Devilish Disciple [Transmigration] 87

Chapter 87: She Couldn’t Bear It

The journey from the Demon Realm to the North Sea was far longer than she had anticipated.

Her body, weak and exhausted, felt both heavy and light, carried by a force beyond her control, like a moth drawn to a flame, towards a predetermined end.

She told Si Qinglan about the distant past,

The first time she could freely speak of what she knew.

Si Qinglan listened in silence, relentlessly guiding them towards the North Sea.

The system counted down the remaining time, and Li Yu’s heart felt numb, her emotions frozen like the eternal snow of that endless night.

The resentment in the human realm seemed even stronger than when she and Mu Tao left Mount Chao Yao.

She remembered Qing Nü’s words.

As long as there was obsession and resentment in the world, the Heavenly Demon would exist.

Like the gathering and scattering of clouds, cyclical, inevitable.

Four thousand years ago, it had gathered.

And four thousand years later, it was gathering again.

In the author’s original outline, was the true ending of Demon Bone…the protagonist dispersing it once more?

Li Yu didn’t know why she was even considering this; the answer was meaningless to her.

She was once just an observer, foolishly believing she could change the characters’ fates based on a predetermined script.

But now, she was trapped within the story, unable to escape.

Perhaps there truly was an invisible force, manipulating the threads of fate, but she didn’t believe it was the author.

The author’s world had already collapsed, the puppets rebelling against their predetermined roles.

Her arrival here, perhaps also a part of that rebellion.

When everyone strived for their own desires, a broken world could be reborn.

No one in this world should be a mere puppet, and she wasn’t a puppeteer either.

So, the original ending didn’t matter; what mattered was how far she could go with her remaining strength.

The system had said it wouldn’t interfere with her choices anymore.

So, regardless of the novel’s intended ending, she would follow her own heart.

But she didn’t know what to do.

Si Qinglan had said that when Weisheng Xuanzhu left Mount Chao Yao, he took Mo Yichu with him.

Whether for amplifying a formation or gathering resentment, a Heavenly Soul Yang Spirit was the perfect catalyst.

And that was his disciple, the child he had raised. Taking him meant he was willing to use everything, sacrifice everything, to achieve his goal.

Such obsession could lead to ruin.

She, Mu Tao, Weisheng Xuanzhu, all existing in the same time period, yet their paths never truly crossed.

Because the North Sea four thousand years ago, one had never been there, one had forgotten, and the last one remained, alone, in that lightless sea.

All he wanted was the truth, the truth that could clear Qing Nü’s name.

For that truth, he strayed from the righteous path, committed unforgivable acts.

Qing Nü had said that actions had consequences, regardless of the reason.

But what would his consequences be?

She looked at Si Qinglan and asked the question Qing Nü had once asked her.

“Si Qinglan, will you…hate him?”

“Hate is a strong word, it’s just…an unavoidable tribulation.” Si Qinglan said in a low voice. “As long as resentment exists in the human realm, the Heavenly Demon will eventually be revived, whether today or a thousand years from now.”

“But the one who brought this about earlier…seems to be me…” Li Yu sighed softly. “I went to the past, took the Heavenly Mirror, took Mu Tao, and also took away the truth he seeks.”

The more she thought about it, the more she felt responsible.

If only she had found a way to give him a hint, without changing the future…

“Li Yu, stop blaming yourself.” Si Qinglan frowned slightly. “You’ve done your best.”

She said, the Three Realms were vast, all beings countless, how could the burden of the world rest on a single person’s shoulders?

Even when Qing Nü sacrificed herself, the goddess Yetan and the other gods and immortals were needed to seal the Heavenly Demon.

“The Jinxu Gui’s power is difficult to control, a single misstep could have irreversible consequences. Not being able to change the past isn’t your fault.” Si Qinglan’s tone turned serious. “Besides, we still have a chance to stop this, precisely because you’ve already changed the past.”

Li Yu was momentarily stunned, then a sense of relief washed over her.

Si Qinglan was right; she had changed things, her very presence here had already altered the course of events.

She had nothing to fear.

This was her final mission; regardless of the outcome, the story would end.

The night in the North Sea was dark.

Without the Heavenly Mirror, only a suffocating blackness remained.

Her protective aura couldn’t pierce through the darkness; she couldn’t see the path behind her, nor the path ahead.

The howling wind and crashing waves echoed around her.

She couldn’t even see the surface of the sea, only the swirling snow.

And then, the darkness was illuminated by a sudden burst of starlight.

Li Yu, startled, felt a momentary sense of disorientation.

She saw a fleeting image of that scene from four thousand years ago.

The massive formation of stars, once again illuminating the eternal night.

Below the stars, a vast expanse of ice, larger than that solitary island, like a giant, misty mirror, reflecting the starlight, a dreamlike shimmer.

A black flame, like smoke, erupted from within the icy blue light of the formation.

The resentment in the world converged towards it.

