Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 111 - Fate Ends (3)

Seeing the royal family’s secretive demeanor, Yin Ying felt only satisfaction.

He hadn’t forgotten the man’s condition either.

The secret realm of Li’er Country opened once every ten years, and it required a direct royal bloodline to ascend the Starry Sky Terrace and personally open the entrance. If the royal family was coerced into forcibly opening the secret realm, the entrance would collapse on its own. The Liuli Sect had few members, only Rong Yu and his senior brother, making it easier to go unnoticed. Therefore, Yin Ying hid inside Rong Yu, planning to blend in when the time came.

However, he hadn’t anticipated Gu Baiying and his group’s arrival, nor had he expected that the members of the Taiyan Sect would stumble upon the truth from all those years ago.

He hadn’t originally come for revenge, at least not entirely. But now, with the truth uncovered, Yin Ying felt that entering the secret realm didn’t matter anymore. After all, he had already achieved his purpose.

“What did the other party want you to find in the secret realm?” Gu Baiying asked.

“I won’t tell you.”

“Seems like you don’t want your demon core anymore.”

“It’s a painting, the portrait of a woman! He said I would know it when I saw it,” Yin Ying said angrily. Not everyone could endure the pain of having their demon core dissected.

“I still don’t understand,” Zanxing said, looking at him intently. “Whether you were seeking revenge or trying to enter the secret realm, I’ve never had any hostility towards you. So why did you sneak into my room late at night?”

Yin Ying was startled. His gaze fell on Zanxing, becoming somewhat peculiar for a moment. “That’s because you—”

Before he could finish, the black scale on his chest suddenly flickered.

“Danger!” Gu Baiying’s face changed, and he quickly pulled Zanxing behind him.

Suddenly, large chunks of black mist rose from Yin Ying’s chest. Rather than calling it mist, it was more like beams of black mist condensed into shape. These black beams instantly pierced through Yin Ying’s chest. The shark demon’s expression became one of agony, as if enduring immense torment. The beams gradually spread and grew, forming a swamp-like layer of mist that enveloped Yin Ying.

“Yin Ying!” Yin Li shouted in panic.

But he was only a trace of his soul; he couldn’t even touch his brother’s body. He could only watch helplessly as Yin Ying was consumed by the black mist, leaving only a shattered robe on the ground.

“Is he… dead?” Tian Fangfang asked blankly.

“That scale was the problem,” Gu Baiying said, his expression unusually grim. “Perhaps the other party, while granting him demonic power, also exploited his weakness, holding his life in their hands. Once something went wrong, they could take the shark demon’s life.”

It was a foolproof deal.

“Yin Li,” Zanxing looked at the young shark demon. He had wandered alone in the corridors of the imperial mausoleum for decades, hoping for a touch of freedom, even if it was just a brief moment. Yet, just as he reunited with his loved ones, they were about to part again.

She wanted to grant Yin Li his wish, but this lengthy story had been doomed to a tragic ending from the start.

The cultivators watched him from afar, feeling pity for the young shark demon in this vast world.

Until a woman’s voice echoed, “Yin Li.”

Yin Li stirred and slowly turned around.

The woman in red looked at him, her bow and arrows lying on the ground beside her. Her gaze pierced through the years, reminiscent of their first encounter on the sea, bewildered and inexplicable, a warmth that he could never forget.

Princess Lizhu approached slowly until she stood in front of Yin Li.

Forty years had passed since then.

Forty years, a mere blink of an eye for a shark demon, yet enough to turn a human girl into an aged woman.

She still loved wearing red, just as she did back then. Like the time she fought pirates on the merchant ship, she had shortened her robe, rolling up the wide sleeves to her elbows, exuding a heroic and elegant aura. Her hair was still coiled high, but now streaked with white. Her eyes remained bright, though wrinkles had crept around the corners.

Life had passed by for a long time.

“Yin Li, Is that your name?” Princess Lizhu asked softly.

He paused, then nodded shyly.

Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

But the shark demon smiled. “It’s okay.”

Those truths, hidden deep within the imperial mausoleum, vanished into thin air along with the demon-slaying formation, much like the bright eternal lamps in the underground corridors burning unnoticed and lonely. Perhaps one day they would resurface, or perhaps they would forever remain unknown.

The White Jade Palace of the imperial mausoleum suddenly seemed insignificant. The wind blew from all directions, and the earth felt empty and vast. The shark demon’s silver fish tail gradually emerged, casting a strong brilliance in the expansive night sky.

The young man gazed at the woman before him, her hair now gray, and suddenly leaned in, shy yet determined, to kiss her forehead.

Time seemed to stand still.

He recalled a long time ago, on the Western Sea, where the moon illuminated a massive sailing ship. He saw the woman in red and black hair standing at the bow, carefully polishing her ox horn bow. He leaped from behind the rocks, eager to join her, following her to unfamiliar lands.

On that night, the princess looked at the silent young attendant for the first time and said, “Thank you.” He gave her the blue conch shell he had polished countless times, hoping to bring a smile to her face.

Walking was actually painful, but he felt joy in his heart.

Humans and demons always had divergent paths, and being together never ended well. But he had never hoped to be with her. This humble young man loved her, but he couldn’t say it out loud. He could only… keep it hidden in his heart.

The shark demon had said, “I want to become human.”

The snake shaman of the Snake Shaman Clan looked at him and said, “I want your demon core in exchange.”

He replied, “Okay.”

“It will require plucking off every scale from your body, one by one.”

He replied, “Okay.”

“Being a demon and becoming human is not easy. Although you have legs now, every day will feel like walking on the edge of a blade,” she said.

He replied, “Okay.”

In the eyes of the shaman, there was a compassionate understanding, as if she had already seen through the outcome. She said, “Fate has been decided, and it cannot be changed. The connection between you and her, from beginning to end, is but a fleeting moment. Why force it?”

A fleeting moment?

Yin Li felt his body becoming weightless, like the wind blowing at the end of the Western Sea in summer. He looked at the woman before him.

Her eyes reflected him clearly, and she spoke his name as well.

That was enough.

Zanxing had once joked, “A fish’s memory is fleeting, just a moment.”

But she didn’t know that sometimes, that moment could be eternal.

Under the canopy of the heavens, the night sky turned into an ink-blue sea. From the shark demon’s tail, it gradually dissipated into countless sparkling white stars. Those shimmering stars floated above the vast expanse, dispersing slowly in the darkness.

From his tail, to his body, then to his arms, until the entire person completely dissolved into dots of light, disappearing. Only those dazzling stars burned brightly and magnificently, then returning to tranquility.

The night sky returned to its somber state.

The shark demon, Yin Li, was no more.

***

T/n: I just finished translating the chapter and I’m bawling my eyes out listening to Running Up That Hill (idk why, but this song kept playing in my mind as I did this chapter). I knew this was coming but I was still unprepared. It was a tragic end, though a beautiful one.

Do you guys remember when Zanxing recounted The Little Mermaid’s story, it was none other than Princess Lizhu who admonished her, saying that mermaids were never capable of doing the things in the story? That a was a nice little twist from the author, am I right? Imo, Qian Shan Cha Ke’s rendition of The Little Mermaid was even more tragic than the original.