White's Wish
The appearance of Jifutaro brought a suffocating sense of oppression. The pair of twisted sickles in his hands glowed with an ominous purple light, clearly imbued with a deadly poison.
"Senior Yiyong! Be careful of his sickle, it's poisonous!" Bai immediately warned loudly, his voice a little sharp due to nervousness.
Giyuu's eyes sharpened, his attack becoming more cautious and fierce. "Water Breathing - Seventh Form - Shizuku Wave Thrust!" His figure moved like a ghost, his Nichirin Blade transforming into a cold star, piercing Jifutaro's vitals, yet managing to dodge the poisoned scythe's blow with the nick of time. His movements were as smooth as flowing water, maximizing the flexibility and tenacity of Water Breathing, attacking while also perfectly avoiding any possible risk of poisoning.
At the same time, Bai faced Daki, who had just grown a new head and was pale and angry.
"Bai! You actually helped them kill me once!" Daki screamed, and the attack of the ribbon became more and more crazy, but there was less murderous intent and more pain of betrayal in it.
Bai swung the Sun Blade, the full-moon blade of Moon Breathing precisely severing the silk ribbon. As she responded, she gazed into Daki's eyes, brimming with anger and resentment. A scene from long ago surfaced in her mind—in the cold corridors of Infinite Castle, it was the ghost girl known as "Mei" who would secretly give her beautiful yet useless trinkets she had obtained from humans; who would awkwardly hum a tuneless ballad in an attempt to distract her when she was in pain from the experiments she was doing...
"Sister Mei..." Bai softly called out the almost forgotten name, and the knife in his hand couldn't help but weaken a little. "Do we... have to do this?"
"You were the first to attack!" Daki retorted angrily, but her attack speed unconsciously slowed down a little, "You were the first to destroy us!"
"You were the first to hurt my companions!" Bai's voice was filled with pain, "Tanjiro, Nezuko... They are as important to me as Jifu Taro is to you!"
In a corner of the battlefield, two female ghosts clashed fiercely, moonlight and silk ribbons intertwined, yet their battle felt more like a quarrel, rife with echoes of the past and the choices of the present. Bai knew clearly that she must simultaneously decapitate both Jifutaro and Daki to completely annihilate them. Suppressing her reluctance, she abandoned her pursuit of destruction. Instead, she used the exquisite agility of her Moon Breathing to entangle Daki, holding her captive in this corner of the battlefield, awaiting... that crucial moment.
She always kept a separate part of her gaze focused on the developments on the main battlefield.
The battle between Giyuu and Gyuutarou reached a fever pitch. Gyuutarou's poison scythe was uncanny and ingenious, but Giyuu's water breathing had reached the pinnacle of perfection. "Water Breathing, Form Three, Flowing Dance!" His figure transformed into multiple afterimages, deftly dodging the poisonous blades while searching for a chance to strike a fatal blow.
Finally, when Gitarou's furious full-strength strike missed, leaving a tiny flaw—
"Water Breathing·Type 11·Nagi!"
The ultimate tranquility suddenly unfolded, not for defense, but for the sword that was concentrated to the extreme! Yiyong's figure and the sword light seemed to merge into one, turning into a thin blue line that penetrated everything!
“Puff!”
The cold blade swept across Jifutaro's neck with unstoppable force!
Now is the time!
Almost at the same moment that Jifutaro's head flew off, Bai, who had been waiting for her chance, had a flash of determination and sadness in her eyes. The Sun Blade in her hand burst into an unprecedentedly brilliant moonlight!
"Breath of the Moon·Form 8·Moon Dragon Tail!"
The huge crescent-shaped slash swept across, cleanly and neatly chopping off Du Ji's astonished head!
The battle came to an abrupt end in an instant.
Bai did not look at the two bodies that were about to disappear. She quickly stepped forward, carefully picked up the head of Daki (Mei), and then quickly walked to the head of Jifu Taro, and gently placed the two heads together.
"elder brother!"
"younger sister!"
The two heads lay side by side on the ground, and their final conversation began. They complained about each other's negligence, accused each other of incompetence, their voices filled with ugly resentment, yet also revealed a deep-seated dependence and reluctance to part. In the end, all the arguments dissolved into uncontrollable sobs filled with regret and pain.
"I'm sorry...Brother..."
"It's my fault... I couldn't protect you..."
