Chapter 199: Curtain Call

The snow woman treated He Lasi's questioning and threatening words as if they were unheard.

She floated straight to his front and softly asked, "Am I beautiful?"

Ke Lai En, watching the scene from the side, felt his scalp go numb, as if answering the question would immediately bring about something terrifying.

This doesn't seem like a normal extraordinary being; it resembles a rule‑following monster, and fortunately her target isn't me.

He Lasi also sensed something amiss and chose neither to answer nor to evade the snow woman's question.

He raised his hand, pushed his palm forward, and announced a series of prohibitions in ancient He Mi Si language:

"No ghosts or vengeful spirits are allowed here!"

"No inquiries are allowed here!"

"No flying or hovering is allowed here!"

"Illegal intrusion into another's residence is a crime!"

"Illegal intrusion into another's residence is a crime!"

He Lasi's continuous proclamations suddenly halted.

Beads of pea‑sized sweat began to soak his forehead, sliding down his cheeks, and his spiritual aura showed signs of instability.

"Ahem!"

Ke Lai En, watching from the side, sensed a wave of unease; as the prohibitions piled up, he inexplicably felt a slight chill—not the cold from surrounding frost, but an intuitive discomfort.

"Am I beautiful?" The snow woman remained unmoved by He Lasi's behavior and continued to repeat the question.

His spirit became heavy; Ke Lai En, now on the ground, was ready to abort his descent and flee at any moment.

He Lasi paused briefly, steadied his dizziness, then coldly scanned Ke Lai En and the suddenly appearing snow woman, and with renewed authority declared:

"The guilty shall be restrained!"

Ke Lai En suddenly realized his body was sealed by invisible shackles, and his movements instantly grew stiff.

Nevertheless, Ke Lai En wasn't overly worried: first, He Lasi had no time to attend to him; second, he still possessed the ability of flame‑leap, and if needed he could simply leave.

Ke Lai En, standing aside like a spectator, quietly watched the snow woman's movements slow, then observed He Lasi speak again, and, like a judge, pronounced with solemn authority: "Exile!"

An invisible, overwhelming force suddenly manifested, repeatedly pushing back the snow woman's slowly advancing form.

Seizing the chance, He Lasi abruptly turned and fled outward without looking back.

The snow woman's figure gradually became transparent, fading into illusion as if to pursue He Lasi.

Seeing the imposing snow woman depart, Ke Lai En finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Snap!" He snapped his fingers, igniting a burst of crimson flame in the room that relit the side fireplace extinguished by the snow woman's arrival.

Ke Lai En laid down the materials that enveloped his spirit, swiftly arranging a ritual around the fireplace.

Then, following the method he learned from Lei Ke Dun, he meditated and visualized in his mind a brass‑colored, incomplete ring composed of countless gears.

His spiritual aura rippled like water, and an incomplete ring of gears and chains materialized behind Ke Lai En.

As the ring appeared, Ke Lai En instantly felt a connection forming between himself and some deep part of the spirit realm.

At the same time, the library deep within the spirit realm began to tremble slightly.

Seated inside the library, Mr. Huang, holding an ancient book, lifted his gaze toward the central area of the library.

There, three incomplete rings interlinked in a fate‑triangle formation seemed affected, gently shaking and causing the entire library to tremble slightly.

A faint blue glimmer brewed in Huang's eyes, as if everything in the world could not hide under his gaze.

"Lord of the Mysteries. Ha, as long as it's not A Meng, everything falls within my acceptance range."

He whispered a line, and specks of brass‑colored light spread from Huang, stabilizing the gently shaking library.

Ke Lai En sprinkled a handful of red‑crowned phoenix‑fairy herb powder into the vigorously burning fireplace and began to chant:

"Descendants of knowledge and wisdom, ancient guardians, eyes that perceive the world, sages seated in the heavens, sentinels of reason and knowledge."

"I pray to you;"

"I beseech the form of fire that burns all."

As the incantation ended, the fireplace flame surged upward and began to spread outward.

Within the crimson flame, a layer of pale blue emerged; surrounding fire was continuously drawn in, intertwining and twisting, reshaping into a fire creature almost humanoid in form.

Ke Lai En's spirit regained its lightness, drifting backward a short distance while softly chanting, "Sun!"

A clear, radiant, pure warm light descended upon the dining hall, dispelling the abnormal conditions of all those lying on the floor, and they began to emerge from unconsciousness.

Seeing the people slowly awaken, Ke Lai En thoughtfully gave them a revitalizing wraith‑like shriek.

Kapeng, Parker, Katie and others who had collapsed were jolted awake by a stabbing pain in their heads, with crimson blood trickling from their noses and eyes.

In their daze, what filled their vision were billowing smoke, erratic crimson flames, and a ghostly figure floating mid‑air, exuding a strong presence, dressed in the Black Emperor's garb, the ghost "Ke Lai En".

