Chapter 108 Just a Pawn (The End)
The power of the inner demon had a slight effect on his mind. The difference in cultivation between Ren Yi and Xuan Wei was too great; the inner demon didn't even need to do anything further. Just that one sentence was enough to make him momentarily dazed. When the system's voice brought him back to his senses, Ren Yi found himself brought before Xuan Wei, his hand holding a dagger pointed at Xuan Wei's chest.
Xuanwei simply stared blankly as all of this unfolded, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Ren Yi stopped moving. The inner demon naturally noticed his awakening and looked somewhat surprised, but quickly smiled. "What's wrong? A-Que, don't you want to kill him?"
He continued to coax you with words, "Have you forgotten how he treated you? Forcibly raising your cultivation level, it must have hurt a lot, right? That person is back, and he completely ignores you... You hate him, don't you? You must hate him terribly. It's okay, I'll help you..."
Ren Yi?
He felt there was something wrong with the description of the inner demon; it didn't seem to be describing Yuan Que, but rather...
Ren Yi's thoughts were interrupted by the inner demon's actions. The inner demon showed no sign of refusal, and as it spoke, it guided Ren Yi's hand to continue thrusting forward. Xuan Wei's true form, however, seemed to be frozen in place, remaining completely still from beginning to end.
No matter how you look at it, Ren Yi could not allow his inner demon to kill Xuanwei's true form. If that were to happen, Xuanwei would be completely possessed by the demon.
Xuanwei was already this difficult to deal with when he was still the Emperor; who knows how difficult it would become after he fell into demonic possession? Moreover, Xuanwei's change of allegiance would have an absolutely catastrophic impact on the timeline of this small world. Even if Ren Yi wanted to make it easier for himself to leave the small world, he wouldn't just stand by and watch such a thing happen.
The dagger in Ren Yi's palm was being pulled forward by his inner demon with a force that seemed extremely slow but was absolutely irresistible.
Finally, the sharp blade pierced the skin and penetrated the flesh, drawing blood that added a faint, pungent smell to the already treacherous environment...
This seemingly insignificant change caused the atmosphere to plummet, instantly becoming tense and awkward.
Xuanwei's eyes, which had been half-closed, suddenly opened, and the inner demon that was holding Ren Yi behind him also froze abruptly.
The dagger pierced not Xuanwei's heart, but the back of Renyi's left hand.
Although Ren Yi's inner demon was aimed at Xuan Wei's body, it was not entirely under his control. Moving just one arm was still easy for him, and he blocked the attack for Xuan Wei.
After a moment of pause, Xuanwei was the first to come to his senses. He raised his hand and pressed down on Ren Yi's shoulder, pulling him into his arms. At the same time, he formed a sword with his fingers and unleashed a sharp burst of immortal power that slashed towards the inner demon.
The inner demon narrowly avoided a fatal blow, but instead of taking the opportunity to distance itself, it remained standing close, its gaze fixed on Ren Yi, and asked in a hoarse voice, "...Why?"
Ren Yi... how should I answer that?
He couldn't very well tell the other party that once Xuanwei completely fell into demonic possession, this small world would be sealed off, and he wouldn't be able to leave then.
Given that he is currently still using the identity card of "Yuan Que", Ren Yi is very suspicious that once Xuan Wei knows the real reason, the Fallen Demon will become even more unscrupulous.
As the inner demon pressed for an answer, Xuanwei's true form and the inner demon exchanged several more blows.
Previously, the original body offered no resistance to the inner demon's attempt to kill him, but this time their attitudes seemed reversed, with the inner demon's response visibly passive. In contrast, until his dissipation, he stared intently at Ren Yi, as if stubbornly demanding an answer.
Ren Yi: "..."
There's no need for that; he's unlikely to tell the truth anyway.
The demonic energy dissipated, and the entire environment of the Ninth Realm became clear.
