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墨書 Inktalez
This should be the best explanation of the saying "there's no gain without loss." At this moment, my soul had almost completely turned black.
Hearing Ke'er say this, I replied, "It's too late now."
I thought to myself that I could either die here or find Ke'er.
At this point, leaving was not an easy task. I stared at Ke'er's Soul Fragment and spoke a few words. Then, the fragment dissipated.
Three strands of my soul that had floated out from my eyes returned to me once more.
I continued to descend. My soul was nearly in tatters, and I had no idea how much time had passed.
My soul gradually transformed into Light Spots, which scattered across the River of Despair.
Lin Li said that the Reincarnation Tree grew in the center of the River of Despair. Now it seemed there was no mistake about that. But why could Lin Li see multiple reincarnations while I struggled to endure even one?
My soul was being consumed and rotting away, ultimately turning directly into Light Spots.
The Light Spots drifted through the vast expanse of White Mist, some disappearing while others continued to float around.
Even my eyes became Light Spots, but these two Light Spots were different in color from the others; they were white.
I traversed this strange space.
In the end, I still did not find any trace of Ke'er. Had she already vanished from here?
Or perhaps, had souls here been completely corrupted?
I didn't know what had happened to Ke'er, but I felt as if my own soul was being corrupted in this place. I searched everywhere for any sign of Ke'er, but found nothing.
Until later, I once again entered the River of Despair.
Finally, I discovered traces of Ke'er. In the River of Despair, I sensed that familiar aura, and so I pursued it upstream.
Eventually, I reached another riverbank, but this time there was a gravestone. There was also a Grave Pit nearby.
At the same time, there stood a towering tree, its branches covering Mu Bai beneath it.
The gravestone bore four large characters: Tomb of Saning.
Tomb of Saning.
At that moment, a voice echoed in my ears, saying that I had indeed found my way here.
Upon hearing someone speak, my emotions became somewhat agitated. I replied, "Who are you?"
The voice was both ancient and youthful, somewhat resembling Ke'er's voice, yet not quite.
My lingering soul drifted here, and my consciousness existed in this place.
The voice continued, "Saning, do you see that gravestone?"
I nodded and said I saw it; what of it?
The voice replied, "If I told you that you crawled out from that grave, would you believe me?"
"I don't believe it."
"But this is the truth."
After hearing that, I felt somewhat absurd. I had crawled out of this Grave Pit; was I really in the River of Despair before?
I didn't have time to waste here and directly asked, "Who are you, and where is Ke'er’s soul?"
The voice did not continue to respond. At that moment, a cold wind blew through, causing the towering trees to rustle, with some leaves being blown down to the ground.
I looked at the Grave Pit again and then turned back to the large tree.
I shouted, "Where is Ke'er?"
The voice remained silent for a long while before finally speaking. It said, "Are you referring to that soul? Earth Commander Jeba."
I didn't know what soul she was talking about, but I knew that the Ke'er I mentioned was indeed Ke'er.
I asked again, "Where is Ke'er?"
She replied, "Now that you're here, you should focus more on yourself."
I began to listen closely to the voice to determine its source. Eventually, I concluded that the voice was coming from the tree, so I floated toward it.
But I still couldn't see anyone, nor could I sense the presence of any souls.
Yet I was growing weaker by the moment.
At that moment, the voice came again, sounding somewhat sorrowful as she said, "It's quite tragic for the White-Eyed People to have come this far."
Tragic.
I remained silent, continuing my search. My soul felt as if it were being pierced, and I sensed my weakness deepening.
"Where is Ke'er?" I asked.
"You fool," she scolded me.
My remaining soul began to fall toward the ground, for I had no strength left to struggle; the depletion was too severe, and my soul started to rot here.
Sighing, she said, "If this continues, you will completely perish here."
I replied, "So what if I perish?"
My soul drifted down into the Grave Pit, and in my daze, I could still make out a few large characters on a tombstone: Tomb of Saning, Damn it. The tombstone of the White-Eyed People was surprisingly clean.
With no titles left, only the remnants of my soul continued to differentiate, and then I saw a graceful figure filling the earth, burying my soul.
At that moment, I was completely engulfed by darkness.
In the beginning, I still had consciousness, but eventually, even that faded away.
