~~~

Things have escalated.

Su Daji had been powerful but not beyond his ability to deal with. That was the conclusion Liu Jin came to after their first few exchanges. Subduing her without doing any serious harm to Su An’s body had seemed, while not easy, at least somewhat feasible.

Now, Liu Jin’s aura flares violently as he produces countless snakes to fight Su Daji’s foxes. Their creations cancel each other out as multiple explosions rock the room, but the difference is made known when Su Daji bursts through the smoke. Her claws get within mere inches of his face before a burst of [Ground Contraction] carries Liu Jin to safety.

Su Daji gives chase. Their forms blur across the room as they destroy everything in their path. Floors, walls, ceiling. Not a single surface is left untouched. Scales grow over Liu Jin’s neck and take over half his face as he chains movement technique after movement technique. His right pupil is becoming narrower by the second, a sign of how much Qi Liu Jin is forcing through his body.

Even so, it is his blood, and not Su Daji’s, that keeps being spilled. While Su Daji’s power is what he could expect from someone in the Earth Realm, the Curse of the Earth Realm seems to have no hold on her.

In plain terms, she is much faster than him.

As Liu Jin is metaphorically and literally backed into a corner, his aura burns white and poisonous Qi spills forth. It spreads throughout the room, not only halting Su Daji’s attack but also forcing her to step back several paces.

“You have gotten much better with Poison Qi, Boss,” Su Daji says as she looks at the poison with wary eyes. Her aura rises, trying to force it back. “Maybe a little too much. People won’t trust you if you can make poison so easily, you know?”

“Unfortunately, I am aware of that,” Liu Jin replies, using the lull in their fight to heal his wounds. “You have also grown much since we last met.”

“I have not grown stronger. I am regaining power,” Su Daji says. “There is a difference.”

“Nevertheless, the body you are housed in belongs to Su An,” Liu Jin says. “For you to gain power, Su An’s body must grow strong. That is why it doesn’t make much sense for you to be free from the Curse of the Earth Realm.”

Su Daji leans forward. Wisps of aura above her head twitch in a manner that makes him think of fox ears. “Oh?”

“A child of Nuwa. That is what you call humans, right? In that case, Su An should count as one, and by default, the current you should as well. As much as you might have changed Su An’s body, your Qi does not feel demonic.”

“And you’re suddenly an expert on demons? Don’t be so presumptuous, Boss.” Su Daji crosses her arms. “Besides, that’s not what you’re really asking, right? You feel more like a demon than I do, so why am I free and you’re not. That’s what you’re really curious about, right Boss?”

Liu Jin frowns.

Su Daji smiles.

“The part of me that is Su An feels really good right now,” Su Daji informs him. “You’re usually hard to read, so it feels really nice to have the upper hand for once.”

“And what does the Su Daji side of you feel?”

“Amused that you think making time like this will help you figure out a solution,” Su Daji says as she snaps her fingers.

Purple flames appear around her and drift lazily across the air. They make a curious sound as they move. It almost sounds like wailing. As if the flames were lost souls trying to find their way.

Su Daji smirks and moves further back, but her flames move forward. Liu Jin immediately reinforces his aura in preparation for another explosion, but that is not what happens when they make contact with his poison. The purple flames merely drift through the poisonous air, no different from clouds carried by the wind.

And yet, the poison field he created around himself slowly shrinks while the purple flames grow in size.

“I see,” Liu Jin says, pouring more poison Qi into his aura. “You’re using Yin Qi fashioned to look like flames to devour my technique.”

“Foxfire,” Su Daji says proudly. “I am impressed you understood it so quickly, Boss.”

“My girlfriend encountered a technique like it before,” Liu Jin says. “Yours seems more advanced.”

“You joined with Little Xiao Shuang after Eastern Port City fell?”

“I have not.”

Su Daji stares at him.

“Boss, you have become a sinful man.”

“You are having entirely too much fun with this.”

Su Daji laughs, but not because he has actually succeeded in distracting her. That she can play along and laugh shows how comfortable she is with how the fight is going. Her flames keep eating his Poison Qi. Even if he makes more, he will only succeed in tiring himself out.

The crack of thunder wipes the smile from Su Daji’s face. Gold, brilliant lightning spreads throughout the room, multiple tendrils separating like the branches of a tree.

Liu Jin makes a fist.

Purple flashes.

The foxfire detonates, breaking apart the walls and bringing down the ceiling. Liu Jin creates a snake construct around himself for protection. From the beginning, Su Daji’s foxfire had been unstable. It had to be, or else it wouldn’t have been able to drain his technique so effectively. The introduction of another, stronger power had been all that was needed to tilt the balance.

“Why must you be so reckless at the oddest times?!” Su Daji shouts as she pushes a large piece of the rubble away. Her clothes are singed from the explosion, but that is the extent of the visible damage. Most likely, she has already regenerated from any injuries. “It’s always the same with you, Boss. Everyone who meets you thinks you’re so smart and mature, and then you do something stupid!”

She whistles to call forth more foxes. Their forms glow with foxfire.

“I was trying to be gentle. I was going to drain your power bit by bit.”

“Why would you want to be gentle?”

“Because I didn’t want to make you suffer!” She snaps at him. When he smiles, she sends her foxes at him. “Don’t be so happy! That was merely a preference! I can live with you suffering! I suddenly want it very much!”

The battle between the two resumes and the difference in speed makes itself known once more. Liu Jin feels his possibilities diminishing with every exchange. His mind races through his options and finds them woefully lacking.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

It can only end in one way.

Su Daji’s hand plunges into Liu Jin’s chest. Her eyes widen as she realizes her attack has made contact.

Liu Jin uses that moment to catch her wrist and keep her in place.

Immediately, foxfire and poison fill the room as their auras clash for dominance. However, Liu Jin is only half paying attention. The fight against the Fleshcrafter showed him that he could detach his soul from his body much further than he’d assumed possible. Now that he’s in the Earth Realm, the process is even easier.

To save Su An, he needs to invade Su Daji’s soul with his own. Her hand is inside his body. His skin is in contact with hers. He can feel the clash of their souls as their auras war against each other. He merely needs to slip in.

Su Daji laughs.

“Are you really that stupid, Boss? Fine! I’ll welcome you!”

Su Daji’s soul rises and latches into his own. Liu Jin feels a jolt as he’s dragged into its depths and bears witness to it for the first time.

His heart breaks.

