Yuan Marrow’s radiance visibly dimmed.
Chi Yu and the elite team, plus most of Tiangu’s ability users, stood ready in Shenhu City.
After Yuan Marrow dimmed, there’d be a three-second outbreak period.
Unknown whether Yuan would come.
Zhi Ze: “Not necessarily coming here, because it’s already experienced once. Shi Deng…”
Words unfinished—black mist rolled at the sky’s edge. Ground contamination qi abruptly erupted. A man’s low laughter transmitted. “Shi Deng?”
Zhi Ze abruptly stopped speaking.
Atmosphere suddenly tensed.
Blinking again, a man wearing Yuan Guang leader garments appeared at the sky’s edge. Some already recognized him—
Previous Yuan Guang leader.
Chi Yu extinguished his cigarette, narrowing his eyes. “You’re Yuan.”
Meeting again.
They’d once seen him in Yellow Springs memories. Now meeting again, the evil aura emanating from Yuan unceasingly provoked everyone present’s rationality.
Sensing Yuan’s arrival, exotic beasts in the sea were stimulated, churning and leaping from the water. Special-grade beasts at the coast raised monstrous waves.
Besides Shenhu City, other coastal cities instantly became chaotic. Humans’ panicked cries seemed so tiny under this magnificent force.
Wild winds carried the sea’s fishy scent, roaring and stirring down thunderbolts howling from the sky.
BOOM—!
The first thunder crack!
Yuan Ting’s gaze immediately fell on the person dangling from the man’s hand. Pupils contracted sharply. He lost his voice. “Shi Deng?!”
Yuan grasped the youth’s nape. The latter hung his head, seemingly having completely lost consciousness. Contamination qi mixed with red threads continuously overflowed from his heart.
Zhi Ze’s eyes darkened. “How could Shi Deng be here?”
Cen Le vaguely sensed Shi Deng’s weak heartbeat. Thought this was bad. She looked around but didn’t see Shi-ge’s figure. Became anxious. “I sense Shi Deng’s aura is very weak. We must quickly snatch him back for treatment. Otherwise…”
Chi Yu said coldly, “Hand him over!”
This was an unavoidable battle. Ready ability users received orders, all charging forward. They must contain Yuan in Shenhu City, avoiding more deaths.
Chi Yu and Yuan Ting’s three led the charge. Space before Chi Yu twisted. In a blink, he appeared before Yuan, chopping down to seize Shi Deng!
Yuan’s figure vanished, appearing behind Chi Yu. Fingers rested on his shoulder.
Chi Yu’s entire body instantly stiffened. Couldn’t move.
Yuan inhaled a mouthful of that extremely delicious contamination qi at Shi Deng’s chest. Low laughter mocking.
“Shi Deng is just this foolishly stupid. Retrograding time twelve times—never once ending well. Among them, quite a few died at your hands… Yet he still chose to save you. I truly don’t understand why.”
Chi Yu: “…Twelve times?”
Retrograding time twelve times.
Yuan covered his mouth in surprise. “Oh, forgot—you don’t know. Enjoying lives this fool paid who knows how much to exchange, yet naively treating him as an enemy. Every time watching his painful, despairing appearance—that was truly my happiest moment.”
He kicked Chi Yu down from the air. Chi Yu smashed hard into the ground, body cratering a deep pit below. A twelfth-level special-grade ability user surprisingly couldn’t last one exchange in Yuan’s hands.
But compared to bodily pain, the sensation of his heart being abruptly stabbed made his throat feel stuffed with cotton—unbearably uncomfortable.
Twelve times…
Not once.
Really guessed correctly.
Yet among these twelve times, not one changed the current outcome?
Chi Yu spat blood. Red veins climbed his eyes.
Yuan Ting’s furious black thunder long blade was easily crushed by Yuan. Zhi Ze’s long vines couldn’t pierce Yuan’s defense. Cen Le assisted numerous ability users attacking. Ability rapidly consumed.
Blood flowers bloomed across the ground.
What a pleasing color.
Frame by frame, page by page—just like what had happened before, repeating again.
Exotic beasts began surging madly here, serving as Yuan’s weapons, slaughtering the ability users. Among countless wails, Yuan narrowed his eyes in pleasure.
Yet it was still different.
This time, there was no irritating dog.
Remembering something, he raised his hand. Four streams of black mist rolled up Chi Yu and Yuan Ting’s three, binding them before him.
