"I..." Du Yu knew what he had said sounded utterly unbelievable, but it was the truth.
"You kept saying 'for Houtu,' so instead of leaving outright, I stayed here and listened seriously to everything you had to say. But are you making a fool of me?" Xingtian demanded angrily. "My head has already been cut off. How could I rise again? How could I fight another fierce battle?!"
"Xingtian!" This time, Du Yu no longer called him "big brother," addressing him as "Xingtian" instead. "You can accept that you're dead, but you can't accept that you could stand up again?"
"I've heard enough of your nonsense." Xingtian waved a hand and slowly stood up. "I'm going back to see Houtu. None of you had better stop me."
"Wait!" Du Yu shouted angrily. "You're not a scumbag, are you?"
"A... scumbag?" Xingtian had never heard the term before, but he knew it was nothing complimentary. "What do you mean by that?"
"We traveled here from five thousand years in the future just to ask you for one favor. Is that so difficult?"
Beside them, Shiranui Asuka said quietly, "Du Yu, I think we're guilt-tripping him a little... We're the ones who put Xingtian in this situation..."
"A-Xiang, shut up," Du Yu said. "Xingtian, Houtu was willing to spend five thousand years waiting bitterly for you, constantly using her magic power to resist the effects of Meng Po Soup, just to keep you in her heart. But what about you? Whether alive or dead, you've never thought about doing anything for Houtu."
"I..." Xingtian froze, then said, "What kind of accusation is that...? Aren't I going to see Houtu right now?"
"Who the hell cares whether some ghost comes to see them?" Du Yu said. "Taking a look at Houtu will only