After hearing this, Heavenly Snake paused. A few seconds later, he felt this question sent chills down his spine.

Yes, if the “Calamitous Beauty” truly belonged to him, how would he use her to win a war?

The difficulty of this question was no less than when he had created the “Divine Beasts”—it was filled with paradoxes.

After all, according to normal logic, the moment one considered the “Calamitous Beauty” as one of their own, their camp had already lost.

So the “Calamitous Beauty” could never be one of his own people from beginning to end. She had to always remain in another camp, opposing him. Only this way could he ensure his camp’s long-term victory.

He couldn’t consider the “Calamitous Beauty” as his own, and the “Calamitous Beauty” also couldn’t consider herself as his own. Only by achieving this delicate balance point would the “Calamitous Beauty’s” existence be beneficial to him.

But Heavenly Snake quickly discovered other problems.

The “Calamitous Beauty” would cause one camp and organization after another to fail. In this long ordeal of tribulation and failure, how could he ensure she wouldn’t die in the process?

Joining a small team would lead to the team’s destruction. Joining an organization would cause the organization to collapse. Even seeking refuge with a “Zodiac” might invite a life-or-death gamble.

Under these circumstances, how difficult would it be to protect a “Calamitous Beauty”?

When encountering danger, if he chose to save her, she would become “one of his own,” the “Calamitous Beauty” would activate, and the entire camp would be annihilated.

If he chose not to save her, then he would be acknowledging in his subconscious that she was “not one of his own,” so the result of her “Calamitous Beauty” activating wouldn’t necessarily be beneficial to him either.

White Snake’s single question led Heavenly Snake into a prolonged mental storm, ultimately causing him to reach a conclusion—

That the “Calamitous Beauty” couldn’t possibly have been planned by someone, because the difficulty of actually executing such a thing was too great.

No matter how he thought about it, he should understand that even if that person had heaven-reaching abilities to protect the “Calamitous Beauty” until now and then send her onto the “Train,” how could he make her willingly join Qinglong’s camp?

This was an electrified chess piece. Every time he picked it up, he would lose a layer of skin.

So this was a coincidence—an absurd yet perfectly timed coincidence.

“A person who wants to seek refuge with Qinglong happens to be a ‘Calamitous Beauty’ who has just awakened. Explained this way, everything becomes somewhat more reasonable.” Heavenly Snake rationalized to himself. “In my view, there’s simply no one who deliberately led the ‘Calamitous Beauty’ here…”

“Hahahaha!” After hearing this, White Snake continued to laugh, but his voice grew smaller and smaller. Blood from various wounds on his body slid down with his body, falling into the endless darkness. “What a fine ‘coincidence’… hahaha…”

“Earth Snake… stop laughing! Do you know you’re really about to die?!” Heavenly Snake said somewhat frantically. “I’ll suture your wounds right now. Maybe you can still be saved… I really don’t want to wander here all alone…”

White Snake turned his face toward Heavenly Snake with what little strength he had left, then asked: “My dear teacher, look into my eyes. Do you still want to save me?”

Heavenly Snake looked carefully at those pupils, then his expression gradually became dejected. After all, reflected in those pupils was still thick killing intent toward him, showing no signs of diminishing even slightly to this day.

Even if he truly saved him, White Snake would spend the remaining time trying every means possible to kill him.

Besides that killing intent, there seemed to be something else hidden deep within his heart.

Heavenly Snake furrowed his brow, attempting for the first time to peer into what lay in White Snake’s subconscious. After a moment, he discovered they were some heartbreaking regrets.

Seeing Heavenly Snake remain silent, White Snake turned his lifeless eyes back toward the starry sky and said in a very small voice: “My dear teacher… I once swore to carve countless wounds on your back, then fill them with eyes, and finally blind them one by one, turning you into a monster like me. Unfortunately… I didn’t succeed…”

“Hey… Earth Snake…” Heavenly Snake gritted his teeth and still rummaged through the rubble to find a hooked needle and thread. “Don’t talk first… I’ll try to save you first… We can discuss other matters later. There are only the two of us left here… If you die… then I…”

He pulled White Snake’s arm and inserted the hooked needle, but the more he sutured his wounds, the sadder he became. An emotion of wanting to cry lingered in his mind.

White Snake slowly lowered his head, his voice somewhat smaller than before: “Also… I met a few good sisters and wanted them to join my ‘Mutual Aid Society’… That way they could regularly come find me to chat and talk… But they still haven’t agreed to this day… Is it because I’m a monster…?”

“Hey!! Don’t die!!” Heavenly Snake didn’t know exactly what emotion he was feeling—his eyes had already turned completely red.

Was it “mourning,” “sadness,” “regret,” “fear of loneliness,” or something else?

He couldn’t distinguish these chaotic thoughts. He only knew he was crying. He felt this might be the last time in his life he would hear someone speak.

White Snake slowly closed his eyes, his expression calm: “Teacher, I don’t want to be a monster.”

“Then don’t be!!” Heavenly Snake roared. “Earth Snake… first open your eyes…”

“But how did I end up being a monster my whole life…?” White Snake kept his eyes closed as a teardrop slid from them. “From the moment I was born… people called me a monster. Even after coming here, I’m still a monster. Teacher… when I met you, I thought someone would finally value me for my knowledge and talent… But I never expected you would personally transform me into another kind of monster…”

After hearing this sentence, Heavenly Snake’s expression changed. Whether from shame or self-reproach, he simply covered White Snake’s alarming wounds with red eyes.

“I really wanted to shed the identity of being a monster… Qi Xia told me… that in the end, he would definitely find a way to peel off the monster skin from my body… so I could openly and proudly embrace the people I love…”

He used his last bit of strength to open his eyes, directing his gaze one final time at his own pale, snake-skinned palm:

“Unfortunately… this skin is still here… Until my death… I remain… a… mon…”

Before Heavenly Snake could finish treating his wounds, White Snake gradually fell silent.

His expression was finally no longer sad. He just kept his eyes open, staring at his own palm, sleeping peacefully and quietly.

“Ahhhhh!!” Heavenly Snake shouted in terror through his tears. “Don’t do this to me!! Don’t do this!!”

No matter how he shook White Snake, White Snake only stared expressionlessly at his own palm.

In the incomparably silent space, only Heavenly Snake’s agonizing wails could be heard, as if echoing in the depths of the boundless universe, with no one able to hear them.