Yuan Ting spat blood, cursing. “Dog bastard, this young master will definitely kill you!”
Yuan wasn’t anxious. This time he had plenty of time to slowly torment these people. He naturally knew how to kill most devastatingly. “Kill me? No, no, no.”
“I’m not as formidable as you. Or rather, you three are all more formidable than me.” Yuan’s finger pointed past Yuan Ting, Zhi Ze, and Cen Le.
Zhi Ze’s heart sank heavily, not understanding his meaning.
Yuan grasped Shi Deng’s neck.
The youth barely opened his eyes, still dazed at the bottom. Five deep purple fingerprints were pinched into his nape, yet his face showed no trace of pain.
Yuan said, “You three once jointly nearly killed him. I never pushed Shi Deng to that extent.”
He looked at Yuan Ting, pointing to Shi Deng’s right chest. Casually: “Your long blade once pierced through here.”
Gaze moved to Zhi Ze. “Your wooden vines pierced his abdomen.”
Yuan looked toward the pale-faced Cen Le, smiling maliciously. “You—your support was quite good. Helped those two greatly. Otherwise, Shi Deng wouldn’t have nearly died.”
Cen Le: “This is impossible…”
She couldn’t accept that she’d once harmed someone she considered a younger brother.
Yuan Ting: “Think we really don’t know? Before Shi Deng retrograded, he was clearly an elite team member, our friend. We’d never harm him no matter what.”
Yuan patted Shi Deng. The youth barely stood himself.
His fingertip beckoned. The dagger strapped to Yuan Ting’s calf fell into Shi Deng’s palm. Cold light flickered.
Yuan: “You think this is the first retrograde? This fool really didn’t tell you anything.”
Zhi Ze: “Explain clearly.”
But Yuan stopped speaking. He himself stepped back, asking Shi Deng, “Say again—what are you to me?”
Shi Deng answered, “I’m the dog at your feet.”
Yuan smiled. “Good. Go kill them.”
Shi Deng: “Okay.”
The youth’s nearly subconscious obedience and compliance inexplicably chilled hearts. His heterochromatic eyes reflected not a trace of anyone.
He raised the dagger, approaching. The cold blade first pierced Chi Yu’s heart.
Chi Yu’s pupils contracted slightly. He forced a smile. “Shi Deng, wake up…”
The youth’s lashes trembled. Empty gaze fell on Chi Yu’s face for a long time. When the blade tip pierced Chi Yu’s heart meridian, it imperceptibly paused.
A tear slid from his eye. He withdrew the dagger, walking toward the next.
Yuan Ting: “Coach—”
The blade tip pressed against his heart. Yuan Ting looked up with reddened eyes. “Shi Deng, that’s Coach. I…”
The youth’s expression suddenly turned ugly. The dagger in his hand unexpectedly dropped to the ground. He painfully clutched his heart, collapsing miserably. Fragmented gasps spilled from his mouth.
Yuan frowned, stepping on Shi Deng. “How so useless? Originally thought you could last until killing them all.”
Shi Deng was like a dying fish, struggling to breathe. Uncontrollably reaching toward Yuan.
Cen Le: “What did you do to him?!”
Yuan: “Should be what he did to himself. He absorbed so much contamination qi, locking it in his own heart. When I revive, that contamination qi will carry his heart’s blood, surging toward my body.”
“From the day he absorbed contamination qi, today’s death was destined.”
This was different from directly imprisoning him in his body that time.
Blood… from his heart?
Cen Le froze slightly, vaguely sensing something.
Yuan Ting struggled hardest. Blazing black thunder just showed a hint before being forcibly suppressed by black mist.
His eye sockets reddened. “Shi Deng, Shi Deng, Shi Deng…”
Wake up quickly.
Leave here…
Yuan crouched down, palm pressed against Shi Deng’s heart, unscrupulously plundering blood from his heart.
The youth’s aura grew weaker and weaker.
Yuan seemed addicted. One finger pierced through the youth’s chest. “I haven’t eaten a human heart yet. Shi Deng, your heart looks delicious.”
“You dare!” Zhi Ze said hoarsely. His aura instantly broke through. He shouted, “Grand Prophecy Art!”
Countless threads flew up, like lustrous white butterflies, madly surging toward Yuan’s body. Once these threads touched a body, they’d turn bright red.
