Chapter 1435: Weng Faluos 3.5 (465)

"Look, a tombstone... I wonder for whom it stands?"

Xing came to the massive tombstone deep within; the place was barren, looking as if it hadn't been tended for ages.

"Here, that prisoner who claims to be a warden has made a choice... witness, listen... then awaken."

Beneath the tombstone, the figures of Hai Seyin and Laigushi appeared.

"Sword Banner Count... In the past hundred years, I have lost count of how many times you've lingered here."

"..."

Hai Seyin let out a snort of laughter, not turning back, merely raising her head to stare silently at the rows of names etched on the tombstone.

"You are a noisy prisoner, Lu Ku Ergesi."

"The two geniuses who altered the 'Law', and all the Golden-blooded who sacrificed themselves in this life, they— you— jointly weakened my power, yet could not strip my will," Laigushi said, following her gaze toward the names on the tombstone. "As long as my will remains whole, I am free."

"Heh... don't get too smug; I still have a way to bind your soul."

"I'm looking forward to it. However, your mission is almost over, isn't it— here, you carved the spark of the 'Ocean' from Fa Jina's body; it is also here that you and Kaisa ascended together, becoming the pillars of Weng Faluos. After that..."

"You drove your blade into her heart, becoming a regicide's servant, a Demigod who killed a god— at least, history paints the tragedy that way," Laigushi said. "But if that is the truth, a millennium has passed, and you still guard Kaisa's tomb, fulfilling your loyalty to her... why?"

"..."

Hai Seyin fell silent.

"Thinking that way... perhaps I'm not the only one imprisoned here."

Huiye Daxiaojie wants me to confess.

"She still can't forget Kaisa..."

Seeing Hai Seyin's despondent expression, Tengyuan Qianhua felt only sorrow. Though they seemed like warden and prisoner, in fact both were prisoners— one trapped in a body, the other trapped in a heart.

"But Hai Seyin once said that after completing the trial, the two of them would have no further ties... From her words, she hadn't intended to kill Thus we output Thus we output keludela at the time," Shi Shang You said regretfully. "What happened inside the primordial vortex that made Hai Seyin change her mind on the spot? If Kaisa were allowed to live, the Fire Pursuit Journey might take a different shape."

"The problem is, over thirty million ages, every time it was Hai Seyin who killed Kaisa, which implies she had a reason she couldn't avoid," Bai Yin Yuhang looked up at Hai Seyin in the heavens. "From Hai Seyin's bewilderment and emptiness, the 'Ocean' seems to correspond to the 'Void' destiny; what about the 'Law'? What destiny does it correspond to?"

"By elimination, it seems only 'End', 'Immortality', 'Gluttony', 'Order', and 'Abundance' remain, and the concept closest to 'Law' is 'Order'," Shi Shang You said.

"'Order', huh... unfortunately we don't know what the source drive of that destiny is," Bai Yin Yuhang's fingers tapped the table lightly, falling into thought. "Although Thus we output Thus we output keludela fell by Hai Seyin's hand, on a cosmic scale its corresponding destiny's demise should also relate to its source drive, right? If the source drive is lost... would the destiny become incomplete? Would the Star Deity then die?"

"Your composure indeed raises a tide of anger in my chest... as if the one being punished here is not you, but us who have lost everything."

"Hehe... because I have waited three ten‑million ages, countless millennia, for my own vision," Laigushi said at a measured pace. "Solitude has never shown me its lethal side. In fact, for a cave's prisoner, it is more like an old friend that helps me focus my thoughts."

"But for you it's different, Sword Banner Count. Solitude extends a claw from the silent deep sea, gnawing at you, gradually stripping your mind— will you regress into the form of those lost sea‑sirens? How lamentable..."

Hai Seyin gave no reply: "You are right, Lu Ku Ergesi. Loyalty, curses, the fall of our kin, endless waiting... for a fish that sees no light, these shackles are too heavy."

She lifted her head, her gaze seeming to struggle against the dim, cold prison, but alas, beyond her sight lay only the ancient, crumbling walls of Stikokisia, nothing else.

"I cannot swim out of the vortex that drags me down, nor do I possess a strong enough conviction to, as everyone wishes, force myself to wait for that person's return."

Laigushi lifted his head and let out a long sigh.

"Ah... the savior from beyond the heavens, my Executioner. How much longer before she arrives here?"

Azure Archive.

"Wait... this sentence sounds a bit..."

Ai Lu felt gooseflesh rise on her arm, a chill spreading through her heart.

So strange.

... but she couldn't pinpoint what was odd.

"Clearly this guy locked Star away himself, yet now he hopes Star comes sooner, calling it 'Executioner', as if he's waiting for someone to kill it... what a freak."

"Little Ai, it never dies anyway, so of course it looks forward to others coming to kill it," Mu Yue said with a playful grin. "For Laigushi, as long as its core within the staff is unharmed, it has infinite chances. Victory is a foregone conclusion for it, right?"

"Cheating! Illegal! Shameless!" Ai Lu crossed her arms, puffed up, "Can the Black Tower and Luosi Gumu breach the firewall and kill Laigushi's core?"

Jia Daizi sighed lightly, "Probably a bit difficult... no, extremely difficult. That Laigushi has lived for an unknown number of years; as a genius, we still don't know how many 'trumps' it holds. Moreover, its identity remains a mystery even now..."

"Alright, Little Ai, instead of being angry at Laigushi, perhaps consider the teacher's suggestion: first go to Abai Duosi to take shelter, temporarily ally with the Strategy Committee folks to handle the upcoming Iron Tomb crisis."

"Going to Abai Duosi... does that mean we still have to prepare to move?"

Mu Yue waved a hand, "Little Ai, rest assured, our Convenience House 68 has nothing really valuable... no, nothing worth specifically moving. So no need to pack up for a move."

"Nothing of value..." Mu Yue's offhand remark hit Ai Lu like a bolt of lightning; she lost her footing, nearly falling. "So... so heartbreaking, yet I can't seem to refute it..."