“Me? Lou Yu?”

Troupe Leader Yu’s expression went from dazed to a rage even more intense than when Wu Wang had been dissecting Prince Xiang’s corpse.

He wiped his face forcefully, smearing his makeup. Pointing at his own nose, he cursed.

“Do I fucking look like a woman to you!?”

He gasped for breath, his whole body trembling, whether from anger or some other reason.

But Wu Wang nodded with absolute certainty.

“This skin you’re wearing is a man’s, but you are Lou Yu.”

“If you were to die right now and I dissected you, I would find that your skeleton is the same as the Prince’s.”

“You are both Lou Yu.”

The words left not just Troupe Leader Yu dumbfounded, but the players as well.

It was utterly absurd.

What did he mean, they were both Lou Yu?

“What a pity,” Wu Wang said, shaking his head with a sigh. “You’re more than just deeply in character.”

“You have the nerve to mock Prince Xiang for losing himself, but what about you? You don’t even remember who you are.”

Before Troupe Leader Yu could erupt, Wu Wang spoke again, suddenly drawing a silvery-white hairpin from his waist.

Not far away, Zi Jin’s gaze sharpened.

Wasn’t that Lou Yu’s Hairpin, the one she had lost in the small courtyard with the well?

This guy had actually found it.

Wait. Not found.

Could her “losing” it have been part of his plan from the start?

At the thought, a drop of cold sweat trickled down her back.

His planning ran deep. This was not a man you wanted as an enemy.

“You thief! Where did you get her hairpin!” Troupe Leader Yu bellowed.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he froze.

Something was wrong.

He had returned the hairpin to Lou Yu before she fell into the well. Logically, it should have gone with her into the Yin World’s Ghost Gate Pass after she disappeared.

Why was it in Wu Wang’s hands?

Pa—

Wu Wang clapped his hands, smiling with satisfaction.

“Looks like you’ve realized the problem. The hairpin shouldn’t have appeared here in the Opera God’s Righteous Garden.”

Then, he turned his gaze to Zi Jin and the other players.

He chuckled mockingly.

“And all of you. Did you really think this was just some item that spawned for you to use?”

“It was part of the clue itself.”

“If this place were really the Yin World, the hairpin that Lou Yu took back wouldn’t be here.”

“This was the most subtle clue, telling us that Lou Yu is right here.”

The players’ eyes turned to the scholar boy. He was the one who had first proposed that this was the Yin World.

The scholar boy couldn’t deny his flawed reasoning. He sighed and nodded.

“His explanation is more reasonable.”

Then, the scholar boy narrowed his eyes.

“So what made you deduce that Lou Yu is playing everyone? A female skeleton isn’t enough proof, is it?”

Faced with his doubt and the players’ utter bewilderment, Wu Wang shook his head.

“Actually, it was enough. I’ll say it again, don’t be so rigid in your thinking. Why do you think the Prince’s skeleton looked like a woman’s?”

“I already gave you a hint, Xiaoxiao.”

Hearing him call her out by name, Xiaoxiao was completely baffled. She thought back to her previous conversation with Wu Wang.

The contrast… making it look so real… my medical career… I’m not a doctor anyway…

Her pupils constricted.

Wu Wang really had hinted at it amidst his earlier nonsense.

A look of astonishment flashed in her eyes as she answered.

“She’s not a doctor! She’s just an actress in the Opera God’s Righteous Garden! She has no real understanding of human anatomy or professional dissection!”

“So, she can imitate the appearance and even the flesh of others.”

“But she can’t change her own fundamental nature. Lou Yu has no idea about the skeletal differences between men and women. In her eyes, a dead person is just a pile of bones. There’s no difference.”

Pa—

Wu Wang clapped again. Finally, someone’s brain was working.

He had figured this out back when he left the Nuo Opera Garden. Identical skeletons meant they were the same person.

However, Troupe Leader Yu couldn’t make sense of their convoluted discussion.

The Ghostly Shadow at his feet suddenly lunged forward, trying to snatch the hairpin from Wu Wang’s hand.

Seeing this, Wu Wang had no intention of holding on to it.

Instead, he tossed it directly into Troupe Leader Yu’s hands, letting him see it clearly.

Letting him accept the harsh reality.

“It’s real… This really is her hairpin…”

In Troupe Leader Yu’s view, if this item existed in the world, then Lou Yu had never fallen into the Yin World at all. She had simply disappeared.

His long-held conviction began to crumble.

Like a line of falling dominoes, a numbness spread through his body.

