Grasping Evil - Chapter 337

Chapter 337: Chapter 337 This Elder Sister Is Lu Bei

The Realm Beast’s roar revealed the severity of his injuries which had not stopped getting worse. The current state of his injuries had really shocked each of the top talents from the Northern Heaven who were in the Void Realm outside the Star Palace.

They had no idea what had happened inside the Star Palace. They only knew that during the process of hunting Ning Fan down, the Realm Beast kept getting hurt!

Each of the top talents who were usually arrogant had now etched the name of a single person into their very minds.

Lu Bei!

“If Lu Bei has achieved ascension, he is definitely not the one that we, Divine Transformation Realm experts, can mess with!” This thought rapidly overwhelmed each of the top talents’ hearts.

In the Zi Wei Black Palace Formation, Ning Fan was continuously performing teleportation. Since the golden flame chariot had been greatly damaged, he now could only depend on his Fu Li’s wings to bring all the women with him to flee.

For every ten thousand li* (500 m per li) they travelled, there would be seven stone slates where one only had one-seventh chance of surviving when going through it.

Initially, Ning Fan still required the help of the guide given by Wei Xuan to get through paths of the formation.

However, after a while, he remembered almost the entire layout of the formation eyes of this Zi Wei Black Palace Formation in his heart.

It was as if there was a chess board with criss-crossing purple rays appearing in his heart. At the intersection points on the chess board, there were forty-nine thousand black and white chess pieces.

This chessboard and the chess pieces were an Immortal Void Realm Formation Technique – the formation diagram of the Zi Wei Black Palace Formation. However, along their escape route, nearly seventy percent of it had already been comprehended by Ning Fan.

“After I get through this and carefully study this formation, it won’t take long for me to comprehend the profoundness of the formation. As long as I have a strong enough cultivation level and sufficient materials, it won’t be difficult for me to establish this formation myself!”

This idea only momentarily rose within Ning Fan’s heart and he cast it to the back of his mind afterwards.

It’s not the right time to comprehend the Zi Wei Black Palace Formation. Our utmost priority for the current moment is to escape from the Realm Beast as far as possible!

Again and again, he performed Soul Extraction and teleported without stopping. Despite that, the sense of danger was getting heavier and heavier within his heart.

“Lu Bei, I can’t fly anymore…” Xi Ran’s demon power was nearly used up while the other women’s magic powers were also severely depleted.

They were not Ning Fan and they did not have a pair of monstrous wings like his Fu Li’s wings. As such, they of course had to consume their magic power or demon power to fly.

“There is no other choice. I have to temporarily keep you all in my Realm Treasure…”

Ning Fan frowned. With the current level of his teleportation, his speed would certainly be slowed down if he were to bring his women with him while flying.

Now, faced with the Realm Beast’s pursuit, all the women could barely give help on anything. It would only be more dangerous for them to continue staying.

Without uttering any words, Ning Fan used the Yuan Yao Jade to keep all of them including the black dragon and the black puppet. He then turned himself into a ray of purple light and travelled in a hurry.

“We’re almost there. We just have to go through another forty-nine formation eyes and we will be able to leave this formation!”

Ning Fan descended on a white stone slate in one go and immediately jumped into the air again.

Now, there were only forty-two formation eyes remaining ahead!

No one knew since when the whistling sound given out by the Realm Beast who flew through the air at high speed had stopped.

Ning Fan’s heart was filled with some doubts.

Could it be that the Realm Beast has encountered some obstacles and was trapped, making him unable to continue chasing after me?

Uncertainty grew in his heart, yet the speed of the flowing light under his feet did not slow down at all.

Ning Fan had accelerated his Fu Li’s wings almost up to the maximum speed it was capable of. The speed had gone up to an extremely terrifying level.

It has always been said that life and death situations would help one unlock their potential and increase their strength. The experience of being hunted by the Realm Beast this time had caused Ning Fan’s speed to increase once more. Flying with his Fu Li’s wings, he could travel ninety thousand li* (500 m per li) with a flap of his wings. In fact, the current speed which he was travelling at was not any slower than Kun Mo’s at all!

Just like a twinkling purple starlight, he flickered for five times consecutively and after that, he was now staring at the final seven stone slates. His eyes were brimming with joy.

