,"Li Feng..." Haoren probed, his voice laden with suspicion.

"..." Meanwhile, Li Feng kept her gaze averted, not answering at all.

"Ha..." Haoren sighed, holding his head in slight frustration before speaking up, "Fine... You don't have to tell me."

"Really?" Li Feng looked towards Haoren, her eyes welling with hope.

"Yes, but I will do the same regarding your inquiry."

"..." Her body instantly stiffened upon hearing this, and as she processed it, she glared at Haoren.

"..." Haoren faced her glare head-on. This was something he didn't wish to back down on.

"...Fine," Li Feng was the first to concede. Seeing this, Haoren relaxed, but it was a momentary relief as Li Feng soon continued, "I'll tell you what I told Xia Fen, so you explain everything to me as well!"

"...A-are you sure?"

Haoren stuttered. He truly did not want to speak of that matter, or rather he was afraid to. After all, if he explained his situation, this daily life that brought him joy and comfort would end.

"..." Without saying anything, Li Feng just held onto Haoren's sleeve as she firmly looked into his eyes, "Please."

It was a single word, yet it was teeming with determination, so much so that it even affected Haoren.

'Should I lie?' Such a thought passed through his mind, but, 'No, I can't continue to be selfish. It is what I "must" do.'

"My ability to navigate through the world despite my lack of vision... It utilizes the method of sensing ethereal remnants of memories and emotions that have been attached to an object... or rather, that's how I used to think it worked."

Haoren smiled bitterly as he took a moment to resolve himself, "In truth... My body constantly absorbs these memories, these echoes of the soul to form this vision... no rather this vision is just a side effect caused by incomplete subconscious absorption. This 'ability' of mine... It doesn't just sense them but completely absorbs them. I am sure you also realized that your memories regarding certain events had been... wiped out. The cause of that memory loss was the sudden 'outburst' I had. I had eaten away at a part of your memories as well as a part of your soul."

"..." Silence. That was Li Feng's response, but again, it's not unusual.

"A soul is resilient yet a fragile thing. Once damage accumulates, there will be no saving it."

"..." Silence again, but the understanding of the concept of the soul is quite uncommon here, so it's understandable.

"This realm lacks in terms of soul-healing elixirs or treasures."

This is true. Even I barely managed to procure a single such elixir with reasonable potency.

"..."

"My very existence is a threat to your life... no, to your existence, for once your soul perishes, there shall be no reincarnation nor any afterlife."

"..." Death is scary. So, of course, her response was silence. That's right. This is how it should be.

"It is... better that you leave..." The words came out with much greater difficulty than expected, 'Ah... Yeah, that's right. This is how it should be... This is how—'

"No."

"...?" Bafflement. That was the first reaction.

"I won't leave."

"Did you listen to anything I just said?" Disbelief. That was the secondary response.

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"And do you think I care?!"

"Well, you should!" Anger. How can she still say this after I resolved myself? Such a train of thought brought anger.

"Why should I?!"

"YOU...!!"

"WHAT?!"

"Hmph! DO WHAT YOU WANT!" Joy. What was felt was joy. Relief brought about by the fact that he will not be abandoned, accompanied by a wild beating of his heart.

"I WILL!"

.

...

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...

Abomination.

That word was how "Haoren" would describe himself.

A cursed birth to an accursed being.

Abandoned by even his own birth mother.

But of course, the abomination did not blame its 'parents' after all, who would wish to keep such an abomination close?

However, if there was one thing he did not understand, it was why they did not just "end" the abomination upon its birth.

But, with time, it understood the reason why it was not killed upon birth. Karma— His parents did not wish to taint their own hands with ill-fated karma by killing their own kin.

Moreover, they were afraid of the abomination, the calamity in the shape of a human.

Immeasurable immortal desolation.

An immense cloud of dark mist flowing mindlessly across the myriad realms. Whatever is touched by this evil abomination nears its end; land grows barren, skies turn gray, and even lifeless corpses turn brittle and become mere dust.

The abomination understood their reasons and simply did not yearn for acceptance from its parents. After all, that was simply a nonsensical wish.

A wish that somehow did come true in a way.

In this world, there was someone who cared for such an abomination.

Gongsun Jiang... his master... she was always kind. She did hold some apprehension towards the kind of being the abomination was, but did not let that affect her judgment or love for it.

This was true acceptance, not the deluded foolishness of an idiot who thinks that everyone is good, but someone who knows evil and can still see the good despite all that.

Even though he was an accursed abomination, Haoren truly cherished his master.

So, he wished to return the pain the world had inflicted upon his master tenfold back to the accursed world.

To rip apart those who wronged her, those who brought her to her deathbed, and bring ruin upon all that those 'evil' people held dear.

But he couldn't.

Why?

He was bound.

"Ren'er, don't bother with vengeance."

She did not let him.

"What kind of master... no, what kind of parent would I be if I let my dear child dirty his hands for me~"

Even while wilting, the flower was still incomparably more beautiful than the barren lands.

And when it all turned to dust, when nothing was left of that brilliant flower...

A sin was committed.

Not out of its own will, but the abomination committed the greatest sin and was punished 'justly' for it.

The echoes of the flower's soul were devoured by the filthy abomination. To even not let it rest in death... to desecrate the dead. Even if it had happened without its will and only due to its innate nature, a sin was committed.

And a fitting judgment was served.

"Aaaarrrghhh!!"

The filthy abomination screamed as it relived the anguish of its loved one.

'How could the world be so bereft of warmth?'

It wondered, being unable to face her sorrowful remembrances.

'Why? Even though they are the same human?'

It could not accept this. The abomination that never sought acceptance nor understanding for the first time felt wronged.

For the first time, it truly felt blinded by its own self and lost within the cold, dark world.

'Such a race... does it even deserve to exist?'

As its rage began to settle, he questioned. Not seeing any good within the race known as humanity.

'A race that would even wrong its own young... No, even the young aren't free of sins. I of all understand it best... Evil even within the young heart...'

And yet it couldn't do anything.

It was bound by her words. Itt would not take revenge. It would not stray from its path. It would not dirty his hands.

And thus, all that was left within the abomination was cold hatred.

And the unresolvable hatred brought anguish.

Yet, it did not harm others. Not because it was righteous but because it was a bound beast.

...Till one day, when it could no longer stand it.

It could not die as its master wished for it to live. It could not live as the constant anguish was worse than any torture it could receive.

And so it made a choice. One that would end its anguish yet let it live.

To kill a part of itself.

Destroy part of its soul and replace it with the memory echoes of others to forget the hardships its only family went through.

How it reached such a conclusion, it... didn't truly understand it either.

Yet, a miracle happened.

"That's right. It was you."

Me?

"That's right, you murderous filth."

You can be a bit kinder with your words.

"To think a fiend like you would be my saviour. Haa... what has the world come to?"

You can be a bit more grateful, you know?

"Why? Why should I be grateful to you who killed me, just like how you killed all those innocent souls?"

Shut up, you abomination.

"Since we'll be gone soon enough, let me ask you something."

...

"Did you truly not feel anything as you tormented and killed your own kind? As you took the lives of the innocent?"

Shut up, you monster.

"Ah... I guess it was a foolish question. Joy. You felt joy, didn't you? You monster."

...

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

...

And with that I woke up.