Zhishou's Deal

This time, Golden Cicada no longer resisted the urge welling up inside him. In the next instant, his entire bearing changed, despair filling his eyes.

A loud wail rang through the void.

"No! I don't want this!"

"Coconut..."

The figure in his arms slowly raised her head and smiled faintly. "You're back. That's wonderful, wonderful..."

"No, it isn't. It's not wonderful at all. I'd rather not have come back."

Yixian clutched her tightly, weeping so hard he could barely breathe.

He had never known that his existence would exact such a terrible price from her.

"Foolish Yixian, leave this place. Don't let anyone pull your strings again. Remember?"

Coconut struggled to finish speaking. Her gaze drifted toward the heavens and earth. "I'm sorry..."

In the end, she could not take that final step—not because she was unable to, but because she could not bear to.

When Coconut finally drew her last breath, Yixian threw his head back and roared like a madman. The cicada's cry within him rang through the skies as well.

He held Coconut as he slowly descended to the ground, his eyes blurred with tears.

When Hanyu awoke, the Artifact Spirit sensed it at once and hurriedly asked what had happened. Hanyu's expression was complicated; he only sighed.

"I'll explain later."

He immediately slipped out from underground and slowly appeared before Yixian.

Looking at the man weeping as if his heart were breaking, Hanyu was overcome by a jumble of emotions. For a moment, he had no idea what to say.

He didn't know what to say, but another voice spoke up.

"Do you want her to come back to life?"

The voice had come from inside Hanyu.

Hanyu gritted his teeth. It was Zhishou, that bastard, using the means he'd left on Hanyu to communicate between