“I am the piece of golden lotus bone closest to the main body.”
Xiao Jin (let’s call him that for now) gently stroked the stitches on his right hand.
“Carrying the memories from when he was nailed with the very first soul nail.”
He suddenly ripped open his collar, revealing the golden threads connected to Xie Lin’s left eye on his chest.
“Come and take back what is yours.”
The seabed suddenly shook violently!
Seven stone pillars burst through the sand, and standing atop every single pillar was an “Xiao Jin”.
Some wielded swords or played the zither, while one was even munching on candied hawthorns, yet all of them had golden threads extending from their chests, connecting to that right hand in the center!
“The seven array eyes of the Seven Stars Soul-Locking Array.”
The glazed lamp of Xiao Jin’s true body (if this one could be considered the true body) suddenly shattered, “‘That Being’ used this exact array back then to tear Xiao Jin alive into twelve pieces.”
Xie Lin’s heart-devouring lotus went wildly berserk.
He watched as every single “Xiao Jin” repeated the exact same phrase, their lip movements identical to the one in the dungeon:
【Kill me】
Lin Miaomiao suddenly embraced Xie Lin from behind: “Don’t listen! This is the empathy trap of the heart-devouring lotus!”
The black lotus on her chest flared violently, actually transforming into armor that enveloped Xie Lin: “The golden lotus bones are tempting you to absorb them, so that ‘That Being’ can pinpoint your location…”
Before she could finish, a golden chain abruptly pierced straight through her chest!
“In the way.”
Retrieving his blood-stained chain, Xiao Jin said: “A semi-finished product should have the self-awareness of a semi-finished product.”
Xie Lin’s left eye was completely taken over by the heart-devouring lotus.
The instant his field of vision turned into a bloody red, he saw the seven “Xiao Kins” extending their hands toward him simultaneously, every single hand bearing a small mole on the second joint of the ring finger;
And he heard the echoes from three hundred years ago drifting from the seabed—
“Xie Lin, kill me, and then live on.”
The Frost Flower Sword emitted a heaven-shaking sword cry.
Xie Lin knew he was falling into a scheme spanning three hundred years, but as he charged toward the nearest “Xiao Jin” who had been munching on candied hawthorns, only a single thought remained in his mind:
This time, it’s my turn to tear apart this damn destiny.
The instant Xie Lin’s sword blade pierced the throat of that “Xiao Jin”, the other suddenly smiled.
Allowing the Frost Flower Sword to pierce entirely through his neck, the candied-hawthorn-munching youth gently tapped his blood-stained fingertips against Xie Lin’s glabella:
“You really… never could bear to use a killing blow on me…”
The heart-devouring lotus exploded with excruciating pain in Xie Lin’s left eye.
Only then did he realize his sword had strayed by three inches.
Deliberately avoiding the fatal spot!
“I’ve changed my mind.”
The candied-hawthorn “Xiao Jin” suddenly seized the blade edge, fresh blood streaming down his wrist and into Xie Lin’s sleeve.
“Rather than being reclaimed by ‘That Being’, it’s better to…”
His body abruptly transformed into golden flowing sand, crazily surging into Xie Lin’s left eye along the Frost Flower Sword!
Staggering backward, Xie Lin had memory fragments from three hundred years ago burst open in his field of vision—
An execution platform amidst a torrential downpour, the golden-armored figure driving the first soul nail into Xiao Jin’s right hand;
The instant the nail tip touched bone, Xiao Jin was actually smiling: “Fortunately… it’s not him who’s watching…”
The final scene was Xiao Jin severing his own right hand, carving seven characters into the execution platform with his blood:
【Xie Lin, don’t look, move forward】
“Brother!”
Lin Miaomiao’s shriek yanked Xie Lin back to reality.
Only then did he notice that the remaining six “Xiao Kins” had already closed in, while he himself was kneeling on the seabed, his hands clutching his head for dear life—
He had somehow torn away the cloth strip over his left eye at some point.
The oldest-looking “Xiao Jin” sat strumming a zither: “Every single golden lotus bone carries the obsession of the main body.”
The zither music shook Xie Lin’s internal organs until they bled.
“I carry the memories of when he served as Xuan Tian Sect’s Chief Disciple, so…”
The zither strings wrapped tightly around Xie Lin’s neck: “I want you dead the most.”
Golden and red intertwined threads suddenly shot out from Xie Lin’s left eye!
