“Though the Purifying Spirit Eye is a priceless treasure, the toll it takes on Yue Yang is too great—the burden too heavy.” Physician Jiang’s voice was gentle but firm. “Fei, take her back to rest. And this medicine… make sure she drinks it all.”

  Fei nodded solemnly, cradling the small vial. He scooped Yue Yang into his arms and carried her out of the main medical ward.

  Physician Jiang watched them go, a quiet satisfaction settling in his chest. A girl like Yue Yang needed unwavering protection to survive in this world. Even within the safety of the camp, a beauty like her—born with such striking features—would draw the wrong kind of attention from battle-hardened soldiers without some means of defense.

  In time, if she married Fei and settled into a quiet life in the inner camp, raising a family… that would be a fine future for her.

  He wasn’t the only elder who thought so. Many who had watched Yue Yang grow up felt the same and had gently urged her toward it.

  But Yue Yang’s heart had little room for love. Half of it burned with vengeance; the other half belonged entirely to her little brother.

  To avoid holding Fei back, she’d often pushed him away on purpose. Yet Timo Yang’s special training under Fei meant the two of them crossed paths almost every day.

  Lulu Gan, lingering at a distance, finally snapped out of her daze as she watched Fei disappear with Yue Yang in his arms.

  She’d only heard stories before—how the combat physicians’ water essence barriers grew stronger with every surge of spirit energy poured into them, adapting to any threat.

  But today, she’d seen it with her own eyes: these seemingly fragile healers charging into danger without hesitation, risking spiritual root depletion to protect everyone.

  Lulu watched the physicians bustle around the wounded, quietly wiping away the tears that had slipped down her cheeks.

  Only now did she understand that Old Gan’s lectures about machines and efficiency weren’t entirely right. No magitech device could ever match the heart of a person.

  Aunt Guo’s sacrifice, the Thunder Hawk team’s fall, these physicians throwing everything into the fight—what drove them if not the fierce need to guard their home?

  “No wonder everyone says physicians are the toughest to deal with…”

  Lulu muttered under her breath, trying to hide the storm inside her. That dark force from the dungeon still lingered in her memory.

  It reminded her of Aunt Guo—how carefully she’d fought to save those children, holding nothing back, even her life. Why? For what?

  “Kid, you holding up okay?”

  A patrolling physician’s concerned voice broke through. Lulu quickly twisted her mouth into a defiant pout.

  “Pfft. Like anything could bother me!”

  The physician chuckled and ruffled her hair, genuinely impressed by how steady she’d been in the chaos.

  “Your help earlier strengthened our barrier more than you know. On behalf of the entire medical division—thank you. You’re truly the Gan family genius. One day you’ll surpass your old man.”

  “Of course I will!”

  Lulu spun away with a proud toss of her head. But when she caught the warm, approving nods from the surrounding physicians, her heart dissolved into silent tears.

  Meanwhile, Fei ran through the corridors, Yue Yang cradled against his chest. He’d dreamed of holding her like this countless times—but never unconscious, never like this.

  His face tight with worry, he located the physicians’ rest area. Spotting the door plaque bearing Yue Yang and Wan Lin’s names, he pushed inside without knocking.

  He laid her down gently on the bed, noticing fresh beads of sweat on her forehead. Strange—moments ago her skin had felt dangerously cold.

  He pressed the back of his hand to her brow. Cool, almost icy.

  Fei uncorked the vial from Physician Jiang. A rich, intoxicating fragrance of premium spirit medicine wafted out.

  He carefully parted her lips and poured the entire contents into her mouth.

  As the elixir coursed through her, Yue Yang felt waves of healing and restoration. Her consciousness sharpened—and suddenly foreign memories flooded in.

  She was a man… an old elder… a king on a throne.

  Screams echoed as countless lives ended beneath their blades.

  This isn’t mine! she screamed inwardly, over and over.

  Slowly her own memories resurfaced: Timo Yang’s laughter, his constant cries of “Sister!”

  Fei’s tender gaze across the training yard, the careful distance they’d always kept.

  Then a cold, ancient voice shattered the warmth.

  “From this day forward, I am you, and you are me. Together, we will do things that shake the heavens.”

  Power surged through her body—an unprecedented rush. She sensed the five elements answering her call.

  Lost in that inner world, a faint smile curved Yue Yang’s lips.

  Fei checked her temperature again. Warmth was returning; her condition stabilizing.

  Relieved, he tucked the blanket around her and turned to leave.

  His hand reached for the door—just as it slammed shut on its own.

  “Fei… I know you love me. And I love you.”

