Witch God Abyss (Lily) - Chapter 16

Nan Yuanxi said, “I told you many times, the spell she used was to transfer your demonic power to herself. Once she fully refined your power into her body, could you still exist?!”

Shujuan said, “No. She said that was the only way to take me away and free me in the mountains.”

Nan Yuanxi shouted, “She deceived you! I tried to dissuade Weilan, but she wouldn’t stop the spell. I had to act. In the fight… I… My staff reached her neck. She could’ve dodged, but she chose mutual destruction. As my staff cut her throat, her sword missed my heart and struck my arm… Yes, I killed Weilan. Because she wanted your demonic power, to become the chief—not to free you!”

Before Shujuan could speak, Shen Yuan raised a hand, interrupting.

“Shujuan, it’s easy to tell. Freeing you only requires breaking the seal, not transferring demonic power.”

Shujuan fell silent.

Shen Yuan asked Nan Yuanxi, “Then what?”

Nan Yuanxi said, “I realized too late… Shujuan was dissipating in the array, nearly destroyed. I… I had to sacrifice my own body to barely keep Shujuan in her current form…”

Shen Yuan asked, “Sacrifice your body? What about you?”

Nan Yuanxi said, “Yes, I rebuilt a human bone altar, cut out my organs, let her eat them, and sealed her demonic power in my organs… When I awoke, I had only a sliver of spiritual energy, confined to a few dozen steps around this cave.”

Nan Yuanxi walked forward but couldn’t go beyond ten steps, no matter how hard she tried, only spinning in place.

“Can’t leave? So you became this mountain’s guardian spirit?”

Shen Yuan, never having seen such a guardian, asked, “Why?”

Shen Yuan approached, touching Nan Yuanxi. It wasn’t a tangible body but had some substance.

Nan Yuanxi said, “I didn’t know why at first. Later, Shujuan helped me find many bamboo slips. I slowly understood—my only wish in life was to protect this land, so I became a bound spirit after death. But not entirely a spirit. My limbs and torso still held magic, but with my organs eaten by a demon, my spirit clung to them. That’s how I became like this.”

Nan Yuanxi lifted her five-colored woven brocade, revealing a transparent torso, no skin, her spine visible from the front.

Shujuan’s demonic power, sealed in Nan Yuanxi’s organs, grew a layer of flesh outside.

Without bones, she had no shoulders, her body only slightly thicker than her neck.

Her limbs and tail were the salamander’s original form.

The three pairs of horns—one behind her ears, two behind her neck and back—drooped like wings.

Shen Yuan didn’t know what to say.

What kind of relationship was this?

She used her power, trapped her here.

Yet to prevent her destruction, she sacrificed herself…

Shen Yuan asked, “But eight hundred years have passed. Why must you now drive each other to destruction?”

Shujuan’s earlier defiance faded, her voice soft. “I want to return her organs, let her die properly, and reincarnate. If this continues, it’s not me who’ll be destroyed—it’s her. She’s… almost fading away…”

Shen Yuan calculated with her fingers. “Nine nines, eighty-one—heaven’s one day is a hundred years on earth. A bound spirit can’t last beyond eight hundred ten years. This is the…”

Shujuan said, “Eight hundred ninth year. One year left.”

“My remaining magic barely sustains this spirit body. I can’t break that seal anymore.”

Nan Yuanxi looked at Shen Yuan.

“Since you found us, I think you can help her break the seal. I want to give her freedom. We’ve argued for eight hundred years—enough. This land has risen and fallen, united and scattered. In bad harvests, they rob or are robbed. In good ones, the villagers fight among themselves, never at peace. I finally see I, a mere mortal, can’t protect it. I don’t want to be human again. Let me become part of this land.”

Shujuan said, “You can have a next life, reborn in the village at the mountain’s base. I’ll wait here, help you revive the Five Jian Villages!”

“Go. Leave, find a quiet place to cultivate, transform into a dragon, ascend.”

“Are you foolish? I’ve eaten so many people—I can’t ascend anymore.”

…

They argued on.

For a long time, the valley fell silent.

Shen Yuan slowly said, “A bound spirit isn’t a soul anymore. It either dissipates or cultivates into an earth immortal… Without a soul, it can’t reincarnate.”

Shujuan said, “Your magic is strong. Isn’t there a way to help her?”

Shen Yuan shook her head.

“I’m just a core-formed mortal. Gods, immortals, spirits—I can’t handle that. If she lasts until I ascend, maybe then I can help.”

Shujuan said, “Then… maybe… don’t humans resolve mortal obsessions and enter the grave whole to reincarnate? Since she no longer wants to protect this land, if I return her organs, can she reincarnate?”

Shen Yuan said, “Didn’t she tell you? Organs eaten by a demon and regrown belong to the demon, not the original person. How could you return them?”

Shen Yuan looked at the clearing sky and said to Shujuan, “I can break the seal on you. But Nan Yuanxi’s missing three souls and seven spirits—I can’t help with that.”

Shujuan said, “But you said a bound spirit could become an earth immortal.”

Shen Yuan shook her head.

“That requires cultivation and a chance to pass tribulation. She’s been dissipating for eight hundred years, with no cultivation or tribulation.”

Nan Yuanxi said, “Wujian Village’s human bone altar is still there. Take her there, and I’ll tell you how to break the seal.”

Shen Yuan smiled.

“No need.”

She sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, and raised an array.

“Sit in the center. I’ll break your seal.”

As Shujuan sat, blue light shot from the array, like chains wrapping around her body.

Shen Yuan realized the seal had multiple layers, interlinked.

Though not complex, the many layers were meticulously crafted to restrict demonic power without fully suppressing it, preventing transformation but preserving her demon core.

Shen Yuan thought it would take moments to break, but it took a full hour.

The array settled, and the salamander immediately revealed its true form, soaring into the air, its six horns majestic.

Shen Yuan sat, meditating to recover, her clothes soaked with sweat.

Nan Yuanxi looked up as the six-horned salamander circled in the sky.

Shen Yuan said, “See, her six horns are still there. She still has a chance. Are you happy?”

“Happy. Thank you…”

The six-horned salamander didn’t fly away but circled back down.

With her demonic power fully released, she could fully transform into human form.

Before them stood the cute girl, Shujuan.

“Go. Why come back?”

Shujuan hugged Nan Yuanxi, burying her head in her neck.

“I don’t want to go. I want to stay with you. You have less than a year left. We’ve made it eight hundred years. Maybe my demonic power can sustain you longer.”

“Silly girl.”

“I’m not a little girl. You always treat me like I’m seven…”

They argued on.

Shen Yuan turned, slowly descending the mountain.

Sigh, Master always said human hearts are hard to fathom.

Looks like demon hearts are just as hard to understand.