The Yan Huang Tribe members were filled with reverence.

Seeing so many Ghostly Yan Tribe Holy Masters reduced to ash, their faith and respect for the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor only deepened.

This was without doubt the work of an immortal. Mortals could not reach such overlord levels of power.

Everyone had probably seen the same reality differently....

The Yan Huang Tribe members were elated, the ghostly cultivators devastated and fleeing....

Wu Yu felt bad. This judgment of life and death was too cruel. The Yan Huang Ancient Emperor had not given them any chance, including Ye Xixi's parents. All of the Holy Masters were like ants before his eyes, and reduced to powder, leaving nothing behind....

Wu Yu was only worried for Ye Xixi.

Wu Yu did not have much feeling for the notion of parents. His mother had passed very early, so he did not have much of an impression. As for his father, he was a mortal emperor, with many children and concubines. It was difficult to feel for him.

But Ye Xixi was different. She was the apple of her parents' eyes, the receptacle of their doting care. In these decades, her parents had been the most important thing in her life, and at his moment, she had seen them crushed to dust and scattered in the Infernal Inferno.

Silence.

Wu Yu could feel a shudder pass through her body, and the nails on her hands pierced her own flesh. Her little fists were shaking....

"Don't be scared." Wu Yu did not know how to comfort her. This was the greatest tragedy of one's life, and he had never endured it before. He had been bereft back when Sun Wudao had died.

But that was probably not the same as this girl seeing her parents murdered together.

He had been worried that Ye Xixi would be hellbent on getting revenge on the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor, and throw herself at him suicidally, revealing her legacy. Therefore, he told himself that he had to protect her and hold on to her.

Curiously, however, she did not, but instead clung tightly to him, her head buried in his chest. The cat, Lazy, had climbed up to her shoulder and seen the turn of events. The white cat's eyes were teary as well. Cats seldom showed emotion, but Wu Yu could see its hurt. It reached out with a paw to bat ineffectually at the air, as though trying to catch something. But there was nothing....

"Meow." The white cat closed its eyes, nuzzling Ye Xixi's temple with its own head.

She was clutching hard at his hands, and Wu Yu knew that her world had come crashing down. He could not imagine the torment she was facing - the parents who had loved her so, and whom she had loved so dearly.

Hu....

She suddenly jerked upwards to meet Wu Yu's eyes. Wu Yu realized that she had changed. An inexplicable change - perhaps this girl had grown up suddenly - but the previous purity had vanished from her gaze, replaced with a hard hatred and resolve. This was not what Wu Yu wished to see, but he was in no position to say anything. Ye Xixi herself had not wished it so, but she had been forced by circumstances. Her gaze trembling as she stared at Wu Yu, she declared in an unsteady voice, "I want to kill him one day. Is that possible?"

She wanted to kill the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor!

She had refrained at this time, and had not given up her life. An internal metamorphosis. She had been a child in the water, on the verge of drowning. She struggled in the lake of sorrow, and she was asking Wu Yu for the confirmation of life!

Wu Yu had never thought about killing the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor. Firstly, he had not thought it possible. Secondly, he might not be Wu Yu's enemy - perhaps he was a kindly immortal.

But now, his answer to Ye Xixi's question held grave import for her.

Wu Yu thought it through. Vengeance for one's parents was as just as causes went, and no one could stop her. In her shoes, he also would’ve sworn a deadly oath, and perhaps the day would one day come for Ye Xixi as well. Therefore, he answered steely, "As long as you wish it, there is nothing in this world that you cannot accomplish. Of course, you have to be able to endure it. You have to be able to grow through this. You have to be able to hide in the shadows and grow into a silent killer! But... I would like it if you were as free of worry and carefree.... Forget it. This is not something that you can control. You are a victim, Xixi.... Today, I was too weak to help you, and all I can offer is to be by your side in the future, no matter what. I will not leave you, not until you fulfill your wish."

This was his promise to Ye Xixi.

He knew that Ye Xixi alone would not be able to survive in this world, as ignorant as she was. He was her only support in this world.

Ye Xixi would definitely not return to the Infernal Inferno.

