94: Chapter 94 The Demon God’s Remnants
Lu Mingyuan walked toward Bai Ze.
The seabed beneath his feet was not sand, but some kind of sticky, soft substance. With every step, he sank half an inch, and when he pulled his foot out, it made a soft 'squelch.' That sound was exceptionally clear in the dead silence of the seabed, sounding like something was weeping.
He walked very slowly.
It wasn't because the path was difficult, but because he couldn't help but look back.
The black mist was still churning where the Remnant of the Demon God had disappeared. But the way it churned had changed—it was no longer that malicious writhing, but more like the aftermath of a receding tide, rising and falling slowly and weakly.
Those shattered consciousnesses, those hollow eyes, and those hungry resentments all quieted down with his disappearance.
They floated in the black mist as if they had fallen asleep.
Lu Mingyuan withdrew his gaze and continued forward.
As he passed the stone pillar covered in runes, he stopped to take a look.
He didn't recognize a single rune on the stone pillar. However, between the strokes of those runes, there was an indescribable resonance—ancient, desolate, and tragic. It was like the last words written by a dying man with his final ounce of strength.
He reached out, wanting to touch it.
But as soon as his fingertips touched the surface of the stone pillar, it shattered.
It didn't collapse; it crumbled into powder.
Countless tiny stone fragments peeled off from the pillar, slowly drifting through the seawater like a silent snowfall.
Watching those stone fragments drift away, a sudden surge of sorrow welled up in Lu Mingyuan's heart.
This stone pillar had stood here for billions of years, witnessing countless things. But it finally couldn't hold on any longer.
He turned around and continued forward.
Finally, he reached Bai Ze.
The Divine Beast was even larger than the one he had seen in his dreams. Just lying there, it was over ten feet tall. Its snow-white fur should have been glowing, but now it was dull and lusterless, corroded by the black mist and clumped together in patches like a mangy wild dog.
It kept its eyes closed, motionless.
The black threads stretching out from the mire had already crawled up to its neck. A little higher, and they would submerge its nose and mouth.
Lu Mingyuan crouched down and reached out to touch its head.
The moment his fingertips touched the fur, an ice-cold, piercing sensation surged through him. It wasn't an ordinary chill; it was a cold that reached deep into his marrow, so cold that his fingers went stiff.
But he did not pull his hand back.
He gently stroked Bai Ze's head, as if comforting an injured cat.
"I've come,"
he said.
Bai Ze did not react.
Lu Mingyuan continued to stroke it.
"The book you gave me, I've brought it."
he said.
"The dream you gave me, I remember it."
he said.
"The long road you made me walk, I've walked it."
he said.
Bai Ze still did not react.
Lu Mingyuan stopped.
He looked at Bai Ze's tightly closed eyes, its fur corroded by the black mist, and its increasingly weak breathing.
He suddenly remembered something.
Chapter 3, Bai Ze enters the dream.
That night, he was trapped in a deserted Daoist temple, with a mountain flood imminent and his life hanging by a thread. In the dream, this Divine Beast had arrived stepping on light and placed the original copy of the classic of mountains and seas into his hands.
It had said one thing.
He had always remembered those words—
"Live on."
Lu Mingyuan looked at the dying Bai Ze before him and softly repeated:
"Live on."
Bai Ze's eyelids flickered.
It opened its eyes.
Those eyes had once been as clear as mountain spring water. But now, the whites were bloodshot, and the pupils were unfocused and dull, like two wells about to run dry.
It looked at Lu Mingyuan for a long time.
Then, it spoke.
Its voice was very soft and weak, like a flickering candle in the wind.
"You... have come..."
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I've come."
A glimmer of light flashed in Bai Ze's eyes. It was very weak, but it was indeed light.
"I thought... you wouldn't come..."
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"I would come."
Bai Ze looked at him.
"Why?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"Because you gave me the scripture."
Bai Ze shook its head slightly.
