CHAPTER 124 – Shen and Ling Begin the Search
Three days passed in the outside world, marked by the agonizing crawl of time.
Three days of destruction cleanup, emergency rebuilding, and hollow, shared grief.
Shen stood on top of a half-repaired skyscraper, staring at the perfectly circular, smoking crater where Xiao Xi vanished.
It was an absence, a hole in reality itself.
Ling approached slowly, her posture showing exhaustion and resilience.
"You should rest, Shen.
You haven't slept since the seal."
Shen didn't look at her, his golden aura subdued.
"She's alive."
Ling nodded, her face pale but determined.
"I know.
The Root Protagonist wouldn't lie about something that vital."
Shen glanced at her, a spark of hope in his eyes.
"You believe him?"
Ling smiled faintly, a sad, knowing expression.
"Xiao Xi isn't the type who dies just because someone says she did.
If the Core is functional, she's sealed, not erased."
Shen exhaled shakily, the relief mixed with regret.
"I promised myself… I'd protect her if anything happened again.
I failed."
Ling touched his arm gently, an act of silent comfort.
"You protected her heart, Shen.
You helped anchor Gu.
That's what mattered."
His throat tightened, unable to accept the praise.
"But I couldn't protect her life.
I couldn't stop her from leaving."
Ling whispered, a solemn vow:
"None of us could.
But we can bring her back."
Shen wiped the ash from his face, his gaze hardening into focus.
"Gu needs us.
He's not thinking straight."
Ling nodded, her expression grim.
"He's been trying to break the residual energy barrier the explosion left.
He's using his soul energy to charge it."
Shen cursed, the thought terrifying.
"If he manages to jump through that barrier—he'll be instantly deleted or sealed with her.
It's too unstable."
Ling sighed, defeated by Gu's despair.
"He doesn't care about the consequences. He just wants to follow the trail."
Shen started walking towards the crater, his steps heavy with grim determination.
"Then I'm stopping him from killing himself."
Ling followed, her light flaring with renewed purpose.
"And I'm helping you.
We need to stabilize that barrier, not break it. We need to find the lock, not the hole."
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CHAPTER 125 – Gu Yanzhou Makes a Promise to the Void
Gu knelt in the middle of the massive, smoking crater, oblivious to the world around him.
His fingers bled from clawing at the hardened ground.
His soul flickered around him like dying embers, his golden light dimmed by grief and strain.
He whispered hoarsely, his entire being focused on the nothingness where she disappeared:
"Xiao Xi… wait for me.
I'm coming."
The Root Protagonist stood silently behind him, a guardian resigned to the futility of his task.
"You cannot reach her, Gu Yanzhou.
The barrier is a conceptual lock, not a physical one."
Gu's jaw clenched, his eyes fixed on the residual energy barrier.
"I'll try anyway.
I don't need concepts.
I need her."
"You will die immediately."
"I don't care.
I told you that."
The Root Protagonist sighed, the sound impossibly weary.
"You care more than anyone, which is why you must stop."
Gu laughed—a sound utterly broken, sharp, and empty.
"No.
She cared more than anyone.
That's why she cut the bond."
He pressed a bloodied hand to his chest, exactly where her palm had rested.
"She tore our bond apart so I'd live.
So I would be free."
The Root Protagonist nodded slowly.
"Yes.
A selfless act of the highest order."
Gu's eyes darkened, hardening into a focus that terrified even the failsafe.
"And I'm going to find her.
I'm going to prove that her sacrifice was a mistake."
The Root Protagonist stiffened, sensing a change in the air.
"Gu—stop what you're doing.
You're becoming unstable."
Gu stood.
Unsteady.
Shaking.
But resolute, imbued with a purpose stronger than death.
"I'm going to find her. I will not accept this ending."
He lifted his gaze to the fractured sky, to the void where she was imprisoned.
"And when I do, Xiao Xi…"
His voice turned to steel, radiating a fierce, protective love that mirrored her own.
"…I'm never letting go again.
I'll bind us so tightly, not even the Core can sever us."
The air vibrated—as if something deep within the void heard the intensity of his vow.
The shimmering residual barrier, untouched by his hands, cracked sharply.
The Root Protagonist's eyes widened in astonishment.
"No… No—he's synchronizing with her chaos signature—he's responding to the bond that doesn't exist—!"
Gu took one deliberate step toward the light.
"Xiao Xi," he whispered.
"Wait for me."
And the world split open, responding not to power, but to the unwavering will of a man who refused to be saved alone.
So guys, that's it for this week, see you next week, and oh before I forget,
Don't leave without commenting, either you correct me,or you put in your thoughts, just write something down for me to know you're there.
Love you,❤️
Bye....