Perhaps there is nothing in this world more difficult than forgiveness. I still cannot forgive Lan Yin, but maybe, just as Yin Chou once did to Lan Yin, Lan Yin inadvertently saved Rachel Lan.
Rachel Lan has never given up resisting her fate as an Underworld Denizen, fighting until she was battered and exhausted. She used to dislike crowded places—not because she could see ghosts, but because she could see people, and sense the death dates of those around her.
For someone who is still human, this is cruel. Knowing that the person who was laughing and talking just a moment ago is about to die, yet being powerless to help—only able to watch coldly and wait for their death, and then collect their soul.
It was the same with Mona Tong. If this is how it feels with strangers, it is unbearable torment with one’s own family. I’ve seen many Underworld Denizens—their signature blank expressions and numb attitudes are the truest reflection.
Not everyone possesses a resilient heart. No matter how strong someone is, as long as they are still human, time will wear them down. They will grow weary, lost, and helpless.
Suddenly, Rachel Lan raised her hand and slapped Lan Yin’s cheek in anger—a loud, resounding slap. Lan Yin closed his eyes and silently endured it.
I wanted to step in and stop her, but Rachel Lan had already raised her other hand and struck again—another loud slap. This time, Rachel’s expression was one of pain.
The third slap—Rachel Lan’s hand gently landed on Lan Yin’s cheek, caressing it. Now Lan Yin’s eyes widened, staring at Rachel, whose eyes were already brimming with tears.
“Rachel, you...”
“Why won’t you tell us—your family, your friends, even the one you love? Why do you want to bear all this alone? This is something all Underworld Denizens should face together. Why...”
Faced with Rachel Lan’s furious cries, Lan Yin did not answer. He simply looked up in silence, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
“Sorry, Qingyuan. I used you, because I truly had no other choice. Please forgive me, I...”
I shook my head, clenching my fists and turning away. I can’t bring myself to hate Lan Yin anymore—not even a trace of anger remains, but inside, my feelings are a tangled mess.
Lan Yin placed a hand on the crying Rachel Lan’s forehead, quietly caressing her. He stared at me without moving.
“Take care of her.”
I nodded slightly.
“You want to die, don’t you? You want to trade your death for Hades’ release. Why? Why are you all suffering so much, yet never tell me? You’re like this, my father is like this, my mother is like this, and you’re like this too. Qingyuan, why won’t you talk to me?”
I stared wide-eyed at Rachel Lan, her face streaked with tears. She seemed to sense exactly what I was thinking—the words I never told her.
“Let’s begin.”
After a long while, Rachel Lan’s emotions calmed. Lan Yin stood behind her as she sat cross-legged, placing a hand on her shoulder. Then he closed his eyes, and I sensed part of Lan Yin’s consciousness entering Rachel Lan’s body.
Suddenly, all the Forsaken stared at Lan Yin. A glossy black sphere emerged from the top of Rachel Lan’s head, and Lan Yin immediately opened his eyes, gripping the sphere tightly in his hand.
Rachel Lan collapsed weakly to the ground, and I rushed over to support her.
“Is it about to begin?”
I asked, and Lan Yin nodded. The four Forsaken looked confused, but still nodded as well.
“I’m sorry—please, stay until the end. I’m sorry.”
Lan Yin slowly floated upward, and we all looked up at him. At this moment, the Spirit Snake had grown large; I picked up Rachel Lan and moved onto the Spirit Snake’s back. The four Forsaken also floated upward.
A pair of pale blue wings spread out, and the Spirit Snake began to fly. Soon, we were rising into the moonlit sky.
The moon shifted in the sky. According to Lan Yin, this ritual would begin at the instant night and day exchanged places. In that moment, everything in the world would overlap and return to chaotic nothingness, and Lan Yin would use his body as a medium to absorb the power produced.
Once the absorption succeeded, Lan Yin would go to Oath Island, break the chains of Hades, and shatter this endless, cruel cycle. Though it would cause great problems in the short term, for the Underworld Denizens, it meant rebirth and release.
We quietly waited for dawn. Rachel Lan lay in my arms with her eyes closed, looking exhausted. I gazed silently at Lan Yin, who still stood above the Devouring Woods.
