Chapter 289. A Final Request

Linyue opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the odd sensation around her.

Water. She was floating. Completely surrounded by glowing blue water, but somehow, she wasn’t drowning. She could breathe normally. Her hair drifted like seaweed, and her sleeves floated like little confused jellyfish. Wrapped tightly around her waist were familiar arms.

Shu Mingye.

She let out a breath of relief and turned in his hold, clutching his arm as she looked up at him. “I’m not alone,” she whispered.

He looked back at her, brows furrowed, as if silently saying, “Of course you’re not. Who would let you dive into weird glowing water alone?”

Suddenly, the water disappeared. No splashing. No dripping. It was just gone. Now, they were floating (standing?) in a vast empty white space. Pure white everywhere.

Shu Mingye immediately pulled her closer, his arms like steel around her waist. “I hate this,” he muttered.

“Same,” Linyue whispered back, gripping his robes tighter.

Then a woman appeared. Elegant. Glowing. Graceful. And extremely beautiful.

Linyue muttered, “Yun Qi…”

Shu Mingye turned slowly, expression immediately flattening.

Sure, just like his Pie said before, the woman was beautiful. He would give her that. But his Pie was way better. His Pie had dimples. His Pie could pout and make his entire soul collapse. This woman didn’t even smile. Not cute. Zero points.

“What do you want?” he asked flatly, suspicion dripping from every word.

Yun Qi lifted her hand and waved it lazily through the air. In an instant, the blank white space shifted. Flowers bloomed in impossible colors. Plum blossoms swirled gently in the breeze. A delicate table appeared under a tree, set perfectly with three chairs as if waiting for guests.

Yun Qi sat gracefully, and gestured politely for them to take a seat.

Shu Mingye tightened his arms again, his entire aura screaming Nope.

Linyue gently patted his chest. “I think it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Yun Qi.

The woman smiled faintly. “I didn’t mean to hurt either of you. Sit. I don’t have much time. This is my spiritual consciousness. The last thing I left in the spring… along with the last thread of my soul.”

Linyue’s eyes softened. She felt her heart clench again, just like in the dream.

Shu Mingye, meanwhile, didn’t move. He just whispered in Linyue’s ear, “If she tries anything weird, I’m flipping the table.”

Linyue tried her best not to laugh. Truly, even in a mystical dream meeting, Shu Mingye was still clinging to her like someone might try to steal his wife with a single spiritual sentence. Still, he sat beside her, hand clasped tightly with hers, his fingers so firmly entangled that it felt like he was ready to merge their souls through sheer stubbornness.

Yun Qi, the elegant woman across from them, didn’t seem to notice or maybe she was simply too graceful to comment on husbands being overprotective puppies. She got straight to the point. “My name is Yun Qi, as you may already know. I’ve been waiting… for hundreds of years. Waiting for someone to come.”

Linyue blinked. “We did come last time.”

Yun Qi gave a serene smile. “But back then, you weren’t strong enough. If you had tried to reach this place, your soul would’ve shattered.”

Shu Mingye’s jaw clenched. He clearly did not like that information. “Then what do you want now?”

Yun Qi turned her gaze toward Linyue. “I can feel Qi Heng’s spiritual energy in you.”

Linyue nodded. “Yes. He’s my master. But… who is he, really? And who are you?”

Yun Qi’s lips curved into a gentle, distant smile. “He was the Emperor of the Yunyue. For a thousand years, it was always him.”

Shu Mingye squinted. “It wasn’t the Yun Clan?”

Yun Qi tilted her head with quiet amusement. “He is… a transcendence. He ruled for a very long time. My father served him as his loyal secretary. That’s how we met. And eventually… we fell in love.”

Linyue’s heart ached a little. Her master… a romantic emperor? The kind that laughed and flirted in daylight? Even after seeing it in the dream, it was still hard to picture. She tried, but all she got was Qi Heng scolding her for skipping meditation.

“And then?” she asked gently. “What happened? Why did you sacrifice yourself? Why create this spring?”