“That’s the final group of formation eyes which determines one’s life and death. Once we break through this final stage, we could then literally shake off the Realm Beast and flee!”

Ning Fan made a leap and dashed towards one of the seven stone slates which was ten thousand li* (500 m per li) away in front of him.

However, while he was just halfway in flight, a massive sense of danger rushed towards him from ahead. Above the vast sky in front of him, there was a dark virtual shadow of a huge claw that was nearly five thousand zhang* (3.33 m per zhang) in size emerging out of nowhere. All of a sudden, it was crashing down upon Ning Fan, carrying the terrifying might of the Void Refinement Realm!

Right above the huge claw, the burly cloaked man’s eyes shone with a vicious green glow suddenly appeared and sneered coldly.

“I’ve told you, you can’t run away from me!”

“This is bad!”

This huge shadow claw was fast. It was so fast that Ning Fan did not even have the time to activate his Inlaid Star Compass. He patted his storage pouch and summoned the black puppet and the black dragon to block in front of him.

With the level of hardness of the black puppet and the black dragon’s physical bodies, they might not necessarily be injured even if they take an all-out strike from a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert.

However, when the enormous shadow of a claw crashed into the both of them, their bodies trembled violently at the same time. Innumerable cracks started to appear on their bodies which rapidly spread out to all parts of their bodies. In just an instant, both of them were severely hurt by the huge claw!

Taking the time when the refined corpse and spiritual puppet blocked the huge claw, Ning Fan quickly withdrew himself and flew back to the white stone slate. His face darkened. Looking at the cloaked burly man who was smirking coldly at him, Ning Fan’s eyes glinted with cold light. With a swing of his palm, he withdrew the dragon and puppet as well, commanding them to stand in front of him.

“You’re that Realm Beast!”

Ning Fan’s expression was grim.

It’s no wonder I can barely sense this Realm Beast’s presence when I was reaching the end. This Realm Beast has actually performed a secret technique which allowed him to reach the end of the formation one step ahead of me and got ready to kill me!

“Oh? It’s truly interesting that you are able to fend off my attack for the third time despite being just a Mid Divine Transformation Realm cultivator. With your capabilities, it seems that you rarely have any opponents among cultivators who are at the Divine Transformation Realm. With the potential and talent you possess, if you’re given tens of thousands of years to cultivate to the same level as me, I may not be your opponent too. But unfortunately… you don’t have that chance! Young man, hand over that lowly slave woman. Then I shall keep your soul to be my Realm Slave!”

The cloaked burly man’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. After all, not just any Divine Transformation Realm expert could still survive after withstanding his three attacks.

What particularly shocked the cloaked burly man was the speed at which Ning Fan broke through the Immortal Void Realm Formation. It was too fast.

Seeing that Ning Fan was about to escape from this formation, the cloaked burly man was forced to perform a secret technique which would inflict damage on himself again and forcefully propelled himself to the end of the formation in order to stop Ning Fan there.

Currently, the cloaked burly man had passed through 49000 formation eyes and withstood nearly six thousand times of attacks from the formation light.

An attack of the formation light was enough to kill an Early Void Refinement Realm expert. When facing six thousand attacks of that kind, even the True Immortal Realm physical body of the cloaked burly man was severely damaged. Under the cloak which covered his body, his flesh festered, revealing the ghastly white bones beneath his skin. Blood keeping oozing out from his wounds incessantly.

Even if he was seriously injured, even if Ning Fan’s current cultivation was only in the Mid Divine Transformation Realm, even if he was a monstrous talent among cultivators of the Divine Transformation Realm, he still did not think Ning Fan could escape from him.

Since he had already blocked Ning Fan’s path of escape, in his eyes, Ning Fan was not far from death!

“Realm Slave? Ridiculous! I’ve spent my whole life cultivating, just not to be a slave to anyone!”

Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with determination and an immense killing intent rose around him.

Facing the Realm Beast, even if he summons the rogue devil, it might not be able to hurt this Realm Beast too. What Ning Fan could rely on right now was probably only Yuan Yao to restore her strength and kill this beast.

However, he could not just put all his hopes on Yuan Yao…

Ning Fan clawed his palm at the earth and extracted its soul into his body. His aura rose sharply. In an instant, his power had been boosted to the peak of the Late Divine Transformation Realm!

