The scent of mud after the rain had not yet dissipated. The Nightmare Beast had just finished escorting the last batch of successfully "soul-swapped" animal-humans. The shell that originally belonged to a blood-stained hunter was now inhabited by a fox that had once been flayed alive.
Fanning its wings of black mist, the Nightmare Beast prepared to return to the Divine Realm to report, but its peripheral vision caught a shimmer of auspicious green light. Deep within the ruins, a jade-scaled Auspicious Sentinel (Qilin) was wiggling its tail and peeking intently into the mouth of a pitch-black air-raid shelter. Its tender horns occasionally brushed against the broken tiles, producing a crisp, ringing sound.
Curious, the Nightmare Beast folded its wings and landed silently beside it. As it drew closer, it heard a high-pitched yet powerful voice echoing from the depths of the dark tunnel.
"Fear not, everyone, fear not. The Great One has truly come to save us. She is incredibly powerful; those humans with guns dare not even move now."
It was the voice of Maomao. As the Inspector of the Karmic Bureau, its voice now carried an unprecedented pride, though one could tell it was exhausted from running, its throat slightly hoarse.
"I am Maomao, the most trusted fancy rat of The Great One, and the Inspector of the Karmic Bureau! I am here specifically to lead you to your new home. In the new home, there are endless nuts and windows that never close. Everyone, grab onto my tail and follow me out!"
From the depths of the cave came a faint, wind-like murmuring—the hesitation of those who had known only despair.
"I am truly not lying to you; those wicked people dare not act now," Maomao's voice rang out again with a sincerity that could draw out one's heart. "They cannot even strike a lighter now, for The Great One has withdrawn their 'Fire Patch.' Come out quickly, follow me."
The Nightmare Beast listened no further. It stepped forward and used its ink-black horn to gently tap the glowing green horn of the Auspicious Sentinel.
"Why art thou here?" the Nightmare Beast asked softly, its voice like a cool evening breeze.
The Auspicious Sentinel jumped in surprise. Seeing it was the Nightmare Beast, it relaxed. The Nightmare Beast briefly explained its mission: "The Great One has issued an oracle for me to collect and absorb all the 'Fear' of the Blue Planet. This negative energy is a lethal poison to ordinary people. If not siphoned away, those with good hearts will suffer bodily failure or even heart bursts from extreme panic."
In essence, the Nightmare Beast was now the "Psychic Trash Collector" of the Blue Planet.
"So that is how it is," the Auspicious Sentinel listened intently, flicking its tail. "No wonder I felt the air has become much more comfortable these past few days."
The Nightmare Beast nodded, its gaze turning toward the horizon. "That is because The Great One has stationed the Four Symbols to guard the four directions of the Blue Planet. In the past, the descent of beasts of our rank would have shattered fragile spiritual entities with our mere presence. Now, with the Four Symbols forming an array, a 'Voltage Stabilizer' has been created, allowing us to move freely across the Blue Planet without harming those little ones."
"Wow! The Great One is amazing! The elder brothers and sisters are too strong!"
Hearing this, the little Auspicious Sentinel hopped and skipped with excitement. With every jump, a translucent cyan auspicious cloud bloomed beneath its hooves, releasing a refreshing fragrance of vegetation.
"I must work hard too. I must complete the task entrusted by The Great One as quickly as possible; I cannot let everyone look down on me!" It clenched its small hooves, its eyes shining with adoration.
As the words were spoken, movement finally stirred at the mouth of the cave.
Maomao crawled out, drenched in sweat, followed by a long, flickering line of small shadows. It was a staggering crowd of younglings—kittens wobbling on their feet, puppies with timid eyes, fox kits and wolf cubs with their fur stripped bare, and even two stumbling bear cubs.
The Nightmare Beast and the Auspicious Sentinel stared, and their hearts sank simultaneously. The souls of these younglings were covered in shocking scars. Some were semi-transparent, with a charred bullet hole in their centers; others were bloated, filled with the resentment of being drowned alive. Worst of all were the kittens missing three of their four limbs and the puppies with half of their faces caved in.
Maomao walked at the very front, but there was no joy in its stride. Its head hung low, its tail dragging through the mud.
"...Why are there so few?" the Nightmare Beast frowned.
Maomao stopped, its eyes blood-red. "Many of the little ones... couldn't make it. Right in front of these children, they chose 'self-destruction.' They were in too much pain; they had lost all hope in this world and no longer wanted their souls."
Maomao gestured, its voice trembling. "They turned into fireflies right before my eyes. I tried to catch them, I wanted to stuff them back into a box and bring them to The Great One, but those fireflies... they cannot be caught. Once they scatter, they are gone. Truly gone. They didn't even want the chance to be reincarnated."
Beside them, a scrawny kitten whimpered softly, taking up the thread:
"Yes... Sister Big Orange vanished like that. Those humans in white coats cut off her whiskers and locked her in a freezer. She said she was too tired and didn't want to be anything anymore, and then she turned into many, many points of light and flew away. Brother Black Dog too; while he was blowing bubbles in the water tank, he turned into fireflies..."
As if their deepest memories had been triggered, the crowd of younglings began to wail in the ruins.
