As time trickled by, the frigid, yin-laden chill seeped deeper into Luo Wushuang’s body. Her steps, once firm with imperial resolve, began to falter and sway.
Despite the agonizing cold, she kept the woman on her back firmly secured.
Almost there. Just a little further…
Search again. Just a little more searching…
She had to find that gentle sister she had met in her youth. She had to find the woman who had smiled at her and told her that as long as she was alive, there was hope—the one who told her she must live on.
As the surrounding bloody mist and dark haze swirled into her, the clarity in Luo Wushuang’s eyes began to shatter, piece by piece.
Wisps of pale golden light drifted from her body. Her very soul was beginning to dissipate.
Yet, she remained obstinate, wading through the River of Forgetfulness to gather those scattered, fragmentary shards of spirit.
She didn’t know how long she had been searching. It had been long enough for the howling of the malicious spirits to fade from her ears, long enough for even the sound of the rushing water to go silent.
Darkness suddenly swarmed Luo Wushuang’s vision. A wave of profound exhaustion crashed over her, and she knew she had reached her limit. Her lips parted, whispering a final, jagged breath:
“What a pity… just a little more…”
Before she plummeted into the depths of the River of Forgetfulness, she summoned one final spark of strength. In the encroaching darkness, she carefully placed her sister upon the safety of the shore.
Watching the figure collapse into the river on the giant screen, Shangguan Liqian’s eyes turned a visceral, blood-shot red.
“You fool! Luo Wushuang, you are such a fool!”
The “fool” in question could not hear her, but Feng Liuli, who had been secretly observing her reaction, felt a flicker of surprise in her gaze.
Judging by this reaction, it didn’t seem like Shangguan Liqian was entirely devoid of feelings for that woman.
It seemed that in this lifetime, Luo Wushuang’s hope of winning over her beauty was actually quite high.
As Luo Wushuang was completely swallowed by the waters of the River of Forgetfulness, the giant screen flickered and vanished.
With the disappearance of the projection, the dark mist cleared, and Feng Liuli’s voice rang out again.
“She stayed in the River of Forgetfulness for too long. Her soul was damaged, and that is why she is in her current state.”
Feng Liuli paused, her voice taking on a clinical coldness. “Right now, it is merely weakness in her limbs. Soon, it will become a bone-piercing agony. Eventually, her body will no longer be able to withstand the resentment of those malicious spirits. Her damaged soul will begin to reject her physical vessel, and in the end, she will become a living dead—a shell without a spirit.”
It felt as though a massive hammer had struck Shangguan Liqian’s mind. Her face went deathly pale as she asked, “Is there a way to mend it?”
Feng Liuli toyed with the glazed cup in her hand, her tone nonchalant. “At the far end of the River of Forgetfulness grows a patch of Soul-Sustaining Colorful Leaf Grass. If you can retrieve a few stalks, I might be able to resolve your worries.”
Liu Yun, standing to the side, froze. Since when did Colorful Leaf Grass have the power to sustain souls? Why didn’t I know about this?
Catching the confusion in Liu Yun’s eyes out of the corner of her eye, Feng Liuli lightly tapped her toe against the general’s waist, signaling her not to ruin the scheme. With a half-smile, she added, “However, you must think this through. The River of Forgetfulness is not a place just anyone can cross. If an accident occurs, you won’t even have the chance to become a living dead—you will simply cease to exist.”
Shangguan Liqian nodded vigorously. Her expression was just as determined as Luo Wushuang’s had been when she vowed to find the soul fragments.
“Please, Nether Lord, send someone to lead the way!”
Seeing that her subordinate was still acting like a dazed statue, Feng Liuli applied a bit more pressure with her foot and spoke softly. “Liu Yun!”
Whether she was kicked back to her senses or simply startled by the command, Liu Yun hurried down the steps and stopped before Shangguan Liqian.
“Lady Shangguan, this way please…”
As the two departed, a triumphant smirk played across Feng Liuli’s lips. With a wave of her hand, the giant screen reappeared.
