episode_0072

In an instant, the two of them grew flustered, thrown into disarray by Cold Owl’s shouts.

…Well~

Cold Owl’s suggestion just now was actually a pretty good idea.

If Xu Nian could freely wield the Soul-Extinguishing Lantern, it would prove that the Xu Nian before them was indeed the real Xu Nian.

Emotional Artifacts were unique—there was no possibility of two completely identical ones existing.

Xu Nian immediately surveyed the battlefield.

Below, Xiao Ge was locked in fierce combat with a shadowy mass, his fists raining down like a storm upon the dark figure before him, resembling a god of war, overwhelming his opponent to the point of suffocation.

Meanwhile, the shadowy mass fought back with strange surges of black energy, yet it was clearly losing ground.

Even with the power of emotions, did it all still come down to such brutal, flesh-and-blood combat in the end?

Shouldn’t it be more… uncanny?

That’s how it was. Xiao Ge’s path was wrath, and wrath was pure violence.

Fists meeting flesh was the essence of it.

A true master would force their opponent into the domain they excelled in.

After a moment of thought, Xu Nian did not take out the Soul-Extinguishing Lantern.

While the lantern was undoubtedly useful, it likely wouldn’t make much difference in the current battle.

Instead, she unfolded the folding fan in her hand, preparing to perform a theatrical act—this would also mark her first time using her Emotional Artifact.

But before Xu Nian could even begin her dance, Su Qingya grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace to restrain her movements.

“What are you doing?” Xu Nian was bewildered.

“What do you mean by this?” Su Qingya demanded.

“Using my bonded Emotional Artifact, of course.”

“You’re not going to dance, then laugh, and then… kill yourself in front of me again, are you?”

“Do I seem that unhinged to you?”

What kind of logic was that—dancing, laughing, and then committing suicide?

Why would Xu Nian, with nothing better to do, kill herself?

Su Qingya eyed her suspiciously, but it was clear she couldn’t relax.

After all, that scene had left too deep an impact on her.

Every time she recalled it, she felt herself teetering on the edge of losing control.

Especially after confirming that the one on stage had been Xu Nian’s real body, not an illusion.

That wariness only grew heavier.

In other words, at that very moment, Su Qingya had genuinely faced the possibility of losing Xu Nian forever.

How could that not leave her shaken?

Su Qingya’s gaze drifted to Xu Nian’s neck.

Traces of blood remained, but the wound itself had vanished.

“Did it hurt? That stab?”

“Hurt? I wasn’t even injured.”

Xu Nian looked at Su Qingya strangely, not understanding what she was talking about.

With a sigh, Su Qingya said nothing more, but she had no intention of letting Xu Nian use her bonded Emotional Artifact either.

Left with no choice, Xu Nian resorted to the Soul-Extinguishing Lantern.

With a flick of her wrist and a silent incantation, a box materialized in her palm.

Another flick, and the box transformed into a candle lamp.

As the wick ignited with a drop of blood from Xu Nian’s fingertip, a black flame devoured the surrounding light, the fire instantly shrouding the area and casting the entire theater into deeper gloom.

The Soul-Extinguishing Lantern’s sealing ability enveloped the shadowy mass.

For a moment, all its movements were locked in place.

Gradually, Xu Nian could make out the shadow’s true form.

It was the little girl from the hospital!

“Captain! That looks like a person!”

“No, that’s no longer human—it’s an Emotion Beast.”

The reply came from Cold Owl, not Xiao Ge.

Xiao Ge, consumed by wrath, was too focused on the fight to respond.

“H-How is this possible? She was clearly…”

Xu Nian’s voice faltered, her words choking in her throat.

That had once been just a little girl suffering from illness.

She had merely been granted abilities by some unknown Joy Artisan—how had she turned into an Emotion Beast?

But upon closer inspection, Xu Nian did notice traces of bestial transformation on the girl’s body.

Unlike demons, whose origins could be clearly discerned, Emotion Beasts took on all manner of bizarre forms.