  The words froze him in place. He thought he’d imagined them.

  He tried the handle. Locked. Immovable.

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  A soft hand caught his wrist from behind.

  He whirled—Yue Yang stood there, eyes bright, cheeks flushed.

  Fei tried to pull away, but her slender fingers held him with impossible strength.

  “Yue Yang, what’s wrong?”

  Something was off. Her eyes shimmered with a faint dark gleam that sent ice through his veins.

  He tensed to resist, but she pulled him into an embrace. Heat flooded his face—this moment had lived only in dreams.

  “Your body… why is it so cold?”

  Even as he struggled, her grip remained unbreakable.

  “Wait—Yue Yang, you’re speaking!”

  Only then did it hit him. Shock widened his eyes.

  She leaned in to kiss him, drawn by a force that wasn’t her own.

  The spirit lord hungered to drain his essence, to shatter her heart and feed on the despair.

  “You’re not Yue Yang… not truly!”

  Seeing the unnatural shift in her pupils, Fei summoned earth essence in a desperate burst. Spikes erupted from the floor, one piercing toward her abdomen.

  Yue Yang’s heightened senses flared. She flickered away just before it tore through her, reappearing with a twisted smile.

  “How exquisite this feels. Such a pure girl… harboring such a dark heart. Vengeance and wariness have already claimed her. Boy—this is your best chance to have her.”

  Her voice wasn’t hers.

  She materialized behind him, water essence gathering in her palm while the Purifying Spirit Eye at her chest glowed fiercely, fighting to cleanse the corruption.

  “Fei—kill me! Now!”

  The eye’s power surged. Yue Yang seized control for a fleeting moment, terror in her eyes.

  “I saw its memories. The Child of Darkness—from the Wind Taming Clan. It’s always been there. Please—kill me!”

  “Brother Fei! Sister Yue Yang! What’s going on?”

  Lulu Gan had finally tracked them down. She’d hoped for a tender scene, but pounding and shouts from inside stopped her cold. No matter how hard she yanked, the door wouldn’t budge.

  “Will he really do it? The hardest barrier in this world is the heart.” The dark voice returned, seductive and cruel. “Come to me, Fei…”

  Fei stared, helpless, as Yue Yang’s expression flickered between desperate love and eerie malice. Her voice shifted with each persona.

  He didn’t know where to strike—or if he even could.

  “Kill me!”

  “Can you really bring yourself to do it?”

  Yue Yang writhed in agony. She could speak now—her voice had returned. And her deepest wish, the reconstruction of her shattered spirit root, had finally come true.

  Yet joy eluded her. It eluded Fei just as completely.

  He had no idea what was happening to the girl in front of him. Child of Darkness? Wind Taming Clan? The names meant nothing to him. All he could guess was that some malevolent ghost spirit from the Black Forest was devouring her from within.

  To fully suppress such a force required either overwhelming essence… or the Purifying Spirit Eye she wore.

  Fei’s childhood memories surfaced unbidden: Yue Yang’s mother, Canglan Ji, had worn that very artifact constantly. Through its power, she’d saved Regiment Leader Yang and countless comrades. Once, she’d even yanked Fei’s own father, Yong Yuan, back from the brink of death.

  He and little Yue Yang had witnessed it in secret while playing where they shouldn’t have. The image had burned itself into his mind.

  As for the dark spirit inside her—it had wandered the world for centuries, claiming countless vessels. It had long forgotten its original form, having worn so many faces.

  This time, though, it would never let go. Yue Yang was perfect—too perfect to abandon. It would use every trick to merge completely, becoming her as she became it.

  To the spirit, humans were mere containers, tools on a vast chessboard. It delighted in toying with their fates.

  “Accept me,” it whispered, voice like silk over steel. “Your hatred will become mine. Those you wish dead—I will kill them for you. Those you wish to protect—I will shield them. Everything you lack, I will give you in abundance. Everything you have… I’ll make it overflow.”

  The words echoed through Yue Yang’s tormented mind as her darkest memories surged forward.

  She saw her parents surrounded—Evil cultivators and foreign clan commanders closing in. Reinforcements that should have arrived turned traitor instead. Loyal generals like Fei Yuan fell one by one.

  She saw the crowned Fire Glory overseer lift her childish self, ripping out her spirit root.

  Tiny Yue Yang—helpless, desperate, sobbing. Her little brother thrown aside like trash for trying to shield her.

  Though Rui Guo had saved her that day, vengeance and suspicion had rooted deep ever since. She hunted traitors relentlessly.