Because the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor had very easily established a new spirit design here, that had temporarily sealed off the entrance of Infernal Inferno. But after this affair, the Ghostly Yan Tribe would probably not dare to come out even if it was not sealed. They were still fleeing deeper.

Of course, Ye Xixi did not want to go back either.

She followed Wu Yu. She was probably the only Ghostly Yan Tribe member who had remained in the outside world.

"Big Brother Yu, thank you." She snuggled back against his chest, pressing her ear to his breast. She was fighting painful tears, and Wu Yu knew how fragile she was. Right now, she definitely did not want to break down before her enemy, even though her heart was awash with sorrow.

"You promised me that you wouldn't leave. I don't want to be alone...." Perhaps at this moment, Wu Yu was her only straw to clutch at, and she did so with all her strength, afraid that he would suddenly vanish.

"Don't worry." Wu Yu patted her on the head. She was too pitiful. Although he was younger than her, age was just a number.

Turning back, he saw that the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor was vanishing in the sky to the cheers and bows of the Yan Huang Tribe, having accomplished his goal. Under his arm, Ye Xixi watched the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor leave, a kaleidoscope of emotions flashing through her eyes, finally coalescing into an obsessive coldness.

It was all over.

The Yan Huang Tribe members were in full celebration.

Although they had their faces thrown in the dust this time, the casualties were modest. They had stopped the Ancient Demon God for a moment, and that had been meritorious as well.

Since Ye Xixi had come out, this meant that Wu Yu had no need to enter the Infernal Inferno again.

Ye Xixi was currently swamped by her hatred and misery, and Wu Yu had to think of an identity for her and pull her into his retinue. He had promised to take care of her, and he would not renege on that promise.

He sent a Message Talisman to Prince Le, telling him that he was awaiting him and the Full Moon of Nanshan in a castle near the Infernal Inferno. He bade them come unaccompanied. He had seen them amidst the Yan Huang Tribe members, but they had watched from a distance, guarding the spirit design. There had been no need for them to act.

Tugging Ye Xixi with him, Wu Yu left quietly. After cleaning up this place, the majority of those here would be heading back.

Reaching a remote place, Ye Xixi turned back to survey the fires and thick, rising smoke behind. She was facing the direction of the Infernal Inferno, her home.

Right now, she was living her dream in the outside world, but it gave her not the slightest bit of joy at all.

She suddenly turned back to hug her cat, keeling over to the ground in the direction of the Infernal Inferno. She looked helpless as her tears fell.

"My father, mother, they did not even know if I was alive when they died...."

She choked out. This was perhaps the most tragic thing. She could no longer hold back her tears, which burst out of her like a flood. She looked extremely frail, her little frame barely standing out from the weeds beside her....

Looking up at the dust wafting in the breeze, she recalled memories from her childhood. Her mother raising her since young, teaching her things, and her father guiding her cultivation....

From the strict critic to being proud of her. The scenes of those years flashed past her eyes, each a dagger drawn across her heart.

Loss was always the hardest pain to bear.

All of her blessed fortune of the past had crumbled like the dust. Ye Xixi still remembered their final visage - her father, fighting to change their fate, stoic and fearless of death itself. Her mother, genuinely frightened - but perhaps death was not so scary when she held the arm of her dao companion tightly....

But she was still worried about her daughter. As the dust faded, her eyes still darted about, searching for Ye Xixi. Perhaps only then would she have resolution, but it was too late....

"Xixi, fate is sometimes cruel. Life does not exist without sorrow. All of that is reality, and if you have those regrets and know what your parents truly wished, then you must fulfill their desires for them to see. One day, their spirits in heaven will see you, and feel proud of you. That is the most meaningful thing that you can do. But people have to cry. Cry, then. And then follow me."

Wu Yu had never experienced such grief before, and he acknowledged that it was a grief that was difficult to resolve. A lone girl could, of course, cry as many times as she wished. But Wu Yu also wanted her to understand that she should live her best life, as her parents had hoped. That would also strengthen her dao.

Wu Yu stood by her side, watching this young girl cry her heart out amidst the sun-drenched weeds. The white cat sat helplessly on the grass beside, its face forlorn. It used the softest part of its paws to pad her tears away.

One day, there would be new life.