Zhi Ze’s ears, nose, mouth all began bleeding outward. Like a death-demanding Asura, word by word: “I prophesy—you’ll die without a burial place in the future—”
When prophecy art cultivates to highest realm, there’s a certain probability of becoming word-spirit art.
Yuan frowned, standing up. Subconsciously wanted to withdraw a step.
Shi Deng was dying, couldn’t become a major threat. Though he didn’t believe in Grand Prophecy Art, being cautious was always good.
But before he could dodge, his ankle was grasped by a pale, thin, blood-covered hand.
Yuan froze. The contamination qi churning in his body inexplicably slightly stagnated.
An extremely weak voice sounded at his feet. “…Reversal.”
The youth sprawled on the ground had somehow opened his eyes. His somewhat unfocused gaze gathered on Cen Le and the other two. Heterochromatic eyes blinked. Cold sweat slid into his eyes—somewhat stinging.
Shi Deng’s vision alternated between bright and dark. He was reluctant to blink anymore.
He’d pretended for so long, finally waiting for Yuan to absorb the contamination qi he’d held at his heart. A little more… his heart’s blood would have been drained dry.
Fortunately.
The light in the youth’s eyes was unprecedentedly dim, presenting death’s gray. His body also twitched unnaturally.
He revealed the most brilliant smile.
Goodbye, his friends.
Shi-ge.
Xiao Deng.
Yuan’s expression was incomparably ugly. He’d long lost that earlier composed appearance, shrieking, “You fool! Why can’t I control the energy in my body anymore?! What did you do! I’ll kill you, kill you!!!”
The youth gently closed his eyes. Veins at his temples jumped from pain. He shouted lowly:
“Yellow Springs—”
The magnificent blood river tore open spatial fissures, suddenly appearing. Surging, roaring, making even the turbulent waves below seem incredibly insignificant.
Illusory Two Worlds people endlessly wove reeds. The meaning of life and death blown by Yellow Springs reeds, carrying boundlessly vast aura, instantly swept across every corner.
[River of life and death, time disordered, no turning back, no reverse flow, the living go forward, the dead retrograde.] It said.
“Ahhhh—”
Countless tiny chains suddenly drilled from Yuan’s body. Simultaneously, those prophecy threads entered his body.
Shi Deng was lifted by invisible force, floating above the Yellow Springs blood river.
Yuan’s body was like a balloon pierced with countless needles. That contamination qi drilled from Yuan’s body, yet guided by Shi Deng’s heart blood breath, re-entered Shi Deng’s body.
Yuan’s voice carried panic for the first time. “This is my origin! You’re stealing my origin! What are you trying to do?!”
Shi Deng could barely hear anymore.
Could only feel the pain when contamination qi entered his body. Yet he was very happy.
Yuan, after all, was just contamination qi—a mass of sentient contamination qi. He just needed to extract that origin. Yuan would have no power.
Things without power—without his intervention—would naturally disappear.
And he would become the container sealing the contamination source. Let time chains bind himself. Imprisoned at Yellow Springs’ bottom.
Shi-ge would replace him, becoming ‘the present,’ walking toward a new future filled with hope and beauty.
Shi-ge would find a way to keep Xiao Deng. They’d celebrate many, many birthdays together.
Perhaps he’d also see his friends’ souls passing through the river at Yellow Springs’ depths.
Until Yellow Springs vanished. Until world time stopped.
The youth’s lips curved slightly. He didn’t notice—the three-second outbreak period after Yuan Marrow’s extinction hadn’t arrived.
***
Same as Cen Le guessed earlier—Chi Yu was completely fine. Took a blade, but heart meridian undamaged.
Right now, Chi Yu was pulling Yuan Ting, preventing him from rushing over.
Below, exotic beasts were all attracted by Yellow Springs’ aura. Utterly silent.
Blood and damp seawater spread beneath their feet.
The dark blue vast ocean rolled waves. Heavy dark clouds pressed with thunder. Muffled sounds continuous. Flickering electric light crossed the sky.
That sometimes clear, sometimes blood-red river surprisingly overshadowed natural scenery, turning everything around into backdrop.
Ability users stopped fighting.
They carried hearts full of inexpressible shock, gazing toward Yellow Springs surging at the sky’s edge, and the youth floating above Yellow Springs.
“Shi Deng…”
Zhi Ze’s whisper was hoarse. He clenched his fists until knuckles whitened.
