Today, after Ni Chang had just finished having her blood drawn, she was resting on the couch. The tea in the cup on the small table at the center of the couch still retained its warmth when Princess Long Chuyao arrived with her personal maid, Ming’er.
Long Chuyao looked at Ni Chang with satisfaction: “Your blood truly lives up to its reputation as containing the essence of an Ancient Divine Beast—the taste is exquisite. Now my spirits have improved greatly, all thanks to you! Hahaha!”
“You were never actually poisoned, were you?” Ni Chang’s tone was unexpectedly calm. Yet only she knew how much effort it took to suppress the turmoil in her heart.
The princess casually took a seat on a chair and said, “I was indeed poisoned. However, it wasn’t the Autumn Chill Poison—just a minor toxin that would have cleared up after a couple of doses of medicine. But I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to take your blood.”
“Why would you do this?” Ni Chang sat up straight abruptly, unable to contain her anger any longer.
“Why, you ask? How dare a lowly servant like you compete with me? Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror? Someone like you isn’t even fit to contend with a princess like me.
Did you know? In a few days, my father will personally come here to propose marriage on my behalf. The entire Grand Dusk Palace will welcome me as the future Empress.”
The princess stood before her, looking down on everything with a mocking smile as she spoke.
Ni Chang suppressed the grief and indignation in her heart, placing a hand on the nearby table. The small table shifted slightly from the force, and Ni Chang stared expressionlessly at the tea set. The tea spilled onto the tabletop as the table moved abruptly.
The princess laughed, “Dong Yue and I have known each other for a long time, and we are deeply in love. But when his temper flares, he becomes ruthless—just like what you witnessed last time.
You’re nothing but a Wandering Soul. Hurry up and drink the Soup of Oblivion, and return to where you belong!”
Whether reincarnation would make her forget Dong Yue, Ni Chang did not know. All she knew was that, as the princess said, she truly ought to return to where she belonged…
The room had barely settled into silence when Yan Yan suddenly rushed in, gasping for breath: “Miss, something terrible has happened! The Emperor… he’s been poisoned!”
“What did you say? Who’s been poisoned?” Ni Chang’s brow furrowed tightly, and a panic she thought she would never feel again surged in her chest.
“The Emperor,” Yan Yan repeated.
Ni Chang immediately turned to the princess: “Tell me, was it you?”
“What if it was? What can you do about it? If you want to save him, let him drink your Heart’s Blood and eat your Heart’s Flesh. Then his poison will naturally be cured,” the princess said gleefully.
Ni Chang stared at her in shock: “What did you say? Say it again?”
The princess repeated it and laughed, “This time, I’m not deceiving you. Whether you save him or not is up to you.”
“He is a Revered God, the supreme deity of the Netherworld. Don’t you love him? How could you do this to him?”
Ni Chang truly could not understand. She had never doubted Long Chuyao’s love for the Emperor, but how could she go to such lengths?
The princess glared at Ni Chang furiously, strode up to her, grabbed her by the collar, and roared:
“It’s all because of you! Only when you disappear will we have peace. As long as you live, there will be no end to our troubles.
It all comes down to you. You decide for yourself whether to save the Emperor or not. Don’t you love him too? I want to see just how much you love him!”Ni Chang’s eyes brimmed with tears as she curled up and whispered, “Princess, you overestimate me. Since the Emperor scorns your affection, how could he ever value my humble love? You’ve merely directed your hatred at the wrong person, just as I’ve loved the wrong one.”
Yes! She, Ni Chang, had been wrong from the very beginning—terribly wrong.
She knew full well that Dong Yue would never look her way, much less fall in love with her, yet she still threw herself at him like a moth drawn to a flame, desperately striving to reach his side.
Now, the flames of love had scorched her wings, and with things having come to this, how could she continue down this mistaken path?
Ni Chang glanced down at her chest. Today, she would put an end to this so-called unrequited love!
She swiftly grabbed the dagger from the table and rushed straight to Dong Yue’s bedchamber.
There lay the man in blue robes, quietly resting on the bed. Even in this state, his innate aura of dominance remained undiminished.
His close friend, the Great Emperor of the Northern Yin, stood guard by the bedside.
