At the border of Nanhuan—Amid the jagged stones of Broken Ridge—
rain fell like heaven's fury.Xie Wuchen trudged through the mud, the jade casket containing his mother's soul bound to his back.
Though the gray thread had receded an inch, his memories remained fractured.
He remembered Luo Qingyi's name… but not why she once raised her sword for him.Then he saw it—a flash of white beneath the cliff ahead, crumpled in a pool of blood.Her blue-lotus jade flute lay snapped in two.
The scabbard of her Severing Heart Sword was half-shattered.It was her.
It was her!He rushed forward and lifted her into his arms.Luo Qingyi's face was deathly pale, a charred thunder-mark searing her left shoulder, her breath thin as spider silk.
Yet the moment she recognized him, her first instinct was to draw her broken blade—and press its edge to his throat."Don't… come closer," she rasped. "If I lose control… I'll kill you."Xie Wuchen didn't flinch. Instead, he gripped the blade with his bare hand."Senior Sister… your blue lotus has bloomed in my heart."Her pupils shrank.It was their secret phrase—spoken only once, when they were children:"If ever I forget you… say, 'The blue lotus has bloomed.'"The sword trembled… then lowered."You shouldn't have come back," she whispered, eyes closed. "Heaven's Dao has enacted the Edict of World Purification. The Nine Cauldrons now resonate as one…
All who feel love are marked for erasure."Before she finished, golden light split the stormy sky!Thirty-six divine chains of celestial will lashed across the heavens—hurtling straight toward them.
The Shepherds of Heaven had arrived."Go!" Luo Qingyi shoved him. "Take your mother's soul to the Abyssal Eye in West Wasteland! It's blind to Heaven's sight!"But Xie Wuchen tore a strip from his robe and began binding her wound."We go together.""I took half a Forgetfulness Pill," she said bitterly. "Its poison mixes with the thunder-scar. Any moment now… I might strike you down."As if on cue, the vermilion mole between her brows glowed gold.
The Severing Heart Scripture surged within her—cold, lethal intent flooding her veins."Xie Wuchen!" She bit her tongue to stay conscious. "Run! While I still… know your face!"Yet Xie Wuchen sat cross-legged in the mud, placing the jade casket between them."Then let's fight." He drew his wooden sword. "If you win, I'll return with you—to face execution. If I win…"
He met her eyes. "You come with me. We find the truth—together."Luo Qingyi froze.Just like when they were young—he'd once challenged her the same way:"Senior Sister, if I win, you can't call me 'little' anymore!"Golden light blazed anew!Her body moved against her will—palm striking out with killing force!Xie Wuchen didn't counter. He only blocked with his wooden sword, retreating step by step.
Each blow reopened old wounds, blood mixing with rain.
Yet he shielded both the casket—and her.
Better to bleed himself than let her live with the guilt of slaying him."Why?!" she cried, tears mingling with rage. "You could've escaped!""Because you once told me," he coughed blood, smiling faintly, "'Your Dao must be walked by you alone.'
But you never said… I couldn't have someone walk beside me."With those words, he slammed his wooden sword into the earth.The jade casket resonated—his mother's soul awakening.
A phantom blue lotus erupted skyward!Where its light touched, the golden corruption in Luo Qingyi's veins recoiled.
Clarity returned to her eyes. Stumbling, she collapsed into his arms."Wuchen…" She spoke his name softly—the way she had when they were thirteen.But in the next heartbeat, she thrust a finger into his chest.
A seal of light sank into his flesh—the antidote to the half-dose of Forgetfulness Pill."Take it." She pushed him away, snatched up her broken sword, and turned toward the descending chains. "Go!
If I die… see the Northern Lights for me."Xie Wuchen tried to follow—but the lotus's power rooted him in place.He watched, helpless, as her white robes turned crimson, as she stood alone against thirty-six divine chains—
a moth flying into flame."Luo Qingyi!" he roared.She glanced back, smiling. Her vermilion mole burned like blood."Remember—
when the blue lotus blooms… I'll be waiting for you."The instant the chains pierced her body,
she poured her last spark of true essence into the shattered flute—
shaping it into a blue bird that fluttered into his sleeve.The voice of the Shepherd of Heaven thundered across heaven and earth:"Luo Qingyi, rebel against the Dao! For aiding a condemned fugitive, your crime equals treason.
By decree: erase her name, dissolve her soul—she shall never enter reincarnation again!"Xie Wuchen knelt in the downpour, clutching the jade bird.His mother's soul whispered from the casket:"Child… go to the Abyssal Eye. There, your father left something for you."He jerked his head up. "My father?!""He, too, defied Heaven… Before he died, he said:
'If you walk this path, tell him—
the Great Dao is not decreed by Heaven…
it is forged by all living beings together.'"Rain washed the blood from the stones.
Slowly, Xie Wuchen rose.Wooden sword in hand. Blue lotus circling his form.He gazed toward where Luo Qingyi's light had vanished—and spoke, soft as a vow:"Wait for me.
This time… I'll save you."(End of Chapter Nine)