Chapter 938

Jing Yan's silence, to some extent, had already revealed his stance.

Seeing this, the Tail's gaze returned to Fang Yue, fixing directly on his eyes.

"Ye Ge, are you really going to help me? If you help me, who will help Jing Yan? Chen Qing's avatar might truly fade forever. Even so, are you still willing to help me?"

Fang Yue froze for a moment; in his emotional rush, he hadn't considered all this, but now, reminded by the Tail, he ran through it in his mind and realized this was far more complicated than he thought.

After a moment of silent thought, Fang Yue lifted his head, his eyes locked on the Tail: "But if I don't help you, you might die in the Flame Sect."

"Yes." The Tail did not deny it, but her tone was calm—beneath that calm lay an uncontainable, freezing killing intent!

"The Flame Sect owes me an explanation. Qi Ba Jiu Daren will help me demand that explanation, even if it means I might die in the Flame Sect."

Fang Yue looked at the Tail, whose resolve was absolute, then at Jing Yan, trapped in anguish.

Fate, before his eyes, had split into two utterly distinct, non-intersecting paths.

One path led to accompanying the Tail into the Flame Sect, avenging her, then returning with her safely to the You Mansion, only to find Chen Qing's and Jing Yan's avatars permanently darkened.

The other path was to stay put, stand by Jing Yan, wait for the right moment, rescue Chen Qing, return to the You Mansion, hear the news of the Tail's death, go to the Flame Sect to retrieve her corpse, endure Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's scolding after her arrival in Jingcheng, and live with an irrevocable regret.

So, Fang Yue's final choice was…

"Parchment!"

【IN!!】

"Precognition!"

【RECEIVED!!】

That's right—Fang Yue's choice was… Parchment!

Let's first precognize the outcome before making a decision.

After all, both options are probabilistic—if I can precognize the result, I can handle one matter first, then the other.

【My name is Fang Yue. Fate has split before me into two paths.】

【One path leads to accompanying the Tail to the Flame Sect, protecting her as she completes her revenge.】

【The other path leads to standing by Jing Yan, together seeking to save Chen Qing.】

【In my helplessness, I called upon the great and noble Parchment Daren for aid.】

【Then I made my decision: I chose to remain in Jingcheng, waiting with Jing Yan for the faint signal that might appear at any moment.】

【One day later, we indeed saw Chen Qing's avatar flicker once, allowing us to adjust our position more precisely.】

【Two days later, through positional adjustment, we observed Chen Qing's avatar flicker three times, narrowing the range further—hope seemed within reach, yet even if I searched the surroundings at top speed, I found not a trace of Chen Qing.】

【On the third day, as we regrouped to continue our efforts, we received fresh news from You Sisi regarding the Flame Sect and the Jibing Sect.】

【【Jibing Shengnyu】 the Tail was defeated by the Flame Sect, publicly beheaded, her head only taken back and sealed within the sect.】

【Thus, the Jibing Sect suffered total defeat. The centuries-long feud between the Flame Sect and the Jibing Sect ended with the Jibing Sect's collapse.】

【As I heard this news, I stood frozen, my mind blank. At that moment, a vast, boundless mass of Black Cloud suddenly rose on the horizon, drifting toward Jingcheng…】

【I died.】

Hum!

As the Parchment reached this point in its precognition, the intense stabbing pain he had experienced before suddenly returned.

The precognitive vision transmitted into his mind instantly cut off like a broken-down old television.

The violent pain made Fang Yue cry out, clutching his head and crouching to the ground; static images flashed rapidly through his mind like inserted frames.

The speed of these flashes remained too fast to react to, but the final image remained crystal clear—beneath a Blood Moon, thick Black Clouds blanketed the sky above the Imperial Palace, and he stood drenched in blood before the palace gates.

Again, this image…

The Wuyu Clan's Black Cloud…

【Fang Yue, are you alright!?】

Only now, as the pain subsided, did Fang Yue sense the Parchment's concerned text floating in his mind—it seemed she had called out several times.

At the same time, Fang Yue felt an odd sensation on his palm.

【Fang Yue, that thing is extremely dangerous and immensely powerful—even I cannot match it. I think we should abandon everyone else and flee Jingcheng immediately!】

Flee Jingcheng? Now?

Fang Yue's expression darkened as he slowly rose.

Around him, Niu Niu and the others had, without him noticing, gathered close in concern.

Clearly, his sudden scream and clutching of his head had frightened them.

"Ye Ge… I'll handle the Jibing Sect matter myself. Don't trouble yourself so much—just stay in Jingcheng and wait for my news."

Seeing Fang Yue tormented by this choice, the Tail had already made up her mind.

As her words ended, she turned to leave—but Fang Yue suddenly grabbed her wrist.

The strange papery texture returning from her wrist made the Tail pause in surprise.

Is this still a human hand? Why does Ye Ge's hand feel like this?

Instinctively looking down, she saw that Fang Yue's right hand—previously only his thumb transformed into Parchment—was now visibly changing: his index, ring, and little fingers, along with the already papery thumb, were turning to paper, the transformation swiftly complete.

Curse?!

When had Ye Ge been afflicted?

Was it… because of me that his curse suddenly worsened?

The Tail's emotions twisted in confusion.

She tried gently to pull her wrist free, but Fang Yue gripped it tightly.

"I'm going with you to the Flame Sect."

What?!

The Tail froze in place. Jing Yan, who had been anxiously watching Fang Yue's condition, heard this and his expression stiffened, then dimmed into silence.

In fact, when Fang Yue had previously used Time Rewind in the real world, he had already overdrawn the parchment's power.

Although his remaining lifespan provided a buffer, the side effects had steadily accumulated within his body—only they hadn't yet reached their limit, so they hadn't erupted.

This time, using the parchment's simple precognition ability, he once again encountered a violent backlash from the terrifying force within that vision, and only then did the side effects erupt.

The paperification of his five right fingers, Fang Yue could still accept—it was safer than his heart turning to paper.

But the tail—that he absolutely could not let her leave alone.

The war between the Extreme Ice Sect and the Blazing Fire Sect was far more severe than he had thought.

He had assumed that with Qi Ba Jiu Daren residing in the tail, even at its worst, it should still have had the strength to protect itself.

Yet he never expected the tail to end up in such a state.

Indeed, leaving the tail to go alone into the Blazing Fire Sect—a den of dragons and tigers—was impossible!

(End of Chapter)