Lin Qiye stared blankly at An Qingyu's pale face, unable to think of any words of comfort.
An Qingyu weakly lifted the broken Black Coffin into his arms and turned to leave the palace. No emotion stirred in his gray eye, yet his other, normal eye revealed an unprecedented sorrow.
Lin Qiye, the Jade Emperor, and the Queen Mother of the West—none of them called out to stop him. They merely watched in silence as he carried the Black Coffin into the rain.
Outside the palace, Guang Chengzi and True Lord Taiyi saw An Qingyu leave. They glanced back at the Queen Mother of the West inside the hall. She gave them a slight nod, and the two followed closely behind An Qingyu.
Only after An Qingyu's figure vanished into the rain did the Queen Mother of the West slowly speak:
"That girl's life is destined to be beyond saving. The most critical issue now is An Qingyu... you sensed it too, didn't you?"
Lin Qiye stared at the departing figure without saying a word.
Ever since he had rescued An Qingyu from the mist, he had discovered that an extremely dense Lovecraftian aura had already seeped into him. It was not a form of contamination, but an immense presence emanating from the depths of his soul, one that even surpassed every Lovecraftian Creature Lin Qiye had encountered thus far.
The human aura around An Qingyu was nearly gone completely... he was now more like a humanoid creature that had stepped out of the Cthulhu Mythos.
"He made contact with the Gate of Truth himself. That eye saw the 'truth' beyond the gate as well... the knowledge from beyond this world was too vast, vast enough to alter a person's thoughts and personality."
"So you sent two Golden Immortals to