Startled by Ni Chang’s sudden intrusion, he quickly rose and offered her a seat.
“What did the Ghost Physician say?” Ni Chang’s voice was stiff and faint.
The Great Emperor of the Northern Yin shook his head. “He said the poisoning is very peculiar—not direct, but indirect. It seems Dong Yue transferred the toxin into his own body, which led to this.”
“Will he die?”
“Die? No, but he’ll remain asleep for hundreds of thousands of years.”
“Hundreds of thousands of years…” Ni Chang was stunned. Though she had spent much time in the Netherworld, she still struggled to comprehend the concept of time for ghosts and deities.
Sitting by the bed, Ni Chang watched Dong Yue’s fiery red hair splayed messily across the pillow and unconsciously smoothed it for him. The moment her fingers finished, they froze mid-air. After a long pause, she slowly withdrew her hand, her knuckles tightening slightly.
The Great Emperor of the Northern Yin observed her actions, his eyelids lowering slightly. They had all witnessed Ni Chang’s feelings for Dong Yue and, as a friend, he had privately warned her not to develop affection for him, for Dong Yue was a man without sentiment.
“You must be tired. Go back and rest. I’ll watch over him here,” Ni Chang said, noticing the Great Emperor’s reluctance to leave. “Don’t worry, I’ll return shortly. I just wish to speak with him alone for a while.”
Hearing this, the Great Emperor nodded and turned to leave, but paused at the doorway.
“I’ll wait right outside. If you need anything, call for me, understand?”
Ni Chang nodded.
With only Ni Chang and Dong Yue left in the bedchamber, she adjusted his robes and smiled bitterly. “I once had a dream—a dream of stargazing with you in the night sky, of eating ice cream while splashing in water fights, and most of all, of wearing fiery red wedding robes for you. But now that dream has ended, as it should.”
“I never dared tell you I love you, because I knew I wasn’t worthy. Only the Jade Emperor’s daughter could ever match you, while I am merely a passerby in your life. No, not even that—just a wisp of smoke before your eyes.”
As she spoke, Ni Chang couldn’t hold back her sobs.
“Unable to obtain what I desire, burdened by resentment and wrongfully accused by you of stealing blood to sting my heart—I thought I should hate you. At the very least, I believed I had no feelings left for you. Yet seeing you like this now has thrown me into disarray. Dong Yue, tell me, why am I so useless?””The princess said only my Heart’s Flesh could awaken you immediately. True, you might naturally wake after lying here for hundreds of thousands of years, but how could I bear to watch you lie here cold and still for so long? I had resolved to leave once the princess recovered, but now… I need not wait that long. Since this flesh from my heart proves so useful, shouldn’t you also give me something in exchange? Then we’d be even, with no debts between us.”
Having spoken, Ni Chang gazed at the motionless Dong Yue before her, then lowered her head to press a gentle, lingering kiss to his forehead.
Though light, the kiss lingered for a long while.
When their lips parted, Ni Chang raised her long lashes, her gaze tracing the man’s face down to his pale lips, resting on those magnificently captivating purple eyes now tightly shut.
“This is perfect!” Ni Chang smiled. “After all, I couldn’t resign myself… One kiss from you might soothe all these tangled, unresolved regrets.”
She drew a dagger, fingers combing through his hair until she’d trimmed a lock of red strands, tucking it into her sleeve.
“This shall be the exchange gift.” Ni Chang smiled at Dong Yue. “Now, it’s my turn.”
Gripping the dagger, she glanced at the empty bowl nearby, tore open her garment with force, exposing her chest to the air.
“Dong Yue, I want you to forget me, yet I can’t bear the thought. What should I do? If I strike with this blade, will my soul scatter completely?”
The door burst open with a bang. Bei Yin rushed to Ni Chang’s side, aghast. “What are you doing? Don’t you know this will kill you?”
Ni Chang smiled. “I know. I’m but a wisp of a soul, long overdue for reincarnation in the mortal realm. I never expected to linger here so long. It’s time I left.”
Bei Yin pulled her into his embrace, gripping her chin, his voice fraught with urgency as he finally voiced his pent-up feelings: “This world doesn’t revolve solely around Dong Yue, Ni Chang! He may be aloof and cold-hearted, but I, Bei Yin, have a heart capable of love, willing to be bound by affection! Let him sleep for hundreds of thousands of years—what does it matter to us?”