"That... is not a reason..."
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
He knew Bai Ze was right. If it were only for the scripture, it wouldn't be worth taking such a huge risk. The scripture had already been given to him and had already changed his life; even if Bai Ze died, he wouldn't lose anything.
But he had come.
Why?
He thought for a long time.
Then, he said one sentence.
"Because you told me to live on."
Bai Ze froze.
Lu Mingyuan looked at it and said softly:
"That night, you said 'live on.' So I survived. Later, I met my Master, entered the Daoist Sect, visited Buddhist Temples, went to the Academy, and followed the martial path. Every time I couldn't hold on, I would remember those words."
"Live on."
He looked at Bai Ze.
"You told me to live on, yet you yourself are going to die here. That's not right."
Bai Ze fell silent.
After a long time, it said softly:
"I... just didn't want... the scripture... to be lost..."
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"It's not just the scripture."
He looked at Bai Ze.
"You told me to live on because you wanted me to live. Not because of the scripture."
Something was shimmering in Bai Ze's eyes.
Was that a tear?
Could a Divine Beast shed tears?
Lu Mingyuan didn't know.
He only knew that the light was very bright.
"Let's go."
Lu Mingyuan reached out to pull Bai Ze.
But as soon as his hand touched Bai Ze's fur, those black threads suddenly writhed violently. As if startled awake, they suddenly tightened, cutting into Bai Ze's flesh.
Bai Ze let out a muffled groan, its body trembling.
Lu Mingyuan's heart tightened.
He looked down and found that the source of those black threads was that mire. Deep within the mire, something was moving.
He crouched down and reached out to pull at those black threads.
But the moment his hand touched the black threads, a powerful surge of resentment instantly flooded his heart.
He "saw" a scene—
Countless people, countless beasts, and countless creatures he couldn't recognize were slaughtering each other on a battlefield. Blood flowed like rivers, and corpses littered the fields. The sky was red, the earth was red, and even the air was red.
A man wearing ancient armor stood in the center of the battlefield, holding a Halberd and roaring at the heavens.
Then, a sword pierced through his chest from behind.
He fell.
The moment he fell, he looked toward the sky, his eyes full of unwillingness to accept his fate.
The vision vanished.
Lu Mingyuan withdrew his hand, gasping for breath.
That was the memory of that Demon God.
When he died, he was not reconciled.
His grievance became resentment. His resentment had slept here for billions of years. Those black threads, that mire, and the resentment of those who came later all grew out of him.
He was the source of everything here.
But he had just let him pass.
Why?
Lu Mingyuan turned back and looked toward the direction where the Remnant of the Demon God had disappeared.
The black mist was still churning there. But the way it churned had changed—it was no longer the aftermath of a receding tide, but as if someone was struggling inside.
Lu Mingyuan stared at that patch of black mist and suddenly understood something.
The Remnant of the Demon God had not disappeared.
He was still there.
He just didn't want to see him.
"He... let you... pass?"
Bai Ze's voice sounded in his ear.
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
Bai Ze fell silent for a moment.
"He... rarely... lets anyone pass..."
Lu Mingyuan looked at it.
"You've seen him?"
Bai Ze nodded slightly.
"I have been trapped... here... for a long time... He... has been... watching me..."
"Why didn't he kill you?"
Bai Ze thought for a moment.
"He... wanted me... to tell him... one thing..."
"What thing?"
Bai Ze looked at Lu Mingyuan, something shimmering in its eyes.
"He wanted to know... why... he... died..."
Lu Mingyuan froze.
He remembered the scene he had just seen—the sword that had stabbed from behind.
"Was he ambushed?"
Bai Ze nodded.
"He... trusted... the wrong person..."
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
Trusted the wrong person.
These few words were light, yet they felt as heavy as a mountain upon the heart.
He remembered the last thing the Remnant of the Demon God had said—"The things you just said reminded me of someone."
