131: Chapter 131 Fragments of Memory, The Shadow of Su Qingyu's Past Life

"Qingyu!"

Zhang Hao was the first to cry out in alarm, wanting to rush forward, but Lin Chen raised a hand to stop him.

Lin Chen stared sharply at Su Qingyu. He saw the pale cracks on her neck suddenly light up, emitting a faint glow that intertwined darkness and sanctity. Her body trembled slightly, her pupils losing focus—clearly, her consciousness had been forcibly pulled into a torrent of memories.

He did not forcefully interrupt, instead quietly channeling a stream of pure, gentle nether talisman energy into Su Qingyu's body to protect her heart meridian and soul core, ensuring she wouldn't be overwhelmed by the flood of memories. Simultaneously, he carefully sensed the nature and flow of those memory fragments.

Su Qingyu's sea of consciousness was currently being assaulted and filled with countless fragmented images!

No longer from the perspective of an observer, but... a first-person, personal experience!

Image One: A Sacred Hall.

She (or rather, the Netherworld Saintess) knelt within a pure halo woven from starlight and netherflame. Before her, a tall figure with a blurred face but an aura vast as a sea of stars was speaking in a gentle yet authoritative voice about the laws of the netherworld and the order of reincarnation. She gazed up at that figure, her eyes filled with pure reverence, affection, and... a deeply buried, unspoken fervent emotion. It was the admiration of a disciple for her master, and the infatuation of a young maiden for her protector.

Image Two: Tender Guidance.

That warm, large hand gently rested on her head. Pure Netherworld origin energy flowed in, guiding her on how to soothe restless souls and organize chaotic memories. 'Your gift lies in empathy and purification, Xiao Yu,' the voice said. 'Use this power well, and you can help countless lost souls return to the right path.' Her heart was filled with joy and a sense of purpose.

Image Three: The Infiltration of Darkness.

The peace was shattered. The Netherworld shook violently; ghastly cracks appeared in the sky. A twisted, greedy, seemingly all-assimilating filthy aura (the Void Devourer) poured in from the rifts. She saw the revered figure fighting desperately, drenched in blood, and witnessed countless Netherworld beings wail as they were annihilated. Fear, and the anxious desperation to fight alongside him yet being powerless to intervene, flooded her heart.

Image Four: The Forced Devouring.

She was protected within the last pure land. But that day, the figure returned, his body stained with blood, his aura weakened and fading. In his hand, he held a core fragment of the 'Void Devourer'—forcibly excised yet still frantically struggling. 'Xiao Yu... Only your 'Empathetic Purification' constitution can temporarily contain and seal this... to buy... time for me...' His voice was filled with exhaustion, resolve, and deep apology.

Without a moment's hesitation, though trembling with fear, she opened her mouth and swallowed that cold, slimy, malicious fragment!

Image Five: Endless Pain and Corruption.

Pain! Indescribable pain erupted from the deepest part of her soul! The fragment struggled wildly within her, corrupting, assimilating! Her pure soul body was tainted with filth, her consciousness began to blur, and countless insane whispers and tempting murmurs echoed in her ears. She saw the figure's grief-stricken eyes, saw him forced to isolate and seal her away. Before sinking completely, her last lucid thought was: Don't come near... Stay away...

Image Six: The Twisted Vortex.

The final image was an immense, slowly rotating dark vortex composed of countless souls in agony and wailing! At the vortex's center, something seemed to be forged, emitting a bizarre fluctuation that attracted all souls. A cold, twisted will (the God of a Thousand Faces / a derivative of the Void Devourer) whispered in her corrupted consciousness: 'The key of the soul... requires the most extreme pain and betrayal to temper... This place... is the crucible...'

"Pfft—!"

Su Qingyu violently coughed up a mouthful of soul blood tinged with a gray aura (a manifestation of soul injury) and slumped backward, caught in time by Lin Chen. She gasped for breath, her eyes regaining focus but filled with ineffable sorrow, pain, and... understanding.

Sweat drenched the hair at her temples. The glow from the cracks on her neck gradually dimmed, but they seemed clearer and slightly darker than before, as if the fusion of these memories had allowed the curse's 'roots' to dig deeper, yet also tightened her connection with the 'Netherworld Saintess.'

"I... I saw..." Her voice was hoarse, choked with tears, as she gripped Lin Chen's arm tightly. "It was her... the Netherworld Saintess... She didn't betray... She was forced! She swallowed that fragment of the 'Void Devourer' to buy time... and then was corrupted... She was... lucid when she was corrupted!" This discovery wrenched her heart. As a fellow woman, she could feel that despair and sacrifice.

Lin Chen steadily channeled more nether talisman energy to help soothe her turbulent soul and emotions. Through the energy link, he had also perceived some fragments, especially the final image of the Soul Vortex.

"The forging ground of the key of the soul..." Lin Chen's eyes turned icy. "It seems that is the third stronghold, the final place where the 'key' is manufactured. Using the pain and betrayal of countless souls to temper the key. A fine method."

Zhang Hao floated closer, asking cautiously, "Steward Su... are you alright? The aura you had just now... was a bit frightening..."

Su Qingyu shook her head. With Lin Chen's support, she steadied herself, her gaze gradually firming. "I'm fine. These memories... though painful, have helped me understand much. The location of that vortex... there's no precise coordinate in the memory, but I can sense it's not in any conventional area marked on the Tombstone Guardian's star chart. It should be deeper within the Netherworld, closer to... the chaotic boundary where the rules of the 'Abyss' and the 'Netherworld' intertwine."

"The chaotic boundary..." Lei Xiao mused. "Such a place has no stable coordinates, is extremely difficult to find, and the environment is utterly hostile."

"Having a clue is enough," Lin Chen said calmly. "Now that we know the 'key's' purpose and general location, there are many methods—lying in wait, or luring the snake out of its hole."

He glanced at Su Qingyu's still-pale face and the more prominent cracks on her neck, knowing that while this memory fusion had brought crucial intelligence, it might also have strengthened the curse's bond with her soul. They had to speed up.

"First, back to the Fortress," Lin Chen ordered. "Digest the intel, prepare our gear. The next step, we either find that Soul Vortex, or..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes. "...force them to 'deliver' the key to us."

The army began an orderly withdrawal from the now-empty former site of the Memory Maze.

On the return journey, Su Qingyu remained silent, processing the emotional impact of those memories belonging to her 'past life.' Reverence and affection, sacrifice and pain, corruption and downfall... These heavy memories gave her a new, complex understanding of the title 'Netherworld Saintess.' She couldn't help but wonder: if it were her in that situation, what choice would she make?

Meanwhile, Lin Chen pondered another question.

The Netherworld Saintess was the key to the corruption, a crucial pawn for the 'Void Devourer's' invasion of the Netherworld. So, was the 'bloodline curse' she left behind merely to create vessels and nourishment? Could there be a deeper purpose? Such as... a beacon? Or, when the curse reached a certain level, could it directly become another marker for summoning the 'Void Devourer' or its derivative (the God of a Thousand Faces)?

The increasingly clear cracks on Su Qingyu's neck gave him a faint sense of foreboding.

(Hook: Just as everyone was about to step through the portal back to the Fortress, the black fragment Lin Chen carried—found at the altar in the Wailing Canyon, complementary to the Tombstone Guardian's star chart—suddenly, without warning, grew scalding hot and began to vibrate! The incomplete star chart patterns on the fragment lit up automatically, projecting a miniature, dynamic three-dimensional star map. The flashing frequency of the area representing the 'Soul Vortex' eerily synchronized with the intermittent weak pulses emanating from the cracks on Su Qingyu's neck!)