Into The Sea

The demons swarmed, and the horrific screams continued for a long time before gradually fading away. Lan Yueyao lowered her gaze, shifting her eyes from the blood-soaked sand to a lone figure standing out amidst the chaos.

It was a beautiful face, the tightly pressed lips still showing the immaturity of youth, and the dark eyes stared at her with stubbornness.

In the chaotic, uncontrolled demon horde, the girl’s slender figure seemed as though it could be swept away at any moment, yet she stood out, like a stubborn rock in a raging flood.

Lan Yueyao frowned and asked, “Do you have something to say?”

The girl bit her lip and slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

The surrounding noise drowned out her words, but Lan Yueyao heard them clearly. “You don’t understand what?”

“I don’t understand why we’re fighting this pointless war?” the girl said. “If ten years of effort only led to this, what was the point of all the lives we sacrificed?”

Lan Yueyao blinked and murmured, “You don’t want to stop either, do you?”

“Why should we stop?” The girl looked up at her, her voice trembling. “You said you would lead us into the Central Region, that you would give the demons a better life, that we wouldn’t have to endure the harsh cold and die from the barren land. My family, my friends, they all followed you for that reason, they all threw themselves into this war without hesitation. But now, you want to stop!”

A tear rolled down her cheek as the girl choked back a sob. “After they’ve all died, you want to stop? Why?! Do you think stopping now will bring peace between our races? Or do you just not care? You don’t care how we’ll survive afterward, or if the humans will seek revenge. You know that if we don’t kill them, they’ll kill us. Why should we tolerate it? Why should we retreat without a fight?!”

Her anguished cries faded into the wind. At some point, the demons fighting over the bloody remains quieted down, and pairs of glowing, bestial eyes turned toward the girl.

She trembled, her voice desperate. “I won’t stop. If you want to kill me like you killed the Demon Lords, then kill me!”

Lan Yueyao watched her, slowly raising her hand.

The girl flinched, instinctively closing her eyes. Just then, several figures rushed forward, stumbling as they blocked the girl.

Lan Yueyao paused. “You think I’m going to kill her?”

The demons looked at her in fear. One of them said tremulously, “My Queen, she’s just a child. She doesn’t know any better. Please spare her…”

Lan Yueyao fell silent for a moment, then let out a soft, bitter laugh. She looked down at the countless demons at her feet. “You all feel the same way, don’t you?”

After a moment of silence, a large bear demon stepped forward. “Yes.”

He clenched his jaw and knelt, pressing his forehead to the ground. “My Queen, stopping now would be a betrayal to those who have already died!”

Behind him, the demons looked at each other, hesitating before kneeling. First one, then two, and soon, more and more demons were kneeling, faster and faster. The clear moonlight shone on their bowed heads. In the end, only a few demons were still standing.

The silence was deafening as the demons and their queen engaged in a wordless standoff.

“Hah… hahaha…”

A broken laugh broke the silence. Ji Xing trembled as she raised her bloodied face, her crimson eyes filled with a manic joy. “My Queen, you can’t stop them.”

After a long silence, Lan Yueyao spoke calmly. “I understand.”

The night breeze brushed past as the mermaid’s slender figure slowly descended to the ground. “I’m sorry. As your queen, I led you into this quagmire. As your queen, I failed to give you a better life.”

“You’re right. I never truly cared about you, or even myself. I have been living for nothing more than a fleeting dream.” She lowered her gaze, her voice softening as she looked at the demons prostrate at her feet. “I once had subjects I wanted to protect, and I once had grand ambitions. But in the end, I accomplished nothing.”

“My life has been spent chasing illusions. Everything I wanted has slipped through my fingers. I gave everything, and in the end, I was left with nothing.”

 “How laughable…” She chuckled, shaking her head wearily. “Leading you to this point was my mistake. Now, I no longer wish to continue this war. But you refuse to listen to me. Why? Aren’t you afraid of death?”

A silent silence answered her question. Lan Yueyao blinked and said softly, “What meaning is there in dying here?”

A raspy voice said, “Dying here might mean nothing. But returning empty-handed, with nothing to show for it, how can we face the elders and children waiting for us at home? Have all the demons who died truly died for nothing?”

Lan Yueyao asked, “So, you won’t change your minds?”

“Unless you kill us, my queen, we will not change our minds.”

The desert fell silent once more. After a long while, Lan Yueyao’s soft sigh blended into the cold wind. “Very well.”

Boom—!

A thunderclap echoed across the sky. Lan Wu shuddered, an inexplicable sense of foreboding gripping her heart.

She looked up and saw that the clear night sky had suddenly filled with dark clouds. The stars and moon had disappeared, and lightning flashed like snakes.

The hair on her arms stood on end, and her skin prickled, as if ants were crawling all over her. Lan Wu shifted uncomfortably. Just as she was about to ask Ji Lingyue if she felt the same, a bolt of purple lightning struck down from the sky, hitting a figure in the desert with unstoppable force.

Ye Qingjun, watching from a distance, suddenly realized something and exclaimed in shock, “Heavenly Tribulation!”

Lan Wu was stunned. “Heavenly Tribulation? Whose tribulation?”

As soon as she finished, she understood the answer.

Only those who ascended to the upper realms, whether human or demon, would face the trial of ten purple heavenly thunderbolts. Among those present, only Lan Yueyao’s power was close to that of an immortal. It could only be her tribulation.

Lan Wu felt a surge of joy but was quickly replaced by confusion. “Wait, why is she facing the tribulation now?”

Ji Lingyue frowned, watching intently for a while before shaking her head. “No, she’s not undergoing the tribulation.”

She stared intently at the slender figure, her expression growing more shocked. “She’s… she’s dispersing all of her cultivation…”