The Goddess of Youth

(Run, human boy! If you don't flee, we shall all perish here! Hurry, run!!!) 

Within the confines of his consciousness, the demon's voice trembled with panic and fear. This malevolent creature, which derived pleasure from the suffering of others, now spoke with a hint of terror as if confronting a formidable foe. 

"…" After standing silently for two seconds in the midst of the ghastly green light, Xiaomu Yu coldly drew the edge of his icy blade. "Run?… It's too late." 

Delicate green tendrils rose from within the sarcophagus, writhing in the air like countless octopus limbs. 

These tendrils twisted a few times, seemingly sensing the safety of their surroundings. In the next moment, like a dam bursting, a torrent of green wrappings surged forth from the sarcophagus. 

In mere moments, these bizarre wrappings enveloped the entire room, their vast number provoking curiosity about how such a multitude could be contained within the relatively small sarcophagus… 

"Is this… human?" Lux, her gaze fixed intently on the sarcophagus, spoke with uncertainty. 

There, suspended in the air about half a meter above the sarcophagus, floated a girl entirely encased in green wrappings. 

The girl had emerged from within the sarcophagus. 

"…" Coldly observing the eerie girl before him, Xiaomu Yu's gaze remained unyielding, his grip on the sword unwavering. 

The girl appeared to be around sixteen years old, her aquamarine hair swaying gently behind her like aquatic plants in water. Her tightly closed eyes bore a strikingly beautiful visage, yet they seemed laden with profound sorrow, causing her delicate brows to furrow even in slumber. 

The girl wore no clothing, her youthful form swathed only in a layer of green wrappings. However, as these wrappings were not particularly thick, they clung to her like a second skin. 

Her slightly immature curves, her still-developing bosom, her alluringly slender waist, and her long legs… 

All of these elements, combined with her only exposed beautiful face and the heart-wrenching expression of sorrow and fragility, evoked an irresistible impulse to protect and cherish her. 

Her lashes fluttered slightly as she gently opened her cerulean eyes. 

With hollow, sorrowful gazes directed at the two before her, the girl's voice trembled with impending tears, "Ah… Mu… Mu… are… you… sad?" 

It seemed that due to prolonged silence, her sorrowful tone came out in broken fragments, leaving Xiaomu Yu and Lux with only this disjointed, peculiar question. 

(Yes! Yes! Ahhh!!! It's her! It's truly her!!! This time we're doomed! This time we're finished!!!) 

Within the confines of his consciousness, the demon screamed as if the apocalypse had arrived, frantically expressing its fear, likely oblivious to the senselessness of its own words. 

With pitch-black eyes, she gently closed them. 

Open… 

"…" The man coldly regarded the sorrowful girl before him and asked in an icy tone, "Who… are you?" 

"Ah… Anoya," she softly replied, her beautiful sapphire eyes filled with sadness and emptiness. "I am… Anoya Muxival Muhani Dinesha." 

Her despondent gaze fell gently upon the man's cold features. The girl sadly raised her delicate right hand, looking at Xiaomu Yu with a hollow and sorrowful voice, "Are you… sad?" 

!!! 

As if sensing something, Xiaomu Yu suddenly took a step back, yet… 

"Are you… sad?" 

This time, the tender, mournful voice whispered like a lover's caress in his ear, as slender hands gently embraced his neck. 

Amidst the subtle and elegant fragrance of the girl, Xiaomu Yu's consciousness momentarily blurred. 

When he regained his senses, he found himself standing alone in the center of an uncharted corridor. 

Before him lay a deep passageway leading to the unknown. 

Behind him, an equally enigmatic corridor stretched into darkness. 

Standing solitary in this desolate passage, he felt an overwhelming sense of abandonment by the world. 

**Space… turbulence?** 

Standing coldly at the center of the corridor, allowing the flickering light of the magical lamp to stretch his shadow across the floor, the man expressionlessly brushed his hair, only to overturn that thought in the next moment. 

No, this time, it was spatial expulsion. 

Previous transports had been random bursts of spatial turbulence, but this time, it was evidently a spatial expulsion triggered by the wrapped girl, aimed at banishing him from that place. 

"…" With an icy gaze directed toward the depths of the corridor, Xiaomu Yu departed from his original position, his footsteps echoing coldly. 

(Human boy! Human boy! No! No! You're going the wrong way!!!) 

