Vestiges of the Vow

Guan Jinyue let go, her movement crisp and clean.

"You almost walked in just now."

Chen Guan glanced at where she had grabbed his wrist, a faint chill still lingering there.

"Didn't realize you had that much strength."

Guan Jinyue lowered her sword again: "And you still have the energy to comment on that now?"

Chen Guan looked toward the circular pool. The silver-blue ancient script had fallen quiet again, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than an illusion.

Guan Jinyue watched him: "What did you see just now?"

Judging from his state, Chen had clearly been seduced by an illusion.

Chen Guan thought for a moment and quickly gave the keywords: "A snowy plain, a child, a robed figure without a face."

Guan Jinyue frowned: "And what else?"

Too few clues, truly hard to judge.

Chen Guan tried to recall the child's mouth movements from before and said uncertainly, "He seemed to be telling me... go home?"

Ever since arriving in this world from the Blue Star, "go home" was the phrase he hated hearing the most.

Because he knew he couldn't go back.

And because he knew that even if he did, there might be no one waiting for him in the same place as before.

The silver-blue patterns in the circular pool lit up again. The noise in his mind grew sharper.

Baal's voice forced its way through the static, lacking its usual casual, watchful tone.

"Kid, don't stare at that damn pool too long."

Chen Guan's eyelids twitched: "Finally got through?"

"This place crammed half an iceberg down my throat. Lord Bael's breath feels frozen right now. Talking at all is already doing you a favor."

Baal paused, his tone turning serious: "That's not ordinary script. That's the remnant of an oath from the old era. Strange—you sure have a knack for attracting relics of the ages. I haven't seen these things in years."

Chen Guan stared at the pool's walls: "Oath remnants?"

"A promise carved into the rules. The one who swore it died, the witnesses died, the era passed—but it still remains. Usually used between masters and servants, or husbands and wives."

Baal's voice began cutting in and out, signal failing again.

He didn't last long before dropping off the line. Now it was just the two of them again. Chen Guan swept his gaze around once more.

In the first ring of murals, the Lord of Nothingness stood high above a dark city.

In the second ring, the Lord of Nothingness led the Child across deserts, coastlines, snowy plains, and human cities.

On the inner wall of the circular hall, the Lord of Nothingness's face had been destroyed, but the Child's figure remained intact.

Chen Guan suddenly spoke: "From the moment we came in, it's been making us look at the... the Robed One."

Guan Jinyue followed his gaze.

Chen Guan walked over to one of the murals.

In it, the Lord of Nothingness stood in front of the Child, while city dwellers threw stones at them.

The Lord of Nothingness's face was a mess of destruction.

But the Child had been preserved, even the tears in the edge of his cloak were clearly visible.

"The Robed One was scratched out."

Chen Guan raised his finger toward the Child: "He wasn't."

Guan Jinyue understood quickly: "So what's really been preserved here is the Child."

Chen Guan hummed in agreement.

Guan Jinyue stood beside him and said in a low voice: "The core is the Child."

"This site wasn't built for later generations to worship that godlike Robed One."

Chen Guan looked at the last mural, which only showed the little boy alone. He knew Guan Jinyue's inference was reasonable.

At this point, things seemed to have hit a dead end with no other clues. But Chen Guan knew he still had power from beyond this world.

I choose you, forum!

Chen Guan opened the forum. But before he could search for keywords, the first thing he saw was a glaring title.

-- [Analysis of Chen Guan's Death and Predicting the Next Plot]

Chen Guan: ???

I died? Since when did I not know?

He checked the section; it was the plot analysis section, not a fan-fiction zone. Meaning these people were serious.

Driven by some strange compulsion, Chen Guan clicked on it.

The main post directly displayed a high-definition image of the ruins of Modu, along with a scene of Chen Guan's half-destroyed body dissolving at dawn.

[President of Chen Guan's Fan Club (Cyber-Vengeful Spirit Version): I HATE THIS! I HATE THIS! My Guan! My Guan!]

[Cheerful Netizen's Dog: Sofa. President, accept my condolences. Lord Chen lives forever!]

[Those Who Hand Out Daggers Must Swallow a Thousand Needles: Wuwuwu my Guan, my handsome man is gone just like that? I don't believe it! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!]

[Prophet: Calm down, you guys. This is obviously a plot kill. Don't forget our Coffin Brother's setup. Don't panic—I'm blind-guessing there'll be a fake-corpse revival.]

[Overtime Victim: What does the person upstairs know? Look at the protagonists back in Modu—An Changqing was about to break down, Long Ao directly mobilized the military, Su Yuehe used the council's highest authority. I'm crying.]

Chen Guan stared at the rapidly refreshing comments on the screen, feeling a subtle disconnect from this world.

Guan Jinyue sensed his prolonged silence. She looked away from the murals and asked what he had found.

Chen Guan looked up and gave a vague reply, then continued quickly scrolling.

Guan Jinyue didn't press further and quietly stood by, taking another careful look at this strange circular hall.

Chen Guan clicked on the replies from the thread starter. Their words were full of grief.

[President of Chen Guan's Fan Club (Cyber-Vengeful Spirit Version): Bad news, kids. This isn't a drill! The officials released a death report! DNA was found! Conclusion: complete dissipation. Even the soul is gone. Brothers and sisters, get the knife blades ready!]

More wailing followed below.

"Oh my God, even DNA came out. Can he still come back to life? The writers have no heart!"

"It's over. It's really going to get painful now. Looking at how these friends reacted, the next plot point is definitely revenge."

"I'm going to blind-guess that the two hot-tempered redheads will charge out first. Hiss... could this be the real reason for Long Ao's dark turn? Calling in a dark boss to get revenge?"

Chen Guan read through these analyses. He kept scrolling down, and soon another new post was pushed to the top.

[Long Ao's Perspective: Revenge, First Stop--The Northern Demons!]

Chen Guan swiped the screen and clicked into that post.

The post had no extra fluff. Just screenshots and brief text descriptions.

The first screenshot showed Hong Yuan carrying a huge axe as she walked through the mud. Rain soaked her hair, and the axe dragged a long trail on the ground.

The second screenshot showed Long Ao walking beside her, fists clenched tightly and jaw set hard.

The third screenshot showed An Changqing standing in front of the ruins, clutching a rain-soaked death report.

Chen Guan continued swiping down. The post used text to describe their conversation in detail.

"The blood debt the demons owe us—I'm writing it down today, for good."

Hong Yuan's voice, even through the text, carried a sense of finality.

"Count me in on the revenge list."

Long Ao chimed in beside her, his tone heavy.

"That list includes me too."

An Changqing followed, making his stance clear.

Su Yuehe used her authority to demand all intelligence on the demons from the council. Yin Chen promised that the search and rescue on site would never stop, and that external investigations would never cease either.

Chen Guan watched the screen in silence and said nothing more.

It turned out that in places he never knew about, so many people had already been working tirelessly to avenge his death.