However, the protagonists this time were no longer Luo Wushuang and Shangguan Liqian. It was herself… and Mu Lingshuang.
The screen began to play a loop of her battles across two lifetimes with Mu Lingshuang, ending each time with both of them dying tragically at the other’s hand.
As she watched, Feng Liuli’s brow gradually furrowed.
That woman truly lived up to being the reincarnation of the God of War. Setting aside her individual combat prowess, the power she could draw out of a mortal army was a complete mystery.
Feng Liuli watched the scenes repeatedly. She couldn’t understand; she had clearly learned from the experiences of her past life, so why had she still failed so miserably?
She watched over and over as she was defeated by the Qi army and died by Mu Lingshuang’s hand. In her mind, she began to run through the permutations, calculating what she would do if she had one more chance…
On the other side, Liu Yun led Shangguan Liqian out of the Palace of the Nether Lord, heading straight for the River of Forgetfulness with a clear objective.
Seeing it on a screen was one thing, but experiencing it in person was another. Shangguan Liqian realized the Underworld was far more terrifying than she had ever imagined.
To reach the River of Forgetfulness, they first had to traverse the Road to the Yellow Springs.
As soon as she stepped onto the road, a sinister aura licked at her senses like the cold tongue of a serpent, making her heart tremble with instinctive dread.
But at the thought of Luo Wushuang, Shangguan Liqian suppressed her fear and followed closely behind Liu Yun, step by step.
The Road to the Yellow Springs was winding and treacherous, shrouded in shifting flickers of eerie green ghost fires.
In the distance, the faint silhouette of the Bridge of Helplessness stood tall, emitting a mysterious, haunting glow. It illuminated the drifting spectral shadows within the Yellow Springs and the malevolent, blooming Equinox Flowers lining the banks.
The blood-red petals looked like falling droplets of gore, carrying a grotesque aura.
At the end of the road, countless departed souls were being herded by cold, indifferent Underworld Guards.
They walked for an unknown amount of time until the dark sky seemed soaked in ink, leaving only blood-red “clouds” churning in a macabre dance. Finally, Liu Yun stopped.
“We are here.”
Shangguan Liqian looked in the direction Liu Yun pointed. Not far away, the waters of the River of Forgetfulness gleamed with a black luster, flowing with a sound like mournful sobbing. Occasionally, mindless soul fragments drifted out of the water, their mouths agape in silent, cackling laughter.
The surface was veiled in translucent Nether Qi. Distant, blurry ghosts darted through the mist, letting out low, hair-raising moans.
Everything before her was hideous and surreal.
But thinking of Luo Wushuang, Shangguan Liqian didn’t feel a single shred of hesitation.
Just as she took a deep breath, preparing to step inside, Liu Yun called out and pulled a small compass from her sleeve.
“This compass will guide you across the river to harvest the Colorful Leaf Grass.”
Shangguan Liqian stepped forward and took the compass. After offering a word of thanks, she walked toward the River of Forgetfulness without a second thought.
As she stepped into the water, a chill even more biting than that on the Road to the Yellow Springs slammed into her.
Endless darkness surrounded her; only the compass emitted a faint, pulsing light.
Gradually, malicious spirits began to lunge at her. Shangguan Liqian gripped the compass tightly, struggling forward under the siege of the vengeful dead.
The needle of the compass spun incessantly, dictating her path.
With every step, she felt the water soaking into her become even more frigid and piercing.
The parts of her body submerged in the river felt as though they were being gnawed on by countless insects, the pain burrowing from her flesh into the very marrow of her bones.
Before a groan of agony could escape her throat, Shangguan Liqian forced it back down.
She had only just stepped in, and it was already this unbearable.
Wushuang had carried her while searching these waters for who knows how long. The pain she must have endured was far greater than this.
She couldn’t give up. She had to save Wushuang!
[Xiaobai: Fighting Shen He—First battle, defeat! Second battle, defeat! We fight again tomorrow!
If we win, we eat crane meat! Meat! Meat! If we lose, everyone goes vegetarian…]*
