Chapter 1165

That is an incredibly long road; I've heard too much talk about death—"Life finds meaning in death," "All things move forward because of endings"—it seems the world's darkest, most frightening shadow, and everyone talks about its weight, either resisting it, worshipping it, or standing in awe.

An unknown titan—how did it become humanity's deepest fear? Why does it haunt my dreams?

To find an answer to this question, I keep traveling—first fleeing, then seeking, and now I wonder: is my touch, my embrace, not just something that takes away?

But it can also leave something behind.

—— (just an em dash line)

The Valkyrie of the End.

... What a good child!

In the gods' VIP lounge, Shakyamuni lounges on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, a lollipop in his mouth, watching together with the other gods as Yaksha's past unfolds.

Even though she possesses such violent power, her heart is incredibly gentle and kind—she'd be perfect for studying the Dharma. I wish she could have journeyed through the human world with me back then.

"Huh? Shakyamuni, are you joking?" Susanoo snorted, smirking, "Having a girl who can take lives study Buddhism—don't you find that strange? One teaching forbids killing, while the other is bound to death; it seems like a clear conflict."

"Conflict? What conflict?" Shakyamuni snapped his lollipop, smirking, "Besides, you're missing something—I embody Buddhism's ultimate interpretive authority, so whether there's a conflict is my call."

Moreover, as the saying goes, "Wrathful eyes of the Vajra subdue the four maras; lowered brows of the bodhisattva bring compassion to the six realms." Yaksha has both thunderous power and a bodhisattva's heart, making her perfectly suited to guide beings out of suffering. It's just that back then she was still young, and many things weren't clear to her.

Hades glanced over at the two and said lightly, "Susanoo, you don't need to argue with him—his Buddhism has already spread throughout the universe; even Rupert's killing robots can observe the precepts and cultivate, even achieve spontaneous enlightenment… Now letting a 'death' saint study Buddhism isn't impossible at all; perhaps one day when Olympus connects with the cosmos, the people of Danlin Temple will indeed come to Olympus."

——

「「……」」

"Let me go!"

"I don't want to die… I don't want… I don't want this kind of mercy!"

"I don't want——"

The girl avoided the man's terrified gaze, lightly placing her hand on his head… A flower quickly withered, and the man collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Life flickered away, his body turning into purple smoke that vanished in the cell.

Only after the cell fell silent again did the girl finally withdraw her hand into her cloak.

"I hate these cold hands."

「……」

Crows circled beneath the leaden sky, emitting hoarse cries.

A girl veiled in black walked at the front of the procession.

The procession stretched from the mountain road outside Acheron City into the city itself, with a silent squad of black‑robed executioners following behind her, holding aloft black flags.

Pedestrians along the road had long retreated to the sides of the street, heads lowered, eyes averted, none daring to look straight at the girl leading the way—though she appeared only seven or eight, with a childish face and slender frame, as if a breeze could knock her over. Yet the vast procession of executioners behind her and the unyielding crows in the sky were enough to make any curious eyes instinctively drop.

It's just that the children don't understand these things.

At a street corner, a girl about Yaksha's age peered out curiously, but just as she was about to step forward to greet Yaksha, a pair of large hands pressed onto her shoulders; her mother said nothing, simply shaking her head calmly.

——

Spy × Family.

"I never imagined Yaksha would be chosen as a saint at such a young age…" Yoru looks at the hundred‑plus executioners behind Yaksha, and it's not hard to imagine what expectations have been placed on her since childhood as the so‑called saint.

"Looking at her age, she's probably about the same age as Anya right now." Lloyd let out a soft sigh, "…If she had been born in a peaceful era, without bearing this near‑cruel curse, she could have been friends with Anya."

Even setting aside her unique status, this curse alone makes it impossible for ordinary children to play with her. Although she is the saint of Acheron, she is essentially a lonely, pitiful child.

Anya hugged her teddy bear, lifting her head curiously: "If I want to be friends with her, what should I do?"

Hmm… To be safe, we definitely can't have close contact with her, not even wearing thick insulated gloves. Lloyd stirred his hot coffee, thinking, "But if we want to befriend her, the most important thing is to overcome our fear of her."

Yoru furrowed his brow: "This… is hard, right? After all, if you so much as touch her, you'd die instantly—it's even more effective than poison."

Think of Albere, Natsuka, Fuujin, and Agleaya… Though they are golden‑blooded, they too cannot have any physical contact with Yaksha. Yet observing their everyday interactions, you wouldn't think Yaksha is a girl burdened by a curse. Cultivating this 'ordinary mind' is the first step to befriending her.

——

Yaksha silently passed through the crowd, heading alone toward the Acheron temple at the road's end.

"Go ahead." Amonnet led her to an aging deer, saying, "End its suffering."

After several moments of hesitation, Yaksha slowly reached out and touched the old deer's head; the next second, the deer collapsed silently.

There was no struggle, no cry—it simply closed its cloudy eyes gently.

Amonnet led her into a hall filled with elderly people; the gravely ill lay on beds covered with coarse linen, stained with dark and light patches of medicine and sweat. Some shut their eyes tightly, others stared blankly at the sky, as if waiting for something to descend.

"Your hands are the blessing of the death god; only you can bring them peace."