123: Su Meir's request, the Heart Soul Jade

“I…”

Ji Gou was about to speak.

“No!”

A sharp, tearful shriek suddenly interrupted him.

Su Meier clutched his arm tightly, her body trembling violently.

“Are you crazy?!”

“That’s a burial ground for Divine Souls! If you go in, you won’t come out!”

She had just experienced the terror of watching him be erased before her eyes; her nerves were already at their breaking point.

Now, she had to watch him willingly leap into a certain death trap?

She couldn’t do it.

She really couldn’t do it.

Tears, once again, streamed from her swollen eyes.

“Please… Ji Gou… don’t go…”

“Let’s leave here, let’s find a place to hide, okay?”

“I don’t want anything else, I just want you to be safe and sound…”

Her voice was full of pleading, humbled to the dust.

Elder Ji Xuan watched from the side, opened his mouth, and finally could only let out a helpless sigh.

He could understand Su Meier’s feelings.

Any woman would be unable to watch her beloved venture into such a perilous place of certain death.

Inside the Immortal Cave, a deathly silence fell for a moment.

Only Su Meier’s uncontrollable, heartbroken sobs remained.

Ji Gou was silent for a long time.

He slowly turned around and cupped Su Meier’s tear-stained face with both hands.

He gazed into her eyes, those peach blossom eyes that once captivated all, now filled with fear and despair.

His gaze was more serious than ever before.

His voice was low, yet carried a power that could pierce one’s Soul.

“Meier.”

“Trust me.”

“Every time I court death, it’s to live better.”

Su Meier’s sobs suddenly stopped.

She stared at him blankly.

Ji Gou’s thumb gently caressed her smooth cheek, feeling its cold temperature.

“I cannot stand by and watch my friends die because of me.”

“Besides, I need your help.”

These words completely stunned Su Meier.

Help him?

What could she possibly help him with?

She was so weak; what could she do besides holding him back and being afraid?

Ji Gou looked at her bewildered eyes, then flipped his wrist.

A white jade pendant, warm to the touch and emitting faint Soul Power fluctuations, appeared in his palm.

One half of the pendant was carved with a Dragon pattern, the other with a Phoenix pattern; together, they formed a perfect circle.

“This is the ‘concentric soul jade’.”

Ji Gou gently placed the jade pendant into Su Meier’s cold palm.

“You and I each hold one half, drip a drop of vital blood into it, and then imprint a wisp of Divine Soul mark.”

“No matter how far apart we are, as long as we are both ‘alive,’ this jade pendant will remain warm.”

He looked at her deeply, with a tenderness in his eyes she had never seen before, almost pleading.

“I don’t want you to be outside, like just now, constantly worried and overthinking.”

“I need you to hold it.”

“This way, you can sense my presence at all times.”

“You’ll know I haven’t lied to you.”

“You’ll know that no matter what I go through, I am still alive.”

These words were like a warm torrent, instantly washing away the high wall of fear and despair that Su Meier had built in her heart.

She wasn’t the woman who could only wait helplessly in the background for a verdict.

He needed her.

He needed her to witness his “immortality.”

He was using this method to give her the greatest sense of security.

Su Meier held the “concentric soul jade”; the temperature of the jade seemed to transmit to her heart little by little.

She looked into Ji Gou’s eyes, which were filled with seriousness and sincerity.

In them, there was responsibility towards friends, a longing for power, but even more, a clumsy yet immensely genuine concern for her.

Her heart felt as if it had been gently kneaded by a warm hand.

Sour, soft, and with a hint of indescribable sweetness.

She bit her lip, so hard that a trace of blood appeared.

After a long while.

She looked up, her still swollen eyes fixed on him.

She didn’t cry anymore.

She just said, word by word, in a resolute, hoarse voice.

“Okay.”

“I’ll help you.”

“But I won’t wait outside.”

“I want to go with you!”

“You enter the Secret Realm, and I’ll wait for you outside the Secret Realm!”

“I want to see you go in with my own eyes, and then see you walk out, safe and sound, with my own eyes!”

She had decided.

She no longer wanted to be the woman who could only hide behind, passively enduring fear.

She wanted to stand as close to him as possible.

To watch over him with her own eyes, to protect him.

Even if she couldn’t do anything.

She still wanted him to know that someone was waiting for him.

Ji Gou looked at the fiery determination burning in her eyes, and his heart trembled slightly.

He knew he couldn’t refuse.

He slowly nodded.

“Alright.”

The two no longer delayed.

Ji Gou took the “concentric soul jade” from Su Meier’s hand and split it into two.

Both simultaneously forced out a drop of vital blood and dripped it onto the jade pendants.

The crimson blood beads were instantly absorbed by the jade pendants.

Immediately after, two wisps of Divine Soul marks were imprinted upon them.

Buzz.

The two halves of the jade pendant simultaneously emitted a faint hum, radiating a soft white light.

Ji Gou re-hung the half with the Dragon pattern around his neck, keeping it close to his body.

The other half, with the Phoenix pattern, he personally placed on Su Meier.

The cool jade pendant against her warm skin made Su Meier’s body tremble slightly.

An unprecedented feeling of Soul connection quietly established itself between the two.

“Elder Ji, lead the way.”

Ji Gou turned and looked at Elder Ji Xuan, who was already stunned, his voice returning to calm.

Elder Ji Xuan snapped back to his senses and nodded heavily.

“Good!”

The three transformed into three streaks of light, without any further delay, and swiftly rushed towards the central area of the Heavenly Vault Fortress.

The wind whistled in their ears.

Su Meier followed closely beside Ji Gou, one hand subconsciously clutching the warm half of the jade pendant on her chest.

From it, a continuous pulsation, which brought her immense peace of mind, emanated.

That was his heartbeat.

At the very moment their three figures vanished into the horizon.

Above an inconspicuous, shadow-shrouded pavilion in the Heavenly Vault Fortress.

Several figures, clad in black uniform robes and wearing cold metal masks, silently appeared.

Their aura was out of place with this world.

Cold, dead silent, filled with absolute order.

One of the figures slowly raised his head, looking in the direction Ji Gou and the others had departed.

From beneath the mask came a voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if produced by metal friction.

“Target ‘Anomaly’ is heading towards the ‘Secret Realm of Souls’.”

Another figure interjected.

“Code Gengchen has set up a perimeter at the Secret Realm entrance.”

“Should we proceed with the ‘Purge’ plan ahead of schedule?”

The figure who had spoken first was silent for a moment.

His eyes, hidden behind the mask, seemed to pierce through endless space, seeing something interesting.

“No need.”

“The ‘Secret Realm of Souls’ is an excellent ‘observation field’.”

“Let the target enter.”

“I want to see what kind of ‘abnormality’ this ‘Anomaly’, repeatedly marked by the ‘Root’, can display in that Soul grinder.”

“Our mission is not just to purge.”

“It is also to record.”

“To record all data beyond the scope of understanding.”

After speaking, the figures once again transformed into faint shadows, merging into the Void Realm.

As if they had never appeared.