Chapter 77: Whistling Wind Blade Part 2

Ye Jingqiu glanced at Zhong Qing, who was huddled behind Xie Pingzhi. A pang of melancholy stirred inevitably in her heart. She nodded but said nothing.

Xie Pingzhi’s face lit up with excitement. She whirled around, grabbed Zhong Qing’s hand, and whispered urgently, “No arguments—go with the guide first. I’ve got a way out. Trust me.”

Zhong Qing let out a soft hum and clung tightly to Xie Pingzhi’s shoulder.

Xie Pingzhi dodged with the ferocity of someone burning through their very life force—the absolute limit of what a non-awakener could achieve. Ye Jingqiu positioned herself to catch her, now just under ten meters away! Xie Pingzhi gritted her teeth and charged, leaping into the air at the final moment—

Schick—

A faint sound of blade piercing flesh. It had to be an exceedingly small and thin quick knife—much like the one she’d given A Qing for protection. Only a blade like that could slip into the heart without triggering a geyser of arterial blood.

So Xie Pingzhi thought.

Her body, pushed to its breaking point, went abruptly slack. An overwhelming fatigue flooded her limbs, impossible to resist. She let the knife slip from her grasp and lowered her gaze to the slender blade embedded in her chest.

The handle was gripped in Zhong Qing’s hand.

Ye Jingqiu stared blankly at Xie Pingzhi’s crumpling form, her mind going utterly blank in that instant.

She understood now! Zhong Qing wasn’t here because she was Mei. The super S-rank Instinct—Divine String Melody—was far too potent. Even as an exotic beast, she had fallen deep into the illusion!

And Zhong Qing’s deepest fear… was that moment five years ago, when she faked her death and left Xie Pingzhi behind! She had been genuinely moved. This illusion was a one-on-one deathmatch between Xie Pingzhi and Zhong Qing—a fatal trap. One of them had to sacrifice her life. Whoever struck first would be the survivor!

Killing Xie Pingzhi didn’t violate her agreement with Ye Jingqiu. This was just another way to break the trap.

Xie Pingzhi slowly raised her head. In that instant, even the alligator swarms froze. Her voice came out soft as a whisper, as if afraid to disturb her lover:

“A Qing… what are you doing?”

The answer was obvious. Zhong Qing was no longer in human form. The fish tail that draped like a long skirt began to turn translucent, its jelly-like segments shifting and reforming into a half-real, half-phantasmal figure.

Mei. Zhong Qing, having shattered the heart-trap, could now reclaim her true name as an exotic beast.

With agonizing slowness, Zhong Qing withdrew the dagger. Her expression remained as gentle as ever. Softly, she replied, “I’m killing you.”

Scalding blood erupted like a fountain, the agony of death crashing through her body. Xie Pingzhi clutched at the wound with trembling hands, her voice hoarse. “So the reason you approached me back then… was for the Project Y?”

Zhong Qing nodded, her gaze still so soft it seemed about to brim with tears. “You’re not always as foolish as you seem. I did give you a chance, but you seem to like me a little too much.”

“So it’s my fault?” Xie Pingzhi mocked in a low voice. Her pupils slowly lost focus, dilating as her heart pumped blood tirelessly outward. The scalding red liquid poured onto the ground, blooming into a hellish flower of crimson.

This time, it was true death.

“Let’s call it that,” Zhong Qing said, gripping the knife hilt tightly. Her deep gray eyes gleamed with icy detachment, devoid of any emotion. “A-Xie, this time it’s my turn to bid farewell to the past.”

Xie Pingzhi closed her eyes weakly, as if resigned to her fate. Zhong Qing seemed to steel herself. With a slight twist of the hilt, she churned her lover’s heart. Blood gushed out in torrents, like a waterfall unleashed.

A pale cyan whirlwind erupted without warning! An indescribable, terrifying aura exploded outward in an instant. Xie Pingzhi’s eyes snapped open, her deep blue irises now shimmering with the glow of the wind element.

A long blade, sharper and more vicious than before, hurtled forward with crushing force, piercing straight through Zhong Qing’s heart.

It was the Whistling Blade—the one Zhong Qing had forged for Xie Pingzhi with her own hands.

Ye Jingqiu froze in shock. She looked up instinctively at the captain. Shi Zui gave a slight nod; no words were needed to confirm her suspicions.

Pale golden patterns emerged along the blade. The potion coated on the Whistling Blade corroded Zhong Qing’s heart in moments. This time, there was no blood to mark the rite of death. Instead, wisps of white vapor drifted upward, like the veil of a bride trailing ethereally behind her.

Xie Pingzhi’s eyes sharpened like honed steel, the peril of death from moments ago already vanished without a trace. The Shame Grace Domain expanded to its utmost limits, fierce gales rampaging wildly through the world.

“When did you wake up?” Zhong Qing’s face drained of color in an instant. She collapsed to the ground, realization dawning across her features.

