[Seven Days Later, the World of the Living, Karakura Town]
The afternoon sunlight carried just the right amount of warmth as it lazily spilled across the roof tiles.
Shihoin Yoruichi, transformed into a black cat, was comfortably stretching her body. Every strand of her jet-black fur seemed to be enjoying this moment of peace.
"Ah! The World of the Living really is better," she narrowed her golden cat eyes and let out a satisfied sigh, "Days like this, carefree and easy, are so comfortable they make you want to doze off."
However, this leisure lasted less than a second.
Before her words had even fully faded, her lazy cat face instantly tensed, and all the fur on her body stood on end with a sharp rustle.
She suddenly twisted her head, her golden pupils shrinking into thin vertical slits, staring straight at the empty air beside her.
Buzz!
Space let out a teeth-grinding wail, as if it were being forcibly torn apart by an invisible blade.
Immediately after, a deep, rotating black crack appeared out of thin air less than half a meter away from her.
"A Garganta?"
Yoruichi instantly entered a combat stance, her agile body lowering, muscles taut.
Even if a Gillian appeared, she could kill it in an instant.
Hollows from Hueco Mundo occasionally invaded the World of the Living, and Gargantas opening was nothing unusual, but this was the first time a Garganta had opened right in her face.
This was not normal. This was very not normal.
Even though she had concealed her presence, with just the innate danger sense of Hollows alone, there was no reason for a Garganta to open right beside her.
Under her highly alert gaze, something drenched in blood, barely recognizable as human, was spat out of the Garganta like discarded trash and slammed heavily onto the rooftop in front of her.
Yoruichi could even sense that beyond that pitch-black crack, there was a woman's gaze, carrying malicious and mocking amusement, lingering on her for an instant.
The target was her.
Just as she was about to move, the Garganta let out another buzz and snapped shut cleanly.
No enemy appeared, not even a single taunt.
It was as if the other party had gone to great lengths to come to the World of the Living, run right up to her, just to throw a piece of trash in her face.
'Wait, that trash looks like a Shinigami?'
Shihoin Yoruichi's expression changed slightly. With a light push of her four paws, she rushed toward the blood-soaked mass.
When she saw the still somewhat recognizable face, Yoruichi's pupils shrank violently.
A mix of shock, panic, and disbelief instantly seized her.
"Sui Feng?"
Shihoin Yoruichi instantly transformed back into her human form and appeared in front of Sui Feng.
Sui Feng's condition could only be described as miserable beyond recognition.
Every inch of exposed skin was abnormal. Either it bore all kinds of humiliating injuries, or it carried a bizarre sense of misalignment.
As far as Yoruichi knew, Sui Feng was absolutely not someone who was thin but disproportionately endowed, yet at this moment that part of her was even larger than Yoruichi's, which was clearly unnatural.
Moreover, Yoruichi could sense traces of spirit particles having been altered and pieced together there. Simply put, spirit particles from other parts had been used to supplement that area.
It was not just there. Below the lower back, there had also been alterations.
Only, the injuries below the waist were even more severe. Both leg bones were completely broken, forcibly fixed into a full split position.
From top to bottom, Sui Feng looked like a shattered doll, arbitrarily pieced together and toyed with.
"Are you stupid? Why did you go to Las Noches? Why did you cooperate with Las Noches?"
Seeing Sui Feng's state, Yoruichi pressed her lips together and could not help shouting out.
She had not been out of contact.
Because of Shiba Kukaku over the past two years, her communication with Soul Society had actually become much more frequent, and she knew about the things Sui Feng had done.
She had already felt a bit guilty that Sui Feng had betrayed Soul Society just to find her. Now, seeing Sui Feng in this state, she found it completely unbearable.
She did not even need to think to know that it had to be because Sui Feng wanted to find her that she was willing to suffer such humiliation, crawling here on her last breath just to reach her.
"Shi.. hoin... Yorui... chi…"
Sui Feng was not dead yet, but she was down to her last breath.
Looking at Yoruichi before her, Sui Feng's expression was incomparably complex.
These seven days had been a nightmare unlike anything she had ever experienced.
She had thought that bodily pain and humiliation were things she could already ignore.
But in the end, Rosse and Candice had taught her a lesson.
Now, aside from barely clinging to one last breath, her body had completely lost all sensation. Even uttering a single word took tremendous effort.
"You're so stupid... stop talking! I'll do everything I can to heal you. I'll go find Urahara Kisuke right now and have him come treat you."
Yoruichi took a deep breath and was about to go find help. Even though the person Sui Feng had called in nearly destroyed Soul Society, she still could not bring herself to stand by and watch her die.
What was more, Sui Feng was already miserable enough.
But she had no means of treatment herself, and did not dare move Sui Feng recklessly, so she could only go find Urahara Kisuke.
"I…"
Sui Feng knew what state she was in. She did not think she could survive. She had not even thought about exposing Rosse's identity.
Compared to what she needed to say, Rosse's identity was not worth mentioning.
"What do you want to say?"
Yoruichi also sensed that Sui Feng's life force was rapidly fading. Sui Feng had only been hanging on to one last breath to come see her.
Now that she had seen her, that breath was dispersing.
Yoruichi suppressed her grief and leaned closer to Sui Feng so she could hear more clearly.
"I don't blame you… Yoruichi-sama…"
Sui Feng's voice was very light, but every word was clear.
As the last word fell, Sui Feng's vitality completely dissipated, her body turning into an ice-cold corpse.
"Sui Feng! AAAAHHHHH!"
Yoruichi clenched her fists tightly and let out a cry of unbearable grief.
She could never have imagined that Sui Feng had endured such pain just to come before her, only to say this single sentence.
Yet this sentence was devastating to her.
Some people die, and even though their final moments are filled with pain, they ultimately find release.
Some people live, and even if there was joy before, all that remains afterward is sorrow.
If she had known it would turn out like this, she would have taken Sui Feng away back then. She would not have let her stray down the wrong path, nor would she have allowed her to end up in such a tragic state.
Yoruichi wept, wailed, raged. But none of those emotions were of any use.
She could only vent her feelings, yet do nothing.
She did not have the power to storm Las Noches for revenge, nor the ability to reverse time and change fate. All she could do was pour out her pain and sorrow.
And just as she was engulfed in such grief, a mocking female voice suddenly reached her ears, "Oh right, from the very first day she was favored, this woman kept calling your name, you know. Also, this woman never betrayed Soul Society. You were just the ones who treated her as a traitor. Tsk! Tsk! You Shinigami can't even catch the right spy. You're really utterly useless."
These words, spoken by Candice, were transmitted word for word into Yoruichi's ears, causing her emotions to collapse even further.
She desperately wanted to find Candice and kill her, but no matter how she searched, she could not locate Candice's position.
All she could do was engrave those words deeply into her heart, sinking into even greater grief.
If Sui Feng had not been a spy at all, if she had been wronged from the very beginning, then what did everything she had suffered amount to?
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.