Chapter 57 Don't you remember? What is she doing now...?

What is she doing now? She's running away.

Where could she find Zhu Songyun? She didn't know.

What to do next? She didn't know.

Her mind was a mess, filled with too many things, countless fragments flashing through her thoughts, pulling at her mind, only to quickly stop.

The previous scenes flashed by: Jiang Zhihe and Teng Shao's resolute expressions; Xie Jitong's maniacal laughter; the surrounding crimson; the sky so gloomy it was almost suffocating.

Her heart felt like it was being pierced, the pain shooting through her entire body. A suffocating despair gripped her throat, rendering her speechless.

Her legs were running nonstop; she couldn't stop, she absolutely couldn't.

She used a speed-traveling talisman to rush to the outskirts of the city, leaving no trace of life in her wake. She had no idea when or how Xie Jitong had killed so many people in such a short time.

The soles of her shoes were soaked in blood, and she was enveloped in the stench of blood, making it hard for her to breathe.

Her legs gradually became heavy, as if filled with lead, making it difficult for her to take any more steps. When she reached the city gate, she had to stop using the talisman and start walking instead.

Her body was still that of a mortal, and she simply could not withstand the consequences of using talismans for an extended period of time.

But as soon as she relaxed, the soreness in her legs caused her to stumble and almost fall to the ground. Fortunately, she managed to grab onto an empty truck nearby, which helped her regain her balance.

She walked with a limp, trying to adapt as quickly as possible. When she reached the wide-open city gate and was about to step out, she was stopped by an invisible barrier.

She froze, reaching forward. A ripple spread out before her, and she touched the invisible barrier.

But she couldn't just sit and wait to die, so she started to try.

Attack talismans, attack magical artifacts, and finally, she began drawing talismans with her own blood. She bled profusely, but it didn't matter. After all, the surroundings were deathly silent; there wasn't a soul in sight. She drew every attack talisman she knew that was currently usable, mid-grade and even high-grade—

But none of it worked.

She began trying to draw teleportation talismans, but the city seemed to be locked down, and the talismans were completely useless.

She leaned against the wall, her legs bent. Her bloodied hands gripped a newly drawn high-grade teleportation talisman tightly. She pressed her last spirit stone onto it, and the talisman glowed faintly as its spiritual power was absorbed, but it quickly dimmed again.

It's useless.

It's useless, useless, useless, absolutely useless.

The law seals this place; unless you use a top-grade talisman, there's no chance of getting through.

However, although she could draw it, she did not have enough spiritual power or spirit stones to activate it.

Clutching the dim talisman tightly in his hands, a deep sense of powerlessness and despair welled up in his heart, and tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his cheeks.

She's so useless.

She's just a burden.

They sacrificed so much, placing their hopes on her. But now, she has no way to leave the city, no way to retrieve the remaining "fragments," and no way to rewrite their fate.

What kind of god is this... I'm just a useless person who can't even save my friends.

Alone, she curled up, buried her head in her knees, and sobbed silently.

The faded talisman, stained with blood, eventually turned to ashes and vanished.

"Oh dear, why is there a poor little one crying all by himself here?"

A smiling voice rang out from outside the city gate.

Gu Xiaozhu looked up and saw a girl dressed in plain clothes standing outside the city. Her clothes were covered in yellow sand, and she looked quite haggard.

But she still had a smile on her face, a smile that seemed so unpredictable that it wouldn't change even if the sky were to fall.

It is bamboo, pine, and cloud.

Gu Xiaozhu stared at her, stunned: "You...you didn't leave?"

Zhu Songyun tilted her head, took a few steps forward, squatted outside the city gate, looked at her and smiled, "If I leave, who will save you, you poor little thing?"

Gu Xiaozhu stared at her for a long time, a wave of sorrow washing over her. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She reached out to wipe them away, but it was no use, and she accidentally smeared the blood from her hands onto her face as well. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

“I’m so useless… I couldn’t save Ahe, I couldn’t save Teng Shao, I couldn’t save anyone… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

She spoke while crying. The wound on her palm hadn't been treated at all, and it would bleed profusely with the slightest movement, but she was numb to it. The suffocation and despair that had been weighing on her made her oblivious to it.

Zhu Songyun appeared flustered upon seeing this scene. She stretched out her hands but quickly withdrew them. When her gaze fell upon Gu Xiaozhu's blood-covered hands, her brows furrowed deeply.

"Um... don't cry... it's okay, things aren't over yet, there's still a chance, as long as I get you out..." she said quickly.

Gu Xiaozhu shook her head, tears still streaming down her face: "What seals this place is the law. Unless you can use the power of the Tribulation Transcending stage, you can't break through here."

Zhu Songyun raised an eyebrow and shook a finger: "No, no, no, there is another way to break through here and bring you out."

Gu Xiaozhu looked at her through teary eyes.

Zhu Songyun smiled and stood up: "A miracle."

She looked up at the city wall, then her gaze finally fell and settled on the empty air in front of her.

She closed her eyes and took off the small round sunglasses on her nose.