  She’d even considered using her beauty, getting close to Regiment Leader Yi’s son, Feng Yi—just to reach the upper circles and uncover the truth.

  The memories crushed her. She felt smaller than ever, more in need of protection than anyone. She craved strength above all.

  But never like this. Never by becoming the very thing she despised. That would dishonor her parents’ legacy forever.

  “Why am I seeing all those people… who were they? Who are you?”

  She reached inward, trying to understand the intruder.

  “Just echoes of misfortune,” the spirit crooned slyly. “Now I am you, and you are me.”

  “No.” Yue Yang’s refusal rang clear. “You are you. I am me.”

  She spoke the words aloud, repeating them twice—voice raw but resolute.

  Fei watched her tears fall, his own eyes burning. Earth essence coalesced into a jagged blade in his grip.

  If sacrificing Yue Yang meant destroying the cursed spirit and sparing countless lives…

  He had no other choice. If others discovered her condition, her fate would be far crueler.

  Tears streaking his face, he steeled himself—and drove the blade toward her heart.

  The instant it touched her, Yue Yang’s head snapped down. Her expression turned icy. One hand clamped his wrist like iron.

  The other summoned a surge of black corrupted essence, slamming him backward with brutal force.

  “Your love for me… I’ll keep it. It might prove useful.” Her voice was frost. “As for killing me? Not in another hundred years would you be worthy.”

  Her pupils drowned in black. To her, Fei was an insect—easily crushed.

  Pinned to the floor, he couldn’t move. Even his essence refused to answer.

  Above him, her other hand—acting against her will—channeled water essence through the Purifying Spirit Eye. Light flared, knitting the chest wound closed in moments.

  “This is absolute power,” she declared, voice swelling with triumph. “When I rise, every soul will kneel.”

  Laughter spilled from her lips—cold, exultant.

  Then she paused, inhaling deeply. Her head turned toward the herb nursery.

  “Exquisite,” she murmured.

  In a flicker, she vanished through the window, streaking toward the spirit herb base.

  The moment she was gone, Fei scrambled up. He couldn’t let Iron Law suspect her—not until he understood what was happening.

  The door behind him exploded in a blast of thunder essence. Lulu Gan stood in the splintered frame, eyes wide with worry.

  “Brother Fei! What happened?”

  Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He opened it to speak—then closed it again.

  Lulu was still young. Brilliant, yes, but not yet cautious like an adult. He couldn’t burden her with this.

  Yet… Yue Yang could speak now. Her spirit root was restored—her essence stronger than ever. It wasn’t entirely tragedy.

  The power inside her surpassed anything Fei knew. It filled him with awe, joy… and dread.

  It resembled the Evil cultivators, yet differed in crucial ways.

  He drew a steadying breath.

  If this force had killed Wan Lin last night, it would have been effortless. But it hadn’t been strong enough—not then—to overpower Earth Mother.

  What if Wan Lin had harbored a similar spirit? What if every essence-less victim last night had been possessed? If those forces merged…

  The deep forest could become the next Black Forest.

  The thought propelled him forward. He bolted from the rest area, racing in the direction Yue Yang had fled—straight to the medical division’s herb nursery.

  At the entrance, two apprentice guards lay groaning on the ground. Minor injuries, but their faces were pale as ghosts.

  “Was that… Sister Yue Yang?”

  “But she couldn’t speak! Her spirit root was ruined—she couldn’t even gather essence!”

  “I’m fetching Deacon Bai!”

  One apprentice struggled to rise—just as Deputy Deacon Zhang rounded the corner, nearly colliding with him.

  Fresh from purging corrupted spirits elsewhere, Zhang had hurried back. He’d heard Physician Jiang’s group had raised a full water essence barrier.

  He’d planned to brew restorative elixirs for the exhausted healers. Instead, he almost got bowled over by a frantic apprentice.

  “What’s the rush? You look like you’ve seen a demon.”

  The boy nodded, then shook his head wildly.

  “Deputy Deacon Zhang—a speaking Yue Yang just forced her way into the herb base!”

  “Speaking is normal. Why the panic? Wait… speaking Yue Yang? You mean she actually talked?”

  Both apprentices nodded vigorously.

  Half-convinced, Zhang moved toward the entrance—only to hear pounding footsteps behind him. The ground trembled slightly.

  He sighed in exasperation and turned.

  Fei barreled toward him, face grim, Lulu Gan hot on his heels.

  This pair never brought anything but trouble. Especially Lulu—he could already picture her sneaking into the pharmacy again.

  Zhang threw out an arm, blocking their path.

  。

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