“I never fell asleep,” Xie Pingzhi murmured. “I’ve relived this dream thousands—tens of thousands of times. The Divine String Melody summons only a person’s deepest fears, but for me, it’s long since become an obsession. Zhong Qing, you’re the true master of this dream.”

“So that’s how it is. You’ve stopped fearing this day long ago.” Zhong Qing repeated the words slowly. Starting from her limbs, her body began to wither, turning gray and transparent before collapsing into pure elemental essence.

“The Whistling Blade was coated with a special cinnabar powder. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have died so quickly.” Xie Pingzhi paused. “We knew all along.”

Zhong Qing’s eyes fluttered shut. She remembered that first glimpse of Ye Jingqiu beneath the water—how Xiao Qiu had swiftly pulled a sealed vial of pale golden potion from her pocket. She hadn’t realized then that it was a poison tailored specifically for her.

“Impressive. As expected of you two,” Zhong Qing said with a sudden sigh. Yet she still refused to release the knife buried in Xie Pingzhi’s chest. “But why wait until now to strike, Xie Pingzhi? It’s far too late.”

Ye Jingqiu’s expression shifted abruptly. Zhong Qing was right—it was too late. Even if this was all an illusion, Xie Pingzhi’s wound was irreversible, and Zhong Qing was about to die for good. Their deadly gamble had reached a point where there were no winners left!

“Because I wanted to know… if we started over, would you make the same choice?” Xie Pingzhi’s tension seemed to melt away in that instant. She gasped for air in great heaving breaths; the massive blood loss was already ravaging her lungs. These might well be the second-to-last words she ever spoke.

Zhong Qing let out a sigh. “Even now, you’re still lying… A-Xie, you just want to die with me…”

Xie Pingzhi fell silent.

The next moment, a guttural roar erupted—like the final cry of a cornered beast.

“What am I supposed to say? That you’re right?!”

Xie Pingzhi glared at the face she had traced in her mind a million times over, her voice raw with a hysteria Ye Jingqiu had never witnessed. “I hate you—but I hate myself even more. When I infiltrated the system, I knew you were the exotic beast. I knew you were the Zhong Qing from five years ago. I knew you were the one who killed me. And yet, I still…”

She broke into tears. Ye Jingqiu watched clearly as two trails of clear tears mingled with blood, streaming down A-Xie’s face and swallowing the faint ending of those final three words.

A long silence fell. The surroundings grew so still it felt like they had plunged back to the six-thousand-meter depths of the ocean.

Then Zhong Qing laughed.

“That’s truly wonderful.”

She said.

In that instant, the aether element detonated. A pale gray veil swept across everything—drifting water weeds, rushing rivers, silent forests… All color drained away, leaving only a pure, gray void.

Including the wound in Xie Pingzhi’s chest.

The world fell eerily quiet, as if time itself had rewound. Xie Pingzhi touched her chest in horror, only to find her damaged heart perfectly whole—no gash, no blood. Surging vitality and elemental power now pulsed through her veins.

Everything faded and vanished in a blur, save for the blade embedded in Zhong Qing’s chest.

Ye Jingqiu stared in disbelief. None of it made sense. She turned to Shi Zui and saw rare bewilderment flickering in the captain’s eyes.

“We are indeed trapped in the illusion of the Divine String Melody,” Zhong Qing said softly, as if explaining to Ye Jingqiu—though her gaze never left Xie Pingzhi. “But I’m an exotic beast, and more than that, a part of Chimei Wangliang. I can wield some of the God String’s elements too—like simulating wounds and pain.”

“Ye Jingqiu, once I’m gone, you’ll return to the Silver Hall. But you’ll face Wangliang alone then. She has three hearts—don’t get careless.”

Ye Jingqiu didn’t know what to say. She could only nod.

Xie Pingzhi panicked completely. “Wait—what do you mean, ‘once you’re gone’? What do you mean, ‘simulating wounds and pain’? Zhong Qing! Zhong Qing, what are you talking about?!”

Zhong Qing shook her head. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

Her body began to unravel, dissolving into pure aether element. But it didn’t dissipate. Instead, it surged straight into Xie Pingzhi’s heart.

“Wangliang’s power will return where it belongs. But the power of this body has always been mine to command.” Zhong Qing slowly closed her eyes. “It’s not much, but it’s enough to shore up Shame Grace’s weakness. From now on, you can use it without restraint.”

“I’ve deceived you for so long. The least I can do is offer some compensation.”

Xie Pingzhi shook her head desperately, but it was as if her voice had been sealed away—she couldn’t even force out a single “goodbye.” Zhong Qing’s world had plunged into utter darkness. She felt warm droplets splattering across her face and suddenly burst into laughter.

“This time, it’s truly goodbye, A-Xie.”

Her words lingered for a long moment before fading into the wind. Zhong Qing’s body turned completely transparent. In that instant, the illusion of the Divine String Melody shattered utterly.

Zhong Qing—or rather, Mei—declared Death.