When he opened his eyes again, those eyes that had been gray had regained their color.

She smiled under Gu Xiaozhu's surprised gaze and made a hand seal:

"Charge!"

In an instant, beams of light rose into the air around the city, forming countless array nodes that were connected by spiritual energy. The outline of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) gradually emerged and extended into the city.

Her eyes gleamed with golden light, and spiritual energy continuously flowed into each of the array's key nodes.

Gu Xiaozhu looked up at the sky above the city.

The Bagua formation has been completed, with all eight directions now visible. The city gate corresponds to the Kun trigram – the Gate of Death.

Sweat began to bead on Zhu Songyun's forehead outside the city gate, and his bright eyes gradually became bloodshot.

"Clatter—clatter—"

The Bagua formation covering the entire city began to rotate. The Kun trigram, symbolizing the Gate of Death, slowly rotated, each movement accompanied by immense resistance. Blood began to seep from Zhu Songyun's eyes, but she did not stop. The Gen trigram, symbolizing the Gate of Life, rotated with the entire formation and was eventually moved above the city gate. The Kun trigram, however, was moved to another location, a location that Gu Xiaozhu was very familiar with.

That's where Jiang Zhihe and Teng Shao are.

Something seemed to have changed, as if by some unseen force.

Gu Xiaozhu stood up and walked towards the city gate. She stretched out her hand; there was no obstruction. She... could leave the city.

Zhu Songyun also stopped what she was doing. The Bagua formation covering the entire city was still in operation. She wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve and muttered to herself, "This is all I can do to help you."

She forcibly moved the life gate to the city gate to allow Gu Xiaozhu to escape the blockade. And she moved the death gate to the location of Jiang Zhihe and the other person to ensure Xie Jitong's survival…

Although she knew this possibility was slim, after all, they had the help of the laws.

But... she did her best.

As long as the formation remains intact, Xie Jitong will have absolutely no way to leave the city.

She reached out her hand to Gu Xiaozhu, her bright eyes dimming again, and a smile vanished from her pale face: "Look, a miracle."

Gu Xiaozhu looked at her with a complicated expression; she seemed even more haggard than before. Forcibly altering destiny through divination will inevitably lead to backlash.

She sniffed, and finally extended her hand: "I'm sorry..."

Zhu Songyun laughed: "What is there to apologize for? It was all my own choice."

After saying that, she grabbed Gu Xiaozhu's wrist. Just as Gu Xiaozhu was wondering what was going on, she saw Gu Xiaozhu take out some healing powder from her storage bag and sprinkle it on her palm, which had been torn open many times before. Then she took out a handkerchief and bandaged the wound.

She even took a moment to glance at the girl opposite her to see how she was reacting. The girl didn't flinch, and didn't even frown.

"Doesn't it hurt? Your hand is all messed up, and you haven't even taken care of it." Zhu Songyun said helplessly, then took out a healing pill and handed it over.

Gu Xiaozhu looked somewhat bewildered at her bandaged hand, then at the pill handed to her, and finally silently accepted it and swallowed it.

Seeing this, Zhu Songyun's brows finally relaxed a little: "Let's go... we have to leave."

Gu Xiaozhu looked at her and asked, "Will they... survive?"

Zhu Songyun paused, looking at the girl in front of her with a serious expression: "As long as you survive, they can survive."

"Do you remember the divination I did before?" Seeing Gu Xiaozhu nod, she continued, "I always predicted a very bad omen, and there was no way to break it."

"You should understand that we can calculate and see fate, but we cannot truly change it."

"Because we are still within this world, and are subject to its constraints and influences."

She took Gu Xiaozhu's hands in hers: "But you are different."

"Xiaozhu, you are the only one who transcends this world."

"And the only one who could change his fate."

Zhu Songyun pulled her along, heading towards a simple teleportation array they had set up outside the city.

Gu Xiaozhu followed behind her, and after a long while, she spoke: "But... there's nothing I can do. You all say that hope lies with me, but I can neither help you fight against Xie Jitong nor leave on my own."

Overwhelmed by helplessness and guilt, her voice trembled as she said, "I can only ever hide behind you, I can only ever rely on you. Without you, I can't do anything..."

“How could that be?” Zhu Songyun asked.

"From what I've seen so far, without your mediation, Jiang Zhihe and Teng Shao would have already started fighting several times along the way."

"Without you, we would still be sitting in that dark room waiting to die."

"Without you, I wouldn't be able to leave the city, let alone set up the Bagua Formation and the teleportation array."

“Without you, Jiang Zhihe and the others wouldn’t have had enough time to enter the Holy Land and obtain the ‘fragment’.”

She turned her head, her slightly disheveled hair brushing against the air, and a smile bloomed on her face, which was stained with a few specks of blood:

"You did all of this, don't you remember?"

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Author's Note: OK, this chapter is finished. I'll take a break for the next two days, and then update 10,000 words on Friday!

PS: The author is not a professional, so there are bound to be some inaccuracies in the part about the Bagua formation in the text. So just consider it a personal setting or... The world of cultivation is full of wonders.