The Four Sacred Realm and the surrounding barren lands we saw before are one dimension of this world; the Devouring Woods are the second dimension. Then, there is the massive third dimension created by Despair Origin to contain the dead Forsaken.
Ordinarily, the three dimensions do not interfere with each other—they exist to maintain balance in the world. But the power Lan Yin accumulated in the third dimension grew too vast, gradually upsetting the balance. That’s why curse power began to flood into the lowest dimension.
The Devouring Woods, existing physically and straddling two dimensions, were originally meant to act as a medium—absorbing excess power from whichever dimension became too strong, to maintain balance. That’s why the trees here are so colossal. But years ago, Lan Yin used his lost faith in Despair Origin to sever the link between the upper and middle dimensions, hoarding power ever since.
The physical second dimension could bear far more power than Lan Yin ever imagined. Yet after years of accumulation, even the Devouring Woods could no longer withstand it. Finally, the stored curse power broke through the dimensions and flooded into this world—the first dimension.
The moon had already vanished into the clouds, and dawn was approaching. The sky overhead began to pale. Lan Yin moved—he tossed the glossy black sphere upward and spread his arms wide.
A buzzing sound echoed. Rachel Lan woke in my arms. In the Devouring Woods, the trees began to break down, and faintly, we saw a strange red symbol—like a knife—appear on the forest floor.
Rays of red light flared around the symbol, then began to trace lines, forming a circle—a kind of formation. I swallowed hard as similar red formations appeared all across the sky, each with a different central symbol depending on the dimension.
To the east, three triangles overlapped; to the south, a fish-like shape, though not quite a fish. In the west, three lines tangled together—one straight, one curved, one twisting like a snake, looking bizarre. The northern symbol resembled a jagged, irregular stone.
A rumbling sound continued to grow louder. In an instant, the clouds overhead vanished, turning into black particles that mingled with the sunlight and moonlight, scattering across the sky.
To the west was the silvery moon, to the east a fiery red sun—eerily strange. In the north, torrential rain fell, moving steadily toward us. The sea rippled, and to the south, masses of black clouds blotted out the sky, slowly approaching.
In an instant, Lan Yin’s body was covered with strange, blood-red symbols, radiating waves of red light.
Everything around us drew closer to Lan Yin. The Spirit Snake had already prepared a path for Rachel Lan and me—we could leave this world at any moment, but we only wanted to see it through to the end.
“It’s quite a spectacle.”
Entity 004 muttered, and Entity 001 beside him smiled.
“Maybe this world never had any real disputes—just different perspectives.”
I gazed quietly at the things approaching from all directions, drawing ever closer. The Spirit Snake began to fly higher, and Lan Yin’s figure was almost lost from view, wrapped in a mass of red light.
“Sundusk Cataclysm...”
Suddenly, a deafening shout echoed across the world. The black ocean erupted violently, engulfing the walls and the robots atop them, turning them into part of the curse power. Cracks appeared on the ground of the Devouring Woods, and streams of curse power gushed from the fissures like fountains.
The sun and moon had reached either side of the Devouring Woods, with rain and clouds joining them. The four forces drew together. I heard the sound of fragmentation—this world was breaking apart, about to return to nothingness.
In an instant, the red light was swallowed by blackness, and the world fell silent. Black streams flowed from all directions, swirling around where Lan Yin had stood. Slowly, all color vanished—there was nothing left but blackness.
Black streams of curse power twisted into the sky like an inverted Curse Tornado, swirling slowly and rhythmically. I felt the world shrinking, and as the curse power spun, Lan Yin absorbed it all.
By now, the four Forsaken were ready to throw themselves into the curse power at the final moment. Even if they didn’t want to, once the world returned to Primordial Chaos, their fate would be the same.
“Did it work?”
Rachel Lan asked, and I shook my head. The whole process seemed agonizingly slow—I had no idea how long it would last.
“Something’s not right.”
Now Entity 001 called out. On the side of the massive swirling curse power, a surge of black energy emerged, instantly taking on a humanoid form—a Curse Mimic.
“Leave now—you’ve failed.”
Despair Origin, gasping for breath, shouted at Rachel Lan and me.