(a)

By the time Yakumo returned, it was already too late.

Dark clouds obscured the sky and pressed down like a rolling tide, and the mere glance was enough to suffocate people. What was once a small town with a lot of people is now a dead city. Crops that had long withered slowly rotted on the charred wasteland, and houses and streets crumbled like a century of wind and frost, leaving only broken walls.

The city has been infected with a plague called "death" and there is no cure. Those who were quick on their feet were able to escape alive and tell the horrific catastrophe to those outside. As for those who don't escape fast enough......

In the past, they were prosperous, but now on the dilapidated streets, the dry bones everywhere are them. Snowflakes of ash fell and silently buried the innocent victims.

"I didn't expect it, but I was still a step late......"

Yakumo Zi's hanging heart is now sinking to the cold bottom of the sea. She knew that she had failed, and everything she had lost could not be recovered, but she still moved forward and took a step.

Her goals are clear and have never changed. That is, under the gloomy sky like a dark night, the only place shrouded in light, the very center of the death vortex—the White Jade Tower.

(b)

"Click", "Click", "Click"

The lonely footsteps sounded the long corridor of the White Jade Tower.

Under the full bloom of the Westward Demon, the bones of the deceased were piled up into a small mountain, and Yuyuko of the Saikyuki Temple sat there, humming a song in her mouth, smiling and combing the hair of the soul demon lying in her arms. Blood bloomed on her clothes, like the petals of spring cherry blossoms, and it was shockingly beautiful.

The westbound demon cherry blossoms are blooming, the flowers are dense like clouds, and the cherry blossom is spreading, illuminating every corner of the garden. Thousands of corpses prostrate at its feet, thousands of souls surround it, the dark sky, the dark earth, all things surrender to this great power. With the backdrop of these deceased, this westward demon is even more beautiful.

If I have enlightenment one day, then all things will be secluded.

The "life" of this westward demon is based on the "death" of countless living beings, and it is precisely because of this that it is born so beautifully.

Yakumo Murasaki walked down the stairs of the cloister, came to the courtyard, and stood in front of Yuyuko of Sekyukiji Temple. Yuyuko looked up, blinking her cherry blossom eyes and smiling at her.

"You're here," Yuyuko said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. ”

"Keeping you waiting. ”

Yakumo Zi's face showed a wry smile.

Youji's body is just an empty shell, with no soul in it, and of course, no breath or heartbeat, poor child...... His two knives stuck in the pile of bones, and the chill on the blades told the story of the little swordsman's last life.

Yakumo Zi saw countless souls, bound by the branches and leaves of the Westbound Demon, and was powerless to break free. New, old, familiar, unfamiliar, every revenant carries a sad story with it, and every revenant, Yakumo Murasaki doesn't care about it. She is the only one who cares about the front, the biggest, which is Yuyuko's soul, to be exact, "a certain soul" that resides in Yuyuko's body.

In the midst of that, there is the part she is familiar with, the part that belongs to Yuyuko, and the other part that is unfamiliar. These two are intertwined with each other, just like Tai Chi Yin and Yang, perfectly integrated and inseparable. For many years, this was the first time that Yakumo Purple had discovered that she had never actually understood the person Yuyuko of Saigyoji Temple.

This former "man".

"I'll just get straight to the point," Yakumo said in a purple voice, "Who are you, and where is Yuyuko?"

"I'm Yuyuko of Xixing Temple. Yuyuko replied, "I am the Westward Demon. ”

"You encroached on her body, can I understand that?"

"Wrong. ”

Yuyuko, or the Westward Demon, gently lowered the lifeless body of the Soul Demon Jealousy, and then stood up and walked down from the mountain of bones slowly, step by step.

"This is all Yuyuko's wish, and the slave family is just following her wishes. ”

"What wish?" Yakumo asked.

"'Live'. ”

Yuyuko's lips closed one by one, and she spat out these three words softly.

Hearing this, Zi gritted his teeth and couldn't help but curse hatefully:

"What a fool!"

If only she could go one step faster...... If Yuyuko is willing to wait for her for a few more days...... If only she could know Yuyuko better...... If only she could have made it clear to Yuyuko in advance......

However, there is no "if".

"Look, Yakumo Demon, look at the figure of the slave family!"

"Youyuko" said, her arms spread wide, and the westward demon behind her burst out with even more dazzling brilliance.

"Don't you think it's unusually beautiful?" she asked smugly.

"Definitely. Zi nodded, "But, how many creatures have you killed for this one?"

As Purple said, after the light fell, more necromancers floated down from the rolling dark clouds and gathered in all directions to the left and right of the Westbound Demon. The brilliance of this moment alone will pile up countless lives. How many sins are buried under this westward demon?

"Does that matter, Yakumo Demon?"

"Yuyuko" tilted her head, and asked with a smile in an innocent and cute childlike tone:

"Does it matter how many people die? In the final analysis, they all have to die, and even if they don't die at the hands of slaves, they will die at the hands of plagues, wars, and natural disasters. ”

"The so-called 'life' is nothing but a process towards death. Rather than survive ugly, it is better to wither gorgeously like spring cherry blossoms. That's right, a beautiful death is the meaning of life!" she said loudly with wide eyes and in an almost mad, passionate tone, "in that sense, I'm just helping them realize their own value." As long as all the creatures in the world are integrated with the slave family, the slave family will obtain the ultimate beauty that surpasses everything, and all living beings will be able to reach the true state of bliss!"

