“I am a princess of the Fengjian Clan. He doesn’t know that my blood can summon any Soul Collector. As long as I summon all the souls within the lanterns, the Soul Collectors will naturally extinguish. Even if he destroys all the soul artifacts, it will be useless.” Yusang spoke with a smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with tears she struggled to hold back.

“Harming the enemy by a hundred while injuring yourself by a thousand—why must you do this?” Huayi crouched down to grasp Yusang’s arm, her eyes revealing reluctance and pain.

Yusang opened her lips but could no longer speak another word. The suffocating pain in her chest made even breathing difficult. A heart-wrenching agony spread through her, and her entire body felt as if it were burning. With her last bit of strength, she pushed Huayi away, turned over, and plunged into Taiyi Lake.

The ice-cold water submerged her head. All the burning heat and chaos instantly quieted underwater. Yusang released her grip, allowing her body to fall freely through the water, while memories lost from before suddenly rushed into her mind.

Twenty-five years ago, at Taiyi Lake.

Yu Wensang sat by the edge of Taiyi Lake, staring blankly at the withered divine tree suspended above the water on the opposite side. Beside her sat Zi Feng, dressed in purple robes.

“Zi Feng, I want to see the divine tree bloom again,” Yu Wensang said, resting her chin on her hand.

“Unless you can gather all the soul artifacts and make the Soul Keeper Elder return, opening the Underworld Passage to ferry all the Fengjian Clan souls to the netherworld, and all resentment is appeased, perhaps then it might bloom again.”

“I will accomplish this. I’m already doing it.” Yusang turned her head, propping her chin as she flashed Zi Feng a confident smile.

When Zi Feng saw such a smile, she frowned and asked, “What have you done?”

…

…

“I found a way to ferry the souls of all the Fengjian Clan members. I opened that soul’s seal and had him reincarnate into the mortal world to be reborn as a human. Before long, he will appear with the Soul Collector, helping me find the scattered soul artifacts. I will personally watch that person who destroyed the Fengjian Clan gradually perish and receive punishment, avenging our clansmen and allowing the Fengjian Clan souls to rest in peace.”

“You cannot do this.”

“Why?”

“You just cannot.” Zi Feng displayed unprecedented anger and panic.

“Forget it, I won’t discuss this with you anymore.” Yusang pouted and stood up.

“Yu Wensang, I forbid you from doing this.” Zi Feng stood up and grabbed Yusang’s arm.

“You’re hurting me, let go, let go.” Yusang struggled and shouted.

“Tell me what you did.”

“I gave him the Azure Dragon Sword and the Soul Collector…” Yusang was speaking when, during her struggle, her foot slipped. Completely unprepared, she fell backward into Taiyi Lake.

Yusang opened her mouth, and a bubble escaped, rising toward the water’s surface. She looked up and saw someone watching her through the cold lake water, but they weren’t rushing down to save her—just watching. Then they gathered spiritual power between their fingers and struck it down toward her underwater.

Yusang’s eyes widened in shock. The flickering light underwater made everything feel so unreal, but when that spiritual power struck her and her mind became confused, beginning to forget things, she knew this was real.

“Ah!” Yusang suddenly opened her eyes underwater as if jolted awake, finding herself sinking in the ice-cold water. Huayi’s voice came from above the water’s surface, seemingly from a distant place.

Feeling something tugging at her feet, Yusang looked down and discovered faces emerging from the dark lake bottom—all familiar countenances: her clansmen, her brother, and her father and mother.

“Child, come down, come keep us company,” her mother beckoned with waving hands.

“A Sang, Father will teach you to write. Come,” her father called to her.

“Little sister, I’ll take you to play on the city walls. Come down quickly,” her brother also called.

“Princess, Princess, come down, come down…” Countless clansmen reached out their hands to her.

Yusang looked at everything below her and slowly lowered her arms that had been reaching upward. She turned and extended her hand to grasp her father’s and mother’s hands, sinking bit by bit amid their smiles.

Suddenly, a force from above seized her, forcefully dragging her toward the light at the surface. Yusang struggled, trying to refuse, desperately reaching toward her father and mother at the lake bottom, unwilling to leave. But she was still forcibly pulled away. Only the tears from her eyes spilled out, falling into the water, sinking until they vanished into invisible darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, Yusang was in a familiar pavilion—familiar pear wood tables and chairs, the azure gauze curtains she loved. She rose and went outside, pushing open the windows. What met her eyes was a profusion of flowers. Below the pavilion were patches of yellow chrysanthemums, blooming quietly in the mist.

In the center of the mist, there seemed to be a white figure holding a lantern. Yusang ran down barefoot, stepping on those flowers as she rushed over. But when she reached out to grab that person, the figure before her was suddenly blown by the wind and dissolved into scattered smoke between her fingers.

Then the thick mist gradually dispersed, and harsh sunlight shone down. She had to close her eyes and turn her head away. When she struggled to open her eyes again, she suddenly felt a chill in her chest, and something ice-cold rose from her chest and was expelled.

“She’s awake, she’s awake!” Huayi’s voice came through, filled with joy.

Yusang squinted and looked over, seeing Huayi before her, and beside her was a face of gentle, refined elegance—Bai Zhi.

“Let’s go home,” Bai Zhi said with his usual calm expression. Yusang leaned against Bai Zhi’s shoulder and slowly closed her eyes, while secretly clenching her fists tightly beneath her sleeves.

Half a month later, at Jiwu Mountain, Yusang Pavilion.

For a full half month, Yusang hadn’t left her room once. She remained bedridden, neither speaking nor moving, simply staring blankly at an empty wall.

Bai Zhi came to see her daily, sitting in the room for a short while, finishing half a cup of tea before leaving on his own. Huayi stayed with her constantly, wiping her face, feeding her some tea, and occasionally talking to her, sharing interesting stories she’d heard or strange tales she’d encountered in the mortal world. But Yusang acted as if she heard nothing.

Several days later, one morning, Huayi entered carrying some clear porridge and found Yusang leaning against the bed, staring blankly at the opposite wall. Seeing how much thinner she’d become over the past half month, Huayi felt heartbroken. She sat beside her with the porridge, stirring it with a spoon while saying, “There’s nothing on that wall. You’ve been staring at it for half a month. Aren’t you tired?”

“It’s precisely because there’s nothing there that I keep looking. Why is there nothing?” Yusang murmured somewhat deliriously, casually pushing away the porridge Huayi offered and getting down from the bed.

Taking a few steps, Yusang stood in the middle of the room facing that wall, thinking hard and muttering to herself, “Why is there nothing? Why…”

“What’s not there? What, why?” Huayi rose, placed the porridge on the table, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Yusang, also looking at the wall, but unable to see anything special about it.

“I’ve lived here for several thousand years and never felt this wall was empty,” Yusang said.

“If you find it too empty, I’ll go get a painting to hang there,” Huayi replied.

Yusang slightly parted her lips and suddenly seemed to think of something, but didn’t voice it. With a normal expression, she turned to face Huayi, smiled, and shook her head, saying, “No need.”