The wind carried the whispers of lost souls.
The ground was barren, layered with white bones.
Black mist seeped from the cracks between the bones, congealing without dispersing—a manifestation of a millennium of resentment and unfulfilled ambitions.
Xue Yin and the other two stood at the cliff’s edge, looking down into the abyss.
Phantom images of ninety thousand rebel soldiers rose from the depths, forming ranks in mid-air.
They were faceless, their voices ethereal.
Some whispered, “Let me go. I want to go home.”
Some roared, “Give us one more chance! This time, we’ll win!”
Some were silent, only pointing their bone blades toward the direction of the First Ring Capital in the east.
The Abyss Guardian appeared.
Beneath his helmet was nothingness, and in his hand, he held a broken scepter.
“A high elf and a fallen angel together again? How ironic.”
He turned to Xue Yin.
“Chosen One, do you know why we failed back then?”
Xue Yin tentatively answered, “Because you fought alone?”
“Because the entire Demon Realm was pretending to be asleep!” the Guardian shouted sharply.
“The Central Council signed secret treaties with the Human Realm, trading refugees for source crystals and slaves for military funds. The Demon Realm’s raiding parties profited at the Human Realm’s borders, the nobles laughed and feasted in pools of wine and forests of meat, and the commoners? They said, ‘Don’t make trouble, life is still livable’!”
He pointed a bony finger at Xue Yin like a spear.
“The upper class divided the spoils, the lower class paid with their lives!”
“We wanted to overthrow this system that treats the living as expendable fuel!
To overthrow this order where the strong remain forever strong and the weak forever die!
To overthrow this lie that uses the word ‘stability’ to cover up exploitation!”
Xue Yin felt as if struck by lightning.
She had thought this was just a failed rebellion, never imagining the rebels’ ambitions had been so grand.
A deep sense of respect welled up in her heart.
She remembered the light in people’s eyes when the Crimson Flame Ballad was sung in Dusk Gathering Town—that was their longing for a change in their current lives.
But was change really so easy to achieve?
Along her journey, she had seen too much suffering but had never found the answer.
The Guardian stared at her.
“You come today to grant us peace? Or to take up this banner that has not yet fallen?”
Xue Yin fell silent.
This burden was too heavy for her now.
Ailia whispered, “If we liberate them, their resentment will dissipate, and Qianhaiyuan will become pure land. But the Demon Realm’s corruption will remain.”
Jin spoke up.
“If we keep them as a fighting force, it means reigniting the flames of war. Master, do you wish to grant them peace, or lead them to rebirth?”
The wind stopped.
Ninety thousand pairs of empty eye sockets turned in unison toward Xue Yin.
She closed her eyes and answered sincerely, “After the Amber Corridor, I’ve been thinking about what I can do for this world. True freedom is not escape, but change.”
“I am willing to do what little I can, but I will not choose for you.”
Her voice was clear, each word like a vow.
“You must choose for yourselves.
Those who wish for eternal rest, follow the sound and depart;
Those who wish to fight again, swear the oath with me!”
As her words fell, the mountain of bones trembled!
Nearly sixty thousand lost souls transformed into points of light, slowly rising into the sky.
They were tired; they just wanted to go home.
Xue Yin sang an ancient high elf melody to guide the sixty thousand souls on their journey.
“Moonlight paves the road home, starlight guides your passage.”
In that moment, the entire abyss was illuminated as bright as day.
Sixty thousand points of light rose from among the white bones, like countless lanterns lit simultaneously, flowing from the depths of the abyss toward the horizon.
They rose higher and higher, their light shifting from blazing white to a soft glow, spreading into a winding river of light in the night sky before finally dissipating at its end.
Below, the remaining thirty thousand phantom figures knelt silently.
Their armor was coated with black mist, their faces formed from bone and light, flickering under the illumination of the ascending river of light.
One above, one below.
One bright, one dark.
One dispersing, one gathering.
The departed returned to the cycle, the fighters remained.
Xue Yin cut her palm, letting blood drip onto the dry bones.
Silver light, like moonlight, poured forth, illuminating the abyss.
