Outside the house, Victor Wu clutched the red string tightly in his hand. By now, he was completely enveloped by the red and pink mist. He nervously looked around, when suddenly, the sound of rushing water echoed nearby.
"Cecilia..."
Victor Wu stared blankly at the figure standing by the riverbank, holding a dagger called 'Beauty' aimed at her own heart—Cecilia. Her eyes were full of humiliation, unwillingness, and sorrow that flooded her entire face.
"Do you know, Victor Fan? The ghost of someone who committed suicide will repeat the act, reliving those final moments over and over again, day after day."
As Cecilia spoke, she suddenly drove the 'Beauty' dagger into her heart with a sharp sound. Her exquisite face now appeared disturbingly eerie and terrifying—blood streamed from her seven orifices, and her ashen cheeks radiated deep resentment.
"Cecilia..."
Victor Fan called softly, wanting to approach but not moving an inch. All his emotions were written plainly on his face—tangled, waves of sorrow and regret pouring out endlessly.
"See? You really are a heartless man. After my death, I must endlessly repeat all of this, every single day."
The scene before his eyes returned once more to the riverside—Cecilia still stood there, holding the 'Beauty' dagger, aiming it at her heart.
"No, please, don't do this again..."
Victor Fan cried out in shock, gripping the red string with all his strength. Once again, Cecilia died before his eyes, endlessly repeating this process, again and again. Each time, Victor Fan's heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still see it—the image burned into his mind.
"Victor, don't you want to save me? This is your only chance."
Cecilia spoke softly again. Now, all around Victor Fan, multiple Cecilias appeared—each with a different posture, sitting, lying, reclining, collapsed. Sorrow, anger, fear, humiliation... all these varied forms of Cecilia surrounded Victor Fan.
A barrage of angry shouts, crying, and agonized screams flooded Victor Fan's ears, like thousands of tiny needles relentlessly piercing him.
"Victor, this is your only chance to atone, the only way I can live again. Do you not love me anymore?"
Victor Fan kept his eyes shut, his grip unwavering, but inside he was torn. Sweating profusely, he realized if he let go of the string, Cecilia could be reborn as a human; if he held on, she would be forced to relive her death endlessly. No matter which he chose, it was unbearably cruel.
Was it his lover he should choose, or the child about to be born—the one entrusted to him by his student, destined to bear the fate of all children in the Henderson Family?
No matter which side he chose, Victor Fan didn't want to decide, nor did he wish to make this choice.
"What have you done, Victor Wu..."
Inside the house, Victor Wu's body radiated golden light, gradually stripping away the red and pink mist. The red aura belonged to the infant, while the pink belonged to Cecilia. From within the infant's body, streaks of pink aura were being pulled out, bit by bit.
"What exactly have you done..."
Cecilia howled in agony, still resisting, still struggling.
"Even if you return as a human, you won't truly be one. Miss Cecilia, please let this child go."
Victor Wu spoke again. Gradually, I was amazed to see the auras separating—one red, one pink—split evenly, but a red stream still connected them.
The infant suspended in the air began to wail, as if in great pain. Crying incessantly, the strange change caught Victor Wu's attention and he stopped, opening his eyes.
"What are you doing, Miss Cecilia?"
"Heh, Victor Wu, I'm a ghost and you're human. You should know what a ghost would do."
Suddenly, something white gushed out of the infant's body—his soul, John Chou's soul. Victor Wu coughed up a mouthful of blood with a splatter.
"Heh, you can't last much longer, can you? Just let go."
A whistling sound filled the air. All around, identical 'Beauty' daggers appeared, each one aimed at Victor Wu. Blades flew at him from every direction, and he charged forward recklessly, his body already covered in wounds.
Victor Wu grabbed the soul that had spilled out of the infant and returned it to the child's now-silent body.
"Victor Wu, don't you dare, don't you dare..."
Cecilia screamed again, her voice shrill and haunting. With a sudden sound, Victor Wu stared in shock.
"What are you trying to do?"
Victor Wu finally roared in anger, tearing off a piece of the white soul.
The infant's body began to blur, and gradually, a sticky mass separated from it.
"Stop..."
