Chapter 18 —

“…After that, I was injured like this by this vampire named Yao Qing, along with Liu Hongyu who escaped here. Your Highness, please spare my life for the sake of all the years I've followed you!”

Having finished his story, Crow painfully propped himself up and crawled to Yin Li, kowtowing repeatedly.

“You've done so many beastly things and you still expect me to let you go?” Yin Li had no intention of letting Crow off the hook, kicking him away. “Giving you a quick **** is already letting you off easy!”

Crow was kicked away by Yin Li, crashing heavily against the wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He barely managed to lift his head, his eyes filled with fear and resentment: "Your Highness, I...I've been utterly loyal to you, pouring my heart and soul into your plans all these years! I beg you..."

A flicker of disgust flashed in Yin Li's golden eyes. Before the other could finish speaking, she slightly raised her palm towards him—an invisible **** of gravity suddenly gathered around Crow, his body instantly twisting and deforming as if struck by a giant hammer.

"Crack, crack—"

His bones emitted a series of chilling cracking sounds, and the mask on his face shattered, revealing an aged and ferocious face.

"Loyalty? Nothing but fear of ****. How many innocent people have been harmed by your so-called 'experiments'?" Yin Li's voice was calm yet chillingly cold. "Go to hell and repent."

The gravity surged like a tidal wave, instantly crushing Crow's body into a bloody, mangled pulp, blood splattering and staining the ground red. A heavy stench of blood filled the air. Yao Qing remained expressionless, saying nothing, simply watching the scene unfold.

Lu Miaoyin's face turned deathly pale. She instinctively took a step back, clutching Yao Qing's sleeve tightly. Yao Qing gently patted her shoulder, comforting her, "It's alright, little girl. He's dead."

Yin Li turned to look at "Liu Hongyu." He was still slumped on the ground, the blood-stained sword in his chest having dissolved into droplets of blood, but the wound was deep enough to expose bone. His vertical pupils still held fanaticism, but more so pain and confusion:

"Your Highness…you…"

"Shut up."

Yin Li crouched down, placing her hand on "Liu Hongyu's" forehead. Her fingertips shimmered with purplish-gold profound energy, the energy of the Heaven-Summoning Brush seeping into his body like threads. Yin Li murmured softly, writing commands in her mind: "Restore the earth dragon from Liu Hongyu's body, restoring his original soul and body."

Mystic energy surged, and Liu Hongyu's body rapidly began to change—his dragon horns gradually withered, his dragon tail melted like wax, his scales peeled away, revealing his original human skin. Although his wounds healed at a visible speed, his face grew increasingly pale, as if his soul was being forcefully torn apart.

...

Five minutes later, Liu Hongyu completely collapsed and fell ****. However, the latex earth dragon that had been fused with him was forcibly separated from his body by Yin Li—his breathing was now steady, and his body had returned to that of an ordinary human, no longer the half-human, half-dragon monster.

Yin Li wiped the sweat from her brow and casually used gravity to obliterate the latex earth dragon.

The Heaven-Writing Brush's energy was consumed by another ten percent after this. She stood up, letting out a long sigh of relief: "He'll wake up soon, and everything will be back to normal... Phew, although it's a bit of a regret that I couldn't kill the other accomplices myself, at least my two companions can be saved."

Yao Qing looked at her, a hint of approval flashing in her purple eyes: "You're more humane than I imagined. After the fusion, you seem to have inherited Lin Jiangxing's conscience, rather than the Silver Dragon's arrogance."

Yin Li gave a bitter smile: "Perhaps. But the hatred for Lin Jiangxing remains, and I won't stop here. Those remaining places..." "The dragon people, and those who dare to overthrow humanity... I will settle accounts with them one by one."

Having finished with this matter, she turned to look at Lu Miaoyin behind Yao Qing, changing the subject: "So, what do you plan to do with this little girl? Her parents are deceased, and her brother has merged with her... I have the ability to separate them, but what will become of them afterward?"

Yao Qing shrugged, revealing her earlier discovery: "When I rescued them, I examined their bodies and found that because the fusion of the brother and sister was too hasty,..." The two of them haven't fully merged—especially their souls; it's a case of one body, two souls. Currently, Lu Chuan has chosen to go into a deep sleep to avoid being passively merged with his sister's soul. This little girl can use her brother's abilities now, but she has absolutely no experience using them, and might cause some trouble..."

Yao Qing first explained Lu Miaoyin's situation seriously, then declined meaningfully:

"I need to go to the Illusionary Continent to handle some matters recently, and I don't have time to take care of this little one. That Zhao at home..." "Girl, you're very busy as the head of the family right now... How about you take care of this little one for now? When I return from the Illusionary Continent, you can entrust him to me if you find it troublesome."

"Uh, taking care of a child... Besides, there's a soul in my body that's about the same age as Lin Jiangxing—I have no experience as a mother, I can barely take care of myself."

Yin Li looked slightly taken aback. She looked Lu Miaoyin up and down, then down at herself—judging from appearances alone, they were about the same age, it was uncertain who would take care of whom!

Seeing Yin Li hesitate, Yao Qing sighed and added, "This little girl... no, I should say these two siblings have an inextricable karmic connection with you. Why don't you try to get along with them first? If you really can't get along, I'll take care of them for you when I return."

"An inextricable karmic connection?" Yin Li scratched her head in confusion. However, since Yao Qing had already said so much, she couldn't refuse again, and could only reluctantly agree, "Well, alright then..."