[Abyssal Deep · Stone Hall]
Inside the stone hall—
Ling Dang hugged her knees and curled into the deepest corner, the place least likely to be seen.
It was the only spot that felt even slightly safe.
She buried her face in her arms, shoulders trembling.
She didn't know what was happening outside, but she heard it—
screams.
Not beasts.
Human voices—ripped apart by pain, torn and slaughtered, their howls dragged long through corridors and into this hollow chamber, amplified by the emptiness until they refused to fade.
Ling Dang clapped her hands over her ears, but it didn't help.
Her small body tightened into a ball, throat locked, tears sliding down one by one.
She didn't dare sob out loud. She only wiped them off with the back of her hand, over and over, as if she could erase fear the same way.
Her hands were shaking.
She wasn't afraid of dying.
She was afraid of Ye Yi.
Especially the sentence he had said to her.
He had gripped the back of her neck, voice as casual as conversation:
"Then let them stay there—enjoying the taste of death."
The taste of death.
Death…
Die…?
Tears spilled again.
That meant—
Luo Ye would die saving her.
At the thought, she folded tighter, as if she could roll herself into nothing.
"No… no… no…"
—BOOM!
A violent crash exploded outside the hall.
Ling Dang jerked so hard she nearly toppled. The tremor ran through the stone like a threat, and for a heartbeat she believed—
Ye Yi had come.
And Luo Ye, just like he promised, was already dead.
She hugged herself until her arms hurt, tears spilling faster. "Don't… don't…"
Light burst at the doorway. She lifted both hands to shield her face.
And then—
a familiar presence, a familiar scent of fire, a familiar set of footsteps stepped through the dust.
Steady.
Fast.
Tight with anger—and trembling with the fear of losing something.
Ling Dang looked up.
Not Ye Yi.
Not the nightmare.
Luo Ye.
Ash streaked his clothes. Blood dried along his sleeve. But his eyes—
held only her.
Only her.
In that instant, Ling Dang's expression shattered.
"…Brother Luo?"
Luo Ye's heart detonated.
The sound was small, like wind, but it shook. It cried. It broke.
Every step he took toward her felt like walking across blades.
He saw her curled in the corner, trembling like a little animal about to scatter apart, eyes red beyond what any person should be able to cry.
Something split open inside the Fire Yao.
He dropped into a crouch.
His twin rings hadn't even hit the ground before he had already dragged her into his arms—
hard.
So hard.
As if he could press her back into his chest and prove she was real—prove she was here, in his hands.
Ling Dang froze at the first impact of his embrace.
And then—
her tears burst like a dam breaking.
Luo Ye's arms were shaking around her—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer fact that he could finally touch her.
Finally.
The her he thought he would lose. The her he finally got to hold.
Luo Ye buried his face in her hair and drew in a breath so deep it sounded like it might turn into a sob. His voice was hoarse, not his own.
"I'm sorry… Dang'er…"
Like firelight crushed to ash.
"I came too late."
Ling Dang clutched his collar with the strength of someone who believed she would lose him the moment she let go. She couldn't form words—only broken, helpless sounds.
Luo Ye tightened his arms, as if he could wrap safety around her by force.
"That day—I shouldn't have left you at the post station…"
"I should've taken you with me…"
His voice snapped.
All the swagger and heat that usually defined him were gone. What remained was a boy ruined by guilt.
He pressed his forehead to her hair.
"Then Ye Yi couldn't have taken you… couldn't have trapped you here…"
His fingers trembled, as if punishing himself.
"It was me… I was wrong."
Ling Dang shook her head again and again, crying harder.
"Luo… brother…"
She forced his name out, voice shattered like glass.
She wanted to tell him—
she didn't blame him.
She was just afraid.
Afraid he would come. Afraid he would die. Afraid she would become the reason his life ended.
But she had no strength left.
She wanted to say I missed you.
She wanted to say don't leave me again.
But before the words could climb out—
her body softened.
Luo Ye's heart seized.
"Dang'er? Dang'er—!"
No response.
Her lashes still held tears, but her breathing was wrong—too fast, too thin.
Luo Ye panicked so violently he nearly lost his mind. He cradled her tighter, terror worse than when he had kicked the door down.