Victor Wu shouted, waving his hand as the sword behind him flew forward. He saw the infant's body shrinking as the sticky, fleshy mass separated from it.
It was the first time Victor Wu had witnessed such a scene—splitting a person's soul and flesh in two. With a swift motion, he severed the sticky mass clinging to the infant.
With a splat, the mass hit the ground and began to wriggle. Gradually, it grew a nose and eyes. Victor Wu rushed toward it—this was part of the child's body, separated by Cecilia. He had to get it back for the child.
"Victor Fan..."
Victor Wu roared, suddenly opening his eyes. Everything that had just happened was in the otherworldly space where Cecilia fought for the child. After Victor Wu stood up, he caught the falling infant in his arms. The child was now only half its original size. He looked around: the window had a hole, the red string outside had been undone, and the mass that was turning human had vanished.
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Outside, the wind and rain mixed together. Victor Fan knelt on the ground, eyes vacant, staring blankly ahead.
Victor Wu quickly waved his hand, and the red string wrapped around the house recoiled into his palm. He looked around, then cradled the infant and glanced at Victor Fan.
"I have to retrieve the part of this child that Miss Cecilia took. The child is in your care now."
But Victor Fan remained motionless. Victor Wu, holding the infant, squatted down in front of him. At last, Victor Fan raised his head, looked at the child in Victor Wu's arms, and began to cry—crying out, again and again.
After handing the infant to Victor Fan, Victor Wu immediately gave chase. Following the aura, he realized that part of the child had headed into the mountains. In the pouring rain, Victor Wu ran tirelessly. He knew that although Cecilia had taken part of the child, as long as he could recover it before the soul and flesh were completely severed from the body, the child would be safe.
Braving wind and rain, Victor Wu tracked the aura to a mountain valley, now flooded. Swimming through the torrent, his body glowed gold. Gradually, he spotted a cave—the aura was coming from inside.
Inside the cave, Victor Wu saw a child the same size as the infant—except it was a baby girl.
Victor Wu was utterly shocked. He stared in disbelief, unable to make sense of the bizarre events. Cecilia's aura had vanished from the crying baby girl's body lying on the ground.
Victor Wu walked over step by step and picked up the crying baby girl.
The wind outside grew stronger, but Victor Wu had no idea where Cecilia had gone. Suddenly, the baby girl in his arms widened her eyes, opened her mouth, and bit Victor Wu's arm with sharp fangs. He screamed in shock.
Victor Wu tried to shake off the infant, but immediately saw her drinking his blood.
Outside the cave, red lightning struck again and again. Victor Wu realized the souls and bodies of the baby girl and boy were completely separated—one became yang, the other yin.
Victor Wu had never seen such a strange situation before, and he had no idea where Cecilia had gone.
The sky finally cleared. By the next morning, Victor Wu returned to Henderson Village, carrying the now-sleeping baby girl. The whole village was in an uproar—the Henderson Family's child, John Chou, had been born successfully, but he was unlike any ordinary baby: tiny, and already on the verge of death, with signs of imminent demise.
At the Hendersons', Victor Wu hid the baby girl in his sleeve. He saw the baby boy, only the size of a palm. Many people found it odd and unsettling, and the boy's aura was so weak it seemed he could die at any moment.
Their auras were completely different now. Victor Wu sensed that the baby girl in his sleeve and the baby boy were like a pair of siblings, split into two separate beings. The only difference was that both their souls were born incomplete.
Victor Fan still sat nearby, face ashen, waiting quietly. Victor Wu called him over, explained the situation, and Victor Fan went to find Henry Henderson, saying he would pray for the baby boy. He promised the boy would recover, but others needed to leave the room.
With no other choice, the Hendersons agreed. In the room, the two palm-sized children—a boy and a girl—lay quietly on the bed. The baby girl seemed fine, sleeping soundly, but the boy's aura was nearly gone.
"This world is truly strange. When Pangu created the heavens and Nüwa made humanity, perhaps this is fate. Victor Fan, these siblings were never meant to exist in this world."
Victor Wu spoke as he slowly sat down.
"From here on, Victor Fan, I'm counting on you. This time, I might really die—using the Divine Transformation Technique twice in one day."