EVEN AS A SLAVE, THE HEAVENLY DEMON'S MIGHT SHALL TAME THE BEAUTIES-Chapter 38: NIGHTMARES OF THE PAST

The room lay shrouded in silver moonlight, casting ethereal patterns across the worn wooden floor. Yomi’s chest rose and fell in rhythm with Lirien’s gentle breathing, her pink hair spilled like silk across his scarred skin.

The ritual had drained them both, the circulation of Ki, the melding of energies, the raw intimacy that had stabilized the chaotic forces threatening to tear her apart from within.

For the first time in what felt like eons, Yomi’s defenses had lowered. His Ki, normally contained with iron discipline, flickered and pulsed in gentle waves around his exhausted form. Lirien slept peacefully against him, her face serene, the tormented flush that had plagued her finally faded.

The chaotic Ki that had threatened to consume her now flowed in harmony with her natural energy, guided by his will, tamed by their connection.

Yet in this vulnerable state, with his mental barriers weakened and his spiritual guard down, the shadows of his past began to stir.

It started as whispers in the darkness, familiar voices calling his name, the crackle of distant flames, the clash of steel against steel. Yomi’s brow furrowed in his sleep, his Ki beginning to roil like storm clouds gathering on a clear horizon.

Then the whispers became screams.

****

The vision crashed over him like a tidal wave of blood and fire.

His mountain fortress burned. The ancient stones that had stood for a thousand years cracked and crumbled under the assault of otherworldly forces. The air itself seemed to shriek as reality was torn apart by beings that should never have existed in his world.

"Master! Master, help us!"

The voice of Lin Guei, his youngest wife, pierced through the chaos. Her delicate features, once radiant with joy, were twisted in terror as she pressed herself against the collapsing walls of their chambers. Behind her, the others, Xian Yu with her fierce warrior’s spirit now reduced to helpless panic, gentle Shen Li cradling their unborn child as tears streamed down her ash-stained face.

All of them screaming his name. All of them dying.

His disciples fought valiantly in the courtyard below, their techniques flashing like desperate stars against the encroaching darkness. But they were children compared to these invaders, gnats trying to hold back a hurricane.

He watched in helpless fury as young Wei Lin, barely seventeen and brimming with potential, was lifted by his throat and torn in half by a creature wearing human form but possessed of impossible strength.

The sound, gods, the sound would echo in his mind forever. Not just the wet tearing of flesh, but the boy’s final, confused whimper: "But... Master said we were strong..."

Laughter filled the air. Cold, mocking laughter that made his soul recoil.

"Insects! Your world is nothing!" The words came from mouths that had once been human, spoken by beings drunk on stolen power. "Look how easily your champions fall! Your ’Heavenly Demon’ couldn’t even protect his own bed!"

One of the invaders, its form wreathed in corruptive energy that made the air shimmer with wrongness, held aloft a severed head. Yomi’s heart shattered as he recognized Master Chen, the elderly man who had taught him his first sword forms, who had called him ’little dragon’ even when Yomi had surpassed him in power.

"This power... this world feeds us so well!" another creature exulted, its voice filled with euphoric joy as it devoured the life force of his people. Children, innocent children of his clan, were torn apart while crying for mothers who were already dead, their small voices lost in the symphony of destruction.

And through it all, Yomi could only watch. Trapped in his own failing body, poison coursing through his veins, his legendary strength reduced to nothing. The invaders had planned well, and the betrayal had been complete.

The flames grew higher, consuming everything he had built, everything he had loved. The library where ancient techniques were preserved, the gardens where his wives had laughed together, the training grounds where he had shaped the finest warriors in three realms, all of it reduced to ash and memory.

But it was the silhouette emerging from the smoke that made his dream-self cry out in anguish.

???.

The face remained obscured, wreathed in shadow and flame, but the bearing was unmistakable. The way he held his shoulders, the particular stance that Yomi had seen a thousand times in their sparring matches. His oldest friend, his sworn brother, standing among the destroyers with blood on his hands.

"Even your most trusted has seen the truth," one of the invaders said, its voice honey-sweet with malicious joy. "This world was always meant to feed ours. You were just too proud to see it."

In the dream, Yomi’s rage built like pressure in a sealed vessel. His Ki, even in this nightmarish realm, began to spiral out of control, chaotic and violent. The vision wavered as his fury threatened to tear apart even this tortured memory.

But the screams continued. Always the screams.

****

In the physical world, the room began to change.

The temperature plummeted, frost forming on the window glass despite the late spring warmth. The wooden floorboards groaned and creaked as invisible pressure bore down on them, and the very air grew thick, oppressive, charged with malevolent energy.

Yomi’s body thrashed against the sheets, his skin burning with fever while his breath came in harsh, ragged gasps. His Ki erupted outward in chaotic waves, causing the candles in the room to flicker and dance as though caught in a supernatural wind.

The water in the washbasin began to bubble and steam, while the mirror on the far wall developed a spider web of cracks that spread outward from its center.

Most disturbingly, shadows began to move of their own accord. Dark tendrils crept along the walls like living things, reaching toward Lirien with grasping fingers that seemed hungry for warmth, for life, for anything to devour.

"Wake...." Lirien’s voice cut through the nightmare’s hold as she jerked awake, immediately sensing the wrongness filling the room. The shadows recoiled from her voice like creatures fleeing from light. "Wake up!"

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