Paradise Manor was a Grand building. The insides were brandished wit gold, iron, and jewels. A portrait of calligraphy was hung on the wall. In the living room, there was a long table plastered with bowls of fruits and vases. A row of chairs were seated around the table.

The three couples and the remaining cultivators sat.

"So," it took some time for Jiang Cheng to process it all. "You're actually a Demon Lord, and you're actually a Ghost King?" He stared wide-eyed at Luo Binghe and Hua Cheng.

The two red-robed men just nodded along to his words.

Jiang Cheng felt blank. He always thought that they were making stuff up! The first time he heard Luo Binghe calling himself a Demon Lord, Jiang Cheng thought that he was joking. But... it turned out to be true!

"And right now..." Jiang Cheng continued. "We're in the Ghost Realm...?"

"Ghost City." Xie Lian corrected.

The GusuLan disciples, Jiang Cheng, and Jin Ling had looked around Paradise Manor with curiosity. They've never been to a place with so many ghosts. Naturally, their curiosity to look around had heightened.

"Now then," Wei Wuxian turned their attention to the three hostages, "Shall we get some information?"

Seeing that Nu Wang was tied up with Ruoye, Yi Ran wanted to shed many tears. However, she could only sit there trembling like a leaf on the wind.

"What do you want from me!" She blurted out loud.

Shen Qingqiu fanned himself. "We're trying to understand your motives as to killing so many innocent people. Firstly, you attacked Cang Qiong Mountain. Secondly, you attacked Yunmeng Jiang. Thirdly, you attacked Square Town. Then, it was Ghost Nation. What are you aiming for?"

Yi Ran bit her lips, hard enough to draw blood. "I-I cannot say."

Lan Zhan looked at her with his cold eyes. "Of course you can't."

Hearing that, Yi Ran couldn't help but feel guilty. She shuffled in her seat, then looked at Nu Wang, who wore a melancholic expression. Bo Fan was still unconscious.

"Why did the Strongest Sword choose you out of everyone?" Wei Wuxian looked at Nu Wang.

The female ghost blankly looked back. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but then it fell short. She sighed, with nothing coming out of her mouth.

"Hmm?" Ruoye tightened around her.

Nu Wang shook her head. "I was not chosen because of strength."

"Then why were you chosen?" Xie Lian pondered.

All of a sudden, a booming voice echoed within Paradise Manor. The sound was small, yet it reached everyone's ears. Lan Jingyi and Sizhui froze in their seats. Jin Ling shuffled closer to them for warmth.

Subconsciously, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen leaned closer to one another.

"Y-You!" Nu Wang's eyes widened.

The Strongest Sword continued talking,

Nu Wang gritted her teeth. She found her every bone and marrow trembling before this voice.

"Don't talk to me!" She huffed.

The Strongest Sword did not falter at her command.

"Be quiet." Hua Cheng snared. His eyes glowed crimson red, as if a flare shot up into the depths of the night.

The Strongest Sword just giggled at his threat.

Hua Cheng tried to diminish his urge to snap the sword in half.

Nu Wang interrupted the sword, "Don't go too far! Don't forget that without me, you wouldn't exist!"

The Strongest Sword fell quiet.

Truth be told, ever since the Strongest Sword fell into her hands, the seal on her memories had been broken. Nu Wang remembered everything. How she was a mere orphan on the streets. How she was kidnapped by a bunch of child traffickers. How she was sold to the black market. How she was enslaved—and how she was freed by the war.

To survive, Nu Wang had to kill many people. Soldiers, mothers, fathers, children, and more. Slowly, her blade became what was known today as: The Strongest Sword.

That was why the sword chose her. It wasn't because she was strong. It was because she created it.

She remembered how after she sliced her neck, she became a wandering ghost. Nu Wang took upon the pipa, an instrument that she yearned to play, but never managed to. But she could not flee from the haunting memories. One day, she met a mysterious man.

He—Boss—promised to cast a seal on her memories, as long as she worked for him.

