The Last Sentinel

On the city wall of Chentang Pass, Li Jing stood with her hands behind her back, looking towards the sky.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, swept over him, ruffling his long, gray-black hair. The banners atop the city walls fluttered in the wind, their surfaces gleaming eerily in the dark sea, like a piece of old cloth soaked in blood. At the edge of the sky, dark clouds churned, and faint flashes of lightning danced within their depths, yet never quite descended.

Three hours ago, after learning that Ye Feng had indeed gone to the dimensional battlefield, Mo Lijie immediately set off, leaving Chen Tang Pass and heading straight for the Lower Cang Battlefield.

He walked incredibly fast, a streak of black light flashing across the city wall, without even a farewell. Li Jing stood there at the time, watching the black light disappear into the sky, her lips twitching, but ultimately she said nothing.

"It's about time," Li Jing said, pacing back and forth, her boots grinding against the mottled stone bricks of the city wall. "Mo Lijie needs to pass through the North Heavenly Gate to enter the dimensional battlefield. It takes about three hours to get from my Chen Tang Pass to the North Heavenly Gate. Young Master should have passed through the North Heavenly Gate by now!"

His voice was low, as if he were speaking to himself, or perhaps to the silent Black Sea below the city.

Just as Li Jing was talking to herself, the jade pendant at her waist flashed, and a divine thought transmitted: "Patriarch Li, how have you been?"

Li Jing's pupils contracted slightly, and her fingers subconsciously pressed against the jade pendant, her fingertips touching something warm.

Upon hearing the news, he was overjoyed: "Is it Brother Liu Sheng? Has Young Master Jie gone to your Northern Heavenly Gate?"

"He's gone." Liu Sheng's thoughts echoed from the jade pendant, his voice tinged with languor. "A quarter of an hour ago, Young Master Jie entered the dimensional battlefield through the North Heavenly Gate. He should have arrived at the Lower Heavenly Battlefield by now."

"That's wonderful!" Li Jing said, her fist clenching unconsciously until her knuckles turned white. "Thank you so much, Mr. Liu."

From within the jade pendant, Liu Sheng's voice drifted softly: "Patriarch Li, you seem quite pleased?"

Li Jing asked, "Really?"

Liu Sheng asked, "No?"

Li Jing laughed heartily, her hands behind her back and her back ramrod straight: "Mr. Liu, you're overthinking it. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

"Wait!" Liu Sheng said, his voice suddenly turning cold. "Patriarch Li, shouldn't we settle our intelligence fees? You owe me three hundred years' worth of intelligence fees; it's time to pay the outstanding balance!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing's face instantly turned bitter. She waved her hands, her cheerful demeanor vanishing, replaced by a smile more painful than a grimace: "Brother Liu, you know better than I do what's going on in Chen Tang Pass right now—we're practically destitute! I really want to repay the money, but I truly have no means to do so!"

As he said this, he glanced down at the city walls out of the corner of his eye, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

Liu Sheng said, "Don't give me that! I don't care about the Li family's situation! I only know that debts must be repaid, and murderers must pay with their lives! You have to settle your debts today!"

Li Jing said, "Brother Liu, I really have no money!"

Liu Sheng said, "Didn't you manage to get a drop of Endless Tear last time? Give me the Endless Tear, and we'll call it even!"

"Ah!" Li Jing exclaimed, her voice rising slightly, her hand unconsciously touching her chest, which was empty. "Endless Tears... I... I've already given them back to someone else!"

Liu Sheng roared, "You, you, you untrustworthy bastard! You dare call yourself a legitimate member of the Immortal Clan, a rising star of the Heavenly Court? You dare to challenge me?"

The jade pendant flashed intensely, as if Liu Sheng's anger was about to burst forth from the jade.

Li Jing dropped the pretense, adopting a shameless, deadbeat demeanor. She slightly raised her chin, crossed her arms, and drooped her eyelids: "You, surnamed Liu, let me be blunt with you. My Li family owes far more debts than we can handle! One more or less of you makes no difference! If you want me to pay you back, it depends on your performance and my mood! And now, asking me to pay back the debts doesn't mean I'll give you whatever you want; it means you can only ask for what I have! Understand?"

