Ember
Jiu Che's personal journey to the Demon Realm border was like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating ripples of unease in Qi Yuan's heart. Confined to Tingxue Garden, her demonic energy sealed, she could only sense the impending storm from the increasingly solemn expressions of her trusted immortal servants and the growing tension outside the garden.
Half a month after he left, in the dead of night, Qi Yuan was in a light sleep on his bed when he suddenly felt a sudden, tearing pain in his chest without warning! The pain did not originate from himself, but rather seemed to be a resonance and tremor at the level of his soul!
She sat up abruptly, clutching her chest; cold sweat instantly soaked through her undergarments. A strong sense of foreboding washed over her like ice water, chilling her to the bone.
Jiu Che!
Almost simultaneously, the clear night sky above Qinglan Realm was suddenly shrouded in an ominous dark red! A vast and mournful aura of immortal energy, as if freed from all restraints, erupted from the border direction, and then dissipated rapidly at a visible speed, like a falling star, its brilliance fading quickly!
"Oh no! It's the aura of a Celestial Lord!" "Something's happened to the Celestial Lord!"
The entire Azure Mist Realm erupted in chaos! Alarm bells rang, and countless beams of immortal light rushed frantically toward the border!
Qi Yuan stumbled to the door, pounding on the door which was sealed by a powerful barrier, and shouted hoarsely, "Let me out! What happened to him?! What happened to Jiu Che?!"
No one responded. Only the more chaotic noise outside the garden and the lingering scent of him in the sky, like a dull knife, cut back and forth in her heart.
I don't know how much time passed—perhaps just a moment, perhaps eternity. Suddenly, the door to the side hall was flung open by an external force!
The Grand Elder and several other core elders stood outside the door, their faces ashen and sorrowful as ever. They looked at Qi Yuan with incredibly complex expressions, filled with hatred and resentment, but ultimately transforming into a helpless desolation.
"Demon Lord..." The Grand Elder's voice was extremely hoarse, trembling slightly, "Immortal Lord... wants to see you one last time."
The last time...
These four words struck like a thunderbolt, shattering Qi Yuan's last shred of hope. Her vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed, but managed to gasp, "Take me there!"
No one stopped her anymore. She followed the elders, transforming into streaks of light, and rushed towards the border.
The battlefield where immortals and demons once clashed was now shrouded in a sorrowful silence. The immortal soldiers spontaneously parted to make way for Qi Yuan, their eyes filled with hostility, yet also with a shared sorrow of suffering.
In the center of the battlefield, devastation reigned. Jiu Che leaned against a shattered boulder, his snow-white robes now completely stained crimson with blood, a glaring crimson that sent chills down one's spine. His face was deathly pale, his once clear eyes now empty and lifeless, devoid of any light. The vast, boundless immortal power that once surrounded him was irreversibly draining from his body like quicksand, stealing all his life force.
The fox clan's love tribulations are a matter of following one's heart to gain love, or going against it to become heartless. He tried both paths, yet failed at both. He fell in love, but deception and betrayal prevented him from achieving his desires; he cultivated the path of ruthlessness, but it was merely self-deception, ultimately unable to defy his true nature. The price of this rebellion was the complete destruction of his immortal foundation, the dissipation of his spirit, and the annihilation of his soul.
He saw Qi Yuan rushing towards him, and his unfocused pupils twitched slightly, as if trying to focus.
Qi Yuan collapsed beside him, her hands trembling as she tried to touch him, but fearing she would worsen his pain, she remained suspended in mid-air in vain. Tears blurred her vision, and though her mouth was open, no sound came out.
“…Here it comes…” Jiu Che’s voice was so weak it was like a whisper, barely a whisper.
"Why... how could this happen..." Qi Yuan's voice was broken and filled with desperate sobs.
With extremely slow, last bit of strength, Jiu Che raised his hand, his icy fingers gently brushing across her tear-streaked cheeks, the movement filled with endless longing and reluctance.
"The tribulation of love...in the end...I can't overcome it..." he said haltingly, trying to force a smile, but only causing more blood to gush out. "Going against my will...going with my will...it's all wrong...it turns out...my path...was already cut off..."
His gaze was fixed intently on her face, as if trying to drag her image into eternal nothingness.
"Qi Yuan..." With his last breath, his voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it was clearly etched into the depths of her soul, "Don't... forget me..."
The moment he finished speaking, his raised hand fell limply to his side, and his once clear eyes, which had reflected the stars and her figure, completely lost all their light.
He leaned against the boulder, his head slightly lowered, as if asleep. But the last trace of immortal energy around him vanished completely into the world like wisps of smoke.
The second son of the fox clan, Immortal Lord Jiu Che.
His body perished and his path vanished.
The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the mournful sound of the wind.
Qi Yuan stared blankly at his lifeless face, at the smear of blood still wet on his lips, and her whole world collapsed before her eyes. She couldn't feel her heartbeat, couldn't feel her breath, only boundless coldness and emptiness.
Slowly, tremblingly, she reached out and tightly embraced his cold body. Her cheek pressed against his forehead, which was gradually losing its warmth, and tears streamed down her face like a burst dam, yet she could not utter a sound.
He won.
He used the most decisive method.
Let her be forever...
I can't forget him either.
---
(Several months later)
The Demon Palace, the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
Qi Yuan sat high on her throne, her black and red demon lord robes trailing on the ground. Her beauty remained unparalleled, but the languor and mockery of yesteryear were gone from her brows, replaced by a chilling aura of endless grief and death. Her demonic energy was vast and abyss-like, stronger than ever before, yet her eyes held only desolation.
She caressed a crystal-clear shard of glass, shrouded in a faint aura of immortality—it was a fragment of a magical artifact that the fox clan had found close to Jiu Che's body when sorting through his belongings. It was said to be a fragment of a magical artifact that he had tried to forge for her but failed to complete, and it was the only, cold proof of their past.
One of the demon generals was reporting military intelligence, his voice booming: "...Your Majesty, since the fall of Jiu Che, the morale of the immortal race has been greatly dampened. Our army has conquered three realms in succession. Should we press our advantage and strike directly at Qinglan?"
Qi Yuan raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping past the demon general and looking towards the empty distance outside the palace, as if she could see through layers of demonic barriers the fairyland that he once protected, which was now no longer related to her.
After a long silence, she withdrew her gaze, her voice calm and even, yet carrying an absolute pressure that made even the most powerful demons tremble:
"No need."
"Pass down the order,"
"The Demon Clan... Cease hostilities."
The demon general looked up in astonishment, completely bewildered.
Qi Yuan stopped explaining and slowly tightened his grip on the shard of glass in his hand, the cold edges piercing his palm.
He wouldn't want to see that.
And she...
Her tribulation
It has long since vanished along with that person.
It burned into cold embers.
It will never perish.
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