INE Chapter 125: Empty Tile (2)

The missing square had appeared.

Ji Rong had been searching from front to back, and this tile came right after the previous one. That meant its timeline was earlier than the Tianshui Secret Realm.

She reached out and touched the edge of the tile. In the next moment, she found herself in a bedroom.

Looking around, Ji Rong recognized it as Mei He’s residence. But the reason for this tile’s gap was something she couldn’t quite figure out.

Just as she was about to use her energy to probe the current time, a calm voice rang in her ear:

“This is the eighty-fourth year after the Great War, three months before the High Priest received a scheduled command from the Administrator. Three months from now, the High Priest will prophesy the return of the Heavenly Demon Seed.”

It was 01’s voice.

Ji Rong turned to 01 with a slight frown. “Sis, you’re out of energy. Traveling through time like this puts you at risk of being consumed by it.”

01 replied, “I’ve already abandoned my physical body. I chose destruction to become your system. If you die, I’ll disappear with you. That’s why I followed you in.”

Ji Rong knew she was spouting nonsense.

01 had always wanted to run away, just like the Administrator. Whether she lived or died, she’d long stopped caring.

But time was short, and Ji Rong didn’t have the luxury to argue with her now.

She mulled over 01’s words, trying to figure out why this tile had been left blank.

Three months later, the High Priest would predict the return of the Heavenly Demon Seed.

Since the prophecy came from the Administrator via a crystal ball, what happened after the High Priest made that prophecy?

Suddenly, Ji Rong remembered something, 

Gu Baiyi would later appear in Yue City and be saved by Mei He.

That memory struck her as strange.

The High Priest had only predicted the approximate time and location of the demon’s return. How did Mei He know the exact moment and place? And that Gu Baiyi had been buried under the quicksand?

Someone must have told her.

Ji Rong looked around the empty room and realized, at this moment, that “someone” could only be herself.

Faced with that possibility, she decided to write Mei He a letter. But if she wrote it herself, her handwriting would be too easily recognized.

She turned to Wu Yan and thought it was time to put the fox to good use.

“Can you write?” Ji Rong asked.

Wu Yan looked deeply offended. After a moment of silence, she transformed into human form. “Any beast that can take human form can write.”

Ji Rong nodded in satisfaction, then found paper, ink, and a brush in the room. She began dictating, and Wu Yan wrote.

Three months later, on the seventeenth of July, in Yue City, the Heavenly Demon Seed will be saved.

Fearing that Mei He wouldn't believe her, Ji Rong phrased it in a cryptic, mysterious tone:

Such is destiny. This person is deeply connected to someone from your past. If you wish for that person’s return, you must ensure this one’s survival.

In order to save Gu Baiyi, Ji Rong resolutely sold herself.

After putting down her brush, she remembered how the shifting sands of Yue City buried countless people every year. Mei He might not even know who Gu Baiyi was.

Recalling the game’s storyline, Ji Rong picked up the brush again and wrote:

, At sunset, within the drifting sands, the Heavenly Demon Seed will appear. Remember, this person’s surname is Gu, given name Baiyi.

Ji Rong also gave the heroine a name, just in case Mei He tried to name Gu Baiyi something else in the future.

When she was done, Ji Rong placed the letter on the desk and left that grid space.

Back in the Time Labyrinth, Wu Yan had grown very weak and had reverted to her fox form. Her memory had begun to fade, as if she no longer recognized herself.

Ji Rong intended to place Wu Yan into the Mountains and Rivers Chessboard, but her spiritual power was nearly depleted. To her shock, Wu Yan suddenly fell straight down.

Her body pierced through the upper grid and dropped to a lower level.

Ji Rong stared at the layer of grids beneath her, a sense of unease creeping in.

That row of grids had been created by the Administrator using pure energy, it belonged to the lifetime of the body’s original owner.

After 01 had reset the timeline, that line had been completely overwritten.

Even so, Ji Rong followed Wu Yan’s falling figure and leapt down.

The grid Wu Yan landed in was small, and a small blank space seemed to lie within.

Ji Rong caught Wu Yan in her arms, and once she had steadied herself, she realized they had arrived at Xishan, the domain of the Demon Sect.

She looked at the fox pups playing on the mountain, then at the young Wu Yan in her arms, and gently placed her into the den.

Ji Rong knew that many years later, Wu Yan would be placed in a box by Bai Yushuang and delivered to her.

Perhaps that too would count as a reunion.