"Ha! This is the final act of the performance, good luck to you all!"

Ke Lai En, in a low, hoarse voice, said mockingly.

"Snap!" He snapped his fingers.

The flames in the room surged upward and exploded, instantly filling the entire space like a grand fireworks display.

Ke Lai En's spirit, moving as if strolling, stepped into the layered flames and immediately vanished within the room.

The others hadn't recovered their senses when the raging flames, at an unbelievable speed, overtook the entire villa.

A ferocious fire‑shaped figure, like an arsonist demon, indiscriminately incinerated everything—people or objects—anyone appearing within its sight.

Just after escaping the villa, He Lasi staggered and clumsily fell to the ground.

He terrifiedly discovered his legs had frozen into a block of ice, unable to lift or step.

His eyes widened sharply, trying to open his mouth to utter a prohibition, yet no sound emerged, and he even lost any sense of his own throat.

He Lasi reached toward his neck, feeling a biting cold, as if he were touching a slab of ice.

In his vision appeared the snow woman's silhouette, wearing a pale‑blue long dress patterned with snowflakes; the image grew clearer and enlarged.

Until the Snow Woman's illusion, a fleeting silhouette stepped out from within.

The Snow Woman's lower half was a semi‑translucent, ethereal spirit form, while her upper half possessed solid flesh and blood.

She gazed at the disheveled Helas, who had collapsed onto the ground, and floated closer, saying:

"Am I beautiful?"

Helas widened his eyes, terrified, trying to say something, but not a single word escaped him.

Not receiving the answer she wanted, the Snow Woman leaned down and gave Helas an intimate kiss.

Leiketon stood silently in the shadows beside them, watching a layer of white frost gradually cover Helas, his eyes shifting from terror to blankness, finally frozen.

The Snow Woman released Helas, whom she had kissed, but at that moment Helas had become a lifelike ice statue.

Leiketon drew the Bone Staff, disguised as a walking stick, from his waist, brushed the tip lightly, and a arm‑length Spiritual Flesh Blade shot out.

Under the Snow Woman's angry gaze, Leiketon swung the Spiritual Flesh Blade directly at Helas's ice statue.

With almost no resistance, the ice statue was sliced in two.

"Does flesh frozen into an ice statue still count as flesh?" Leiketon murmured softly.

He casually tossed the Bone Staff forward, testing whether this flesh‑devouring Bone Staff would consume the target.

The surrounding temperature suddenly dropped sharply, and the Snow Woman, angry that her collectible had been destroyed, fumed.

Stars burst into view all around, countless and dazzling.

These stars showered wave after wave of brilliance, covering the Snow Woman's figure, dissolving and scattering her.

After a while, the surrounding starlight faded, leaving only a palm‑sized figurine lying quietly on the ground.

Leiketon stepped forward, picked up the Snow Woman's figurine, and the moment his hand touched it, a surge of angry intent flooded his mind.

His mouth twitched twice involuntarily, then a layer of radiant starlight appeared, instantly condensing into a translucent amber that sealed the Snow Woman's figurine within.

"Crack! Ka~"

Leiketon turned his head; the Bone Staff had already begun to gnaw at the frozen Helas with a squeaky, crunchy sound, as if chewing a hard candy, savoring it!

Leaping through flames, Kelaien swiftly arrived at the entrance to the underground area.

Aside from two ice statues, there were no gatekeepers here.

Kelaien immediately realized that the strange ghost earlier had dealt with the guards here, including the extraordinary being called Beilis.

Worried that the girls detained here might be accidentally harmed, Kelaien hurried to the doorway.

Bang bang bang!

Air projectiles struck the invisible wall one by one, gradually breaking the "sealed" effect.

He shattered all the surrounding locks, flew into the dungeon, and, guided by the earlier divination vision, quickly located the cell imprisoning Dai Xi.

After confirming that the captive was not seriously injured and could still move, he phased his body and merged with the iron gate.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The girls locked inside the iron gate saw one side of the gate open one after another, as if an invisible ghost raced to unlock them.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Another round of clangs rang out, and the gates on the opposite side all opened.

The detained girls looked anxiously at the scene, having heard the noises outside earlier; they wanted to flee but were afraid.

Eventually, some of the girls who had been bound only recently and had not yet suffered any training or harm mustered courage, stood up, and cautiously made their way to the underground area's exit.

They hurried through the corridor and hall; the flames burning in the villa seemed to deliberately clear a path, and they finally escaped the nightmarish villa.

Only after reaching the street did Dai Xi and the other girls look back.

In the villa where flames raged, they glimpsed a towering, dignified figure standing upright atop the roof, clad in all‑black armor and wearing a jet‑black crown.

Behind that figure, a cape drifted silently!

(End of Chapter)