Ni Chang stared in shock, allowing Bei Yin to hold her. All these years, she’d never detected his feelings.
“You…!”
Words failed her for a long moment.
Bei Yin smiled bitterly. “Did I startle you? From the first moment I saw you, my heart was yours. You were the first soul brave enough to grab Dong Yue by the collar and shout at him. I was captivated by your fearless spirit then.”
Ni Chang paused, her lashes lowering as if recalling something. “…Yes, that was the time… I think I already fell for him then. If you’d cast me back to the mortal realm that day, I might have been spared all this.”
Bei Yin sighed with aching heart. “Ni Chang, I was there too. Why didn’t you see me? Just because I’m not Dong Yue?”
Ni Chang gazed sorrowfully at Dong Yue lying on the bed. “Bei Yin, I’m deeply grateful for your affection. But matters of the heart are beyond my control. All I can say is: I’m sorry, and… thank you.”
With that, she plunged the dagger toward her heart.”Ni Chang, I cannot agree to this, and King Yama would never permit it either. If you wish to be reincarnated, I will arrange it immediately, but I absolutely forbid you to pay with your own life!” Beiyin held Ni Chang tightly, unwilling to let go.
Ni Chang struggled for a long time, but Beiyin refused to release his grip. Left with no choice, she threatened suicide, forcing Beiyin to finally loosen his arms. He turned his back to her, unable to bear watching.
The sharp blade pierced Ni Chang’s delicate chest, crimson blood streaming ceaselessly from the wound.
Gripping the hilt firmly, she twisted it in the same direction, eliciting a pained moan from her lips.
Hearing her cry, Beiyin whirled around to find her collapsed in a pool of blood.
His heart aching, he gathered her into his embrace. “Let me do it! Don’t inflict this upon yourself anymore! You’ll die in agony this way.”
Tears welling in his eyes, he held her close and pressed his hand against her chest. “Ni Chang, if it’s possible… could you try to love me in the future?”
Ni Chang smiled bitterly at Beiyin before lifting her gaze to deeply regard Dong Yue lying on the bed. “If it were possible, I would only wish to live freely and unrestrained. Love feels like shackles and cages—I’m trapped within like a cornered beast, thrashing wildly in struggle… In the end, it was I who spun my own cocoon, weaving solitary joys and sorrows, entangled in illusions where all desires prove futile…”
Beiyin’s lips twisted in a bitter smile, his voice soft and low. “Mortals or deities—we’re never satisfied. Before, I thought that no matter who occupied your heart, just one glimpse of you would suffice. Now that this chance is here, even with this heart-rending blade in hand, poised to strike, I still selfishly hope for a future where you might grant my wish and fulfill this longing… So Ni Chang, I still want to cling to my own desires… I’ll await your next reincarnation.”
Lying in his arms, Ni Chang shook her head. “Don’t wait for me. It’s not worth it. I never want to return here for eternity, nor see him again—including all of you connected to him. Let us never meet again.”
At that moment, a still-beating heart pulsed in Beiyin’s hand.
Watching him place her heart into a bowl, Ni Chang gave a serene smile. Leaning on Beiyin for support, she walked out.
The princess, seeing the weakened Ni Chang cradled in Beiyin’s arms, smugly hurried into the room.
When Ni Chang reached Meng Po, King Yama and his son Yan Lie bid her farewell with tear-filled eyes.
Standing on the Bridge of Helplessness, Ni Chang glanced back at the path she had traveled before smiling toward the direction of Grand Dusk Palace. Countless thoughts swirled in her eyes, finally settling into tranquil depths.
Crossing the Yellow Springs, passing through Nagawa.
Farewell, Dong Yue.
All stirrings of emotion and attachment remain here—every moment of the past now mere drifting smoke. Henceforth, we part as strangers under heaven, my heart frozen like frost and snow!
With a serene smile, she drank the Soup of Oblivion. Amid the cries of those around her, Ni Chang leaped from the Reincarnation Platform. From that moment, Ni Chang vanished from the Netherworld.