Chapter 349: I Hate You

As Anji unravelled the seal and started pouring divinity into the corrupted golden scale, Song Min panicked. She had not been lying about wanting to save him, and in that instant, the ghost general felt undeserving of such noble sacrifice.

Sure, if their positions had been reversed, he would have helped her. However, Zhong Kui was not someone capable of continuing with the massacre. He was such an upright and noble character that not even Song Min could hold a candle to his existence.

"Stop it!" he struggled and finally broke one part of the trap. "I’m not worth it!"

Too preoccupied with purifying the soul, corrupting poison, Anji had no energy left to reply to Song Min. However, his actions only convinced her more about the correctness of her judgment. A broken mirror does not lose its light. Even a withered flower would still smell fragrant.

Balancing the act of holding her soul and broken body together while purifying the corrupted golden scale, Anji poured her focus into the task. Yet, even the Heavenly Core stage was barely enough for the task.

Sensing the rapid collapse of his eternal rival, Song Min quickly freed himself from the trap and joined her. He might not be able to purify the soul corruption poison on the golden scale. However, he could contain it and minimise the damage caused with his condensed ghostly yin energy, accumulated over the years through bad deeds.

Tampering with the seal, Song Min redirected the soul-corrupting poison’s target to himself, drawing it away from Anji by tempting it with yin energy. His method was extremely effective and gave Anji room to breathe.

"You..."

Hissing in pain as the soul corruption ate at his psyche, Song Min glared at the blinding ball of light.

"I hate you," he spat. "You’re really annoying!"

With the precious time Song Min bought for her, Anji quickly pushed through to reach the Divine Core that was needed to help her contain the divinity that was leaking. She had to redirect more divinity than she possessed to truly rid the soul corruption poison.

"I know."

Scowling heavily, Song Min hid his agony behind vicious retorts.

"You’re a stubborn busybody."

"I know."

"An insensitive prick who doesn’t know your limits!"

"That’s true."

"A self-sacrificing fool whom nobody will thank!"

Instead of arguing with that, Anji simply nodded along and agreed with all the insults spilling from Song Min’s mouth. The greater his anger, the wider Anji’s smile became.

"I hate you..." he whispered, almost groaning at the intensity of the poison eating at his spiritual force. "I really hate you."

Finally, Anji broke through to reach the divine core stage. Thanks to Song Min’s assistance, she had full confidence they would be able to purge the remaining poison and right the wrongs. The war outside was already almost concluding. It was now up to them.

Feeling weak from the first appearance of daylight, Song Min held on stubbornly. Yet, his concentration was shattered when Anji finally gave him a different reply.

"But I don’t hate you," she told him honestly.

Applying more potent divinity, Anji dispelled the last of the soul corruption poison just in time to see the first rays of morning light filtering through the paper screen doors.

Unable to hold on any longer and severely weakened, Song Min finally let go. Yet, before he completely disappeared, he hung onto Anji, who was also deteriorating at an alarming rate.

"You owe me one," he told her. "Finish up quickly. I’ll be waiting for you to bring me back personally."

Mastering only a feeble nod, Anji collapsed onto the ground. Her golden core hummed knowingly as it continued to progress towards what was Anji’s final form of salvation. If she stopped, everything would be for nought.

With eyes longer able to see in the physical world, Anji paid attention to keep breathing. With every inhale, she waited for someone to come find her.

Sure enough, as the warmth of sunlight touched her skin from where she remained lying, a new gust of wind informed her of someone’s arrival.

"Anji!"

"Little One!"

Several sets of footsteps and voices filled the room, but already, everything sounded like a mangled buzz. Barely clinging onto reality, Anji managed to differentiate the aura of the people who had finally come for her.

From the blazing aura of Noble Consort Liu to the passionate aura of her godmother, Anji tried to speak but only ended up making gasping noises.

Surrounded by exhausted experts, Anji felt them pour their energy into her. She understood their desperate attempts to pour into a leaking pot. However, with such a large crack, it was only a matter of time before the water ran out or the crack split the pot in half. In her state, only her father or her teacher might be able to do something to extend her lifespan. Yet, Anji knew very well she would remain in a vegetative state even if they succeeded for the rest of her mortal life.

Compared to that, she knew what she wanted to do.

Using the additional energy from experts, Anji healed herself just enough to contain the rapidly advancing golden core. Sagehood was not far now. However, she had some final words to leave behind.

"Anji!" Mingshen’s voice was close to tears now. She could hear the regret in them. "Please don’t die!"

Reflecting on her life, Anji knew she could go without regrets. However, many would grieve her. Gu Ying’s silent tears did not go unnoticed. Yet, with limited strength, Anji could only smile and enjoy their presence while it lasted.

"Thank you for everything," she whispered hoarsely, vocal cords badly damaged. "Anji has no regrets. I love you all very deeply."

Failing her right after those words, Anji could only conserve her strength in hopes that the people she wanted to see the most would send her off before she had to go. Yet, Anji knew the truth. Both her shifu and father were too far to send her off in her final moments.

Like every other mortal, the last moments of Anji’s life became most vivid. If there was one place in her heart that she had a strong attachment to, it would be the persimmon tree she grew when she was a child. It should be quite a sturdy young tree by now.

Sitting under the imaginary shade of that persimmon tree, Anji enjoyed the gentle sun and peaceful breeze before finally drifting off into a lazy afternoon nap, free of worries.