He is dead...
The Eighteenth Hall is destroyed...
The Eighteenth Squad, none survived...
Qin Zhouzhou said something else, but Qicai Dan didn't hear a word.
These three sentences echoed repeatedly in its mind.
Master is gone? Home is gone?
Nothing is left?
Qicai Dan didn't believe it.
Even though the one saying this was Qin Zhouzhou, the captain of the intelligence team.
But,
In the time that followed, Qicai Dan searched everywhere it could think of, but couldn't find its Master.
Not even a trace of his aura was left.
Its Master had vanished from this world.
Even in the human realm, no one mentioned the once familiar "Live Stream: Daily Healing in the Underworld" anymore.
It was as if everyone, by unspoken agreement, had forgotten about it.
"How can they forget, how can they forget..."
That was their Master, their joyful streamer!
The underworld official who protected their reincarnation!
How could they stop mentioning him!?
Wouldn't that mean... everything he did was in vain?
"..."
Not far away, Ao Bai, who had followed, was about to step forward.
Suddenly, she heard a mournful dragon's roar.
It was like weeping and complaining.
Like a child who couldn't find its way home.
The sound echoed in the air, lingering for a long time.
...
"I heard..."
Ao Bai cautiously stopped beside Qicai Dan and said, "He sacrificed himself to protect others."
"He was very powerful."
"My Master, of course, is very powerful."
Qicai Dan's eyes were vacant as it murmured,
"If he hadn't needed to protect those people, if he could have escaped, he could have lived."
But he didn't.
"Why didn't you run, why did you trade your life for theirs..."
Qicai Dan looked at the clouds of various shapes in the distance.
... If only you could have run.
Without life, nothing remains.
Ao Bai was silent for a moment, then said, "He was a very competent underworld official."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Qicai Dan suddenly lowered its head, burying it in the clouds.
Its body, made of bones, trembled slightly.
Yes, he was a competent underworld official.
He was first and foremost an underworld official, a captain with over a hundred team members.
Then he was an individual.
They had duties, they had missions!
They were not just themselves...
It knew all of this.
It just,
It just wished that the one who lived was its Master.
Not some other insignificant person.
... If Master knew it was so selfish,
He probably wouldn't keep it by his side anymore...
...
"But I just wanted you to live!"
I just wanted you to live...
...
Ao Bai stayed quietly by its side, waiting for Qicai Dan to vent its emotions.
And keeping an eye on the surroundings, in case anything approached.
Although her relationship with Qicai Dan had become much closer over the years,
And she had learned many ways to comfort people.
At this moment, she still didn't know how to console it.
After all,
It was Qicai Dan who had lost Jiang Lin.
Her sadness, though real, could not be fully shared.
The sun in the human world rose and set.
Set and rose again.
After about three days and nights,
Qicai Dan, which had been standing motionless in the clouds, finally showed other reactions.
It slowly raised its head and, bathed in sunlight, looked down upon the human world below, which resembled tectonic plates.
"Let's go back," Qicai Dan said.
Its voice was completely hoarse.
Normally, Ao Bai would have teased or complained.
But this time, she said nothing, only nodded, and returned to the Dragon Palace with it.
She had expected Qicai Dan to rest for a while after returning to the Dragon Palace.
She had already planned how to ask for leave for it from her teacher.
But unexpectedly, after returning to the Dragon Palace...
Qicai Dan went straight to Grandpa Dragon King.
"Help me lend a hand, protect the human and underworld realms."
In the hall, it spoke with a hoarse voice.
!?
Ao Bai looked at it in shock, then turned to Grandpa Dragon King.
She hadn't quite recovered.
The old Dragon King's expression shifted slightly after hearing this, but he did not immediately agree.
He merely asked, "Why?"
Qicai Dan: "With my life."
It could stay in the Dragon Palace forever, serving the Dragon Palace.
But what its Master wanted to protect, it would protect.
... This was all it could do for its Master now.
The old Dragon King said unhurriedly, "For how long?"
"... A hundred years would be enough."
A hundred years would be enough.
A hundred years, one cycle for the human world.
A hundred years, it was said to be the longest time an advanced underworld official's consciousness could remain in the world after death.
"Agreed."
After agreeing, the old Dragon King immediately issued orders.
—Assist the human and underworld realms with all our might!
Since they were to protect, it would no longer be a matter of contributing a little effort as before.
It was to protect with full force.
This was Qicai Dan's objective.
...
The full assistance from the East Sea Dragon Palace greatly accelerated the resolution of the pollution source.
It didn't take long for both the human and underworld realms to return to their former peace.
Living and working in peace.
However, those who sacrificed would never return.
...
...
A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye—
High above the clouds,
A white figure stood in mid-air, quietly observing the human world below.
Over the past century, Qicai Dan had been monitoring the progress in the human and underworld realms while undergoing various studies and training as requested by the old Dragon King.
By now, it had grown to a point where it could go out and carry out missions independently.
Suddenly,
A lightning-fast figure landed beside the youth, transforming into a maiden in white.
Ao Bai also glanced at the human world below and reminded,
"It's time to depart."
Qicai Dan, now in the form of a youth, didn't move, only murmuring, "It's been a hundred years."
Ao Bai looked at the white clothes it wore, "Yes, it's been a hundred years."
Qicai Dan gazed at the human world, its expression lost in thought.
It had been a hundred years...
Once upon a time, it was just a tiny egg.
Following its Master, hopping around, able to slip into its Master's sleeve whenever something happened.
"It's been a hundred years..."
Qicai Dan subconsciously reached out its hand and touched the space in front of it.
"It's really been a hundred years, why does it feel so unreal..."
It felt hazy, unreal.
As if there was an invisible wall separating it from the surrounding world.
"It's like a dream..."
*Crack—*
A faint sound echoed.
Like a water droplet falling onto the surface of water, creating ripples.
Immediately after, the surrounding scenery began to show spiderweb-like cracks, which quickly spread.
*Splash—*
A clear sound of water was heard.
In the largest Glazed Palace of the Dragon Palace,
Qicai Dan, who was soaking in a pool undergoing a 'baptism' ceremony, suddenly sat up.
Dripping water slowly flowed down its one-foot-long bone body.
...