Ren Yi's puppet body was still based on immortal power, and the surrounding demonic energy made him feel uncomfortable to some extent. Now that the demonic energy had dissipated, he felt much less oppressed.
Xuanwei carefully picked up Ren Yi's injured hand.
Ren Yi, it's not that bad.
This minor wound was nothing more than a case of "luckily it was discovered early, otherwise it would have healed in a while" for an immortal. At most, because the wound was now covered with demonic energy, the healing speed was a little slower than normal; otherwise, the wound would probably have disappeared by the time Xuanwei lifted his hand.
Sure enough, when Xuanwei raised his hand and brushed away the demonic energy swirling around the back of his hand, the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. After he used a little healing immortal power, in the blink of an eye, the back of his hand was completely restored to its original state, and no trace of the original was visible.
However, this was still a very big deal for Xuanwei. He murmured helplessly, "...A-Que".
Ren Yi figured the atmosphere was just right and this might be a good opportunity, so he asked the system, "[Xiao Yi?]"
This naturally refers to his previous proposal.
The system knew the gravity of the situation; after only a moment of silence, it reluctantly agreed, [...].
At the same time, it was determined that if it failed, it would definitely drag Xuanwei down with it and self-destruct at the last moment, so as not to let Xuanwei threaten the host.
Ren Yi was unaware of the dangerous thoughts running through his system's mind. After receiving confirmation from the system, he immediately leaned forward and hugged Xuan Wei. This was the perfect opportunity Ren Yi had just planned. After what had happened, it was perfectly reasonable for "Yuan Que" to worry about Xuan Wei. Hugging her for a while wouldn't make anyone notice anything amiss, and she wouldn't be pushed away.
Sure enough, Xuanwei froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around Ren Yi, seemingly having no intention of pushing him away anytime soon.
However, Ren Yi was in no mood to feel relieved at the moment. His face was pressed against Xuan Wei's neck, and from an angle where the other could not see, his jaw was clenched and his facial expression was uncontrollably distorted.
Forcibly separating the system brought pain to the soul. Unlike the previous disguises where the system could adjust the perception of pain, Ren Yi did his best to restrain himself so that his body would not show too much abnormality. In addition, the occasion was special. He had just experienced the incident where Xuanwei almost fell into demonic possession. Even if he was abnormal, Xuanwei would not suspect anything for the time being.
This "temporary" time did not last long. Forcibly suppressing his instincts caused his physical strength to deplete extremely quickly. Before long, Ren Yi was almost exhausted, and his muscles were spasming uncontrollably.
After his initial confusion, Xuanwei finally realized that something was wrong.
He thought it was some kind of aftereffect of the wound caused by the inner demon earlier, and anxiously wanted to check it. But just as he was about to support Ren Yi, he found that he couldn't move. A consciousness was fighting with him for control of his body. It was... the Immortal Soul?!
Thinking about his recent refining process, Xuanwei immediately came to a conclusion.
—Is it a backlash?!
But it just so happens to be at this time.
Having already been mostly delivered to the host, and having been forced to bind itself to him because of the fragment Xuanwei had refined, the system captured Xuanwei's thoughts and loudly spat out a "Pah!"
[Serves you right for bullying the host again! Now you know I'm not someone to be trifled with, right?!]
[I only have one host bound to me, what are you to me?!]
The system cursed inwardly, but with a sense of superiority, it didn't pass these words on to Xuanwei.
After all, communicating directly within the sea of consciousness is a privilege reserved for the system and the bound host. This person is a "thief"... no, a "robber".
Whatever it is, Xiao Yi is certain that he is not qualified to communicate with the "noble" system!
The system was cursing and swearing in the sea of consciousness. Although Xuanwei couldn't hear it, he could feel the anger coming from that consciousness.
—Was it because he hurt Aque?
Xuanwei made this guess in a vague way.
