Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 52
No image had ever shocked Ying Feng as much as this one. He stared at the person in front of him for a long time, forgetting why he had initially called him. It was Ling Xiao who, after waiting for what felt like ages without any response from Ying Feng, took the initiative to ask, “What did you call me for?”
Still unaware of his own abnormality, Ying Feng countered, “Why did you smile?”
“Did I smile?” Ling Xiao touched his own lips, seeming genuinely surprised. “I don’t know why, but as soon as I entered here, I felt an incredible peace of mind and just… smiled.”
“It’s the power of God. God brings tranquility to our souls. Everyone who enters the church is touched by His grace.”
A voice echoed from the other end of the church. They both turned to see a priest emerging from a narrow door on the side. While it was impossible to determine the age of a Tianxiu person when they matured, the wisdom in the eyes of this man suggested that he had lived through many years, with invisible traces of time etching on his unchanging appearance.
He approached and studied the two closely. “It’s your first time here, isn’t it? Do you need any assistance?”
“Oh.” Ling Xiao quickly handed over the book he was holding. “I come from Bikong. Our principal asked me to deliver this to Ling Xing, saying it’s his relic.”
The priest, seemingly taken aback upon hearing that name, hesitated before accepting the book. He opened the first page, recognizing a familiar face among countless others with blank expressions.
“Yes, this is his graduation memorial. He once mentioned wanting to fetch it but was always hindered by one thing or another. I never thought someone would bring it after so long.”
He looked up at Ling Xiao, but it seemed as if he was looking past him. “The first time I met him, he stood exactly where you are now. He was in such a terrible state that even God couldn’t light up the shadows in his heart. He seemed to be living but was as hollow as a zombie.”
“He had dropped out by then, and seeing him lost, I offered him shelter here, teaching him the will of God. It was God who pulled him back from the brink. He grew livelier day by day. Not only did he move past his tormented past, but he also helped many others overcome their despair, earning the admiration of many. The only regret is that the trauma left such an impact on him that he never accepted the coming-of-age ceremony, remaining in his fledgling state for eighty years.”
Ling Xiao glanced at Ying Feng, noticing him listening intently.
“Can we visit where he lived before?”
The priest closed the book. “Follow me.”
They followed the priest through the narrow door they had spotted earlier.
“His room is small. Since our spirits are enriched, we don’t need much material wealth,” he said as he opened the door to reveal a compact room.
Although small, it was efficiently packed with a variety of items, creating a cozy yet uncluttered atmosphere.
“I clean regularly, so it’s neat. Feel free to sit.”
Ling Xiao looked around the room: a bunk bed and a double desk with two chairs almost filled the entire space. The only other prominent feature was a bookshelf carved into the wall, filled with books.
“Did you two live together?” he curiously asked.
“No.” The priest’s gaze followed Ling Xiao’s to the bunk bed. “My room isn’t here.”
“So he had another roommate?”
The priest gently touched the upper bunk’s edge. “This bed was added later. A very special person once lived here.”
“A special person?”
“Yes,” the priest said. “Ling Xing fostered a ‘Lone Star’.”
“Lone Star?” Ling Xiao was puzzled.
Ying Feng, who had been silent since entering the room, took over the conversation. “A ‘Lone Star’ is an extremely rare mental condition. Those termed ‘Lone Stars’ exhibit regressive personalities, lacking human emotions and empathy. In their minds, there’s no compassion, only obedience. Given a command, they can mercilessly kill, even if their target is defenseless.”
“Such emotionally deficient individuals appear only once every five hundred years on average. Similarly, every five hundred years, the Tiangu Star aligns in a straight line with the Tianxiu Star and the Zhiyang, so people named them after the Tiangu Star*. These ‘Lone Star’ lack the ability to love. Once awakened, they would seek out the strongest individual in their fledgling state and kill them, instantly absorbing their power, evolving into the most terrifying fighting machines. Once, a ‘Lone Star’ single-handedly destroyed a small nation in Linxing. It was from that incident that nations began to realize the power of these flawed personalities.”
*Clarity: Lone Star is [Gu Xing] (孤星). Tiangu Star is [Tiangu Xing] (天孤星), which is where the name is derived from.
The priest nodded in approval. “You’re right. It’s said that ancient Tianxiu people once behaved this way. There was a time when we were all ‘Lone Stars’. But as we all evolved, the ‘Lone Star’ became a true outlier. Once awakened, they would massacre their own kind. No school could shelter them. Normally, the military should handle such beings, but Ling Xing believed that the military’s training would make him even more ruthless. Hence, an agreement with the church was made to keep him here, nurtured by Ling Xing until his awakening, and then handed over to the military.”
