Seated cross-legged atop the Heaven-Connecting Tower, Su Jiu entered a mysterious, profound state.
She had always thought she had recovered her memories. Only when the Ninth Petal returned completely did she realize how terribly wrong she had been.
With the return of the Ninth Petal, she felt as though something inside her was being stripped away.
Stripped away by something that had belonged to her all along.
She did not know what was being stripped away, but she did not want it to leave her body like this.
Yet she could not control it.
After an unknown length of time, Su Jiu finally opened her eyes.
Frost and snow filled her eyes, cold and devoid of any human warmth. The Nine-Petal Frostflow that had once rested at the corner of her eye had vanished, but a new mark had appeared on her forehead.
The mark was very faint, and she instinctively knew ordinary people could not see it.
Chu Luohen, standing before her, was an exception, of course.
Su Jiu regarded Chu Luohen with some indifference. "How did you end up like this?"
Chu Luohen froze for a moment, then smiled, his smile like ice and snow beginning to thaw. Yet beneath it, an indescribable pain flickered through his eyes.
His lips parted, but in the end, he could not get anything out. He merely said quietly, "A Jiu, I have to leave."
Su Jiu raised her hand and touched the space between his brows.
An icy sensation spread from her touch, yet deep in his heart, Chu Luohen did not want that coldness to leave.
"Was this Zhiqi's doing?"
Zhiqi, another deity of Heaven Beyond Heaven.
Su Jiu fell silent for a moment. "I cannot save you."
Chu Luohen nodded. He knew Su Jiu could not save him. He