~~~

“No…”

The word is barely a whisper as it leaves his lips. The palace in front of him has seen better days. Its pools are empty. Grass and roots have broken through the cobblestone, and a thick layer of dust covers all. Still, with proper care, it can become beautiful once more.

The little house next to it is not as fortunate. The design reminds him of the buildings in the Xiao Sect, but no building in the Xiao Sect was ever in such poor shape. Tiles are missing from the roof, and the glass windows are broken. The walls on all sides are coming apart. One strong gust of wind is all it would take to bring it all down.

Su Daji and Su An.

“What did you expect?” Su Daji asks him. She looks older here. Two fox ears grow from the top of her head, and long fox tails extend behind her. “Your friend is an infant compared to me. Her body is barely a suitable vessel.”

Her soul could not hope to compete with Su Daji’s. All this time, it has been breaking under the strain. Coming here a few days early would not have mattered.

Even if he somehow removes Su Daji, Su An’s soul will shatter like glass.

“Do you understand? There is no saving her,” Su Daji tells him, a cruel smirk on her lips. Deep inside her soul, Su An’s mannerisms hold less sway, it seems. “Remove me, and she dies. Leave me be, and she dies. There are no other outcomes. You foolishly risked your own soul for nothing.”

Liu Jin wants to deny her words, but how can he when she’s merely voicing the same conclusion he just came to?

“Still, you did make it all the way here, and I do feel some leftover affection for you. I suppose I should reward you somehow.” Su Daji smiles and claps her hands together. “Ah yes, since we are here, I should be capable of this.”

Her Qi does not change, but her soul overflows. It rises and washes over him, not to attack him but to announce herself. The world is overwritten. The palace and the small house fade away, and a new truth is imposed in their place. A new order. A lush forest with leaves of a green so beautiful they almost look like emeralds. A lake with water the color of rubies.

Liu Jin first assumes the red liquid is blood, but the scent in the air reveals its true nature.

“Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat,” Su Daji says. She is seated in a boat in the middle of the lake. She grabs a golden cup and fills it with wine. “Will you drink with me?”

“I would never trust a cup offered by you.”

“A pity.” She shakes her head theatrically. “Well, if you do not wish to partake in the Lake of Wine, perhaps the Forest of Meat will be more to your taste?”

The tiger pounces on him before Liu Jin realizes it’s there. It knocks him to the ground and snarls into his face, only failing to take a bite out of him because Liu Jin manages to grab its neck in time. Liu Jin grits his teeth as he tightens his grip on the tiger’s neck. The tiger’s claws break through his robes and dig into his skin.

A crack echoes throughout the forest.

