“A-Sang, quickly come to me!” Zi Feng called to her from across the water.

Yusang turned to look at Zi Feng but didn’t go toward him. Instead, she turned back to look at Yan Qige, her gaze earnest and careful as she asked, “You are Yan Qige, right? Just a mortal with rather good cultivation. You’re not the person who killed my father and mother and destroyed the Fengjian Clan. It’s not you, right?”

“A-Sang, listen to me, come over quickly.” Zi Feng beckoned anxiously.

Yan Qige met Yusang’s eyes with his deep, profound gaze, showing the same cold indifference as always, without any response. Instead, it was Zi Feng from across the water who answered her.

“He is the human emperor who led the army to destroy the Fengjian Clan years ago. Heaven punished him by making him half a Fengjian clan member, requiring him to depend on the last Soul Collector to survive. The wick of this Soul Collector is formed from the gathered souls of the deceased Fengjian clan members. When the lantern exists, the person lives; when the lantern dies, the soul scatters. The four Soul Keeper Elders are attached to four soul artifacts scattered to the four corners of the mortal realm. With the divine tree withered, the Underworld Crossing Gate cannot be opened, so the souls of the Fengjian clan can only remain in the Soul Collector. But once the Underworld Crossing Gate opens again, all the Fengjian souls in the lantern can cross to the underworld for peaceful rest, and the Soul Collector will lose its wick. He has been deceiving you all along, merely using you to find the soul artifacts, wanting to destroy them so the Underworld Crossing Gate can never be opened again.”

“Is it true?” Yusang looked up slightly at Yan Qige, her five fingers clenched into fists beneath her sleeves, unable to believe this was real. She waited for Yan Qige to deny it—as long as he denied it, she could be at ease. She would accept any reason, but Yan Qige remained silent from beginning to end.

“From when did it start? Or was it really from the very beginning that you planned all this? Every word, every action—were you deceiving me all along?” Yusang asked.

Yan Qige looked at Yusang with an indifferent expression, then lowered his eyelids slightly and reached out to place his hand on her shoulder. He moved his lips but said nothing. Then, before Yusang could speak, Yan Qige quickly placed a immobilization charm on her shoulder.

“Yusang, don’t blame me.” Yan Qige lowered his head and whispered softly beside Yusang’s face, then retreated several zhang away, raised his sword toward the sky, curved his fingers to form hand seals, and gathered spiritual power. Dark clouds began to surge in the heavens, and after a flash of lightning, Yusang heard the sounds of combat behind her.

…

Waves of spiritual power collisions stirred up layers of waves on the surface of Taiye Lake. Leaves from the Fengjian clan’s divine tree, withered for a thousand years, rustled down. This place hadn’t felt wind for two thousand years, quiet to the point of deathly silence, but now it was all broken.

A tremendous crash came from behind, followed by the sound of someone grunting and falling to the ground. Yusang’s heart suddenly clenched tight. Who was injured? Was it Yan Qige or Zi Feng? Yusang struggled desperately, wanting to turn around, wanting to call for them to stop, but she couldn’t even open her mouth.

Footsteps approached slowly, finally stopping behind Yusang. A hand reached over to take the cosmos pouch from her waist, then quietly departed.

“No, it can’t be like this,” Yusang shouted loudly in her heart, her chest heaving violently. She bit down hard on her teeth, using all her strength to try to prevent this from happening, but was still powerless. Finally, a mouthful of blood spurted from her chest, and she staggered backward. The yellow charm on her shoulder fell onto the surface of Taiye Lake, turning into a wisp of smoke and disappearing.

Yusang clutched her chest and turned around to see a purple figure lying beneath the Fengjian divine tree.

“Zi Feng!” Yusang cried out, stumbling as she ran over. She helped Zi Feng up and supported him against her knee, calling his name, but Zi Feng showed no response.

Yusang realized something terrible. She tremblingly extended her hand to probe Zi Feng’s brow with spiritual power. When she sensed this was merely an empty shell, she was so frightened she fell sitting on the ground.

“Zi Feng, don’t scare me. Wake up. I’ll listen to you. I’ll always listen to you from now on. Open your eyes.” Yusang murmured, her trembling hand grasping Zi Feng’s wrist, then frantically embracing his shoulders, but the person in her arms showed no reaction at all.

A crimson light swept by, and another figure appeared beneath the tree. Huayi appeared beside them holding her silk fan. Seeing Zi Feng on the ground and Yusang, she slightly furrowed her brows, walked over, crouched down to check Zi Feng’s pulse, then looked at Yusang with shock and helplessness, saying, “Young Master Zi Feng’s soul has been taken.”

“Why? Why did he do this?” Yusang held Zi Feng, tears rolling from her eyes, refusing to believe this was real.

“Why he did it—you already understand in your heart, you just refuse to admit it. You thought you were using him all along, but now it seems you were the one being used by him. In the end, he was just the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waits behind.”

“How could he do this? How could he? He promised he wouldn’t bully me anymore. He promised.” Yusang clenched her fingers, her nails digging deep into her flesh as she asked through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with tears that she held back from falling.

“Zi Feng warned me long ago to stay away from him, but I didn’t listen. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Yusang lowered her head and buried her face in Zi Feng’s shoulder. Huayi reached out to place her hand on Yusang’s shoulder, wanting to say something, but when the words reached her lips, she noticed something flash by in the tree and fell silent again with slightly furrowed brows.

Yusang continued holding Zi Feng, sitting dazedly beneath the Fengjian divine tree until the sky gradually darkened and Zi Feng’s body became completely cold. Only then did she slowly rise and help Zi Feng to sit leaning against the tree. She arranged his clothes and hair properly and placed his uncollected fishing rod beside him, making it look as if he were still fishing.

“What are you going to do?” Huayi asked, standing behind Yusang.

“Zi Feng won’t die. I will save him.” Yusang said softly, rising to stand upright. She closed her eyes and began casting spells and chanting incantations. She created a barrier beneath the Fengjian divine tree that grew above the water, protecting Zi Feng’s body within it. As Yusang’s magic grew stronger and stronger, a massive barrier formed beneath the divine tree. Yusang’s body began showing signs of dispersion, pain causing sweat to form on her forehead. Seeing she was forcing herself to cast magic, Huayi intended to stop her but was blocked outside a layer of the barrier by Yusang.

Yusang drew her hand through the air, and a cut appeared on her palm. She let her blood drip onto the roots of the divine tree. The tree made soft crackling sounds, and its withered branches began stretching like human arms. Then pink, firefly-like bright points flew from all directions. These points continuously flew up onto the branches, and upon landing, they transformed into pink flower buds.

The divine tree began actively and continuously absorbing Yusang’s blood. Yusang gritted her teeth as sweat condensed and dripped from her forehead. More and more pink bright points appeared on the tree, and the massive Fengjian divine tree gradually became covered with flowers. When the last bright point flew out of the lantern and landed on a branch, Yusang let out a muffled grunt and collapsed sitting beneath the tree. The Soul Collector appeared and fell beside Yusang’s feet, with only a single bean-sized flame inside maintaining the lantern’s light.