Chapter 62

#Don’t be afraid, don’t give up.

The ritual is tomorrow?

That was entirely unexpected.

I awoke from the darkness only to find myself arriving on the very day before the “ritual”?

I’m completely unprepared—but this was never something that needed my preparation.

This was something that had already happened to Xie Zhuo before I ever met him. As a soul body now, all I can do is watch.

I followed Xie Zhuo back to the tent. I watched him sitting quietly in meditation and wondered what he had experienced over these years to cultivate such calm—even in the face of certain death tomorrow.

I stayed with him until night fell. As “tomorrow” drew closer and closer, I suddenly heard footsteps outside the tent, echoing through the desolate and silent Snow Wolf Tribe’s settlement.

Curious about who might be moving around the night before the ritual, I drifted out.

In the direction of Xie Ling’s tent, I could faintly make out figures heading into the distance. Feeling something was off, I followed.

Getting closer, I saw it was Xie Ling and Zhulian walking together.

Zhulian seemed a bit healthier than before—still thin, but he had grown taller. He was pulling Xie Ling along as they walked.

But Xie Ling looked utterly haggard.

Didn’t Xie Zhuo say that Xie Ling still planned to kill both him and the Evil God during tomorrow’s ritual, when the Evil God tries to take over his body?

Why does she now look like she’s trying to escape?

“Zhulian, I can’t go on. Go find some medicine for me,” Xie Ling said, leaning on the trunk of an icy tree. She stopped, gazing gently at Zhulian under the moonlight, her fingers tracing words into his palm one stroke at a time. I floated closer to read along, struggling but barely managing to recognize what she was writing.

“You go find medicine, then come back.”

Zhulian looked anxious. He glanced into the distance, then back at Xie Ling, writing in her palm: “The medicine’s far. If I go and come back, it’ll be tomorrow. Your body…”

“I can hold on.”

“The Evil God’s ritual is tomorrow. Leaving you here alone—I’m afraid something might happen. A-niang, come with me. We’ll gather the herbs together, and once you take them, we’ll come back together.”

Hearing this, Xie Ling gave a quiet laugh. “You’re mistaken. The ritual is the day after tomorrow.”

Zhulian froze…

And so did I.

“But…”

“I’m tired. You go. Let me rest a bit. Don’t delay for the day after tomorrow. Who knows what might happen during the ritual.”

Zhulian hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.

He released Xie Ling’s hand and turned to leave. Xie Ling looked as though she would let go, but at the last moment, she caught his fingertips again.

Zhulian looked back at her in confusion.

Xie Ling gazed at him, her eyes filled with an emotion too complex to name, but in the end, it all dissolved into a faint smile at the corner of her lips. In a hoarse voice, she said, “Don’t rush. Stay safe.”

Perhaps it had been too long since he last heard her voice—Zhulian paused, then nodded.

Xie Ling finally let go, watching his figure disappear into the snowy forest.

Only after a long while, when Zhulian had completely vanished, did she release her hand from the ice-covered tree trunk.

She stood tall. The pallor and frailty on her face faded a little—as if her weakness just now had been half an act.

I understood then—she was trying to make sure Zhulian missed the ritual tomorrow.

She let Zhulian go.

Only now do I realize why Old Qin had told me that it was “Xie Zhuo who forcibly drew the Evil God’s soul into his body,” and why he said, “I just happened to be away that day.”

Zhulian’s absence had been orchestrated.

He believed the ritual would take place the day after tomorrow, so when he returned tomorrow and saw the Evil God already possessing Xie Zhuo, he would think Xie Zhuo had done it of his own will.

It was Xie Ling… who had her own agenda.

Xie Ling walked steadily back toward the Snow Wolf Tribe settlement.

Her expression was resolute, no longer showing any hesitation or warmth. She was ready to sacrifice herself. She was ready to kill Xie Zhuo. The only soft spot left in her heart was for the child she had borne with the one she loved.

She poured all of her motherly love into Zhulian.

I understood the reason, and because of that, I felt even more sorrow for Xie Zhuo. In his mother’s choices, he had never once been chosen.

Heavier than ever, I returned to Xie Zhuo’s tent. Just as I floated in, I saw him—and froze.