It felt as if I had simply fallen into a deep sleep. I didn't know how much time had passed when I seemed to hear someone calling me from beside me. In my daze, I finally responded with a faint acknowledgment.
He said, "You no longer have a soul."
"Are you talking about me?"
"You are Saning, aren't you? If not, then I'm not talking about you."
Just as I was about to answer affirmatively, he reminded me, "Think carefully before you respond. Don't answer me lightly."
I found myself in a very strange state; was my identity as Saning being questioned?
Am I Saning? Of course, I am Saning. If I'm not Saning, then who could I possibly be?
Although I was certain that I was Saning, I still took a moment to think before finally giving a definite answer. At that moment, this person seemed to be interrogating me.
He said, "Since you are Saning, why do you repeatedly separate your soul, leading to its eventual demise?"
He said, "Since you are Saning, why do you repeatedly place yourself in Dead Land, to the point where there is no room for retreat?"
He continued, "Since you are Saning, why can't you even protect yourself, yet still try to save others?"
He added, "Since you are Saning, how did you end up in this situation?"
He spoke these four sentences in succession but realized he couldn't answer any of them. I fell silent.
Am I really Saning? I couldn't help but ask myself again.
Is it true that being Saning means avoiding those mistakes? But were they really mistakes? Undoubtedly, my current situation was indeed dire.
"Since you are not Saning, then I will be returning."
"Who are you?" In truth, I had already recognized his voice; it was the same person from the day I sought the soul of Chen San's Burial.
He had told me not to ask about Chen San's Burial, yet now he appeared again and questioned whether I was Saning. If I wasn't Saning, he would return.
Where would he return to? I wondered in my heart.
But there was no doubt that I was Saning. I asked, "Where will you return to?"
He replied, "To where I belong. Since you are not Saning, what else is there for you to say?"
"I am Saning, I am Saning, I am Saning," I shouted, my voice hoarse from repeating it three times. After my voice faded, we both fell into silence.
After a long pause, he asked me, "Do you want to know who buried you?"
I had only vaguely seen a woman filling in the dirt before everything went dark. I nodded in response.
He continued, "Then after you leave here, pay attention to whose soul carries darkness; that person is your grave digger."
Is it true that whoever's soul carries darkness is the one who buried me? A sense of unease began to creep into my heart. But even if I found a clue, could I escape from here? And I still hadn't found Ke'er.
He said, "I know what you're thinking. You want to find Ke'er, right?"
I affirmed with a quiet "yes."
He replied, "You won't be able to find her, but she will appear soon enough. The River of Despair will dry up very soon."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll understand when the time comes."
I suddenly sighed, and he followed suit with a sigh of his own. He said, "Saning, oh Saning."
I murmured a few words of Saning along with him.
He repeated, "Saning," and as he spoke, I felt dazed, as if I were seeing countless Light Spots falling into this grave, each one descending with brilliant radiance.
He said, "Saning, you must remember that you are Saning."
I nodded and replied that I would remember I was Saning. Just then, I suddenly recalled Chen San questioning me back then, "Saning, have you still not realized who you are?"
At that moment, my confusion deepened.
After countless Light Spots fell, it seemed my soul was being reassembled. Then I emerged from my own grave, and once outside, everything felt as if it had been rearranged.
It was as if my soul had been reborn here.
Once I stepped out, I saw that the tree before me had withered beyond recognition; here, there was no sign of Ke'er.
Moreover, he mentioned that the River of Despair would soon run dry, which meant that the so-called Reincarnation Flower would likely never bloom again. I sighed; at that moment, the Wooden Box had vanished.
There was only an entrance but no exit.
But why did Grandma bring me here and say that Ke'er was right here? Perhaps Ke'er was indeed here but had not come out to see me.
He also said that unless Ke'er wanted to see me herself, I would not be able to find her.
The only gain I have here is the feeling of becoming more complete. The dark soul I had in the River of Despair has vanished.
Suddenly, I thought, could this be something my grandmother arranged on purpose? Perhaps she knew that coming here would lead me to something.
But for now, I have no way to verify any of this.
I now remember that the person who buried me had a dark soul, and there was also something else—he was the one who asked me four questions before.
I wonder, if he really returns, should I disappear?
Am I Saning? Of course, I am Saning.
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