Clearly, even if she screamed her lungs out, no one would respond. The other creature seemed to have perished, leaving only the black-robed figure. It and she were the sole survivors in the hall.
Su Mei's hand slackened, and the item she held dropped to the ground, obscuring the light of the blood-red pattern. She sensed that the black-robed figure was doing something to her because she suddenly experienced a strange sensation, as if her soul was about to leave her body and be drawn into the darkness beneath the robe.
This didn't mean that the black robe had made any attacking moves to trigger this sensation. In fact, it remained motionless, merely hovering. The two blood-red flames flickered as if on the verge of extinguishing. If it was indeed attacking her, this might be the attack manifestation.
She screamed a few times and then stopped. Strangely, the discomfort didn't last long. When it completely disappeared, a voice emanated from within the black robe. Just as she had imagined, this voice was slightly shrill and ominous.
In a frustrated tone, it said, "Oh, I see."
The tone of this sentence was filled with a high-pitched resentment and disappointment, which surprised Su Mei and left her momentarily stunned. Meanwhile, it indicated the failure of its intention.
Su Mei backed up five or six steps in one breath before hesitatingly standing still, probing, "Who... what are you?"
As soon as these words left her lips, she was greatly surprised. Her voice hadn't changed naturally, only was trembling slightly. However, the language she used felt completely off, inexplicably shifting into the same one they had used, and she spoke it fluently and smoothly. It was as if her brain automatically translated her thoughts into their language.
The black robe suddenly swayed and said ominously, "Your attitude should be more respectful. Address me as the esteemed Lord Hainham. I am the most powerful lich in this mortal world. With a mere flick of my finger, you would turn to dust."
Su Mei had no idea how to respond, so she remained silent for the time being. The initial shock had passed, and she was now thinking more nervously and rationally.
Perhaps her question was stupid, but since she had the opportunity to ask, why would she give up now? She also noticed that the lich's voice was becoming lower and more subdued. It had a very arrogant attitude and appeared confident, but its tone betrayed it. She couldn't help but feel that it was on the verge of death.
"So... what is this place?" she asked.
"This place?" The black robe seemed somewhat surprised, and its voice suddenly grew harsher. "This is the Bottomless Abyss, the lair of demons."
Su Mei listened but didn't quite understand. She could only firmly remember these terms. However, the lich had no intention of providing further information or answering her questions. After these two questions, it began to show signs of annoyance towards this mortal. It no longer paid attention to her inquiries, only fixing its eyesight on her head and speaking in a resentful tone, "You're quite lucky."
"Lucky?" Su Mei blurted out, unable to believe it. Then, her anger suddenly surged, and she exclaimed, "How about we switch lives? Wait, do you know the truth? Why am I here?"
The lich, on the brink of death, ignored her completely. In its red eyes, Su Mei appeared very young, ignorant, and foolish, nothing more than an ordinary human with no value. She was indeed quite beautiful, but she exuded an aura of fragility, clearly having never experienced hardships.
It had long lost any human desires. Su Mei's beauty, no matter how stunning, couldn't pique its interest. Its attention was focused entirely on her forehead, where a third eye was embedded, setting her apart from true humans. This third eye was perfectly round, slightly protruding, with a bright yellow iris and a narrow, slightly curved pupil that emitted a faint cold light.
Upon seeing it, the lich was immediately filled with envy and wished to pounce on her and bite her to death. This third eye was no ordinary item; it was the very reason it had ventured into the abyss. Once the summon was done, it and Lord Windertoothand immediately attacked each other, trying to kill the other to claim it.
Just now, it had tried to make a desperate move to absorb Su Mei's soul to save its own life, but it was thwarted by this eye, completely eliminating any chance of its survival.
This eye was one of the remains left behind by an ancient god after its death, named the "Eye of Chaos." Whoever found it and merged with it could obtain power beyond mortal limits, inheriting a small portion of the god's divine power. For Lord Hainham, the esteemed Lord Hainham, it held more value than other remnants because it could directly perceive magical symbols, interpret arcane magic at its most fundamental level.
It obtained the clue from Lord Windertooth. They had conspired together, worked tirelessly, and paid a terrible price to build a high tower in living fire pit, all in order to evade the scrutiny of the demon lord. However, the ultimate outcome was that both sides perished together.
This had infuriated it greatly, and Su Mei's complete cluelessness added fuel to the fire. The lich had lived for hundreds of years, encountering various individuals from different races. It could easily tell that Su Mei's ignorance was genuine. She had never heard of the Abyss, demons, or liches. Even now, she had not realized that she got a third eye.
The lich muttered to itself, "Stupid woman."
The stupid woman asked, "What did you say?"
It suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. Therefore, driven by increasing malice, it let out a terrifying scream, "You will have a horrible death!"
Su Mei, in her daze, asked, "What did you say?"
The lich continued to ignore her reaction. As long as she remained stupid, it felt satisfied. Its speech rate increased each second, becoming chilling curses, "Don't you understand? This is the Bottomless Abyss, filled with countless terrifying monsters! If they find you, a human who inexplicably appeared here, your fate will be more gruesome than you can imagine! Your flesh will be torn apart piece by piece! You will be violated by the lowest-ranked demon! Finally, you'll become jerky dried by the lava!"
Fortunately, Su Mei heard every word clearly. Unfortunately, she was utterly terrified, standing motionless and staring as the black robe fell to the ground, silently. In the center of the black cloth, there was a very noticeable bulge.
She expressed her feelings with two words, "F**king sh*t!"
If there was anything scarier than a threat, it was that even the threater was now dead, leaving her alone to face the unknown. She glanced at the black cloth and then towards the other side of the hall. Golden armor Yao Ming had been blown to many pieces, completely dead.
What she couldn't see was that the lich usually directly extracted souls when facing enemies, leaving behind an intact corpse. It rarely used high-energy spells. Once this happened, it indicated that it had encountered a formidable opponent and had to resort to less elegant combat methods.
Honestly, Lord Hainham's judgment is right. She did indeed appear quite foolish. She stared helplessly at her surroundings. Ten seconds later, she squatted down again, carefully lifting the black robe that had fallen on the ground.
The sensation of the black robe in her hand was extremely comfortable, with a texture like high-grade silk. It slipped through her fingers like flowing water, giving her a warm illusion. Underneath it lay the remains of Lord Hainham—a gold-inlaid, clean white skull.
She didn't dare to touch the skull and instead hesitantly picked up the black robe, shook it off and stuffed it into her bag.
Just then, the stone hall suddenly began to shake, but it didn't collapse. Her vision seemed to have been artificially enhanced, becoming clear and expansive. She could see every change in the hall clearly.
The hall's outline quickly blurred, compressing inward, rapidly changing its form. Finally, it completely transformed into a small, dark, and oppressive room, about one-thousandth of its original size.