“You might not understand what true nurturing means. Religion in Tianxiu is completely foreign. To learn the will of God, I once overcame the soul traction and visited many neighboring planets. In their social structures, each fledgling is raised by their family, taught in detail how to do everything. Such things don’t happen in our race.”
“But Ling Xing did it. Being in a fledgling state, he meticulously nurtured another fledgling, teaching him right from wrong, what’s permissible, and what’s not. He taught him to think with the emotions of a normal person and to empathize with others. In Tianxiu, where familial bonds are hard to understand, they lived like real family members.”
The priest looked up. “The books you see were brought by Ling Xing to help him understand human culture. He said that a ‘Lone Star’ could never truly grasp human emotions but could at least learn human norms through books. Under his influence, that person developed a reading habit, always turning to books for answers when in doubt.”
Ling Xiao’s gaze shifted from the bookshelf to the table, as if visualizing two people sitting back-to-back, one reading aloud from a book, with the other occasionally asking questions and the former explaining in response.
“When you entered earlier, you must have noticed the plants in the yard. Those seeds were also brought from various planets at Ling Xing’s request. According to the agreement between the church and the military, the ‘Lone Star’ is required to join the army at least once a year to learn combat skills. Also, since ‘Lone Star’ lacks the soul traction and often travels between planets alone, Ling Xing instructed him to bring back seeds from every place he visited. Ling Xing hoped this would help him realize that not all planets are about resources and killing, but also about the beauty of life.”
“Why was Ling Xing eventually executed?” Ling Xiao asked, increasingly confused. If Ling Xing was as good as the priest described, why was he sentenced to death?
The priest’s expression turned grave. “The year I left for Linxing to study doctrine as usual, by the time I returned, both had disappeared. Despite trying every means, we couldn’t find them.”
“The church suspected the military, but they denied it until rumors about secretly assassinating Ling Xing emerged. Succumbing to public pressure, the military announced that they hadn’t assassinated him but sentenced him to death instead.”
“But he was still in a fledgling state.” Ling Xiao remembered vividly. “Isn’t it said that a fledgling’s death would scatter their soul?”
“Exactly.” The priest’s tone became indignant. “The law doesn’t allow fledglings to be sentenced to death. But the military claimed that he was no longer a fledgling when executed, yet provided no evidence of Ling Xing’s adulthood nor revealed the identity of the Qizhu. This issue escalated tensions between the church and the military and remains unresolved.”
“What about the ‘Lone Star’ he raised?”
“I don’t know. He vanished with Ling Xing. We haven’t received any news about him since. He might be secretly kept as a weapon by the military, fighting on some unknown planet now.” The priest said righteously, “They’ve always been like this, seeing war as their sole purpose. One day, God will hold them accountable for their actions.”
Ling Xiao and Ying Feng exchanged glances. “I heard he committed the crime of treason. What exactly did he do?”
The priest’s mood gradually calmed down. “He stole a seed.”
“A seed?”
“The seed of the Tree of Souls.”
Ling Xiao remembered the Tree of Souls he saw at the base. “Why would he steal the seed?”
“In fact, in order to overcome the soul traction and expand territory, the military has long tried to build Soul Lighthouses on other planets. However, these lighthouses don’t work. Researchers later discovered that the lighthouse and the tree are a whole. Only around the Tree of Souls will the lighthouse light up. A lighthouse without the tree is just a decoration.”
Ling Xiao had already heard the term ‘soul traction’ from him three times. Being ignorant about it, he looked at Ying Feng for an explanation. Ying Feng briefly relayed the knowledge he had received from Fu Yao.
“That’s right,” the priest said after listening to Ying Feng’s explanation, nodding. “Modern Tianxius have varying degrees of the soul traction. Ancient people didn’t have this problem. The doctrine believes this is God’s way of preventing our uncontrolled expansion, using this method to alleviate our sins.”
“The Tree of Souls only produces a seed every few thousand years. Some predict that the current Tree of Souls is aging since fewer and fewer souls are growing on it. One day it will stop completely, and then a new Tree of Souls will be needed. But the military insanely wants to plant the seed on other planets. The best way to maximize this scope is to let a person without the soul traction take the seed to a distant place to plant, and then force the locals to build a lighthouse. This way, they can double their operational area.”
“A person without the soul traction? Isn’t that the Lone Star?”