"Sang Qi—! Hurry! She passed out!!"
Sang Qi rushed in, yanking up his sleeve and catching Ling Dang's wrist. His fingers pressed her pulse.
The Five Yao, the three generals—everyone halted.
The corridor went dead silent, as if the air had been drained out.
A few breaths later, Sang Qi finally let out a long exhale.
"She's fine."
Luo Ye nearly collapsed. "What do you mean—fine?"
Sang Qi carefully took her from Luo Ye's arms, brushing hair off her forehead while checking her pupils.
"She fainted from hunger. And she's been terrified for too long."
Luo Ye stared. "H-hunger… fainted?"
Sang Qi nodded. "Her body's weak to begin with. Fear for this long? Her heart-meridians have been empty for days. If you'd come any later, she wouldn't have been beaten to death—she'd have died from shock… or starvation."
He lifted his eyes to Luo Ye.
"If you hadn't shown up in front of her, she really wouldn't have made it."
Something inside Luo Ye caved in, like a bell struck too hard.
He reached out and touched the girl's cheek, so gentle it looked like he was afraid she'd crack.
"…Dang'er…"
He whispered again, barely audible.
"How did you… get this thin…?"
Sang Qi clapped his shoulder. "Relax. She's alive. That means she can be saved. Heart-warming food, rest, sleep… she'll stabilize."
Luo Ye's throat worked.
He looked up, eyes rimmed red.
"I won't leave her again."
Sang Qi clicked his tongue. "You'd better mean it."
Cang Yuan stroked his chin. "Luo Ye… he's really caught now. That look—he's terrified of losing her."
Li Yan's voice was low. "Anyone with something to protect… ends up like this."
Lin Lie didn't speak. He only lifted his gaze toward the darker depths of the corridor.
Luo Ye rested his forehead lightly against Ling Dang's, using the smallest pressure, the firmest promise.
"Dang'er. I'm taking you home."
Even unconscious, as if she could hear him, a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
Not fear.
Release.
[Abyssal Deep · Soul Well]
The corridor sank deeper and deeper, as though the Abyssal Deep itself was sliding into the underground.
Luo Ye carried Ling Dang in his arms, steps steady—nothing like the man who had just been frantic enough to shatter at the doorway.
His arms held her like molten iron.
If anyone dared touch her again—
he would burn them down to ash.
The lower they went, the darker it became.
Only the red glow of Youqing's Crimson Eyes and the faint light of the black-obsidian bracelet in her hand remained.
The closer they came to the Soul Well—
the more violently Ye Yi's remnant soul reacted.
The bracelet suddenly jolted, as if caught by a massive invisible pull.
Youqing swayed.
Si Mo Heng caught her at the waist instantly. "Qing'er?"
She lifted her eyes; the red in her gaze deepened by a shade.
"…The Soul Well has started to siphon souls."
Sang Qi's brow knotted. "Siphon? Siphon whose?"
Youqing exhaled a single word.
"Mine."
Everyone stirred.
Si Mo Heng's eyes turned razor-cold. Killing intent flooded his face. "The Soul Well dares touch you?"
Youqing shook her head. "It's calling Ye Yi. The remnant soul is responding. But… I feel like they are calling me."
"Them?" Si Mo Heng's voice tightened.
At the bottom, the black mist that had only been rolling—
reacted the instant Youqing stepped into the chamber.
Humm—
Humm humm—
Humm humm humm—
Not sound.
A resonance—like ten thousand souls lifting their heads at the same time.
Those trapped in the Soul Well's depths—souls that wouldn't disperse, couldn't disperse, didn't dare disperse—
suddenly stirred as if they had scented something.
As if they had scented light.
As if they had scented a way out.
Luo Ye recoiled two steps with Ling Dang in his arms. "What the—!"
Sang Qi went pale. "...This well—this is a grave of souls. Those are—"
Cang Yuan lowered his voice. "Souls trapped for who knows how many years."
Li Yan yanked his shield up. "Back—!"
But Youqing didn't retreat.
She moved forward.
Step by step, toward the edge of the Soul Well.
The black-obsidian bracelet thrashed like a living thing.
