We walked for an unknown amount of time.
Finally, the Temporal River was no longer an unchanging starry sky; narrative images began to appear.
Even though we had walked far, Dahlia stepped precisely into a node from her memory.
In the image, a woman as pure as snow was losing her life force in front of Dahlia.
Soon, Dahlia was taken away by the killer, leaving only the woman’s Corpse behind.
“Is it her?” I couldn’t help but ask.
But Dahlia was staring blankly at the woman in the image, no longer able to hear my voice.
I had no choice but to wait quietly with Cluru; regardless, there was no one else here to interfere.
“Mm… It’s her. Her name is Jasmine.” Dahlia finally snapped out of it and nodded.
So I reached out, preparing to take Dahlia into that temporal node.
But just then, an unexpected turn occurred in the story within the image.
A grey-haired woman with the appearance of a Queen knelt in the image, taking off the Soul-storing Crown from her head.
She was chanting something, and along with her chant, a wisp of blue smoke emerged from Jasmine’s forehead and was sucked into the Soul-storing Crown.
Jieliya looked at the image in shock.
With my and her experience, we could both tell the Soul-storing Crown wasn’t some evil Magical Artifact; it was just a tool with the Ability of Qiongqi to store a Soul.
If a person is not dealt with after Death and their Soul is left to dissipate naturally, it becomes troublesome to find them later.
But if it is stored, it can be preserved for much longer.
“This bastard… she never told me she preserved Jasmine’s Soul!’Jieliya clenched her fists in anger.
Using the Queen as an axis, we dragged the images in the Temporal River to browse through the Queen’s life in sequence.
——A weary and dull life.
However, the point was that she used pure energy every day to ensure the integrity of the Soul inside the Soul-storing Crown.
Over time, outputting a large amount of energy every day while seemingly lacking a special kind of replenishment caused the Queen to grow weaker and weaker.
In the end, she even had to consume her life force to ensure the Soul’s integrity.
Because of this, she was soon usurped.
Many years later, the Queen’s life was exhausted, and she was about to die of old age.
Before Death, sensing her end, she came to Jasmine’s grave.
Then, right in front of Jieliya, she lay down in the adjacent coffin while holding the Soul-storing Crown.
The smile on the corner of her mouth was a bit eerie and desolate.
But Jieliya had never spared her a second glance.
To the point that until the yellow earth buried the coffin, Dahlia didn’t know she had brushed past the Soul of her beloved.
“……”
Dahlia had thought Jasmine’s Soul had long since shattered; the reason why Resurrection was so difficult and full of obstacles was based on the premise that Jasmine’s Soul had dissipated back then.
But in reality, she could have performed the Resurrection of her beloved long ago.
None of this should have ever started.
“If I were you, my mentality would have collapsed; I’d definitely give this little Queen’s ass a hard kick,” I said, fanning the flames without a conscience.
Dahlia gnashed her teeth. “You’re right. I can’t let her die so easily.”
“That’s more like it! A Yandere should be properly dealt with!”
“Mm, let’s go in.”
We chose the temporal node where the Queen was buried and jumped into the Temporal River.
We entered a frozen moment; in this instant, the entire World was stopped, and time was not flowing.
Thus, the Dahlia by the grave, the Dahlia of that year, could not see us.
Good, this way we could openly dig up the Yandere Queen’s grave and collect her Soul right as she breathed her last.
To prevent the Souls from interfering with each other, we found another Magical Artifact vessel—it was a Toilet Seat Vessel.
“After we go back, I’m going to install this Toilet Seat Vessel in my house and use it for ten years before her Resurrection!” Dahlia said viciously.
I gave my full support! Though, wouldn’t that count as a reward?
Dahlia frowned and thought. “A reward? If it’s this person, it’s actually possible…”
*Shrugs.*
Regardless, we had already obtained the two Soul Magical Artifacts.
“Let’s retreat before the Host of this space returns; we wouldn’t be able to defeat them.”
“Mm.”
Carrying the two Soul Magical Artifacts, we returned the way we came through the crack.
Then, following the path we came from, we ran toward the temporal node belonging to our era.
“Something’s not right… Have you noticed the path we took has changed?” I asked Dahlia.
Dahlia’s expression was grave. “It has changed.”
We were previously walking upstream against the Temporal River, and now we were moving forward with the flow. Logically, we should have been able to find the crack where we entered this space directly.
But when we reached our own era, we found that there was no crack around us at all!
Either the door we used to come in was blocked, or the path changed!
“This place isn’t three-dimensional, so it’s difficult for us to judge directions. It’s very possible we took a wrong turn.”
“What should we do?”
Should we open another door to go back, or jump directly into the Temporal River?
No, the Temporal River consists of frozen temporal nodes. If we jump in, time won’t flow, and we’ll be frozen in that single frame forever.
As for another door… I haven’t opened one from here before, so I’m not sure where we would end up.
Just as we were at our wit’s end, Cluru actually spoke up.
“Mm…… This way. Walk this way first.”
She propped up a Tentacle and pointed the way.
Jieliya and I had no other choice, so we could only treat a dead horse like a living one and follow Cluru’s guidance.
“And then this way……”
Cluru’s Tentacles moved left and right, up and down.
But up, down, left, and right were just concepts I could understand. To Cluru at this moment, the directions she perceived were far more complex and profound.
“And then, here.”
She raised four Tentacles simultaneously, pointing in four different directions.
“……Are you trying to make me split apart?”
“Alright.”
Cluru thought for a moment. Her four Tentacles suddenly elongated, and their suckers tightened at the same time, as if they were suctioned onto four invisible pieces of glass.
With a sudden pull!
The crack from when we arrived suddenly appeared before us.
“Amazing!” I couldn’t help but marvel. “Stinking Octopus, what exactly is your background?”
“You know my background; we worked on the Main Line together.”
True, Cluru is the legitimate eldest daughter of the Mu Family.
Since it’s our own person’s skill, it’s a good thing after all, nothing to worry about.
“Whew—”
We jumped out of the crack together. Finally, with our feet on solid ground, we returned to the Nine Provinces World that we could easily understand.
My Brain felt much more relaxed immediately.
“I need to find Jiang Ke’er. She’s very good at reshaping bodies and Souls.”
“Let’s go together. It just so happens I took Jiang Ke’er’s Side Line.”
“Mm.”
We set off together, flying toward the small Sect where Jiang Ke’er was waiting for her prey, playing the pig to eat the tiger.
During this time, I could feel Jieliya’s trembling and rapid breathing.
There was no such thing as “I’ve already waited so long, waiting a little longer doesn’t matter.”
In fact, there was only “I’ve already waited so long; I can’t wait a single second longer now.”