"What did you put in the porridge I gave Tantai Jin?"
Ye Bingchang smirked. "Dry mylabris," she said emotionlessly. "One sip, and it should have killed him, just as it did Grandmother."
In a flash, all the misunderstandings between us came to light.
"As long as it is you who feeds me, I will take it."
You said that even knowing it was poisoned. And I, ignorant that I was, gave you a spoonful of the porridge without knowing the death that I was giving you.
I don't want you to die, but you would willingly take the poison as long as it is me who gives it to you.
You embroidered my wedding veil, every stitch delicate and beautiful, like the beauty of the picture in the Sketch charm I drew for you, like the hopes and dreams I saw in your eyes as you looked at me on our wedding day. But I, ignorant that I was, only thought about piercing the Soul-slaying Nails into your dark heart, to destroy the evil bone in you, to eliminate the threat you pose to the realms, and to avenge Xiao Lin's wrongful death.
I hated you, but you were willing to place your heart and future with me.
How could I, who now know how much you cherish me, still continue to want to kill you? How could I still put my mission above your life, when you had shown me how you could put my life above yours? How could I still continue to hate you when all you've ever done was to show me how much you loved me?
"If you don't want to owe Tantai Jin, you have to owe the world."
Time God Jize said that to me that in my dreams that day that Ye Bingchang revealed the truth of the poisoned porridge. He had looked into my heart and knew that I could willingly forsake the world to repay the love you've given me. He knew that I was willing to risk the lives and the future of the realms for your sake, to risk fighting for the goodness and love that I've seen in you.
"If you don't want to owe the world, you have to owe Tantai Jin." Jize gazed down on me with sympathy. "Li Susu, your fate with Tantai Jin has already been doomed. No matter what you do, you can't change it."
So in his infinite mercy and kindness, Jize showed me the Bo're Life dream, when Ming Ye was willing to exchange his divine essence with Sang Jiu's evil bone. It opened another path for me to repay you for the love you have given me.
It gave me a way to save you.
But in order to save you, I had to leave you. I had to make you hate me, so it would be easier for you to forget me. I had to sever our doomed fate together, even if it meant we couldn't be together in any lifetime.
"Li Susu, are you abandoning me too?" I heard you call out as the darkness overtook me.
My last sensation before death took me was your tear that fell on my face.
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"Li Susu!" "It's the Goddess Yuling!" "Li Susu! Li Susu is here!"
White-clad disciples gathered along the stairs, watching the only goddess remaining in the realms walk up the steps to the Hengyang Sect main hall. In hushed tones, they talked amongst each other the remarkable and sudden reappearance of Li Susu in the immortal realm, but most especially the strange circumstance of her apparent pregnancy.
Mo Nv, the drought demon, sister to the demoness Si Ying, held Li Susu's hand and silently assisted her as she walked. Together, the goddess and the demon made a striking pair that sent all immortal cultivators abuzz, but all kept their distance, not knowing what to expect from them.
Two did, however. Gongye Jiwu, now head of Hengyang Sect, watched both of them walk up the steps with a grim look on his face. Yue Fuya, standing somewhere off to the side, watched Li Susu anxiously, biting her lips nervously. "Why did you have to do this, Senior Sister?" she whispered, as Li Susu finally reached the top step and faced the sect leaders.
Li Susu looked around at the group of immortals surrounding her. "My dear sect leaders," she said, bowing slightly in greeting.
"Goddess Li Susu," Gongye Jiwu said, bowing in turn. "What brings you here to Hengyang Sect?"
Li Susu smiled.
"Senior Sister!" Yue Fuya threw her arms around the senior sister she missed so much, carefully moving around the rounded belly between them.
"Fuya, you've grown," Li Susu said, patting her junior sister on the head affectionately. She turned to the stoic-faced man beside her. "Senior Brother, you're here."
Gongye Jiwu merely nodded, but his eyes shifted to the black-robed woman beside her, who was pointedly avoiding his eyes. Li Susu looked from her senior brother to the demon beside her, watching them closely, a small smile lifting the corners of her lips.
Because of Li Susu's condition, they settled on an abandoned house not far from the Abyss. Mo Nv had summoned a few attendants to assist Li Susu, and they came to the house bearing tea and little snacks for them.
Yue Fuya couldn't take her eyes off Li Susu, sometimes getting teary eyed and quickly brushing off some tears that fall. Li Susu herself was similarly emotional, but she had to calm herself and answer every question that Fuya had for her.
Both Gongye Jiwu and Yue Fuya were shocked when they learned how Tantai Jin saved Li Susu's life using the Heart Guarding Scale, which glittered dimly in Li Susu's hand as she held it out for them.
