Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 106

A shadow flickered in the darkness, and among the people present, only Zhen He noticed it. He glanced over the pale-faced Ying Feng, the stunned Ling Xiao, and the almost insane Zhu Yue, and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, discreetly retreated from the scene.

Lan Sheng was in a hurry to leave when suddenly, a shadow flashed in front of him, blocking his path.

“Is it you?” Lan Sheng took a cautious step back. He didn’t recognize this person but knew he was Zhu Yue’s contract partner. Having failed to snatch a soul earlier, he wasn’t sure what this person intended now.

“You heard everything, didn’t you?” Zhen He asked.

Taken aback, Lan Sheng nervously denied, “No.”

“Weren’t you just preparing a spaceship to leave?” Zhen He easily saw through him. “Don’t think you can easily take someone away. Besides, as you’ve already heard, your good friend will soon vanish from this world.”

Realizing he’d been found out, Lan Sheng’s hands gradually moved behind him. However, Zhen He spoke again. “But if you wish to save him, there might be a way.”

Lan Sheng paused, halting his motion to draw a weapon. “What?”

……

Xing Lou gently laid Yue Ying on the bed. Because of the unbearable pain, his frail body curled up, and he crumpled the sheets in his grip. Xing Lou looked sorrowfully at Yue Ying, who was much weaker than the average person. Comparing ancient Tianxiu beings to modern ones, the former seemed fragile, where a minor injury could be fatal.

“Just endure this for a while,” Xing Lou whispered to comfort him.

Yue Ying had already prepared mentally. Compared to the pain he’d borne over the years, this was nothing. After today, he too would have eternal life. Although he would be forcibly transformed into a species he detested, it wouldn’t prevent him from surviving.

Amidst the pain, Yue Ying tried to distract himself with conversation. “Do you truly trust that Zhu Yue won’t sabotage the process?”

Xing Lou brushed back the damp golden strands on Yue Ying’s forehead. “He wants Ling Xiao gone more than anyone. A simple death isn’t enough for him. He desires to use you, in Ling Xiao’s body, to oppose Ying Feng. Alive or dead, he won’t spare either of them.”

Yue Ying gave a sardonic laugh, cut off by a sharp intake of breath due to the pain. “Such a ruthless person. No wonder he survived that catastrophe. I feel sorry for those who offended him.”

“With the wisdom of the ancient Tianxiu people and the strength of the modern ones, who knows what he’s capable of if he’s ill-intentioned? Even if we have a hundred enemies, I wouldn’t want an unstable ally.”

With those few words, Xing Lou seemed to have sealed Zhu Yue’s fate, making Yue Ying’s pain seem to lessen a bit.

“Soon, I’ll be someone else. Seeing a different face every day, will you be able to handle it?”

Xing Lou chuckled softly and lay down beside him. “I’ve reincarnated countless times in front of you, always with a different appearance. Haven’t you always accepted me regardless? After thousands of years, physical appearances mean little to me. It’s the person you are that matters.”

He reached out and held Yue Ying’s hand tightly. “Ling Xiao has already reverted to his original form. Once I awaken in this lifetime, we can undergo the coming-of-age ceremony, and you will no longer fear death.”

“I want to be the Qizhu,” Yue Ying said.

“Then I’ll let you be the Qizhu,” Xing Lou agreed without hesitation.

Contentedly, Yue Ying closed his eyes. Everything he had at the moment made him very satisfied, making the millennia of waiting worthwhile.

Ying Feng shut off the communication signal, and silence engulfed the surroundings. Everyone cautiously looked at him, yet no one dared to speak up.

“Do we have a star map?” he asked.

“Yes.” Fu Yao pressed a button on the control panel, and a hovering holographic projection of a planet appeared in midair.

“Which area was the location I found earlier?”

Fu Yao drew a circle around a position in the universe with his finger, leaving a yellowish mist in the air. “About a sphere this big in radius.”

Ying Feng closely observed the star map, drew a line from Zhiyang to Tianxiu, and then drew an arrow through it.

“They just left the extended line between Zhiyang and Tianxiu, probably navigating in this direction. Concentrate the search in the intersecting area.”

Everyone had a sudden realization, and they quickly communicated the latest coordinate range. The military dispatched all their fleets for a carpet search. However, in the vast universe, finding a starship with a stealth system was no easy task.

