Lin Yu was quite shocked after hearing Yunzhen's words.
Then, he understood.
Indeed... a feeling as vivid as Yunzhen's definitely couldn't e from a mere Residual Soul.
And Yunzhen didn't seem to care that he had died here, still speaking with an open-minded optimism.
"Then one last question, lay brother. Since you said you came here with the help of my Taiqing Sect disciples, he should also..."
"Came in too, but I haven't found him yet."
Lin Yu nodded.
"A good junior," Yunzhen praised. "What did he e for? Don't tell me it's to release the Residual Souls trapped here or something."
"Doesn't seem to be that either. He seems to have e purely to... pletely kill this demon."
Yunzhen laughed heartily after hearing this, nodding repeatedly.
"Good, good, good. Worthy of being my Taiqing Sect disciple. My Taiqing way hasn't been severed. The Dao Ancestor would probably be delighted to see this."
"Lay brother, does this demon pulling you all in here mean she wants to use her powers to rewrite her sealed past?"
Yunzhen asked again, and Lin Yu nodded.
"Exactly. Rather... this Phantom Realm appearing now is entirely manipulated by that demon. We're the intruders."
Lin Yu admitted frankly. Yunzhen frowned. "So that's why you all have 'Willow Town resident' identities... but if that's the case, why are you her sister?"
"I don't know either. That's exactly why I have to go see for myself."
As Lin Yu spoke, Yunzhen nodded again.
"I understand... In that case, I wish you a smooth journey, lay brother. I'll finish as quickly as I can."
Yunzhen clasped his hands, his eyes now full of respect.
Lin Yu returned the gesture.
Then he turned to bid farewell to the other players.
"You all work together with Elder Yunzhen. I'll go in first to scout the situation."
The other players showed worried expressions, and Li Nian spoke up.
"Isn't it too dangerous to just walk straight in like that?"
"She's already slapped this identity on me. I have to give it a try."
Lin Yu said quietly, then stopped lingering and walked straight toward Xinglin Medical Hall.
After all, he had already spent enough time talking with Yunzhen.
Although the medical hall's main door was wide open, and the bright candlelight from the street and inside clearly illuminated the medicine cabinets, furnace fire, and consultation rooms, the entire hall felt like a dangerous nest covered in spider silk—as if anyone who entered would never escape.
But Lin Yu seemed pletely unaware of its terror and walked straight in.
It wasn't that he had truly embraced sacrifice and a willingness to die as he had claimed to Yunzhen.
On the contrary, the reason Lin Yu was so calm was because he was very certain...
Zhu Qiansi didn't give him the identity of her "sister" and invite him into the medical hall alone with the intention of killing him by herself.
Behind him, Doctor Zhu of Xinglin Medical Hall, who was also the "father" of Zhu Qiansi's Willow Town identity, spoke again.
"Wanluan, Qiansi is waiting for you at the medicine boiling station."
Even though he was playing the role of "father," he was strangely very respectful.
After pointing Lin Yu in the direction he should go, Doctor Zhu started removing the medical hall's door panels, preparing to close up—closing just as the night began was quite rare in Fire Hell.
Following Doctor Zhu's direction, Lin Yu went around the medicine cabinets and arrived at the boiling station behind the pharmacy.
Over a dozen furnaces were slowly burning, and many medicinal herbs were boiling in the pots.
The steam rising from the pot vents gathered together, filling the room with a rich, pungent medicinal scent dominated by bitterness, mixed with various other flavors.
On a low stool between the dozen furnaces and pots sat a slim woman. Her hair was tied up, two jade hairpins stuck through her black locks. She wore a simple blue-white silk skirt, holding a withered-leaf-colored palm leaf fan in one hand while her other hand...
Hooked over a dozen white threads connected to those furnaces.
With just a twitch of her finger, one thread would tremble slightly, and the fire in that furnace would change accordingly.
Lin Yu knew that this slim woman was the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, Zhu Qiansi.
He walked straight to her, casually picked up a medical kit from the corner, passed through the swirling medicinal steam and mist, and amid the "gurgling" boiling sounds, set down the kit not far from her and sat down.
Being closer now, sitting down allowed Lin Yu to better see Zhu Qiansi's face across from him—it wasn't outstanding but was somewhat pleasing, with moderate eyebrows and eyes and slightly thin lips.
More than a bloodthirsty demon, she looked like some hardworking, ordinary young housewife.
She was sizing him up too. After a long while, Zhu Qiansi finally spoke her first words.
"Your face is much prettier than my sister Wanluan's."
Her voice was soft and gentle, like freshly boiled, warm, smooth congee.
Lin Yu was a bit surprised by this. "Oh, so you actually did have a sister."
Zhu Qiansi nodded slightly with a faint smile. "Of course. I don't have the ability to create people out of thin air."
"Then was this Zhu Wanluan your sister when you were human, or your sister when you were a spider?"
Zhu Qiansi seemed surprised by the question. She thought for a moment, then spoke.
"When I was human, of course... When did I ever have sisters as a demon?"
"Although there might have been some, I ate them before I gained intelligence. Only one spider demon can survive from a single nest. That's normal."
There was a hint of regret in her voice.
"That's pretty cruel," Lin Yu remarked. "So after you gained intelligence, you developed feelings for this sister?"
"If I said yes, would you believe me?"
Zhu Qiansi asked playfully, hooking her pinky finger. A strand of spider silk adjusted the fire on a furnace to the right, stopping the sharp hissing sound from that pot.
"Of course not. I absolutely don't believe you have any feelings for Willow Town or any affection or love for anyone."
"I had some doubts before meeting you, but now that I've met you, I'm very sure. Demons are demons—they have no feelings at all."
Lin Yu looked at Zhu Qiansi, staring intently into her eyes.
Before meeting her, Lin Yu had indeed considered whether Zhu Qiansi might have some feelings—like toward the accountant, her offspring, or the "family" at Xinglin Medical Hall—perhaps these truly touched her heart.
But... after meeting her, Lin Yu was very certain. None of this existed.
All the emotions and fluctuations she displayed were false.
It couldn't even be called "acting" or "performance"... It was more like constantly copying and pasting other people's feelings, ultimately presenting a fake called "Zhu Qiansi."
Ordinary people might not see it, but Lin Yu could.
The biggest flaw was her eyes.
They appeared to be ordinary human eyes, but if you looked closely, you could notice the difference.
There was absolutely no emotion in those pitch-black eyes—they were dark, like a deep, cold, secluded pool.
As if nothing could stir her.
Let alone something like "human emotions."
If she were human, Lin Yu would definitely sigh that she was a born "monster."
But she really was a monster from the start.
"So, Zhu Qiansi never existed. From the very beginning, there was only... the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord."
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