Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1189 Another Future (Part 1)

With a gentle push, the door opened wide.

Then came the blood.

Heavy snow.

Between the two stone pillars with the jade dragon coiled around them, behind the dark gold door inlaid with blue jade, a bright and long upward passage leads to a stream of blood flowing out from the Xuan Tian Palace and onto Bai Qinghan's feet.

The girl stepped lightly onto it, and the aura of profound yin spread, freezing the crimson liquid and turning it into scarlet ice crystals.

Wherever the girl went, silvery-white snow fell, causing frost to climb on the murals and reliefs depicting various majestic deities and celestial officials. All the colors dimmed and faded with the girl's breath, turning into a pale gray.

Bai Qinghan walked forward along the stream of blood, her mood calm, even serene.

She even had the leisure to reach out and touch the scarlet-painted reliefs, letting the still-frozen blood stain her fingers, making her slender, white fingertips glow with a bright color, like gemstones.

Blood feels viscous, snow feels icy cold.

Bai Qinghan was most familiar with these two feelings.

Her life has always been shrouded in these two feelings: first, using blood to fight for survival in the face of demonic calamity, and then wandering aimlessly through a world filled with blizzards.

That gloomy, bewildered, and desperate atmosphere always lingered in her life, leaving her for a long time unaware of the meaning of her struggle to survive. If it weren't for her parents' sacrifice and their dying wish, Bai Qinghan seemed to have no reason to live.

But she later realized that she had always wanted to live, more so than anyone else, and more determined than anyone else.

Because she had to live.

Live on, and take revenge.

To the Heavenly Demon, to the Great Chen, to the source of all this disaster, the Black Hand.

Regarding this... [world].

Perhaps every child of calamity harbors such a desire within their heart.

Whoever it is, whether human or demon, those who caused the demonic calamity are all objects of their hatred and targets of revenge.

It was precisely because of this hatred that she agreed to join the Demonic Sect without hesitation, even though she knew exactly what the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect was.

Walking through the Xuantian Palace, which was inexplicably deserted, Bai Qinghan couldn't help but recall the past.

Ten years ago, on that day, she came to Xuanming Village and met many children of the same age and similar to her.

Those children, though unaware of where they had arrived, were filled with panic and wariness, yet also with an indescribable resentment and anger... It was a determination to live well, knowing they had been given a second chance at life, and to seek justice for their past suffering.

Very similar.

Everyone is alike, just like her.

In that instant, Bai Qinghan had a sense of destiny. For no reason, she just knew that the long road of her life was only just beginning.

But... it is precisely in such similar groups of people that...

But one person was quite different.

Arriving in an unfamiliar place, the boy was not timid. He was not only calm, but also had the leisure to observe everyone present.

Although they were both victims of disaster, and he was also skin and bones, his demeanor was like that of a lion as he surveyed all the property that would eventually belong to him.

Bai Qinghan still remembers the feeling when they first made eye contact.

That was blood even more concentrated than hers.

It felt like she had killed more people than anyone else, and was more indifferent to human life, more ruthless, but not cruel.

It wasn't snow, but rather the sun, too bright, that scorched everything. Peace.

This is how he introduced himself. The Deputy Medicine Envoy called him the one with the best qualities among everyone present, which caused a stir among the Chosen Ones of Calamity. Besides curiosity, they felt a subconscious sense of rebellion and disdain.

—Even if they are really stronger than us, they can't be that much stronger!
But she didn't understand that he was special.

Just as special as myself...

"Who are you? What are you doing in the palace?!"

"You don't have any markings on you, so are you also one of those monsters?!"

At that moment, a panicked voice rang out. Bai Qinghan slightly pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked toward the side where the voice came from.

She had walked out of the upward path of audience and arrived at a large hall. This hall was supposed to be used as a resting place for celestial officials who came to the Xuantian Palace to work and wait for an audience. There were many tables and chairs, but most of them were now smashed and overturned, lying in pools of blood.

In the pool of blood, several women who looked like palace maids held weapons and stared at Bai Qinghan in terror. They were flustered and nervous, and their originally plain white palace dresses were stained with red or brown blood, as were the swords in their hands.

"Quiet."

Bai Qinghan looked at them and spoke softly, but her power spread faster than sound waves, freezing all the palace maids who intended to attack in place in an instant. She seemed slow but was actually fast, and in an instant she arrived beside these palace maids who had turned into ice sculptures, and gently reached out her hand.

The power of Xuan Yin penetrates the soul, allowing her to read these people's thoughts and memories, just as she recalls her own past.

Following these thoughts, Bai Qinghan closed his eyes.

However, what's rather strange is that...

In her divine sea, the past had diverged into two paths.

The power of Taiyin is called 'future'. She knew this clearly from the sect's scriptures. 'Taiyin Wuji' is the fundamental reason why martial artists must accomplish great things, and the ultimate path it leads to is called 'Wuji Guiyi'.

And now, Bai Qinghan knows that she is fulfilling her great mission, no, perhaps it is her destined moment—the power given to her by Anjing and the sect is rapidly elevating her essence, pushing her power and supernatural abilities to a level she has never reached before.

The chill spread in all directions, the entire hall was covered in frost, and even the air began to solidify, turning into liquid, solid, and pale blue lumps.

And it was in this icy cold, under the influence of the ever-surging and vast power of the Yin energy, that Bai Qinghan saw it.

I saw a 'different past and future'.

There were two paths. The first one was one she knew very well, the one that led to her getting to know An Jing and living together in the Suspended Life Manor.

Many familiar lights and shadows flashed by. At that time, she was curious as to why this boy could be angry but not hateful, and resentful but not resentful. But gradually, when she was by his side, she stopped thinking about those things, because he was like the sun, spreading a bright life force that made blood flow and snow melt.

—If we follow him…we can definitely have a different future.

There was no reason why Bai Qinghan believed it, and it was indeed true. She was able to stand in the Xuantian Palace now because of An Jing.

Bai Qinghan was even a little curious: if he had spent more time with An Jing back then, would his hatred have been less intense? Would he have chosen not to stay with the Heavenly Will Sect and instead followed him?

That possibility must be quite interesting.

Unfortunately, the second path she saw was not the same as this possibility.

In fact, quite the opposite.

In this possibility, Anjing may not even exist.

To be honest, if he weren't watching this now, Bai Qinghan couldn't even imagine what the Suspended Life Manor would be like without a single 'senior brother'.

But now, she knows.

That was a... even colder future.

(End of this chapter)