Flocks of Crow-birds circled beneath the heavy clouds as billowing black smoke churned and gathered into a torrent, plummeting from the firmament. As if possessed of sight, the torrent rushed straight toward a corpse lying amidst the ruined walls and tiles.
The fire in Shangjing had burned for three days and three nights. Grey ash and dust filled the air, drifting over the battlefield—slaughtered by the fires of war—like snowflakes stained by foul water.
Charred skulls and incomplete remains lay scattered everywhere. Only one body lay undisturbed on the blue bricks of Hehuan Palace.
His snow-white hair hung by his ears, not a single strand out of place, and Pei Hengyu’s dragon robe remained pristine. The Silver-Patterned Coiled Dragon on his chest narrowed its eyes, frantically devouring the converging black smoke.
"More, more, give me more!"
"Pei Hengyu is dead, Yuwen Junan is dead, Ji Chengyuan is also dead, and thousands upon thousands of others have perished. Now, I finally have a chance to break free from these shackles and come back to life!"
As the black mist entered its body, the silver-embroidered coiled dragon slowly raised its head, its coiled body gradually stretching out.
"ROAR!"
A long howl pierced the clouds. The Silver-Patterned Coiled Dragon on Pei Hengyu’s robe truly came to life. It soared into the air, ascending toward the vast expanse of the heavens!
"You wretched beast! Where do you think you’re going?"
A bolt of violet lightning tore through the chaotic sky, striking the white dragon and knocking it to the ground. A young man in white robes, clutching an imperial brush, landed gracefully beside Pei Hengyu and snapped, "Human Sovereign Pei Hengyu, if you do not wake now, when will you?"
His tightly shut eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was a pitch-black face. "Judge!" Pei Hengyu’s soul drifted out from his corpse. "Is that you?"
"What," the black-faced Judge said, "it’s been years, and the Human Sovereign no longer recognizes this old man?"
Recognize him? Of course I do! I could forget anyone, but never you!
In my previous life, it was this very swindler who used the promise of helping me take revenge as bait to trick me into being reborn!
Pei Hengyu cursed inwardly, but smiled on the surface. "I remember, I remember. But this white dragon looks familiar—how do I seem to have seen it somewhere before?"
"Of course you’ve seen me!" The white dragon raised its head. "The Human Sovereign poked at me for months; how could you forget me after I’ve only been dead for half a month?"
"What?" Pei Hengyu carefully counted the white dragon’s claws and poked at the silver-stitched dragon scales. Astonished, he asked, "You’re the one from the dragon robe? How are you able to run out?"
The dragon did not answer. The wounds from the lightning strike were painful, so it lay on the ground, tilting its head to look at the black-faced Judge.
The Judge put away his magical artifact, picked up a skull from the ruins, and sat upon it, saying leisurely, "It spent half a month clinging to your robe, devouring the Malicious Qi, and was attempting to ascend to the heavens. If I hadn't summoned heavenly lightning to scatter the Malicious Qi on its body just now, I fear it would have already transformed into a mindless fierce beast."
"Oh! Is that so?" Pei Hengyu said with a hint of regret. "Doesn't that mean you’ve ruined the Little White Dragon’s good fortune, Judge?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The Little White Dragon chimed in, glaring fiercely at the black-faced Judge.
"You’re still saying 'yes'?" The Judge raised a hand and rapped the dragon on the head. The Little White Dragon shrank its neck as the Judge continued, "The price of becoming a fierce beast is the destruction of one's sentience, turning into a monster that only knows how to devour life. Is that what you want?"
The Little White Dragon went silent. Pei Hengyu finally found a moment to look around.
The sky was hazy and the surroundings were deathly still. Countless charred corpses were piled in the ruins, propping up half-burnt timbers, while black smoke, like spirits crawling out of the Underworld, circled above the remains.
"Huh?" Pei Hengyu asked in surprise. "This doesn't look like the Underworld!"
"Of course this isn't the Underworld," the black-faced Judge looked at him, "this is your Hehuan Palace!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" This time it was the Little White Dragon's turn to watch the spectacle!
"Hehuan... Palace?" Pei Hengyu repeated the name, looking back at the palace behind him. He saw a vulture swoop down from the sky, pecking at the half-burned corpses one by one. Dust fell in flurries, rising and sinking with the flapping of its black wings.
"Half a month ago, after the Human Sovereign perished, Yuwen Junan refused to live alone and threw himself into the sea of fire. After his death, there was no one in the world capable of upholding Dasheng. Factions fought endlessly to seize territory. In a mere fifteen days, eighty-one million people lost their lives in the struggle. Their souls, heavy with resentment, could not move on and condensed into Malicious Qi, wandering between heaven and earth."
Yuwen Junan killed himself?
Pei Hengyu was shocked. He snuck a glance, wondering why he couldn't see that man's soul, but on the surface, he feigned indifference. "And then?"
The Judge, failing to notice Pei Hengyu’s abnormality, sighed. "After the Malicious Qi filled the human realm, not only this little dragon, but every living creature in the world began to practice by devouring it. However, what they did not know is that Malicious Qi devours their intelligence. They would turn into fierce beasts, and once they lost their sentience, they would devour the entire human realm."
"So?" Pei Hengyu almost guessed what the Judge was going to say. "Judge, what do you want me to do?"
"To live, of course," the Judge blurted out. "Live and retake control of the human realm!"
"No!" Pei Hengyu shouted. "I can't beat Yuwen Junan! I couldn't beat him in either life. I don't want to be reborn. If you want someone reborn, go find Yuwen Junan, don't come to me!"
"I can't control him!" The Judge blurted out, then realized his mistake. He awkwardly grabbed at the void, and black mist—not ordinary mist, but soul-devouring Yin Sha—swirled in his palm.
Covering his slip with a cough, the Judge said, "Being unable to beat Yuwen Junan is the Human Sovereign's fate! Don't you have a saying in your world: if you can't beat them, join them? Could you perhaps try *not* fighting him?"
How can I join him? We are mortal enemies! Mortal enemies!
I destroyed his country and killed his sister. How could such hatred be resolved?
"No!" Pei Hengyu refused flatly. "My past resentment and humiliation were already laid to rest after my second rebirth! I want a fresh start. I will not be reborn!"
The Judge grew anxious. "There is no fresh start!"
A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, black clouds bore down, and rain began to fall.
The Judge’s voice turned urgent. "Malicious Qi is saturating the human realm, reviving ancient demons. Once they have devoured enough Yin Sha, they will consume everything between heaven and earth! That includes you, includes me, and includes everything in this time and this space—all will return to chaos! Human Sovereign, only through your rebirth can the gears of fate be set in motion again!"
The downpour fell in torrents. Thousands of lines of rain pierced Pei Hengyu's soul, slamming into the ground and stirring up mud that spread everywhere, staining the earth with filth.
The world darkened; the entire realm was trapped in a quagmire from which no one could escape.
"Does it have to be me?" In his desperation, Pei Hengyu pointed at the white dragon lying on the ground. "It likes the human realm, it likes to take human form, it likes to be reborn! Go find it; I will not be reborn! Absolutely not!"
The Judge looked at Pei Hengyu’s resolute expression and suddenly made up his mind. His white sleeves puffed out, and a powerful force poured from them. The scenery around them began to shift in layers, like a shadow play.
Flowers, birds, trees, and gardens passed by, as if stripped of their color, leaving only eerie grey silhouettes.
Pei Hengyu had no time to look closely; he only felt as if a pair of wings had sprouted from his ribs. In the blink of an eye, ten thousand rivers and mountains had been left behind.