Returning Home (Final Episode)

Guided by that voice, the direction was clearer than ever before.

The closer you are, the more pronounced the call of Hanjiang will be.

While at the camp, we could only faintly hear the sounds, but we couldn't make out what they were saying.

Now, Han Jiang could almost hear what the voice was saying: "Heavenly light... sacrifice... guard..."

Four rooms, four people were sacrificed. Han Jiang and Cang Jingqi knew the result would likely be death, but the other three did not know, only that they used the Spirit Gathering Altar to activate the magic array.

"Don't worry, the male and female leads are both here. They have the protagonist's halo, so they won't die," Wen Xu whispered to comfort Han Jiang.

Yes, she won't die. Han Jiang forced herself to calm down; only when she was calm could she hear clearly. The male lead even came back to life; the protagonist's halo really exists.

Will Cang Jingqi have the protagonist's halo? The male and female leads will survive, and she and Wen Xu will return home directly after completing the system repair. But what about Cang Jingqi?

Han Jiang gripped Cang Jingqi's hand tightly, her heart filled with sorrow: "You shouldn't have come..."

"If I hadn't come, I would never have seen you again..."

Cang Jingqi's voice didn't come from beside her ears, but from her mind. Han Jiang turned to look at Cang Jingqi: You can hear my thoughts?

Cang Jing smiled at her: The connection of the Cang Jing Sword will produce different effects depending on the different heirs.

Han Jiang wanted to continue communicating with Cang Jingqi in her mind, but the connection with Cang Jing Sword was also a kind of spiritual power, and it couldn't be maintained for long before it was cut off by the black mist.

The sandstorms were so strong that it became difficult to speak.

The five walked on in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

The wild beast attacks became more frequent, and the group, who had been fighting all night, were increasingly exhausted.

Cang Jingqi traveled day and night to get here, and he also exhausted a lot of his energy.

If this continues, we'll perish in the desert before we even reach the palace.

"Dawn..."

A voice rang in my ears, almost impatiently, its tone urgent: "Dawn, dawn..."

The group dealt with the wild beasts while following Han Jiang's movements.

"Stop talking about daylight, can you save us first? Otherwise you won't see the light of day!" Han Jiang tried to make contact with the voice.

Unfortunately, the call of the voice seemed to be one-way, spreading only from that place to the cold.

A huge beast leaped out of the sand, its massive body blocking their path. Han Jiang immediately recognized it as the prince of the underground palace! He hadn't died under the ruins!

His mouth was blasted apart by the fire talisman, and it grew even larger, almost taking up his entire face. His body seemed to have been shattered and then pieced back together, with many joints and bones misaligned, as if they were just put together in place regardless of whether the positions were correct or not.

Just when everyone thought bigger trouble was coming, the prince swept away a circle of wild beasts and cleared a path.

He roared at the beast, his mouth agape, his jaw nearly detached. Then he twisted his long body, piecing together a few barely comprehensible syllables in a hoarse growl: "Ah... Sister... wait... for... the light..."

“Let’s go,” Han Jiang gripped the compass tightly. “He said that the princess is waiting for us, and it’s related to Tian Guang.”

The prince's appearance indicated that they had reached their destination.

Compared to last time, the city is no longer intact, with most of it buried under sandstorms. The castle has collapsed, with only the main structure still faintly visible, while the outer perimeter has been completely merged with the dust.

They circled around several times before finally finding the way in.

The very center of the palace remained intact, untouched by the black mist, and surprisingly bright. The Spirit Gathering Altar was back in its place in the center, but this time it could not take them underground.

"They used this Spirit Gathering Altar to return spiritual energy to the sea. Are we supposed to give spiritual energy to the Black Mist?" Wen Xu asked.

Han Jiang stood in the middle of the Spirit Gathering Altar, her voice disappearing without giving any hints, simply leading her here.

"Where is the princess?" Hanqi searched the palace, but there was no one there.

Han lowered her head to look at the Spirit Gathering Altar: "She's right here."

The pool where she had been immersed for years retained her spiritual power and consciousness.

The Spirit Gathering Altar began to leak water. Han Jiang hurriedly withdrew, and the black water quickly filled the pool. It was viscous, writhing, and gradually materialized, condensing into a huge object.

Cang Jingqi swiftly stepped forward to shield Han Jiang behind him, then flicked out his folding fan.

This is the princess who merged with the Black Sea. She has always been here. She sacrificed her body back then, but her soul has never dissipated.

She twisted and charged towards the crowd, but Cang Jingmo and Cang Jingqi suppressed her with a sword and a fan respectively.

The black water gathered its strength and roared forth.

Cang Jingzhongxue prepared magical artifacts for each of her three children. Except for Cang Jingye's spear, which she had never seen use, the two brothers used it frequently.

At this moment, the two magical artifacts melted into the black water and disappeared.

The five people immediately separated to distract themselves.

"Didn't she call us here? What does this mean?" they all asked.

Han Jiang couldn't explain it. Ever since the black water took shape, her voice had been taken away. What she saw wasn't the black water, but the princess herself. But she couldn't speak, and even her movements became stiff, forced to meet the princess's gaze.

She gazed into the princess's dark eyes, trying to find the source of light in the darkness.

“Kill me…become me…” she lured Han Jiang.

Han Jiang snapped out of his daze and gasped for breath: "Aqi, do you have any weapons?"

"Feel the golden thread on your wrist; it can summon the Azure Mirror Sword." Cang Jingqi roughly understood Han Jiang's meaning; she wanted to confront this black water.

Han Jiang stared at Hei Shui, who also stopped attacking and waited for Han Jiang's move.

The group landed and stood still, looking at Han Jiang. Cang Jingqi landed to Han Jiang's right rear, while Han Qi landed beside her, and Wen Xu and Cang Jingmo were opposite her.

