The mummified corpse lay in the coffin, motionless.
She knew Tuoba Shan.
He was a very young Grave-keeper, younger than many of the people she remembered.
Whenever he used to come for the bloodletting, he was always silent, but there was still light in his eyes.
Now, that little light had been extinguished.
Tuoba Shan had died in the battle against the monsters.
He had died in... the disaster she had caused.
Guilt arrived swiftly, instantly drowning the sliver of joy that had just risen within the mummified corpse.
How ridiculous.
Who did she think she was?
How could she even dare to imagine responding to Xiaoyun's prayer?
A source of death and misfortune like her—what right did she have to bless anyone?
She suppressed the black spots within her body, perhaps slowing their spread by a fraction, perhaps causing those monsters to remain quiet for a moment.
But she was still the source of the monsters.
A Grave-keeper was dead.
Because of her existence, another vibrant life had vanished.
Tuoba Feng walked in, his aura heavy, carrying a thick sense of grief and rage.
He walked to the coffin and began the routine inspection of the sealing array.
The mummified corpse saw his eyes.
Those eyes, which in his youth had been filled with defiance and longing, now held only a gray desolation, and deep within them... hatred for this tomb and this divine remains.
He should hate her.
His father died to suppress the divine remains, and his clansmen withered away one by one because of the divine remains' corpse change; now, even his last friend had died under the claws of the monsters born from the divine remains.
How could he not hate her?
The mummified corpse did not dare to look into Xiaoyun's eyes again.
She feared that in those clear pupils, she would see a similar emotion.
But Xiaoyun tugged at the hem of Tuoba Feng's clothes and said softly, "Father, don't be sad."
"Uncle Shan was a hero; he died to protect us."
"Lord Divine Remains... will surely bless his soul to go to a good place."
Tuoba Feng stroked his daughter's head without saying a word.
His gaze swept across the coffin, his eyes as cold as the edge of his blade.
Inside the coffin, the mummified corpse felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
However, Xiaoyun's next words left her stunned.
"Father, you must be well."
"Xiaoyun only has you left."
"You must stay safe and live a long, long life."
"When Xiaoyun grows up, she will become very, very powerful, and then it will be Xiaoyun's turn to protect you, so you won't have to be so tired anymore."
The girl's voice was light as she comforted Tuoba Feng.
Tuoba Feng's body trembled slightly; he knelt down, hugged his daughter tightly, and buried his face in her small, thin shoulder.
The mummified corpse could not see his expression, but she could feel that the heavy sorrow enveloping him seemed to have been pried open by a tiny crack.
In her heart, she silently remembered Xiaoyun's words.
She wanted Tuoba Feng... to be safe and sound.
Over the next two years, the mummified corpse suppressed the black spots in her body even more frenetically.
Every suppression was accompanied by heart-wrenching pain.
The black spots grew out of her body and were inseparable from her; suppressing them was like tearing her own soul apart.
But the mummified corpse did not stop.
She did not know how much effect this was actually having; the spread of the black spots in the Western Region seemed to have slowed slightly, but new monsters still crawled out from the depths of the sand sea.
The deaths of the Grave-keepers did not stop either.
If they didn't die during the bloodletting ceremony, they died in combat with the monsters.
Many new graves were added to the graveyard.
Two years was but a blink of an eye for a mummified corpse with a long lifespan.
But for the Grave-keeper clan, it was the withering of yet another generation.
The number of Grave-keepers still alive in the Western Region could be counted on one hand.
In the end, only Tuoba Feng and Xiaoyun remained.
Xiaoyun was six years old now.
In this year, disaster finally descended upon Xiaoyun.
Black spots began to grow on Xiaoyun's body.
At first, they were just a few inconspicuous dark specks on her arm, looking like accidentally smeared stains.
But very quickly, the black spots began to spread, connecting into patches that climbed up her neck and her cheeks.
Tuoba Feng was on the verge of madness.
He scoured every ancient text in the clan and searched every corner of the Western Region that might hide secret treasures or ancient legacies.
He even risked venturing deep into the areas where the black spots were most concentrated, looking for legendary purifying objects.
However, there was nothing.
Tuoba Feng returned empty-handed time and again, watching more and more black spots appear on his daughter, watching her grow weaker by the day, and watching her clear eyes occasionally flicker with a manic glint.
The black spots eroded more than just the flesh; they eroded the mind.
When she was lucid, Xiaoyun was still that obedient and sensible child.
She would endure the pain in her body to help Tuoba Feng wipe his long blade.
She would struggle to swallow the medicines Tuoba Feng found, even if they tasted terrible.
She would pray toward the god's tomb.
But when the condition flared up, she would suddenly become frantic, her eyes bloodshot, attacking everything in her sight.
This included the stone coffin in the burial chamber, the little lizards Tuoba Feng caught to make her happy, and even... Tuoba Feng himself.
Once, she even scratched Tuoba Feng's face.
When she regained consciousness and saw the bleeding scratch on her father's face, Xiaoyun was stunned.
She stared blankly at her hands, then at Tuoba Feng, as large tears rolled down her face.
"Father... I'm sorry..."
"Xiaoyun didn't mean to... Xiaoyun couldn't control it..."
She cried heart-breakingly, suffering more than when the black spots flared up.
Tuoba Feng only silently pulled her into his arms and patted her back.
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
"It wasn't Xiaoyun's fault."
When Tuoba Feng went out to search for that slim hope, Xiaoyun would come to the god's tomb alone.
She no longer shared interesting stories with the mummified corpse as she used to; instead, she knelt before the cold coffin and apologized over and over again.
"Lord Divine Remains... I'm sorry..."
"Xiaoyun went crazy again... Xiaoyun hurt Father..."
"Xiaoyun isn't a good child anymore..."
"Please don't be angry with Xiaoyun... and don't be angry with Father..."
"It's all Xiaoyun's fault..."
Inside the coffin, the mummified corpse listened to Xiaoyun's muffled sobs and her incoherent confessions, feeling as if something were clenching her heart tightly.
There was no need to apologize.
The one who should be saying sorry... was clearly her.
If it weren't for her existence, if the divine remains' corpse change hadn't given birth to her, the Grave-keeper clan might still be living a difficult but ordinary life in the Western Region.
Tuoba Feng would have a healthy father, and Xiaoyun would have a mother and uncles who doted on her.
They would rejoice over a small harvest and worry about a sandstorm; they might complain about the hardships of life, but at least... they would be alive.
It was she who had taken all of that away.
It was she who had brought disaster to this land and to this group of exiled people.
And now, even this child, the only one who had shown her kindness and trust, was about to be swallowed by her curse.
The mummified corpse suppressed the black spots even more manically.
Even if every suppression left her in agonizing pain, even if she knew clearly that it was merely a drop in the bucket.
She just...
She didn't want to hear Xiaoyun's crying anymore, nor did she want to see the deepening despair in Tuoba Feng's eyes.
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