Gu Ningyun let go of her wine jar with her right hand and nudged it little by little along the snow.
Before she had nudged it very far, she bumped into Wen Xuan's hand.
She squeezed her hand tightly.
Her left hand shifted slightly and brushed against Mu Chenze's fingertips.
His palm was incredibly warm, and his fingers squeezed the back of her hand firmly, as if trying to share his strength with her.
The five of them lay there like that, holding hands in a circle.
Gu Ningyun's throat felt tight, and it took her a long moment to find her voice.
“Alright, let's go.”
She wasn't the original host anyway. What was there to fear? What was there to have nightmares about?
The dungeons of Punishment Peak were located halfway up the western side of the mountain.
Swiping Jun Luo's disciple jade token, they walked step by step into the depths of the prison.
Each cell had its own independent array; those inside could not see out, but those outside could see in.
Gu Ningyun stood at the cell door, looking into the cell just a step away beyond the array.
This cell held Father Gu.
He was cowering in a corner, knees hugged to his chest. His eyes darted in terror toward the cell diagonally opposite him, only to flinch and pull his gaze back every now and then.
Opposite him was Madam Gu's cell.
Her hair had turned completely white, no longer bearing any trace of her former shrewdness as the mistress of the manor.
She leaned against the wall, clutching it with her right hand, her ear pressed tightly against the cold stone.
From time to time, her face contorted in worry and anxiety, and at other times, she looked utterly anguished, her eyes filled with regret.
Gu Ningyun watched her for a moment, then walked over to the adjacent cell—the one on the other side of the wall she was leaning against.
This was also where Father Gu had been staring in terror: Gu Lianxue's cell.
Gu Lianxue's wrists, ankles, and waist were bound with heavy iron chains, pinning her upright against the wall.
Her eyes were completely bloodshot, with no white showing at all.
Her face was twisted into a hideous snarl, her fingers curled into bloody, mangled claws. She lunged forward viciously, trying to scratch and roar, pulling the iron chains taut with a loud, clattering rattle.
Behind her, the wall within her reach was covered in bloody scratch marks.
Her mouth was constantly moving, saying something. Though the array blocked the sound, Gu Ningyun could read her lips. She was mouthing her name: "Gu Ningyun."
No wonder Father Gu and Madam Gu had those expressions. Martial Aunt Yi Kong must have let them witness Gu Lianxue's state.
“She wasn't locked up like this originally,” Jun Luo said. “There was so much malice in her heart, which constantly catalyzed more and more evil qi. One day, she suddenly went mad. She lost all reason, her eyes filled with complete insanity. The walls on all four sides and the floor were covered in bloody scratches she had clawed out.”
Gu Ningyun watched all of this silently, suddenly clutching her chest.
The plot of the original book, the memories of the original host, and the reality before her eyes all intertwined.
She had thought that since she had escaped and the original plot hadn't happened, it wouldn't affect her.
She had thought that since she had merely received the original host's memories and hadn't personally experienced those events, she wouldn't have nightmares.
But she hadn't expected that actually seeing Gu Lianxue's monstrous, subhuman state would still trigger a wave of despair and lingering dread from the depths of her soul.
In those memories—
She and Gu Lianxue took lessons together.
Whenever there was something Gu Lianxue didn't understand, the tutor would stop and explain it patiently.
But when she asked about something she didn't understand, the tutor would pretend not to hear.
Her meals and Gu Lianxue's were supposedly "the same."
Yet, the spirit food brought to her always had much thinner spirit energy, and the taste was a bit strange.
They often took Gu Lianxue out to play.
Every single time they did, she would coincidentally fall ill.
It was either a cold, or a rash on her face.
There was always some sort of illness, in endless variety.
Gu Lianxue would say, “What a pity Elder Sister is in such poor health. We can never go out of the manor to play together.”
Madam Gu would look at her as if looking at a piece of cargo, an object.
She had a maid who would disappear for a while every night.
The next day, whatever she wanted to do would invariably fail.