Time ticked away, and just when everyone secretly worried that Ying Feng might not hold on, exhilarating news came.

“A703 found a suspicious target. Coordinates…” a string of numbers was reported through the communicator.

Ying Feng ordered before Fu Yao could, “Head there immediately!”

The pilot didn’t even wait for his own general’s order; he ignited the thrusters straight away. The spaceship’s speed began to increase linearly, and dozens of warships from all directions also turned and accelerated, converging towards the same direction.

Underneath the control panel, where others couldn’t see, Ying Feng clenched his fist tightly. Half an hour had passed since communication was cut off. Ling Xiao, you must hang on.

……

Ling Xiao had a peculiar device placed over his head. He understood that this was probably the final step of the consciousness transfer process that Zhu Yue had mentioned. Being unable to move, he could only let it be.

Beside him, Yue Ying wore the same device. The two sat side by side, and their vastly different destinies were about to unfold.

“Are you sure there’s no issue?” Even if he believed that Zhu Yue genuinely wanted to get rid of Ling Xiao, Xing Lou still asked cautiously.

“Of course, that’s how I survived,” Zhu Yue confidently replied. “It took me a whole year to replicate this device. I’ve checked every data countless times. There won’t be any issues.”

Xing Lou, hearing his solemn promise, slightly relaxed.

“Where’s Lan Sheng?” Xing Lou looked around but didn’t see any sign of Lan Sheng.

“It’s better if he’s not here. Saves a lot of trouble,” Zhu Yue ordered Zhen He. “If he appears later, control him. Don’t let him interfere with my grand plan.”

Zhen He gave no response. Zhu Yue knew this was his style and didn’t emphasize further.

“Are you ready?” Zhu Yue’s question was more directed at Ling Xiao. “You just said your goodbyes to your Qizhu. Now, it’s time to say goodbye to this world.”

“Ying Feng won’t go easy just because Yue Ying looks like me,” Ling Xiao calmly stated. “We’ve already agreed. If I might become a sinner of Tianxiu, he’ll eliminate me before that happens.”

“Really?” Zhu Yue sneered. “If he could truly bring himself to obliterate your soul while you’re in a fledgling state, that would be quite a scene.”

“By then, I won’t be myself anymore,” Ling Xiao retorted. “Even if it’s my body, I believe he can differentiate better than anyone.”

Zhu Yue wanted to respond, but Xing Lou interrupted him.

“Stop wasting time and hurry up.”

Zhu Yue could only shake his head regretfully. “Goodbye, or rather, farewell forever.”

He pulled the lever, and the progress bar on the device above the two started moving.

Xing Lou knelt down, holding Yue Ying’s hand to his chest. This was the last time he’d see this person in this body, and naturally, he wanted to cherish the sight.

“No matter who you become, I swear I’ll always be loyal to you. I’ll build a new Tianxiu for you. This time, I won’t break my promise.”

Yue Ying gave a slight smile. “I believe you.”

Ling Xiao suddenly became curious. If he was the past self who was absolutely loyal to Yue Ying, would he actively offer his own body and soul to save his life? But he was no longer Yue Ying’s “Qizi”. In this life, only Ying Feng was his Qizhu.

Ling Xiao closed his eyes, and all he could see was the pale face of a certain person. He thought that with Ying Feng’s strong spirit, there was nothing in the world that could hurt him, but he never expected that he himself would become the bullet aimed at his heart.

He remembered the confession that was aborted halfway. Not confessing my feelings to you in person is the greatest regret of my life. If there’s still a chance, if there’s still a chance…

The progress bar finally stabilized at the end. The two people on the left and right both hung their heads quietly, as if they had fallen asleep. Xing Lou held his breath, waiting for one of them to wake up.

After a long time, Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes, looking somewhat bewildered.

“…Yue Ying?” Xing Lou asked tentatively.

Ling Xiao looked around the scene again and finally settled his gaze on Xing Lou.

“I am Ling Xiao.”

Xing Lou stood up abruptly, with a look of disbelief on his face. “Impossible! Where’s Yue Ying?!”

Yue Ying remained motionless. Xing Lou struggled to reach out, but the person had no breath left. Ling Xiao lowered his head in disbelief, looking at his own chest. “He’s here, I can feel it. His life has disappeared, but a part of his consciousness remains here.”