Summoning her courage, Xu Nian relayed her observations to Cold Owl.

Cold Owl fell silent.

“Even non-Artisans can become Emotion Beasts. If someone is influenced by emotional energy to the point of 100% saturation… they can be eroded and transformed.”

“The Joy Artisan capable of this must be at the Divine Reflection realm—though their exact star rank is unknown. Regardless, even a Joy Artisan’s mockery can’t directly turn someone into an Emotion Beast. All they can do is accelerate and amplify the process.”

Thus, the girl’s initially faint sense of loneliness had been relentlessly amplified until her isolation reached 100%.

Who knew what unbearable solitude she had endured during that process?

The world had already dealt her such an unfair hand—a flawed masterpiece from birth—yet in her final moments, it had cruelly mocked her too?

As she listened, an unnamed fury rose in Xu Nian’s heart.

For amusement, or perhaps to target her, someone had dragged an innocent person into this, forcibly magnifying her loneliness to turn her into an Emotion Beast?

How despicable!

Could that truly bring anyone joy?

Basking in pleasure while others suffered—was that their idea of fun?

Even knowing this, Xu Nian didn’t hold back. Her duty now was to assist Xiao Ge in defeating the creature.

She could see that after the Soul-Extinguishing Lantern restrained the shadow, Xiao Ge was gathering something.

His wrath was surging.

The flames on his body burned fiercely.

“Xu Nian, release it.”

Cold Owl’s voice rang out.

Having fought alongside Xiao Ge for so long, their coordination was seamless.

Hearing this, Xu Nian quickly extinguished the lantern.

The girl, previously sealed away by the lantern, suddenly reappeared right in front of Xiao Ge’s fully charged fist.

Caught off guard, her body was pierced clean through by the blow.

Even her blood was vaporized by the flames wreathed around his fist.

A sizzling sound filled the air.

Xiao Ge retrieved another core before finally relenting.

As Cold Owl’s bell tolled, Xiao Ge gradually regained his senses from his frenzied state.

He first examined the core in his hand, then carefully laid the girl’s body down before approaching Cold Owl.

“How are you feeling?”

“My spine’s fractured. I’ll live, but I probably can’t stand for a while.”

Her tone was calm, but Xiao Ge could see the cold sweat of pain on her forehead—her expression remained neutral only due to her path’s influence.

That strike had been too heavy.

If Xiao Ge hadn’t snapped out of it in time, she might have died.

Had the enemy known that Cold Owl at full strength would be unbeatable?

Was that why they had resorted to ambushing the support first?

“Stay here and rest. I’ll get Jiang Xue to take a look.”

“Alright.”

Su Qingya didn’t step forward. Her abilities could handle bruises, but mending a broken spine was beyond her.

Just then, Xiao Ge’s gaze shifted to the stage.

“You two, come down.”

Neither refused.

Su Qingya fidgeted nervously. She had expected Xiao Ge to reprimand her—after all, her performance had been lacking. If not for her earlier rampage forcing Cold Owl to split her focus, the injury might have been avoided.

“Is the core I gave you earlier still on you?”

“It should be—”

Su Qingya hastily checked her pockets but found nothing.

“Seems that was just an illusion. This is the real one.”

With that, Xiao Ge tossed the core to her, which she fumbled to catch.

“You’re… not going to scold me?”

“You’re still a rookie. What’s the point? Scolding won’t fix anything. Just learn from this—I want to see you grow. Don’t be so reckless next time.”

Su Qingya nodded silently, her head bowed.

Then, his eyes turned to Xu Nian.

“You did well this time. Your arrival was timely.”

Xu Nian scratched her hair sheepishly.

“Thanks for the praise.”

“But now it’s time to settle another matter. This was your Emotional Artifact’s doing, wasn’t it?”

Xiao Ge pointed at the theater around them, his gaze piercing.

Xu Nian averted her eyes, hoping to dodge the question.