The young emperor had a crush on the female general since childhood, and his gaze was always fixed on her, never leaving her.
He wanted her to be his empress, to share the vast empire with him.
But he also knew that the female general's ambitions lay elsewhere. She did not want to be confined to the small space of the palace like a caged bird; she wanted to conquer battlefields and soar through the world.
The young emperor granted her wish and set her free. She promised him that she would take good care of him, guard his territory for the rest of her life, and return alive to bring him special products from the border.
But in the end, she broke her promise and remained on the border forever.
......
A tear rolled down Ruan Xiyan's cheek. All these memories ended tragically. They were just unrelated memories, so why did she, a mere passerby, feel so deeply moved and heartbroken?
"Ayan, what's wrong? Wake up." Junyu's voice came from beside her.
Ruan Xiyan opened her eyes. At this moment, they were standing in the very middle of the Mingchuan Bridge.
Jun Yu wiped away the tears from Ruan Xiyan's eyes. "Ayan, are you affected by some memories in the River Styx?"
"I don't know what happened. I clearly guarded my mind, so why could those memories still creep into my head?" Ruan Xiyan asked in confusion. "And those memories felt so real, A-Yu, do you think those scenes really happened?"
Jun Yu didn't know what Ruan Xiyan had seen, nor could he figure out the specifics.
He was unaffected by these resentful memories, and he held Ayan's hand the whole time, so Ayan shouldn't have gotten lost in these memories.
"Ayan, let's cross the Mingchuan Bridge first."
Ruan Xiyan felt the warmth emanating from her hands and continued walking forward with Jun Yu. Despite the constant roars around them, she felt at ease, as if she had experienced this scene before.
After that, Ruan Xiyan did not see any other memories. She did not know how long they walked on the Mingchuan Bridge before they finally reached the end of the bridge.
Just as she was about to step off the Mingchuan Bridge, something gathered in the river, and finally a wisp of white light floated out of the water. That wisp of white light unexpectedly burrowed into her brow.
"Ayan!" Junyu called out anxiously.
What was that wisp of white light just now? It was able to ignore his power and directly penetrate Ayan's body.
Ruan Xiyan touched her brow and felt no discomfort.
Looking at Jun Yu's worried face, she was about to say that everything was fine when a strange memory flooded into her mind.
A flood of memories overwhelmed her, causing a splitting headache, and she cried out in pain.
Jun Yu quickly helped Ruan Xiyan up, "Ayan."
He probed her body with the power in his hand, and found no problems whatsoever.
Ruan Xiyan grasped Jun Yu's hand and looked up at him abruptly, "It's you, it's always been you."
As the white light thread entered her brow, the memory of seeing a human face on the Bridge of the Underworld suddenly became clear.
She could clearly see what the people in those memories looked like, whether they were childhood sweethearts, a master and his disciple, a demoness and a Taoist priest, a female general and an emperor...
They are both her and Ayu!
"Ayan, did you remember something?"
Ruan Xiyan stared intently at Jun Yu. "I heard Yuan say that in my past life in the Demon Clan, my soul and essence were destroyed. I could not survive, let alone be reincarnated. I would simply disappear completely from the world."
"But why am I able to become the current Ruan Xiyan, and why can I see memories of my previous lives? A Yu, what exactly did you do?"
"You went to the underworld before, was it because of me?" Ruan Xiyan asked the question that had been on her mind.
Jun Yu's pupils trembled slightly. "Ayan, you remember everything."
Ruan Xiyan shook her head, "I only saw some fragments of memories from previous lives. The main characters in those memories were you and me, Ayu. Don't hide it from me, I want to know why I, whose soul essence has dissipated, can stand here perfectly fine now."
Although she hasn't recovered her memories of the demons, the thought of them makes her feel a heavy weight on her heart, a feeling that makes her desperately want to know the truth.
Seeing Ruan Xiyan's stubborn gaze, determined to get the reason, Jun Yu sighed.
If possible, he didn't want Ayan to know what he had done, worried that it would burden her.
But he knew he couldn't hide it from Ayan, because as Ayan gradually regained her memories, she would eventually find out the truth; it was just a matter of time. However, he didn't expect that day to come so soon.
“Ayan, you want to know? Okay, I’ll tell you.”
“Back then, your soul dissipated into the world. I didn’t want you to leave like this, so I went to the underworld and made a deal with the Lord of the Underworld.”
"Your soul essence is scattered and severely broken, and cannot be reassembled unless someone uses their own soul essence to nurture your broken soul essence."
"I will deliberately tear apart my soul essence and use the fragments of my soul essence to accompany you through your reincarnations and tribulations, thereby enhancing the power of your soul essence."
"Since Ayan has seen the memories of those lifetimes, she must know that those lifetimes all ended in tragedy. In those lifetimes of reincarnation in countless worlds, Ayan's soul essence was incomplete."
"So no matter what, she will not live past her prime and is destined to die young. At the end of each life, Ayan's soul essence will gather a little bit, until this life, Ayan's soul essence has completely reunited."
Although Jun Yu spoke only briefly, it brought tears to Ruan Xiyan's eyes. He spoke simply, but she understood the hardship and pain behind it.
Soul essence is the origin of the soul. Some powerful beings at the Immortal Saint realm or above can condense soul essence within their bodies.
As long as the soul remains intact, even if the physical body is destroyed, one can still roam freely between heaven and earth, and may even have the opportunity to reassemble a physical body.
Soul essence is such an important existence that others would cherish and protect it without time, but A Yu tore her soul essence into countless fragments to accompany her through tribulations in life after life, repairing her soul essence.
The pain of having her soul essence torn apart was unimaginable to her.
"You idiot." Ruan Xiyan hugged Jun Yu, her eyes stinging.
"Are you stupid? But I think it's all worth it to bring Ayan back. Even if it costs me my life, I would do it willingly." Jun Yu pulled Ruan Xiyan into his arms and gently patted her back to help her calm down.
"Ah Yu, I want to remember the past, I want to remember what happened in the Demon Realm." Ruan Xiyan looked at Jun Yu.
She felt it was unfair, unfair to A-Yu. A-Yu remembered everything, guarding all their memories alone, doing so much for her, while she herself remembered nothing.
Jun Yu placed a tender kiss on Ruan Xiyan's forehead. "Ayan, don't rush, take your time. You'll remember eventually."
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