After endless arguments and tears, they finally reached a final reconciliation. The bodies of the brother and sister began to gradually turn into ashes and slowly dissipate.
Bai stood quietly by, watching this scene, her dark eyes filled with complex emotions. Just before Daki was about to completely disappear, she whispered sincerely:
"Goodbye, Sister Mei... In your next life, become a human."
When Daki looked at Bai for the last time, the anger and unwillingness had faded away, leaving only a trace of confusion and a little faint light, as if touched by these words.
As the last bit of ashes drifted away with the wind, the Upper Moon Continent completely disappeared from this world.
Under the night sky, all that remained was the devastation of the battle and the gasping crowds. Bai stood there for a long moment, motionless, as if silently mourning the last vestiges of warmth from Mei's dark past, which had vanished along with her.
Yiyong sheathed his sword, walked to her side, and without saying a word, he silently held her somewhat cold hand.
Above the ruins, smoke and dust mingled with the unique scent of Youguo's powder, creating a strange, decadent atmosphere. Bai and Yiyong's hands clasped tightly, their fingertips conveying warmth and strength to each other, as if they were each other's only anchor amidst the rubble of a life-or-death struggle.
Shiro surveyed the dimly lit, yet devastated, flower-dwelling streets, her dark eyes reflecting the prosperity of the human world and the filth beneath. She recalled the humiliation and suffering she endured as a human, Mei, and the despair of the courtesan Taro, spurned by the world for his poverty and ugliness.
"If... there were no such creatures as 'ghosts' in this world, how wonderful it would be." Her voice was soft, with a hint of fatigue and confusion. "But, Senior Yiyong, even if there were no ghosts, this world seems to be filled with too much ugliness and injustice."
She raised her head and looked at the moon in the night sky, which was covered by thin clouds and looked a little desolate.
"Sister Mei and her brother... they were once human, driven to despair by the malice of this world, and transformed into ghosts. They fill the emptiness in their hearts by depriving others of their happiness, seeking that twisted 'happiness'..." Her tone was filled with complex compassion. "When will this cycle end?"
A deep sense of powerlessness gripped her. She longed to become stronger, to protect others, but faced with the deep-rooted sorrow and tears in this world, the power of an individual seemed so insignificant.
"Can I... really create a world without sadness and tears?" She murmured to herself, as if asking Yiyong, or as if questioning her own heart.
At this moment, Yiyong, who had been listening silently, held her hand tightly with a firm and warm strength.
"The world is vast, and filled with sorrow..." His voice was low, yet as steady as a rock, reaching Bai's ears clearly. "One person cannot bear it all."
Bai was slightly startled and turned to look at him. Yiyong's deep blue eyes were staring at her intently, not denying her ideals, but showing a deeper understanding.
"But," he continued, each word carrying force, "we can protect the happiness that is within our reach."
His eyes swept over Tanjiro, who was taking care of Nezuko not far away, although he was in a mess but had a determined look in his eyes, and swept over the land that they had just taken back from the demons.
"Save those who can be saved, and protect the moments that are worth protecting." He looked back at Shiro, his eyes extremely serious. "Let's prevent tragedies like Tanjiro and Nezuko from happening again. This is what we can do now, and what we must do."
He raised his other hand and gently brushed away the dust that had accumulated on his white cheek. His movements were clumsy but extremely gentle.
"Your wish isn't foolish," he said. "Then start by protecting the world before you, and protecting... the people you care about."
These words, like warm sunshine, pierced the last layer of gloom and sadness that had gathered in Bai's heart after witnessing the tragedy. Yes, the world may be full of imperfections, and sadness may never completely disappear, but as long as there are people willing to protect, to fight, and to cherish the happiness in front of them, hope will never be extinguished.
She looked at Yiyong, saw the complete trust and support in his eyes for herself, saw the practical path he had outlined for her, and the heavy confusion in her heart gradually dissipated, replaced by a more determined and steady strength.
She held his hand tightly with her backhand, nodded vigorously, and a smile with tears in her eyes, but full of relief and determination, appeared on her face.
"Yes! I understand, Giyu-senpai."
She no longer dwells on the unchangeable past and the unattainable ultimate ideal, but instead turns her attention to the present that needs to be protected, and to the person who stands shoulder to shoulder with her to face the future together.
The night wind blew, ruffling the hair and clothes of the two people. On the ruins, their clasped hands became the fulcrum of each other's beliefs, jointly supporting their expectations and vows for the future.
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