To that condition, Nu Wang gladly agreed. With her memories sealed, all she remembered was that she was Boss' servant; his puppet. But she wasn't the only one.

There was a small young girl. She was skinny and all bones. Her name was Yi Ran. It was at that time, Nu Wang swore an oath to protect this young girl. After all, they were both alone in this world of sins.

"We would like to ask some questions." Shen Qingqiu sighed. His fan covered the lower half of his face, "Based on the words of the Strongest Sword, you are working underneath a person. This means that you have a boss, right? Mind telling us who it is?"

"Hey!" Yi Ran cut in. "We will never tell you anything that correlates to our boss!"

Nu Wang's eyes flickered to the demonic cultivator lady.

"Then let's hope this one does." Jiang Cheng seethed. He turned to look at Bo Fan, the demon who'd killed over tens of Yunmeng Jiang disciples. Jiang Cheng really wanted to get his revenge.

Without hesitation, Jiang Cheng slapped his whip, Zidian onto the unconscious demon.

Immediately, Bo Fan was painfully awoken.

"Ow!" He spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood was a dark colour of oozing black. "What the fuck was that for?" Bo Fan couldn't help but complain.

When he came to, he met a pair of violet eyes. Then, he was dragged away to a room, with the door slamming close.

The three couples, Yi Ran, Nu Wang, GusuLan disciples, Jin Ling, and Lan Xichen, "..." This...

The sound of whipping behind the door became more prominent.

When Jiang Cheng came back out, Bo Fan was beaten into a pulp. His cheeks were bruised and stained with blood, looking like an ugly colour of purple and cherry red. A trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, completely destroying his handsome looks.

"He spoke." Jiang Cheng declared.

Upon hearing that, Yi Ran found herself rising on palpitation. "B-Bo Fan! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! We swore an alliance to the Boss, and you betrayed him right away!?!"

Bo Fan shook his head with his mouth still swollen. "N-No, I didn't-"

Yi Ran had ran out of her seats, and began hitting the demon repeatedly on the arms. She was taking her temper out on him. It seemed like a fire was brewing in her eyes. "DAMMNIT! WE'RE ALL DONE FOR!!!" Yi Ran scowled, "I knew that from the start, you always coveted the Strongest Sword! Boss asked us to bring it back to him—and yet here you are, wanting to steal it from Nu Wang!"

Bo Fan glared at her. With whatever strength he had leftover, he blurted, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Yi Ran threw a temper tantrum. "You're the worst! The worst ever! What kind of fucking demon are you-"

"Actually," Jiang Cheng huffed, "I lied."

Yi Ran, Bo Fan, and Nu Wang, "..."

Wei Wuxian wheezed in the background, hugging his stomach while begging for air. Lan Zhan concernedly looked at his lover. Shen Qingqiu fanned himself, hiding the wide grin underneath. Luo Binghe clutched on his Shizun's sleeves, with "innocent" puppy dog eyes. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. And Hua Cheng... well, he was Hua Cheng.

"You guys turned on each other quite fast." Lan Xichen commented.

"Shut up!" Yi Ran pointed a finger. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"Anyways," Lan Xichen ignored her. "Now that we know that their Boss wanted them to steal the Strongest Sword, then... it must be for a cruel purpose."

"Slaughter? Genocide?" In the back, Jin Ling took guesses.

Lan Jingyi stated, "For serial killers like them, genocide and manslaughter sounds like an ordeal that they'd do."

Lan Sizhui agreed.

"What exactly is your Boss trying to do?" Xie Lian pressed onto Bo Fan. "You can't hide it from us. Your every next step... move... is followed by us. It is inevitable, don't you know that...?"

Bo Fan gulped nervously.

It was true. He, Yi Ran (that hag), and Nu Wang were cornered. They had no other routes to pass. However, if they were to betray their Boss now—

"I have one condition." All of a sudden, Nu Wang spoke up.

Yi Ran was stunned. "Nu Wang...?"

Nu Wang turned back to look at Yi Ran, the demonic cultivator lady—no. To her, Yi Ran will forever be that helpless little girl being manipulated by Boss.

