The dark night cloaked the earth, and the crescent moon at the far horizon appeared even colder.
After a faint dog bark or two, a groan came from within the temple.
Beneath the dignified Buddha Statue, a girl in monk’s robes struggled to sit upright, her gaze fixed on the figure lingering outside the temple door.
The girl’s face was drained of color, exhaustion etched deeply across her features. Those normally gentle green eyes had lost their light, yet the corners of her mouth still held a tender smile.
Beside her lay the Subjugation Vajra Pestle and the Demon-Subduing Golden Alms Bowl, while the continuous sounds of the Wooden Fish and Buddhist Bell filled her ears.
In front of her were two dishes: one a carefully prepared gourmet meal, the other fresh, bloody Beast Meat.
The first was for humans to eat; the second for Monsters.
The girl pressed her lips together, refusing to look at either dish again, nor at the figure who paced outside the temple door, hesitating to step inside.
This was probably where it ended.
Memories of their past moments together flickered through her mind as she sighed silently.
Clack clack…
The temple door was pushed open, the crisp footsteps drawing closer.
Lin Nan strained to lift her head, but her vision began to blur at that moment.
“Eat,”
That voice was cold and distant, commanding from above, much like how she usually ordered everyone. Yet after so many years together, Lin Nan could still detect the subtle tremor beneath the seemingly icy command.
Lin Nan pressed her lips shut, remaining silent.
“Lin Nan!” The woman finally lost her patience. She bent sharply, gripping Lin Nan’s gaunt jaw, forcing her striking face to turn toward her.
“Lin Nan, eat. And without my permission, you cannot leave this temple. Understand?”
Lin Nan sighed faintly in her heart.
In this life, she had already clung to far too many moments. She could feel her lifespan waning; if she failed to cultivate this woman before her into the Supreme of the Mortal World and use her fate to reincarnate, her own life would reach a dead end. All the sacrifices of seven previous near-death rebirths would be for naught.
Seeming to see the deathly intent in the girl’s eyes, the woman sneered coldly, “Don’t worry, with me here, you won’t die.”
After waiting long without the answer she desired, impatience overcame her. She forcefully turned Lin Nan’s face aside and stood up sharply, letting the fierce wind from outside the temple rush in, lifting her robes and brushing against Lin Nan’s cheek.
That robe was unmistakably golden yellow, embroidered with a dragon coiling around her body — a Dragon Robe.
“Your Majesty…”
Lin Nan’s voice suddenly faltered, weak and faint.
Hearing that fragile voice on the verge of shattering, the woman’s heart surged with endless pain like crashing waves. She bit her lip hard but dared not turn away, fearing that the moment she did, she would break down into tears or worse, murder.
“The Grand Preceptor led three hundred Heavenly Principles Directorate Diviners to prove I am a Monster. Why won’t you believe it?”
“That’s because you are my…!”
You are…
The woman’s voice faltered, and she quietly turned her head, gazing at Lin Nan’s tragic, beautiful face. In the end, she swallowed the words “the one who raised me” deep back down.
Yes, how had she never doubted before?
When she was still a child, it was this very girl who saved her and raised her;
When she was a little girl, it was this girl who earned money to support her schooling and martial training;
When she became a girl herself, the girl in front of her could no longer offer help, only gentle, warm looks;
When she donned the Dragon Robe and became the Empress above all, Lin Nan remained unchanged in her youthful appearance.
Ordinary people age; Lin Nan was clearly not a cultivator, so why did her appearance never fade?
Knowing that all Monsters under the heavens had long been slaughtered by the Previous Dynasty, and that the last surviving bloodline of the Monster Clan had been personally wiped out by Shu Ying,
Unless Lin Nan was from that very last Tiger Monster Clan which Shu Ying had destroyed with her own hands:
When Shu Ying was a child, Tiger Monsters slaughtered her clan before her eyes and devoured her parents alive.
That was the darkest moment of young Shu Ying’s life. The night in her memories was stained with blood and blurred, screams and cries echoing in her ears. Everyone struggled to flee, but Shu Ying, kneeling in the heart of slaughter, knew it was futile.
A Tiger Monster approached the little Shu Ying, raising its claw high. She closed her eyes slightly, silently shedding tears, awaiting her end.
Suddenly, a gentle hand softly covered her eyes, and together they fled. After long hours of running and the sounds of battle fading, little Shu Ying opened her eyes in confusion and met the most beautiful pair of eyes in the world.
At that moment, the green-eyed girl gently said, “Don’t be afraid, Shu Ying. From now on, I will protect you.”
….
“You swore you would protect me, so what exactly did you protect?”
The gentler the Lin Nan in her memories, the more hateful the fragile and pitiful Lin Nan kneeling before her now seemed.
Shu Ying clenched her teeth, gripping her fists so tightly her sharp nails pierced her skin, droplets of blood falling from her palms onto the ground.
Lin Nan sighed faintly, forcing back the pain, deliberately saying, “No blood is allowed in the temple; it’s inauspicious.”
Shu Ying snorted coldly, her gaze turning icy, “Whoever dares say I’m unlucky will lose their head.”
“You once promised to be a wise and bright ruler, not a tyrant who kills at will.”
Recalling the past, Shu Ying’s heart seemed crushed by an invisible hand so tightly that her breath momentarily faltered.
The anger flushed across her face vanished abruptly, frost settling back over her expression. She sneered and half-kneeling before Lin Nan, tenderly brushed the hair from her cheek, and casually asked, “Lin Nan, if you truly are a Monster, and I a wise ruler, what should I do?”
“Kill me,” Lin Nan nodded firmly. “The Monster Clan is a calamity to humanity. As a sovereign, you must root out all dangers to bring lasting peace.”
“Heh…”
Shu Ying stood, slipping off the Dragon Robe half hanging from her back. Light sliced through the doorway, caressing her exposed fragrant shoulders and jade-like back. She tilted her head, half her face cloaked in shadow, and said, “If you are a Monster, then I will be the unprecedented tyrant.”
With that, she strode out through the door.
Moments later, the temple gate was tightly shut, a layer of black gauze sealing the small temple, blocking out every last ray of light.
Lin Nan knelt silently on the Buddhist Prayer Mat, back turned to the compassionate Buddha Statue, and sighed softly.
No matter what, she would die tomorrow.
Not a peaceful death, but…
She had already arranged with the Heavenly Principles Directorate: as the last Monster in the mortal realm, Lin Nan would die before an Immortal, before Shu Ying, with the Grand Preceptor’s cooperation.
And the Grand Preceptor and Empress who thoroughly ended the Monster Clan’s history would be recorded in the Annals, bearing the boundless fortune granted by the Mandate of Heaven.
What ambition, what grandeur! What could surpass such a “Supreme of the Mortal World”?
At that moment, Lin Nan would use her life to forge Shu Ying’s Path of Ascension.
Hands pressed together, she turned with great effort to the bowed Buddha Statue behind her and softly whispered:
“Amitabha.”
So be it, so be it.
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