One day later, at the Sea Realm—Sea Reef.
Fu Jianzhou stood on the reef, quietly playing West Xia's Flute, the lodious notes drifting far, far away.
This piece, "The Last Tribe," was desolate and lonely.
The more you listened, the more it made your heart ache.
Not far behind him on the beach, a creature resembling both a peacock and a luan bird slept on a grass mat woven from Heaven-Returning Wood Branches.
Its entire plumage was gray, with only the faintest trace of deep blue.
By now, the Sorrow Seabird's external wounds had long since healed.
Yet it still slept, eyes closed.
No one knew what kind of long, grueling battle it had endured before Du Yu t it.
And even in its dreams, the Sorrow Seabird could find no peace.
Around its body, wind elents would gather from ti to ti, ruffling Li ngnan and Lin Shiwei's clothes.
The junior sisters were dragged here by Du Yu as laborers.
Including Fu Jianzhou, as well as his Demon Pet·Heaven Returning Wood Mo.
Lush Heaven-Returning Wood Branches were spread across the beach, releasing glowing green motes, continuously nourishing the Sorrow Seabird, body and soul.
"Mmm." Li ngnan knelt beside the Sorrow Seabird's broad wing, one hand covering her mouth and nose, the other smoothing the long gray feathers.
The sudden gusts left her gasping, dark hair dancing in the wind.
A kind-hearted girl indeed couldn't bear to see a demon beast suffer.
Li ngnan's eyes were full of distress, yet she didn't know how to help this pitiable creature.
In its sleep, the Sorrow Seabird's huge body would occasionally twitch, as if fighting an enemy in a dream?
Lin Shiwei silently knelt in front of the patterned bird head, gently stroking its crown.
Accompanied by the mournful and forlorn notes of the flute, Lin Shiwei gazed out into the distance, and saw far off on the sea's surface the drifting Celestial Cyan Porcelain.
At this mont, Du Yu lay fast asleep atop the Celestial Cyan Porcelain's back.
"Eh?" Li ngnan gave a soft gasp—did the gray feather in her hand just pull back?
At the sa mont, Lin Shiwei also sensed sothing amiss ahead.
The beautiful patterned bird head stirred lightly.
Two huge eyes slowly opened, gray irises full of confusion.
"Careful." Lin Shiwei reached out with both hands, supporting the beak.
But the Sorrow Seabird paid the girl no mind, turning its head toward the shore's reef, following the sound of the flute.
"Du Yu! Du Yu?" Li ngnan stood up, calling loudly.
Seeing Du Yu unresponsive, she absentmindedly sent out a white crow.
"Hmm?" At the Celestial Cyan Porcelain's prompting, Du Yu rubbed his eyes and groggily opened them.
Du Yu didn't know why he felt so exhausted.
Strictly speaking, after drifting at sea for days, he'd experienced no major battles.
He hadn't expected he'd sleep so deeply.
"Caw~" The snow-white crow landed on Du Yu's chest.
"Pop!" The crow burst open.
In an instant, Li ngnan was kneeling on Du Yu's chest, hurriedly lowering her head: "Du Yu, Du Yu! The Sorrow Seabird is awake, go check on it!"
"Ah!" Du Yu roused himself, patting Li ngnan's knee.
The girl instantly leapt up, Du Yu close behind her.
In his sight, the Sorrow Seabird was staring blankly toward Fu Jianzhou, listening to those forlorn notes.
"You're awake." Du Yu flew to the bird's head and spoke.
The Sorrow Seabird gradually ca back to itself.
It slowly folded in its gray wings, looked at the leaf-laden ground glowing with green light, and at the quiet Heaven Returning Wood standing nearby.
Only then did the Sorrow Seabird look up at the floating Du Yu in front of it.
"Are you all right?" Du Yu cautiously drifted closer, hovering before its eyes, releasing a tendril of Demon Soul.
"So, this isn't a dream." The Sorrow Seabird's voice was low, not bright and piercing as its cry would be.
To Du Yu and Celestial Cyan Porcelain, they had indeed rescued the Sorrow Seabird.
But to the Sorrow Seabird…
Drained by endless battles, even its mind muddled, it likely took the sudden appearance of the human and Dragon Turtle for so dying hallucination.
The Sorrow Seabird's voice was male, very hoarse, like a man sunken in sadness.
"It's not a dream. You're still alive," Du Yu spoke, transmitting his intent.
"Alive, hmm." The Sorrow Seabird's scarlet talons dug into the ground as it stood up.
Its long, flowing wings drifted on the wind elent's current.
With such a slender build, such gracefully lovely form—yet it was a male bird.
"Alive." The Sorrow Seabird turned to gaze at the ocean, again ignoring the nearby Ancient Demon Saint Celestial Cyan Porcelain. "Perhaps."
It was clear—it truly cared for nothing at all.
Du Yu slowly lifted higher, his face darkening a little.
Since their Demon Souls were linked, he could feel the Sorrow Seabird's lost and sorrowful heart.
But Du Yu misunderstood, and explained: "You truly are alive. This is my world—an exotic world."
"Yes, perhaps I'm still alive." The Sorrow Seabird's gaze was unfocused, silently facing the sea.
Alive in an endless struggle.
Alive in the expectation of dead kin.