“The seal on the Upper Spirit Lamp is broken!” Si Qinglan’s heart sank as she froze outside the formation.

Too late?

She stared at the scene, at the burning stars, at the swirling resentment,

Forming a blood-red sea in the sky.

The wind howled, and lightning flashed, thunder rumbling.

Blood-red lightning, like writhing dragons, threatened to shatter the silent night.

She hadn’t witnessed this four thousand years ago.

Now, seeing it with her own eyes, she felt insignificant, like a speck of dust, powerless against the might of the heavens.

But a slender figure rushed forward from behind her.

“Li Yu! Don’t go!”

Li Yu was too weak; the formation, the Heavenly Demon’s power, even the surging resentment, could destroy her.

Si Qinglan instinctively tried to stop her, but as she reached out, she saw the unwavering resolve in Li Yu’s eyes as she turned to look at her.

And within those deep blue eyes, a faint smile.

“At this point…what’s left to lose?”

Li Yu’s soft words, almost a sigh, held an unshakeable determination. “Besides…I don’t have much left anyway…”

Without hesitation, she ran towards the formation.

Her remaining spiritual energy flowed into the Heavenly Mirror in her hand.

The long-absent moonlight bathed the North Sea once more.

The swirling stars within the formation faltered under the moonlight.

The Heavenly Mirror, an illusion, a void.

And illusions could take many forms.

Above the ice, beneath the sea of resentment, where the moonlight and starlight intertwined, a floating island slowly materialized.

A hazy, dreamlike image, as if a gentle breeze could make it disappear.

The shifting light and shadows momentarily distracted the cultivators maintaining the formation, and Li Yu slipped through.

Stars and moonlight, black flames and a sea of resentment, a grotesque scene.

Li Yu looked towards the center of the formation.

The figure in red, trapped within the black flames, struggling, being consumed by the surging resentment.

Li Yu’s heart ached as she met his gaze.

She had always thought his eyes were like a frozen pond, cold, emotionless, reflecting nothing.

But even an abyss, at some point, must have reflected the moonlight.

And the moonlight illuminating that darkness, like the moon above the North Sea four thousand years ago.

And she saw, in his eyes, confusion, uncertainty…

…and perhaps even a flicker of hesitation.

“Xuanzhu, I’ll tell you the truth you seek…”

“Stop now, while there’s still time…don’t do something you’ll regret.”

Her soft words, carried by the wind and snow, reached his ears.

The moonlight, almost swallowed by the sea of resentment, illuminated the unwavering obsession in his eyes.

Li Yu activated the Heavenly Mirror once more.

The distant past, a kaleidoscope of memories, finally revealed itself through the moonlight, amidst the resentment that threatened to engulf the stars, the long-hidden truth of that snowy night.

He stared at the images swirling before him, his eyes unfocused.

The black flames threatened to consume the world.

Li Yu took the Upper Spirit Lamp.

She flew to Mu Tao’s side and gently held her close.

The black flames instantly enveloped her, threatening to freeze her heart, steal her breath.

Resentment surged through her, flowing into Mu Tao.

Everything felt familiar, yet far more dangerous than before.

Was this…the end?

The system only said she had to survive until the end, not that she couldn’t die at the end.

The Upper Spirit Lamp had a strong binding effect on the Heavenly Demon. The Soul Seed hadn’t fully merged with Mu Tao yet; perhaps she could draw it into herself.

She would bear the burden of all this resentment.

This time, she thought, let me be the Heavenly Demon.

Once the mission was completed, she could go home…

This world could continue without her; Si Qinglan could surely handle the rest.

Li Yu, with her remaining strength, activated the Upper Spirit Lamp.

A deep blue light glowed from her palm.

The icy blue flame, like a heartbeat, flickered back to life.

The light pierced through the vast resentment, a brilliant beacon in the darkness.

She held the unconscious girl close, absorbing the world’s resentment.

A strange, terrifying power slowly consumed her senses.

She heard the whispers of her deepest desires, a coldness spreading through her heart, her very being.

【Warning! Warning!】

【The host’s consciousness is being corrupted by the Heavenly Demon!】

【The system is resisting with all its power! The host must find a way to escape this danger!】

So this was the Heavenly Demon?

—It can be you, me, a desperate soul, or someone consumed by ambition…

—It’s like the gathering and scattering of clouds, cyclical, inevitable…

—Now…it’s gathering again.

—Someone has to disperse it.

Why couldn’t that someone…be her?

She came here to change this.

But…

“Someone still owes me a lifetime of meals,” she whispered, her remaining strength barely enough for a gentle kiss on Mu Tao’s cold forehead.

“But…just forget about it, I’m not exactly…known for keeping my promises…”

A lifetime of meals…

She wasn’t that picky; perhaps a few takeouts would be enough compensation.

She couldn’t bear to watch the child she had abandoned, again and again, become the true Heavenly Demon, rejected by the world…