Chapter 988: A great demon?

Xiao Jiu didn't care about secret love or open love, whether the other was one‑sided; her reason for dragging the conversation was to restrain the other and disrupt their rhythm.

The other party summoned Xiao Jiu into the dream, seized the initiative, and was in a state of half‑hiding her face while holding a pipa; if Xiao Jiu kept being led by her, upon waking she would only receive a threat and no useful information.

So she had to disrupt the other's rhythm right away, preferably by angering them, so Xiao Jiu could get the information she wanted.

Moreover, words spoken in anger are likely to be true.

Liu Junyan risked being reprimanded by her superiors, and only with difficulty forced the other out; she couldn't just let her escape so easily.

"One‑sided love?" the woman said incredulously, "Haha, I, a mighty ghost……"

Just as she was about to announce her name, the woman suddenly stopped.

She was very wary, and quickly saw through Xiao Jiu's little trick, cutting off the topic in time.

She slowly turned her body to face Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu still couldn't see her face clearly, but felt a suddenly darker ghostly aura emanating from her.

Putting the clues together, Xiao Jiu seemed to know who she was and blurted out, "You…… you are the Ghost King Butterfly?"

The woman let out another cold laugh, not answering Xiao Jiu directly, but angrily said, "I thought you really wanted to negotiate, but I didn't expect your hearts to be so insincere—then don't blame me for being impolite!"

As her words fell, Xiao Jiu saw the woman's outline tremble slightly, with a phantom flickering continuously.

The next moment, a large flock of black butterflies flew out from the woman's outline, flapping their wings as they rushed toward Xiao Jiu.

In Lingdie Valley, Xiao Jiu had already seen the woman's tactics; she knew these black butterflies weren't real but were condensed ghostly aura, and in a head‑on clash Xiao Jiu would only suffer a loss.

If she wanted a quick victory, she had to force those black butterflies to condense into ghost faces.

However, unlike the situation in Yao Tian, Xiao Jiu can now use Nirvana fire without fear of harming the innocent.

So Xiao Jiu didn't hesitate, first trying to form a seal to see if she could ignite the Nirvana flames.

Dreams differ from one another.

Some dreams are illusory and empty; in such dreams, no amount of mana or skill helps. But other dreams, like this one, strictly speaking aren't dreams at all—they are a phantom screen the other set up, merely pulling Xiao Jiu's spiritual awareness into it.

Therefore, in such a dream, Xiao Jiu has a chance to use her skills.

Indeed, after forming the seal, several clusters of Nirvana flames had condensed on Xiao Jiu's fingertips.

She immediately shot those clusters of Nirvana flames at the swarm of black butterflies.

The black butterflies are formed of ghostly aura, belonging to yin; as soon as the Nirvana flames struck them, the surrounding black butterflies instantly burst into greenish flames that kept leaping in midair.

This strike was noticeably effective.

But before Xiao Jiu could unleash a second move, she noticed the entire dream becoming distorted and turbulent.

Xiao Jiu's gaze swept past the burning black butterfly swarm and fixed on the woman's outline.

The woman's outline also began to twist.

Uh‑oh!

Although the Nirvana flames are powerful, they also destabilized the dream's stability.

She still wanted to have a proper talk with the other, but this dream must not be broken now!

Thinking this, Xiao Jiu already withdrew her hand.

And the other withdrew the black butterflies that had not yet been ignited by the Nirvana flames.

The dream quickly stabilized.

The woman opposite stood motionless, staring hard at Xiao Jiu; if looks could kill, Xiao Jiu would probably be a hornet's nest by now.

They had already clashed, and the other had no intention of negotiating properly.

Since provoking anger didn't work, Xiao Jiu had to find another opening and force the other's mouth open.

While stabilizing the dream, Xiao Jiu's thoughts raced back and forth.

These past days, she had been recalling how she helped Tang Xun remove the Ghost King Butterfly and restore his soul.

She hadn't overlooked even the tiniest detail.

Just now the other mentioned the word "ghost," and Xiao Jiu immediately thought of the Ghost King Butterfly.

The Ghost King Butterfly that had been separated from Tang Xun back then eventually turned transparent and vanished.

If the woman is a manifestation of the Ghost King Butterfly, then she must be its ultimate form.

Then what is she?

A great demon?

However, there is one point: back then, the Soul‑guiding Lamp had a powerful attraction to the Ghost King Butterfly.

Over these years, as Xiao Jiu grew stronger, the Soul‑guiding Lamp kept upgrading; perhaps we can try using it against her.

Amidst the surge of thought, only a few seconds passed.

Soon, Xiao Jiu summoned the Soul‑guiding Lamp.

An ancient six‑angled palace lamp hovered before Xiao Jiu, a few ghost faces already eager to look around.

When facing the woman's outline ahead, Xiao Jiu saw those ghost faces simultaneously flinch, as if afraid of her, yet they didn't immediately retreat into the lamp, still peeking out to spy on her.

From Xiao Jiu's analysis, this likely meant those ghost faces' former abilities were insufficient to oppose her, so they felt fear at first sight.

After the instinctive fear, they recalled their present capabilities and calmed down again.

Xiao Jiu then realized that if she united those ghost faces with the other in a all‑out fight, they might not lose.

Xiao Jiu gave the ghost faces no chance to retreat; she traced a sigil in the air with her sword finger on the lamp's surface, then pushed the lamp forward.

As the Soul‑guiding Lamp collided with the woman's outline, it kept growing larger.

The ghost faces, which had initially flinched, then flew out of the lamp in droves, surrounding the woman in the middle.

A six‑angled palace lamp the size of a small cauldron hovered above the woman, then came down to cover her head!

The ghost faces also surged forward together.

The entire space began to churn violently.

Now I can't worry about whether this dream can hold up; as long as the Soul-guiding Lamp can control the woman, everything else can be discussed.

But just then, the Soul-guiding Lamp suddenly dimmed.

A black butterfly rose from the lamp's chamber, instantly turning into a wisp of ghostly qi.

The ghostly qi actually obscured the Merit Light within the Soul-guiding Lamp.

But it was only a fleeting thing; the Merit Light shone through after a second or two, and when the Soul-guiding Lamp returned to normal, the whole dream shattered……

Xiao Jiu jolted awake from the dream, lying on the bed, she let out a long breath.

She still couldn't catch that woman in the end.

To some extent, the other party is probably not as simple as the original form of the Ghost King Butterfly!

Xiao Jiu calmed down a bit, then sat up and summoned the Soul-guiding Lamp again.

She checked the condition of the Soul-guiding Lamp; the lamp was fine, but when she tried to summon a few ghost faces to ask why they feared that woman, Xiao Jiu was shocked to discover that the ghost faces had disappeared……