“No matter who you are, it is not a good enough reason for me to be a slave! As a general, why should I fear death?! What’s the difference between becoming a slave and death! Purple Technique, Wind Mist!”

Ning Fan pointed one of his fingers and a gush of golden purple mist blew towards the cloaked burly man. Immediately, the burly man’s face changed.

“Interesting. A Divine Transformation Realm cultivator from the mortal world like you actually dare to attack me. You are blatantly courting death! Your Soul Extraction Technique is not weak, but if it’s just at the level of extracting the soul of the earth, it’s not worth mentioning at all! Moreover, the technique you have just displayed has yet to reach the standard of Void Techniques. Even if it reaches that level, do you really think it could hurt me?!”

The cloaked burly man’s eyes were filled with contempt. The way he stared at Ning Fan was like staring at a dying ant which was desperately struggling.

When he made a stomp on the ground, the ground within the formation suddenly trembled, emitting a loud bang as if something had broken to pieces.

Ning Fan instantly spat out blood and his eyes widened with shock. His aura fell abruptly and the soul of the earth which was drawn into his body had been literally crushed by the burly man with just a stomp!

“So this is the power of a True Immortal?! Even though this Realm Beast’s cultivation had dropped to the Void Refinement Realm, with his skills and techniques, even a Void Fragmentation Realm expert may not be able to rival him!”

The expression on Ning Fan’s face had made the cloaked burly man feel proud. Looking at the golden purple mist in the air, the burly man felt even more disdainful.

“With the hardness of my physical body, I can even intrude the Immortal Void Realm Formation head-on. How would I be afraid of your mere Divine Transformation Grade magical technique? Swallow!”

The cloaked burly man opened his mouth and a mass of black mist swirled, pushing all the golden purple mist down into his stomach.

However, at the moment he swallowed the golden purple mist, he was stunned with his mouth agape. At the next second, he brutally pounded his chest with his fist, coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood. The fresh red blood which came out from his mouth actually contained the color of purple and gold!

“What magical technique is this?! It’s undeniably just a Divine Transformation Grade technique, but it contains an unimaginable power which could even melt the True Immortal Realm defenses of my organs!”

In just an instant, the burly man’s face made a grimace. Initially, he was in the mood to play cat and mouse. Currently, however, his earlier playfulness had completely turned into serious killing intent.

If the person who hurt him was a Life Immortal, he could still accept it.

In this case, however, a dignified Crossing Truth Realm expert was actually injured by a small fry from the mortal world. Even if it was because of his arrogance which caused him to underestimate his opponent, and although there was only a slight trace of injuries, it was utterly unacceptable to any True Immortal Realm expert!

It was indeed utter humiliation!

While the Realm Beast was distracted by his injuries which he suffered out of carelessness, Ning Fan’s eyes became solemn once more. He immediately leaped into the air turning into a trace of purple mist which was as thin as a fine hair and flew into the sky!

Since the Realm Beast was blocking the path ahead, it was impossible for him to enter the place where Lu Wu was trapped…

If he retreats back to where he came from, the Realm Beast would be able to catch up to him once again.

If he hid in the Yuan Yao World, he would definitely be caught with no room to escape as the world within would be crushed by the Realm Beast with a single smack.

Staring at the glowing purple formation light above his head, his eyes gazed at the top of the Star Palace which was situated above the formation light. Ning Fan’s eyes turned sharp with resolve.

Within the formation, the path in front and behind him only led to death. There was no place he could run. The only option he had right now was to flee outside the formation!

“I have the Wind Mist Finger. Even if it is an Immortal Void Realm Formation, I can still create a hole on it and move in and out of it of my own free will. This Realm Beast might be extremely powerful, but his power is still greatly weakened after all. It might be easy for him to enter the formation, but it would certainly be difficult for him to get out of it!”

“No matter what, I must keep buying time until Bei Yao regains her power!”

The golden purple mist rushed to the light barrier of the formation on top of him, corroding its layer. Gradually, a small hole was created in the middle of the mist.

Without any hesitation, Ning Fan dashed forward in a trace of purple smoke and got out of the grand formation. Then, he immediately transformed into his Fu Li demon avatar which made him look like a purple demonic beast and soared high up into the sky!

When that scene fell onto the burly man’s eyes, he was astonished once again.

