Chapter 1159: Green Pearl's Collapse

About fifteen minutes passed. Black Cloud Fortress was completely silent. The whistling wind blew past everyone's faces.

The Stone Giant King was somewhat suspicious. "Isn't it... a bit too quiet?"

Everyone mumbled to themselves. Could Jiang Fan have run away? But where could he have gone? Black Cloud Fortress was sealed off; the only exit was where they were. It was possible for Jiang Fan to hide, but running away was utterly impossible!

However, another ten minutes passed. Black Cloud Fortress was as silent as a tomb, without a single sound. Now, everyone started to feel uneasy.

The Stone Giant King said, "This guy... he couldn't have actually slipped away, could he? He's more cunning than a rabbit!"

The Five-Star Giant King, who had remained silent, narrowed his eyes slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Green Pearl, you go."

Green Pearl was also puzzled. How could Jiang Fan have simply vanished after entering? She bowed and said, "Yes!" Immediately, she transformed into an afterimage and entered Black Cloud Fortress. To her, Black Cloud Fortress was so small that a quick scan would allow her to sense the entire situation within.

However, she couldn't sense a single living being, including Jiang Fan. Her heart sank; could something have happened to Jiang Fan? She grew anxious and called out, "Husband!" "Husband!" "Husband?"

But the fortress remained silent; her only answer was an echo. Suddenly, a secret room caught her attention; there seemed to be a faint spiritual energy fluctuation inside. She quickly entered the secret room to investigate.

Pushing open the secret room door, she saw a black pillar appear before her eyes!

"The... Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar? It was here in Black Cloud Fortress all along? So Wang Chongxiao returned to the Central Lands Realm using the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar?"

She staggered back two steps, her mind struggling to process it. "Let me sort this out. We, five Giant Kings, plus one Asura King, gathered almost all the Soul Transformation Realm experts from the Black Sun Royal Court. We escorted Wang Chongxiao here so he could retrieve the Saint's Crystal Sheath. And it turns out, the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar was right here. He took the Saint's Crystal Sheath and ran?"

Was this escorting Wang Chongxiao? It was clearly seeing Wang Chongxiao off! They had only heard of people throwing meat buns at a dog, but they were practically stuffing the meat buns into the dog's mouth! The kind where the dog didn't eat, and they even forced its mouth open to stuff the meat buns in! Good heavens! What a monumental blunder they had made!

Green Pearl felt dizzy and disoriented. After a good while, she recovered and consoled herself, "This was all the Giant Kings' doing, it has nothing to do with me. They're the ones who should be ashamed, not me, Green Pearl. Yes, that's right."

*Crunch!* As she stumbled backward, her foot stepped on something. Moving her foot, she saw the source of the faint spiritual energy: a jade slip. She picked it up in surprise, realizing it was a voice-recording jade slip. She couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be a message from Wang Chongxiao?"

She immediately placed it against her forehead, and Jiang Fan's voice appeared in her mind. "Green Pearl, my dear wife, thank you for your hospitality these past few days. Your husband has returned home to the Central Lands. Don't miss me too much, alright?"

Green Pearl suddenly understood and asked in alarm, "Returned home to the Central Lands? He still has his old memories? That's impossible, isn't it?" She started to panic.

At this moment, Jiang Fan's voice came again. "Green Pearl, my dear wife, there's a very, very, very small matter I forgot to report to you. That is, your attempt to erase my memory failed. I remember everything."

Green Pearl stumbled back several steps, unable to believe what she was hearing. "You... you remember everything? So everything you did to me was deliberate? Rubbing against my chest, claiming you felt insecure? Taking my first kiss, saying it was to rediscover the feeling of being a husband? And touching me inappropriately in the name of being my husband?"

The moment she learned the truth, Green Pearl's world collapsed. From beginning to end, she had been played by Jiang Fan!

Jiang Fan's apologetic voice came again. "Green Pearl, my dear wife, I did take a little advantage of you, but who told you to harbor ill intentions towards me first? You wanted to use my death to kill your sister. My kissing and touching you was just collecting a little interest, isn't that fair?"

He even knew that she had tricked him into seeking out her sister? To think she had felt guilty all this time, cried for Jiang Fan, helped him refine the Soul Transformation Corpse, and even shielded him from the Five-Star Giant King's killing intent! In the end, it was Jiang Fan who had been toying with her all along!

She stomped her foot and shrieked in anger, "Wang Chongxiao! You utterly despicable bastard! You even tricked me into calling you husband! And I fell for it, calling you 'husband' repeatedly! You deserve to die!" As she yelled, she burst into tears, crying out of pure rage.

To make matters worse, Jiang Fan's voice came again. "Of course, if you feel wronged, you can always come to the Central Lands and join me. I suppose letting you be a concubine would be acceptable. Alright, that's enough from your husband. I'm going back to properly process the treasure my dear wife gave me. Thank you, my wife, for your care these past few days. May we meet again if fate allows."

As the recording ended, the jade slip shattered. Green Pearl ran to the entrance of the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar and began to curse furiously. "Wang Chongxiao, you utterly immoral piece of trash! I, Green Pearl, would rather starve to death, or jump down the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar and die, than be your concubine! Aargh!!!"

Outside Black Cloud Fortress, the Giant Kings, hearing Green Pearl's hysterical screams from within the fortress, exchanged bewildered glances. "Is that Asura King Green Pearl? Has anyone ever heard her scream like that? Wasn't she always so calm? She rarely lost her composure. What on earth could have upset her so much?"

Shortly after, they saw Green Pearl emerge, crying and wiping away tears. Her mouth was still constantly muttering curses. "Wang Chongxiao, may you have no descendants, may you die a terrible death, may no one ever love you..."

Wang Chongxiao, lying on the ground, vaguely heard someone calling him. He slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the beautiful maiden with a pained expression, who was constantly shouting his name and cursing him. He wore a puzzled expression. "What did I do to upset you?"

Under the tutelage of the witch from the Great Barren Continent, he had learned a bit of the language of the Underworld. He could manage basic communication with beings from the Underworld. He could perfectly understand Green Pearl's current curses.

Green Pearl then noticed the hostage, Wang Chongxiao's sworn brother, and said fiercely, "I'm cursing Wang Chongxiao, your sworn brother! Why are you getting agitated? What, does it hurt your feelings to hear your brother cursed? You're both cut from the same cloth!" She stepped forward and kicked him, making him yelp. Since she couldn't find Jiang Fan, couldn't she still deal with Jiang Fan's sworn brother? "Ouch!"

Wang Chongxiao had just woken up, only to be cursed at and beaten. He couldn't help but say angrily, "I am Wang Chongxiao! What have I done to you? You're cursing me and hitting me?"

Green Pearl was stunned. The Giant Kings were also stunned simultaneously. The air suddenly grew quiet. Green Pearl asked blankly, "You are Wang Chongxiao? Then who was he?"

Wang Chongxiao said irritably, "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I've been getting hit on the head this whole time; I just woke up!"

Green Pearl staggered again; she finally understood completely. Jiang Fan had been impersonating Wang Chongxiao all along! From head to toe, there wasn't a single truthful thing about that scoundrel! She couldn't hold it in any longer, collapsed onto the ground, and wailed bitterly towards the sky. "He even lied about his name! Waaah! I don't want to live anymore!"