"Senior sister?" Han Qi turned her head and called out to Han Jiang with concern.

Han Jiang smiled back at her: "It's alright, everything is about to end."

The hilt of the Cangjing Sword appeared in Han Jiang's hand and he gripped it tightly.

She had never learned swordsmanship; the only thing she knew was a couple of moves she had seen Wen Xu practice at the Four Continents Sect.

Looking back now, it feels like yesterday, yet it also feels like a long time has passed. From the moment they came into this world to the end of their story, they experienced far more than they could have imagined.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the cold snap to end.

Han Jiang took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and jumped, clumsily yet incredibly bravely swinging his sword, imagining himself as the hero of his childhood dreams.

The Azure Mirror Sword sliced ​​the black water in half, and the viscous black water, as if it had lost its core, turned into a puddle of water and fell down with a "splash".

The water poured down on Hanjiang, threatening to drown her.

The burning sensation on her skin lasted only a moment before she was pushed away.

Cang Jingqi caught the cold water as it flowed forward, and the black water fell onto Han Qi.

"Hanqi!" Hanjiang roared.

Han Qi returned Han Jiang's smile, just as Han Jiang had done earlier: "Senior Sister, do you remember? You said I'm the protagonist, so the protagonist has the responsibilities of the protagonist..."

This was completely unexpected, and Wen Xu hadn't anticipated it either.

Han Jiang called out, but his body was encircled by Cang Jingqi and he could not move forward.

"Hanqi! This isn't right!" Hanjiang cried out, "Cangjingqi, let me go! This isn't right!"

When the black water completely fell into the pool, Hanqi had already disappeared, corroded and sacrificed from head to toe.

The clear water in the Gathering Spirit Altar sparkled in the sunlight.

As the cold descends and one looks up, the sun shines brightly overhead, illuminating the altar.

She then noticed that the style of this spirit gathering altar was different from the spirit gathering altars she had seen before.

At that moment, she finally understood the purpose of the engravings. Cang Jingqi had said that the engravings were to strengthen the magic array, but that wasn't true; those engravings were magic arrays themselves.

This spirit gathering altar is actually a sacrificial altar!

A dazzling light burst forth from the altar, carrying boundless vitality, and healed the injuries of the four people.

Cang Jingmo walked to the door: "The black mist has not completely dissipated."

Wen Xu took advantage of the break to communicate with the system about the task progress; only when the task was completed would the black fog problem be solved.

She shook her head at Han Jiang: "The mission is not over."

Cang Jingqi was already used to Wen Xu and Han Jiang speaking words he couldn't understand; they were words from another world.

There is no time for sorrow, for it is not over yet. Hanjiang wiped away her tears: "There are two Tranquil Heart Beads, so the sacrifice is the same. One is for heavenly light, and the other is for protection."

The beam of light did not disappear; it simply paused, neither continuing to radiate nor interrupting.

The princess led several people in a sacrifice, but in the end, only she and the queen were able to complete the Tranquility Pearl.

The other people were probably the ones who activated the formation, since activating it also requires spiritual energy.

The prince even survived with his genitals intact.

The princess activated the formation here, reducing the number of sacrifices required from Han Jiang and the others.

Han Jiang subconsciously walked towards the center of the formation, but his right hand was grabbed by Cang Jingqi.

"Ah Qi?"

Holding back Han Jiang was Cang Jingqi's selfish motive.

Wen Xu stepped into the pillar of light first.

"Sister Wen!"

His warm expression was obscured by the bright light: "Don't worry, we're going home..."

As her voice fell, everything around Han Jiang seemed to freeze. Everyone and everything stopped moving. Even the magic circle seemed to have been paused and remained frozen in place. She turned her head, and Cang Jingqi was still looking forward, staring at the center of the magic circle.

At the center of the magic circle, Wen Xu, like Han Qi, had her body dissipate, but she retained a wisp of her soul, floating in mid-air like an invisible person.

Wen Xu looked over at Han Jiang, smiling, her eyes brimming with tears.

"The mission is complete, we can go home now," Wen Xu said softly.

A wave of sadness washed over Han Jiang. Finally, she could go back. She stood on tiptoe and kissed Cang Jingqi's cheek as a final farewell: Goodbye, Aqi.

As she was about to walk toward Wenxu, she suddenly realized that her wrist was being held tightly: Strange, was it really that tight? Why can't I break free?

Han Jiang tried to pry Cang Jingqi's hands off, but inexplicably felt them tightening, making her wrist ache. Could it be that Cang Jingqi wasn't being controlled by the system? That shouldn't be the case; he remained in the same position, his eyes fixed on the center of the formation, not even glancing at Han Jiang.

"What's wrong, Xiaoman?" Wen Xu floated over like a ghost.

The veins on Cang Jingqi's hands bulged as he gripped Han Jiang's wrist tightly. The two tried for a long time without success.

“Xiaoman, otherwise you…” Wen Xu said hesitantly.

"I want to go home," Han Jiang said firmly.

Wen Xu spoke a few words to the system, and Han Jiang's body suddenly became light and transparent, just like Wen Xu, making it impossible for Cang Jingqi to grasp her.

She took the hand Wen Gu offered, and together they floated into the air, rising from the Spirit Gathering Altar towards the sun above. The light grew brighter, and the scenery from the novel gradually blurred, merging into the white light.

She looked back at the ground, and for a fleeting moment, she thought she saw Cang Jingqi looking at her, meeting her gaze from afar. He hadn't moved, but his eyes were full of pleading, as if trying to persuade her to stay.

As the cold descends, I turn my head away, holding back my tears as I look ahead.

Goodbye, goodbye.

"We're going home, Xiaoman."

"Yes, I'm home," Han Jiang replied.

They are going home.