Into The Sea

“Is that so?” Wu gently brushed Ji Lingyue’s temple with her fingertip, smiling. ” Since she’s your sister, I definitely have to meet her.”

Ji Lingyue gradually relaxed, a soft smile spreading across her face. “It won’t be long. She should be back in about half a month.”

“Half a month…” Lan Wu bit her lip, hesitant. “Ah Yue, I can’t stay here for too long.”

Ji Lingyue froze, instinctively tightening her grip on her hand. “Where are you going again?”

“Not me, us.” Lan Wu said patiently. “The reason I came to find you was to take you back. Ah Yue, don’t forget, the matters at home aren’t over yet.”

“Go back?” Ji Lingyue’s long lashes fluttered. “Go back?”

Lan Wu frowned. “You don’t want to go back?”

She didn’t answer, only saying, “It was so hard for you to wake up.”

“Here, everyone fears and respects me. When you’re with me, no one dares to hurt you. We can do whatever we want, and no one will disturb us…” Her voice grew softer, and Ji Lingyue avoided Lan Wu’s gaze, clenching her fists.

With great effort, she finally said, “If we just let go of everything else, we can always… always live happily ever after.”

Lan Wu shook her head. “But I can’t let go.”

Ji Lingyue stiffened, her lips pressing together as a faint blush spread across her cheeks.

Seeing her like this, Lan Wu sighed, softening her voice. “Why don’t you want to go back? Are you afraid? Afraid of those people, those demons, or those things?”

“I’m afraid you’ll die.” Ji Lingyue interrupted her. “I’m afraid you’ll end up like that again, afraid I won’t be able to protect you.”

“But you’re already so powerful.”

“Even so, I can’t guarantee it will be enough.”

“Nothing in this world is guaranteed. Besides, our friends, family, enemies, and benefactors are all still there. How can we just abandon them?”

“But if something happens to you…”

“If something happens to me, the worst that can happen is I lose my life,” Lan Wu said, gently pinching Ji Lingyue’s cheek. “Didn’t you just say you weren’t afraid of dying with me? Are you scared now?”

Ji Lingyue shook her head. “No!”

“Then what’s there to hesitate about? Ah Yue, I will go back no matter what.” She paused, her voice softening. “After all, I’ve already promised my mother.”

Ji Lingyue blinked, confused. “Your mother?”

“Yes, my real mother.” Lan Wu’s nose tingled, but she smiled. “On the night we separated in the demon realm, I learned a lot of things…”

She hesitated before finally telling Ji Lingyue everything about how she had entered the Demon Queen’s palace, met Xuan Yu, and all that had followed. Although she was a bit disorganized and rambling, Ji Lingyue understood, her beautiful face changing several times as she listened, her grip on Lan Wu’s hand tightening.

“After my mother disappeared, I woke up and learned that fifteen years had passed…” She suddenly faltered, looking at the person who had suddenly embraced her. “What’s wrong?”

Ji Lingyue shook her head, whispering, “You’ve been through so much.”

Lan Wu froze, her eyes blinking rapidly as a tear slipped down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, forcing a light tone. “When I told my sister about this, she didn’t believe me. She thought I was just confused from sleeping too long…”

“I believe you.” Ji Lingyue tightened her arms, her voice muffled. “She doesn’t believe you, but I do. I’ll believe anything you say.”

Lan Wu chuckled. “You always know how to sweet-talk me.”

“Who else would I sweet-talk?” Ji Lingyue lifted her head, gently brushing away the tears at the corners of Lan Wu’s eyes. “Lan Wu, if you’re hurting, you don’t have to force a smile. You don’t always have to worry about my feelings. I can take care of you too.”

Lan Wu fell silent, but more tears fell, landing on Ji Lingyue’s hand. She looked down at the wet marks left by her tears, her voice hoarse. “Look, I can’t even cry pearls anymore.”

Ji Lingyue pressed her lips together, quietly watching her.

“My aunt wanted Ji Xing to kill me. Strangely, at the time, I even understood her feelings. But even though I understood, I didn’t want to die because… it hurt too much.” Lan Wu took a shaky breath. “When Ji Xing injured me, when she took my blood, when she dug out my mermaid pearl… it all hurt too much.”

“My aunt wanted to kill me, but my mother sacrificed herself to save me. The remaining fragmented souls, even if revived, wouldn’t be the same Chu Chunhan from before.” Lan Wu’s voice was hoarse. “But she doesn’t even know that she destroyed the most important soul fragment with her own hands.”

“Do you hate her?”

Lan Wu shook her head. “I pity her.”

Ji Lingyue lowered her eyes. “I hate her. When we go back, if we meet her, I won’t hold back.”

