Jing Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.
Did he wake up too suddenly? Not enough sleep? Or had he been too busy lately, leaving his mind in chaos?
Why was Jingliu so cute? Why was she this cute?!
Was this truly the same Jingliu he always knew?
Yes—beneath her blindfold, Jingliu's face displayed an unexpectedly adorable expression. She looked so cute that for a moment, Jing Yuan thought he had mistaken her for someone else.
Each time Jingliu swung her sword, her eyes and mouth would shift noticeably, as if she were using every ounce of her strength with the utmost seriousness.
But in the brief pauses between attacks, she would wink—or even open her mouth as if to playfully act cute.
And when she leaped into the air to unleash an attack that could only be executed from above, the sight of her making a (≥▽≤) face, paired with the cold yet oddly fitting "Yay~" she exclaimed, left not only Jing Yuan stunned—Blade was equally dumbfounded.
"You… You woman! Why have you become like this?! Why?!"
Blade had been in decent shape at the start, but upon seeing Jingliu's expression—coupled with the salted-fish greatsword she wielded—something inside him snapped.
His Mara erupted.
In contrast, Jingliu herself felt an unprecedented sense of tranquility. In that moment, she found herself recalling the past, reconnecting with emotions she thought she had long lost.
She was no lifeless puppet.
She was flesh and blood.
Jing Yuan was her disciple. Imbibitor Lunae, Yingxing, Baiheng… they had been her closest friends.
During her descent into Mara, she had not dared to recall these memories. Under the influence of the curse, she had barely clung to her sense of self through sheer rage alone.
But with the special effects Pei Guang had given her, she discovered something shocking: as long as she was cute enough, she could regain more of her mind, even resisting the curse of the Plagues Author.
And as her mind cleared, her past, her experiences, and her emotions slowly began to return.
She didn't know how long this newfound clarity would last, but for someone trapped in Mara, this was a temptation beyond words.
At the same time, she recalled what Pei Guang had told her about the effects of his "enhancements."
The cuter she became, the more sanity she would recover.
If that was the case…
Then why not make herself even cuter?
She didn't even have to worry about her expressions—those were automatically altered by the effect.
All she had to do was… maybe add a few cute sounds?
She had never intentionally acted cute before, but as her mind cleared, she remembered seeing cute things before.
Adding a few playful sounds in battle? Easy.
So, when she saw Dan Heng and Blade in midair, attacking in unison, she instinctively let out a soft, cheerful "Yay~!"
The moment she said it, she felt even more energized.
It was as if she had returned to a time before the Mara: a time decades or even centuries before.
For Jingliu, this was a perfect positive feedback loop—the cuter she was, the stronger her will became, and the further she pushed the Mara away.
She wasn't foolish. If she could avoid succumbing to it, she absolutely would.
Pei Guang had given her a chance and all she had to do was look a little cuter.
So what?
It's not like being cute affected her ability to cut people down.
Blade, on the other hand, was suffering.
At the start of their battle, he had gone all out. At first, he simply felt that something was off. But when he saw Jingliu's blindfold slip, revealing that adorable expression beneath…
His mind shook.
"Why are you so cute?! How can you be this cute?! There's no way you're really Jingliu—WRYYYYYY!!"
Whether it was Silver Wolf going feral beside him, or some vampire from a certain universe that had scarred him, or even just some instinctual cry of despair—
Blade snapped.
As his Mara intensified, his consciousness began to sink. A terrifying aura surged from his body.
But at that moment—
Jingliu's sword pierced straight through Blade's chest.
A clean stab to the heart.
And in that instant, just as he was about to fall completely into Mara, Blade was grounded by a familiar sensation.
"Yes… Yes! This feeling! This is it! This is the feeling! You really are Jingliu!"
Blade stared at the adorable Jingliu before him.
Yet, as he felt the all-too-familiar sensation of being stabbed, his expression suddenly froze.
Jingliu: "Get some rest."
And with that, Blade—having been "killed"—collapsed onto the ground.
Jingliu then turned her gaze to Dan Heng.
"You said this would be a two-on-one fight. Yet he was the only one attacking. Are you forfeiting?"
Dan Heng: "No. I just saw his emotions spiraling out of control and didn't want him to mistake me for a target. But now…"
Dan Heng threw out the pink fluffy bunny in his hand. "Now, I have a way to deal with you, Jingliu… Watch carefully. This next strike… you might get hurt."
Jingliu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I might get hurt?"
Her interest was piqued. If this were the Imbibitor Lunae of the past, she might have believed he could win. But Dan Heng? She had looked into his history: a member of the Trailblazers.
While he had certainly experienced many battles, it was still far from the true brutality of the battlefield.
Dan Heng nodded. "Mm… This strike will draw blood. Be careful."
He wasn't just boasting. When he first met Pei Guang, Dan Heng was still a proper, serious person. But after spending time with him, he realized that some of Pei Guang's abilities—while difficult to accept at first—were disturbingly effective.
It was precisely because of this that Dan Heng had confidence in delivering a fatal blow to Jingliu.
Jingliu tightened her grip on her salted fish greatsword and looked at Dan Heng.
"If you have something, then try it. I'd also like to see just how strong you are now. As for killing me? Go ahead and try. This body has been through countless battles. Being killed by you once…"
She was about to say that being killed by Dan Heng didn't matter, but then her eyes landed on the pink fluffy bunny in his hands, and she hesitated.
Yes, she had a salted fish greatsword, but her instincts screamed at her that Dan Heng's pink fluffy bunny was far more terrifying.
Seeing Jingliu's hesitation, Dan Heng aimed his spear at her. "Are you afraid? If you are, I won't use this move… To be honest, this is my first time using it. As Ah Guang would put it… I'm about to unleash a powerful attack!"
Jingliu scoffed. "Afraid? As if I'd be afraid."
Jing Yuan, who had been watching from the side, heard her words clearly. But when he looked at Jingliu, whose face was now streaked with nervous tears, he found himself utterly expressionless.
He even felt an itch in his head, as if he were about to turn into some kind of jelly snack.
Jing Yuan sighed. "Looks like I'll need to ask the Healer Lady for some medicine to clear my head…"