[Luo Luo, I miss you so much, my dear sister...]
[Luo Luo, why did you become like this? What happened to your body?]
[Dear sister, my body is... Ah...]
The System's voice trailed off, and it immediately let out a series of agonizing screams. A surge of electricity flashed, and the System's voice vanished without a trace.
[Luo Luo... what's going on? Luo Luo...]
[I am the Second Doppelganger System, temporarily serving the host on behalf of the Primary System. Since the seal on the host is showing signs of loosening, this system will forcibly strengthen the seal on the host.
Four, three, two, one... forcibly sealing the host's memories.]
[Wait, what about Luo Luo? What happened to him? Where is his body?]
Before Lin Zaozao could finish speaking, a powerful electric current surged through her body, causing her to involuntarily tremble in pain.
Meanwhile, Gu Shan, Ye Yi, Xiao Liuli, and others who had been surrounding Lin Zaozao and trying to get closer to her saw a brilliant, blinding light erupting from her body, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
[Luo Luo, Luo Luo?]
[Sealing complete. When the host awakens again, the Primary System will provide optimal service after everything has been sorted out.]
As the cold, mechanical electronic voice faded away, Lin Zaozao's body collapsed uncontrollably to the side.
In the moment before she closed her eyes, she saw a boyish figure with a doll-like face trailing behind her, sweetly calling her "dear sister."
That was her...
"Zaozao, Zaozao!"
Gu Shan crawled over to the fallen Lin Zaozao, his eyes reddening as he trembled and slowly pulled her into his embrace.
Cradling the unconscious Lin Zaozao, tears welled up in Gu Shan's eyes. He cursed himself for letting his beloved go rescue those emotionless, undead beings.
Now, his dear one had paid the price for it.
What did those people have to do with him? The only one he cared about was Zaozao.
Why did he have to hurt his love for the sake of outsiders?
Was he foolish?
He deserved to die! Truly deserved to die!
"Zao, Zaozao. I don't want you to save anyone anymore. I don't need you to save anyone. Let them die, it has nothing to do with me.
Zaozao, I beg you, don't scare me like this. I beg you, I beg you. Don't scare me, don't scare me, wake up quickly..."
"Gu Shan, let me see Zaozao," Ye Yi crawled over and reached out to examine her condition.
"Get away! No one is allowed to touch her. She's mine, mine alone! Anyone who dares to take her from me, I'll kill them!"
Pushed aside, Ye Yi looked at the naked killing intent in Gu Shan's eyes, his heart sinking.
Gu Shan was on the verge of going insane.
This was bad. Once Gu Shan lost his rationality, how many of those present would survive?
Before Ye Yi could get up from the ground, Gu Shan wrapped one arm around Lin Zaozao while gripping the throat of the puppet assassin called Qiu Shi with his other hand, his eyes glowing red as he spoke:
"It's all your fault. If Zaozao hadn't saved you, she wouldn't have ended up like this. If you die, will Zaozao be okay?"
With that, Gu Shan tightened his grip on Qiu Shi's throat. Just as he was about to snap her neck, he was struck hard from behind and collapsed unconscious to the ground, still clutching Lin Zaozao tightly in his arms.
"Luckily, I made it in time."
The newly arrived Han Xibei glanced at Qiu Shi, who was lying on her side coughing and clutching her throat, before striding toward Lin Zaozao.
Seeing Lin Zaozao held tightly in Gu Shan's embrace, a flicker of unease crossed Han Xibei's eyes.
What was going on?
Wasn't it too soon for this? Why had the seal on Zaozao loosened again?
And that familiar force from earlier, was it that person?
Han Xibei swallowed hard, a hint of anxiety in his expression as he reached out to pull Lin Zaozao from Gu Shan's arms.
However, Gu Shan's arm was wrapped too tightly around Lin Zaozao's waist, and no matter how much effort Han Xibei exerted, he couldn't pry Gu Shan's arm away.
"National Master, what should we do? The Demon Lord Gu Shan's hold on Zaozao is too tight, I can't get his arm off her waist," Ye Yi asked anxiously.
"Dashan!"
"What is it?"
"Get me a knife."
"Han Xibei, what do you need a knife for?"
Dashan asked, puzzled.
"Get me a knife, so I can just cut off the Demon Lord's hand."
Hearing Han Xibei's ominous tone, Dashan raised an eyebrow. He scoffed at Han Xibei's grim expression and tossed his massive sword in front of him.
"I don't have a knife, but you can borrow my sword to chop the Demon Lord into mincemeat if you want."