By the time she left the grid, Ji Rong had little energy left in her body.

As she trudged forward, she unexpectedly discovered a blank space within that row of grids.

The fourth missing grid was located at Phoenix Terrace.

Ji Rong lifted her gaze to the blood moon hanging over Xishan, then passed through layers of veils and stepped onto the high, cold platform, where ghostly jiao-dragons coiled and circled.

She lowered her eyes, and saw Gu Baiyi lying drunkenly on Phoenix Terrace.

Phoenix blossoms, glistening with dew, were scattered all around like drops of blood-red tears.

Dressed in dark robes, Gu Baiyi had tossed her wine cup to the ground and was absentmindedly tearing at the petals with her fingers.

She must have suffered greatly from the seventh layer of "Red Lotus." Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, its stark red shockingly vivid against her pale, jade-like skin.

Ji Rong stared at the person who had led her, step by step, to this very moment. She touched her chest but felt no heartbeat.

For she was now Sword Saint Yue Qianqiu, also the True Immortal of Sanhua, and Guardian 02. The heart that belonged to Ji Rong had turned to dust the day she saw the Divine Sect reduced to scattered ashes.

She had made it this far for the sake of saving Gu Baiyi and Gong Yu.

Yet now, she could no longer feel that crushing despair she once did. All that remained within her was calm.

Well… not entirely calm.

Ji Rong found herself stepping onto Phoenix Terrace, lifting Gu Baiyi’s chin and pulling out a handkerchief to gently wipe the blood from her lips.

She had a cleanliness obsession. In the modern world, she always carried tissues. Here, she used handkerchiefs instead.

Gu Baiyi, sensing someone wiping away her blood, let out a soft laugh and murmured, “Why are you treating me like this?”

Ji Rong couldn’t reveal her identity at this moment.

But she could tell that Gu Baiyi was clearly drunk. With the "Red Lotus" acting up, she was in so much pain her mind had grown muddled. That was probably why she asked such a question.

Ji Rong simply continued wiping her lips and replied, “No reason. I just have a cleanliness obsession.”

The moment she said that, she saw Gu Baiyi frown, clearly confused by what “cleanliness obsession” meant.

Once she was done, Ji Rong turned to leave.

Halfway there, she couldn’t help but glance back.

She saw Gu Baiyi lying on the terrace, stretching out her hand, seemingly trying to grab Ji Rong’s sleeve.

But she missed, her hand closing on empty air.

Gu Baiyi withdrew her hand, smiled faintly, and murmured, “It’s a dream…”

Ji Rong shook her head at the sight. “No need to hold on to me. I can’t stay long anyway.”

Her voice softened as memories stirred, “So many times, I couldn’t figure out why things happened the way they did. It always felt like something beyond me was pushing me forward. I didn’t want to be pushed, but when it stopped pushing… I no longer knew how to walk on my own.”

“Who am I, really?”

Am I Ji Rong, or Yue Qianqiu? Am I Sanhua, or 01?

“What was I born for, and what should I die for? I don’t know.”

“Everything always seemed so strange and complex. But when I saw you, it all felt simple, and beautiful. Tell me, how could I not fall for you?”

She swallowed the rest of what she wanted to say: But now, I can no longer love you. To save you, I gave up the right to love anything at all.

But without you… what meaning would anything else even hold?

Gu Baiyi gave a faint smile and asked, “If you love me, then why won’t you stay? Why won’t you stay with me forever?”

Ji Rong was silent for a long moment before she replied, “I can’t.”

Because this place was merely a memory, overlaid by the energy of 01. A past life already lost.

And after this… she still had to go somewhere even farther away, to a place beyond reach.

She couldn’t stay.

“If you can’t stay, then why did you come?”

Ji Rong paused, considering how to explain this complicated matter to Gu Baiyi.

But then she thought, She’s drunk anyway. Whatever I say will make as much sense as anything else.

So she said, “I came for you. And the reason I can’t stay… is also for you.”

“We’ll meet again.”

Gu Baiyi asked, “When?”

Clearly, she wanted to chase the answer to the very end. But how could Ji Rong possibly know when “again” would be?

Ji Rong gave a small smile and said gently, “Maybe in the next life. Maybe the one after that. But definitely not the one after the next after that.”

She turned to go, and from behind, she heard Gu Baiyi’s reply.

Her voice was soft, so very soft.

“Alright." Gu Baiyi said, “I’ll wait for you.”

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Note: Next is the final chapter….but there would be extra chapters :)