Because at that moment, Xie Zhuo had his eyes open.

He was staring at the ground, his ears and tail utterly still.

I couldn’t begin to guess what level of spiritual power Xie Zhuo had reached by now. But as the one whose body was about to be possessed by the Evil God, I imagine, at this range, his senses would at least have picked up Zhulian’s departure.

He must have guessed what Xie Ling had done.

He remained silent, then slowly closed his eyes again—like a Buddha who had mastered the art of inner stillness. No longer disturbed by the pain of unfulfilled desires.

And so, tomorrow came.

With the first light of dawn came a dense wave of sinister energy so intense I couldn’t ignore it.

Even in the purest place in this world, the sinister energy still gathered into a rope, snaking its way into Xie Zhuo’s tent.

It stopped before him. The faint outer wisps of energy were quickly torn apart by the clean air, but the rope itself remained unmoved.

Only a massive and continuous stream of dark energy could sustain that form in such a purified environment.

Clearly, over the years, the Evil God himself had grown stronger too.

Seated in meditation, Xie Zhuo opened his eyes, calmly gazing down at the black rope at his feet.

As he lowered his foot to the ground, the rope immediately climbed up along his leg like a vine, wrapping around him entirely!

In the next instant, it yanked Xie Zhuo away at blinding speed.

Startled, I rushed after it.

Following the rope, I sped through the wind until I arrived above the frozen lake.

This was the place where the Snow Wolf Tribe’s chieftain had first summoned the Evil God. Now the Evil God had brought Xie Zhuo back here.

This was where he intended to claim his body and declare his return to the human world.

No one from the Snow Wolf Tribe was present at this ritual. Apparently, he needed no setup, no witnesses. Perhaps he believed that once he had a physical form, the whole world would bear witness.

Once again, I saw the Evil God.

This time, perhaps I was closer than ever to his true form.

Formless and shapeless—the body of the Snow Wolf Tribe chieftain he had once relied on had completely decayed and vanished.

Now only a skull remained, animated by black, sinister energy. The most clearly visible feature was the black indentation in the center of the skull. All the sinister energy radiated from that one point.

The dark aura around the skull flared like flames, encasing it completely. Beyond the flames, the rope made of evil energy was still tightly wrapped around Xie Zhuo’s body, suspending him in the air.

The outer layers of sinister energy were constantly torn apart by the purifying force above the frozen lake.

Xie Zhuo looked at the Evil God without expression.

The frozen lake was silent. The Evil God was silent. And Xie Zhuo had no words to offer either.

In the midst of this absolute silence, the black malevolent energy began to stir, as if fueled by wild flames, growing more and more intense.

The ropes binding Xie Zhuo sprouted countless new branches. All of them stretched toward the sky, only to suddenly whip downward from above, converging into a stream of black energy that shot straight at the center of Xie Zhuo’s brows like a needle.

Xie Zhuo seemed to freeze in that instant. His face went deathly pale, but he clenched his teeth and made no sound.

The malevolent energy was injected through the needlepoint into his brow. Black, winding meridians began to appear beneath his skin—starting from his forehead, down to his cheeks, then to his neck… and finally, spreading across his entire body.

As the black spread through every meridian in Xie Zhuo’s body, the malevolent energy attached to the white skull above him gradually diminished. It was continuously pouring into Xie Zhuo’s body through the ropes.

I looked at Xie Zhuo and, though only a spiritual remnant, I felt a pain that pierced straight through the soul.

I wanted to help him, but I could only feel my own helplessness.

At last, the final wisp of malevolent energy entered Xie Zhuo through the needle in his brow. The ropes on his body then vanished into his skin.

He closed his eyes and floated in the air.

I didn’t know what was happening inside that body now. I only saw that in the instant the malevolent energy disappeared, a flash of silver light shot out from the icy forest nearby—an arrow, perfectly aimed, struck Xie Zhuo directly in the chest!

I nearly cried out, but the next moment, countless silver lights surged from all directions, blotting out the sky. A rain of arrows infused with the Snow Wolf Clan’s spiritual power pierced through Xie Zhuo’s body.

Every arrow struck true, each one viciously punching through him.

And he—he didn’t resist, didn’t dodge, just like a target board.

