Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**1**

Phil, who had been sitting on the Demon King's throne with a smug smile, locked eyes with me for a brief moment. I returned his gaze with a bright smile.

He froze, then pointed at me with a cold, commanding tone, "Five hundred years, and you still cling to me. Get out! This is not a place for you!"

A chill ran through me. Even after five hundred years, he couldn't let go of his hatred and still doubted me. The rights and wrongs of the past...

The gods' wager was bound to drive one mad; it demanded a price. I had seen him now, and perhaps that was enough.

A few minor demons approached to seize me. Just as I was about to surrender, I changed my mind. Maybe I could live forever with Phil. Wouldn't that be better?

I gripped the Abyssal Bone Fan firmly. It unleashed tremendous power, knocking down the minor demons.

In the blink of an eye, Phil had me by the throat. All my strength to resist vanished instantly. His golden robe fluttered majestically, exuding dominance. In his grasp, I felt like a puppet with its strings cut.

My feet dangled off the ground, and the Abyssal Bone Fan fell to the floor.

Without a hint of anger, he spoke each word with authority, "Did you come here just to die?"

Without the protection of my Demon Spirit and poisoned, my face turned pale, and I struggled to breathe.

"Vera, a thousand-year-old fox demoness, what kind of drama are you performing in front of me now?"

He suddenly changed his mind and threw me harshly to the ground. I scrambled to pick up the fan, drawing magical energy from it.

Gasping weakly, I pleaded, "Phil, everything in the past was a misunderstanding. Can we forget it and start over?"

He laughed coldly, "A misunderstanding? Since you're so determined to stay by my side... But does your husband know about your fickle nature?"

Husband? Just as I was about to explain, I found I couldn't speak. My throat could only produce incoherent sounds. It seemed Nolan's curse was controlling me, preventing me from mentioning that incident to Phil.

I couldn't explain anything. "Phil, I was wrong in the past. I'm back now." I reached for his hand, but he flung me away.

He locked me in a dark, cold cell where the screams of other prisoners echoed. That night, I slept uneasily.

Would this be enough to make me give up? In the five hundred years of searching for him, I had endured countless hardships that no one else could understand.

**2**

The spider spirit's poison slowly crept up my arm. I waved the Abyssal Bone Fan, hiding the surface symptoms, but the toxins continued to corrode my internal organs, making every night restless.

The fan glowed with ten white lights. Nolan had said these lights represented my love for him. When the last light faded, he would appear.

My time was running out. Phil still harbored resentment over the past. When I left and borrowed the Lapis Mirror, it indirectly led to his father's death.

He hated me, but that day, I had no choice but to borrow the mirror and leave him.

The next day, I was released. Illusion Mountain and Azure Hills were nothing like the place he once lived.

This seemed like another paradise, with lush vegetation growing everywhere.

I walked to a place where red flowers blanketed the hillside.

Phil lay on the hillside, looking just like the young man in my heart. Back then, he had busied himself finding various spirit herbs to heal my wounds.

Once, he had been gone for a long time, and I started to worry. When I found him, he was lying on a hillside like this, surrounded by unknown wildflowers.

I walked closer and saw he was sound asleep. The sunlight was warm, and the wildflowers were in full bloom, and a breeze seemed to lift my skirt and stir my heart.

"Phil!" I called out softly.