Alive in a destiny repeating through the ages.
Alive in a dream forever out of reach, only to be yearned for.
Alive beneath a curse.
"Sorrow Sea, don't be like this." Sensing the Sorrow Seabird's swelling emotions, Du Yu gently tried to comfort it.
"You call Sorrow Sea?" The Sorrow Seabird looked quietly out at the ocean, and in its vacant eyes, a bitter trace appeared.
Du Yu asked, "Then what is your na?"
"Just call Sorrow Sea. It fits well enough." The Sorrow Seabird replied indifferently. "Why did you save ?"
Du Yu: "I…uh, I simply couldn't bear to watch you die."
Sorrow Seabird: "That is my destiny; it is the end I deserve.
My life has reached its limit, and my struggle should end here.
My tribe and I should vanish in the sea, vanish from this world forever."
Du Yu's expression turned complicated. He opened his mouth, but no words ca.
This demon beast, all it longed for was death.
Even knowing of its fate and obsession, Du Yu still found it hard to imagine what a life the Sorrow Seabird had led.
The violent storm at sea last night—maybe that was the epito of its long life.
It must be made clear: The Sorrow Seabird is an Earth Level Demon Beast, not a Demon Saint.
Celestial Cyan Porcelain had helped identify it last night.
After thinking it over, Du Yu broke the silence: "So, you an you're the last of your tribe."
Sorrow Seabird: "Yes, just as that human described."
Following Sorrow Sea's gaze, Du Yu saw Fu Jianzhou lost in his playing of the West Xia's Flute.
Indeed, emotions run through all living things.
Or perhaps the piece, "The Last Tribe," was too well matched to the Sorrow Seabird's heart.
Du Yu let out a soft sigh: "You must be lonely."
"That's my choice."
Du Yu: "Hm? What?"
Sorrow Sea: "A hundred years ago, I still had kin beside , and a chance to carry our line."
Du Yu startled: "Then you…"
"Why did I do it?" Sorrow Sea turned its head a little, looking out once more over the boundless ocean.
Du Yu's face grew mournful. Beneath the Demon Soul, he understood already.
Sorrow Sea's voice rasped: "I was cursed. My kin as well.
My offspring would be bound to the sa fate—forever fighting the sea, day and night, never at peace.
This battle is not only a conviction, it's written in our blood.
I can't escape it. Neither can my descendants."
Du Yu slowly drifted forward, softly stroking the Sorrow Seabird's down. "Fifty years ago, you saved a young man of the Human Race. He was..."
The Sorrow Seabird interrupted Du Yu's intent: "Perhaps. My mind is filled only with the sea. I rember little now."
Du Yu had never before felt the sense of destiny so vividly.
The Sorrow Seabird wasn't just saying it.
Through the Demon Soul's truth, its long life had contained nothing but the sea.
Sorrow Seabird: "So, you ca and saved because of him?"
"That wasn't it. I ant, your life still has other…" Du Yu stopped, falling silent.
Never had his words felt so feeble.
After a while, Du Yu looked toward the distant reef: "Through that old man, I confird your location."
Sorrow Sea was deeply spiritual: "You seek for the sake of that tree?"
Du Yu: "Mm…it's called Shatang. It's lived for centuries. Like you, its mories have grown indistinct.
But it still recalls your kin, centuries ago, perching on its branches.
Perhaps your kind was simply too beautiful. Or your habits, too unique."
Sorrow Sea: "So, what do you want from ?"
Du Yu spoke softly: "I just hope your presence will cheer the Shatang Tree a little, let it see an old friend again.
At least, the kinsman of an old friend."
Sorrow Sea lowered his lids in silence, murmuring, "A beautiful wish."
Du Yu summoned his courage, trying to persuade him: "Since you believe it's a curse, why not try to break it?
Centuries ago, one of your ancestors flew inland and founded a new lineage.
No longer trying to fill the sea, but settling for filling rivers and lakes instead."
Sorrow Sea: "It's too late. My life already nears its end."
Sorrow Sea's eyes shifted, landing on the youth before him.
His voice was hoarse, tinged with release: "In another life, perhaps."
Du Yu squeezed the down beneath his eyes: "Rather than fight the sea, you can fight fate, fight your nature!
It's never too late to change!
You're alive—as long as you live, there's hope!"
Sorrow Sea: "Am I still alive?"
Du Yu nodded firmly: "Of course. Rest a while longer and you'll regain your primordial energy!
I have Sea Dragon Candle, Leaf Cocoon—I know so many healing demon skills.
All those old wounds you've gathered over the years, I can heal them completely!
You are a true Demon Emperor—you can live for a very long ti yet."
"Perhaps. Perhaps I'm still alive." The Sorrow Seabird looked at the human youth, grief filling its eyes. "Or perhaps, I've already died."
Du Yu: "You…"
The Sorrow Seabird gently spread its wings, slowly shut its eyes, feeling the sea breeze passing over it.
Through those healed wounds, beneath the gray feathers now stripped of blue, the wind caressed a heart battered beyond asure.
Perhaps I already died long ago.
Died in the cold, bitter waves.
Died in shattered, futile dreams.
Died beneath an inescapable fate.
Died as one by one my kin vanished, swallowed by the sea.
Died in mory.
...
There will be another chapter tonight.
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