"Incredible. Tantai Jin had such an ability?" Gongye Jiwu whispered in awe. "To have used the Heart Guarding Scale to enclose a being, and a goddess at that, would have taken a lot of immortal power." Then he smiled sadly. "If only he didn't have such a terrible fate, he would have been the best immortal disciple to ever come out of Xiaoyao Sect, or the immortal sects for that matter."
Li Susu lowered her head. "Yes, he would have been," she agreed softly. Her hand closed over the Heart Guarding Scale, which disappeared into her palm.
"But why haven't you come back to the immortal sects after you emerged from the Heart Guarding Scale?" Gongye Jiwu frowned.
Li Susu placed a hand on her belly. "Because I already knew I was carrying his child," she said. "Where else should I raise her except in her father's realm?"
"Her?" Yue Fuya marveled.
Li Susu smiled. "Her," she confirmed.
Yue Fuya reached out for Li Susu's hand, and held it reassuringly. "We could take care of you better in the immortal realm," she said. "Sister Yao Guang is the best healer in the realms, she can make sure that you and the child are healthy and well until you deliver. We will protect you and the child both." She held Li Susu's hand tighter. "Don't you want your child to grow up in the warmth of the sunshine and the security of the immortal realms?"
Li Susu felt Mo Nv bristle with silent annoyance beside her. Throwing a reassuring glance at Mo Nv, Li Susu smiled at her junior sister. "I'd like that," she said, patting Fuya's hand gently. "But Ami is the Devil God's daughter, so naturally she should be raised according to the customs of the Demon Realm." Her eyes misted over as she looked up at the bright blue sky. "I want her to know about the father she never knew, and the Demon Realm he had nourished and protected with his life."
Gongye Jiwu and Yue Fuya looked at Li Susu and wondered at the change in her. Gone was the carefree and happy Li Susu that Sect Leader Qu Xuanzi and Immortal Zhaoyou had doted on, the little sister that Gongye Jiwu had lovingly cared for, and the senior sister that Yue Fuya spent many a happy evening talking to. Her smiles now had a tinge of sadness in it, and her eyes, which once sparkled like the river water when sunlight falls on it, are now like the waters of Heaven Lake, quiet, deep, and unfathomable.
A lonely goddess. That was what Li Susu is now. A lonely and silent guardian of the Demon Realm.
The goddess turned her eyes on Gongye Jiwu. "Does the immortal realm know of Tantai Jin's sacrifice?" she asked him.
Gongye Jiwu couldn't meet her eyes. "Not all…" he said weakly.
Li Susu studied Gongye Jiwu's face. "They don't, do they?" she said. "Do they still live with the fear that one day the Devil God will rise from the Demon Realm once again?" At his silence, she sighed. "Then let me enlighten them."
"Respected immortals, let me tell you a story."
Li Susu stood atop the Hengyang Sect steps, a radiant goddess among the white-clad immortals surrounding her, with her grim shadow standing by her side. All fell silent at her words, anticipating with bated breath the truth from long ago.
"One hundred years ago, we have fought against the Devil God for the peace and safety of the realms," Li Susu began, her voice ringing clear. "The All-in-Distress Way loomed above us, and we thought the end of the realms was near. The Devil God summoned the God-Slaughtering Crossbow, intent to eradicate all immortals from the world."
"Yes, we know that, Goddess," a voice shouted. "I was there. I saw the Devil's mark above my heart, and I knew I was going to die."
"You broke through and saved us all," another voice shouted.
"You deserve our unending gratefulness, Goddess," Cen Mixuan, the new head of Chixiao Sect, said. "You defeated the Devil God and brought peace and safety to the realms."
Li Susu looked at Cen Mixuan. Despite Cen Mixuan's gracious words, Li Susu knew that she was one of those who doubted Li Susu and believed that she defeated the Devil God in order to rule over the Demon Realm herself. She caught her staring at her belly, which seemed to confirm in Cen Mixuan's mind that Li Susu intended to continue the Devil God's legacy through the child in her womb.
Li Susu smiled softly at her. "I thank Sect Leader Cen for her courteous words," she said, "but I am not here to receive your praises and thanks, but to tell you the truth about Tantai Jin, Xiaoyao Sect's disciple Cang Jiumin, and the Devil God who you've feared and are still fearing to this day."
Li Susu looked at the blue sky. "It wasn't me who defeated the Devil God," she said. "It was Tantai Jin."
