Ye Zhizhou's hand trembled as he held onto the cage. His intense emotional turmoil caused the cage materialized from his spiritual power to show signs of breaking apart.
Drip, drip... the sound of dripping blood became unbearably harsh. He couldn't shout; his voice was trapped in his throat. He stared fixedly at the blood and flesh inside the cage, which had lost all recognizable form. Suddenly, he raised his hand and began frantically pouring his spiritual power into the cage. "No, no, you can't do this. I didn't want to kill you, I didn't..."
Layer upon layer of spiritual power materialized, and he tightly embraced the cage, squatting down to touch the bloodstains on the ground. "I didn't want to kill you, how could you commit suicide, how could you..."
"Xiao Zhou." Dongfang Shu bent down to reach for him, attempting to wipe away the tears that flowed unconsciously. "Xiao Zhou, please get up."
"Don't touch me!" He pushed away Dongfang Shu's hand, hugged the cage tightly, and wiped away his tears haphazardly. "I'm not calm right now. Can you please leave me alone for a while, please?"
"What's going on?" The leaders of various clans rushed over with weapons in hand, but upon seeing the situation, they froze. Those who hadn't witnessed Tong Jia's self-destruction were anxiously looking around. They asked urgently, "Where is Xuan Yuan Hong? Did he escape?"
Dongfang Shu slowly stood up, waved his hand at the clan leaders, then transformed his wings and forcefully embraced Ye Zhizhou. He flapped his wings and flew towards the Monshan Mountain outside the temple.
"Hey, Chief Dongfang! Where are you taking the Beast Emperor?" The leader of the Tiger Clan was bewildered by these events, frowning as he sheathed his weapon. "First, Jin Qiu ran away, then Ya Yi ran away, and now Chief Dongfang has taken the Beast Emperor away. So, is this matter resolved tonight?"
The leader of the Turtle Clan glanced worriedly in the direction where the two had left and replied, "It's resolved. Look at this blood on the ground; Tong Jia self-destructed... but the Beast Emperor must be feeling very sad."
"It's almost dawn; let's all go back and rest," said the leader of the Snake Clan as he put away his weapon. He glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and shook his head. "I hope the Beastman world can truly find peace this time."
The clan leaders fell silent at his words and dispersed, each lost in their thoughts.
The sky just before sunrise was the darkest, with not a single star in sight.
Ye Zhizhou watched the receding forest beneath his feet, his emotions gradually cooling, finally turning into a numb emptiness.
"Dongfang..." He spoke in a hoarse voice, touched the spiritual power cage in his arms, which had now become a solid ball, and said softly, "Find a better place for Jia Jia to rest."
Dongfang Shu tightened his grip on Ye Zhizhou's arm and turned to look at him. His eyes displayed a seriousness that Ye Zhizhou had never seen before. "We need to talk."
Dongfang Shu's intense gaze made Ye Zhizhou's heart skip a beat. He couldn't help but take a step closer, wanting to embrace him.
"No, don't." Ye Zhizhou shook his head, blocking Dongfang Shu's hand. "Hugging and kissing can resolve many small conflicts, but what exists between us is no longer just small conflicts. Dongfang, after you regained your memories, we've experienced three worlds together. In the first world, you tried to keep me away from others, and then we talked, and it seemed like the problem was resolved. In the second world, you lost your memory again, and only part of it was restored. This is the third one, and you concealed Tong Jia's secret and even misled me intentionally."
The once trusting and dependent look was replaced by a calm seriousness. Dongfang Shu let go of his hand and suddenly felt a sense of unease. "Xiao Zhou, I'm sorry, I..."
"I know you did it for my own good," Ye Zhizhou interrupted him, "but Dongfang, have you ever thought that your concealment and deception might lead to us drifting apart?"
Dongfang Shu clenched his fists tightly, his eyes deepening. "Are you thinking of leaving me?"
Ye Zhizhou shook his head, avoiding eye contact. "I never thought of leaving you, but Dongfang, though I still love you, I've started to doubt which of your words to me are true."
Dongfang Shu felt a tightening in his throat. "You don't trust me?"