Tears streamed down Cen Le’s face, voice breaking. “What do we do? I can’t sense Shi Deng anymore…”
When the aura disappeared entirely, it meant one of two things: either the distance had exceeded her sensing range, or the person’s life force had faded to nothing.
Suddenly, an extremely pure power appeared.
Was it… Yuan Marrow?!
Chi Yu abruptly looked up.
A figure approached from afar. The young man strolled through dark clouds and thunder. Several flashes later appeared beside Shi Deng.
He lowered his eyes, extending his hand to embrace the youth. Sat cross-legged atop the blood river. Countless reeds gently swayed.
The youth lay across his lap, serene as if having a dream.
Chi Yu: “Shi-ge?”
How could he have Yuan Marrow’s aura?!
Gently, methodically, the young man cleaned the blood from Shi Deng’s face. A quiet sigh escaped him. “Look at you, all grown up now. Bold enough to drug me.”
While wiping, contamination qi from the youth’s body was absorbed into his own body. Along with the cursing Yuan.
The more absorbed, the richer Yuan Marrow’s aura on Shi-ge became.
A formation gradually manifested beneath him. The energy conversion formation that once appeared at Tiangu.
In a flash, Chi Yu instantly understood what Shi-ge had done. Expression incomparably dark. “Damn, is this guy insane?”
Yuan Ting: “Coach, what’s happening?”
Chi Yu’s voice was grim. “That ‘energy transmission’ he talked about? He was actually linking himself to Yuan Marrow. Once that connection solidified, Yuan Marrow’s remaining power would flow into him. And he clearly didn’t swap everything—left just enough of his aura inside to fool us.”
A sacrificial ritual, essentially.
One careless move—the result would be him and Yuan Marrow vanishing together.
That explained why Yuan Marrow’s aura had dimmed during the final transmission—and why Shi-ge collapsed right after. The bastard had been bleeding himself out the whole time.
The external energy they’d previously transmitted into Yuan Marrow should have been preserved. Otherwise, Yuan Marrow couldn’t have lasted until it should dissipate before dissipating.
He suddenly remembered—this time, Yuan Marrow didn’t have the three-second outbreak period like they experienced in Yellow Springs.
Cen Le: “Then Shi-ge now?”
Chi Yu’s lips moved slightly. “He…”
“He’s about to disappear.”
Establishing connection with Yuan Marrow—when Yuan Marrow vanished, was when he’d vanish.
The young man atop Yellow Springs didn’t waste this final bit of time.
Waves sounded continuously, his slender fingers pointed at Shi Deng’s heart. “Time for you to repay.”
Faint golden light brightened from Shi Deng’s heart. Growing increasingly bright.
Warm golden light carrying blessings, lifespan, and fortune slowly flowed through Shi Deng’s body, gently smoothing the wounds within.
—This was the golden light he’d forcibly extracted during Feng City, sending it into Shi Deng’s body.
As if soaking in warm water, the youth’s breathing became even and long. His features relaxed. Lashes trembled—he woke.
He gazed into a pair of deep, gentle eyes.
Like the deep sea, impossible to read emotions—calm and warm eyes just quietly watching him.
Shi Deng had seen them many times.
Every time, he felt at peace.
He murmured lowly, “Shi-ge?”
“I’m here.”
The youth’s nose suddenly tingled. Pillowed on his lap, leaning closer, like a child tattling to a parent. “Shi-ge, that villain just bullied me. You came so late. I solved it all by myself.”
Shi-ge hummed, fingers combing through the blood staining the youth’s hair. Movements very gentle, not pulling painfully.
“Such a pity, Shi-ge. If only on my birthday, I’d given you sunflowers.” He’d always wanted to. But now there was no chance.
Actually, that day was also Shi-ge’s birthday.
Shi-ge: “Then you owe me a bouquet. Don’t forget—give it to me later.”
The youth said, “I don’t have a ‘later,’ Shi-ge.”
“But you do.”
Scattered raindrops fell on him. The youth extended his hand to catch them. “Look—this is the first time I’ve seen rain on this day.”
Time didn’t retrograde. It kept moving forward.
This rain finally fell.
Shi-ge said gently, “It’s raining. Time to go home. Uncle Fu and Xiao Deng are both waiting for you at home.”
His body began turning transparent.
Shi Deng sensed something wrong. Not only was the pain in his body not intensifying—it was vanishing.