Ye Yi's remnant soul slammed against the seal inside it, screaming:
"Imperial Daughter…!"
"Back away!"
"That is not a place you can touch!"
"Go back!!!"
The call of the black souls and Ye Yi's furious roar braided together—two forces tearing at Youqing's spirit.
Si Mo Heng seized her wrist. "Qing'er. Don't go closer."
Youqing looked up.
In the chamber's darkness, her Crimson Eyes burned bright enough to stab the underground itself.
Softly, she said, "I can hear them."
Si Mo Heng's pupils tightened. "…What?"
Youqing stared down into the well—into that blackness, that depth, that hopelessness—
and her lips curved into the faintest, most sorrowful smile.
"They're calling me."
The words froze everyone.
Cang Yuan muttered, "...Calling you?"
Sang Qi's voice shook. "No, Xingyu—souls in the well don't call the living—"
Youqing shook her head.
"They're not trying to drag me down."
"They're… begging me."
She took one more step.
And the Soul Well—
erupted.
HUMM—!!
The well shuddered as if the earth itself was trembling.
The black souls' cries surged upward, no longer pure wailing, but something like sobbing pleas:
"Light—"
"Light…"
"…take us… away…"
Lin Lie stared, disbelieving. "…They're really calling Xingyu?"
Garo's body trembled. "The Imperial Daughter can ferry souls… but these…!"
Si Mo Heng's brow drew tight, nearly tearing. "Qing'er, they will pull you in—"
Youqing shook her head again, calm as moonlight gliding over a black tide.
"They won't."
Her Crimson Eyes flared.
The bracelet shook under the pressure of that light, and Ye Yi screamed inside it so violently it sounded like his soul was tearing.
"Youqing!!!"
"You dare—!!!"
"I won't allow you to ferry them!!!"
Youqing didn't even look at him.
She raised her hand, palm facing the depths.
It was only a gesture—
yet the entire stone hall felt pressed down by radiance.
Ten thousand black souls bowed like worshippers before holy light.
Si Mo Heng's heart clenched so hard it hurt.
He had never seen Youqing like this—
like the kind of light that could illuminate the entire Abyssal Deep.
A white spider lily bloomed in her palm—silent, luminous.
Youqing murmured, voice soft, immovable:
"Souls of the deep—"
Her Crimson Eyes spread like dawn across the dark.
"Return to Fengdu, to the City of the Underworld."
In that instant—
it was as if a gigantic hand tore the Soul Well open.
The black souls cried, laughed, knelt, crawled—
and rushed toward Youqing.
Not to attack.
To be ferried.
Thousands. Tens of thousands.
A tide of souls converging on one person.
The sight was terrifyingly beautiful—
and suffocatingly painful.
Sang Qi cried out, voice cracking. "Xingyu! Too many souls—your spirit will be overwhelmed!"
Lianyu's voice sank. "A soul-impact at this level will kill an ordinary person."
Si Mo Heng's fury exploded.
He lunged forward to drag her back—
and was stopped by a layer of gentle radiance.
A light barrier.
A protective wall born naturally from the ferrying formation.
Youqing refused to let anyone approach.
She stood alone at the edge of the Soul Well.
The black souls' sobbing formed a vortex around her.
Her knees trembled with pain.
Backlash stabbed through her meridians like knives.
Ye Yi's remnant soul howled inside the bracelet.
But she didn't step back.
She was like a lamp shaking in the wind—
and still, she held her light with everything she had.
Softly, she asked, "Do you… want to go home?"
Ten thousand voices rose as one:
"Yes—!!!"
Youqing closed her eyes.
Then opened them.
Her Crimson Eyes blazed.
The next heartbeat—
Crimson Eyes opened,
the Soul Well lit,
black souls wept,
and a pillar of light surged upward.
The entire Abyssal Deep trembled.
Si Mo Heng couldn't cross the barrier, forced to stand outside the radiance and watch the person he loved—
standing alone before ten thousand souls—
like the moment light fell into the mortal world.
Like she had been born to stand there.
And he, beyond the light-wall, thought with a clarity that cut deeper than any blade:
Qing'er, you stand in the light—
and I will be the one who blocks every darkness for you.