Within his consciousness, the demon, having just begun to breathe a sigh of relief from the impending doom, suddenly froze and began to scream frantically. 

(Not that way! Not that way!! You'll die if you go that direction! Come back! You're heading the wrong way!) 

"…" With unyielding eyes, the man coldly replied, "There is no mistake. The direction I must go… is this way." 

(Wrong! The direction you're heading is toward that human girl! Come back!!! Do you know who that wrapped girl was? Are you seeking death?) 

The demon was nearly driven to madness by the man's blatant disregard for his own safety. 

"…" Pausing momentarily, Xiaomu Yu coldly halted his steps. "Who is she?" 

(The Goddess of Youth! It's the Goddess of Youth! That wrapped girl is the Goddess of Youth!!) 

"Is she… powerful?" Xiaomu Yu asked icily.

**"Powerful? That woman is not merely powerful; she is utterly monstrous!"**

"How powerful?" Xiaomu Yu asked in a chilling tone. 

(Within the realm of the divine, beneath the vast heavens! Beneath the starry sky, there exists no rival! Just how powerful do you think she is!) 

"…" After standing in silence for several seconds, seemingly digesting this information, the man finally spoke coldly, "What does that have to do with me?" 

With that, he strode deeper into the corridor. 

(Oh no! Oh no! Human boy! Dear human! I implore you! Please don't walk into your doom! You may be ready to die, but I am not! And do you know? With the Goddess of Youth, death is far more than mere death!) 

The hint of terror in the demon's voice was unmistakably genuine. 

"…I have been meaning to ask since the beginning, why are you so afraid?" Xiaomu Yu said coldly. "Even when I sealed you, leaving your soul at risk of complete annihilation, you showed no fear. Why now, are you so terrified of that woman?" 

(Afraid? Death? Do you believe that if you die at the hands of the Goddess of Youth, it would be merely death?!) 

"What… do you mean?" Xiaomu Yu inquired icily. 

(Do you know how the title of Goddess of Youth came to be? That woman! The one named Anoya! When she ascended to divinity, her title was far from the trivial 'Goddess of Youth'! It was 'Goddess of Despair'!) 

"Goddess of… Despair?" Xiaomu Yu slowly mulled over those four words, involuntarily recalling the profound despair and sorrow that enveloped the wrapped girl. 

(The full title is 'Goddess of Despair and Sorrow'! Her divine essence embodies 'Despair' and 'Sorrow', yet her power is so immense that it not only brings despair and sorrow to her enemies but ensnares her as well in a heavy shroud of despair and sorrow.) 

(The power of the Goddess of Youth is so formidable that even gods and demons can be easily obliterated by her. The souls of those who perish at her hands will endure the most profound and terrifying despair and sorrow in this world before they are utterly extinguished!) 

(Furthermore, the power of the Goddess of Youth is so overwhelming that even she cannot contain it! To prevent her spirit from being consumed by the weight of that despair and sorrow, she has sealed ninety percent of her divine power deep within her soul. In her normal form, she appears as an innocent child, for only an unworldly young girl can mitigate the corrosive effects of the despair and sorrow inherent in her divine essence. This is why she is known as the 'Goddess of Youth'.) 

(However, even so, even with merely one percent… no, perhaps not even that much of her divine power, she is already a deity of such strength that she reigns supreme within the realm of the divine, beneath the vast heavens! You, with your pitiful luck, managed to escape her clutches, and yet you still contemplate returning to face death? Human boy, has your mind become unhinged?) 

"She is… currently weak." After a few moments of silence, Xiaomu Yu coldly concluded. 

(Indeed! She does appear weak at the moment, but a deity is still a deity. Even the feeblest of gods cannot be challenged by a mere mortal who has yet to attain the Holy rank! And why do you wish to return? Are you intent on saving that girl named Lux?) 

"…" After a brief, cold silence, Xiaomu Yu nodded indifferently, "Indeed." 

(…)

"…" 

(What the hell! Am I insane, or is the world mad? Huh? You, a cold, cruel, dark, evil, selfish, despicable, heartless scoundrel! You, who can remain utterly unmoved even as the most beautiful woman in the world is violated before you! Today, you would risk your life to save a girl you've barely met? Human boy, are you trying to amuse me?) 

"…" Ignoring the demon's scorn, Xiaomu Yu coldly articulated his reasoning, his gaze as frigid and indifferent as ever. "She is… my teacher's disciple."