Just as she was pondering, she suddenly heard a scream.
Mabel Ames Xiao clutched her head, her face twisted in terror: "What's happening to me? I feel so bloated! It hurts so much!"
"Mom, what's wrong?" Kieran Xiao asked.
"I feel like I'm about to explode! It hurts so much!" Mabel cried.
Lily Bai's lips curled into a smile. "A mortal body, daring to barge into the Divine Realm? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"
"What are you saying? Mortals can't come here?" Mabel asked.
"Exactly! Mortals have to cultivate to a certain level before they dare set foot in the Divine Realm. Otherwise, the intense spiritual energy here will invade you through every pore, and there's no escape—it'll burst you open!"
But this isn't the original Divine Realm anymore.
If it were the original Divine Realm, she'd have exploded the moment she arrived.
"Then... then let's hurry back!" Mabel was truly suffering. "Come on! Let's go back first."
"I'm not leaving," Lily Bai said. "I like it here!"
"Didn't you say we'd burst? That we'd die? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
"It's not that I'm not afraid—it's that I won't die," Lily said with a playful grin. "You guys will die here, but I'm totally fine!"
"Why?" Mabel asked. "Why are you fine?"
"Because I'm not human!" Lily laughed. "Are you all dumb or something? I got shot straight through by Colin Grant and still lived—did you really think I was just an ordinary person?"
"Then... what are you?"
"I'm a fiend! Hahaha!"
"What fiend! There's no such thing in this world!" Mabel protested, pulling out her Ultimate Weapon to threaten Lily again.
But before she could fire, everything went dark—her hand was suddenly empty, the weapon gone.
Lily Bai instantly shifted from a swirl of black mist back to human form, turning the weapon over in her hands with interest: "Pretty clever design! Was this made by the fish too?"
Mabel's face changed drastically: "You're really not human... you're really not human..."
"I told you already! I'm a fiend—Nightspawn fiend!" Lily said with a smile.
"Ah..." Terrified, Mabel felt even worse. Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground. "Lily Bai, save me—please, save me!"
Lily crossed her arms and bounced lightly on her toes. "Why should I save you? Give me a reason."
Mabel curled up, trembling all over, her eyes growing redder. "I'll give you the painting! It's super powerful! It can grant any wish—nine in total! I'll give it to you, just save me!"
She fumbled in her clothes for a painting, but dropped it. It unfurled on the ground, and Lily saw the fish again.
"Instead of begging me, you might as well beg it!" Lily said. "Its powers are way beyond mine."
"I've already used up all nine wishes," Mabel said. "They're all gone... all gone!"
"This is a real-life Aladdin's lamp, and you burned through all nine wishes while you're still so young... you really went all in!" Lily teased.
"I... immortal... im—" Suddenly, she started vomiting blood, her mouth filled with meaningless sounds: "Ah... ah..."
"Mom! Mom!" Kieran Xiao panicked, struggling to help her—and promptly fell out of his wheelchair.
Lily saw his lower body beneath the blanket.
Both legs were amputated cleanly at the knees.
Even his thighs were so thin, it looked like the muscles had completely atrophied.
Honestly, it was a pretty tragic sight.