"Yes?" Lan Zhan arched an eyebrow at the female ghost.

Nu Wang looked at the three couples. Strangely, a kindle of determination was lit in her eyes. "We'll let you guys take the Strongest Sword, and we'll confess our Master's plans to you. In return, you must let us leave... alive."

Shen Qingqiu was speechless.

Things couldn't possibly be any better than this, right...? However, all the three cannon fodder wanted... were their lives to be secured? This wasn't right... or was it?

The Strongest Sword was clearly unhappy.

"You promise that you won't twist any kind of lie?" The three couples ignored the sword.

Nu Wang nodded. "I promise."

Luo Binghe didn't trust her, but didn't push that far. "We'll hear what you've got to say first."

Nu Wang saw that the three couples had at least a small hope left of her. This made her sigh in relief. She opened her mouth, then began to tell a story...

There was once an ancient dragon that protected the lands. It was said that this ancient dragon could fulfill any wish. The condition was that its power can only be inherited by the person who kills it. Only when a disaster strikes the earth would the ancient dragon arrive to the mortal realm.

With such a legend being told... not many people believed it.

However, a little boy did. He was mistreated like every other person in the world—but by tenfold. The little boy swore to himself to become strong and get revenge on those that hurt people important to him.

The little boy grew tall. He became strong. He even had three underlings; Bo Fan, Yi Ran, and Nu Wang. This little boy was called "Boss" ever since.

With his three underlings, the Boss massacred an entire nation.

This brought upon the wrath of the ancient dragon. The ancient dragon fought against the Boss. Bo Fan, Yi Ran, and Nu Wang managed to witness everything. It was a close battle. The ancient dragon had fallen short behind the Boss.

To bring one last hope, the ancient dragon sealed itself into the earth. It crashed three universes into one giant earth. This was what brought upon the earthquake.

To call upon that ancient dragon once again, the Boss decided to bring disaster again. He is planning to kill more people, so that the ancient dragon will reawaken. Then, the Boss will kill the ancient dragon and gain its powers...

"That's the reason behind the earthquake...?" Wei Wuxian was stunned.

The earthquake was what brought him closer to the two other couples; Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu, and Xie Lian, Hua Cheng. It turned out that origin behind the earthquake was this... deep...?

"Boss wanted the Strongest Sword, so that he could massacre more people and reawaken the ancient dragon." Nu Wang explained.

As she explained, Yi Ran and Bo Fan were stunned in the back. Aren't you saying too much...?

"You can let us go now, right?" Nu Wang frowned. "We won't take the Strongest Sword. Boss wouldn't be able to kill anyone now. We won't mess with you guys, okay?"

Everyone turned their attention to Hua Cheng. After all, he was the Ghost King, and they were in his territory.

Hua Cheng scoffed coldly. "Get out of our sight."

Bo Fan, Yi Ran, and Nu Wang were all grateful. They kowtowed several times, before being allowed to leave the Paradise Manor. The three cannon fodders quickly escaped, fleeing until their shadows could no longer be seen.

"Their testimony sounds pretty accurate." Xie Lian offhandedly remarked. "I think that we can trust them for now."

They turned to look at the Strongest Sword, which was brutally abandoned. "Now... what should we do with this...?"

Out of nowhere, the doors of Paradise Manor had slammed open! In came a swarm of ghosts—they were all ghosts from Ghost City. Amongst them were some familiar figures, such as the Butcher Ghost. However, these ghosts all wore panicked expressions on their faces.

In an instant, the three couples could tell something was wrong.

"We have bad news, Our Lord!" A ghost piped up. "JUST NOW, GHOST NATION HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE FOUR GREAT CLANS!"

Jiang Cheng: ...I SHALL WHIP THE ANSWERS OUTTA YOU, BOY!!!

Bo Fan: ...won't anyone save me...?

Lan Xichen: Let's trade places

Bo Fan: Gladly!

Jiang Cheng: ...? What do you have to do with this?

Lan Xichen: Come on, let's go :)