That person was probably the one who had ambushed him.
Did he remember that person because Lu Mingyuan's words contained something he had once believed in?
Lu Mingyuan didn't know.
He only knew that the Remnant of the Demon God was currently in that black mist, watching him.
Watching whether he could rescue Bai Ze.
Watching whether he could do what he himself had failed to do back then—trust the right person.
Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath and reached out again to pull at those black threads.
This time, he did not shrink back.
Those resentments flooded his heart again, and those shattered memories flashed in his mind once more. But he didn't let go; he gritted his teeth and tore those black threads apart one by one.
The black threads bit into his fingers, cutting his skin. Blood flowed out, staining the seawater red.
But he didn't stop.
Bai Ze looked at him, its eyes full of complex emotions.
"You... will be injured..."
Lu Mingyuan didn't answer.
He continued to pull.
One, two, three, four, five—
Finally, all the black threads were torn apart.
Bai Ze's body suddenly felt light as it broke free from the mire.
Lu Mingyuan supported it as they slowly stood up.
Bai Ze stood there, its four legs trembling uncontrollably like a fawn that had just learned to walk. But it was standing.
It was alive.
Lu Mingyuan looked at it and suddenly smiled.
Bai Ze also looked at him.
"You... are bleeding..."
Lu Mingyuan looked down at his hands. All ten fingers were a bloody mess; in some places, even the white bone was visible.
He shook his head.
"It's nothing."
Bai Ze fell silent.
After a long time, it said softly:
"Thank you."
Lu Mingyuan looked at it.
"You're welcome."
He turned around and looked toward the churning black mist.
"Let's go."
Bai Ze didn't move.
Lu Mingyuan turned back to look at it.
"What is it?"
Bai Ze gazed at the black mist and said softly:
"He... is still watching..."
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
He knew.
The Remnant of the Demon God had been watching all along.
Watching him save someone, watching him bleed, watching him grit his teeth to rescue Bai Ze.
Why didn't he come out?
Why did he let him pass earlier?
He remembered what Bai Ze had said—"He wanted to know why he died."
That Demon God had been trapped here for billions of years, not because his resentment was too deep, but because he was unreconciled.
He was unreconciled to having trusted the wrong person.
He was unreconciled to being betrayed.
He was unreconciled to dying without understanding why.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, gazing at the black mist for a long, long time.
Then, he did something.
He bowed deeply toward the black mist.
"Senior."
he said.
"Thank you."
The black mist stopped churning.
Dead silence.
Then, a voice came from deep within the black mist.
The voice was very light and weak, like a flickering candle in the wind.
"Remember."
"Remember what?"
"Remember... to trust the right person..."
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I will."
The black mist slowly dispersed.
The Remnant of the Demon God never appeared again.
Lu Mingyuan turned around and, supporting Bai Ze, swam toward the surface.
Behind them, the ruins, the stone pillars, the mire, and the sleeping resentments all gradually receded into the distance.
After swimming quite far, Bai Ze suddenly spoke.
"He... is gone..."
Lu Mingyuan was startled.
"What?"
Bai Ze said softly:
"His resentment... has dissipated..."
Lu Mingyuan looked back.
That patch of black mist had truly dissipated.
It hadn't retreated or vanished; it had—dispersed.
Like a dark cloud blown away by the wind, or a fog pierced through by sunlight.
Those sleeping resentments, those shattered consciousnesses, and those hollow eyes all vanished as the black mist dispersed.
Where had they gone?
He didn't know.
He only knew that the seabed was finally clean.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, gazing at the gradually clearing seawater for a long, long time.
Then, he softly said one sentence.
"Senior, may your journey be peaceful."
After saying that, he turned around and continued swimming toward the surface.
Bai Ze followed beside him.
Man and beast slowly ascended through the darkness.
Above them, light could be faintly seen.
It was the light from the surface.
It was the light of heaven and earth.
It was the light of the living world.