In that moment, as Wang watched Jie gradually materialize before him — her form still slightly translucent, the shape of a soul slowly coalescing into something real — he froze.
Then, in the very next instant, acting almost entirely on instinct, he reached out with his senses to examine the existence in front of him.
It has to be the Sui Beast. That bastard is trying to deceive me, using this form to blind me. That innately wicked creature…
…Then why does the soul in front of me carry absolutely no trace of the Sui Beast whatsoever?
Wang went completely still. A wave of genuine, unguarded bewilderment washed over him.
Through his senses, he could perceive it with perfect clarity — the Jie standing before him had nearly severed her connection to the Sui Beast entirely. Not just the absence of the Sui Beast's fabrication. This didn't even feel like one of the Beast's Agents.
In an instant, he turned his head toward Anthony, the words leaving his mouth before he'd consciously decided to speak.
"This is… also something you did…"
"You can at least confirm now that this isn't an illusion the Sui Beast created for you. Right?"
Anthony had his arms folded across his chest, continuing to feed Points into the process — keeping Jie's brief manifestation sustained — as he kept talking.
"And it hasn't been that long since the Sui Beast last took serious damage, has it? Does it really have the capacity to pull something like this off right in front of you?"
"As for her current situation… in a certain sense, she truly has little to do with the Sui Beast anymore."
Anthony said it plainly. Wang listened — and then fell into a silence deeper than any he'd held before.
Even he could not deny it. Everything Anthony had just said was, in all likelihood, the truth.
It was the only explanation that held together logically.
Which means… the soul gathering itself before me right now is genuinely Jie?!
Watching from where he stood, Anthony saw Wang's expression shift — once, twice, three times in rapid succession. He watched it, and quietly let out a breath of relief.
Good. We've cleared that hurdle.
In truth, Anthony had already formed a hypothesis about this situation some time ago.
From the very beginning, he had maintained absolute trust in the chat group. But while he'd been fishing a while back, the thought had surfaced — what exactly was Jie's situation?
When an Agent died, in principle, their concept returned to the Sui Beast and was gradually forgotten by the world. Theoretically speaking, Jie had already passed through the process of "death" — meaning she should have already been reclaimed by the Sui Beast's side.
And yet her soul had been pulled back. And according to Jie's own account, it was her complete soul.
Furthermore, since arriving in Dayan, Anthony had watched carefully for any sign that Jie's soul resurrection had triggered some reaction in the Sui Beast. By all logic, if her concept had already returned to the Sui Beast and her soul was then pulled back out — there should have been some kind of ripple. And there had been none.
So, in keeping with his absolute trust in the chat group, Anthony had made a bold assumption.
Jie — resurrected as a soul from death — had very likely severed her ties to the Sui Beast to some meaningful degree. She was no longer simply a pure Agent.
And if anyone could recognize that change on sight, it was Wang. Which meant Wang would be able to confirm, beyond doubt, that the Jie in front of him was not some fabrication of the Sui Beast.
As it turned out, his hypothesis had not been wrong.
Anthony glanced back at Wang — who was now watching with an expression that could only be described as deeply, painfully expectant — and the corner of his mouth curved into a small smile. Then he opened the chat group.
Wang's situation is handled. But my own business isn't quite finished yet.
He had never, not once in his life, claimed to be the forgiving type. Nor did he make any effort to conceal his love of a good petty payback.
This is exactly the kind of moment where you settle scores. Someone just killed me. If I don't at least get to watch the aftermath bite them back…
…then what exactly was I dying for?
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: @Wordsmith of the Great Yan — oh, right. Your soul's perception of your surroundings has been completely dormant this whole time, so you probably have no idea what's been happening in Dayan lately, do you?]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Mm. That's correct.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Would you… like to get caught up a little?]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Why do I get the feeling that whoever is typing this has absolutely nothing good brewing behind that question?]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Don't say it like that… But, thank you. I do want to know. It's been such a long time — what's happened while I was gone?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Honestly not that different from before. Dayan is still revolving around the work of eliminating Sui. More or less the same as ever.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: It's just… your second brother. He's planning to walk into Sui's Mausoleum alone and go all-in against the Sui Beast in a fight to the death.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: ?!]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: He's probably not going to bring it up with you himself. He did cause quite the scene with the family over it, and right now he's being kept under watch in an old temple as part of someone else's scheme. So when you see him, don't be startled by the situation — there isn't much time, so there's no need to waste any of it on minor details like that.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: …That man. Still going off and doing things like this without a word to anyone.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: I can feel my soul's perception sharpening into focus. Going offline now — I'll go give him a piece of my mind immediately.]
An instant later, Jie's avatar went dark.
After a brief pause, Carmen was the one who finally spoke.
[AAA City Female Ghost: Why does this feel less like information sharing and more like someone quietly filing a behind-the-scenes report?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: What are you talking about? What do you mean, quietly filing a report behind the scenes?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: I have always filed my reports openly and with full transparency.]
[Sinseoki Era Warrior of Frieren: Just joined this group — the bar seems a little low around here.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Don't complain. I'll start a livestream. Tell me you won't watch.]
[Sinseoki Era Warrior of Frieren: Starting it. I'll watch.]
[Strictest Father of the Demon King: Is this… a normal daily activity for everyone here?]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Just landed at the airport. Heading to Morioh. What were you all talking about just now?]
[Let Night City Burn: Uh — Mr. Jonathan, you might want to sit this one out.]
[Member · Lord of the White Holy Throne has started a livestream.]
In the next instant, Anthony opened the livestream and aimed it at the scene unfolding before him.
And through the livestream feed, what the group saw was this: Jie's features fully solidifying. Her eyelids fluttered — just once — and then she opened her eyes.
She looked at Wang. And on her face, she wore a smile — quiet, familiar, the kind that Wang recognized in his very bones.
It was enough to stop him completely in his tracks.
"Jie…"
He reached out toward her instinctively — and then heard the sound of Jie's soft, helpless sigh.
"Second Brother. I'm right here. You don't need to keep saying my name."
She wore a gentle smile, though her tone carried the faintest undercurrent of exasperation. "But I don't have much time, and moments of consciousness like this are rare. So let's not waste it."
Wang snapped his head up, eyes locking onto Jie's face. At last, as though something had finally cracked through, his expression wavered — the tightly held composure giving way for just a moment as something vast and turbulent moved beneath the surface of his chest.
But before he could open his mouth, Jie spoke first — her voice quiet, unhurried, with an unmistakable undercurrent of purpose.
"So… I'll just say it directly."
"Second Brother. Are you planning to go into Sui's Mausoleum again? To shoulder the entire burden of eliminating Sui all by yourself?"
Jie fixed her gaze on Wang's eyes and asked, without blinking.
Wang: "..."
Wang had the distinct sensation that he might have broken out in a cold sweat.
Wait. This isn't how it was supposed to go.
This isn't how any of this was supposed to go.
____
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