The tiger’s body falls lifelessly. Liu Jin rises to his feet. His breath comes out in heavy pants, but there is no time to rest. Multiple eyes glare at him from the depths of the forest.

A Forest of Meat. He gets it now.

He is the meat.

The tigers leap at him, but Liu Jin is ready this time. When the first one comes, Liu Jin leaves it limping with one strike. Liu Jin moves to the next one and blinds him. When another tiger tries to get him from behind, Liu Jin ducks under it and hits it where its heart should be. He feels its ribs breaking under his fist.

More tigers attack, and Liu Jin flees into the trees. The roles of prey and predator are soon changed as Liu Jin starts picking them off one by one. He turns their claws and fangs against them, using them to tear their flesh. Blood flows freely over the forest floor.

Liu Jin licks his lips.

He keeps fighting. He keeps moving. More bones break. More blood. More flesh. They howl. They scream. He gives chase. He bi…

…

What is he doing?

Liu Jin immediately blurs back, finally remembering he could have used movement techniques the entire time. Skills he’d refined for years suddenly come back to his head, and he cannot believe he’d lost sight of them.

Lightning spreads and annihilates the tigers. Liu Jin spits the chunk of flesh he’d been about to swallow and glares at the woman in the lake of wine.

“Aw, you’d noticed.” She pouts. “I guess it really is all I can do right now. Although noticing won’t help you next time.”

He senses the truth of her words. All around the forest, there are more creatures awaiting him, but they are not the problem.

It is this entire world.

“Is this meant to be a game?”

“It is meant to be a party,” Su Daji says, drinking from her cup. “You’re supposed to enjoy yourself. Indulge. As a man. As a beast. It does not matter as long as you do.”

Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat. In the forest, he fights beasts and becomes a beast. If he steps into the lake, he’ll probably lose sight of himself in a different way.

“You’re putting it together, but it is already too late, child. You are in my world,” Su Daji tells him. “Why torture yourself when I offer you release? Is that not what everyone wants? Freedom to indulge in their vices? Enter the lake and drink with me. Or don’t. Either way, the result will be the same. You will indulge and, in doing so, become a pet of mine.”

“So this is what you are,” Liu Jin says. “I wondered what sort of creature would cling to life so recklessly.”

Being such as the Storm Dragon and Nine-Headed Snake God chose to pass on, leaving behind nothing but shadows of themselves that could guide or empower those they deemed worthy. However, the spirit before him is different. She chose to cling to life so fiercely that she would take someone else’s body.

Only now that he is in her soul does Liu Jin understand how significant that choice is. Su Daji’s soul will grow strong, while Su An’s will wither and die. However, that does not mean Su Daji will return to how she was. That path is forever lost to her. She has forever changed by taking pieces of Su An’s soul into her own, effectively becoming a different person. What sort of thing could motivate someone to do that to themselves?

Liu Jin knows the answer now.

Pleasure and nothing else.

That is what Su Daji’s soul tells him. It is the unfailing principle that has guided her and given birth to the Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat. This is a place of indulgence. It is her way of life turned into a weapon. It invites him to lay down his reason and enjoy himself, attempting to overwrite all that he is until nothing remains.

“Disappointed? Spare me the lectures. I do not care for the judgment of the miserable,” Su Daji tells him.

“I am dissatisfied, not miserable,” Liu Jin says. “And I am dissatisfied because the pleasure I seek to indulge in is nowhere to be found. Not here.”

His Qi rises. He does not know if this will work, yet what else is there to do now but try?

The world quivers.

“Oh? What is this? Some last desperate attempt?”

The force of Su Daji’s soul rises, seeking to squash his own.

She recoils. A flicker of worry finally appears on her face.

“What in the world?”

The sky breaks.

Liu Jin smiles sadly.

“I am not sure. Not yet.”

“Stop it!” She yells, suddenly struggling to remain standing as fierce waves rock her boat. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

The earth quakes. The beasts flee. The grass withers.

“If you do this, it won’t be just me you harm!” Su Daji yells at him. “The girl’s soul is already weak! You will break her!”

“Maybe… but at least she’ll be free of you.”

Su Daji goes for this throat, reaching the coast in the blink of an eye. She’s still not fast enough. Liu Jin digs deep into himself and focuses on a single word.

Hollow.

Su Daji’s soul drowns in blackness.

~~~

Liu Jin looks at Su Daji’s fallen form for several seconds. She is still breathing. Save for the injuries she received during their fight, there is nothing wrong with her.

Not with her body.

Wordlessly, Liu Jin takes her in his arms.

~~~