“That’s right, so the military gave him the task. But the plan was ruined by Ling Xing first. Even now, I don’t think he did anything wrong. He violated the doctrine against theft, yet saved countless innocent lives and prevented our brethren from committing killings. For the sins of one, many sentients were blessed.”
“Where is the stolen seed now?”
The priest shook his head. “I don’t know. The military has searched many times. No matter what, they couldn’t find the seed. With Ling Xing’s sentence to death, the matter will remain a mystery forever.”
Ling Xiao and the others had been there for a long time. When saying goodbye, the priest personally escorted them out. As they passed through the flower-filled courtyard again, every flower seemed to have a special significance.
“I haven’t talked about Ling Xing for a long time. I’m glad people still remember him. We have an inherent aggressiveness in our souls, but faith can help us overcome that. Force should be used to defend, not to invade. I hope more young people understand this. You’re always welcome here.”
Before leaving, Ling Xiao subtly expressed a wish to drive. This time, Ying Feng didn’t stop him and voluntarily took the passenger seat.
On the way, Ling Xiao constantly felt like someone was watching him. Every time he turned his head, he met Ying Feng’s gaze, which made him feel uneasy.
“I really won’t drive recklessly,” he said. “Even if I was excited earlier, I left that feeling at the church. I’m calm now.”
Ying Feng silently turned his head, not wanting to say that the reason he was watching him wasn’t because of that.
Oblivious Ling Xiao only felt that Ying Feng had been acting a bit strange since they entered the church. He didn’t consider where the strangeness came from and didn’t delve deeper into the meaning of Ying Feng’s constant glances.
“Where do you think Ling Xing hid the seed?”
Ying Feng, preoccupied with other thoughts, replied, “I don’t know. What do you think?”
“If I were him, I’d give it to someone important to keep,” Ling Xiao expressed his thoughts.
“The only important person is the priest. But I believe he wasn’t lying; he doesn’t know where the seed is.”
“What about the Lone Star? He’s important to him too.”
“The seed was stolen from him. Why would he give it back for safekeeping?”
Realizing his paradox, Ling Xiao rubbed his nose awkwardly, “I guess I was wrong then.”
But after saying this, Ling Xiao thought, ‘Besides the priest and the Lone Star, who else would he entrust the seed?’
By the time the two returned to the academy, it was already dusk. Ling Xiao, with sharp eyes, saw a familiar person entering the dormitory building.
“Is that Zhen He? What’s he doing in the 10th-grade dormitory?”
Upon hearing the name, Ying Feng frowned. “I don’t know. Stay away from him. He’s not good.”
They intentionally slowed down their pace to distance themselves from the person who had entered just before them. When Zhu Yue opened the door, he cautiously checked the hallway to ensure no one was present, then made room for Zhen He to enter.
“I’ve brought the items. Service is impeccable. Buy one get one free,” Zhen He produced two portable syringes, one with a bright orange liquid inside, the other clear.
“The orange one is ‘Ember II’, while the clear one is a purifying agent. The second generation has strong side effects. The purifier won’t spare you from the pain, but it will at least ensure you don’t die. I’ve told you their uses. If you mix up the order, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
After saying this, he placed the syringes on the table. He wasn’t worried in the slightest about Zhu Yue reneging on the deal. To Zhen He, Zhu Yue was as vulnerable as a person he could crush with one finger; any suspicion would be redundant.
After hearing the introduction, Zhu Yue silently retrieved the soul binding stone from where he hid it the day before and handed it to Zhen He as previously agreed. Zhen He was very pleased with Zhu Yue’s actions. He had heard about the disappearance of the soul binding stone, and that the military was frantically searching for it. He hadn’t expected such a seemingly inept individual to have secretly stashed it away. It seemed that although his abilities might be lacking, his courage certainly wasn’t.
Zhen He admired the mysterious ore in his hand. There was a legend associated with the soul binding stone—that it could awaken the soul’s oldest memories. He wondered if the legend was true.
But if it were true… a realization suddenly struck Zhen He, as if he had overlooked something vital. If the legend was indeed true, then what about Zhu Yue…?
Silently, Zhu Yue picked up the bright orange syringe. So, this was the substance Ling Xiao had stolen from the base—the very thing that helped him defeat the Kui and become entwined with Ying Feng.
“Is this truly ‘Ember II’? Let me test it.”
What?
Realizing something was amiss, Zhen He turned around just in time to see Zhu Yue pushing the last drop of the substance into his body. A flash of red in Zhu Yue’s eyes was followed by a low growl, revealing his sharp, pointed fangs.
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