It has to be said that once a person becomes shameless, he becomes invincible.

Li Jing's words instantly shifted the focus from defense to offense, boosting their fighting power to the maximum.

He stood atop the city wall, his robes billowing in the sea breeze, giving him a truly unrestrained and arrogant air.

Liu Sheng, barely suppressing his anger, the jade pendant's light flickering: "Fine, what do you have! You'd better settle some accounts with me today, or we're not done!"

Li Jing pondered for a moment, then tapped her fingers lightly on the city bricks three times before stopping and saying, "Here's what I'll do: I'll give you some information. This information is very valuable, enough to pay off all the debts I owe you!"

Liu Sheng said unhappily, "What kind of bullshit information could possibly offset your three-hundred-year-old debt?"

Looking at the churning Black Sea in the distance, Li Jing spoke slowly, lowering her voice as if afraid the wind would overhear: "Brother Liu, you're in intelligence, you should know that the Seven Deadly Sins are currently severely divided. The seven people have split into two camps, and they're almost at war."

"Isn't that obvious?" Liu Sheng said, his tone full of disdain. "The Sin of Pride, Mo Lijie, wants to go toe-to-toe with the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Sin of Greed. This is practically an open secret. Do you need to tell me that?"

Li Jing paced back and forth, each step extremely slow, as if measuring something: "The core of the Sin of Greed is in the Dimensional Battlefield. The Sin of Greed has always wanted to drag Young Master Jie to the Dimensional Battlefield to kill him. Therefore, Mo Li Jie has rarely gone to the Dimensional Battlefield. Even when he does go, it's a quick battle and a fast in-and-out."

"Right? No! Something's not right!" Upon hearing this, Liu Sheng realized something, and the jade pendant's light suddenly doubled. "Young Master Jie just entered the dimensional battlefield with a lot of supplies. That's strange. Normally, Young Master Jie doesn't bring supplies to the dimensional battlefield. This time, Mo Li Jie is going for the long term!"

"That's right!" Li Jing said, a very faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Liu Sheng said, "Stop beating around the bush, tell me!"

Li Jing smiled, but her eyes held no mirth, remaining unfathomable: "It's simple. Young Master Jie brought a helper with him to the dimensional battlefield this time. He can greatly help Young Master Jie restrain the dimensional tyrant, Young Master Tan!"

Liu Sheng asked, "Help? Who!"

Li Jing said, "Calling him an accomplice isn't quite accurate. This person isn't very familiar with Young Master Jie; in fact, they might even be enemies. As for his name, he's the Demon-Sealing Tower's Prison-Suppressing King, a pinnacle genius of the carbon-based civilization..."

He paused deliberately as the sea breeze swept by, making his sentence fragmented.

"Sentinel! Ye Feng!" Liu Sheng exclaimed in astonishment, a crack appearing in his voice for the first time. "No, the Sentinel is back? When did that happen? Wasn't he trapped in the River of Time?"

Li Jing said, "I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Sentinel has returned, and it's not a clone that has returned, it's the original body!"

As he spoke, his hand unconsciously pressed against the crenellations of the city wall, his fingertips pressing hard, leaving five shallow white marks on the stone bricks.

Liu Sheng said, "You...you saw the sentry? That's not right. If you saw the sentry, wouldn't he cancel your registration? Why would he let you live?"

"Don't ask me that," Li Jing said calmly, as if it were something unrelated to her. "Sentinel Ye Feng has returned and has already entered the dimensional battlefield. The value of this news is enough to offset the three hundred years of debt I owe you. Please don't bother me anymore."

Liu Sheng said, "Brother Li is benevolent, righteous, and trustworthy. This intelligence is indeed invaluable. If its value exceeds expectations, rest assured, I will give you a share of the profits. I, Liu Sheng, conduct business on the principle of fairness."

