"Lin Yi..."
"What gives you the right..."
"You're nothing but trash..."
"An Auxiliary Soul Master thinks he deserves to stand here?"
"You can't protect anyone..."
"Xiao Wu left. You couldn't keep her."
"Your father abandoned you."
"You're nothing."
Lin Yi frowned.
The voices seemed to burrow into his head, echoing deep in his mind. Every word dripped with sharp malice.
He tried to shut them out, but they slipped through every crack. The more he blocked them, the clearer they became; the harder he resisted, the more fiercely they pressed in.
Then images began to appear.
He saw things.
At the gates of Skywater Academy, Xiao Wu stood smiling at him. Then she turned and walked away without ever looking back.
Shui Qinghan and Shui Qingyue stood at the gates of Skywater Academy, watching him leave. They sighed softly but did not ask him to stay.
Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling walked past him one by one, as though they could not see him.
Last came Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. They stood before the gates of Skywater City, watching him leave alone, disappointment in their eyes.
"In the end, you were always an outsider..."
After saying that, they turned and went through the gate. It slowly closed behind him.
And just after they left, Qian Renxue appeared.
She offered no greeting. Instead, she thrust her sword at him. "You. It was you. If not for you, I would still be the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire..."
Lin Yi's resolve began to waver.
His breathing quickened. Fine beads of sweat appeared at his temples, and his fists clenched without his realizing it.
The images were too real—so real he could barely tell illusion from reality.
Just then, warmth suddenly stirred in his chest.
It