Chapter 933: Heart Essence

Chapter 933: Heart-Elements

"A Nether-Hound?"

Hearing the bewilderment in Yuan Er's voice, Er Shen continued, "Indeed. I found this in the deepest reaches of the Imperial Observatory’s archives. Ordinary folk have no idea the Underworld even harbors such a beast! Legend says it possesses three heads and feeds solely on human souls. If it emerges, none of us shall escape!"

Suddenly, Er Shen whipped her head around, staring in terror at the darkness to the east, pointing toward that chaotic void. "Look! It has emerged! The Nether-Hound is upon us!"

Under the shocked and fearful gaze of all the Heart-Elements, a hound with a rotting carcass and black miasma coiling about its body stepped forth. It was saturated with the aura of death, striking dread into the hearts of all who beheld it from afar.

As she watched this hound—the very creature Er Shen had spoken of—manifest before her, Bai Lingmiao finally understood. She looked down at the Book of Life and Death in her hands, her face twisted in bitter despair.

As she loosened her grip, the massive tome slid heavily from her body to the ground.

"She lied to you," Bai Lingmiao said, her spirit shattered.

"What?!"

Bai Lingmiao raised a trembling finger toward the hound. "The Underworld does not contain such a thing. This Nether-Hound is merely something she fabricated on a whim."

"If something she speaks of casually can manifest into reality, have you not realized the truth yet?"

Bai Lingmiao closed her eyes in agony, clutching her head and screaming, "There is no Underworld! There is no Book of Life and Death that dictates the fate of men! You have been deceived. This hound, this book, the entire Underworld—you are the ones who manifested it all!"

"You are Heart-Elements. You believed it to be real, and so it became as real as truth. Once you believe it is false, it shall all vanish!"

These words struck the hearts of the Heart-Elements like a heavy hammer. A gust of wind swept through the surroundings, and the bodies of the nine judges began to turn translucent. Though they frantically scribbled in the Book of Life and Death, no one else died, and eventually, they vanished before everyone’s eyes.

It was not just the judges who faded, but the surrounding ghost-soldiers, the entire city of Fengdu, and finally, the Nether-Hound itself.

Watching the Book of Life and Death dissolve into nothingness, Bai Lingmiao burst into tears. Her sorrow soaked the ribbon over her eyes, dripping steadily onto the ground.

Er Shen showed a flicker of impatience, but eventually sighed, turned, and wrapped her arms around her from behind, whispering words of comfort.

Two souls in one body; sometimes, the other’s burden becomes one’s own—or perhaps it always was.

"I... I truly..." Bai Lingmiao sobbed. "I really thought they could be brought back to life through that book. I feel as though they have died once more within my heart."

"I know, I know. Do not be sad. Be happy—look, we have brought back eleven Heart-Elements." There was little Er Shen could do, so she used her forked serpent’s tongue to lick away the tears.

Bai Lingmiao’s heart felt as if it were being shredded, but thinking of the tense situation outside, she shook her head, forced her emotions deep within, and stood up once more.

She took a breath and addressed the other Heart-Elements: "Let us go. I will lead you out, to free you from this life where truth and falsehood are indistinguishable. No matter who deceived you, once you become mere mortals, no one will ever be able to deceive you again."

Seeing that their obsession of so many years had resulted in nothing but a bubble, the Heart-Elements wore expressions of complex confusion. Whatever they were thinking, they followed Bai Lingmiao in silence.

As they retraced their steps, there were no more Ghost Gates, no Yellow Springs Road, and no Bridge of Helplessness. The interior had been their own manifestation, and the exterior had been as well.

A single Heart-Element might not be capable of such a grand scale, but eleven of them together could make this place appear as real as life itself.

The only difference from reality was that they did not truly know what the Underworld looked like; everything had been based on hearsay.

Returning to the ruins, Bai Lingmiao followed the path back to their point of origin.

However, she did not enter the basement, stopping instead just outside.

"Wait for me. I shall perform a ritual. When I finish the incantation, a hole will tear open before me. Pass through it, and you shall all escape the karmic obstacles of the Heart-Turbidity."

With that, Bai Lingmiao sat cross-legged, formed a lotus mudra, and began to chant. "Rain of Mandarava flowers, Manjusaka blossoms, the fragrance of sandalwood, delighting all hearts... By this cause and condition, the earth is purified. The four assemblies are filled with joy, their bodies and minds at ease, experiencing what they have never known before... The light between the brows illuminates the east, eighteen thousand worlds, all turning to gold."

As her chanting grew, the space before her began to tremble, as if two forces were locked in opposition.

The chanting grew louder, the tremors intensified, and as the final words were spoken, a sound like shattering glass echoed out. A circular hole appeared, revealing not some other realm, but the main hall of the White Lotus Society in the capital.

As Bai Lingmiao and the others passed through, the portal connecting the two spaces shattered and vanished.

"How did I not know the Lotus Sutra had such power? I recall that scripture being used only for calming the spirit," Er Shen asked curiously in their shared mind.

Bai Lingmiao shook her head and turned to look at the eleven Heart-Elements peering about. "It does not matter if it truly has that power. It is enough that they believe it does—especially when there are eleven of them."

Having spent so long with Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao understood the nature of Heart-Elements deeply; she was not speaking idly.

If they could manifest an entire Underworld, then manifesting an exit was a trivial matter.

"Miaomiao! How did you get out?" A startled Chun Xiaoman, accompanied by a group of White Lotus followers, rushed toward Yang Na.

Bai Lingmiao shook her head, weary of further explanation. "Put the Heart-Turbidity in that room back into the coffin. I happen to be heading to the Imperial Observatory to deliver these Heart-Elements; I shall take it with me."

But before she could say more, she turned to see Tuoba Danqing collapse to the ground in agony.

Bai Lingmiao rushed to help him up, only to find his robust frame withering at a visible rate, turning into a skeleton.

"He is about to starve to death," Er Shen noted.

Clearly, having gone without food or drink while trapped in the karmic obstacle, he now had to pay the price.

He was not like the other eleven Heart-Elements; as long as they believed they were not hungry, they would not be.