Chapter 80: The Leaf Demon Reappears Part 2

For these past days, a certain emotion had entangled Wang Ya ever since she had fallen into that bottomless cauldron, shouting “Ye Zi, save me” amid the overwhelming fear and despair of plummeting. She didn’t know if it was Ye Zi who had saved her then. She knew she was human, yet she also felt she was the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon. No one was closer to her and Ye Zi than they were to each other—born from the same roots, sharing the same fate and origin. But through these days of trials and hardships, Ye Zi hadn’t appeared again. Wang Ya had pushed through everything on her own. From the moment she chose to enter underground to deal with her pursuers, she had hoped Ye Zi would help her. She wasn’t sure if she even had the right to ask for Ye Zi’s help. If Ye Zi didn’t, she had no right to complain—after all, one could only rely on oneself in life, not others. Yet deep in her heart, she harbored this expectation and hope. Wang Ya felt deeply conflicted about Ye Zi, a conflict that began the first time Ye Zi appeared before her in human form, gazing at her with eyes full of longing. She felt Ye Zi was approachable; in fact, she always sensed they were close, as if linked deep in their souls. Yet they also seemed distant—one human, one demon, separated for a millennium. Facing Ye Zi, Wang Ya sometimes couldn’t tell if she was Wang Ya or the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon.

Words that should have been as simple as “Ye Zi, help me out—move these roots blocking the city gate so we can pass” stuck in her throat. She had a thousand things to say but no way to start. She wanted to ask if it was Ye Zi who saved her after she fell into the cauldron, and why Ye Zi hadn’t appeared these past days, but she didn’t know how to broach it.

After a long time, Wang Ya still couldn’t speak. She wanted to wait a bit longer, to spend more time with Ye Zi.

Suddenly, a slight vibration came through her hand gripping the roots. She clearly felt the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Roots covering the city gate rapidly withdrawing, clearing the blocked entrance. Wang Ya’s hand tightened, gripping the roots firmly. She called out, “Ye Zi!” She saw the spiritual light drift right before her; she could even feel Ye Zi’s gaze fixed intently on her. Indescribable emotions welled up in her heart, making it ache slightly—loss, longing, a desire to be embraced, grievance—all surging together. She so wanted to ask, “Why didn’t you help me?” but the words wouldn’t come; her throat choked up painfully. After a long while, Wang Ya could only softly ask, “Am I Wang Ya or the Flower Demon?” She knew she was Wang Ya, but why did she have so many emotions toward Ye Zi, emotions that didn’t belong to Wang Ya? Wang Ya was human and had only met Ye Zi a few times—barely enough for acquaintance.

The Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Roots rapidly withdrew from the city gate, revealing the ancient gates that had stood there for a millennium.

A faint green shadow appeared at the city gate. It was a figure composed of countless green spiritual lights. As masses of green spiritual light surged into the silhouette, it gradually sharpened. A stunningly beautiful woman in a green ancient long skirt stood at the city gate, her peerless beauty in the green spiritual light hazy like a flickering projection. The spiritual light cloaking her body shimmered faintly, accentuating her graceful, ethereal poise—elegant and matchless.

Wang Ya opened her eyes and looked toward Ye Zi standing beneath the city gate.

Ye Zi, standing under the city gate, gazed quietly at Wang Ya, her soft eyes brimming with longing, as if she had waited here for many years.

After a long moment, a low, clear, slightly melancholic voice drifted into Wang Ya’s ears: “Feng Yuqin told me that even if your soul returned to roots and leaves to bloom anew, you and I would merely revert to a thousand years ago—flowers and leaves forever apart. But do you still remember the promise from a thousand years ago?”

Wang Ya asked, “The promise that flower and leaf would meet?” As soon as she said it, she saw Ye Zi’s eyes dim, as if deeply hurt. Wang Ya didn’t know what to say or ask—anything would be wrong at this point, right? She took a deep breath and posed her final question: “In my past life, was I truly the Flower Soul of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower? Ye Zi, tell me—was I the reincarnation of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon?”

Ye Zi asked, “Why ask me?”

Wang Ya took another deep breath and asked, “What about all those dead people outside? The people in the Azure Dragon Ten Thousand Coffins Array who were sealed alive in coffins and refined into living corpses, the wax-sealed living corpses in the Styx River outside, that Dead People’s Bridge cast from countless aggrieved souls and corpses, and the man-eating demon plant in the cave on the other side of the bridge—who was responsible for all that evil? The Feng Family, or the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon?” She knew she shouldn’t ask Ye Zi these things, but she couldn’t hold back.

“As expected, you remember nothing. You’ve forgotten everything.”

The blood drained from Wang Ya’s face. She cried out, “It was my past life’s doing, wasn’t it?” But upon saying this, she saw Ye Zi’s expression twist in pain, even tears glistening in her eyes. Wang Ya was slightly stunned: Demons could cry? She was even more baffled why Ye Zi would be hurt by these words. Because she remembered nothing? She called out, “Ye Zi.” Then said, “Sorry, I got too worked up. These matters—I should ask Grandma, not you.”

Ye Zi lifted her head, her dazed gaze turning toward the Bridge of Life and Death outside the city. She said, “Do you know why those people were on that bridge? Their nine clans were exterminated, and after death, they were sealed into the bridge. And you’re actually speaking up for them? Do you remember how miserably you died back then? You’ve forgotten everything—even whether you’re human or demon, even who you are!” She pointed at Zhang Qingshui and said, “You’ve brought Zhang Family people here—what for? To dig your own grave, to unearth you and my roots?” Ye Zi looked at Wang Ya in agony and said, “I cultivated diligently. I guarded your scattered True Body. I waited for your return. Yet you’ve forgotten everything—even yourself.”

Ye Zi’s figure dissolved into countless green spiritual lights that rapidly dispersed, and even the surrounding roots vanished completely.

Wang Ya knew she had upset Ye Zi again. From Ye Zi’s words, she realized the tragic deaths outside might tie to some grudge from a thousand years ago. Exterminated nine clans? No wonder there were elders and children. What massive crime warranted that? She hadn’t expected the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon’s past life to have died so tragically. Ye Zi had also said she came to dig her own grave and that she guarded her True Body. Did a Flower Demon have a grave? Hadn’t that Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon’s True Body been sealed in the Yin Spirit Scroll, later released by her and merged into her own body? Or was there more to it? She had only come to save Grandma—how had it dragged in all these ancient grudges?