Father Gu spoke the finest pleasantries, but every time she ran into him in the manor, the hairs on her neck would stand on end.
She could see the calculation in his eyes, see his hypocrisy.
Yet, she could only pretend to be oblivious.
There were many places in the Gu Manor she wasn't allowed to go.
There was one particular place, and every time the three members of the Gu family came out of it, the way they looked at her grew a bit more terrifying.
Like hungry ghosts staring at a pure soul.
The malice had almost crushed her.
The ticking countdown to her death at age six spun closer and closer.
Whose memories were these, after all? Were they the original host's, or her own?
Why did she feel them so deeply?
Why was she having such a strong reaction?
Gu Ningyun removed her hand from her chest and looked back into the cell.
Perhaps this was why her master and martial uncles had never mentioned this place before she reached Foundation Establishment, nor had they asked her to come take a look at the dungeons.
They were afraid she would recall those painful memories, afraid that the nightmare of the evil cultivators would become her inner demon during her Foundation Establishment.
Until today, perhaps her friends had noticed something was off and decided to give her a nudge.
Or perhaps her master and martial uncles felt the time was right, so they guided her here.
To face it bravely, and then, completely root it out.
How had they found out?
Even she hadn't realized that her memories before the age of six had such a profound impact on her.
She was clearly very strong.
She clearly... clearly, the one who had experienced all of this was the original host.
She should have been the one feeling sorry for the original host, shouldn't she?
“The dungeons of Punishment Peak are a complete heaven-rank top-grade magic tool, surrounded by countless heaven-rank arrays on the outside. If even this place cannot hold them, then there is practically nowhere else in the entire cultivation world that could.”
Needless to say, escaping was absolutely impossible.
Even the old Taoist was hiding from Xiaoyao.
Jun Luo observed her expression for a moment before speaking. “Ningyun, we brought you here and told you all this because we wanted to let you know: these people will never be able to hurt you again. Once our master and martial uncles break the seals on their seas of consciousness and search their memories, these people will completely vanish from this world. They won't even have a chance at reincarnation. If you don't want to wait, we can also kill them right now.”
“Kill them?”
Gu Ningyun whipped her head around to look into Jun Luo's eyes. “You have the authority to access these three cells?”
“I didn't originally, but Master gave it to me yesterday. She wanted to leave the choice to you.”
“But don't we need to find clues about the old Taoist through them?”
“Master's exact words were: ‘The old Taoist will show his tail sooner or later. Compared to that, Xiaoyao cares more about our disciples' state of mind. This was also the intention of your Martial Uncle Yi Chu.’”
Her suspicions were confirmed. Sure enough, this had been authorized by her master and the others.
Rather than escaping and forgetting, Gu Ningyun also preferred to face it head-on.
Using Jun Luo's identity jade token, she opened the cells one by one.
After six years, she stood before them once more as a twelve-year-old.
The moment Gu Lianxue saw her, she lunged forward, shrieking her name and screaming that Gu Ningyun's spirit root should have been hers. She looked as though she wanted to tear her flesh and drink her blood.
Standing just out of the chains' reach, Gu Ningyun extended the web of her hand toward her.
Gu Lianxue bit down viciously, only to shatter two of her own front teeth.
“Eww...”
She took a step back. “Stop screaming. You're lisping now, and you almost got spit on my face.”
When Madam Gu saw her, she actually tried to deceive her again.
She tried to make her believe it had all been a misunderstanding, urging her to find a way to let them out.
When Gu Ningyun didn't buy it, Madam Gu resorted to moral guilt-tripping, saying that she had raised her for six years, providing her with food and clothing. How could she return their kindness with such ingratitude?
Gu Ningyun didn't bother arguing. She dragged her into Gu Lianxue's cell and forced them face-to-face.
Seeing Gu Lianxue's blood-soaked, mangled fingers and her mouth missing its front teeth, Madam Gu finally broke down, shrieking, “I know everything she knows! Why must you torture her like this? If I could, I would have confessed already!”
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