"If I don't trust you, if I doubt you, what will you do? Capture me and lock me up?" Ye Zhizhou raised his eyes and took a calm step forward. "You don't want to lose my trust. You'll get angry, frustrated, and even start guessing what's on my mind when I'm silent. You might suspect that I no longer trust you because I value Tong Jia too much. Maybe you'll reflect and come to apologize, but if you continue like this, the problem will persist. This will only result in our relationship becoming increasingly strained. We'll stay together, we'll still love each other, but we'll keep quarreling, giving each other the cold shoulder, and there'll be no warmth. Dongfang, is this what you want?"
"No," Dongfang Shu couldn't help but pull him into a tight embrace, squeezing him tightly. "I won't argue with you, and I won't give you the cold shoulder. I won't."
"Can you resist feeling jealous, not trying to guess my thoughts when I'm silent?" Ye Zhizhou looked at a lonely grave nearby, his eyes filled with weariness. "Can you endure it if I face danger alone on future missions, even if I insist on not accepting your help?"
Dongfang Shu remained silent.
"If I send you away under the pretext of doing it for your own good, forcing you to no longer accompany me on missions, will you be happy? Following me through one world after another is too dangerous. If I hide the fact from you and go to the next world alone, and if I ask you not to come with me, how would you feel?"
The first rays of sunlight touched the earth, signaling the arrival of a new day.
Ye Zhizhou relaxed his body against Dongfang Shu and turned to look in the direction where the sun was about to rise. "Dongfang, believe in me, okay? If there are issues, let's solve them together, face difficulties together... You see, if this time I lost my temper a little because of Jia Jia's situation and argued with you or gave you the cold shoulder, then we would have fulfilled the Soul Flag's wish. It has been watching us, trying to divide and separate us. You can't give it that chance, you know?"
"I know." Dongfang Shu kissed the top of his head as he held him close, his heart filled with guilt and tenderness. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry. Even though I'm so upset and angry with myself for being so presumptuous this time, I still suppress my temper and treat our relationship with patience. Those assumptions, just thinking about them makes me miserable. I was wrong, and I didn't respect our relationship."
"I can't forgive you for now, I'm still very angry." Ye Zhizhou dispelled the spiritual power cage buried underground, closed his eyes, and said, "Dongfang, I suddenly feel a bit tired... I'll settle the score with you when I wake up..."
The sun had fully risen. Dongfang Shu hugged him tightly as his body gradually relaxed, and he whispered, "Sleep, I'll watch over you."
The body in his arms completely softened, and the warm breath that had been gently caressing his neck gradually became steady, then disappeared.
Dongfang Shu's hand, which had been stroking Ye Zhizhou's hair, trembled for a moment. He sat down on the ground and placed the person in his lap, reaching out to touch his neck.
No pulse... no breath.
He withdrew his hand, his voice trembling. "Is this how angry you are? You just left like that..."
Holding the body tightly, he released his beastly power, pleading, "I'm sorry... please don't leave me."
With a thud, a small mirror fell from Ye Zhizhou's collar. A young and trembling voice sounded, "Honorable Lord! Something is wrong with the Soul Flag! All ten flags of this world have suddenly transferred to the host and are forcibly devouring his soul! Honorable Lord, save him! Please save him!" As the voice continued, the mirror cracked.
Dongfang Shu's expression changed drastically. He picked up the mirror and placed it into his own spiritual consciousness, detaching his soul from his body.
"Where is this?" Ye Zhizhou stood in a vast fog, filled with confusion. "Am I dreaming?"
"Duyang, why are you targeting me!"
He suddenly turned to the direction where the voice came from, frowning. "This voice... Bai Li?"
"Yao Cheng, it's you who harmed me!"
Another familiar voice, and he turned again, his confusion deepening. "Zhang Xinran? Why am I dreaming of you guys?"
"An Chengle, why are you framing me!"
A vaguely familiar male figure appeared behind the mist, then disappeared quickly. He looked around and finally realized that something was wrong. "Bai Li, Zhang Xinran, An Chengjie... Soul Flag, are you behind this? Come out!"
"What is the Soul Flag?" Xu Yi, half of his face already zombified, suddenly appeared beside him, grinning wickedly. "No, this is hell, where you should be."
He remained calm, staring expressionlessly at Xu Yi's figure as it was enveloped by the fog and disappeared.
"You're not afraid at all." Fang Si's figure appeared behind him, breathing into his neck. "I am Si Han; you're just a counterfeit."
Ye Zhizhou didn't even bother to turn around, attempting to use his spiritual power, but to no avail.