When Zi heard this, she just shook her head with a wry smile, and without saying a word, she listened to the "Youyouzi" continue to speak:

"The power of the slave family is to 'absorb life'. And this little girl's power is 'manipulating death'. Now that we are one, the power of life and death is in my hands, and there is no one who can stop me. ”

"Including you, Yakumo Demon, you can't either. ”

She stretched out her hand and pointed at Yakumo Purple, and a cold air suddenly climbed up Purple's back. Purple felt like a mouse, close at hand, eye-to-eye with a python. As the world's leading monster, this is the first time that she has been suppressed by others in terms of momentum.

"Now, Yakumo Purple, come to me!" the Westward Demon said in a loud voice, "It is your destiny to sleep here!"

"Forgive me for refusing. ”

Under Yakumo's feet, a six-pointed star circle was born out of thin air, and above the pitch-black sludge, there was a light purple glow.

"I will stop you, and I will bury you forever. ”

"Foolish dreams. ”

Yuyuko floated into the air, and a fan-like cherry curtain opened behind her. There are patterns of spring cherry blossoms, fine snow, colorful clouds, and sedan chairs on the top, which are delicate and gorgeous, just like a girl's dream.

"Purple Mystery Barrage Enchantment!"

A huge amount of light surged out from Purple's side, and the wind and rain sprinkled on Yuyuko of the Saiyu Temple, as well as the Saiyu Demon Sakura behind her. The big monster Yakumo Purple has clearly realized that the enemy in front of her is not an opponent she can keep, and she has no way out, and defeat means death. Therefore, this first move, she has done her best.

Each bullet is a point, the dense points are connected into a line, the expansion of the line becomes one side, the movement of the surface becomes three-dimensional, and the offset of the cube is the long river of time, from here as the starting point, to infinity, there is nowhere to hide, there is no way to escape. She just wants to use this violent offensive to completely destroy everything in front of her, and there will not be even a wreckage left!

In the face of this tidal barrage, Yuyuko's choice is "soft".

With "softness", gram "rigidity".

"Anti-Soul Butterfly: Full Bloom!"

Under the cherry blossoms, there are countless butterflies fluttering. It is the incomparably weak "butterfly wings" that greet the "wind", and it is the most fragile and strongest thing in the world - life.

Countless colorful butterflies flew out of the light curtain behind Yuyuko, and fluttered towards Yakumo Purple's barrage barrier, where they cracked, disappeared, and turned into crystal dust, going forward and one after another, never ending.

These two overly powerful forces collided with each other, and the resulting impact eventually tore through the clouds in the sky, and a ray of sunlight fell between the two, separating the dark and the bright. The many souls above the westbound demon stirred in unease, and the petals of the cherry blossoms fell one after another, rising high into the air with the manic current, and disappeared into the cracks of the sun-drenched dark clouds.

(c)

A week ago, on the day the demon cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

Youji left the White Jade Building and went down the mountain to send an invitation to the banquet.

After he ran away, Yuyuko found a good position under the westward demon and sat down.

She leaned on the trunk of the Westwalker, cold beads of sweat rolling down her forehead, her heart beating and breathing faster and faster, but the blood flowed more and more slowly. She didn't have a mirror at hand, so she couldn't tell how frightening her face was, but even then, she knew very well that her time was coming.

"That's ...... That's enough......"

Yuyuko gasped sharply, intermittently, spitting out her own thoughts.

"Can I look at you again before I die...... I have no regrets......"

"It's like...... As my father said, when I died under the spring cherry blossoms...... That's probably my fate...... Originally...... It should be like this......"

"But...... How so...... Seeing you bloom, I ...... Suddenly......"

"I don't want to die. ”

Her voice trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes.

The image that has been maintained until now, elegant, strong, and downplaying life and death, completely collapsed at this moment.

"I want to live!"

Yuyuko almost used her last strength, hissing and roaring as hard as she could, even though no one could hear her.

"Who wants to die! When you die, there is nothing left! Happy, sad, all precious things are gone, even the evidence of existence will be erased, forgotten, and in the end there will be nothing left, I don't want that!"

"I still want to eat more delicious food, see more fun food, I want to live with that child, grow old together...... I still want to...... Look at you more......"

"Tell me, Westwalker, what did I do wrong...... Why...... Why did it become like this......

Yuyuko's voice grew quieter and quieter, eventually disappearing. Her eyes were still open, and the last tears were dry. The arm, which was so white that it was colorless, lost its strength and slipped off its legs, stained with dark brown dirt.

Her heart stopped beating at this moment.

However, her soul did not return to the underworld.

When she was dying, in the consciousness that was gradually dissipating, Yuyuko heard a distant voice, gentle and kind, just like the parents who had long since passed away.

"I have heard your wishes......"

On the branch of the Westward Demon, there was only one, a young flower bone, which bloomed at the same time as Yuyuko's life passed.