth full of fangs materialized in her palm, and she swallowed the fetus whole!
"No... this isn't me... it's not me..."
The little demoness was completely broken!
With her left hand, she pressed down hard on her right shoulder, trying to rip off her entire right arm.
But no matter how hard she tried, the right arm seemed rooted to her body...
Until her left hand, strained beyond its limits, began to bleed...
Until her left hand's five fingers were forcibly broken by herself...
And then she completely lost consciousness...
When she woke up again, she found herself back in the void.
Her body was still bound tightly by ten chains.
If not for the grotesque and terrifying right arm still attached, she would have thought it was all a dream...
"It seems the effect is good, but there's still room for improvement."
As the voice spoke, the mad old man reappeared before her.
The mad old man brought his right palm down fiercely, and the little demoness's left arm detached from her body.
As the liquids entered her body, the little demoness grew an entirely new left arm.
Though its appearance was slightly different, it was equally disgusting and ugly.
And with the emergence of this left arm, the little demoness's desire for slaughter grew stronger and stronger...
The little demoness's consciousness became increasingly blurred...
When she was conscious, she realized she might be slaughtering.
As for what she was slaughtering, she could no longer distinguish.
After an unknown amount of time...
The little demoness realized she had completely transformed into a monster...
Disgustingly ugly, yet an incredibly bloodthirsty monster...
But now she found that she no longer detested her new body.
And the craving for slaughter grew even more intense!
"Excellent, excellent, hahahahaha!" the mad old man roared with laughter. "You are my most perfect creation to date. Go!"
Slaughter.
Modification.
An endless cycle...
Until, finally, her self-awareness completely vanished...
...
Meanwhile.
Upon discovering the trio had disappeared, Ye Fan did not search for them aimlessly like they might have.
Because he knew searching would be in vain.
Moreover, there had been no signs of any formations activating, so they likely weren't transported away by a teleportation array.
Soon, a guess flashed through Ye Fan's mind!
If that were the case, there was truly nothing more he needed to do.
Or rather...
Doing anything would be useless!
So Ye Fan simply took out a small stool, sat down, and leisurely gnawed on a watermelon.
A quarter of an hour later.
"I've almost finished this melon," Ye Fan wiped his mouth. "Aren't you going to show yourself yet?"
As Ye Fan's words fell, a figure abruptly materialized.
It was none other than another Ye Fan!
The difference was that this Ye Fan was enveloped in a faint black aura, giving him a very evil appearance.
"Finally decided to come out?" Ye Fan glanced at the counterfeit version of himself. "Should I call you a heart demon, or some other title?"
"You are indeed stronger than those few," the counterfeit Ye Fan's voice was laced with a chilling coldness, and he gave Ye Fan a sinister smile. "I've been entertaining your friends very well. Now... it's your turn!"
As the counterfeit Ye Fan spoke, Ye Fan's vision suddenly went black!
When he woke up again, he found himself in the middle of a large mountain.
The sudden change of scenery did not cause Ye Fan to panic like the others.
He was so familiar with every blade of grass and every tree here.
Even the scent in the wind stirred a deep sense of nostalgia...
Ye Fan took a deep breath and looked up towards the summit of the mountain.
Through the clouds and mist, a small hut could be seen.
The next moment.
Ye Fan circulated his true qi and slowly flew towards the mountaintop.
At the summit.
The hut was built from ordinary wood, its design utterly lacking in aesthetics, simply ordinary to the extreme.
Exquisite handmade pendants hung from the windows and eaves, adding a touch of brilliance to the humble dwelling.
Ye Fan gently lifted the pendant on the door.
It was a traditional folk paper cut, made of ordinary silk and golden thread.
It was no different from the pendants that hung before the doors of ordinary homes.
Yet, such an ordinary thing carried countless memories for him...
Because this was something he and she had made together long ago...
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
Several free-range chickens were kept around the yard.
Seeing Ye Fan appear, they immediately clucked and gathered around.
Ye Fan picked up a bamboo basket from the side, grabbed a handful of chicken feed, and scattered it on the ground.
Then Ye Fan clapped his hands and slowly placed them on the door.
Just as he was about to open it, Ye Fan hesitated...
Or rather, he was afraid...
After a long while...
Ye Fan took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door.
Ye Fan's movements were light and slow, making not a single sound from the wooden door.
To the right of the door, on a table, sat a vase.
The craftsmanship of the vase was truly regrettable, even a little ugly...
In the vase stood a single Lycoris radiata picked from the mountaintop, blooming a vibrant yellow.
Upon seeing the vase, Ye Fan's expression became momentarily distant...
"Hahaha, Fan, this vase you made is so ugly."
"A mistake, a mistake, this one doesn't count, I'll make another."
"It's the first thing you made with your own hands, it would be a shame to throw it away, let's keep it as a memento."
...
Ye Fan's hand gently caressed the vase...
The painting on it was drawn by her own hand...
A mountaintop under the setting sun...
A family sitting together...
...
Next to it was a desk, with papers scattered across it.
The papers contained various formula derivations and theories, written in a crooked hand that was truly unsightly...
A smile played on Ye Fan's lips.
These were things he had written after countless sleepless nights.
He remembered how she had quietly stayed by his side then, just watching him silently...
As if with every glance, she was imprinting him deeply into her heart...
Beside it was a dressing table, its craftsmanship comparable to the vase...
However, a layer of dust lay on the dressing table, as if it hadn't been used in a long time...
...
Ye Fan's hand, piece by piece, touched the items within the room.
Each one carried countless memories...
Finally...
Mustering immense courage, Ye Fan looked at the bed in the room.
On the bed lay a person.
A woman he had hidden in his heart for so long, yet had always been afraid to recall...