In his daze, inexplicable cold suddenly permeated his heart. “No…”
Next second, the young man coughed muffledly. Powerful energy erupted around him.
Yuan Marrow’s final outbreak period—surprisingly within Shi-ge’s body.
Shi Deng was震 a hundred meters away, barely stabilizing mid-air. Frantically looking up, profoundly shaken. “Shi-ge—”
The blood river churned. Above the waves appeared an enormous fissure.
Eleven chains bound the young man’s body. Along with Yuan he’d absorbed, yanking him toward that abyssal maw.
Wild winds howled. Thunder rolled endlessly. The scene was apocalyptic—heaven and earth trembling on the verge of collapse.
The young man’s body showed faint luminescence. Growing increasingly transparent.
“Shi-ge!”
The youth had never felt so panicked. Tears welling in his eyes.
Without hesitation, he rushed toward his vanishing future.
From then till now, everything exceeded his plans too much.
In just one or two seconds, Shi Deng tightly grasped his hand. But Shi-ge’s form grew fainter. Making him feel like gripping air.
“How can this be… Shi-ge, how can this be…”
The youth was incoherent. Scalding tears dropped from the air, sinking into the dark sea. The helplessness and confusion in his eyes stung painfully.
Shi-ge extended his hand, gently wiping the tears in his eyes. Facing Shi Deng, he always seemed prone to sighing and compromising.
“Shi Deng, you wanted to give me a present filled with hope. But I wanted to exchange you a beautiful future.”
No contamination, no Yuan, no unrestrained human evil—the beautiful future sunflowers yearned for, filled with light and hope.
“No!” Shi Deng shook his head, choking. “Shi-ge, you ARE my future. You’re so good, I don’t even know how to become like you…”
“I don’t want any other future.”
“Shi-ge…”
“You’re my future…”
The young man’s eyes flashed with helplessness. “Shi Deng.”
The youth wouldn’t listen. Red-eyed, gritting teeth, like an enraged small beast, frantically tearing at those eleven chains wrapped around Shi-ge.
“What is this! I can’t break it, Shi-ge—what IS this thing!”
These weren’t ordinary time chains.
Shi-ge’s form was dissolving. With each inch toward the fissure, he faded further from existence.
Helpless fear surfaced in Shi Deng’s eyes. Tears dropping one by one. He pleaded. He began acting petulant.
“Shi-ge, you never told me what those green stars were. You haven’t played the Two Worlds Song with me in so long.”
“If you don’t come back, I’ll be very sad. When I’m sad, Uncle Fu won’t cook your meals. I’ll bully Xiao Deng every day—he’ll have no one to tattle to…”
Each desperate plea cut deeper than any blade. His frantic words were unbearable to witness.
Shi-ge’s Adam’s apple moved slightly. Hoarse: “Shi Deng, don’t cry.”
His figure was nearly invisible now.
The youth was already sobbing uncontrollably. “Shi-ge, you still haven’t made me an ID badge that glows… I want you to make it personally. I only want you to make it…”
“No need for glowing ID badges. I didn’t make one for you because…”
Shi-ge looked at him, smiling gently. “Because you’ve gradually become light others chase. Every time, I’m the one actively rushing toward you.”
Like sunflowers forever chasing the sun.
The young man’s figure completely vanished before entering the fissure.
Along with that shrieking, cursing contamination source.
Leaving behind one last gentle, reluctant murmur.
“Go home.”
Shi Deng’s extended hand only grasped cold air. In a daze, a scalding water drop also fell from his fingertips.
Was that Shi-ge’s tear?
He subconsciously tried using time retrograde, only discovering he couldn’t control Yellow Springs anymore. Time retrograde wouldn’t activate.
The silent crowd below watched this eternal farewell. In the pitter-patter of falling rain, not one person opened an umbrella.
Surroundings quiet to near stillness.
Until a suppressed sob transmitted from above the blood river.
Delayed, excruciating pain tore through Shi Deng’s heart—a thousand, ten thousand times worse than contamination qi invasion. Like someone had carved out a piece of his flesh.
He knelt prostrate on the blood river, rain-soaked body abnormally thin.
The youth wanted to speak, but no matter what, couldn’t make a sound. He didn’t know if he was crying.
He…
Had lost his future.
From now on, no one could instantly bring him home.
And no one would ever again gaze at him tenderly with those calm, deep eyes.
***
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1