Broken Yet Whole

A phantom door suddenly appeared on the high platform, and then Yu Sheng pushed it open, walking out with Erin.

A white shadow rushed straight at him—the familiar headbutt, the familiar steel embrace, and the familiar five-speed electric fan.

Huli was so delighted she bounced and jumped, shaking Yu Sheng's arm with a bone-wrenching momentum as she cried, “Benefactor, benefactor, benefactor! It's over! That pile of stuff finally quieted down!”

Fortunately, Yu Sheng's physique had long since improved beyond what it used to be. Although he still kept dying from all sorts of unclear AOE for various reasons, at least Huli's headbutt wouldn't kill him. By now, he was well practiced at holding down the great fox demon's head while pulling his arm out of her grasp, and then looking up at his surroundings.

A row of mass-produced dolls with dead fish eyes stood blankly on the high platform where the smoke had yet to clear. All bore varying degrees of injuries, and their numbers had been reduced by about a third. Erin immediately ran over, weaving between the mass-produced dolls as if checking the damage status of the remaining mass-produced shells.

Luna stood nearby, unhurriedly wiping the blade of her fingertip knife with a strip of cloth torn from her nun's skirt, like a psychopathic killer who had either experienced childhood trauma or was in the business of inflicting it on others.

The pure white dragon—Bai Liqing—still maintained her draconic form, lying at the edge of the platform with her eyes closed in repose. Several obvious and frightening wounds marred her body, but all were visibly healing at a rate the eye could follow.

Yu Sheng turned his head again and saw that all the shadowy black tide inside and outside the temple had vanished. Amid the devastated ruins, only the scorched earth where foxfire had burned still billowed with thick smoke. Large patches of eroded building debris appeared even more damaged and dilapidated than before. The ring of pillars and broken walls surrounding the main structure had completely collapsed, offering an unobstructed view of the open plaza.

Where the divine corpse had once lain, nothing remained but a pile of black ash that was still dissipating. At the center of the ash pile sat the “Cube Mechanism,” now motionless.

Erin finished inspecting her mass-produced dolls and padded over, holding out her arms to Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng casually lifted the little doll and set her on his shoulder, then walked toward Bai Liqing, who was still resting with her eyes closed.

The dragon opened her eyes. Her pale gray vertical pupils held a trace of weariness.

“Are you all right?” Yu Sheng glanced at her injuries. The largest wound beneath the dragon's wing was almost longer than a person. The blood flowing from the wound had a gold-red tint and a metallic texture; up close, he could even feel the astonishing heat radiating from it. Though the wound was indeed healing, the sight was still quite alarming.

“Fine. I just got grazed by those ‘rifts’ on the way back. The effect of the Anka… Ankaela Crystal was a little short-lived,” Bai Liqing said blandly. It was unclear how her draconic throat managed to produce such clear human speech. Noticing Yu Sheng's gaze, she added, “It looks scary, but for me, it's just a flesh wound. A dragon's vitality is strong.”

With that, she raised her massive head and glanced toward the temple, confirming with Yu Sheng, “Is it all over?”

“If you mean the crisis in the Borderlands, then yes, it's over,” Yu Sheng exhaled. “The last fragment of the Nemesis has ‘died,’ and I've already dismantled the Boundary Bridge—in your Special Operations Bureau’s terms, the Angel has fallen.”

“That's good news, but from the look on your face, it seems there's still work to be done?”

“There's always a lot of cleanup after an Angel falls, especially this time, given the special circumstances,” Yu Sheng nodded. “Regarding the Boundary Bridge and the Twilight Angels who built it… we've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg behind all this. Many things are probably just beginning.”

“…Looks like break time is over.”

The pure white dragon murmured softly, then slowly pushed herself upright. A crystal-like, distorted screen of light swiftly enveloped her, and the enormous body began to shrink and transform at tremendous speed, turning into human form within seconds.

It was the first time in Yu Sheng's life he had witnessed a dragon transforming into a human. For a moment, he widened his eyes in surprise, and then he saw Bai Liqing step out from the screen of light, still wearing that same expressionless, cool demeanor.

But the next second, Yu Sheng noticed something off—there was a pair of crystal-clear dragon horns on top of her head…

Sharp, beautiful horns emerged from her loose, gray-white hair. The tips bore a faintly glowing pattern like runes, and fine scales covered her neck, extending to the back of her cheeks.

Erin, who had been quiet for a long time, could finally hold it in no longer. Tugging on Yu Sheng's hair, she started shouting, “Hey, hey! Yu Sheng, look! The steel-faced stoic got stuck halfway through changing!”

