Feng Jianyu was afraid. He never wanted to experience that feeling of his very soul being torn apart a second time.
Although he had known from the moment he became a believer that his soul could never go to the River of Forgetfulness, he had never imagined that death outside the Present World could be so terrifying.
Memories churned through his mind, and a voice he had long since forgotten suddenly rang in his ears. It belonged to his former captain.
"Jianyu, you'll regret this."
That pitying gaze, almost sorrowful, reached across time and struck him where it hurt years later.
Death was not the end for the people of the Present World. Souls that returned to the River of Forgetfulness would become fuel for the sun, turning into rays of light that shone down to illuminate the Present World once more.
Their souls would endure forever in that radiance, and their thoughts would live on through those who carried them forward.
But those who betrayed the Present World would, upon death, only be torn apart and devoured by tens of thousands of Calamities in the dark abyss, sacrificed to higher beings.
In the end, amid endless suffering, they would become puppets denied peace for all eternity, with no hope left and no end to speak of.
What awaited them was not a night of quiet, eternal slumber, but unending struggle and pain that cycled over and over.
Feng Jianyu lay on the ground and sobbed. He had traded his soul's repose for a little more time alive, thinking himself clever when he had actually been utterly stupid.
"No wonder. No wonder you all looked at me that way... I really am laughably stupid!"
The sight of Feng Jianyu streaming tears and snot left the others puzzled.
Wan Lan gathered