With thirty more minutes before the dreaded parting, Anji witnessed sothing strange. One by one, the children yawned and babbled with bleary eyes. Lady Mang Yuan did not appear surprised by their growing sleepiness. Instead, she rely kissed them on their foreheads and wished them sweet dreams, reassuring them that when they woke up tomorrow morning, it would be another beautiful day, as if they had not been apart for thousands of years.
Puzzled, Anji gaped. It was not until Lady Mang Yuan called her over that Anji ca closer. The great snake spirit draped blankets over her eight children who slept soundly with smiles and drool.
"I had no idea you could drug the tea and snacks in a small world."
Unoffended, Lady Mang Yuan laughed. Her earlier grace disappeared now that there was only Anji who would see her like this.
"I would not call it drugging," she humd. "There is a reason why so of the greatest illusionists would trap others in their small world to siphon energy off their souls and kill them. Such cultivation thods were considered demonic, but for us, it was an effective thod of advancing spiritually."
Oh, yes. Anji montarily forgot that the virtuous great snake spirit before her had once gone down the path of slaughter as a snake demon before her karmic intervention. Thank the heavens she had decided no longer to pursue that path, or they would not be having this conversation.
"Now that the children are asleep, I can finally spend so ti talking to you. As promised, I need to tell you the history about and Bi Yao, the founder of your sect."
Anji took a seat beside the great snake spirit but refused the tea and snacks, wary of them now. Lady Mang Yuan took no offence but found her behaviour adorable.
"Why not after they leave?" Anji asked. "There are still thirty minutes."
Unhurriedly, Lady Mang Yuan took a sip of her freshly brewed tea.
"Because I will be leaving with them. Over the last few days, I had been thinking about it. I’ve finally made my decision."
Decision? Anji had no idea the great snake spirit was mulling over sothing important. However, she was all ears. This must be important enough that she put everyone to sleep.
For the great snake spirit, a few hundred years was nothing to her. However, for human souls, those few hundred years could erase them permanently. Having almost lost those who were considered precious to her, Lady Mang Yuan made her decision.
"I’ve decided to give up becoming a dragon," she confided in Anji. "With the past thousand years of karma I’ve accumulated, I decided that I will be reborn alongside these children. It would be a steep price, but it is sothing I can afford as long as we can be together even in the next life. I will beco human like them, and we will beco a real family."
A real family... Anji looked at the sleeping children. Family did not have to be bound by blood. They might have co from different parents, but they were united by choice. Lady Mang Yuan’s decision was a puzzling one.
"Is there a need to go that far?" she asked. "Blood is not necessarily thicker than water."
Smiling, Lady Mang Yuan tousled the hair of a girl sleeping in her lap.
"It is not always the case. But I’ve always longed for a family of my own. I’ve always envied them, and the loneliness prevented from moving on. I felt it would be selfish to leave them behind when, in reality, my greatest wish was to join them. To live among humans instead of watching over them as a guardian, I long for that. The grandness of a dragon does not suit . I don’t want to be soone revered and respected from a distance. I want to be soone they can argue with, laugh with and be selfish around."
Even if Anji had never lived as Lady Mang Yuan or viewed her mory crystals, she could sohow understand where she was coming from. The desire to belong was normal and considered very human-like. Although she was born as a snake, her heart had beco human after many years living among them. With her accumulated karma, Anji estimated there should be enough for Lady Mang Yuan to pay the toll for all eight souls and herself. Although Anji had no idea what sort of life they would live, she wished them happiness all the sa. They were good people and deserved it.
"Before I leave, there is one last thing I was entrusted. Bi Yao, the founder of the Mystical Qilin Sect, is waiting for you. As promised, I would guard her secret study in the successor trial chamber until the prophesied one from her visions arrived."
According to Lady Mang Yuan, Bi Yao struck a deal with her a long ti ago. Back then, Lady Mang Yuan was the only person stabilising the fallen shrine. She was slowly fading as the only existence left to anchor the remains, and she was destined to die here.
"However, Bi Yao set up an array between rifts and used my body as a sacrifice to keep the border between the spiritual and physical worlds open. I beca an immortal trapped in this space since then. My soul was free to wander, but my desire to watch over my children kept bound. Bi Yao had a vision. She made this special array and sect because she saw the rebirth of a naless legend who had fragnted his soul for humanity. That fragnt would be reborn again and would once more make that decision for humanity. Bi Yao was one of those fragnts. However, she refused to continue that cycle. Her vision was to help the reincarnated fragnts escape that cruel fate and gather the pieces of broken fragnt souls so that one day they could be reborn wholly again. You, Anji, are one of the most completed souls created from those fragnts."
Listening to the great snake spirit and Anji’s conversation, Grandpa Jin felt his heart shake. Previously, he saw the semblance. However, now that it was confird, the Four Mythical Beasts cannot remain unmoved.
Their master was finally back! Or at least, part of him is.
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