At the same time, the mummified corpse separated a wisp of fine sinful karma, spreading it to the spot where Tuoba Feng's blood had just dripped and collecting those droplets while carefully wrapping them within the sinful karma.
There was not much blood, only a few drops, but for her, it was enough.
The mummified corpse continued to pull at the monsters.
She felt her body becoming heavier and heavier, her consciousness beginning to drift, and the black spots inside her body were clashing frantically as they tried to break free from her suppression and completely devour this shell that had long since died.
Pain.
The pain was like her consciousness being torn apart.
But she gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing all the monsters surging into her body and using her remaining will to lock them deep within her.
Then, she withdrew the disguise technique on her body.
The yellow dress disappeared, the pigtails disappeared, and the blurred face belonging to Xiaoyun disappeared as well.
Her eye sockets were two hollow, bloody pits, her mouth was sewn shut with coarse black thread, and her skin clung tightly to her bones like jerky that had been air-dried for a thousand years.
Ugly, terrifying, and nauseating.
This was her true appearance.
The divine remains that Tuoba Feng hated most.
The mummified corpse looked up at Tuoba Feng.
She did not care what would happen once her appearance was seen, nor did she care what kind of disgust and hatred Tuoba Feng would feel because of it.
She had only one thought now: Tuoba Feng must not die.
If she could just expose the lie and use her most abominable form to remind him, then he could wake up and leave.
As a large number of black spots entered her, the mummified corpse's body began to tremble violently.
She bit down hard on her sewn lips until the thread snapped and her parched lips crumbled into meat fragments.
Tuoba Feng noticed her abnormality almost immediately.
He suddenly hacked through the monster in front of him, ignored the attacks coming from behind, and turned to rush toward the mummified corpse.
A monster's claw added another wound to his back, but he did not care as he reached the mummified corpse and pulled her into his arms.
"Xiaoyun! What is wrong!"
His voice was anxious, and his arms tightly encircled her withered body.
The mummified corpse's body froze.
She had waited a long time, waiting for Tuoba Feng to see her true face, waiting for the inevitable disgust, anger, or even hatred.
She waited for him to let go, for him to ask "Who are you," for him to curse and spit at her like all the Grave-keepers had for centuries.
But Tuoba Feng's arms remained tight around her.
They were so tight that she could hardly breathe.
No.
It should not be like this.
He should have let go.
He should have pushed her away.
"You..." the mummified corpse's voice rasped from her chest. "You..."
Tuoba Feng interrupted her.
His voice was soft and somewhat lonely.
"You are not Xiaoyun, are you?"
The mummified corpse shuddered.
Tuoba Feng was indeed awake.
But she did not know how to answer.
Should she admit it?
Or not?
The lie had lasted for a hundred years, and she had long grown used to playing Xiaoyun, used to Tuoba Feng's gentle gaze, used to being protected by him, and used to hearing his stories about the world outside.
She craved this warmth, a warmth that did not belong to her.
But she knew that all of this was stolen.
Now, it was time to give it back.
"...Yes," the mummified corpse managed to squeeze out the word. "I am not Xiaoyun."
"I am the divine remains."
"I am the monster your Grave-keeper clan has suppressed for generations."
"I am the source of the black spots and the disaster."
"I am the thing you hate most."
She said it all in one breath, waiting for the expected reaction.
Tuoba Feng was silent for a long time.
He was silent for so long that the surrounding monsters swarmed again, and Su Xue and Piao had to fight desperately to hold them back and buy them time.
Then, Tuoba Feng spoke.
"I know."
The mummified corpse was stunned.
"How could you..."
"Since when... did you know?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"A long time ago," Tuoba Feng said softly. "On the day Xiaoyun left, I held her body and cried for a long time."
"Then, Xiaoyun suddenly stood before me, wearing her yellow dress and her pigtails."
"I was overjoyed at the time, but later, I knew you were not her."
"Xiaoyun was already dead; I drained her blood with my own hands, and I held her cold body with my own hands."
"But I... did not dare expose it."
Tuoba Feng's voice was calm, and his arms tightened slightly.
"Thank you for these past hundred years."
"Thank you for staying with me."
"Thank you for making me believe my daughter was still alive."
The mummified corpse froze completely.
She had imagined countless possibilities—that Tuoba Feng would be furious, that he would hate her, that he would be disgusted, or that he would tear her to pieces.
But she had never imagined this answer.
"No..." the mummified corpse's voice began to shake. "It should not be like this..."
"I am a monster."
"I brought the black spots, I caused the death of the Grave-keeper clan, and I caused Xiaoyun's death."
"You should hate me."
"You should be like your father, like your grandfather, and like all the other Grave-keepers, wishing you could tear my body into ten thousand pieces!"
Tuoba Feng shook his head.
"I did hate."
"I hated when my father died, I hated when my mother died, and I hated when my brothers died."
"When Xiaoyun died, I hated so much I wanted to grind the divine remains to dust."
"But what is the use of hate?"
"Hate only makes me more miserable and desperate, eventually dying like a rabid dog in the sands of the Western Region."
"But that certainly is not what Xiaoyun would have wanted to see."
"Her father should be a hero who can hold up the sky for her, not a walking corpse driven by hatred."
"So I chose not to hate anymore."
Tuoba Feng lowered his head, looking at the withered and ugly corpse in his arms.
"So, none of it matters anymore."
"Truly, it does not matter."
He looked up at the growing number of black-spot monsters around them and then at the stone coffin behind him.
"It is time for me to go."
"To be with Xiaoyun."
Tuoba Feng let go of the mummified corpse and turned to walk to the side of the stone coffin.
He reached out and placed his hand on the coffin lid.
"I am not a competent father."
"I promised Xiaoyun I would take her to see the world outside, to see the green mountains and clear waters, the red flowers and green grass."
"But I failed."
"She was trapped in these yellow sands her whole life, never seeing a real flower until the day she died."
"I am a failure as a father."
"So, it is time for me to go and be with her."
Tuoba Feng pushed hard, and the stone coffin's lid slowly slid open.
The mummified corpse saw a small skeleton lying inside the coffin.
It had already turned to bone, wearing a yellow dress, and on the skeletal wrists, one could still see the knife marks left from draining the blood.
Looking at the bones, Tuoba Feng was silent for a long time before turning to look at Su Xue and Piao.
"Ladies, thank you for your help along the way."
"But the path ahead is my own."
"Please leave."
Before his words even finished, Tuoba Feng suddenly struck, pushing Su Xue and Piao toward the tomb door with a surge of soul power.
Caught off guard, the two were pushed directly out of the tomb.
"Tuoba!" Su Xue cried out.
But Tuoba Feng did not look back.
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