The heart-devouring lotus and the newly absorbed golden lotus bone fought to the death inside his body, yet fortuitously formed a momentary equilibrium.
Sizing up the zither strings, he gave a reverse jerk, actually dragging the zither-playing “Xiao Jin” right up before him.
“Don’t you guys want to be reclaimed?”
His left hand formed a claw, digging straight for the other’s heart!
“Xiao Jin’s” chest split open like paper, revealing the bones intertwined with golden threads within.
Just as Xie Lin was about to crush it, he suddenly heard the sound of water being split from behind—
The real Xiao Jin (at least the one wearing the right hand) was strangling Lin Miaomiao’s neck with a chain!
“Choose one of two.”
Xiao Jin’s voice was as gentle as sweet nothing whispers: “Continue absorbing the golden lotus bone, or save your little puppet.”
The black lotus on Lin Miaomiao’s chest struggled frantically, yet proved no match for the golden lotus fire burning upon the chain.
Her purple pupils began to scatter, while her fingers stubbornly pointed behind Xie Lin: “Seven… seven roots…”
Xie Lin whipped his head around violently.
The seven stone pillars of the Seven Stars Soul-Locking Array were collapsing; with every single pillar that collapsed, an “Xiao Jin” transformed into golden light and flew toward his left eye!
What was even more terrifying was that the seabed had split open into an abyss, and the shadow of some colossal entity was floating upward—
“The thing suppressed by the Pure Sea Grand Ceremony is about to wake up.”
Releasing the chain, Xiao Jin allowed Lin Miaomiao to plummet toward the abyss: “Run now, and there’s still time.”
Without a second thought, Xie Lin lunged toward the abyss!
The root system of the heart-devouring lotus grew explosively from his left eye, wrapping around Lin Miaomiao’s waist just in time before she was swallowed by the black shadow. Simultaneously, the Frost Flower Sword flew out of his hand, thrusting straight at Xiao Jin’s heart: “What the hell are you trying to do?!”
The instant the sword tip touched the other’s lapel, Xiao Jin abruptly used that stitched right hand to grab the blade edge.
Blood dripped down his wrist, actually coagulating into a line of blood characters in mid-air:
【Kill all of us to piece together a complete Xiao Jin】
Xie Lin’s pupils shrank violently.
The black shadow finally emerged completely from the abyss.
That was the skeleton of a giant dragon bound in golden chains, and Lin Miaomiao had landed right inside its hollow eye socket. The black lotus on her neck had already spread to her throat, yet she was still shouting at the top of her lungs: “Brother! Look at the dragon spine!”
Only then did Xie Lin notice that every single vertebra of the giant dragon was carved with Xuan Tian Sect restrictions, and protruding right out of the seventh vertebra was half a heart-devouring lotus!
“The guardian spirit beast slain by Xiao Jin three hundred years ago.”
Xiao Jin suddenly pressed close against Xie Lin’s back, his blood-stained hand caressing his left eye.
“Care to guess why its remains are here?”
Xie Lin’s left eye abruptly saw through the truth.
Every single wound on the giant dragon’s skeleton concealed golden threads, sharing the exact same origin as Xiao Jin’s scattered physical body!
This was no spirit beast at all, but rather something Xiao Jin had manufactured back then to protect a certain object…
“A vessel.”
Biting the tip of his tongue, Xiao Jin painted a blood rune on Xie Lin’s eyelid: “I hid a part of my secret inside the thing it was meant to guard.”
The instant the blood rune took form, Xie Lin’s field of vision abruptly elevated.
He saw an ice coffin resting deep within the seabed fissure, floating inside which was Xiao Jin’s left leg.
That limb was wrapped densely in golden threads, rotting away at a speed visible to the naked eye!
“The third choice.”
Xiao Jin abruptly turned Xie Lin’s face around, kissing him under the gaze of the heart-devouring lotus.
This kiss was bloody and violent.
Xie Lin tasted the flavor of rust, lotus fragrance, and something much deeper.
Xiao Jin was transmitting memories through the symbiotic pact!
The scenes showed the Netherworld Palace dungeon, where he (or rather, the original body) was implanting heart-devouring lotus seedlings into Xiao Jin’s eye socket;
Yet the young man who ought to have been in excruciating pain was smiling as he wiped the blood from his face:
“Don’t cry… doesn’t this mean we look… like a married couple now…”
Finally came the image of Xiao Jin being pierced through by golden nails, mouthing words to him through the bloody mist:
【I forgive you】