"I'll admit," the figure said in a calm, almost gentle voice, "you caught on quicker than I expected."
The crimson sea rippled. From its surface, the inner demon rose slowly—unhurried, almost leisurely. Like a predator savoring the final moments before ending the game.
"But don't get the wrong idea." A faint smirk lifted the corners of his lips. His eyes gleamed, not with humor, but with thinly veiled contempt. "You're still an impostor… pretending to be me."
Yang Huo chuckled lightly. "Impostor? Funny. I don't recall ever turning into some clinging obsession."
The demon's gaze sharpened.
"For someone who had just died, you sure speak with a disgusting amount of composure."
Yang Huo had indeed 'died'.
But a soul does not disappear so easily.
The body was like glass, one strike could break it beyond repair. The soul, however, was more like fabric. It could be pierced, torn, dragged through mud… yet unless completely ripped apart, it would still hold.
Yang Huo smiled faintly. "Yes, and it hurt quite a lot actually. Even if you're my inner demon, I didn't expect such a cold welcome. I can still feel my heart aching from what you did."
His tone was casual. Almost playful.
The demon stared at him in silence. His eyes narrowed.
"Have you gone mad after experiencing death once? You're still determined to cling to this pathetic lie? Do you really think I cannot see what you are? A parasite. A thief."
Yang Huo blinked innocently.
"Hm? For an inner demon, you sure love speaking in riddles. I have no idea what you're talking about." He tilted his head slightly. "I am Yang Huo, and you are my inner demon, is it not?"
The demon's eyes turned colder and colder. It seemed this man was still ignorant of his situation yet.
The demon's expression gradually lost all traces of amusement.
"It seems," he said slowly, "you still don't understand your position. Did you think that realizing you're inside the Heart Sea means you're safe?" His voice carried faint mockery. "How amusing."
He lifted his arms slightly, as if welcoming him.
"Go on. Leave."
The air grew heavier.
"If you can walk out of this Heart Sea, I will admit you are not an impostor."
Yet Yang Huo didn't even attempt to move. He simply stood there, watching.
"What's wrong? You can't?" The demon smirked, "Of course not. Why would the Heart Sea listen to a thief?"
Then, with a casual flick of the demon's fingers—
Snap.
Yang Huo suddenly felt something soft beneath him.
A cushion.
The scent of incense drifted into his nose.
He was back in the guest room.
The familiar bed. The dim lantern light. The quiet stillness of midnight.
But before his mind could even settle—
The world shattered.
The room dissolved like mist torn apart by wind, dragging him violently back into the crimson sea.
The demon stood before him again, fingers still poised mid-snap, that same serene smile untouched.
"Do you understand now?" His voice was calm.
So what if a rat realized it was trapped in a cage? In the end, its fate remains the same.
"You may think you've taken my body… but you're the one trapped inside it."
Silence stretched between them.
The demon drank in that silence, certain it was the quiet of a man who had finally grasped his own insignificance.
Then—
Pfft~
Yang Huo laughed.
"Aah… sorry, sorry." He waved lightly. "I thought I could keep the act going a little longer."
He looked up, meeting the demon's eyes without hesitation.
"You're right."
His voice was calm.
"I'm not Yang Huo. Even a child could tell that apart."
Indeed, it was a futile lie to begin with, to try to fool something born from this body's psyche was nothing short of a waste of time.
The demon's expression darkened, the hint of amusement wiped clean from his face. The demon looked at Yang Huo expressionlessly.
Quietly, almost lazily, the inner demon raised his hand and swept it sideways.
That simple move caused the air to screamed.
A crushing wave of force tore through the space, aiming straight for Yang Huo's neck.
Yang Huo ducked—only to freeze. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
As the wave surged closer, a suffocating sense of danger exploded in his chest. His body moved on its own, launching him upward.
SHHRRNNKK!
Dozens of jagged spikes burst from the crimson sea, skewering the space he had occupied a heartbeat ago.
One massive spike chased upward after him, grazing his temple.
A thin line of blood slid down his face.
Yang Huo steadied himself mid-air.
His gaze snapped back to the demon.
Their eyes met.
The Inner Demon stared at him, unblinking.
There was no smugness in those eyes.
Only quiet, cutting disgust.
Suddenly, the figure blurred.
Yang Huo's gaze swept across the crimson expanse.
Nothing.
The demon had vanished.
His eyes darted sharply from one direction to another—
Then his instincts screamed.
His body moved before his thoughts could catch up.
He raised his arms.
BAM!
A devastating kick crashed into his guard, launching him back down.
Before he struck the sea, Qi exploded through his limbs. He twisted mid-air, forcing himself sideways.
WHIP. WHIP. WHIP.
Spikes erupted again, narrowly missing him as he darted through the air.
Three near-deaths in seconds. A rough start for sure.
The Inner Demon descended slowly, hands clasped behind his back, landing atop a crimson spike as though it were solid ground.
"I've been meaning to ask…" he tilted his head slightly, studying Yang Huo with quiet curiosity.
"Have you never fought before? Or are you simply that helpless in someone else's skin?"
He studied the man carefully.
"You move on instinct alone… and even that instinct is clumsy. Unnatural."
He paused, the next words escaping in a low murmur. "It's like…"
The faintest shift touched his expression.
For a brief moment, that flawless face looked unmistakably demonic.
"You were a mortal."