“What exactly is that golden purple sand-like mist made of!? It could actually melt a big hole on the Immortal Void Realm Grand Formation!”

“This little cunning kid led me into this formation and then escaped from this place by using a secret technique… But do you think that you can really run away from my grasp in a situation like this!?”

The burly, cloaked man sneered and then charged towards the sky without any care. With his eyes fixed to the formation light appearing above his head, he immediately bit off the tip of his tongue and sacrificed a part of his cultivation to cast a secret technique. In just an instant, his cultivation base dropped to the Early Void Refinement Realm, but at the same time, he spewed out a massive cloud of black mist which encompassed the vicinity of one million li* (1 li = 0.5 km).

“World Dissolving Technique!”

The mist summoned using this technique could melt an entire world away.

This technique was considered as an extremely powerful technique among Realm Beasts. Ordinary Realm Beasts might not even be able to learn it in their entire lives.

The burly, cloaked man used the damage he inflicted on himself as a cost to spew out a mouthful of black mist. As such, this black mist was certainly not insignificant!

At the moment it was spewed on the formation light, the reputable Immortal Void Realm Grand Formation immediately started to melt in its entirety!

After a short while, a loud bang blasted everyone’s ears. That impressive Immortal Void Realm Grand Formation which contained 49000 formation eyes was directly broken into pieces by the burly, cloaked man!

The formation light totally disappeared and the only thing which still remained inside the ruins was the eighteen ancient giant doors floating in the sky at the end of one side. They were the eighteen doors of life and death which led to the place where Lu Wu was sealed.

“This technique will not only take a toll on my cultivation base, but will also hasten the arrival of my Great Heavenly Tribulation. Thus, I won’t use this technique if it wasn’t necessary… Lu Bei, you are the only person who caused me to inflict so much damage on myself. If I don’t tear you into thousands of pieces, how can I get rid of this deep hatred inside my heart! You must DIE!”

At this moment, the Realm Beast was even more eager to kill Ning Fan rather than Yuan Yao.

Killing Yuan Yao was just a mission to him while Ning Fan, however, was someone who he needed to vent out his hatred!

A mere little ant could actually block my attacks multiple times, forcing me to perform self-sacrificial techniques a number of times, and even sneak attacked me with his mysterious golden purple mist…

It was completely impossible for the Realm Beast to put up with those humiliations!

To Ning Fan, breaking a hole in the Immortal Void Realm Grand Formation was also a physically demanding task. He had barely managed to pull it off.

If it was not because he had a deep understanding of this formation and knew which part of the formation light was the thinnest and weakest, he definitely would not have been able to puncture a hole for escape so smoothly.

However, before he could heave a sigh of relief after boring a hole with great effort, Ning Fan discovered with surprise that the Realm Beast had once again inflicted damage on himself, acting just like a devil lord who had lost his sanity and destroyed the whole formation.

“That is a Immortal Void Realm Grand Formation which is strong enough to trap a Void Fragmentation Realm expert. It was actually destroyed by this beast with just a mouthful of black mist!”

The power gap between Ning Fan and the Realm Beast was no longer just their cultivation base… The difference between the two of them was literally like heaven and earth!

“If that black mist were to hit my body, even if I summon the rogue devil, hide inside Yuan Yao World, or defend myself using my Inlaid Star Compass, I will still end up dead without a doubt! This Realm Beast is too strong! If it was not because his cultivation had regressed significantly and suffered heavy injuries, he won’t even need a single breath to finish me off!”

“I am not his match… However, I can’t back off and neither can I be afraid of him! I must survive! I can’t just die here.”

“I can’t die! Before I attain my goals, I can’t die!”

Ning Fan stood high above the sky and looked down at the burly, cloaked man who had just destroyed the formation with a cloud of black mist.

Escape? There was already no way to escape!

Die? He was unwilling to die just like that!

The only way out is to fight. Why should I be afraid to fight?!

“Little You Er1, please lend me the power of your primordial spirit!”

“Mm, even if you didn’t ask for it, I was already prepared to lend you my primordial spirit power … This Realm Beast is too powerful. Usually, ordinary Realm Beasts aren’t able to master so many techniques of the Realm Beast Race at all. The reason why this Realm Beast would hunt down Sister Yuan Yao is definitely not simple! I’m afraid this Realm Beast was likely sent by ‘that person’… That person used to hunt me down like this in the past! You must not die in his hands!”