As the heavy sword clattered to the ground, Han Xibei's eyebrows involuntarily shot up, his grim expression fading.
He looked up to see Dashan's mocking gaze.
"Han Xibei, you might as well go all out and use the sword to kill the Demon Lord outright."
Stunned by Dashan's brazen taunt, Han Xibei stared at the sword on the ground, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Hmph! What's with the act? The young master loves the Demon Lord so much, do you dare cut off his hand? Hmph! If the young master wakes up and finds out, she'll cut off your paws instead.
Han Xibei, although you and the young master share a bond from your previous lives, in her heart now, she favors the Demon Lord Gu Shan over you!
What are you, some lightweight? Daring to compete with Gu Shan. You're just asking for trouble!"
Dashan's blunt words made Han Xibei's expression darken.
Because deep down, he knew Dashan spoke the truth.
Compared to him, Zaozao preferred Gu Shan.
But seeing Gu Shan's arm wrapped so tightly around Lin Zaozao's waist, Han Xibei felt at a loss.
Observing the conflict in Han Xibei's eyes, Dashan scoffed and scooped up Gu Shan and Lin Zaozao together, carrying them toward a newly set up tent.
What a big deal!
Since the Demon Lord wanted to hold the young master, let him hold her! Why did he have to play the villain driving the lovebirds apart?
After Dashan laid Gu Shan and Lin Zaozao on the bed, Han Xibei, Ye Yi, and Xiao Liuli followed him inside.
"National Master, what happened to Zaozao earlier? Why did such a powerful force emanate from her body?" Ye Yi asked worriedly, holding Lin Zaozao's hand.
"Ye Yi, you should know. The Grand Priest Xibei and I share a bond from our previous lives with Zaozao.
Now, Xibei and I can recall what happened in our past lives, but Zaozao has no memory of her previous life.
The reason Zaozao can't remember her past life is because someone sealed away her memories.
If she suddenly regains those memories before the appointed time, the overwhelming flood of memories without any buffer would drive her insane.
What happened to Zaozao earlier was triggered by a massive shock, causing the seal on her to loosen."
"National Master, quickly reinforce the seal then! Now that it's loosened, what if Zaozao suddenly remembers everything from before?" Ye Yi urged.
"Ye Yi, neither Xibei nor I have the ability to do that. The one who sealed Zaozao's memories is not us."
"To be honest, the sacrificial abilities that Ye Yi, Xiao Liuli and I possess were originally Lin Zaozao's from her previous life. She divided her sacrificial abilities into two parts and gave them to us."
"Wh-what? Your sacrificial abilities were given to you by Lin Zaozao. Then what was Lin Zaozao's identity in her previous life? Was she...?"
"Correct, Lin Zaozao's previous life was that of an astonishingly talented and erudite Grand Priest. Her identity as a sacrificer was so revered that even I, as an emperor, had to bow to her.
Such an extraordinarily gifted and beautiful person, yet she met a tragic end to her life because of a villain."
Xiao Liuli looked at Lin Zaozao, who was tightly embraced by Gu Shan, and his eyes were filled with the vision of a bloody mist.
A person of such lofty status!
How could she have met such a wretched demise!
Ye Yi and Xiao Liuli saw the pallor on Xiao Liuli's face, but they could not bring themselves to ask any further questions.
Lin Zaozao's ending in her previous life must have been dreadful.
Otherwise, the National Master would not be so grief-stricken now...
When Lin Zaozao woke up again, the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a handsome face.
Gazing at the handsome face before her, Lin Zaozao's eyes lit up with delight.
Oh heavens! She had just awakened, and God had already placed such a dashing man before her.
This must be a test of her self-control, right?
Unfortunately, Lin Zaozao had no self-control whatsoever when it came to handsome men, especially since this handsome man was her significant other.
Thinking this, Lin Zaozao embraced Gu Shan's face and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
Hmm! The taste was off!
Lin Zaozao turned her head and spat out some saliva, only then noticing the faint traces of blood on Gu Shan's face.
Had she just licked the blood off Gu Shan's face into her mouth?! The metallic taste of blood in her mouth made Lin Zaozao grimace and immediately feel nauseous.
Oh dear! She had just kissed the blood off Gu Shan's face into her own mouth.
"Zaozao, you're awake!"
Meeting Gu Shan's delighted gaze, Lin Zaozao stuck out her tongue and hugged his waist, pouting playfully.
"My dear Gu Shan, how long has it been since you last bathed? To be honest, you're starting to stink."
"Really... that bad?"
Gu Shan raised his arm and took a whiff, indeed, the odor was quite pungent.
