The scene shattered into pieces and peeled away, and Chen Zhou's consciousness instantly returned to reality.
The underground space was still the same, the air thick with the smell of scorched remains.
Jiao Mu Jiao lay on the ground, staring blankly at the rock ceiling above, motionless.
Wing Fire Snake stood guard by Chen Zhou's side, transparent flames flickering in its eye sockets as it watched Jiao Mu Jiao warily.
The pile of mushrooms had burned out, and the last bit of light had vanished. Only a small pile of black ash remained on the ground, gently scattered by a draft from some unknown source.
Without the bright mushroom light, Jiao Mu Jiao no longer went into a frenzy.
He lay on the ground, his chest rising and falling slightly. His breathing was faint, so faint it seemed as if it could stop at any moment.
His eyes were open, filled with pain and a trace of bewilderment.
The withered wood tail on the stone door was nearly consumed by fire.
The Hatred Fire and Wing Fire Snake’s transparent flames had intertwined, burning for so long that the withered wood giant tail finally could no longer hold out. Ash drifted down piece by piece, piling higher and higher on the floor.
Only the last small section was still burning, the flames licking the charred surface with a crackling hiss.
Chen Zhou stepped toward Jiao Mu Jiao.
Wing Fire Snake followed behind him, its massive skeleton casting a shadow across the ground. Transparent flames flowed through the gaps in its bones, causing the underground space to flicker between light and shadow.
Chen Zhou reached Jiao Mu Jiao and looked down at him. “Any last words?”
Hearing this, Jiao Mu Jiao’s eyes shifted, moving from the ceiling to Chen Zhou’s face. His parched lips opened and closed, then opened again.
It took a long time before he made a sound.
“Tell me... who am I?”
Jiao Mu Jiao’s brow furrowed, and the veins on his forehead bulged as if he were desperately trying to recall something.
“I am... I am Qing Lu’s creation?” His voice was soft, as if he were talking to himself. “No... I am not...”
“Who am I?”
“Who am I?!”
His voice grew louder and more urgent, like a beast trapped in a cage, desperately trying to break free.
Chen Zhou looked at him and said calmly, “You are Mu Tianyou, a human, the last monarch of the Jiao Mu Kingdom.”
Jiao Mu Jiao’s body jolted violently.
“Mu Tianyou...”
“Mu Tianyou...”
He repeated the name hoarsely, as if calling out to someone very familiar, yet very strange.
Then, his gaze began to wander.
“Who is Mu Tianyou?” he asked. “Mu Tianyou... is it me? I am Mu Tianyou?”
His voice began to tremble again, growing more intense until his entire body was shaking.
“I am Mu Tianyou... I am human... I am of the Jiao Mu Kingdom...”
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly became distorted.
“No! I am Qing Lu’s creation! I am a jailer! I am Jiao Mu Jiao!”
“That’s not right... I am Mu Tianyou... I am human...”
“Shut up! You are a jailer! You are Jiao Mu Jiao!”
“No... I am not... I am a person...”
He clutched his head and began to roll on the ground.
He curled into a ball, like a cooked shrimp, huddling tightly as if trying to hide himself.
But he could not hide.
Memories, sealed away by black threads for ten thousand years, were surging out bit by bit.
He remembered his Empress Mother; he remembered those glowing mushrooms; he remembered his Empress Mother holding his hand in the pitch black dissolving cave, walking forward step by step.
He remembered his Imperial Father; he remembered the coronation ceremony where his Imperial Father had personally tied a jade pendant to his waist and said, “You are the greatest pride of my life.”
He remembered the look in the red banded giant snake’s eyes before it died—grief, chaos, and liberation.
He remembered the plague; he remembered the commoners who had turned into pools of pus; he remembered the subjects who had been refined into hundred corpse patchworks.
He remembered Wan Xiu; he remembered that face that always wore a gentle smile.
“You are merely materials.”
“Aaaah—!”
Jiao Mu Jiao let out a heart-wrenching roar. Ghostly blue light flashed wildly across his body, constantly shifting.
The sealed memories, the suppressed emotions, and the erased humanity all came rushing out at this moment.
He could not bear it.
Ten thousand years of pain, ten thousand years of loneliness, and ten thousand years of madness all weighed down on him at once.
He was going insane.
No, he was already insane.
“Kill me!” he roared. “Please, kill me!”
His eyes were bloodshot, and tears welled up and spilled over, sliding down his charred cheeks and dripping onto the ground.
“Whoever you are, please, give me liberation!”
He crawled toward Chen Zhou, his charred hands clawing at the ground. His fingernails were broken and his flesh was a bloody mess, but he didn't care.
He only wanted to die.
Chen Zhou looked down at him with a calm gaze.
“I was planning to.”
Upon hearing those words, Jiao Mu Jiao began to laugh and cry at the same time. He looked hideous in his mirth and wretched in his sorrow, his face covered in tears and blood, but within those eyes, there was a glimmer of liberation.
He closed his eyes and began to strain to pull the ghostly blue light back into his body, withdrawing it bit by bit.
He used every ounce of strength to suppress the energy that could repair his body, refusing to let himself fight back or let the divine light resist.
He only wanted to die.
Wing Fire Snake sensed the change. Transparent flames flickered in its eye sockets as it glanced at Chen Zhou, as if waiting for an order.
After Chen Zhou nodded, Wing Fire Snake opened its mouth and exhaled fire.
The flames instantly engulfed Jiao Mu Jiao. Without the repair of the ghostly light, the fire burned smoothly.
Festering flesh burned with a sizzling sound, and fats boiled in the flames, releasing a pungent odor.
Jiao Mu Jiao curled into a ball, like a withered straw rope, bending, twisting, and deforming in the fire.
His lips were moving as if he were saying something.
Chen Zhou stepped closer and heard it.
“Mu Tianyou...” he said. “I am Mu Tianyou... I am not a monster... not Qing Lu’s creation... I am human...”
“I am the monarch of the Jiao Mu Kingdom...”
“I am human...”
He repeated it over and over, his voice getting softer and weaker, like a candle in the wind that could go out at any moment.
Chen Zhou watched him curl and twist in the flames. That charred face changed constantly in the firelight—one moment distorted, one moment calm, one moment in agony, one moment liberated.
“I killed so many people...”
“I caused the deaths of so many people...”
“I am a monster. I deserve a miserable death. I don’t deserve to be human...”
Chen Zhou noticed that although Jiao Mu Jiao was doing his best to pull the ghostly light into himself, he still seemed to be unconsciously repairing the burns on his body.
He didn't seem to be like Wing Fire Snake, determined to die at any cost.
He still had an unfulfilled obsession that made his body unconsciously resist death.
Thinking about the past he had seen in Jiao Mu Jiao’s memories, Chen Zhou suddenly spoke.
“It wasn't you.”
Jiao Mu Jiao’s eyes moved, looking toward him.
“The one who killed those people wasn't you,” Chen Zhou said. “It was the creation of Qing Lu.”
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