Chapter 437: Go and Be Reincarnated

’What was it all for?’

All Cangming had ever wanted was to indulge a single, selfish wish.

From the very beginning, he knew he could never keep her.

He could never keep her, not as Gu Huang and not as Lu Sangjiu.

That was why he had planted the Love Gu in her—out of a desperate hope that he might experience, just once, what it felt like for her to love someone.

’She said he didn’t understand love, so he wanted to know... what did it feel like when *she* fell in love with someone?’

’Would her love be nobler than his? More sacred?’

And then he felt it. He felt her joy, her anxiety, and her heartache.

’It wasn’t so different, after all,’ he thought.

He, too, felt joy at her smile. He, too, worried when she faced danger. And he, too, felt the agony of knowing she didn’t see him.

’It was no different. He had simply used the wrong methods.’

Back then, he had chased after her, always looking up at her in awe. She was so powerful that he thought she would never fall in love with anyone in her lifetime.

His love was hopeless from the start—so hopeless that he never imagined it could be reciprocated. That was why he became obsessed with keeping her, even if it had to be one-sided.

’If it were now,’ Cangming thought, ’knowing that she, too, could fall in love, he never would have used such a foolish method to keep her.’

He would have been more patient, offering her his true heart and waiting for the day she fell in love with him, too.

’Perhaps then, they would have had a different ending.’

He had taken Lu Sangjiu across mountains and rivers, not to toy with her, but simply to share with her the sights they never had time to stop and admire.

From beginning to end, he was only trying to fulfill that one selfish wish... to pretend that they, too, had once shared a moment of warmth.

Cangming had decided to die long ago, ever since she’d said she wanted to kill him.

Or perhaps even earlier than that, during the endless years after he lost her, when he was tormented by guilt, remorse, and regret.

Gu Huang had given him his life, so he already owed her for it.

Later, his foolishness led to her death, so he owed her another.

Two lives. To repay them with the complete annihilation of his own soul seemed only fair.

But he was determined that his death would be momentous, leaving an indelible mark on her heart.

’At least then, when she thought of him in the future, she wouldn’t only feel boundless hatred... A sliver of regret would be enough.’

Finally, Qin Miao appeared, and with her, a chance to save her.

In the instant he charged toward Qin Miao, Cangming felt a sense of peace he hadn’t known in centuries.

’It’s all over.’

’Gu Huang... For the rest of your life, I hope you never meet anyone as foolish as me again.’

Cangming had assumed he would face complete annihilation in Qin Miao’s self-detonation.

But he never expected... that a sliver of his soul would somehow remain.

A single sliver of a soul, unable to carry all his memories. But as it happened, the only ones that remained were of her.

’If she knew a piece of him still existed,’ he thought, ’she would be furious, wouldn’t she?’

So when the lingering Evil Souls on the battlefield rushed toward him, he didn’t try to escape.

However, at that critical moment, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Found him!"

Lu Sangjiu pointed to the remnant soul in the distance, just about to be devoured by an Evil Soul. "Xie Ningyuan, save him! Quickly!"

The instant she spoke, Xie Ningyuan’s Merit Light struck the Evil Soul, shattering it in a flash.

In the next moment, Cangming’s remnant soul felt itself being drawn irresistibly into Xie Ningyuan’s palm.

Still weak from the side effects of the Frenzy Pill, Lu Sangjiu could only lean against Xie Ningyuan, her eyes fixed on the small wisp of a soul he held in his palm.

She could feel Cangming’s aura emanating from it... This was the last sliver of his soul.

Gazing at it, Lu Sangjiu felt a storm of conflicting emotions.

Her long and tangled history with Cangming had reached a point where her feelings could no longer be described as pure hatred.

He had harmed her, but he had also saved her.

He had imprisoned her, but he had also helped her.

Moreover, he had died saving them. Even if Lu Sangjiu’s heart were made of stone, even if her hatreds were absolute, she could not remain unmoved.

After gazing at the wisp of soul for a long time, Lu Sangjiu finally spoke softly. "Cangming, all debts and grudges between us are now wiped clean."

"Meeting each other in this life was a misfortune for us both."

"In your next life... I hope you don’t meet me again. And I hope you never again love someone you cannot have."

"...Go and be reborn."

Her voice was gentle, like a spring breeze that soothed the countless wounds upon Cangming’s soul.

He was just a remnant soul now; he could not laugh, cry, or shed tears.

But he understood her words. ’She said all debts were wiped clean... That means she forgave me, doesn’t it?’

Though he could not cry, he was overwhelmed with the urge to do so.

’I’m so sorry... Gu Huang.’

He had owed her those words for so many years, yet he had died without ever managing to say them.

’But it probably didn’t matter to her anymore, anyway.’

As Xie Ningyuan closed his eyes and chanted a scripture, Cangming felt himself become weightless, as if every shackle had been removed, leaving him completely liberated.

Only when the Gate of Hell closed did Xie Ningyuan open his eyes. "He has gone to be reincarnated," he told Lu Sangjiu.

Though he was only a remnant soul, and would likely spend several lifetimes as an animal and several more as a simpleton, his soul would eventually be made whole through successive reincarnations.

In the end, he would even have the chance to begin cultivating once more.

It was a good end, all things considered.

Lu Sangjiu gazed out at the ravaged battlefield and murmured in assent, her heart filled with a sense of melancholy.

"Let’s go."

Qin Miao was dead. The remaining disciples of the Cold Crow Sect had suffered terrible casualties, but thanks to Lu Sangjiu’s all-out efforts to help, a number of them had survived.

Before she left, Lu Sangjiu had instructed them to seek refuge with the Divine Tomb Sect.

From now on, the Divine Tomb Sect would be the only major power left in the Western Demon Realm.

Xie Ningyuan didn’t take Lu Sangjiu to any sect. As Ye Zhiyao had said before she died, He Guang had indeed revealed Lu Sangjiu’s true identity to the world.

Now, everyone knew that Lu Sangjiu was Gu Huang.

Although the peace treaty signed with the Western Demon Realm had temporarily eased tensions between the Immortal and Demon Worlds...

...deep-seated divisions remained and would not disappear so quickly.

Thus, Xie Ningyuan, not wanting to expose her to the public so soon, simply took her to the cave residence he had recently been using for his cultivation to rest and recover.

Lu Sangjiu went into seclusion.

Meanwhile, Xie Ningyuan told Duan Xingyun and the others what had happened, putting their minds at ease.

The Gu Worm was gone. Lu Sangjiu was free.

He Guang was still nowhere to be found. However, his last two Body Integration Realm subordinates had been killed in the conflict. Now... he was all alone.

This good news greeted Lu Sangjiu when she emerged from her seclusion.

She felt as though the clouds were finally parting to reveal the moon. ’If I can just get through this patch,’ she thought, ’then surely, better days are ahead, right?’

Once her body had mostly recovered, she intended to go find her master and the others for help. But before she could, she received a message from Gu Jue.

It contained only a single line: "Where are you? I want to see you."