Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

"Brother Shen Ye, you also accepted my embrace."

"Although this barrier blocks all techniques, when I hugged you, that technique was planted on you."

"If you crush her longevity lock now, I might consider not killing you."

"Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless."

Shen Ye listened intently, about to speak, when he suddenly froze.

He saw Song Qingyun, after saying all this, suddenly begin to cry.

Tears kept sliding down her cheeks.

She couldn't help but cover her face with her hands, as if she were in utter despair.

Pretense?

Or something else?

In any case, she was about to make her move at any moment.

——Members of the Song Family must not kill each other.

So she could kill her own protector——

And only at this moment——

Once the protector died, Song Yinchen would die too.

Could this be considered a loophole she had painstakingly found?

Everything was in place.

But why was she crying?

The sounds of shaking that could stir the wild came from the Hongyin Temple behind him.

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It seemed Song Yinchen was undergoing her trial.

And in front of him, Song Qingyun had already landed on this cliff, taking steps toward him.

"I want to——"

"To kill you!"

Her state was very strange.

Running and shouting, but intermittently, stopping now and then, as if resisting something.

Good opportunity!

Something was off about her state.

It was the chance to kill her and avenge everyone!

Shen Ye reached back for the Dusk Sword and bellowed:

"Die!"

He leaped towards her.

Seeing this, Song Qingyun immediately raised her hand, starting to perform a technique.

But her state was not quite right.

The technique faltered several times, forcing her to start over again and again.

Opportunity!

Shen Ye's speed increased more and more until he finally reached her.

This moment.

Even the shaking sounds from the Hongyin Temple had stopped.

Song Yinchen's voice, tinged with a sob, shrieked:

"Brother Shen Ye, kill her for me!"

The Dusk Shortsword was raised high——

Song Qingyun's hand gesture still hadn't taken shape.

Victory and defeat, grudges and grievances, life and death, all were approaching their final moment.

An unexpected twist occurred——

Shen Ye swatted away Song Qingyun's hand gesture, then did something unexpected.

He leaned in and sniffed near Song Qingyun's lips.

The next instant.

The shortsword quietly vanished, Shen Ye held Song Qingyun with one hand, and with the other, he tightly grasped her wrist, carrying her towards the cliff and taking a high leap.

"Kill one in ten steps, do not stay for a thousand miles!"

Shen Ye shouted loudly.

The black and red Ghost Fire Motorcycle appeared in mid-air, catching them as they fell—him and Song Qingyun in his grip—

The engine roared deafeningly.

The motorcycle, like a fierce blaze in the darkness, carried them both and instantly shot away.

Accelerate.

Accelerate.

Accelerate!!!

The motorcycle weaved through the vast darkness and smoke like lightning, passing huge, dark remnants of divine spirits, racing towards the distant horizon like a bolt of electricity.

"Are we about to leave the 'Pure Land' range of the Hongyin Temple?"

Shen Ye pressed Song Qingyun into the seat and asked in a low voice.

Song Qingyun stopped crying.

Her expression was painful, but within that pain, a trace of genuine joy would occasionally emerge.

Joy...

A word all too unfamiliar...

She breathed laboriously, as if suppressing something, her facial expression shifting constantly, but she spoke in an incredulous tone:

"Soon!"

Shen Ye nodded.

"How did you know... she is me, and I am her?" asked Song Qingyun.

"I bought you candied hawthorn," Shen Ye said.

"Hmm?"

"You ate it; she didn't, and she gave the candied hawthorn back to me."

"Ah?"

"Just now, I smelled the scent of the candied hawthorn on your lips."

"...Just because of that?"

"Isn't that enough?" Shen Ye retorted.

He shifted his bottom, reaching into his crotch to pull out a cell phone.

As the cell phone was taken out, the resolute expression on his face eased.

"Even if you can change my memories, you can't change the sensations of my body," Shen Ye said with a cold laugh.

"What do you mean?" Song Qingyun was a bit stunned.

"During an examination when I made a video as evidence, the Demon Master smashed my cell phone."

"Afterwards, pondering over the pain, I bought two cell phones."

"One account, two phones, both with data transmission software installed, so if one phone is destroyed, the other remains unaffected."

Shen Ye directly unlocked the phone, displaying a video.

Zhongzhou City.

When the three of them leave the store, stepping out the door in an instant.

Everyone around them stopped moving.

Neither Shen Ye nor Song Yinchen could move at all.

Song Qingyun lifted Song Yinchen with one hand, placing her on an outside bench, and even helped her tidy up her clothes and makeup.

"Little sister... after so many years, you haven't killed yourself. To have endured and lived until now truly surprises me."

"Finally, we have come to the end."

"Whether you kill your protector or are killed by your protector, it has nothing to do with me, does it?"

She stood up, walked to Shen Ye, and took the cell phone from his neck, glancing at it.

"Making a video? Somewhat smart, but not enough."

The cell phone was taken by her.

And then—

She walked over to the wheelchair and sat down.

At this moment.

She became Song Yinchen!