Inside the Profound Yin World of the Yin Yang Locket, Luo You was standing proudly and unyieldingly, while the figure of her personal enemy appeared in her mind. As she thought about that person, her attractive eyes turned cold immediately.

Her ten delicate fingers moved to perform a series of hand seals and inserted all the remaining power of her primordial spirit into Ning Fan’s body through a minor crack on the Profound Yin World.

Ning Fan’s eyes gradually turned cold. Inside his dantian, a feeling of warmth started to spread throughout his body and a feminine but noble temperament encircled him.

His eyes sparkled with a soft killing intent as he stroked the hair on his temple gently, behaving just like a woman. Even his voice had turned lady-like.

“You’re the Realm Beast that was sent by the Great Elder, aren’t you? Hehe, he still did not learn all right and now he even chose to collude with the Realm Beast Race.”

That voice did not belong to Ning Fan!

Besides, the control over his body was not in his hands too!

Instead… it was Luo You’s voice and she was the one controlling his body!

“Primordial Spirit Possession Technique! You aren’t Lu Bei. Who exactly are you? How did you know about the Great Elder!?”

The burly, cloaked man’s eyes were filled with shock. At this moment, Ning Fan’s qi had almost reached the Early Void Refinement Realm.

Moreover, the aura force being emanated by this Early Void Refinement Realm power was extremely unusual. It seemed like his cultivation had regressed to the Early Void Refinement Realm due to heavy injuries, just like the burly, cloaked man!

There was no way for him not to figure out that there was actually a primordial spirit of a powerful expert who had taken control of Ning Fan!

However, the burly man just could not understand what level that expert was. It was because a single trace of that expert’s primordial spirit was able to give him an immense sense of danger!

“No matter what, I must kill him before the primordial spirit of that expert has completely taken over him! Besides, I must never allow the relationship between the Great Elder and the Realm Beast Race to be leaked!”

The burly, cloaked man’s eyes blazed with killing intent as he let out a roar of rage, turning into hundreds of thousands of zhang* (3.33 m per zhang) tall giant beast. Its skin was pitch black.

The surface of the beast’s body was covered with innumerable scars and the white bones beneath were visible. It was an extremely appalling sight to look at.

The scars and bones aside, there were a total of 9 dark golden runes on his body initially. However, when he was pursuing Yuan Yao, he had used eight of them, and he was now left with the last one!

It was the unique ability of the Realm Beast Race – The Ancestral Power Talisman!

Every single Realm Beast was born with nine talismans granted by their ancestors. Every single ancestral talisman had the power to save their lives and also attack their enemies. As the cultivation level of the Realm Beasts rises, the power of their ancestral talismans would become greater as well.

However, there was no way to replenish the depleted talismans. For every talisman the Realm Beast uses, they would then have one less in their possession.

At this moment, the Realm Beast activated his ancestral talisman and in the next second, his dark enormous beast body emitted dazzling light like the glare of the sun. When the light dispersed, the space within the Heaven Hall of the Star Palace which encompassed tens of billions of li* (500 m per li) trembled!

“No matter who you are, you must die today! Ancestral Talisman, break!”

When the last ancestral talisman had broken, an unimaginable crushing power spread in all directions along with the blinding rays all of a sudden. In just a moment, it swept across the vicinity of ten billion li* (500 m per li). The earth within the Heaven Hall crumbled and every last piece of them was crushed to pieces in the hollow space!

When the Heaven Hall was destroyed, even the Earth Hall and Human Hall were also heavily affected. Countless parts of the hollow space exploded!

Especially the Heaven Hall which was located right at the center of the explosion of the ancestral talisman, one third of the Star Palace was directly blown to pieces!

Outside the Star Palace, most of the top talents from the Northern Heaven were completely dumbstruck.

Only a few of them were staring solemnly at the Star Palace while most of them were filled with shock.

“This is…the ‘Ancestral Talisman Crushing Technique’ of the Realm Beasts! A single ancestral talisman could completely destroy the entire Heaven Hall! Don’t tell me that this Realm Beast is the Crossing Truth Realm True Immortal who has been pursuing Lu Bei? Not good!”

