Under the moonlight, the radiance gradually faded.

After Xie Zhuo’s spell subsided, everything in the Snow Wolf tribe’s settlement became as chaotic as Xie Zhuo’s tent had been moments before. Tents, wooden stakes, pots, and pans were all scattered on the ground.

Some tribe members had already fallen to the ground, while others supported each other as they struggled to stand.

Xie Ling, swept away by the fierce wind, had fallen nearby. Zhu Lian came running from another direction, coughing. Having been injured by Xie Zhuo earlier in the day, he now appeared even weaker than usual.

Zhu Lian called out, “Mother!” and hurried to Xie Ling’s side, supporting her as she had fallen.

Xie Ling grasped Zhu Lian’s hand, both angry and anxious: “Why did you come? Your injuries haven’t healed! You…”

It was a scene of deep mother-son affection.

In Xie Zhuo’s arms, I thought about what Xie Ling had just done to him and felt an indescribable sadness. I looked up at Xie Zhuo and unexpectedly met a pair of eyes as deep as the night sky.

Xie Zhuo was no longer paying attention to Xie Ling and Zhu Lian. His gaze fell only on me, his fingertips wanting to touch my paw.

But because there was still blood on my paws, he didn’t touch them. Instead, he placed his fingertips on top of my head and gently stroked twice.

“Let’s go…”

As he said this, he truly began to walk away, heading out of the ice and snow forest, as if he genuinely had no more attachments to this tribe.

And the Snow Wolf tribe people maintained their characteristic silence at this moment.

I turned my head to look at them. Not one person stood up to speak or stop him. They all watched Xie Zhuo, some even with expectation, hoping that when Xie Zhuo left, he would take the entire tribe’s tragedy with him.

But the Snow Wolf tribe’s tragedy didn’t originate from Xie Zhuo at all…

As if to confirm my guess, when Xie Zhuo hadn’t walked very far, a faint black mist floated across the night sky above the Snow Wolf tribe…

The mist was like gauze, enveloping the bright moon, making the entire ice and snow forest suddenly feel eerie.

A cold wind carrying moisture blew in from the direction of the ice lake, and in the wind, I saw an aura all too familiar to me…

The aura of evil spirits…

It was like returning to that night when Kunlun fell, and I couldn’t help but tremble all over. I stared in the direction the aura was coming from.

Xie Zhuo and the Snow Wolf tribe people also sensed the abnormality in the air, and all looked toward where the aura was surging.

The wind gradually intensified, and the evil spirit aura around us and in the sky grew increasingly thick.

From the deep forest by the ice lake, footsteps slowly approached. The sound was neither hurried nor slow. A figure gradually emerged from the darkness, standing before everyone under the cold light of the moon.

“Chi…Chieftain?” someone called out uncertainly.

Ever since Xie Zhuo’s incident, after the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain ordered everyone to make offerings to Xie Zhuo and killed several disobedient people, no one in the entire Snow Wolf tribe dared to defy the Evil God’s orders.

Afterward, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain had been in seclusion by the ice lake, while the Snow Wolf tribe made daily offerings to Xie Zhuo, not daring to slack off.

And today, this chieftain had emerged…

He stood still, silent, with his hair hanging loose, his head bent as if he had no spine.

In the wind, I couldn’t hear his breathing, only seeing the turbulent evil spirit aura surging from his body, torn to shreds as it came into contact with this sacred land.

I remembered that Xie Zhuo had once told me that this ice and snow forest was the purest place in the world. Later, I also learned from Zhu Lian.

To resurrect the Evil God, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain had borrowed the power of mountains and rivers, gathering all the impure aura from this place, which had summoned back the Evil God’s spiritual consciousness that had been sealed by the gods.

So, this place should have been the last place in the world to have an evil spirit aura. If there was any… it could only come from that person himself…

It was he, continuously emitted a thick evil spirit aura from his body.

Suddenly, with two “crack” sounds, as if a spine was being pulled, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain raised his head. His face was pale blue, like a corpse, and his eyes were tightly closed. Only a black dot on his brow emitted an eerie red light.

Facing everyone, he slowly raised his hand and simply spread his five fingers!

In an instant, I felt a tremendous force descend from the sky, pressing my entire body directly to the ground.

Not just me, but everyone in the Snow Wolf tribe, including Xie Zhuo, was instantly pinned to the ground by this immense pressure.

The forest fell silent. Pressed against the ground, I heard countless Snow Wolf tribe members around, but not one could speak.

