Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 108 - Origins (3)

Everyone says that the tears of the shark demons are the most priceless thing in the world, but Yin Li felt that even his countless tears could not compare to a single precious drop from Princess Lizhu.

He opened his mouth, but unfortunately, no words came out.

The shaman of the Snake Shaman clan had once said: “You can never speak in front of Princess Lizhu, lest you reveal celestial secrets.”

Princess Lizhu looked at him. “So, you’re mute.”

She pulled his sleeve and sat down in the corner, speaking many words. She spoke of the mountain winds of the Linshi Kingdom, and of the hunters’ strong wine. She spoke of galloping horses in the spring forests, and of the ox-horn bows that could shoot down eagles.

He cast a small spell, making this place invisible to others, savoring the first generous gift from the heavens. Finally, Princess Lizhu sighed. “I don’t like it here. I want to go home.”

In that moment, Yin Li inexplicably had an urge to blurt out that if Princess Lizhu wished, he would do whatever it took to fulfill her desires.

But Princess Lizhu soon stood up. She smiled, “Never mind, I must have been dreaming. I should go back.”

Her hand left Yin Li’s sleeve, leaving him with a strong sense of reluctance. He took out the blue conch shell and placed it in Princess Lizhu’s palm.

“Is this a conch shell? It’s so beautifully colored,” she praised, then looked at the young attendant again. “Thank you.”

Yin Li’s ears turned slightly red.

That night was the happiest Yin Li had ever experienced.

However, after that night, it seemed that Princess Lizhu had forgotten about him. Sometimes when passing by him in the outer hall, her gaze didn’t linger for a moment. Yin Li felt a bit lost, but the shaman had once said, “She will not love you, nor will she remember you.” Perhaps stealing a moment of intimacy was already a blessing from above.

The young shark demon thought, Well, I came here to follow Princess Lizhu anyway. If she doesn’t remember me, I’ll just stay in this palace and guard the princess for the rest of my life.

That’s what he thought, but even this humble wish didn’t come true.

The King of Li’er Country was a sickly man. In order to prolong his life, he used pure Yin-bodied girls as sacrifices to practice a secret technique for eternal life. Yin Li accidentally learned of this conspiracy. The seemingly gentle king discussed his plans with his confidant in a tone of cruelty and malice that others could hardly fathom: “Princess Lizhu is of royal blood and possesses dragon energy. When she becomes the final sacrifice next month on the fifteenth, the secret technique will be perfected. Then, I will be able to live forever.”

Yin Li suddenly realized.

The serpent shaman had once said that Princess Lizhu was a dying person. He didn’t understand it before, but now it all made sense. The king of Li’er, who had come from afar to marry the princess of the Kingdom of Linshi, was not a heaven-sent match at all. He was cunning and malicious.

The shark demon felt a surge of anger and wanted to expose this conspiracy to the world, but he couldn’t speak. He wanted to take Princess Lizhu away, but without magic, Yin Li couldn’t even defeat the palace guards, even if he were to use some simple spells.

He anxiously wanted to seek help from Yin Ying, but since their quarrel, Yin Ying had not appeared. With no other option, he could only perform some illusion spells in the palace, creating disturbances to make the King of Li’er think that the vengeful spirits of the wrongly killed maidens were haunting the place, hoping to instill fear and caution in him. However, when the King of Li’er witnessed this scene, he actually hired a Taoist priest for a hefty sum.

The Taoist priest possessed some real abilities. He covered the palace inside and out with talismans to ward off evil spirits. As soon as Yin Li got close, those talismans would burn his skin. The warning from the snake shaman echoed in Yin Li’s mind: “You still carry the aura of a demon. If you encounter cultivators, they will see through your true form at a glance. If you encounter cultivators, you must stay away.”

Yin Li wanted to stay away, but he couldn’t bear to leave Princess Lizhu. As the day of Lizhu’s sacrifice approached, one day, the Taoist priest laid down a formation to exterminate demons in the palace.

The demon-slaying formation, even if it didn’t target true demons, would destroy anything tainted by demonic energy. Even if it was a half-demon, once caught in this formation, their soul would be annihilated, unable to reincarnate.

If he wanted to save Princess Lizhu, he could only break into the palace. But once caught in this formation, there would be no chance for redemption.

The paths of humans and demons were different, and love between them defied the natural order. Trying to defy fate would only lead to a tragic end. When he first heard these words, he didn’t understand their profound meaning. At that time, he was still an innocent young shark demon, unaware of the cruelty of human hearts and the brutality of fate, not knowing what he had committed himself to, believing naively that the price he paid was enough to bring him happiness. But now, he understood it all too well.

The vast Western Sea had been his home for a hundred years, where he watched sunsets, sunrises, moons, and stars without ever considering leaving. It was only when he met her, in a sorry state aboard that ship, that he felt that vivid splash of red was the most unforgettable sight. He wanted to see that sight every day, so he willingly traded the sea for the land for her sake.

So, what was a mere demon-slaying formation to him?

He had come to repay a debt.

This timid, tearful, weakest youth of the shark demon clan bravely charged into the demon-slaying formation that made even demons tremble, all for the sake of his benefactor. The light of the formation pierced his body like thousands of sharp blades, burning his demon bones in excruciating pain. He writhed on the ground, revealing his true form.

From human legs, he reverted back to his silver tail. But this tail, already pierced and bloodied by the demon-slaying formation and the talismans outside the palace, was a far cry from its former beauty.

He had once been the most beautiful shark demon of the Western Sea, his tail light and agile, its silver scales shimmering like fragments of gemstones. He cherished that tail, always exposing it to the moonlight, carefully nurturing it. But now, it was marred with scars, devoid of its former grace.