The Human Hall and Earth Hall were still around, but the entire Heaven Hall was completely gone.

Inside the dark hollow space, one third of the Star Palace has completely disappeared. What replaced it was a nearly hundreds of thousands of zhang* (3.33m per zhang) tall gigantic fierce beast which bizarrely appeared at the hollow space.

Behind the gigantic fierce beast, eighteen giant doors remained floating in the air. Surprisingly, none of them were broken. No one knew where each of the gates would lead to.

In front of the beast, countless dark golden rays being emanated by the ancestral talisman had covered a young man, making the young man look like the sun. No one could clearly see his appearance.

The top talents were already petrified looking at the gigantic fierce beast who detonated his ancient talisman to destroy the Star Palace. All of them did not even have the courage to run away.

When they saw the young man who was being attacked by the dark golden light of the ancestral talisman, all of them were panic-stricken…

That young man who was being pursued by the Realm Beast, is… Lu Bei!?

“Yin Rong (Lit: Eroding Yin) Technique… Crush!”

A voice which sounded excessively soft for a man echoed out from the space shrouded by the dark golden light.

‘Ning Fan’ activated his second divine star located at the center of his eyebrows, the Star of Eroding Yin, and used its power to engulf the dark golden light of the ancestral talisman.

The power of the Eroding Yin was the best way to restrain the power of True Yang.

Even more so since the power of True Yang was the main source of power for the Realm Beast’s ancestral talisman.

Needless to say, the reason why Luo You learned this technique was of course for dealing with Realm Beasts!

The current Ning Fan’s body was completely handed over for Luo You to control. In other words, Luo You was the one who cast the ‘Eroding Yin Technique’ just now. Even if they had to face a Crossing Truth Realm Beast’s ancestral talisman, what was there for them to be afraid of?

When the word ‘crush’ was uttered, the dark golden light which circled around Ning Fan’s body broke !

Taking gentle steps as if he was travelling on lotus leaves, he walked out from the dazzling light. His cold-piercing eyes which flashed with killing intent fell upon the Realm Beast, looking at that beast in the way a woman would cast her glare.

“This elder sister is now Lu Bei…”

*Tsk*

A feeling of immense shock immediately welled up in the hearts of countless top talents from the Northern Heaven.

“H-He is Lu Bei?! H-He is the man being hunted down by Realm Beast?!”

“This man has actually fended off the ancestral talisman of a Realm Beast of the Crossing Truth Realm… He is truly a monster!”

“But… Why does this Lu Bei behave like such a sissy… Could it be that he is not ‘straight’?’ A male cultivator said quietly with an inquisitive tone.

“Shut up! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! No matter if he is a sissy or not, his power is extremely terrifying. If you utter any nonsense again, beware that he comes after you!” Another male cultivator fearfully spoke.

“Pah! So what if he is a sissy? Just look at how unique and charming he is…” A number of female cultivators from the Northern Heaven were actually infatuated by the current feminine temperament that ‘Ning Fan’ displayed. When they looked at him, their eyes lit up with passion.

Ning Fan could not help but laugh bitterly. Currently, his body was no longer under his control. All his speech and actions were done by Luo You who took control over his body.

Since Luo You was a woman, her tone, words and actions were naturally lady-like.

Now, Ning Fan had no idea whether Luo You would be able to resist the Realm Beast. The only thing he was certain of was that in the eyes of the group of top talents from the Northern Heaven, he who used to be a fine straight man had been thought to be a hermaphrodite…

Fine. If they think that I am a bisexual, then let it be… There’s nothing I could do about it now… Let’s talk about it later after killing this Realm Beast.

“Little You Er, are you confident enough to win against this beast?” Ning Fan asked in his mind.

“Difficult…” Luo You’s brows frowned with unease.

After all, it was just the power from her remaining primordial spirit. The Yin Rong (Lit: Eroding Yin) Technique had nearly used up all of her remaining power.

“However, this elder sister will never surrender to a Realm Beast. Even if I have to sacrifice my body, I will also settle the score with this beast!” Luo You spoke with an icily arrogant tone.

“Please remember! You are now using my body, not yours…” Ning Fan interrupted.

Hopefully my own physical body won’t be broken by her.

Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel

Note:

Little You Er is actually Luo You. It’s just an affectionate way of calling her.