Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Ye Fengyun dodged the wave after wave of attacks with agile movements, but the sheer number of adversaries overwhelmed him, pinning him to the ground through brute force and numbers alone.

Yun Lanzong’s eyes no longer had whites or pupils; they were nothing but hollow, bottomless voids of black.

"You destroyed my array, destroyed my years of plotting, and destroyed the one I loved most. Now, I will destroy the one you love most!"

He let out a fierce roar, and the malicious spirits alongside the controlled thralls all charged toward Dragon Three and the others.

Breaking free from his restraints, Ye Fengyun rushed forward to shield Tang Shihhan.

Yun Lanzong simultaneously directed the evil spirits to attack while pressing his assault against Ye Fengyun.

"Why? Why must you stop me from reuniting with Haitang? I was so close to seeing her again! I was so close to being reunited with her!"

Yun Lanzong roared frantically, his attacks growing increasingly unhinged.

Ye Fengyun replied coldly, "I have no objection to you wanting to resurrect your wife, but you cannot do so at the expense of my wife's lifespan. By setting up the soul-summoning array across the four great families, you were borrowing life from every single member of those households!"

Yun Lanzong bellowed, "They exist solely for the resurrection of my wife! If she cannot be brought back, they have no reason to exist at all!"

Ye Fengyun offered a dismissive, scornful smile. "Does the world revolve around you? You certainly are arrogant—much like I was back in the day. What a pity, though, that my arrogance back then surpassed yours a thousandfold."

With a single palm strike, he cleaved through the thick black mist, the overwhelming internal energy blasting Yun Lanzong backward.

"You are so desperate to see your wife, but does she even wish to see you?"

Ye Fengyun sneered. With a swift flick of his wrist, he traced a talismanic incantation, summoning forth the scattered soul fragments of Luo Haitang drifting within the dark mist.

Luo Haitang materialized within the talismanic array traced by Ye Fengyun. Though she existed merely as a phantom soul, her sudden appearance granted the frenzied Yun Lanzong a momentary return to lucidity.

"Haitang..." Yun Lanzong choked out, calling her name with a breaking voice.

Yet Luo Haitang wore an expression of profound disgust. "Yun Lanzong, I am already dead! Will you not even allow me to rest in peace?"

"I want you back by my side! You are the one I love most. Without you, this world has no reason to exist!"

Luo Haitang rebuked him with utter revulsion, "Stop wallowing in your own self-righteous martyrdom! You expect me to stay with you? Do you even deserve it? Just looking at you right now makes me sick to my stomach! If I were truly alive, if I still had the power of choice, do you honestly think I would have spared you even a single glance in reality? Are you worthy?"

Yun Lanzong froze in utter bewilderment.

"Haitang, I love you! And you loved me too! Everything I did—risking my life to do all of this—it was all for you!"

"Yun Lanzong, you only ever loved yourself! I am dead, yet you still refuse to let me rest. Let me tell you the truth: I never loved you. The only reason I stayed with you was because my family was impoverished, and I happened to be pretty with a fine figure, while you were wealthy. That was the sole reason I married you! Did you actually think I would have ever looked at you twice otherwise?"

Luo Haitang's words fell like a razor-sharp blade, peeling away the bloody, brutal truth from beneath a curtain woven of supposed devotion.

How profoundly ironic. For Luo Haitang's sake, Yun Lanzong had defied the entire world, plundering the lifespan of every clan in Yunchuan City to resurrect her.

For her, he had driven himself to the brink of madness.

His love for her could aptly be described by a single word: madness.

And yet, Luo Haitang had never loved him at all. Her companionship was bought and paid for by his wealth, a mere transaction to alleviate her family's financial burdens.

She was a dutiful daughter, but she had never been a devoted wife.

Yun Lanzong collapsed heavily onto his knees in utter devastation.

Luo Haitang's soul dissipated into nothingness.

Ye Fengyun spoke quietly, "Did you hear that? Your wife never wanted to be with you nearly as much as you imagined. Let her go, and release yourself as well."

However, right at that moment, the previously quiescent black mist suddenly surged with restless turbulence.

"Don't listen to him. The soul was summoned by him; those words were all manipulated by his tricks."

An illusory shadow whispered seductively into Yun Lanzong's ear.

Ye Fengyun warned, "Yun Lanzong, do not listen to the ravings of a ghost."

"What he said is true."

Yun Lanzong slowly rose to his feet, his eyes burning with absolute, unadulterated murder. "It was you who manipulated it! You forced Haitang to say those words! Haitang loved me so deeply, how could she ever say such things?!"

He glared at Ye Fengyun with gnashing teeth as the surrounding black mist billowed thicker and darker than ever.

"You destroyed my beloved! I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes to the winds!"