Yao Xi's POV
The sect's bells rang in the distance, calling disciples for the morning rites.
Yao Xi didn't move.
She sat cross-legged in the lotus courtyard, eyes closed, but her breathing wasn't calm. Not this time. Her fingers kept twitching toward the hilt of her sword.
She hadn't slept.
Couldn't.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his — Jiang Xuan's eyes, when the formation broke. Not wild. Not lost.
Calm.
Too calm.
Like he knew the end of the story and had already accepted it.
And that was what scared her the most.
---
She unsheathed her sword with slow precision, letting the morning light glint across its edge. The blade had drunk demon blood before. She had used it to pierce hearts without hesitation.
But now…
She stared at it.
At her own reflection in the metal.
Eyes like frozen violets.
The same eyes that had watched her family die.
That had watched him — Jiang Xuan — walk through the flames, tap her cheek, and call her crybaby as her parents' blood steamed on the floor behind him.
That memory had kept her alive for five centuries.
But now…
Why was her grip weaker?
---
"You hesitate."
The voice came from behind her.
She didn't turn.
"Elder Wen," she said.
He stepped into view, hands folded behind his back. "You didn't draw your blade when the formation collapsed."
"I saw no need."
He stared at her, unimpressed. "You saw a vessel of the Demon God shatter a five-seal containment, and you saw no need?"
"I saw a boy who was still fighting it."
Wen's eyes narrowed. "Or a girl who's beginning to forget the mission."
The silence between them grew tense.
Then Yao Xi stood, slow and measured. Her voice was calm, but firm.
"I remember the mission. I just don't think you understand the enemy."
Wen raised an eyebrow. "Then enlighten me."
"He's not the enemy yet. But the more we treat him like one… the faster we lose him."
---
Wen was silent for a long moment.
Then:
"You sound like someone who's trying to save him."
She met his eyes.
"I'm trying to save the world. Same as you. But unlike you, I've seen what happens when fear pushes too early."
"You think your feelings—"
"I don't have feelings for him."
That came out fast. Too fast.
Even she noticed.
Wen smirked, but didn't argue.
Instead, he turned to go.
"If the next seal breaks," he said over his shoulder, "don't hesitate. Or you won't get another chance."
---
She watched him leave, fists clenched at her sides.
The morning wind picked up.
Somewhere on the mountain, bells rang again.
And Yao Xi whispered to herself—
"Why didn't I kill him?"
---
Later that day, she entered the forbidden records vault beneath the Sect Archives.
Only the Grandmaster had given her access.
What she sought wasn't about Jiang Xuan's power… but his origin.
She had searched for any mention of children born under the Black Ash Moon — a rare celestial event that only occurred once every thousand years.
And finally, she found it.
A scroll so old it crumbled at her touch.
She read the fragments carefully.
"A child born beneath the Black Ash Moon… shall not belong to this world."
"Their heart shall echo with the buried one."
"If slain, they shall rise not as soul or man… but as the one whose chains were broken."
She sat back, heart racing.
It wasn't just the Demon God living inside him.
He was the next one.
Not possessed.
Not corrupted.
A reincarnation.
----
Yao Xi left the archives at dusk.
The scroll's words burned behind her eyes.
He shall rise not as soul or man… but as the one whose chains were broken.
She stepped into the fading light, the sky bathed in the bruised purple of twilight. The wind had a bite to it, sharper than the mountain air usually carried. Her fingers trembled slightly at her sides, but she ignored it.
She needed space. Clarity.
So she went to the place where Jiang Xuan trained.
Not to see him.
Just to look at the field. The burn marks. The scars on the stones where the last test had failed.
But he was there.
Of course he was.
---
He sat with his back against a rock, one knee raised, the other leg stretched out. His robe was slightly torn at the sleeve. A streak of dried blood crossed his cheek, not fresh, not tended.
She should have left.
She didn't.
"Didn't expect you here," he said without turning.
"I could say the same," she replied.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"No."
He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something far away.
"Something's changing," he said.
"I know."
"No. I mean inside."
Now he turned to look at her.
His eyes weren't glowing. But they weren't soft either.
There was something… ancient in them.
Like something had started watching the world through him.
---
She walked closer. Slowly. Cautiously.
But she didn't stop.
"Do you feel like yourself?" she asked.
"Sometimes," he said. "Other times, I hear voices. Or… dreams that don't feel like mine."
"You said you weren't afraid."
"I'm not."
"Why not?"
He hesitated.
Then gave her the truth.
"Because part of me wants to know what I really am."
She stopped walking.
"That's not comforting."
"I'm not trying to comfort you."
---
A long silence passed.
Then Jiang Xuan stood.
"Did you come here for a reason?"
"I thought I might kill you," she said.
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"And?"
She looked down.
"I didn't bring my sword."
A pause.
Then he said, "You don't need one. I wouldn't fight back."
"I know."
She looked up, suddenly angry.
"That's what makes it harder."
He said nothing.
Because there was nothing to say.
---
The wind picked up.
Leaves scattered across the broken tiles of the arena floor.
She stepped beside him now.
No sword between them.
Just silence.
"Do you remember the girl you called crybaby?" she asked.
He flinched — not visibly, but something in his body tensed. His breath caught.
"…Yes."
"She remembers too."
He nodded.
"I think she hates you."
"She should."
Another silence.
"But," she added softly, "sometimes… she forgets."
He looked at her then — really looked.
And for a moment, the Demon God was nowhere to be found.
Just a boy.
Tired. Haunted.
Human.
---
"I found something," she said at last.
His gaze sharpened. "What?"
"About the Black Ash Moon."
He stilled.
"You're not a vessel," she said. "You're not cursed. Not in the way we thought."
He waited.
"You were born to be him. The next one."
He looked away.
"I know."
That surprised her.
"Since when?"
"Since I found the coffin. Since I heard the voice call me home."
"And you didn't tell anyone?"
"No one would believe me."
"I believe you."
He looked at her again.
But she wasn't done.
"And if you lose yourself completely… if that thing inside you wins…"
She stepped close.
"…I'll be the one who ends it."
He didn't argue.
"Thank you," he said instead.
That broke something in her chest.
Because he sounded like he meant it.
Like it was a kindness.
---
Later that night, Yao Xi returned to her quarters and sat in silence for a long time.
She didn't cry.
But her sword — once cold and certain in her hand — now felt heavy.
Like it knew what it was meant to do.
And feared she wouldn't have the strength to do it.
----
End of Chapter 12