Hearing the little doll's familiar, uncouth outburst, Yu Sheng felt a great deal of relief. After all, the little thing had been unusually quiet since earlier, and it had been rather worrying. Now—he only had to worry about her conduct again…

Fortunately, Bai Liqing was also broad-minded. She didn't seem angry at the little doll's outburst. Instead, she simply raised a hand to touch the sharp horn on her head and patiently explained to Yu Sheng and Erin, “This is a side effect of using my power. The draconic features will take a little while to fade. Also, I'm not a steel-faced stoic…”

Erin completely ignored what Bai Liqing was saying. She just leaned close to Yu Sheng's ear and muttered, “Hey, Yu Sheng, I think I know why she's a stoic—maybe because dragons have hard faces, so she's been unable to make expressions ever since she hatched…”

The person in question was right there watching, and could clearly hear the little doll's muttering. Yu Sheng could only keep his face straight, offering no response. But he thought Erin was right…

After confirming that Bai Liqing's condition was indeed not serious, Yu Sheng sent the damaged mass-produced dolls back to the valley, along with the news of “the Angel's fall.”

Once everything was arranged, the group left the high platform and walked toward the almost completely collapsed temple ruins.

There were still many things that needed confirmation.

Around the ruins, the smoke gradually dissipated, the residual heat on the scorched earth had not yet cooled, and the rocks that had once been melted by foxfire and had now solidified again lay among the broken walls and ruined pillars, glowing faintly red.

Huli released Baizhi and Yanshao again, letting the two Spirit Chickens keep watch in the sky. Luna pushed her radar to maximum output, continuously scanning every corner of the ruins.

Bai Liqing, with one hand pressed against her ribs, walked slowly beside Yu Sheng while keeping watch. Wherever her gaze fell, a faded, grayish-white texture spread from time to time, as if nothing could hide from her sight.

The surging tide of shadowy black from before had left a deep impression. Even though the tide had receded, they didn't dare relax, worried that some other danger might remain hidden in the ruins.

Only Erin, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder, appeared quite relaxed the moment she stepped into the temple ruins. The little doll's eyes were wide open as she looked around; occasionally, a reminiscent expression would cross her face, and at times she would frown as if lost in thought.

Fragmented, blurry memories occasionally surfaced in her not-so-bright mind, interspersed with some distant… emotions and nostalgia.

For someone used to living without a care in the world, this seemed like a strange and novel sensation.

The little doll raised her hand, pointing at a collapsed pillar not far away.

“That used to be where they danced,” she said, tugging at Yu Sheng's hair. “There were lots of girls dancing in circles there. The priests would put freshly slaughtered ‘pulu’ on a frame carried by four people. After the dance, they'd smear the blood on their faces, then carry the pulu meat together into the main hall to feed me.”

Yu Sheng paused mid-step. “And then?”

“I didn't like it, so I made them offer egg yolk cakes and sweet water instead.”

Erin then pointed to a corner of the plaza.

“And there, a priestess used to cry here. She lost her sandalwood prayer beads, but actually I accidentally ate them.”

Yu Sheng: “…And then?”

Erin thought for a moment. “I don't remember anymore. No memories after that.”

Huli came closer. She didn't seem to care about the sudden mention of these “memories” from Erin; she was just curious about the prayer beads. “Were they tasty? Those beads.”

“Crunchy, but not good,” Erin shook her head, then lifted her chin. “Silly fox, I used to be able to eat, you know! Even more than you!”

Huli: “Well, you can't eat now.”

Erin jumped down from Yu Sheng's shoulder and bit Huli's tail—she got a mouthful of fur without breaking through the defenses.

For once, Yu Sheng didn't intervene in the tussle between the doll and the fox. He just gave a helpless smile at the little doll, who seemed to have gained a bit more sensibility but was still just as muddled, and then his gaze fell on the large open space before him.

Black ash rose into smoke, slowly dissipating into the murky sky. The now-stationary Boundary Bridge control mechanism stood alone in the center of the wreckage, the edges of its frozen cube emitting a faint golden afterglow. No more subsystems would ever respond to its commands.

But that wasn't what Yu Sheng was looking for.

Huli noticed Yu Sheng's movement and lifted her head too, scanning the plaza. It seemed she knew what he was searching for.

As for Erin, she had struggled with Huli's tail for a while, only to be easily entangled by a mass of fluff until she couldn't move. Now she was being forcefully held in Huli's arms, still puffing with anger, and spitting out fox fur with a series of “pthoo” sounds.

Just then, sharp-eyed Huli seemed to spot something—at the edge of the area covered in black ash, a small, even less noticeable pile of debris caught her attention.

“Benefactor! Over here!”

Yu Sheng looked up at the sound, felt a stir in his heart, and immediately ran toward that pile of debris.

Not far from where the remains of the Nemesis had lain, the shattered golden-haired doll lay in a corner of the plaza. Broken limbs were scattered around. Her slightly open eyes reflected the chaotic sky.

In Huli's arms, Erin's eyes widened slightly.

“Whoa—so that's where I was.”

(The End)