The guards beside him shouted, swords raised to strike him, while the Taoist priest stood coldly aside, chanting incantations. His whole being felt as if it were being torn apart, his soul on the verge of being shredded.

But why did the path to Princess Lizhu’s chambers seem so long?

Yin Li knew he couldn’t escape the demon-slaying formation, but perhaps he could kill the King of Li’er. As long as the king died, there would be no reason for the Li’er royal family to continue the secret technique for eternal life.

That’s what he thought, until he heard the cries of attendants and saw Princess Lizhu rushing out of her chambers.

She looked bewildered at the scene before her, and suddenly there was hope in Yin Li’s eyes. She had appeared! Perhaps this was heaven’s mercy upon him. The King of Li’er warned Princess Lizhu not to approach, and Yin Li felt his consciousness gradually fading.

He knew there was no time left. He was about to die, destroyed by every soul-shredding wave in this demon-slaying formation.

But at least, she would still live.

With his last ounce of strength, he ruptured the demon bones inside him, releasing his maximum demonic power. Silver scales spread across his face, and he knew he must look terrifying at this moment. He felt sorrowful, knowing that Princess Lizhu would see this frightening side of him. Yet… there was no other choice.

Sharp claws pierced through the chest of the King of Li’er. Oddly, for such a cold-blooded and fearsome man, his blood was warm. The panicked screams and commotion of the surrounding guards seemed to fade away from him. The young shark demon wanted to cast one last glance at his benefactor, but it was a struggle to turn his head.

A silver arrow struck the shark demon’s fish tail, pinning him firmly to the heart of the demon-slaying formation.

She stood there, just as she had appeared all those years ago, holding a bow and arrow, her fiery gaze intense and bright. Yet, there was no hesitation in the arrow aimed at him, and her gaze held an icy chill.

Yin Li felt a sense of injustice in his heart. He had come to repay a debt.

But Princess Lizhu didn’t even know his name.

And then, his soul dispersed.

Later

After some time passed, the King of Li’er died. Princess Lizhu, pregnant at the time, was well cared for by the royal family. She gave birth to a young prince, the future ruler of the kingdom. There were no more incidents of young girls being killed in the Kingdom of Li’er. To commemorate the former king who had bravely fought against the shark demon and sacrificed himself, a monument was erected in the imperial mausoleum, and a golden statue of the ‘Brave Warrior Defeating the Shark Demon’ was cast on the coast of the Western Sea. Passing children would spit at the ugly statue of the shark demon.

As for the shark demon…

The shark demon’s soul had been crushed by the demon-slaying formation, and the Taoist priest refined his remaining body into ointment, pouring it into the eternal lamp in the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum. Every night, it would illuminate the quiet tomb of the emperor, never extinguishing for thousands of years.

This was the end of the story.

In the corridor, only the sound of footsteps could be heard, surrounded by a silence so profound.

Zanxing’s eyes were slightly swollen.

She looked at the torches burning on the stone walls of the corridor, their flames steady, bright, and warm.

Yin Li stopped and said, “The exit is just ahead. Miss Yang, you should go.”

“What about you?” Zanxing turned back to look at him.

“I’m just a fragment of a soul,” the young man said with a bitter smile. “Years ago, a shaman of the Snake Shaman Clan gave me a Soul-Locking Crystal. So when the demon-slaying formation shattered my soul, the Soul-Locking Crystal preserved a fragment of it, hiding it in the mausoleum. But outside is the human world. If I go out, I will instantly dissipate.”

“But if you stay here, you will eventually dissipate as well,” Zanxing said.

Yin Li was taken aback, remaining silent for a moment. He had died forty years ago, and although the Soul-Locking Crystal preserved a fragment of his soul, the damage inflicted by the demon-slaying array was irreversible. This fragment of his soul would eventually dissipate into the world; this was an inevitable fate. He didn’t actually want to stay here. It was damp and eerie, and the days dragged on painfully. He longed to leave, even if it meant only a brief moment of freedom.

“Miss Yang, I can’t leave,” Yin Li shook his head. “There’s a talisman formation ahead. I can’t pass through that door.”

Zanxing pondered for a moment, “I once read in the sect’s library that a soul fragment cannot pass through a talisman formation, but if you were to attach yourself to me…”

“No!” Yin Li was startled. “That would harm your cultivation. Even though I am just a fragment of a soul, I am still a demon, and you are human. If I attach to you, it would damage your body and cause your cultivation to regress.”

Zanxing’s gaze fell on the young man before her. It was the first time she had seen someone so foolish. Despite being hurt and killed by humans, and suffering countless injustices after death, he bore no resentment towards humanity.

“Don’t you want to see Princess Lizhu one more time?” Zanxing asked. “She has probably learned the truth by now. At the very least, let her remember you, let her know your name.”

“But…”

“And your twin brother, do you think those cultivators outside can subdue him? Even if you don’t care about the people of Li’er Country, aren’t you afraid that Yin Ying will kill Princess Lizhu too?”

Upon hearing this, Yin Li’s expression wavered.

Zanxing smiled slightly. “The shaman of the Snake Shaman Clan could see the past and the future. Perhaps she foresaw our encounter today and gave you the Soul-Locking Crystal years ago to preserve a fragment of your soul, leading to our meeting here. Why would you reject this opportunity?”

The corridor fell silent for a moment.

After a while, Yin Li looked at Zanxing, puzzled. “Miss Yang, why are you helping me like this?”

“I’m not helping you,” Zanxing sighed. “I just feel that if I don’t do this, I will regret it in the future.”

She looked at Yin Li. “And so will you.”