“Proof… I need more proof…”

He managed to squeeze the words out to Wu Wang, as if clutching at a final, life-saving straw.

If Wu Wang couldn’t convince him, then his own beliefs weren’t necessarily wrong.

After all, Lou Yu still hadn’t appeared, had she?

Hearing Troupe Leader Yu’s miserable plea, Wu Wang sighed.

“Then let me ask you, on what grounds does a mere actor like you get to be sworn brothers with a Prince who expanded our territory and guarded the nation?”

“Why is that skinny old man the only servant in this massive Opera God’s Righteous Garden? Can he even manage?”

“Why can’t you hear any bustle from the capital city outside the Yi Garden?”

“Why do you call yourself a troupe leader when you can’t even gather a single actor? What kind of opera troupe has only one person?”

“Why are there two stages in the Yi Garden? The troupe leader the old servant mentioned was right above the potion-refining pavilion. Could you really not hear his screams?”

This string of questions left Troupe Leader Yu speechless.

He wanted to explain, but he didn’t know where to begin.

To him, everything in the Opera God’s Righteous Garden had seemed perfectly normal, as natural as breathing or drinking water.

Under normal circumstances, no one would think about why they need to breathe or drink. But if someone were to ask them why, they could simply say they would die otherwise.

But now, as Troupe Leader Yu mulled over Wu Wang’s questions, the words wouldn’t come.

Yes, why was that?

Seeing Troupe Leader Yu’s conflicted expression, Wu Wang looked down on him and answered for him.

“Because this is the Opera God’s Righteous Garden that Lou Yu wished for in her heart.”

“She wished for the high and mighty Prince to be able to converse happily with the humble actor, Yu Ji.”

“She wished for the Yi Garden to be undisturbed by the outside world.”

“She wished for her beloved Yu Ji to become the troupe leader.”

“And yet, what is the reality?”

Clang—

As Wu Wang spoke, the headdress on Troupe Leader Yu’s head fell to the ground with a clatter.

Before everyone’s shocked eyes, his… no, her hair began to grow wildly, like a surging tide. In an instant, it was long enough to trail on the ground.

The messy makeup on her face began to fade away, revealing Yu Ji’s handsome features underneath.

But then, that face also faded with the makeup.

Finally, a haggard, female face was revealed. It was a face that had endured unimaginable hardships.

She was so gaunt that her skin seemed stretched taut over bone. The flesh of her cheeks and eye sockets was sunken in, making her look like a living skeleton.

Her lips were corpse-white. Her eyes were vacant and filled with despair.

It was already difficult to tell she was a woman. Any thinner, and it would be impossible to tell if she were even alive.

It was hard to imagine that this was once a girl whose smile made her eyes curve like crescent moons, captivating all who saw her.

She stood there, muttering to herself.

“The truth is… the Prince died, Father is gone, and Yu is gone too.”

“The Opera God’s Righteous Garden fell into decline, its former glory gone forever. Even the stage has become dilapidated.”

“Women have a low status. I was an actress no one would even want as a prostitute. It was hard to even survive in this bustling capital.”

Lou Yu awoke.

She remembered who she was. She remembered the harshness of winter, the oppression of being condemned by all, the days of living worse than a stray dog, and the cold indifference of the world.

After that night, everything had changed.

The father who raised her was a fake. The Prince she admired was a coward, afraid of death. And Yu Ji, the man who truly loved her, was at the bottom of a well.

Lou Yu collapsed to the ground. A hot liquid slid from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks, and the faint smell of blood filled her nose.

She wasn’t crying tears, but blood.

Her tears had run dry on that night.

Although she sat paralyzed and sobbing, she emanated an ominous and oppressive aura that made it difficult to breathe.

Seeing Lou Yu in such a state, the players’ hearts leaped into their throats.

This fucking looked like the BOSS was about to enter its second phase!

If that martial Prince, with “I’m the strongest under heaven” practically written on his face, was just a role she played…

Then how terrifying would the real Lou Yu be?

The scholar boy appeared silently beside Wu Wang. In a low voice, he asked, “Are you happy now? You’ve summoned her, but what’s the plan?”

Wu Wang glanced at him and sighed.

“What else can we do? We deal with it.”

“Can you actually beat her in her own world? Can you out-gamble a slick-haired Chow Yun-fat? Can you beat a Qiao Feng who brings his own boombox to play the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils theme music? You talk a big game, don’t you?”

“Her world?” the scholar boy repeated, narrowing his eyes.

In that instant, all the inconsistencies connected.

Yes, everything in the Yi Garden was what Lou Yu had fantasized about, her most desired outcome.