It was endless and everlasting hatred towards the Tianxiu people. Even if he had perished, his will lingered.

Xing Lou’s eyes were red with anger as he glared at Zhu Yue. The latter was startled and took a step back. “No, this can’t be…”

He quickly checked the instrument and found that someone had moved the pointer representing the retention object. It originally pointed to A but now pointed to B. Such a slight change could affect the outcome of the entire experiment.

“Someone tampered with my instrument.” Zhu Yue’s voice changed. “Who?!”

His device was locked in his room, and he fetched it personally. Apart from Zhen He, no one could enter. But Zhu Yue, who never fully trusted Zhen He, had early on placed a suggestion on him that if he had any ill intentions, he would be electrocuted.

A shadow moved in the dark, seemingly trying to take the opportunity to escape. Xing Lou caught it sharply. “Is it you?!”

Zhu Yue also turned his head immediately. Seeing Lan Sheng, he couldn’t believe he was the culprit.

“How did you do it? Who told you…” Zhu Yue’s voice stopped abruptly as he suddenly thought of someone. Lan Sheng knew it would be difficult to leave with Ling Xiao intact, so he took out a dagger and made a desperate charge at Xing Lou.

Bang—

There was a loud noise. Lan Sheng looked in surprise at the hole the size of a fist in his chest, then at himself, and finally at Ling Xiao. The dagger from Ping Zong slipped from his hand, signaling the toll of death. “Lan Sheng!” Ling Xiao screamed in anguish.

Xing Lou repeatedly fired, and Lan Sheng’s body kept twitching until the gun’s energy was completely drained.

“Enough! Stop it!” Ling Xiao screamed hoarsely but couldn’t prevent it from happening.

Lan Sheng’s eyelids gradually drooped, and countless blue light spots emerged from his body, just like that morning when Ping Zong appeared in front of him.

“Ling Xiao…” A weak Lan Sheng called his name.

“I’m sorry…” Was it too late to say these words now? Tears streamed down Ling Xiao’s face, and he couldn’t utter a complete sentence.

Lan Sheng closed his eyes and fell forward.

“Ping Zong, I’ve missed you for so long. Now I can finally forget you…”

Fragments gathered into a light ball, penetrated the spaceship’s shell, and flew into the vast universe. Inside a nearby ship, someone immediately reported the latest discovery.

“Report! Signs of soul reincarnation detected!”

Ying Feng and others rushed to the command post, watching a soul fly like a meteor towards the direction of Tianxiu.

No longer able to contain his impatience, Ying Feng tightly gripped his right hand and left the spaceship.

“Hey!” Fu Yao couldn’t stop him in time and immediately ordered, “Follow him!”

Xing Lou held the lifeless body of Yue Ying, tears dropping one by one onto his motionless face.

“I waited for you for thousands of years, yet you couldn’t spare more than a day for me…”

The Eagle began to shake violently, with electric sparks flying everywhere and flames erupting.

Zhu Yue sensed something was wrong and looked up. “Damn, he activated the self-destruct program!”

He dropped everything and ran towards the lower deck, shouting the name of his Qizi.

“Zhen He!”

A shuttlecraft stopped in front of him, its hatch opened, revealing the person inside.

Seeing him, Zhu Yue let out a sigh of relief and quickly jumped in.

“Let’s go. This place is about to explode!”

Zhen He waited for him to enter, calmly closed the hatch, and started the engine. The shuttlecraft sped away from the spaceship, and within seconds, the exploding Eagle was left behind.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Zhu Yue remarked, “He actually wanted to die alongside Ling Xiao in his fledgling state. What a lunatic, I won’t accompany him in that.”

Looking at Zhen He beside him, his voice turned menacing. “It was you, right? You tampered with the instruments using Lan Sheng, ruining my plan.”

“You just wanted revenge on Ying Feng and Ling Xiao. Isn’t breaking the blood pact and dissipating their soul enough?”

Zhu Yue was about to retaliate when Zhen He continued, “If Yue Ying had survived, they would have targeted you next. Even if you left Tianxiu, they wouldn’t let you go. But now, no one can stop us. We can, as you said, go to a new planet, forget the past, and start a new life.”

Zhu Yue stared at him for a long moment, his demeanor softening. He murmured, “Fine.”

