"She..."
Gu You and Yun Ming froze at the same time.
On the ruins of the shattered floor, Qian Yu struggled to her feet. Her small body was covered in wounds, her face bruised, arms scraped, and clothes tattered and clinging to her tiny frame. At just seven years old, she should've been full of innocence and playfulness. But now, in her young eyes, there was only confusion and hatred. It was a soul-crushing sight to behold.
Suspended in midair in front of her, Yuezi's soul hovered quietly. Qian Yu, both frightened and curious, looked up at the ghostly figure. When her gaze drifted to the distant silhouettes of Gu You and the strange young man beside him, she froze. An instinctive sense of dread gripped her, spreading from her chest to the tips of her fingers and toes.
The earth beneath her feet was broken and uneven, the road scattered with jagged stones and collapsed debris. Just as she turned to run, her foot slipped into a crevice among the rubble. With a sharp cry, her face slammed into a slab of granite, the dull thud echoing harshly. Anyone watching would wince in pain just seeing it.
Ordinarily, a child in her state would cry. But she didn't. Not even a whimper. In fact, she tried to push herself up with trembling limbs, sheer willpower in her every movement.
'What kind of strength is this?' Gu You thought, his eyes narrowing.
In that very instant, Yuezi's soul took the opportunity and surged forward, plunging directly into Qian Yu's mind. The girl's eyes widened in shock for a moment before she collapsed to the side, unconscious.
Gu You's fists clenched in fury as he watched it all unfold. 'How vicious… Tang Hao, how could you do something so twisted, so devoid of humanity?'
Yun Ming gently carried the unconscious Qian Yu to Gu You and spoke in a calm, unreadable tone.
"How do we handle this? I'll follow your decision."
It was a test. A heavy one. Yet no matter what Gu You chose, Yun Ming had already decided that he would support him.
Gu You raised his head to the sky. The heavens stretched far and wide above, shrouded in gray clouds and emptiness.
'Is there really such a thing as justice in this world?'
Recalling the series of events leading to this moment, Gu You finally pieced together what Tang Hao had intended.
It started with the train. Then came Yuezi. Now Qian Yu. It had all been a carefully laid trap. And he—Gu You—was the one lured into the web, the one destined to die.
"Tang Hao!! You've already chosen the path to death!" Gu You's voice trembled with a mixture of rage and scorn. He exhaled deeply, then extended his hand, releasing Yuezi's soul. It drifted toward Qian Yu's limp body and began to merge.
He did this not out of mercy, but out of guilt—for killing Yuezi, for what had been forced upon the girl. A part of him had owed this.
Tang Hao had gambled on one thing: that as long as Gu You still retained even a shred of humanity, he would never raise his hand against an innocent child.
It was a masterstroke in manipulation, emotional blackmail of the highest order. The Tang family had always been adept at such tactics.
But Gu You... he was no saint.
Qian Yu wasn't just an ordinary girl. She was a future danger—potentially a calamity. A Soul Douluo-level evil soul master, imbued with fragments of an Evil God's divine power, and harboring hatred directed squarely at him. If that power awakened in the future, the casualties would be incalculable.
Without someone like Yun Ming—a demi-god in all but name—to suppress her, the consequences would be catastrophic. And even if someone like Yun Ming did adopt and shelter her, Gu You feared what might happen if affection developed over time. If kindness clouded judgment. If the one who held the blade someday could no longer bring themselves to use it. By then... it would be too late.
'Does Qian Yu have emotions?' Gu You couldn't answer that. 'But did Yuezi?'
That too was hard to say. To him, both of them were figures shrouded in ambiguity. From the beginning until now, Gu You had never thought of himself as a good person. But neither was he truly evil. He made decisions based on what benefited him. He weighed right and wrong based on emotion as well as pragmatism.
'There's no perfect ending in this world. All we can do is move forward. And whatever stands in the way... we break through it.'
"I am guilty..." Gu You murmured, over and over again, as he gently received Qian Yu into his arms.
Yun Ming said nothing. He watched Gu You quietly, a flicker of something unspoken in his gaze.
The girl in his arms was cold—so cold it pierced through Gu You's flesh and sank into his bones. Her small frame felt weightless, like she had been drained of all warmth, all life.
Gu You carefully pried open her eyelids. A faint violet glint flickered in his own eyes. At that moment, a subtle smile curled on Qian Yu's lips. Her hands went limp as her body sank into a deeper sleep.
Suddenly—black light burst from her chest and began to expand!
Yuezi wasn't done yet. She had one final act of resistance left in her soul.
The waves of darkness were strange, suffocating. Even Gu You and Yun Ming, both supreme cultivators, found their martial souls suppressed under the pressure of that evil force.
With a rumbling boom, nine blood-red spirit rings flared into existence around Yun Ming. The release of such immense soul power caused the earth beneath them to crack and sink slightly, unable to withstand the strain.
It was the first time Gu You had ever seen Yun Ming's full spirit ring configuration, and it left him stunned.
'If not for the fact that this story is called Legend of the Dragon King,' Gu You thought grimly, 'I would've sworn Yun Ming was not only the pride of the previous generation... but the unrivaled genius of this one too.'
He couldn't help but ask himself, 'In a world without the Divine Realm, who else could create even half a god's position out of nothing? Who else could stand at such a level?'
The sky above remained silent, but within Gu You's heart, a storm raged on.
And so, with the weight of his choices bearing down on him, Gu You stood in the ruins, holding the sleeping girl who might one day be the key to salvation—or annihilation.
(End of Chapter)
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