It’s not the end of summer, it’s the coldest time of winter. How could the camellia flowers bloom?
Did this land also sense the death of the Saint Lord and weep for him? I stared blankly at his bloody face and body, trembling as I leaned over to his chest. There was a dead silence inside, there’s no movement.
“Don’t you have an indestructible golden body, and you won’t die?” I stroked his chest. “Wake up… wake up. Is that alright?” I remembered what I saw before I died, and looked up again, hoping to see his soul, but I didn’t see his figure.
“Awoo—”
Suddenly, a wolf’s howl echoed. I turned my head and saw several large white wolves running along the riverbank. The largest among them lowered its head, approaching one of his hands and gently licking it. These were the young wolves we had saved together in our childhood. I blew a breath toward them, and immediately, as if sensing something, the lead wolf’s ears drooped, and it sniffed my hand.
The sound of wings flapping grew louder as flocks of birds descended, gathering around Nalin.
A red-headed, white-feathered vulture perched on his shoulder, using its beak to gently peck at the blood tears at the corner of his eye.
“Nalin, do you see? Your friends… all of them have come for you. If you’re not dead, please open your eyes and look at them, look at me, won’t you?”
“He is not dead, but he is not truly alive either.”
A distant, ethereal voice echoed from above. I looked up and saw a pair of slender, ghostly figures hovering in midair, gazing down at us.
“Lord Ghost Errands!”
“The curse from earlier and the incense thrust in reverse were both for sacrifice and summoning souls. He was born with a spiritual vein and has cultivated an indestructible golden body, just one step away from ascension to godhood. Such a pity. The curses he carved onto his body are meant to attract vengeful spirits and hatred, offering himself as food for them. Soon, all the earthbound spirits here will come for him. If they devour him, he will turn to ash. If he devours them, he will become a demon. New soul, you must come with us. If you stay here, you too will be consumed by either the earthbound spirits or him. When a demon first awakens, its mind is chaotic, lacking reason, and it will not care who you are.”
“Thank you for your advice, Lord Ghost Errand, but I will not leave,” I murmured. “Whether I’m devoured by the earthbound spirits or become his food, I will stay with him.”
“Very well, since you insist on going your own way, we cannot save you.” After a long sigh, the figures above vanished without a trace.
“If I were to reincarnate and be reborn, I would have to leave you behind and forget you, but I won’t leave you all alone.” I leaned against him, gazing into his eyes, now soaked with blood. “Whether my soul shatters or I become a demon, I will stay with you. Nalin, don’t be afraid.”
The moonlight around us darkened, gradually turning red. The wind howled, and the surrounding grass and flower petals danced in the air. I saw my reflection in his eyes, and when I looked up, a blood-red moon hung high above. The wails of ghosts echoed all around, and countless dark figures emerged in the night sky, swirling together to form a massive vortex, as if a dragon was sucking up water.
Countless dark shadows rushed down, and I spread my arms, shielding him.
“Please, don’t take him! The Saint Lord only wishes to save you all!”
“Save us? All he does is pray every day, making empty promises to us. He still listens to that female demon, his mother, and trains every day. If he truly becomes a god, he’ll never care about us again!”
“Such weakness and uselessness. Better to devour him, take his spiritual power, and we won’t be trapped here as earthbound spirits anymore. Becoming a tree or mountain spirit through cultivation would be better!”
“How can you all be so dishonorable! It was the Young Saint Lord who nurtured our bones with his spiritual essence every day, praying for us daily. Without him, we wouldn’t even be able to remain as earthbound spirits!”
“Exactly, which one of your families hasn’t been secretly cared for by the Young Saint Lord?”
“That’s because it’s his mother’s debt to us. He should be the one to repay it!”
“Children should repay their parents’ debts, it is only natural!”
The spirits were arguing loudly when suddenly, I heard a crack behind me. Startled, I turned around and saw that Nalin’s bloodied mouth was opening wide. His loosened jaw stretched unbearably, and a powerful suction force hit me. Countless shadows poured into the vortex like a flood, sweeping past me, and my vision was soon engulfed by darkness.
