[The Targeting of the Saintess]
"Who are you talking about? What do you mean—I am his bloodline?" Gu Xingyu's voice trembled, her eyes burning with a crimson fire she wasn't even aware of.
The battlefield shifted in an instant. The Four Generals abandoned their pursuit of the Heart and turned their predatory gazes toward her. "Forget the Heart!" Tu Tan roared, slamming his blade down. "She is the bloodline Hades has been searching for! Bring her back alive!"
Shadow beasts, bone-claws, and black flames converged on her. But the Five Yao stood their ground, forming a wall of blood and iron. Li Yan's shield was splintering; Luo Ye's flames were dying; Lin Lie's runes were fading. Yet, they refused to step back.
[The Saintess's Choice]
Looking at her friends covered in blood, Xingyu's heart shattered. "Enough!" she cried, stepping out from behind their protection. "I will go with you. Just stop hurting them!"
The sanctuary fell silent. The Five Yao roared in protest—Luo Ye's voice cracked with fury, Lin Lie's hands shook with terror, and Cang Yuan's blade finally lowered in despair. But Xingyu was resolute. "At least this time... do not bleed because of me."
[Moheng's Madness]
"You dare take one step!" Si Moheng's voice was a jagged rasp. Black flames erupted around him, threatening to incinerate the entire sanctuary. "I would rather destroy this world than let them take you!"
He was no longer the cold assassin; he was a man staring into the abyss of losing his soul. But Xingyu met his gaze, her crimson eyes filled with a painful clarity. "Moheng... if I don't face my past, I betray everything you've done to protect me."
[The Vow of the Heart]
Xingyu held the Heart of the Yao-Spirit aloft. "If any of you harm them again, I will shatter this Heart and burn my own soul. No one will get anything!"
The threat worked. Feng Mian's phantom laughter echoed as he offered a vow: "If the Saintess comes willingly, we shall not take the lives of the Five Yao."
One by one, the Five Yao accepted the bitter reality.
"Live," Xingyu whispered to them. "Go back to the capital. Protect the world we built together."
"I promise," Lin Lie rasped, speaking for them all.
[The Parting]
As the crimson rift opened to the Underworld, Xingyu looked at each of them one last time. To Si Moheng, she mouthed two words: "Wait for me."
Li Yan performed the deepest bow of his homeland—a hero's tribute. Moheng reached out across the hall, placing a tiny, invisible flicker of black flame on her fingertip. It didn't burn; it only carried his warmth.
"Wait for me to find the truth," she whispered as the mist swallowed her. "Wait for me... to come back."