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“A deal?”

“That’s right, a little agreement.” Landon gently stroked Liana’s head, his expression tender and benevolent. “The terms are simple. You help Father break the seal underground, and Father will help you save Mother. How does that sound?”

“But… you said Mother… couldn’t be cured.”

“Of course she can be cured. The conditions simply weren’t sufficient back then, which was why I said that. But things are different now.” A feverish light appeared in Landon’s eyes. “As long as the Demon Emperor is released, your mother can definitely be cured.”

Liana stared at her father’s face, her small mouth slightly agape. At that moment, her father seemed so unfamiliar, yet so familiar at the same time. It was as though she had seen this side of him somewhere before. Yet she could not remember anything.

His tenderness and his coldness alternated before her eyes, becoming the most contradictory sight in the world.

“What do you say, Liana? Are you willing?” Landon continued coaxing her patiently, like someone tempting an ignorant child with candy. He appeared utterly confident because he believed he understood Liana. For the sake of her ‘mother,’ he thought she would do anything.

But Liana shook her head. “No…”

Landon froze. “Why?”

“Because you’re doing something bad, Father.”

“So what if it’s something bad?” Like an adulterer caught in the act, or a con artist whose trick had been exposed, Landon’s face twisted with anger. “Do you really not want to save your own mother?”

“I do. I’ve always wanted to.” Tears streamed down Liana’s face. “But I suddenly remembered what Mother told me.”

Landon frowned. “What did she say?”

“She said…” Liana sniffled as she seemed to recall those distant words. A faint smile appeared on her face as she spoke, “Little Liana… You must grow up to be a kind person.”

“……”

Landon suddenly fell silent. He looked at Liana, the daughter he had always cherished dearly. What she had said was clearly nothing more than a simple, ordinary sentence, yet Landon found it especially grating. It was just like that woman. Even though she was already dead, she still seemed to be watching him every waking moment. For someone as deep and calculating as Landon, that suddenly made his anger difficult to contain.

“If that’s the case, then go accompany that woman!” Landon forcibly seized Liana by the wrist. Her wrist was already covered in blood and marked with the scars left by the blade. He had never needed her consent in the first place. The agreement just now had been more like an attempt to convince himself, or to give himself a reason that would allow his conscience to rest.

Now, he no longer needed a reason. All he needed was Liana’s Nether Yin blood. Thus, as Liana looked at him with despair and sorrow, Landon once again cut open her wrist. Blood flowed freely, pouring into the lake of blood.

***

“What are they doing?” In a corner of the Wang family estate, a transparent figure watched everything unfold. It was Lauren, who had come here. She had not expected the strange clothing to grant her such powerful abilities. It even came with the ability to turn invisible.

That had saved her a great deal of trouble. Relying on her invisibility, she had avoided the black-robed men all the way here.

The pungent stench of blood made her feel somewhat nauseous. She had never imagined Landon could be so utterly deranged. The amount of blood before her was enough to fill an entire artificial lake. Just how many people had he killed?

But Lauren had no time to dwell on that. No matter what Landon intended to do, she had only one objective: stop him.

“That’s… Liana, isn’t it?” Because of her angle, Lauren had only now gotten a clear look at the petite figure wrapped in a black robe. “What is Landon doing? Is he trying to personally turn his own daughter into a demon?”

Lauren had observed the area for some time and had already figured out what the altar was used for. She had personally witnessed Landon’s second wife, Bianca, being transformed into a hideous monster upon it.

“What a beast. He won’t even spare his own daughter?” Lauren muttered the curse under her breath. But she soon realized that she had been mistaken. This did not seem to be about turning Liana into a demon, because the process was different. Landon took Liana’s hand, seemingly… draining her blood?

Lauren’s pupils contracted slightly. Draining blood? Why did he need to drain her blood? Was there not already enough blood here? Or was there something special about Liana’s blood? As Lauren pondered this, she suddenly noticed that the temperature around her seemed to be dropping rapidly.

As fresh blood dripped from Liana’s wrist into the blood lake, a thin layer of ice actually began forming across its surface. Some strange force seemed to be gathering within the lake.

“I can’t let him continue.” Seeing this, Lauren immediately made up her mind. She had come here to stop Landon in the first place. Yet there was always a dangerous aura about Landon at that moment that made her wary.

Although she had already cast thoughts of life and death aside, she understood that precisely at a time like this, she could not rely solely on a surge of reckless courage. She looked around before suddenly raising the magic wand in her hand and pointing it in a certain direction.

In a voice as faint as the buzz of a mosquito, she called out, “Purin Purin Sparkling Attack!” The attack, likewise rendered invisible, instantly rang out. An explosion erupted.

Landon abruptly raised his head and frowned as he looked toward the direction of the blast. “What happened?”

“Master.” A black-robed man rushed over and dropped to one knee before Landon. “An explosion occurred over where the newly transformed clan members are.”

“An explosion? Who caused it?”

“We don’t know yet. The people stationed on the perimeter did not detect anything unusual.”

“Then it was an attack from within?” Looking in that direction, Landon’s expression gradually turned cold. “I gave you all a chance, yet you still insist on being so ignorant of your place.”

Not everyone in the Ye family wanted to be turned into demons. Bianca, for example, had been one of them.

However, the Ye family’s transformation plan absolutely could not be disrupted. After all, it was the foundation Landon had planned to rely on in order to establish a foothold among the Demon Race in the future.

Therefore, it was very likely that those Ye family members who were unwilling to undergo the transformation had stirred up this disturbance.

After thinking for a moment, Landon swept his sleeve and said coldly, “You stay here and keep watch. I’ll deal with it personally.”

“Yes.” The black-robed man answered respectfully.

Seeing that there was nothing unusual around them, and remembering that the security outside the entire Wang family estate was so tight that not even a mosquito could fly inside, Landon left with peace of mind.

Once he was gone, Liana silently closed her eyes as well, as though she were calmly accepting her own death. Suddenly, the black-robed man guarding the area let out a muffled groan before collapsing to the ground.

Liana’s eyes abruptly widened. Before her stood Lauren, dressed in a pink pleated skirt with her hair tied into twintails.

“So you really weren’t the culprit after all.” Lauren looked at her battered state, her tone carrying something between a sigh and a wistful lament. But she knew there was no time for sorrow or sentimentality. She quickly crouched down and prepared to lift Liana into her arms. “Don’t move. I’ll get you out of here first.”

But just as Lauren was about to stand, Liana tightly grabbed her sleeve. In a soft, pleading voice, she said, “Although… I know I’m asking too much… please… could you take Mother with us, too?”