"Your Excellency, please stop."
Just as the entire Phantom Corridor shook violently, as if it were about to collapse, an ethereal, airy female voice suddenly rang out. It was the same voice that had come from the dilapidated Buddhist hall not long ago—the voice of the Rice Maiden.
Hearing this voice, Xia Yu's brow twitched. He stopped the outward expansion of his mental and soul power, and the space ceased its swaying.
The monkeys, who had been panicking, seemed to be calmed by the ethereal female voice, chattering and howling right where they were.
"Thank you for being willing to stop, Your Excellency." The female voice seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Please relax your body; the power of the Phantom Corridor can bring you to the Inner Sanctum."
As the words fell, an indescribable power surrounded him. Sensing the spatial energy within it, Xia Yu relaxed his body.
With a blur before his eyes, the original Buddhist temple transformed into a valley with beautiful scenery. Above the valley, a waterfall flowed down the cliff, and beneath the waterfall stood a graceful hall.
The hall was the Rice Maiden's secluded residence, the Inner Sanctum.
This scene in the original game was beautiful enough, but now that it had become reality, it felt even more like a tranquil paradise.
Photos, photos!
After taking several beautiful pictures suitable for wallpaper using the Chat Group, Xia Yu finally stepped across the pond filled with lotus leaves and walked toward the Inner Sanctum.
Through the open doors of the Inner Sanctum, he saw a young girl sitting on a prayer mat. She wore loose monk robes, and several strands of gray-white hair were visible within her jet-black long hair.
At this moment, the girl was also using her lively, jet-black eyes to curiously observe the uninvited guest, Xia Yu.
"Welcome to the Inner Sanctum, Your Excellency." The girl's soft voice sounded as she offered a slight smile to Xia Yu as he entered the hall.
Communicating face-to-face made her voice lose a bit of its ethereal quality and gain more of a young girl's vitality.
Xia Yu didn't stand on ceremony either. He walked right up to the Rice Maiden and sat down cross-legged. He didn't sense any negative emotions from her, only curiosity.
Perhaps this was the first time in many years she had met an outsider face-to-face, other than the monks of Senpou Temple.
"Your Excellency, why have you come?" Seeing that Xia Yu didn't speak, the girl was the first to ask.
"Hmm..." Xia Yu first sized up the Rice Maiden in front of him. After confirming she was past the age where things would be "criminal," he spoke with a smile.
"I've come for you."
"This..." Seemingly not expecting Xia Yu to say that, the girl froze for a moment, then felt a bit flustered. "Come for me? But... why?"
"There aren't that many 'whys'." Xia Yu grinned. "Not everything needs a reason. Just like how you became a Child of Corruption—do you know why?"
"...I don't know." The girl shook her head. She didn't ask how Xia Yu knew she was a Child of Corruption; since he had come for her, he must know her situation.
After a moment of silence, the girl looked at Xia Yu again and asked, "Then, Your Excellency, what business do you have with me?"
"Well..." Xia Yu paused deliberately. Under the Rice Maiden's curious gaze, he said word for word, "I'm here to take you away. Of course, not because of your status as a Child of Corruption, but because of who you are."
For a split second, a glimmer of hope appeared in the girl's eyes, but in the next moment, she hid it away.
"The monks of Senpou Temple won't allow me to leave. Besides, my friends cannot leave the Phantom Corridor. So, I'm very sorry, I cannot go with you."
As she spoke, the girl lowered her head slightly, as if expressing her apologies.
"None of those are problems." Xia Yu waved his hand dismissively. "The swaying of the Phantom Corridor just now was me analyzing that mysterious space between life and death. Although it's a bit troublesome, I can directly take the entire Phantom Corridor with me."
"Furthermore, I can actually resurrect your friends. After all, their souls haven't dissipated. If I can still find some remaining body tissue, they can be resurrected in their original forms."
Xia Yu wasn't lying. The Phantom Corridor was essentially just a space located in a rift; with a little effort, he could take it away.
As for resurrecting the deceased Children of Corruption, he could use body tissue to clone a new body and then stuff the soul back in.
Even if there was no original body tissue, it was fine. After all, a soulless clone can adapt to any external soul. The Children of Corruption would just have to accept that they looked different.
At Xia Yu's words, a light called hope seemed to ignite in the girl's eyes. She asked in an expectant tone, "Can they really be resurrected?"
But in the next moment, her gaze dimmed again. "The Dragon's Heritage can also make people immortal, but that twists the way people live."
"No, no, no, that's different." Xia Yu wagged his finger. "My resurrection is... science. That's right, scientific means. It's completely different from the way the Dragon's Heritage absorbs surrounding life force."
"Science?"
Although the girl didn't understand the meaning of the word'science', seeing Xia Yu's confident look, for some reason, she wanted to believe him.
Perhaps her friends who died because of the experiments really could be resurrected.
"But those monks..."
"Don't worry about the monks. I can sever immortality, including the source of immortality."
Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes were full of disbelief. She wanted to argue, but looking into Xia Yu's eyes, for some reason, she felt he wasn't lying.
After a moment of silence, the girl closed her eyes and nodded. "I believe you."
Then she opened her eyes, sadness flowing within them. "But I no longer have a home. My memories from before coming to Senpou Temple are already blurred. I have no other place to belong besides here."
Looking at the sad Rice Maiden, Xia Yu smiled gently, reached out to stroke her head, and said softly.
"Didn't I say? I'm here to take you away. Since you have no other place to belong, then come with me."
"This land of sin is not worthy of your protection. Let it sink into a sea of fire; let the flames purify everything."
While speaking, Xia Yu stood up, reached out to take the girl's hand, and pulled her up from the ground.
Suddenly having her hand held by a man, the girl felt a bit shy, but the hand holding her was so warm that it couldn't help but put her mind at ease.
"Let's go. Let's leave this place."
"Wait." The girl suddenly tugged at Xia Yu's sleeve and pointed to a long wooden box on the floor. "Inside is a sword that can sever immortality. Let me take it with me."
"The immortal severance?"
Xia Yu stopped, let go of the girl's hand, knelt down, and opened the wooden box. Inside was an odachi with a dark red scabbard.
Looking at this red immortal severance named baitai, Xia Yu reached out and took it from the wooden box.
The moment the scabbard touched his skin, Xia Yu instantly perceived the cold death energy inside—the power of death permeating the blade.