"Little sister, once you die, I shall inherit the Song Family's World Suppressing Divine Artifact and complete the final step of the God Scroll."

"—The world will be in my hands."

She stretched out a hand, formed a hand gesture with one hand, and tossed Shen Ye's mobile phone into the nearby trash can with the other.

The video ended.

"Song Qingyun" was stunned, then exclaimed:

"I remember now! Back in the shop, you bought a phone strap and hung the phone on your chest—did you start recording then?"

"Right," Shen Ye pointed to the phone in his hand, proudly saying, "This spare phone is rather large, but I bore with it and tucked it into my groin."

"That way, even if I forgot my phone was stolen, the discomfort from my body would remind me to check what was in my trouser pocket!"

"Song Qingyun" glanced at his groin, covered her flushed face, and said softly:

"It's just like Brother Shen Ye."

"Of course!"

Ahead was a bright light.

The Ghost Fire Motorcycle charged toward the light, swiftly crossing the darkness and steadily landing on a spacious square.

A line of faint small characters immediately popped up:

"You have now left the 'Pure Land' area, all shielding methods have been stripped from your body."

Shen Ye immediately saw a line of words appear above Song Qingyun's head:

"????????"

—She was indeed Song Yinchen!

The one who entered Hongyin Temple just now was actually Song Qingyun!

Shen Ye lifted his hand, displaying the longevity lock, and asked:

"How could such an important thing end up in her hands?"

"She wasn't that strong originally, but lately, she has been able to use the power of the Nine Evil Gods to constantly modify my memories, which is why she could take this most crucial thing from me right before my eyes."

Song Yinchen explained.

Shen Ye looked at the longevity lock.

He had become Song Yinchen's protector and then engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Song Yinchen.

Was this Song Qingyun's scheme?

"She can't attack us now, can she?"

"Mm, we're out of range."

"So—she was constantly altering your memories just now, wasn't she?" Shen Ye asked.

"She gave all her memories to me, making me think I was her, doing her bidding." the girl said.

Shen Ye fell silent.

If...

He woke up and forgot everything about the past but inherited someone else's memories.

Would he go mad? Or would he break down?

Or would he live on without realizing anything, as that person?

There was no answer.

—The thought alone was chilling.

"But you were able to resist this alteration," Shen Ye said.

"Right, which is why you saw me becoming her, doing what she wanted, but I've been desperately resisting."

"Brother Shen Ye, I'm so glad you discerned the truth!"

The girl revealed a joyous smile, exuberant as a child.

Around her, visions of Rainbow Feathers slowly emerged in the void around her, dreamlike and mesmerizing.

—She was the real Song Yinchen!

"Come!"

Song Yinchen grasped Shen Ye's hand.

In an instant.

A foreign memory flashed through Shen Ye's mind.

This time it wasn't a video.

The manipulated video became an actual memory, surfacing in his mind.

Shen Ye suddenly opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

That was close!

He was about to say more when he sensed something, looking back along the dark path they had come from.

A vast and sonorous bell rang out in the distance.

—It was Hongyin Temple!

"Brother Shen Ye, I must go to Hongyin Temple now," Song Yinchen said.

"Why? We've just managed to escape," Shen Ye questioned, puzzled.

"My sister has found a forbidden technique that can activate the remains of the Ancient Divine Spirits suspended in the air, giving them new bodies as vessels for the Evil Gods of a different world."

Shen Ye suddenly remembered the Master of Demon Prison.

"No matter who loses, I will win."

That was its declaration.

So it had sided with Song Qingyun?

Song Yinchen's voice rose again:

"Once she succeeds in obtaining our Song Family's World Suppressing Divine Artifact, she can grant bodies to the Evil Gods!"

"Then neither you nor I will have any chance to oppose her."

"—That's why I must also take on the inheritance challenge!"

"I must seize the Divine Artifact!"

"But what about her memory manipulation technique?" Shen Ye asked.

"That bell that just rang indicates that she has officially begun the challenge—"

"It's the highest level of inheritance test of my Song Family; she's in an independent space, almost incapable of caring about the outside world, or she would have already chased us here!"

Shen Ye held his breath.

It seemed...

He could only let her try.

"Brother Shen Ye, can you be my protector?" Song Yinchen said.

"How do I protect you?" Shen Ye asked.

"By staying alive."

Song Yinchen continued:

"My longevity lock is on you—when I take on the challenge, my life will depend on you. As long as you live, I live."

"I'll be your protector, so you can focus on the inheritance challenge?" Shen Ye asked.

"Yes."

"What if I die?"

"Then I die too," Song Yinchen looked at him, her eyes as clear as water.

"I won't die," Shen Ye ruffled her hair, "Work hard on the test, stay calm, you can definitely win."

Song Yinchen's lips curved upward in a slight smile, she hugged him gently, then walked a few steps away, stepping onto a red Koi that appeared out of nowhere, weaving through the darkness and disappearing.

Now only Shen Ye was left.

He suddenly felt an intuition, looking into the dark depths.

Just then.

Something had come.

"Come out."

Shen Ye spoke calmly.