Lan Wu chuckled, her eyes curving into a smile even with the tears still in them. “Weren’t you just saying you didn’t want to go back?”

“Since you’re determined to go back, I’ll go with you. You’re right. I’ve fought and bled here for years, endured so much suffering.”

“If I stay here now, wouldn’t all that effort be wasted? Whatever you want to do, I’ll support you. I’ll always be by your side to protect you.” Her voice grew colder. “Besides, I have a debt to settle with Ji Xing.”

“Good,” Lan Wu nodded, gently brushing Ji Lingyue’s cheek. “I may not have much spiritual power, but I’m not that weak. As long as I don’t have to rely on brute strength, who knows who’ll be protecting whom?”

“Then you protect me.” Ji Lingyue relaxed, burying herself in her arms, and lifting her head, said, “First, you have to stay by my side at all times.”

Lan Wu laughed, about to lean down and kiss her cheek when a fluffy head squeezed between her hand and the bed, pushing her hand up. “As long as you don’t keep forgetting me, I’ll protect you too.”

Lan Wu paused, looking down at Danqing’s bright eyes, unable to resist stroking her soft feathers. “Thank you.”

Danqing puffed up her chest proudly. “You’re welcome.”

“You,” Lan Wu chuckled, giving her another affectionate pat. “You and Ah Li would get along great.”

After laughing and playing until the afternoon, Ji Lingyue finally jumped out of bed to pack, preparing to leave with Lan Wu the next day.

But after looking around, she found that the stone room was empty. Aside from the paintings that Danqing had found, there was nothing else to pack. The only thing she couldn’t leave behind was the jade figure. So, she sat down at the desk to write a letter for Ji Yun.

Lan Wu, with nothing else to do, sat on the narrow windowsill, swinging her legs as she gazed out at the demon realm’s scenery.

She looked south, the horizon a fiery red. The strange red seemed to burn from the ground all the way to the sky, with dark energy spreading out, filled with ominousness.

When asked about it, Ji Lingyue replied distractedly, “That’s the Flame Lands. The Flame Lands has an ever-burning hellfire beneath it. The ground is always scorching hot. If you accidentally break the surface crust and fall into the fire pit, you’ll be burned to ashes in an instant. As for the center of the Flame Lands, that’s a completely dark abyss, called the Unreturning Abyss.”

“Unreturning Abyss… such an ominous name.”

Ji Lingyue hummed. “We still don’t know how deep the Unreturning Abyss are. But inside, there’s a type of crystal that contains dense demonic energy, which we call demon cores.”

“Demonic energy… so it’s similar to spirit stones?”

“Similar, but the demonic energy contained in demon cores is much stronger. Countless demons enter the Unreturning Abyss for those demon cores. A demon core the size of a brick can allow a demon to advance a cultivation level. You can imagine how bloody and cruel the competition for them is.”

Lan Wu paused, turning her head. “I haven’t asked you yet, what’s your current cultivation level?”

Ji Lingyue turned her head. “If we compare it to the cultivation realms of humans, I’d say… mid-stage Nirvana.”

Lan Wu’s eyes widened in shock. “In a little over ten years, you’ve advanced an entire realm?”

“That’s the nature of demonic cultivation.” Ji Lingyue said calmly. “Devouring other demons, absorbing their power, killing anyone who stands in your way, abandoning all sense of morality. But the most important factor was the demon core I consumed three years ago.”

Lan Wu stared at her.

“For that demon core, I almost died. But when I thought about the life-and-death contract, I forced myself not to fall asleep completely, I forced myself… to crawl out of the Unreturning Abyss.” Ji Lingyue gave a pale smile, her voice low. “My mind was shattered. On the way out, I left countless corpses, and many were devoured by my demonic mist, leaving nothing behind. Thinking about it now, if I die someday, I’ll surely end up in the eighteenth layer of hell.”

Lan Wu quickly spat out a few times. “Don’t say such things! Take it back!”

Ji Lingyue smiled. “You were just asking me if I was afraid of dying with you.”

“Take it all back.” Lan Wu jumped off the windowsill and stood in front of her, kneeling down. “From now on, neither of us will talk about death. We’ll both live well.”

Ji Lingyue nodded, but in the next moment, she seemed to hear something and frowned, turning toward the door. Soon, a gust of black wind rushed in, and a figure tumbled to the ground. “Moon Lord!”

Ji Lingyue set down her brush, her voice cold. “Who permitted you to barge in?”

The figure said in a panic, “Forgive me, my lord! But… the other two lords sent me to request aid. They’re trapped in the Unreturning Abyss!”