“She’s protecting you,” Ye Lin said, stating her deduction. ” The Soul-Locking Array has already weakened significantly. It’s only because your skills are unrefined that you couldn’t break through.”
There was really no need to twist the knife like that.
“Diwu Ju’s spiritual body is severely damaged, but her malevolent qi is sky-high. If she truly wanted to break out of the array, it wouldn’t have been impossible. However, if she forced her way out, the array’s creator—you—would have suffered severe backlash. That is why Diwu Ju didn’t force her way out when she was initially trapped in the Sha-Refining Array.”
“Once you escaped, she naturally had no reason to force a breakthrough anymore,” Ye Lin continued. “So, I speculate that she did it all to protect you. To test this theory, I launched a full-force attack at you—and out of that same protective instinct, Diwu Ju broke the array automatically to block the blow for you.”
Ye Lin looked at her with a mix of admiration and sympathy. “To be precise, she probably doesn’t even recognize you anymore.”
“Then why did she—” Dijiu Li’s gaze remained glued to Diwu Ju.
“Because of an obsession. Protecting you is the lingering obsession of her remaining consciousness. She doesn’t remember you, but she still protects you.”
“Ju.”
Why? Why? Why?
Dijiu Li asked herself over and over again. Didn’t you reject me? I clearly did such despicable things—so why are you still protecting someone like me?
Diwu Ju hovered in the air. Because of the mask she wore, no one could see her expression as her spiritual body gradually dissipated, exposed to the sunlight. Dijiu Li felt a crushing pain in her heart, as if someone were violently squeezing it. From the very beginning of their acquaintance, Diwu Ju had always protected her in her own way. Yet what had Dijiu Li done in return? She was so stupid! This was clearly love! What was she trying to prove by trapping both of their souls for all these years?
“Ah. Ah.” Dijiu Li knelt at her lover’s feet, weeping uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Diwu Ju hovered numbly in the air—a sight that served as the cruelest punishment of all.
“So, they were in love all along, weren’t they? They didn’t even pierce that paper-thin barrier between them before they died and got trapped together? That’s way too melodramatic! If you love someone, you love them—why couldn’t they just say it out loud instead of creating such a terrible misunderstanding?” Gu Li lamented with regret.
“They both had their own difficulties, I suppose,” Ye Lin murmured. And isn’t the same true for me?
In an era ravaged by the flames of war and rife with severe gender discrimination, Diwu Ju—an Omega holding a high rank while concealing her true gender—must have walked on thin ice every single day. Only by preparing herself to be brought back in a shroud after every battle could she emerge victorious time and time again. Altering her pheromones took a heavy toll on her lifespan, too. It was precisely because of this that she had rejected the person she loved; and it was because of this that she chose not to resist after being trapped in the Soul-Locking Array.
Meanwhile, Dijiu Li felt too ashamed to confess her feelings after setting up the Soul-Locking Array, and Diwu Ju simply went along with it. Ultimately, it led to this heartbreaking end.
Throughout these thousands of years, Diwu Ju had probably suffered greatly.
These were all just Ye Lin’s guesses. Dijiu Li had no way of knowing, nor could she ever get the answers she sought. Misunderstandings compounded upon misunderstandings, leaving the entanglement of two souls permanently unresolved.
“Master,” Dijiu Li looked at Ye Lin with a face covered in tears, “can a soul be mended?”
This time, Ye Lin didn’t catch the ghost tears, allowing the spiritual essence to return to nature. She hoped this small mercy might offer a touch of grace to those two pitiable souls.
“It can. However, have you thought this through? Diwu Ju is destined to have her soul scattered to the winds. If you mend hers, your soul will be the one to scatter,” Ye Lin said.
“If one of us is destined to be sacrificed, then it must be me. Today’s situation was caused by my own foolishness, so it is only right that I accept this punishment. If her soul is restored, can you help deliver her to the afterlife, Master?”
“Of course.”
An oppressive heavy atmosphere filled the air. Dijiu Li’s spiritual body flickered before vanishing into thin air.
Fates rise and fall in their own time; the mortal world is full of sorrow.
Gu Li felt a surge of nervous tension, sensing that something big was about to happen. “What is soul-mending?”
Ye Lin thought for a moment and explained, “It’s similar to an organ transplant for ordinary humans. If someone is missing a kidney, you transplant a kidney over so they become whole again. It’s the same for souls. A damaged soul cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation—the only thing awaiting it is soul dissipation. But if another soul donates its own essence to complete the fragmented one, the mended soul will be able to reincarnate.”
“Then what about her? What about them?” Gu Li rubbed her chin against Ye Lin’s shoulder, her mood suddenly souring.
“They are together in another form—you can think of it that way,” Ye Lin comforted her, her own heart feeling equally heavy. Soul-mending wasn’t difficult, but every time she performed it, she felt a wave of sorrow. Every spirit had its own trajectory, and reincarnation was a rare blessing. Yet they would rather sacrifice their own chance at rebirth just to save another soul. In the past, Ye Lin could never understand such actions.
Gu Li leaned heavily on her shoulder, letting out a muffled, nasal hum. She couldn’t quite bring herself to agree with that answer; she preferred happy endings, not this kind of lingering heartache.
Warm breath brushed against her skin. Up ahead, Diwu Ju was still glaring at her fiercely. Suddenly, Ye Lin found herself understanding Dijiu Li’s actions. If Gu Li ever needed it, she would give everything she had without a second thought. Such fearless sacrifice was terrifying, yet deeply moving.
Dijiu Li materialized before them once again, holding a pale blue stone in her hands. Spiritual energy flowed inside the stone like a hidden world of its own, mesmerizing in its beauty. Even though Gu Li had appraised all the finest jewelry in the world, this was the first time she had ever seen a raw gemstone so breathtaking.
“Master, this is my token of gratitude.” Dijiu Li respectfully presented the spirit stone.
Ye Lin did not refuse it; only by accepting the gift could Dijiu Li truly rest easy.
Dijiu Li looked at the two women before her with relief, offering her sincere blessings and a final farewell in her heart before turning around and rushing toward Diwu Ju.
Ye Lin formed a hand seal, rapidly shrinking the barrier to lock both spiritual bodies together. She chanted a string of incantations under her breath and immediately snapped her fingers. The sound sent a pale ripple wavering through the barrier. Malevolent qi dissipated wherever the ripple touched, its center coming to a halt directly beneath the two spirits. Countless faint strands of light hovered between them, weaving together like an adhesive binding them tightly as one.
The cleansed spirit embraced the other without a moment’s hesitation. The stinging pain of the malevolent qi paled into insignificance in the face of love. Black fiendish energy pierced through Dijiu Li’s spiritual body, but under the empowerment of the pale ripple, her consciousness gradually grew hazy. Before her last thread of awareness vanished completely, Dijiu Li lifted Diwu Ju’s mask, tilted her head up, and gently pressed her lips against her lover’s.
She finally did the one thing she had wanted to do most for thousands of years.
The black malevolent qi vanished entirely. In the end, Dijiu Li did not disappear!