Lin Mu read through all the letters, getting a better understanding of the man he had killed earlier.
From what he had seen before, Huangyu Shiyi, the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Topaz Dynasty, seemed to be overbearing. He was oppressive and killed without mercy.
But now that Lin Mu had read the letters and seen what he had gone through, he could somewhat understand his change.
'Having bullied and oppressed all life, ridiculed and further suppressed because of his body, he was bound to turn out like this. The ring gave him the power to suddenly rise and that resulted in him taking on a different personality.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
And since Huangyu Shiyi was in a rather eye catching position due to being a prince, the pressure on his was even greater.
After all, he also needed to watch out for competition from his siblings. Elimination of heirs was normal in a royal family, and Huangyu Shiyi was the peak example of a weak heir. It would not be unusual for him to be killed or crippled by his siblings eventually.
It was a great weight on his back that had pushed him to his limits.
~huu~
"Having gone through all that, you obtained power but still died…" Lin Mu muttered.
Lin Mu was the one who had killed the prince and yet he was now the one to feel pity for him.
"But it felt nice, right?" Lin Mu heard.
"Huh? What senior?" Lin Mu turned to Xukong.
"What? I didn't say anything." Xukong replied.
"I thought I heard…" Lin Mu was about to say when he heard the voice again.
"Didn't it feel nice to kill the prince?"
"Who?" Lin Mu looked around, unable to tell where the voice was coming from.
"What's happening?" Xukong was concerned to now.
"I can hear someone…" Lin Mu replied before hearing the voice again.
"You killed the prince who had suffered and obtained his fortunate encounter. Isn't this great?" the voice asked.
"It's not like—" Before Lin Mu could reply though, the voice interrupted him.
"Oh, but it is! You felt a great desire… felt that the fortunate encounter was stolen from you… You killed the prince because you wanted his fortunate encounter." The voice stated.
"That was the ring! It gave me the desire." Lin Mu replied.
"Lin Mu, who are you talking to?" Xukong couldn't figure out.
But Lin Mu didn't respond to Xukong. He was far too agitated by the voice.
"Oh? The ring gave you the desire? Then couldn't you have not acted on it?" The voice replied. "You were suppressing the desire all this time, weren't you? But then you saw the prince… you saw his power… and you wanted it."
"NO! It was the ring's will." Lin Mu denied.
"Oh, please. You know how much of that is true." The voice ridiculed. "You wanted it. Didn't you enjoy seeing the loot you got from the prince? And now you even have two more Immortal Stone mines you can take. Isn't that great? Haha!" it mocked.
"NO! That is not true! You don't know me, so how can you say that!" Lin Mu shouted back.
"Ahahaha!" but in response, the voice simply laughed.
"That…" Xukong became alert this time. "I heard that too…" he spoke.
"You said, I don't know you?" The voice spoke out loud, audible to both Xukong and Lin Mu.
"Yeah! You don't know me. All that you've said is false!" Lin Mu answered.
Xukong who heard the two sentences, were now concerned.
'Who can be here?' Xukong was quite worried, as he knew getting into the ring was not possible for anyone else. 'That only means it's been here since the start.' He thought.
While Xukong thought about the voice though, it continued to speak.
"Oh, but Lin Mu… I am you." The voice stated.
"What…" Lin Mu was taken aback.
~shua~
A moment later, it was as if a mirror appeared in front of Lin Mu.
The mirror reflected Lin Mu, but his appearance seemed to be different.
A nefarious smile adorned his face, while his brows rose in contempt. His eyes gleamed with a black and purple light, while an uncomfortable aura wrapped around him.
Xukong who saw it as well, was stunned. "This…"
Lin Mu was too shocked to see himself too.
"Who are you…?" Lin Mu questioned in doubt.
"Like I said… I'm you." The reflection spoke. "Thus, I know exactly how you feel… how you REALLY feel." It said with a wide grin.
"That's not—" Lin Mu tried to deny again, but was stopped.
"Sshhh! It's fine if you want to deny it now, but the truth will not change." The reflection spoke. "Besides, I am here to help you… show you the true path… Leave your hypocrisy and listen to me." It revealed.
"Lin Mu, get back." Xukong said sternly.
Xukong moved towards the Mirror facing it directly. But surprisingly, no reflection of his body appeared in it.
"It is useless, Senior Xukong. What is true cannot be changed…" The reflection spoke. "Not even you can defy this, AHAHAHA!" The reflection burst out into laughter.
~SHUA~
In the next second, a soul chilling aura filled the area.
Lin Mu looked towards the source of the aura and saw that it was coming from none other than the Ethereal Altar!
~HONG~
The Altar lit up as a beam of purple light shot out straight from it. The light reached high up into the ring's space and spread all around the area. And as the light spread, the aura spread too.
It only got denser and started to change.
At first it felt cold and uncomfortable, but it grew more malevolent as it spread. And in just a few seconds, it had reached a new level.
It now felt… Evil.
"Jiejiejiejiejiejie~"
"Jiejiejiejiejiejie~"
"Jiejiejiejiejiejie~"
A mix of laughter sounded and merged with the laughing reflection.
"What is this?!" Lin Mu questioned.
"This is… Devil Path… The Aura of the Devil Path!" Xukong exclaimed.