The consciousness within the immortal soul had always been very weak, never reacting so intensely before. This sudden anomaly made Xuanwei even more worried about Ren Yi's condition. In a moment of distraction, that consciousness actually gained the upper hand. Defeated in this struggle, Xuanwei's soul was forced into a deep sleep, but before being completely isolated from the outside world, she sensed a sudden surge of joy from that consciousness.
A bad feeling suddenly arose in Xuanwei's heart, as if he was about to lose something completely.
The sudden sense of unease made him extremely uneasy, and his soul struggled to break free from its shackles.
[Ah Que!]
With her last vestige of clarity, Xuanwei called out the name with all her might, as if trying to keep the person here, but she was suppressed by an invisible force and forced into a deep sleep.
In his hazy consciousness, he heard an angry rebuttal: "[His name isn't 'Xun Que'! His name is...]"
The following words were completely swallowed up by the darkness. In a daze, Xuanwei saw the boy frowning slightly at the name "Xun Que".
A Que... dislikes, even loathes, this name.
A question suddenly arose in Xuanwei's mind that he dared not ask aloud.
—And what about me, the one who gave me this name?
(postscript)
Xuanwei regained consciousness in a short time, but after waking up, he did not check his own condition, but looked at the person in his arms.
Although he had some suspicions, he still sat there blankly after confirming it, his expression almost bewildered.
All that remained in his arms was an empty shell.
A Que's soul disappeared, along with the divine consciousness within his immortal soul that he had originally intended to refine.
Xuanwei thought of the emotions he felt in his last consciousness, and he vaguely understood something, but he didn't want to understand.
The puppet's face was frozen in the last expression before its soul dissipated, like the relief of being utterly exhausted and finally finding peace, or the tranquility of finally finding its home. Anyone could see that this was its own choice.
A Que still chose to dissipate into the world along with the consciousness within the immortal soul, just like... when he jumped off the Execution Platform with a smile back then.
Xuanwei seemed to be enduring some great pain, and couldn't help but hunch over.
Even when he was just one step away from falling into demonic possession, the scenery constructed by the immortal power within the ninth realm was still maintained. But at this moment, everything around him was shattered into pieces by the chaotic immortal power.
Xuanwei floated in a chaotic void, but her arms remained tightly wrapped around the puppet, as if if she loosened her grip even slightly, she would lose even the body.
...All he could keep was this empty shell.
He couldn't help but ask in his heart, "Does A-Que really have no lingering feelings at all?"
All the past events flashed before my eyes, but in the end, I was fixed on that persistent question before the inner demons dissipated.
--"Why"?
Why did you block that dagger?
The unanswered question suddenly found its answer because of that unrefined consciousness.
The person A-Que wanted to save and protect was never him.
Even that final hug wasn't for him...
Having lost the support of his soul, the puppet could no longer maintain the embracing posture, but Xuanwei still held it tightly in his arms, stubbornly maintaining the previous posture.
The puppet simply slept quietly, as if it had never woken up.
This brief period of lucidity was but a fleeting moment in the Emperor's long life, so short yet so profound. It seemed as if his awakening was merely a means to shatter his hopes, burying them along with the illusory beauty he once shared... completely.
It seems that the person who woke up wanted to tell him that there was never anything between them, and that it was just a mistake from the beginning.
Xuanwei suddenly laughed, a dull and strange laugh that sounded like a sob.
The ink gradually turned into frost-like white hair, but it did not restore the original color. Instead, it turned into an ominous dark red, like congealed blood, which was the hair color of the inner demon just now.
Xuanwei slightly raised himself up, his blood-red pupils gazing at the sleeping face of the person in his arms, his hand, shrouded in demonic energy, gently caressing the puppet's cheek.
It doesn't matter.
He can gather the scattered souls together once, and he can do it again.
As an emperor, "he" was still too soft-hearted.
I clearly thought back then that I shouldn't let A-Que think about the past, but in the end I did nothing.
Next time, it won't be like this.
He will erase all of Aque's memories from the very beginning.
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