When the black tide receded, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.
Before me, Nalin’s unblinking eyes had unknowingly closed, his mouth sealed as well. His face was serene, as if in a deep sleep, yet his skin had turned pale, indistinguishable from that of the dead.
A surge of overwhelming panic crashed over me. I didn’t know whether the ghosts had consumed his soul, whether I’d ever see him again, or if this was the moment I lost him forever.
“Nalin? Nalin!”
I called out to him, hoping he’d open his eyes and look at me, but from the dark of night to the break of dawn, and from the light of day to the fall of dusk, I lost count of how many days passed, and still, he did not wake.
On this night, as the moon rose, I noticed that my hands had become transparent. No air I blew could make the living around me sense my presence anymore. I knew then that my seventh day had come, and soon my soul would dissipate. Heavy snow fell, covering Nalin’s hair, slowly turning it white.
I vaguely recalled a vow I had made many years ago—
If I could grow old with him, I would be willing to endure endless suffering, never to be reborn.
I never expected it to come true.
I gave a bitter smile, then leaned down to kiss his lips.
This may be the last time I kiss you in this life, Nalin.
I’m sorry, I wanted to continue our relationship in the next life, but I’m afraid I can’t do it anymore.
Don’t blame me, alright?
“Shengzun, that must be the Saint Lord?”
“Ah, after searching this valley for seven days and seven nights, we finally found the Saint Lord! Hurry!”
I looked in the direction of the sound and saw many figures surging on the hillside not far away, near the garden where I met Nalin. There were soldiers on horseback and priests in pointed hats. They surround a luxuriously decorated carriage like the moon surrounded by stars. The round canopy of the carriage was draped with black gauze, and a female figure was sitting inside the gauze. It was needless to say who she was.
I gritted my teeth and stared at her. When she raised her hand, a group of soldiers immediately rushed over.
“Don’t touch him!”
I roared, but no one could hear me. The soldiers passed through my body. One of them took the lead in checking Nalin’s breath, and another touched his wrist.
“Sheng-Shengzun, the Saint Lord has already vanished into divine concealment!”
“Impossible!” The woman said coldly. I looked up and saw that she had lifted the curtain. In an instant, she had landed in front of me and was looking down at Nalin. Her pupils constricted, and her eyes turned red in an instant.
“You have an indestructible golden body, how can you die?”
Her voice trembled, and she closed her eyes. But in a moment, when she opened them again, her blue eyes were cold and bright, so cold that there was no warmth left. Her gaze moved from his face to his chest, where my bone lamp was embedded. “For thirty years, I have spent all my efforts to raise you to this day, but you have ruined yourself for a lowly person… You are my child, and your life should belong to me. You want to die? You still have to ask me if it is allowed or not!”
After that, she glanced around and said sternly, “Set up the soul-summoning formation!”
“Yes!”
There were responses from all around, and several people in pointed hats had already stood around Nalin. I looked around and finally saw the faces of these people clearly under the moonlight. They were men and women, and their faces looked very young, but their eyes were cloudy, while those old people’s eyes were flashing with greed.
“Don’t worry, Shengzun. We are here. Even if the Saint Lord is dead, we will definitely be able to bring back his soul before the seventh day.”
I felt cold all over, and I wished I could turn into a fierce ghost and fight these people to the death.
They cut their wrists, walked around Nalin, drew a circular magic circle with blood, and then sat down cross-legged, making seals with their hands. That female demon reached out and grabbed his wrist with a look of disgust, as if she wanted to take my bone lamp out of his chest.
But Nalin’s hands were as stiff as iron, protecting me tightly, without moving at all.
“Even in death, would you still deny him the right to hold onto the memories in his heart?” I stared at her, feeling extremely hateful. “How can there be a mother like you in this world?”
Unable to extract the bone lamp, she flew into a rage and seized Nalin by the neck. “For the sake of this wretch, you dare defy your mother’s command? Even in death, you shall find no peace…”
“Click.”
