Chapter 861: Confronting Jing Liu

There is no "survive" option in the eyes at all, only "pull you back", pulling you back to the era before any sins occurred, or pulling you into a hell like his, either works, as long as it can end this centuries‑long solitary hunt.

And Dan Heng precisely blocks and dodges the opponent's storm‑like onslaught, each clash with the red blade erupting in the air as a burst of intertwined blue‑red light.

His movements are noticeably more restrained, each strike leaving room, yet his gaze grows increasingly complex; each roar of the blade hammers at the sealed doors deep in his Memory, every utterance of "Dan Feng" makes a door tremble, every utterance of "price" spreads a crack.

He doesn't remember those things, but his body does.

When blocking certain moves, his wrist automatically executes responses he himself hadn't anticipated; this is not Dan Heng's muscle memory, but Dan Feng's—the memory of the person who fought side by side with the one before him on the battlefield countless times centuries ago.

Perspective shift.

Sai Fei Er steps with her calves wrapped in white over‑knee socks, moving lightly along the stone‑slated path deep within the Scale Abyss Realm.

A fox tail sways lazily behind her.

She places both hands behind her back, chest slightly lifted, chin raised, a smug curve lingering at the corner of her mouth that refuses to be suppressed.

Hum— hum— hum hum—

"Task complete— easy breezy—"

Turning Dan Heng into a Dragon Sovereign—no, to be precise, forcing Dan Heng into a Dragon Sovereign.

Xi Tong's briefing for her Task is crystal clear: approach Dan Heng, use Bai Hang's appearance and Memory data to build trust, employ Deceitful Divine Authority if needed to advance, and finally trigger.

The water curtain erupts, and the Dragon Sovereign manifests.

The instant Yin Yuejun's ice‑blue crystal eyes opened, Sai Fei Er knew her job was done.

She doesn't need to worry about what comes next.

The blade will over there have a proper "catch‑up" with Dragon Sovereign Dan Heng, and she only needs to find a quiet spot to restore her original appearance, then contact Xi Tong to report the Task progress.

Perfect.

"But speaking of that,"

She pulls her right hand from behind, brushes her chin, tilts her fox ears forward, and says, "That guy, *tsk tsk*, is even more demonic than me. I could learn from him, maybe it'll help with the next disguise."

Sai Fei Er says this while rounding a bend.

The stone‑slated road of the Scale Abyss Realm narrows at this corner, the stone walls on either side rise a bit higher, emitting a faint soft green in the dimming light.

The moisture in the air grows heavier, gently clinging to the skin.

Then Sai Fei Er lifts her head.

She suddenly notices a person standing about twenty steps ahead on the stone path.

The person stands at the edge of the shadow cast by the stone wall, half of their body still in darkness, the other half outlined by the soft green glow of phosphorescent night lamps.

She faces away from the cliff wall, posture straight yet relaxed, left hand hanging naturally at her side, right hand resting on the hilt of the Ice Sword at her waist—a wholly translucent white blade, a thin layer of frost crystals coating it, flashing cold blue shards in the soft green light.

White long hair falls from her shoulders, a few strands lifted gently by the breeze off the water.

She wears a black Eye Mask, covering most of the upper half of her face, revealing only a sharply contoured chin and a pair of pale lips.

Sai Fei Er freezes on the spot, her almond eyes widening sharply the instant she recognizes the other.

Jing Liu!

Former Sword Leader of Luofu Xianzhou, one of the Five Braves of the Clouds, Bai Hang's close confidante, the white‑haired female demon star who chased her from Changletian to the dock and from the dock into an unnamed alley.

She still remembers the suffocating murderous intent behind her that day when they were sprinting across the rooftop.

Now, that person stands twenty steps in front of her, hand on the hilt, facing her direction.

Sai Fei Er's brain completes a full‑power switch from "leisure vacation mode" to "emergency survival mode" in a tenth of a second.

Her mouth still holds the slightly open shape from the earlier hum, but the tune has abruptly stopped.

She looks at Jing Liu.

Jing Liu does not move.

She stands there, the black Eye Mask covering her eyes, yet Sai Fei Er can feel that gaze piercing through from beneath the mask, coldly landing on her.

That feeling is hard to describe, like walking under a blazing sun when a cloud suddenly covers it, yet the cloud itself shines brighter than the sun.

Sai Fei Er's lips part slightly.

"..."

She says nothing.

Her usually eloquent mouth freezes at this moment.

Deceitful Divine Authority warms faintly in her heart, as if urging "use me, use me quickly", but her mind is now completely blank.

The last time her mind completely crashed was when she faced Heimu directly.

Why is Jing Liu here?

Didn't Xi Tong say the Scale Abyss Realm is a sacred site of the Chi Ming Tribe, and outsiders can't just stroll in?

How did she get in?

Wait, I can get in, so why can't Jing Liu?

No, the point is—how long has she been standing here?

Did she see my conversation with Dan Heng on the bridge?

She—

Sai Fei Er gives herself a mental slap.

Calm down.

Calm down.

She still looks like Bai Hang.

The previous two encounters with Jing Liu: the first on the rooftop, she barely escaped using Deceitful Divine Authority.

The second time Jing Liu spared her in an alley, but that was because Jing Liu was also in a complicated emotional state, not indicating her disguise was flawless.

Now it's the third time.

Face to face, twenty steps.

Only she and Jing Liu, and that face of hers that must keep being put on.

She watches Jing Liu's hand placed on the sword hilt.

The hand's slender finger joints are now gently rubbing the hilt in a slow motion.

Jing Liu is hesitating!

Sai Fei Er is swiftly turning the mental abacus.

Jing Liu is hesitating, which shows she is uncertain.

When she previously chased herself, she drew her sword and struck straight away, that was decisive and clean.

But now she just stands there, hand on the hilt yet not drawing the sword from its scabbard, what does that indicate?

It shows that this current image of Bai Hang has deeply entered people's hearts, becoming more "real".

Dan Heng believed.

The scheme's "the more people believe, the deeper, the lie approaches reality".

This mechanism is taking effect; Dan Heng just now suffered a mental collapse on the bridge, already pushing the authenticity of the "Bai Hang" image to a new height.

And Jing Liu, as one of the people most familiar with Bai Hang, is more easily caught by this effect than anyone else.

But this also means another more fatal problem: since Jing Liu knows Bai Hang better than anyone, she can more easily spot flaws.

The force of a hug, a laugh, the angle of her eyebrows when calling her name—if any detail doesn't match, she will draw her sword!