The auspicious clouds beneath the Auspicious Sentinel's hooves dimmed instantly. It stood there helplessly, wanting to comfort them but afraid to reach out.
The Nightmare Beast silently unfurled its massive black wings, shrouding the weeping little lives beneath them.
"Do not cry," the Nightmare Beast's voice remained cold, but this time it carried a sliver of warmth. "The fireflies that cannot be caught, The Great One will turn into stars. In the future, when you look up and see a star twinkling, that is your sister or brother watching over you."
It turned its head toward the far West, where the "Evolutionists" of the B.E.N. were still in their death throes. The black mist within the Nightmare Beast's pupils boiled violently.
These wretches truly do not deserve to possess the logic of physics.
Watching the cubs cry until they hiccupped, the Auspicious Sentinel felt a sharp ache in its nose. It was young, after all, and could not bear to witness such misery.
"Fear not, I shall help thee."
Before the Nightmare Beast could intervene, the emerald scales of the Auspicious Sentinel erupted in a blinding green light. It summoned its innate instinct—Soul Reshaping. Strands of soul power, smelling of fresh vegetation, flowed from its single horn, slowly covering the mangled kittens and puppies. Under this forced infusion of vitality, transparent and shattered limbs began to heal.
The Nightmare Beast's expression shifted violently. "Stop! Brash whelp, art thou mad?"
But the Auspicious Sentinel did not stop until the last wolf cub's broken leg was reconnected. Only then did it stumble, its limbs giving way as it collapsed into the ruins, gasping for breath, the light in its eyes instantly dimming.
The Nightmare Beast flickered to its side, its face terrifyingly dark. It extended its black wings, channeling pure divine power into the Auspicious Sentinel to stabilize its wavering essence.
"Thou hast grown bold," the Nightmare Beast's voice was like a blade. "Repairing a soul is not kneading clay; it is using thy own origin soul power to fill their gaps! Simply put, thou art carving thy own flesh to feed them. How much cultivation dost thou even possess? To harm thyself for no gain—how darest thou?"
Maomao watched, dumbfounded. It scratched its cheek and whispered, "But... last time, The Great One also waved Her hand, and all the brothers and sisters were healed. Did She also..."
"Silence." The Nightmare Beast shot it a cold glare. "The Great One is the Primordial God. For Her, repairing these entities is as simple as breathing; with a short rest, Her divine power regenerates. But the Auspicious Sentinel is different; this is self-mutilation."
The Auspicious Sentinel lowered its head like a child caught in a mistake, a puff of smoke escaping its nose.
"Think not that youth grants thee license to be reckless. Because thou art young, thy soul origin is not yet set; damage is permanent." The Nightmare Beast was relentless, its black eyes fixed on the cub. "The Great One's task was to 'lead the way,' not to be a 'Saviour.' Dost thou understand?"
The Auspicious Sentinel hung its head, looking obedient, though its twitching tail suggested the stubborn energy of youth remained. The Nightmare Beast snorted, seeing through the facade. It suddenly raised its front hoof and snapped a small piece off the root of its own iridescent horn.
CRACK!
"Take this." It tossed the glowing tip to the Auspicious Sentinel, its tone stiff. "It is not as strong as thy origin power, but it possesses the trait of Non-Material Energy Resurgence. Next time thou wishest to play the hero, use this. Do not use thy life."
Before the Auspicious Sentinel could react, the Nightmare Beast unfurled its wings and vanished into the clouds to continue absorbing the globe's fear. The Auspicious Sentinel trotted off happily, clutching the iridescent horn like a rare treasure.
Deep within the Divine Realm, The Supreme Temple.
The Beast God stood before a void covered in heavy restrictions. She raised Her hand and made a sharp stroke through the air.
"Open."
The void tore apart, revealing a breathtaking secret realm. Here, there was no soil, only a boundless Starry Sky reflecting against a multi-colored expanse, where every star pulsed with a rhythmic vitality.
The Beast God stepped slowly into the realm. With a wave of Her hand, several hundred stars shimmering with faint light drifted before Her. Within these stars were the "Fireflies" Maomao believed had vanished—the little orange kittens, the small black dogs. They had not truly scattered into nothingness; at the final moment, the Goddess had used Her celestial means to forcibly gather these fractured spiritual lights, nurturing them within this "Starry Void of Return" (归墟星空).
"It seems thou art recovering well today," the Beast God whispered with a tender smile, one carrying a mercy that made all existence tremble. She closed Her eyes, and the divine power surrounding Her radiated outward like a tide, washing over the entire starry expanse.
A chorus of joyful chirps echoed from the clusters of stars. Those severely damaged spiritual entities felt the nourishment of the Primordial Divine Power; like being soaked in warm water, they comfortably unfurled their spiritual forms.
However, as the divine power dissipated and the Beast God opened Her eyes, Her frame suddenly swayed. She reached out to steady Herself against a massive celestial body, Her fingertips trembling slightly from the excessive exhaustion.
All living things believed the deity to be invincible. They did not know that to make those "Fireflies," crushed under the heels of humanity, glow once more, this God was using Her own foundation to fill those trillion tiny cracks.