Li Huowang trembled at Li Sui’s words. He lifted his head again, looking at the figure of Li Sui before him.
After a mont, his trembling hand reached out, finding Shangguan Yuting’s head amidst the tower of heads.
Li Sui had inhabited many different bodies, but this was the one Li Huowang was most familiar with.
He opened his arms and held Shangguan Yuting’s head, trembling as he looked at her delicate face, recalling all the monts they had shared when Li Sui was by his side.
As the face in his mories overlapped with the head before him, Li Huowang’s breath turned a little erratic. He gently hugged his daughter. “Don’t talk nonsense. You’re my daughter.
“I know you’ve changed a lot, but you’re still Li Sui. You might be a little different now, but that’s called growing up. Look at —I’m not the sa Li Huowang I used to be either. People change.”
As Li Huowang finished speaking, all the heads before him began to speak in unison. Their voices overlapped, creating an eerie, resonating echo.
“Li Huowang, stop lying to yourself.
“Li Sui once tried not to possess others. She wanted to remain as Li Sui until you ca back.
“But it’s been 160 years. She knew nothing. All she had was the possessive instinct of a Black Taisui.”
Li Huowang’s breathing quickened, his voice rising in desperation. “No, my daughter isn’t dead! Your na is Xuan Pin, and my na is Xuan Yang! You wear a red Daoist robe, and I wear a red Daoist robe too! You are my daughter!”
Slowly, the heads of Xuan Pin shook in unison. “Li Huowang, I’m not Li Sui anymore. I didn’t tell you until now because I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“160 years is a long ti. Li Sui wanted to live long enough to see you again. But to do that, she had to possess others, using their abilities and mories to survive.
“And when she possessed others, they also possessed her. This was the path she chose.
“She rembered that her father was still up in the heavens, needing Dragon Qi to survive. She had to stay alive until that mont, no matter the cost.”
Black tentacles drilled into Li Huowang’s ears, and images flooded his mind.
It was Li Sui, her back hunched, still bearing Shangguan Yuting's face. Candlelight flickered, casting shadows over the weary and numb side of her face.
“Please, I beg you,” Li Sui said, clad in a red Daoist robe. She kneeled on a cushion and bowed deeply to two white-bearded old n.
The old n were strange, with deford limbs and blind eyes. One of them was even on a basket, carried by a fool with a deford head.
“Are you sure you want this? Our seas of consciousness are vast. If we rge with you, you may cease to exist, becoming nothing more than our vessel.”
Li Sui’s numb expression flickered slightly. She tore off her robe and revealed her hunched back, covered with a mass of human heads.
“I’m not myself anymore. I don’t even know if I’m still Li Sui.”
It had been a long ti since she had fallen from the sky, and a lot had occurred during that ti.
Tears fell from her face. She didn’t want this. She had truly hoped to wait 160 years and return to her father’s embrace, but it hadn’t turned out that way.
“My lord, I’m willing to be your vessel as long as you promise one thing. When my father ascends to the heavens, you must bring enough Dragon Qi to save him.”
As her mories blurred, the past beca harder to recall.
Li Huowang’s situation was her only lingering concern. She feared that if she continued to possess others, she would forget this as well, leaving no one to help her father.
She had to prepare for that possibility, ensuring that she wouldn't forget her mission.
Li Sui thought of many solutions and eventually found one from the Chiefs. It was a win-win.
“Don’t worry, it is our duty as Chiefs. We won’t stand by idly.”
“Also, Zuoqiu Yong will no longer be a problem once we possess you. If she dares to co to the Great Liang, we’ll ensure she never returns.”
Li Sui gradually disintegrated, her form breaking apart as countless tentacles enveloped the two Chiefs before her.
“Please, when you see my father, tell him I miss him dearly. I miss him so much... but I can’t quite rember what he looks like...”
When the Black Taisui’s possession was complete, the red robe was donned, and Li Sui was gone. Now, Xuan Pin stood before Li Huowang.
Li Huowang took a half-step back as the tentacles withdrew from his ears. An overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity washed over him when he looked at the figure before him.
He may have tried to deceive himself before, but the truth was undeniable now. Li Huowang could no longer look away from the reality before him.
The tentacles withdrew from Li Huowang, leaving him standing alone, lost and empty inside.
He wanted to cry, to release all the bitterness within him, but no tears ca out. The overwhelming emotion built in his chest, suffocating him.
After a few monts, Li Huowang’s eyes turned bloodshot. With a trembling voice, he shouted, “Then why couldn’t you just keep pretending? Why?! Why does this always happen to ?!”
Xuan Pin remained calm despite his agitation. “You saw my true form, so it was about ti to tell you.
“Besides, I’m not from the Sitting Oblivion Dao. My acting isn’t that good. You should have noticed the difference between and the Li Sui you knew.”
“Li Huowang, there are so things that you can’t avoid forever. Li Sui is dead.
“Now, there’s only Xuan Pin, the Chief of the Great Liang.”
Veins bulged on Li Huowang’s forehead as he stared at Li Sui. “No… no! You are Li Sui! You must be Li Sui!”
Li Sui’s appearance began to change. The multitude of heads gradually faded away, leaving only the heads of Shangguan Yuting and Bun.
However, with a wave of her tentacles, Xuan Pin quickly reverted to her true form.
“Li Huowang, it’s useless. I’m a Strayed One too. Your cultivation doesn’t work on .”
The broad red Daoist robe drifted slowly over Xuan Pin, enveloping her.
“I once possessed two Chiefs. To be precise, they willingly allowed to possess them. They wanted to rge with my power, and they succeeded.
“The will of those two Chiefs was incredibly strong, overpowering all other influences, including Li Sui. Now, they are who I was, not Li Sui.”
The cold, indifferent Xuan Pin Li Huowang had first encountered stood before him once more. Li Huowang clutched his chest and cried out in anguish.
His daughter was dead. Li Sui was gone.
“Father, can I eat this?
“Father, I’ll help you!
“Father, I’m so scared. Can I stay inside you forever?”
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