“In the name of the high elves, I initiate this oath: This fight is not to seize power, but to abolish slavery! This fight is not for revenge, but for equality for all! This fight is not for a new king’s coronation, but to shatter the old shackles!We want a Demon Realm that no longer sells slaves! A Demon Realm where we no longer live on our knees! A Demon Realm that no longer divides spoils with the Human Realm!If this world does not allow the living to stand straight, then we will uproot the old order entirely!”
The remaining thirty thousand phantom figures knelt on one knee in unison, driving their bone blades into the ground with a deafening roar!
The Abyss Guardian removed his helmet.
He offered a staff to Xue Yin.
“This is the ‘Moonlight Staff,’ a relic of the high elf ancestors. Today, it returns to its rightful owner.”
Xue Yin took the staff.
Its shaft was carved with ancient elven script, and a flawed moonstone was embedded at its tip.
An image of a towering ancient tree immediately appeared in her mind.
“The power of creation is not just for healing; it can also overturn.”
The thirty thousand warrior spirits roared in unison.
Black mist condensed into armor; bone blades reforged into spears.
The rose mark on Ailia’s neck glowed fiercely, holy light merging with vampire power.
“In the name of a nun, I witness this oath;Not for divine decree, not for royal command, but because the human heart must not be deceived!”
Jin spread his wings, the Heart-Binding Chain flowing with golden light.
“In the name of a fallen angel, I atone for the sins of our ancestors of that era; this fight is for the future, not the past!”
Xue Yin stood atop the mountain of bones, pointing the staff toward the sky.
“Qianhaiyuan has awoken.”
Her voice was low but clear, reaching the ears of every warrior spirit.
“But today, we do not act.”
The thirty thousand warrior spirits trembled as one.
“Do you think thirty thousand dry bones can overthrow a corrupt order that has conspired with the Human Realm for a millennium?”
Her gaze swept over every face formed from bone and light.
“You lost back then not because you lacked courage, but because you were too hasty. You had no allies, no foundation, no way to make ordinary people dare to stand up.”
She paused, her voice colder and more resolute.
“I will not let you die again—die silently, die to be ultimately defined as a meaningless ‘riot.'”
She drove the Moonlight Staff deep into the bone-covered ground.
Silver light spread like roots, seeping into every crevice of the abyss.
“From this day forth, you lie dormant here. But if I call, awaken immediately; if I command, ten thousand bones shall resonate as one.”
She looked east, filled with determination.
“I will go to every place where the exploited remain silent. What we need is not a swift uprising, but an awakening that no one can extinguish. But you must know, this matter is no small thing. Perhaps that day will never come. Are you willing to wait for me?”
The Abyss Guardian knelt on one knee.
Thirty thousand bone blades lightly tapped the ground simultaneously, emitting a deep resonance.
“We are willing to wait. We will wait for the day you make the commoners dare to say ‘I will not kneel.’ That day will be the start of the revolution.”
On the return journey, Jin finally spoke, his voice so low it was almost swallowed by the wind.
“Master, this path will be extremely arduous. Why did you choose this? Actually, I hoped Master…”
He paused, not finishing.
Xue Yin stopped walking and turned to look directly at him.
The wasteland wind lifted her silver-white hair.
There was no hesitation in her eyes, only a light as deep and calm as the abyss.
“Because the people of the Amber Corridor cannot have died in vain.”
Her words were clear.
“I cannot forget that battle. I cannot forget how we all sang and danced together on the eve of the great fight. Back then, I truly blamed myself, believing I had caused their deaths. Now, I only want to use my own actions to prove, to answer, that their choice back then was not wrong.”
Jin tightly grasped Xue Yin’s hand.
“If this is Master’s wish, then we will walk this path together. Because I also want to see the world you describe.”
Ailia responded softly, “Xue Yin changed the person I once was, and she has changed many others. Surely, she will change even more people in the future. You once told me, ‘The fire in my heart is the truth.’ Now, you are becoming more and more like my faith.”
From then on, another entry was added to Xue Yin’s ledger:
Qianhaiyuan.
Ninety thousand lost souls parted ways.
Sixty thousand returned to peace, thirty thousand lie dormant.
Note: The world’s yesterday remains the same, but I look forward to a changed tomorrow.
Behind the three, Qianhaiyuan returned to silence.
The white bones remained, the black mist did not disperse,but deep beneath the abyss, an ember was now buried, quietly awaiting the wind to rise.
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