Chapter Text
‘Today, I will bury all the world’s living things! You won’t escape!’ Qing Cang’s arrogant taunt boomed across the Ruoshi River.
Dong Hua Dijun had been in such situations a thousand times before in his long existence. Battle upon battle, and he had endured. Yet perhaps the little Princess of Qingqiu had been right after all, despite having been deceived. Perhaps his destined calamity was upon him.
For it was not in his nature to save himself when others were in danger.
He had been the Emperor of Heaven and Earth and established the current order. He had fought and sacrificed to bring peace to the realms. He had protected the weak and powerless.
Once again, he was called forward to stand as a shield against corruption and wickedness.
But then, in a cruel echo of the horrors Dijun had endured over and over during the ancient wars, disaster struck before he had the chance to act. Ever so stubborn, Bai Fengjiu had been clinging to him, defying his demand that she stand aside and let him answer his eternal call to battle.
This was what he was made for; this was why he had spent the eons alone. He endured only to defend the peace of the realms.
Yet her earnest, defiant voice echoed in his ears: ‘If you live, I live. If you die, I die.’
His heart stopped when the little princess flung herself between him and the bolt of power that Qing Cang had fired.
His heart cracked when her unconscious weight – so slight, so fragile – slumped against his chest.
‘Jiuer!... Jiuer!’
His heart bled at the sight of her vital blood trickling from her mouth, and the cold heaviness of her body in his arms. He couldn’t sense her spirit. Nothing.
Instincts trained in a thousand battles spanning a million years prompted him to channel his slim reserve of magic into an impenetrable ward that encircled the stunned troops of Heaven Kingdom where they lay on the shore. But an instant later, Dijun collapsed to his knees and cradled Jiuer in his arms. He pressed his fingers to her wrist, desperate to feel a pulse. Nothing. He brought his face as close to her mouth as he dared, an intimate distance he’d not breached since she had been his cherished concubine in the mortal realm. No breath. His magic was too greatly diminished for him to detect her spirit.
But she was so very limp in his embrace.
‘Jiuer…Jiuer’ Dijun whispered, his voice growing softer and shakier with each moment. ‘Jiuer…Jiuer…’
He couldn’t lose her.
He had promised her: as long as he lived, she would not die.
She could not be dead, for he still lived.
The Battle of Ruoshi raged around him. Ghost warriors stormed the beach primed for rebellion, lusting after the chance to avenge their past humiliations at the hands of Heaven Kingdom. Qing Cang rained Crimson Fire down on the beleaguered soldiers of Heaven Kingdom until they were on the verge of destruction when, suddenly, Si Ming returned with High Goddess Bai Qian. She proved herself to be a true disciple of Mo Yuan. Wielding the Kunlun Jade Purity fan with fury, Bai Qian delivered a stunning blow to Qing Cang. Yet she had just barely engaged him when Crown Prince Ye Hua sealed her and charged forth to take her place as Heaven Kingdom’s champion against the vicious Ghost Lord.
Dijun was only dimly aware of the fighting that surrounded him.
He could sense the turn of the tide and the improvement of Heaven’s fortunes. And with grim satisfaction, he registered Qing Cang’s death.
And when the Donghuang Bell began to open its jaws, threatening fiery doom upon all the world, Dijun welcomed it.
What did the world matter now?
With his beloved Jiuer dead, let it all end.
Why?
Why had she paid for his life with her own…so precious…so short…
Numb in his stupor, Dijun nevertheless felt it when Ye Hua sacrificed his spirit to close the Donghuang Bell. Any Ancient would be able to feel the tremendous power rebounding from such a sacrifice.
His heart crumbled to dust.
It should have been Dijun who surrendered his spirit.
He should have sacrificed himself for the sake of the world, for there was nothing left here for him. Dijun should have followed her in death. That had been her wish: not even death could tear them apart.
Yet now on the banks of the Ruoshi, he and Bai Qian both clung in grief to their fallen lovers.
Dijun sat, immovable as stone, with Jiuer gathered close to his heart. His useless heart. If it could not bring hers back to life, of what value was it?
Si Ming was speaking to him. Pleading, with increasing urgency. Yet nothing he said reached Dijun’s ears. Dijun’s entire being was focused on the brave beauty in his arms. The hot sting of salt spilled from his eyes down his cheeks. His tears splashed onto her face, the only kisses he could offer her now. Kisses from his broken heart that he showered on her much, much too late.
Then Bai Zhen was speaking to him. Both Si Ming and Bai Zhen cajoled him, reasoned with him, bargained with him. But their words left no imprint. He was empty, void of all essence – there was nothing left of him to move or touch.
Dimly, he was aware that Mo Yuan had arrived. Naturally, Bai Qian responded to him. Yet at the end of their brief exchange, she flew away with Ye Hua’s body, most likely to Qingqiu.
She had stubbornly refused to let Mo Yuan go when he had been all but dead. It was certain that she would even more stubbornly refuse to give up on Ye Hua.
That was Dijun’s answer. If Bai Qian could find a way to bring Mo Yuan back, to bring Ye Hua back, then Dijun would also defy Destiny and snatch Jiuer away from death itself.
But he was to be denied.
He had lost so much of his spirit that, in the next moment, his ward collapsed. Dijun’s lungs heaved laboriously as his magic dwindled to the tiniest spark. He was almost as weak and helpless as an ordinary mortal. And then, much to his despair, Bai Zhen wrested Jiuer away from him.
‘No…no…’ Dijun gasped, but Bai Zhen was already gone.
And Dijun was alone. His arms were empty.
He surrendered to the blackness and fell deep into the void of loss, unaware of the alarmed shouts of soldiers who rushed to his aid at Si Ming’s panicked orders.
Jiuer, please, let me follow you.