Chapter 285: Bluewave city 17.

But it was still a city.

People still did what people had always done when something threatened their home.

They gathered.

They helped each other.

They locked their doors.

They carried injured neighbors.

And slowly, the chaos became organized.

Mo Yuxin watched from the pier.

Then she felt a small tug on her sleeve.

Su Yubing looked at her.

"Are we seriously going to fight our own faces?"

"Apparently."

"That is embarrassing."

"Very."

The second Mo Yuxin stepped down from the black ship.

Her sword was white.

The second Su Yubing walked beside her.

She wore a crown now.

Not on her head.

She held it in one hand.

The moment her feet touched the water, a bridge of black ice formed from the ship to the harbor.

The woman in black followed behind them.

She remained silent.

Mo Yuxin stared at her other self.

The second Mo Yuxin looked exactly the way she might have looked in a different life.

Calm.

Cold.

A little tired.

And deeply protective of the other woman beside her.

That similarity was more disturbing than any monstrous feature would have been.

The second Mo Yuxin stopped about ten zhang away.

"You finally remember."

The real Mo Yuxin replied, "No."

The other woman smiled.

"Not yet."

"Then stop pretending you know me."

"I know enough."

She raised her sword.

"I know that you love her."

Su Yubing stiffened.

"And I know you would burn this entire world before you let anyone take her from you."

Mo Yuxin did not answer.

The other woman continued.

"That part has never changed."

Su Yubing looked at Mo Yuxin.

"Yuxin?"

"I’m fine."

"You don’t look fine."

"I am trying not to stare at myself."

Su Yubing almost smiled.

"Fair."

The second Su Yubing finally spoke.

"We don’t want to fight you."

The real Su Yubing frowned.

"Then why did you come?"

"To bring you home."

"I am home."

She squeezed Mo Yuxin’s hand.

"This is my home."

The second Su Yubing looked at their joined hands.

For a moment, her expression became strangely sad.

"Then I am sorry."

Mo Yuxin noticed the sadness.

She also noticed the woman in black moving quietly behind them.

"You are not the one controlling this."

The second Mo Yuxin looked at her.

"No."

"Who is?"

"The person who built the palace."

"Who is that?"

"You were there when it happened."

Mo Yuxin’s eyes narrowed.

"I don’t remember."

The second Mo Yuxin smiled faintly.

"That is why she has already won."

The woman in black suddenly raised her hand.

The sea behind her exploded.

A thousand black chains shot across the harbor.

Mo Yuxin instantly pulled Su Yubing backward.

The chains pierced the pier.

They slammed into the city wall.

Wherever they touched, stone turned black.

"There," Mo Yuxin said.

"She is binding the city."

Su Yubing understood.

"The living seal."

"Yes."

The woman in black smiled.

"Too late."

The chains spread through the city streets.

People screamed.

Formation lines began turning black.

The seven circles beneath the city lit up again.

This time they were not red.

They were pitch black.

The city lord shouted from the wall.

"The formation is being overwritten!"

Mo Yuxin looked at Su Yubing.

"Can you reach it?"

"Maybe."

"Do it."

Su Yubing nodded and vanished.

Her body transformed into a streak of white light.

She landed at the center of the city.

Mo Yuxin followed.

The woman in black tried to intercept them.

The second Mo Yuxin stepped in front of her.

Their swords collided.

The impact split the clouds.

The sound came a heartbeat later.

Mo Yuxin glanced back.

The two versions of herself were fighting.

It was a surreal sight.

Every move was almost identical.

Every step was mirrored.

Every sword stroke seemed to answer the other.

The real Mo Yuxin realized something immediately.

They were not merely copies.

They were complete opposites born from the same origin.

One had chosen to remain.

One had chosen to return.

One had learned to let go.

One had learned to hold on.

And both had loved Su Yubing.

Mo Yuxin clenched her fist.

She pushed the thought away.

This was not the time.

She reached the central formation.

Su Yubing stood inside it.

The black mark on her wrist had spread to her shoulder.

She was staring at the seven circles.

"There are seven locks," she said.

Mo Yuxin landed beside her.

"Can you open them?"

"Yes."

"Can you close them?"

Su Yubing looked at her.

"Not alone."

"Then we do it together."

They stood back to back.

Mo Yuxin placed one hand on the first circle.

Su Yubing placed hers on the second.

The formation responded.

The city shook.

One black chain broke.

Then another.

Then another.

The woman in black saw what they were doing.

She screamed.

"Stop!"

The second Mo Yuxin blocked her.

"Let them finish."

The woman in black looked furious.

"You traitor."

The second Mo Yuxin smiled.

"I am not yours."

Their blades collided again.

At the formation, the third circle lit up.

Then the fourth.

Su Yubing’s face became pale.

"Yuxin."

"What?"

"Something is pulling me backward."

Mo Yuxin turned.

The black mark had reached Su Yubing’s neck.

Mo Yuxin grabbed her hand.

"Stay here."

"I’m trying."

"Don’t let go."

"I won’t."

The fifth circle lit up.

The sixth.

The entire city began glowing.

Every resident felt a warmth beneath their feet.

Old inscriptions appeared on the walls.

The forgotten history of Bluewave City surfaced.

Children saw them.

Merchants saw them.

Cultivators saw them.

Everyone in the city suddenly understood that their home was not just a trading port.

It had been a prison for eight hundred years.

And all of them had unknowingly been part of its lock.

The seventh circle refused to light.

Su Yubing looked at it.

"Something is missing."

Mo Yuxin frowned.

"What?"

Su Yubing suddenly looked at her.

"You."

Mo Yuxin understood.

The ancient beast had been right.

The second key was not simply a sword keeper.

It was her.

She had to choose.

Not remember.

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TO BE CONTINUED.