The halo of light from the jade pendant faded, and the city walls of Chentang Pass returned to silence.

Liu Sheng wondered why he hadn't been killed by Ye Feng, and only Li Jing knew the reason.

The reason is simple: Ye Feng saw the shadow of an old friend.

And that old friend was Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King!

Li Jing is not Li Jing, but she is inextricably linked to him; this relationship is very complicated.

It's similar to the relationship between the Thought Entity and Sephiroth in Final Fantasy.

Li Jing is the embodiment of Li Jing's longing; he possesses some of Li Jing's memories and emotions.

The wind howled past, and Li Jing, lost in thought, stood on the city wall and looked down.

Huge waves surged skyward, and as they crashed against the heavens, one could see black mountains connecting the city below. These mountains undulated like writhing dragons, crisscrossed with ravines, vaguely resembling the arms, shoulders, and heart of a young boy...

As the waves recede, the mountains sink back into the Black Sea, as if they had never existed. Only the wind atop the city walls carries a faint, lingering fragrance of lotus blossoms.

If someone were standing in the sky looking down at this moment, they would be astonished to find that the city of Chentang Pass is the head of this young man!

Downstream from Chentang Pass, the sea submerged the mountain-like body of this young man!

Li Jing gently stroked the city wall with his old hand, his fingertip tracing a very shallow mark on the stone brick—a mark casually made many years ago by a boy with a high ponytail using the tip of his spear. His eyes were filled with sorrow: "Zha'er, Father misses you."

The wind blew through Li Jing's long hair, her gray-black hair shooting skyward, vaguely bringing back memories of those days.

The boy with the pigtails that stick up in the sky returned to Chentang Pass after the Investiture of the Gods war.

He rode on wheels of wind and fire, draped in a sash, his fire-tipped spear slung diagonally over his shoulder, descending from the clouds like a bird returning to its nest. He first ran towards his mother, wanting a hug, but was met with her respectful kowtow and a soft voice that shattered his heart: "The Azure Lotus Fairy pays respects to the Great Spirit Pearl of the Three Altars and the Sea."

After that respectful greeting, the last trace of tenderness and affection on Nezha's face vanished.

He stood there, the flames of the Wind and Fire Wheels dimmed, and the Hun Tian Ling slipped from his shoulder and hung on the ground like a lifeless snake.

That day, he held the flint and steel spear to his father's forehead and asked, "How could my mother be like this?"

The spear tip was only three inches from Li Jing's brow, and the firelight reflected off Li Jing's face, flickering uncertainly.

Li Jing said, "You are the reincarnation of Lingzhuzi. How could an ordinary mortal woman bear such great fortune and karmic consequences? You are naturally a fairy descended to earth."

As he spoke, his eyes weren't on the spearhead, but on Nezha's face, as if trying to find something on that face.

Nezha repeated, "How could my mother be like this!"

His voice trembled, and so did the tip of his spear. Sparks flew out and landed on Li Jing's forehead, leaving a small red mark.

Li Jing said, "When your merits are complete, hers will also be complete, and she will no longer be your mother."

Nezha asked, "Have you completed your merits?"

As he asked this question, something shattered in his eyes, and something else turned cold.

Li Jing looked at the Fire-Tipped Spear: "With this thrust, my merit will be complete. From now on, there will only be Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, and no more Li Jing, the General of Chentang Pass."

He closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing, waiting.

Nezha didn't speak. He put away his fire-tipped spear and turned to leave.

The Wind and Fire Wheels lit up again, but without a sound. The Universe Ring wrapped around his wrists like a shackle. He walked slowly, each step feeling like walking on a blade, yet he never looked back.

Li Jing watched Nezha's retreating figure, wanting to persuade him to stay, but his lips moved and he ultimately said nothing.

And then, that was the end of it. The Heavenly War broke out, and the three great leaders of Heaven—Yang Jian, Nezha, and Sun Wukong—launched an attack on Heaven. The ancient Heavenly Court fell, and a new Heavenly Court was born…