Xie Zhuo was also pressed to the ground, but unlike everyone else, he wasn’t flat on the ground. He was above my body, using his limbs and torso to create a space for me, so he wouldn’t press directly on me.

“Woo…”

I struggled to make a sound, and like other Snow Wolf tribe members, at this moment, I could only squeeze out broken gasps from my throat.

*Thump, thump, thump.* Footsteps gradually approached. Each step, in this situation, sounded like a giant drumstick falling in my ears, shaking my heart, and causing pain.

The boots stopped in front of me… or rather, in front of Xie Zhuo.

He paused for a long time: “My vessel, how dare you speak of leaving?”

Hearing these words, I closed my eyes.

Indeed, Xie Zhuo couldn’t leave the Snow Wolf tribe so easily.

He said, “My vessel.” He was no longer the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain; he was the Evil God.

The air was still, and everyone almost dared not breathe.

Under the immense pressure, the Evil God’s voice seemed to come from within everyone’s hearts, extending from the chest to the brain, filled with his voice:

“Snow Wolf tribe members Xie Ling, Ci Mu, Yin Shu.”

He called out three names, and I immediately heard three screams from not far away. Two voices might have been from those he named, and another voice came from Zhu Lian, who cried out with a broken voice: “Mo…Mother!”

I couldn’t turn my head. I didn’t know what was happening in that direction. I only heard the Evil God continue: “Who were you trying to contact among the Northern Wilderness main gods?”

No one answered; only Zhu Lian’s sobbing could be heard.

Now I understood that the Snow Wolf tribe wasn’t without resistance. They were trying to contact outsiders, to inform them of what was happening here, and also to notify the outside main gods that the Evil God had returned, but…

They had been discovered by the Evil God.

“Snow Wolf tribe, hear my curse.” With the Evil God’s words, the pressure around seemed to transform into layers of light, binding everyone. “From now on, those who speak will suffer the pain of having their hearts gouged out.”

As soon as the words fell, the pressure around instantly disappeared.

I was finally able to stand up from the ground.

I immediately looked at Xie Zhuo. After the pressure was lifted, Xie Zhuo’s body fell to one side. I staggered a few steps, walked to his side, and nudged his head with my own.

Xie Zhuo opened his mouth: “Xiao…”

With just that one word, Xie Zhuo’s face suddenly turned deathly pale, and he tightly clutched his chest.

I was stunned, and at that moment, countless Snow Wolf tribe members behind me cried out in pain. I suddenly turned around to see every member of the Snow Wolf tribe clutching their chests, rolling on the ground in agony.

Those who speak…

Will suffer the pain of having their hearts gouged out…

“I speak, it hurts.”

“My tribe, cursed by the Evil God, I speak and it hurts…”

In an instant, I recalled the words Xie Zhuo had said when arguing with me before. Each time he said such things, I was angry, each time I secretly cursed him as a dog in my heart, and each time I didn’t take his words seriously.

And now…

This was… actually… true…

I looked at Xie Zhuo suffering behind me, then turned to face all the Snow Wolf tribe people in front of me.

The Evil God, because of Xie Ling and the others’ resistance, had punished everyone.

But his punishment wasn’t simply preventing them from speaking, nor did he kill those who “betrayed” him, because I could see Xie Ling was still there, just a bit weaker than the others.

The Evil God had merely placed a curse.

This curse allowed the Snow Wolf tribe people to still speak, to still “betray,” but they would “merely” feel pain.

After giving the curse, the Evil God still looked down haughtily at the “insects” on the ground, watching them.

Watching to see if they could endure this heart-gouging pain.

Watching to see if they still dared to resist.

He wasn’t punishing; he was humiliating.

Humiliating the resistance that had persisted over the years, wearing down their will, torturing their dignity.

This Evil God was a complete…

Demon…

My heart burned with hatred, and I turned to look at the Evil God.

I had seen him in dreams, yet I had never truly seen him until today. Even now, I didn’t know what the real Evil God looked like. He always hid in different human bodies, residing in the darkest corners of their souls.

He was both “evil,” “despicable,” and “cowardly.”

What I was looking at now wasn’t the true Evil God either; he was borrowing the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain’s body.

This body could no longer contain his power. His entire body was hunched, and even though he had just cursed the Snow Wolf tribe, his eyes remained closed.

Of course, he wouldn’t let Xie Zhuo leave, nor would he allow the Snow Wolf tribe people to resist. He was the tribe’s true parasite.

As hatred surged within me, at that moment, as if he sensed something, his head turned slightly toward me.

Slowly, those closed eyes gradually opened.

Unsurprisingly, they were completely black eyes, the whites completely devoured.