This place was not the Yin World, nor was it the Yang World.

This was Lou Yu’s inner world!

Or rather, it was an Instance. A world created by her dying wish.

But how could a woman like this possess such great power? She had lost everything, was reduced to skin and bones on the street, and probably ate worse than a stray dog. How could she achieve all this?

“【The Abyss God】! It’s the power of 【The Abyss God】!”

“She came into contact with that existence but wasn’t contaminated?!”

The scholar boy’s voice was filled with incredulous shock.

However, Wu Wang’s gaze was full of pity.

He said softly, “You’re wrong again. She wasn’t just contaminated. She’s completely beyond saving.”

In Wu Wang’s eyes, Lou Yu was not just as gaunt as a withered skeleton.

Her entire body was covered in bizarre patterns.

Only by looking closely could one see that they were countless, eerie Vertical Pupils. They didn’t look like they were drawn on her skin.

It was as if she had been born with this monstrous form.

Wu Wang could state without a shred of doubt that the moment this Instance ended would be the moment Lou Yu’s soul completely dissipated.

Unlike Principal Wang and the Yin Fate Great God, who tried to control the Abyss God’s aura, Lou Yu had accepted the contamination with her entire being.

She had allowed her thoughts and body to be twisted by It.

Perhaps this was what was meant by “when you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.”

In her view, things couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“To be honest, I almost feel like mourning for her original world,” Wu Wang said helplessly.

The scholar boy didn’t understand what he meant. His understanding of the Abyss God was not as deep as Wu Wang’s.

Based on the contaminating Instances Wu Wang had experienced, once tainted by the Abyss God’s aura, the very core of that world would be twisted.

It might seem as if the Abyss God’s aura had helped this pitiful woman create a fantasy land.

In reality, as Wu Wang saw it, the Abyss God was using Lou Yu as a medium to invade and contaminate the world she once existed in.

Perhaps her original world had already been completely reshaped into the Abyss God’s image.

“Before Yu Ji died, he gave you a hint, didn’t he? A warning about the 【Five-Flower Melody】.”

Wu Wang stopped paying attention to the scholar boy and walked toward Lou Yu.

She lifted her face, her dozens of eyes looking at Wu Wang with despair.

It instantly reminded him of being stared at by the Divine Envoy from the 【Eye in the Wheel】, that sanity-draining feeling that made his skin crawl.

Finally, she silently nodded.

With a voice so hoarse from a lack of water that it sounded like a zombie’s roar, she said, “He used blood… in his palm… to write the three words 【Five-Flower Melody】.”

“He could… come back…”

Hearing this, everyone’s heart skipped a beat, especially the scholar boy, who knew what the fake Troupe Leader and Prince Xiang had planned to do.

A look of admiration flashed in his eyes.

A person can’t subconsciously invent something they know nothing about. This meant that even in her miserable state, Lou Yu had managed to investigate the true use of the 【Five-Flower Melody】 from just those three words.

And from its use, she deduced what Yu Ji had experienced that night.

What an intelligent girl.

Unfortunately, it was all too late.

“I think you misunderstood Yu Ji’s meaning,” Wu Wang began slowly.

He said calmly, “Yu Ji didn’t want you to save him.”

“He wanted you to run, to get away from this man-eating place.”

“He always loved you. He just never had the chance to say it.”

Only Wu Wang could understand this layer of meaning, because only he had experienced Yu Ji’s memories. Only he knew the true thoughts of that simple-natured martial artist.

After a moment of silence, Wu Wang voiced a speculation he still found absurd, even after confirming Lou Yu’s existence.

This, he believed, was the key to clearing the Instance.

“And he certainly didn’t want you to sacrifice yourself to refine those evil 【Five-Flower Melody】 puppets in exchange for his rebirth.”

“That is not the Crescent Moon Girl in Yu Ji’s heart.”

As soon as he said this, the small courtyard fell silent.

The players felt their own breathing grow ragged as they cast strange glances at Wu Wang.

They had to admit his reckless gamble had paid off before, but was he going crazy again?

What did he mean, Lou Yu planned to sacrifice herself to make the 【Five-Flower Melody】?

Hadn’t she been using the Descenders, the actors… them?

What the hell did that have to do with sacrifice?

Seeing everyone’s confusion and Lou Yu’s silent lack of rebuttal, Wu Wang acted.

He jumped from the edge of the well to land before her, crouching down so their eyes were level.

He spoke, word by word.

“Will you admit what these various identities in your delusion represent?”

“Or should I say it for you?”

“And tear away your final Opera God disguise?”