Nalin’s neck suddenly tilted, and he slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of… blood-red pupils.
She was startled. Before she could step back, there was something breaking through the ground under her feet. In an instant, several vines wrapped around her body from bottom to top. Nalin grabbed her shoulders, opened his mouth, and bit his biological mother’s throat hard.
I opened my eyes wide in shock and saw that female demon trembling all over, her eyes wide open, obviously caught off guard.
“What are you standing there for? The Saint Lord has turned into a demon, why don’t you save Shengzun!”
Someone shouted loudly, and the surrounding priests all summoned various ritual implements, charging toward Nalin in a swarm. However, at this moment, the ground beneath their feet shook, and Nalin’s figure suddenly grew several feet taller. The camellia tree that pierced his body almost merged with him. Countless roots and vines twisted and twisted like tentacles, spreading out and instantly entangling the surrounding priests.
“From now on, Nalin, you and Father will merge as one, and you shall be called Tunshe Nalin.”
A deep voice came from beneath the ground, like the roar of a dragon.
I looked down and was startled to see something blood-red pulsating in the cracked ground, like a heart. Before I could get a clearer look, it was obscured by the twisting vines that coiled upward.
Some of the priests didn’t even have time to struggle before tree roots pierced their mouths and ran through their guts, while others tried to escape but were entangled by vines around their necks and limbs, strangled, and torn apart. At the same time, countless shadows darted through the waving vines, resembling a swarm of locusts in a frenzy, hunting the new souls that emerged from the corpses. Flesh and blood flew around me, and screams echoed in the air. Yet, despite the horrifying scene, I felt no cruelty, only an overwhelming sense of exhilaration, wishing I could beat the drum and cheer for Nalin.
After killing all the priests and soldiers present, he finally released that female demon, though it seemed he didn’t recognize who she was. He casually tossed her aside and then grabbed a corpse and drank its blood greedily.
That female demon trembled all over, her blue eyes wide open as she stared at him. She still had a breath left in her. Crawling out from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, she made a desperate leap, jumping into the river below, where a thin layer of ice had formed.
Nalin sat atop the mountain of corpses, not chasing after her. Clearly, as a newly born demon, he lacked reasoning, solely focused on devouring the blood and flesh of the corpse in his hands, much like an infant who craves milk before even opening its eyes.
I reached out my hand and gently stroked his bloodied face. He tilted his head, and his neck let out a crack. His blood-red pupils blinked without a sound, staring at me blankly, as if, in that moment, he was finally able to see me.
Tears streamed down my face, and I was unable to speak.
“Nalin, I have to go now. If you can no longer remember me, then do not think of me anymore.”
“Ah… ah…”
He opened his mouth like a child learning to speak, letting out a hoarse, inhuman sound.
He lowered his head, looking at his chest. There, embedded in it, was my corpse. He slowly released his stiff arms, and my remains, along with the severed limb he had been holding, fell to the ground, the lamp shattering into pieces.
“Ah… ah…”
He bent down, gently lifting the lamp, handling it like a child playing with a toy, trying to piece it back together.
I cried as I rushed forward and embraced him, but I saw my arms and hands gradually turning into tiny fragments of light, scattering and drifting upwards. Nalin, who was holding my shattered bones, seemed to sense something. He lifted his head, and in his blood-red pupils, the irises suddenly constricted. “Ah… ah…”
He reached out, trying to hold me, but it was in vain.
He still remembered me.
A gust of wind swept through, carrying thousands of camellia petals, scattering me into the air.
“Goodbye, Nalin.”
T/N: Lmao😭is this how they part? I’m weeping.
Also, all along, he had always used “Nalin” throughout the past life chapters, but while I was typing, my keyboard had auto-saved “Tunshe Nalin,” from the early chapters (cuz I’m using my phone to translate), so it ended up appearing as “Tunshe Nalin” throughout the past life chapters instead of just “Nalin”. I just wanna give a notice here, and I’ve already fixed it.
Their past life is beautiful and then gut wrenchingly sad and horrific.