He was pierced by countless arrows, yet even after the rain of arrows ceased, he continued to float in the air—without even a single drop of blood.

At that moment, members of the Snow Wolf Clan began to emerge from the icy forest one after another.

At their lead was Xie Ling, all of them carrying bows and arrows. It was clear they had planned this long ago—deciding to kill Xie Zhuo at the very moment the evil god entered his body. They wanted both Xie Zhuo and the evil god to die here and now…

But…

I knew the ending…

Boom boom—two heavy thuds echoed across the icy lake, like the pounding of a heart.

Xie Zhuo, who had nearly been turned into a pin cushion, began to move.

Slowly, he raised his head. The sound of his spine clicking back into place was enough to make one’s teeth ache. As his eyes opened—now completely black—a black mark began forming at the center of his brow.

Everyone looked at him, eyes filling with despair.

“Xie Zhuo” didn’t move, but every arrow that had pierced his body slowly slid back out.

As the arrows left him, the malevolent energy filled in his wounds, rapidly healing them.

The arrows clattered to the surface of the icy lake like worthless scrap metal.

“Fools, trying to shake a tree.”

He spoke four words. But just as he began to lift his hand, he froze.

In the sunlight, countless threads formed from spiritual energy were now visible on Xie Zhuo’s body, binding him tightly. They had been hidden beneath the black mist, so no one had seen them before.

Now that the evil god was restrained, everyone—including me—could finally see them clearly.

This was…

Something Xie Zhuo had done?

He had created this trap to bind himself when the malevolent energy dragged him here, so that after his body was taken, the Snow Wolf Clan could kill him?

He… wanted to help them.

“While the evil god hasn’t fully adapted to the body—kill,” Xie Ling ordered coldly.

Everyone reignited their killing intent. This time, they discarded their bows and drew their swords. In an instant, they swarmed Xie Zhuo.

The evil god, surrounded, did not panic. He merely lowered his head to glance at the threads. As the blades fell and pierced flesh, his body was swallowed by the crowd.

After that strike, the evil god finally fell from the sky, and Xie Zhuo’s body became a mutilated mess.

Everyone was splattered with his blood—but…

The blood was black.

They stood in a circle around the seemingly ruined body, unable to look away.

But when the malevolent energy began to seep out again from that body, someone finally despaired to the point of dropping their weapon.

The evil god couldn’t be killed—they realized this now.

Someone turned to flee, but before they could, a swirl of black mist snapped their neck.

“Xie Zhuo’s” body stood up again among the crowd.

The black mark between his brows gleamed with an eerie light. The threads binding him had been severed in the attack, but though his body healed, the spiritual threads did not.

The evil god had finally taken full control of the body. He raised a hand. “You Snow Wolves have nurtured this vessel well.” At his fingertip, he noticed that everyone who had touched the black blood was beginning to change.

The blood had burrowed into their skin.

Their meridians began to darken. Some had eyes that were already completely black.

On the icy lake, the Snow Wolf Clan wailed in anguish.

Even Xie Ling—splattered with blood—watched the black meridians creep from her wrist up her arm. Without a word, she lifted her hand and severed her arm.

But it was too late. One meridian crept from her shoulder up to her temple, slowly invading her eyes.

She glared at “Xie Zhuo” with hatred, her teeth clenched.

The evil god simply smiled. “You shall all serve me for eternity.” He raised his hand, ready to give his command, but at that very moment—his wrist froze in midair.

All around, the malevolent energy suddenly paused in its attack on the Snow Wolf Clan.

The evil god clutched his chest.

“You still resist?”

Before the words even finished, his expression changed. His strength vanished. He dropped to his knees.

It was Xie Zhuo—still inside his own body—still refusing to give up.

Just like back in Undying City, when the malevolent energy invaded me, and he told me again and again: Don’t be afraid. Don’t give up.

He had always lived by those words himself.

And yet…

I looked at Xie Zhuo now. His face was pale, his lips trembling, sweat pouring down his temples like rain.

I had fought the evil god in a dream. I knew how painful it was. And I knew that what Xie Zhuo was enduring now must be a hundred times worse.

Still, he overcame the fear.

He did not give up—until…

His eyes became clear again.