"Hahaha, it's finally time for me, Lian Yi Zheng, to take revenge!"
Another fleeting figure of a protagonist appeared, and he only glanced briefly before retracting his gaze, trying to use the power he had accumulated through practicing the Purple Void Technique again, but it failed once more.
"I am Zou Qing! You're the lowly illegitimate child!"
"It's you, it's you who prevented me from resurrecting and finding Yuan Chang!"
"No! I didn't poison anything! My dishes were fine!"
"Damn humans, my insect race will conquer your planet sooner or later!"
"I didn't do anything; why are you killing us? Why did you kill my father?"
"I am the future ruler of this world; all of you ordinary people are ants! You're worthless!"
One protagonist's figure after another appeared in the mist and then disappeared in succession. After Qin Bai disappeared, a disturbance finally appeared in Ye Zhizhou's calm gaze.
"Why did you stop me from transforming into a dragon!"
The figure of Xuan Yuanhong quickly appeared and disappeared, and then a familiar figure appeared directly in front of him.
"Little brother, leave this place."
Ye Zhizhou shook his head, approaching him. "Jia Jia, come over here, and I'll take you away."
"No... get out of here quickly..."
The mist swirled, and Tong Jia's figure disappeared without a trace. He stopped, reached out to touch the fog floating around him, and said, "Indeed, it's not the same person... Soul Flag, what exactly are you?"
The mist suddenly rolled violently, and the wailing of fierce ghosts echoed around him. Countless gray arms reached out from the fog, trying to pull him down.
His spiritual power remained still. If it weren't for the fact that his cultivation method had the effect of tempering his soul, he might have already been devoured by these mists. His consciousness gradually became heavy, and he no longer stayed in one place but chose a direction and began to move forward.
His body grew heavier and heavier until he no longer had the strength to take even one step. He raised his arm to look at the small mirror tattoo on his wrist, his eyes alternating between clarity and confusion. "Tongtian and Dongfang must be very worried... I need to get out, to return to them." His originally semi-transparent body suddenly became solid, and then a faint golden light emanated. The gray arms entwined around him seemed to be scalded and quickly disappeared, and the wailing from deep within the mist grew even more piercing.
"Little brother..." Tong Jia's figure appeared again, tears flowing from her eyes. "Get out of here, leave this world, and go home."
Bang!
It wasn't a dissipation like the mist but actual blood splatter.
Ye Zhizhou's pupils contracted, and his consciousness became completely clear. His solidified body once again became semi-transparent, then dispersed and disappeared. The unwilling roar echoed through this eerie space, and the thick fog rolled, gathering toward the center.
"The host has been expelled from this world by the Heavenly Dao..." The weak voice of the young Tong Jia sounded, and the cracks on the mirror grew larger. "It was Tong Jia..."
A blurred figure floated in the air above Moshan Mountain, gazing down at the dragon and phoenix corpses lying together and the lonely grave nearby. Her body gradually became transparent. "So that's how it is..."
Before Tong Jia's self-detonation in the cage, it wasn't an act of venting her anger. She must have discovered the malice of the Soul Flag toward Ye Zhizhou's soul early on and came up with this way to save him by exploiting a loophole in the Heavenly Dao. Harming the indigenous people would lead to expulsion from this world. As long as she timed it right and had Ye Zhizhou expelled, the ten Soul Flags of this world would no longer be able to harm him.
"Thank you."
A gentle breeze passed by, and suddenly, the toys on the grave rolled off and were covered by the weeds.
"Jia Jia!"
Ye Zhizhou abruptly opened his eyes with a whoosh and was stunned by the scene before him.
The suspended vehicle compartment was both familiar and strange, with a large number of people coming and going.
"Quick! He's still conscious!"
The excruciating pain of broken bones surged up, and his body instinctively used his spiritual power to envelop himself and then solidified to protect his vital points.
"Ah! Spiritual power materialization, 3S-grade spiritual power! There's hope, he can be saved! Give him a blood transfusion, quickly!"
"First, open up the front of the hovercar! Bring down the medical pod from the ambulance, hurry!"
In front of him were police officers and medical personnel. He cast a difficult glance around, and his consciousness plunged back into darkness.
Tongtian, you fraud, didn't you say I could survive after completing the mission? Why does he still look like he's about to die in a car accident after coming back... Tongtian... Dongfang... Where are you... it hurts so much...