“Even though I know this is because of the genes inside you that are loyal to the nation, I’m already pleased that you’ve thought of such an excuse for my sake.”

Contentedly, he closed his eyes. His goal of revenge against Ying Feng was achieved. Compared to the bright future Zhen He painted, the survival of this planet was no longer significant. Let those artificial beings continue their foolish and ignorant existence.

The shuttlecraft initiated its first warp. After a while, Zhu Yue opened his eyes, sensing something amiss.

“Where are you taking us?”

“Of course, to a new planet,” Zhen He calmly replied.

Zhu Yue frowned, noticing the auto-navigation of the shuttlecraft and its representation blinking on the star map.

“Where did you set the destination?” Zhu Yue felt strangely heavy.

“To a very, very distant planet.” Zhen He leaned back. “So far that our souls will vanish, never to return.”

“What?!” Zhu Yue exclaimed in shock and anger. “Why would you do this?!”

“Because as a Qizi, I can’t harm you. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want you to reincarnate so easily. So, I’m taking you to a place without reincarnation, to face true death.”

“Stop this!” Zhu Yue reached out, the red emergency stop button glaringly prominent. Yet his movements became stiffer, and he could only watch, paralyzed, as the button remained just out of reach.

“Just give up.” Zhen He’s movements also became sluggish, even his speech was affected. “This place is filled with a gas that paralyzes the Tianxiu people. Even you can’t resist its effects.”

Zhu Yue’s hand grew heavier, barely touching the edge of the button before falling limply.

“Just enjoy the last moments of your life.” Zhen He mustered all his strength to lift his palm, placing it over Zhu Yue’s hand. “At least this time, I’m with you.”

Explosions echoed within the Eagle. Ling Xiao, connected to unknown wires, sat next to Xing Lou, who still clung to Yue Ying, oblivious to the violent shakes and falling debris.

Ying Feng teleported inside without hesitation. The interior of the spaceship was collapsing, with flames and obstacles blocking his path.

He finally found Ling Xiao, sitting in a chair with an unknown device on his head.

Ling Xiao also noticed him, thinking it was a hallucination as he approached death. He was speechless for a while.

“…Ling Xiao?” Ying Feng hesitantly asked.

Only then did Ling Xiao believe it wasn’t an illusion, and with a silly grin, he replied, “It’s me.”

Ying Feng heaved a long sigh of relief, activated the soul crystal in his hand, forcefully pried open the metal that bound Ling Xiao, and swiftly helped him regain his freedom.

“Let’s go. We need to get out of here.” Ying Feng grabbed his hand, ready to lead him away.

“It’s useless.” The previously silent Xing Lou suddenly spoke up.

Ying Feng had no interest in hearing him out. As he took a step, Xing Lou’s voice followed.

“He will soon disappear from this moment in time, joining me, going back thousands of years to the very beginning of your existence.”

“What?” Ying Feng turned around in shock.

Xing Lou murmured, “I waited for thousands of years, only to face this ending. I want you to feel the same pain, to understand the agony of waiting for a millennium.”

Only then did Ying Feng notice the wires connected from Ling Xiao’s hand to Xing Lou. He immediately tried to sever it.

“It’s too late. He will be forever adrift in the fissures of time, until he dissipates in the river of history.”

Xing Lou lowered his head, gazing at Yue Ying with reluctance. “Time is running out. If you have any last words, say them now, lest you regret it when it’s too late.”

Ying Feng turned to the person next to him in disbelief, sensing Ling Xiao’s uncontrollable trembling hand.

Ling Xiao raised Ying Feng’s hand, their fingers intertwined tightly. They existed in each other’s eyes, sharing the same shade of gray.

The surrounding flames made Ling Xiao’s face glow, and never had he appeared more radiant.

It felt like someone was squeezing Ying Feng’s heart, pushing the oxygen up inch by inch, nearly suffocating him.

This person was the past-life companion he had been searching for and the one he had in this life but lost again.

Tears welled up in Ling Xiao’s eyes, but he revealed the most beautiful smile.

“Ying Feng, I like you. I’ve liked you for a very long time.”

“It feels so good to say this as an equal.”

“Ling Xiao!”

Ying Feng’s hand felt empty, and the person in front of him vanished. He desperately called out the name, but Ling Xiao was nowhere to be found in the world.

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