At her declaration, the immortals broke out in scandalized voices that Gongye Jiwu quickly hushed. Li Susu, on the other hand, was unbothered, and continued. "He took the evil bone from the Lord of Evil, Di Mian, and confronted the Ancient Devil God, who submitted to him. He allowed Immortal Buxu to give Gongye Jiwu the Celestial Punishment Formation, which you wanted to use against him. During the battle, he cleansed Gongye Jiwu of the devil energy that had taken hold of him. And…" Li Susu took a deep breath to steady herself. "He threw me into the Celestial Punishment Formation and subjected me to 81 lightning punishments to awaken the phoenix blood in me and allow me to ascend to godhood, because he knew that only a true god can destroy the Devil God."
Li Susu looked at all the faces that turned to her. "He allowed himself to be persecuted by the immortals he sought to protect, and stab in the heart the master he had cherished to spare him the indignity of dying as a demon," she said, turning to the Xiaoyao Sect disciples, meeting Zhang Hai's gaze at her. "He made everyone believe that he was evil, and yet in the end he proved to have a pure heart, which he allowed his beloved to break to destroy the All-in-Distress Way that had wreaked havoc into the world."
Her tears fell down silently on her face. "He gave his life to protect the world, not just the immortal realm, but also the demon realm," she said, her voice unwavering despite the painful emotions in her heart. "He destroyed the threat to the immortal realm, and gave hope to the demon realm. The immortal realm can now cultivate in peace and harmony because of the Devil God's absence, while the demon realm flourishes because of his sacrifice, giving the demons a safe place to live in and thrive away from the persecution of the immortals."
Li Susu could feel her knees starting to give way to the weight of the emotions in her heart, and saw Mo Nv moving towards her, but she held the demon off. "Tantai Jin was born with an unfortunate fate, the devil fetus with the evil bone, and consequently suffered all the tribulations in the world. He was destined to be the greatest scourge of the three realms, and thus everyone sought for his death every day of his life.
"But he didn't choose to be born that way. He fought against his destiny by struggling to survive day by day, even forsaking the dignity just to survive. When the love threads bloomed in his heart, he loved with all his heart someone whose only purpose was to kill him. He waded through the Nether River for 500 years seeking her soul, enduring the pain of being torn apart by the spirits in the waters. When his master saved him from the underworld, he became a diligent immortal disciple, learning how to care for all beings. He endured the persecution of his fellow immortals, who believed that the devil fetus could be nothing more than an evil, but instead of taking revenge, he set things into motion that could only lead to their salvation.
"Tantai Jin was so much more than the devil fetus," Li Susu said, sobs breaking through her words. "He was kind, and compassionate, a dear friend," looking over to Gongye Jiwu, who lowered his head, "a loyal disciple," turning to Zhang Hai and the Xiaoyao Sect disciples, "and my beloved, the father to the child I am carrying," placing her hand on her belly. "Knowing him now fully and without the prejudice of his origins, I cannot allow Tantai Jin to be remembered in infamy when he had given so much."
There was a silence as Li Susu finished speaking. The warm breeze blew around them, masking the soft sounds of sobbing and murmuring from the immortal disciples. Zhang Hai lowered his head. He remembered his junior brother Cang Jiumin, and how much Immortal Zhaoyou had cherished him, and how all of the Xiaoyao Sect disciples, including him, watched him grow and cultivate from a detached and broken person into the kindest and most brilliant disciple the sect had ever produced. Gongye Jiwu also remembered Tantai Jin in Xiao Lin's memories, which he had unlocked in his struggles to remember his mortal life. They had been at odds with each other, born into opposing fates as princes of Jing and Sheng Kingdom, but in their time together, Gongye Jiwu knew that Xiao Lin had treated Tantai Jin like a brother, even at the very end.
The silence was broken by Cen Mixuan. "Even if what you say is true," she said, "we who had suffered under the Devil God's evil chaos can't see him in any other way than the evil he has been. I apologize, Goddess Susu, but we can't let the Demon Realm be for the sake of the peace of the immortal realms. Another Devil God may arise," she raised an eyebrow at Li Susu's pregnant form, "which may still fulfill the destruction and chaos that the Devil God promised to unleash thousands of years ago."
"Sect Leader Cen!" Gongye Jiwu cried out in indignation, but Li Susu raised her hand.
"A long time ago, at the Devil Subduing Peak, I asked the Chixiao Sect to use the Truth Jade Slip to verify the truth of my words," Li Susu said, defiantly glaring at Cen Mixuan. "I ask again for the same treatment, to let everyone know about the sacrifice that Tantai Jin made for the sake of all the realms."
Cen Mixuan was taken aback by Li Susu's words, and so had no choice but to produce the Truth Jade Slip and use it on her. Li Susu poured out all her memories into it, with the goddess mark brightly shining between her eyebrows. Then she let the jade release them, and they all relived the scenes of a hundred years ago, when Tantai Jin destroyed the All-in-Distress Way.