Yun Qi’s beautiful eyes dimmed. Her fingers folded on her lap as she whispered, “Because I couldn’t be saved anymore.”

Silence followed.

Shu Mingye, of course, was the first to ruin it. “Wait, what do you mean couldn’t be saved? Was he bad at healing? Did he forget the antidote? Did someone mess up the spiritual procedure? Who was in charge of medicine?”

Linyue elbowed him lightly.

“What?” he muttered. “I’m just trying to follow the story.”

Yun Qi looked at them with a sad kind of warmth. “You two remind me of us. Me… and Qi Heng.”

Linyue’s breath caught. Even the way Yun Qi said his name was filled with affection and ache.

Yun Qi went on. “Yunyue realm was peaceful back then. It was a thriving, beautiful place. People laughed, worked together, lived without fear. Qi Heng ruled with kindness. Back then, I really believed we could live happily ever after. A fairytale ending. Like in the storybooks.” She smiled, but it was tinged with sorrow. “But dreams don’t always survive reality,” she whispered. “His twin brother, Qi Meng… ruined it all. Qi Heng said he was just difficult. But I saw the jealousy. I saw the hunger in his eyes.”

Linyue’s voice was calm, but cautious. “Did he cause the demons to appear?”

Yun Qi’s voice grew quieter, trembling slightly. “They weren’t demons. Not at first. They were spirit beasts… people… my friends. Everyone in the Yunyue realm.”

Linyue’s brows drew together. She had guessed it, but still her heart sank. “What happened to them?”

Yun Qi didn’t speak right away. She stared at her hands, which were shaking as they rested on her lap.

“Qi Meng created a Soul Devouring Array,” she said finally. “He trapped them inside it. He drained their energy, their memories, their very souls… everything that made them who they were. Then refined it into crystals. He used those to make himself stronger.”

Shu Mingye frowned. “I already hated this man, but now I hate him with extra feeling.”

Yun Qi nodded like she understood completely. “So did everyone else. Sadly, we found out too late. By then… almost everything was gone.”

Linyue leaned forward a little. Her voice was low. “Then you…”

“I ran,” Yun Qi said, giving a small nod. “Qi Heng tried to save me. But I knew it wouldn’t work. So I left for Shulin. My hometown. I found that cave and… gave up my life force willingly. I burned my own soul before it could be turned into something else.”

Shu Mingye blinked at her. “That’s very dramatic.”

Yun Qi gave a quiet laugh. “I thought so too. But the other option was becoming a mindless hungry monster, so it felt like the better choice.”

Linyue winced. “That sounds awful.”

Yun Qi nodded slowly. “Once someone falls into the array, their mind starts to rot little by little. They forget who they are. They become angry. Violent. They start craving spiritual energy. Qi Heng didn’t call them demons. He called them the tainted. Because…” her voice grew soft, “…they were all his people.”

There was a pause.

“And,” she added, even quieter, “when he tried to use his spiritual sense to pull me out of the array… it trapped him too.”

Linyue’s eyes widened. “Master too?!”

Yun Qi gave a sad nod. “Yes. But he’s not like the rest of us. He’s a transcendence. He’s stronger than most. Maybe the array couldn’t affect him fully. Or maybe…” she paused, her voice shaky, “maybe it did. But he fought it. I don’t know. I was no longer by his side then.”

Linyue’s chest tightened. Her mouth opened, but no words came at first. Then finally, in a soft voice, she asked, “So… that array?”

Yun Qi shook her head gently. “I don’t know where Qi Meng placed it. I don’t know how it was made. By the time anyone realized what it was doing, people were already changing. The tainted were spreading.”

Linyue looked down at her hands. “So, their souls were… tainted. With hunger. A craving for spiritual energy.”

“Yes,” Yun Qi said. “That craving came from the emptiness left behind. Their souls were drained and hollow. And just like starving people want food, they wanted spiritual energy.”

Shu Mingye muttered, “So we’re fighting spiritual cannibalism now. Wonderful.”

Linyue shot him a look, then turned back to Yun Qi. “Can they be saved?”