I knew he was looking at me.

Then he raised his hand toward me.

I felt my body slowly floating up, drifting straight into his palm.

I thought that even with my former celestial body, I couldn’t have resisted him, let alone in this little dog’s body.

I was held in his palm.

The Evil God’s pitch-black eyes examined me.

I didn’t know what he could see in my eyes.

I recalled that before coming here, Zhu Lian had mentioned that the Evil God hiding in his body had fought with Xie Zhuo from five hundred years later, and then the Evil God recognized that the Xie Zhuo he fought didn’t belong to his timeline.

I didn’t know or couldn’t be certain whether, now that I had returned as a soul and entered a small dog’s body, this Evil God could still see through this body and discern my soul.

In the face of absolute power, I didn’t dare show any flaw. I let my body tremble, just like a dog truly afraid of heights…

I saw the dog’s face reflected in the Evil God’s eyes. He slightly narrowed his eyes, and my heart tightened. At that moment, a hand suddenly grabbed the Evil God’s arm.

Looking over, it was Xie Zhuo, his face deathly pale.

He gripped the Evil God’s wrist.

“Let her go…”

Those three resolute words.

All the Snow Wolf tribe members struggling in pain looked at him.

Some were incredulous, some still traumatized by the pain they had just experienced.

Even the Evil God slightly raised his eyebrows.

He hadn’t expected anyone to dare defy him, braving his curse.

And only I knew how many years Xie Zhuo had endured his curse. Only I knew that he had once read an entire book to me, argued with me countless times.

My heart was in turmoil, but to avoid revealing any flaw, I tried hard to suppress my emotions. I only pretended to be uncomfortable being held high, struggling in the Evil God’s hand.

I couldn’t let the Evil God discover anything unusual.

Xie Zhuo looked at my struggling form and raised his hand to take me from the Evil God.

But the Evil God simply leaned back slightly, evading Xie Zhuo’s hand. Then, I felt my chest tighten, my brain suddenly felt a rush of blood, and my throat tasted sweet…

With a “Woof,” blood gushed from my mouth and nose.

My soul quickly realized what had happened! The Evil God… had crushed this little dog’s body…

In my soul consciousness, the true little dog’s soul, which had been absent for so long, let out a painful wail.

My soul, connected to this body for many years, also empathized with the little dog’s soul. In extreme pain, I took one last look at Xie Zhuo, only to see his face shocked, his eyes bloodshot, his lips frightfully white.

He looked at me…

With my last strength, at the moment the body was about to shatter, I wagged my tail at him one last time.

With a “Bang” sound.

Blood splattered, finally warming his deathly pale face in the cold night.

My soul, amid the little dog soul’s painful cries, was forcibly squeezed out of this shattered body.

Following the blood, I surged toward Xie Zhuo. The blood remained on his body, while I passed through him.

As I passed through, I seemed to hear the sound of a breaking heart from within his body.

Xie Zhuo, don’t be sad, don’t despair.

I haven’t left, I won’t leave…

But my soul’s consciousness could no longer sustain itself. Having stayed in this body for too long, its sudden destruction also severely damaged my soul. I could only fall behind Xie Zhuo, gradually sinking into dark oblivion.

Before I completely lost consciousness, the only thing I felt fortunate about was that the Evil God seemed not to have discovered my existence.

But Xie Zhuo…

Xie Zhuo, who had experienced so much in one day…

How would he face everything that came next?

I couldn’t guess. I was irresistibly dragged by darkness, sinking into it.

I seemed to enter a dream, yet it didn’t seem like a dream.

A soul’s consciousness was far more bizarre than the dreams of a physical body.

I seemed to hear many calls, and also seemed to see the legendary paradise.

I realized my soul seemed to be on the verge of collapse, but without any physical pain. I even knew that if I gave up certain emotions I was holding onto, I would instantly find release.

Giving up might truly be much easier than continuing.

But I simply couldn’t let go. This might be what legends call obsession and attachment.

I wandered in chaos, unclear about how much time had passed, how long I had struggled. I even forgot what I was holding onto, but I just kept telling myself: Don’t give up, hold onto him.

Finally, the chaos dispersed, and light and shadow separated.

As a soul, I awakened once more.

I had no hands, but at the moment of awakening, I instantly remembered what I had been holding onto—

It was Xie Zhuo…

In my soul form, I had been hanging behind Xie Zhuo’s ear all along. What I had been tightly holding onto was his fluffy… ear… on top of his head.

He hadn’t sensed my presence, or perhaps had grown accustomed to it.

Now, Xie Zhuo was walking on the road, step by step.

