Redemption

“Is that so? Am I already dead?”

The Guide muttered to himself. Then his heart suddenly clenched. “What about Bingying? Tell me, did you see a little girl around ten years old? Is she in danger? Did that monster…”

“I didn’t see her here. She should still be alive,” Xia Lun said calmly.

“Still alive? That’s good. That’s good.” The Guide seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and the tension in his face eased somewhat.

A trace of pity flashed through Xia Lun’s eyes.

He was only trying to comfort him. He had no idea what had happened to the little girl either.

Under normal circumstances, a person’s soul would dissipate directly after death rather than come to the Spirit World.

There were exceptions, of course—souls burdened by deep obsessions, souls that were naturally powerful, souls bound by powerful curses, or souls that had signed contracts with certain ancient beings of the Spirit World.

However, the man standing before Xia Lun did not seem to be one of them, yet he had still arrived in the Spirit World.

There appeared to be nothing special about his soul. Xia Lun could still discern that much. The Guide’s soul was unnaturally calm, almost as if he had not just experienced death.

In other words, some outside force had caused him to enter this place after dying.

Xia Lun looked around. The area was covered by a sea of blood. It had now become completely still, its surface smooth as a mirror without a single ripple, even reflecting the figures of the two men.

“Sir…” The Guide looked at Xia Lun somewhat nervously. “Are you from another world? Her Majesty the Queen once said that the humans of other worlds look very different from us…”

That short black hair, those deep blue eyes, the warm complexion so unlike that of the Ice and Snow Tribe, and those unfamiliar clothes—all of it resembled the “visitors from beyond the realms” Her Majesty had once mentioned.

“Yes.” Xia Lun nodded.

The queen of their world actually knew that other worlds existed? That meant she was very likely no ordinary deity, but a powerful being who held a place even among the endless stars.

The characteristics of ice and snow were probably quite conspicuous as well… Xia Lun seemed to recall seeing several similar beings in the Temple of the Stars.

In truth, even among those who stood on the same front against Chaos, most beings still cautiously concealed their true identities and the worlds they belonged to.

“Do you remember how you came here?”

Xia Lun asked the most crucial question. His gaze swept across the sea of blood, and his spiritual sense spread in all directions like an invisible net. Apart from the Guide, there were no other complete soul fluctuations here. He might be the only clue.

What about the Chaos Demon God? Xia Lun sensed no unusual aura at all. Could he have been wrong? Was the Chaos Demon God’s soul not here?

“How did I come here…”

Memories and confusion surfaced in the Guide’s eyes.

The silence lasted for several breaths.

The sea of blood remained calm, but Xia Lun keenly sensed that something seemed to be stirring slowly beneath that tranquility—not a physical object, but the sediment of some emotion, the echo of some memory.

“Yes! It seems someone said something to me!” The Guide’s eyes suddenly widened, and the sea of blood began to boil with him. “After I died, I think I heard something…”

“What did you hear?” Xia Lun’s gaze sharpened.

The Guide’s lips trembled, and his soul began to flicker unsteadily. He struggled to recall the words, each one like a fragment of stone dredged painfully from the depths of his memory.

“This world will ultimately be devoured…”

Before he could finish speaking, a smear of scarlet suddenly crawled across the Guide’s pupils. The red spread rapidly, like ink dropped into clear water, instantly staining his entire eyes.

“Roar!”

The Guide let out a howl filled with suffering, rage, and madness. Reason receded from his eyes like the ebbing tide, replaced by a hollow and violent killing intent.

Countless sharp icicles thrust up from the sea of blood, sprouting like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The flashing ice spikes were coated in a thick layer of blood and shot through the air from every direction, stabbing straight toward Xia Lun.

What was happening? Even his abilities had been enhanced.

Ripples began to spread across the sea of blood, as if it had become connected to the Guide.

Xia Lun lightly tapped the ground with his foot, moving backward as nimbly as a swallow. Each time his foot touched down, a massive ice spike burst from that spot, pursuing him relentlessly.

An ice sword appeared in Xia Lun’s hand. Frost circulated along its blade and surged toward the Guide. Xia Lun attempted to use the same origin of ice-soul power—only far purer—to suppress the chaos within the other man and awaken the reason buried beneath it.

The sword’s pure chill flowed into the Guide’s body, but the latter merely swayed slightly before showing no further reaction.

The aura of the Guide’s soul began to weaken at a visible rate, like a candle burning at both ends as it released its final, dazzling radiance.

He had been completely controlled, fighting by exhausting his own soul.

If this continued, he would soon dissipate even if Xia Lun did nothing.

“There’s no other way.”

Xia Lun sighed, and flames suddenly flared in his hand.

“Flash.”

Xia Lun’s figure vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already beside the Guide. The ice pillars that had formed a forest as vast as towering trees began to collapse from within. Cracks spread across them like cobwebs before they shattered completely, transforming into a sky full of ice crystals.

The flames on Xia Lun’s fire sword gradually died out, leaving behind a faint wisp of white smoke.

“I’m sorry.” The Guide gave a bitter smile. “I’ve troubled you again.”

“Is there anything you want to say? If I get the chance, I can pass your words on to your queen later,” Xia Lun asked gently.

The Guide stood where he was, as though thinking very seriously.

“No… I don’t seem to have any regrets left. My mission is complete.” The Guide appeared to relax completely.

His tall body began to slowly melt. As he spoke, steam billowed from his mouth.

“Don’t blame me.”

“It’s all right, sir. I’m already dead. This is merely dying a second time…” A faint flame glimmered within the crystal chest of the Guide.

“I always performed my duties faithfully. No matter what orders came from above, I would do everything in my power to carry them out—that was my only purpose. When there was no mission, I didn’t even know what I was supposed to do.” The Guide sighed. “Although everyone treated me well, I was never able to truly face this world. I regarded myself as nothing more than a tool. Perhaps for me, death is the true salvation… Bingying is still alive. As long as she’s alive, that’s enough.”

The flames pierced through the Guide’s body. The tall warrior of the Ice and Snow Tribe melted into a pool of snowmelt and merged with the sea of blood beneath Xia Lun’s feet.