Li Susu closed her eyes against the scenes that once again pierced her heart. Tantai Jin. Hearing his voice again opened up the well of loneliness in her heart, and this time she took Mo Nv's arm to help keep her upright.
"Li Susu, I'm sorry. This is the only way. This should be the ending of the Devil God."
Hearing him reopened the pain and regrets in Li Susu's heart. Tantai Jin.
"Susu, I've connected myself to the All-in-Distress Way. The All-in-Distress Way and the Devil God live and die together. Kill me, and the All-in-Distress Way will be destroyed too."
Li Susu opened her eyes and looked up at the projection cast by the Truth Jade Slip. Tantai Jin's face looked down on her with a small smile on his face. The last kiss, the destruction of the All-in-Distress Way, the last embrace. Tantai Jin.
Li Susu watched as Tantai Jin infused the Heart Guarding Scale in her, and sent her to another realm far from the destruction of the All-in-Distress Way. She heard his heart. Li Susu, I'm sorry I lied to you again. She watched him take out the evil bone from his heart, and fill it with the purity of the love that he felt for her and all beings in the world to turn the All-in-Distress Way into a Way of Compassion. Susu, this will be the end of you and me.
Li Susu watched as Tantai Jin shattered the bone, the ashes dispersing into golden dust, creating rain that moistened the dry soil, the dark clouds clearing into bright blue sky. She watched him disappearing with the dark clouds with a smile on his face.
Gongye Jiwu turned to Li Susu. "Tantai Jin did that?" he asked in awe. Li Susu could only answer him with a small smile and tears streaking down her face.
The projection then showed them the Demon Realm as it is now. Through Li Susu's eyes, the immortals felt the life-giving energy surrounding the Demon Realm, and were awed by the flourishing flora and fauna in the originally barren desert. They were astounded by the number of demon children running around the town streets, and the joy in the faces of the demons living there. They watched Li Susu walking in the empty hallways of the Demon Palace, and discover a room containing a glowing orb mounted on a waist high pedestal. It emitted a power similar to the power in the Heart Guarding Scale, and as soon as Li Susu approached it, the Heart Guarding Scale appeared in front of her and flew towards the orb, stopping and hovering beside it.
A projection opened in front of Li Susu's eyes, and Tantai Jin's face looked down on her.
"This orb contains the protection spell I cast over the Demon Realm," Tantai Jin said. "It was drawn from the power of the God of War Ming Ye's Heart Guarding Scale, to protect the peace and prosperity of the demons in the realm." He smiled. "The demons only want to live in peace, same with the mortals and immortals up above. They can't help their nature, but it doesn't mean we immortals should persecute them because of that. Under the protection spell, they can thrive away from the prying eyes of immortals above." Then his expression changed into sadness, as he addressed one in particular. "Li Susu, I hope you understand my wishes. I entrust you with the Heart Guarding Scale to continue to protect the weak and the unfortunate, just like how you've protected and cared for me when I was the hostage prince of Jing."
Mo Nv stared at the projection. "We never heard that from the orb," she said, eyes wide open at Tantai Jin's statement. She turned to Li Susu. "I never thought… the Devil God cared for the Demon Realm this much."
Li Susu could only nod. The projection from the Truth Jade Slip ended, and the artifact returned to Cen Mixuan's hands.
"Tantai Jin was never the Devil God," Li Susu repeated. "He has always been the kind and compassionate Xiaoyao Sect disciple Cang Jiumin, who loved the world so much he sacrificed his life to protect it. There will no longer be a Devil God, because the evil bone has already broken and disappeared from the world. The three Devil God artifacts are also rendered inactive, broken beyond repair. The Demon Realm will not rise up against the immortal realms, as long as the immortal realms do not disturb the peace that Tantai Jin had sacrificed for. To fulfill his wish, I shall remain in the Demon Realm and protect it with my life, and my child as well." She turned to Gongye Jiwu. "That is what I've come here to say, to protect Tantai Jin's legacy." She lowered her eyes, and said in a whisper, "It's the least I can do for everything he had done."
Li Susu turned to Mo Nv and said, "Let's go back to the Demon Realm." The demon nodded, and together, they disappeared from the immortal realm.
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As soon as they stepped on the Barren Abyss, Li Susu fell heavily against Mo Nv in exhaustion.
"Li Susu!" Mo Nv exclaimed as she caught Li Susu before she hit the ground. "Guards!" she called out to the demon guards who rushed over to help Mo Nv carry Li Susu in the Demon Palace.
Li Susu closed her eyes, falling unconscious from the strain of the Truth Jade Slip.
When she opened her eyes again, she held a hand against the bright light of the morning sun. When her eyes finally focused, she glanced up.
Tantai Jin was smiling at her. "You're awake."
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