Following his pace, up and down, the joy of awakening at this moment mixed with a bit of bitter amusement.

Xie Zhuo, you see, even in my sleep, I never left you. I just wonder if your ears have been itchy all these years…

I released Xie Zhuo’s ear and floated into the air.

Surprisingly, Xie Zhuo suddenly stopped walking. His ear twitched, and he suddenly looked up, glancing around in the air.

I was startled, watching him.

Of course, he couldn’t see me. He just unconsciously touched his ear and then continued walking forward.

As a soul… if even the Evil God couldn’t sense me, he probably couldn’t either, right?

I continued to follow him.

After a long time, I floated beside Xie Zhuo as a soul.

I didn’t know how much time had passed while I was unconscious, but I felt he was different from before.

Although his ears were still there, and his tail behind him, he was neither a child nor a youth anymore. His expression had become much more composed. At this point, he was almost identical to the Xie Zhuo in my memory.

I followed him to the ice lake, and it wasn’t until he stopped at the edge of the lake that I realized the place we had just passed through was indeed the Snow Wolf tribe’s settlement.

To confirm, I floated back to take another look.

The ice and snow forest was still the ice and snow forest, the snow was still pure white, but in the Snow Wolf tribe’s settlement, there were far fewer tents. This place was completely different from when I first came.

No one was outside the tents teaching children, and there were no busy adults.

Before, even though they had to make soul power offerings to Xie Zhuo every day, they continued with their own lives. Now…

This place had become like a…

Deserted village…

The Snow Wolf tribe had truly been drained…

I glanced at the tent where Xie Ling and Zhu Lian stayed.

That tent was still there, just much more dilapidated than before. People who had lost the will to live naturally had no mood to tidy up their dwellings.

As I was thinking, a gust of wind suddenly rose in the forest.

It seemed summer had come again, the time when summer flowers were blown into the ice and snow forest from outside. But this time, no children chased after the summer flowers in the forest. An occasional passing Snow Wolf tribe member, with numb and cold eyes, had no time to appreciate the rare brilliance in the forest, simply lifting the tent flap and entering.

I think I truly had been unconscious for quite some time…

I floated back to Xie Zhuo’s side.

On the ice lake, Xie Zhuo sat alone, just as he had many times in his childhood, so lonely in this place.

I floated past him from behind and saw him playing with something like an old wooden stick in his hands.

Looking carefully, I realized it was my prosthetic leg!

This was the prosthetic leg Xie Zhuo had made for me when I was a dog!

He had kept it…

I looked at Xie Zhuo, filled with heartache.

But now, I could no longer transform into a small dog to accompany him.

I looked into his eyes. Those eyes were still beautiful but had lost their former clarity.

Looking around, I saw summer flowers in the air. With no other options, I found a large flower and crashed into it, hoping to comfort him with summer flowers as I had done in his childhood.

Entering the flower was easy, but maneuvering it past Xie Zhuo’s ear and into his arms took some effort.

But I managed it all.

Just like before, I fell into his arms with a “poof” sound.

And just like before, he was startled for a moment.

But his expression didn’t change much.

He still held that discolored prosthetic leg in one hand, and with the other, he held the summer flower where I resided. He looked at me and suddenly spoke: “The ceremony is near.”

What ceremony?

I didn’t understand, but I was anxious. I didn’t want him to speak anymore; it would hurt him.

But Xie Zhuo seemed to have grown accustomed to this pain, just as he had during those five hundred years when we were married. I knew he didn’t like to talk, but I never knew that speaking truly caused him pain like having his heart gouged out.

“I overheard Xie Ling say that during the ceremony, she wants to kill both me and the Evil God.”

As he said this, I instantly knew what ceremony it was.

Xie Zhuo had grown up, his body had matured—it was the ceremony for the Evil God to take over his body.

And Xie Ling… still hadn’t given up.

She still wanted to kill the Evil God, including sacrificing Xie Zhuo…

From the flower’s perspective, I looked at Xie Zhuo and saw that as he spoke, his expression was calm, without any ripples, just like before, so composed that he seemed emotionless.

“I think so too,” Xie Zhuo said.

Just like when I asked him at Kunlun before, whether he preferred sweet or salty, left or right.

As if what he said wasn’t about sacrificing himself.

His other hand stroked the old wooden stick a couple of times.

“Tomorrow is the ceremony, it will all be over.”

He put the small wooden stick back into his bosom, then looked at me again. He gently flicked the petals and spoke to the summer flower, as if leaving his final words to the world…

“Thank you for bringing me luck in the end.”