I screamed and wrapped my arms around Meihua’s long neck as wind violently whipped all around us, causing everyone's robes to lash into their skin. Meihua seemed surprised and gasped for air from my tight grip but didn’t say a word.

The grip of the pink sword relaxed around us as it slowly retracted, and I slammed against the cold, tiled floor with a surprised cry. On the other hand, Wei and Meihua landed elegantly just beside me.

Two men, one wearing brown robes and the other red, raced over and immediately supported Wei. The man with brown robes had a short and dark brown bun while the other had a long black ponytail that reached his waist.

These two were Lin Bai and Tian Gang: Wei’s loyal friends, servants, and divinities themselves.

“Your Highness!” They both shouted in unison, immediately noticing the blood that spotted his only pure-white robes.

Wei cleared his throat and did his best to stand up properly. But his knees still trembled despite his feeble attempts at hiding it. “Where’s Mom and Dad? What’s happening?”

“The Zhou have invaded, Your Highness. We’re holding them back to the best of our abilities, but it’s a complete mess there,” Bai, the one with the shorter hair, declared.

Lin Bai was the more extroverted of the two men. Having known Wei since childhood and having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, it was easier to defend and relate to Wei.

Wei’s face twisted into a look of confusion at Bai’s comment. “Are my temples and shrines in Anyang just collateral damage to their attack? I’m worshiped in Zhou just as much as I am in the Shang Dynasty.”

“Your temples?” began Gang, a flash of emotion crossing his typically bored face. “Your Highness, what do you mean? Anyang hasn’t been invaded.”

Ironically, Gang and Bai weren’t… on the best of terms. Since Gang was taken in by Wei after having been orphaned, there was always a strange power dynamic within the trio.

Wei, however, spotted none of this.

At Gang’s confused question, I was about to shoot a judgemental look at Ailun for poorly reporting the situation before I remembered that Amelia had taken a liking to him. I let out an annoyed sigh and blew a strand of hair out of my face.

To my side, Meihua was on the ground, treating a completely exhausted Yue. Well, it looked like Yue didn’t really need one of the potions I got from the dungeon rooms. Better to save it.

“My temples are being burnt down in Anyang,” Wei sighed, his breath still shaky and coming as quick pants. “What did Emperor Di Xin say?”

Emperor Di Xin was the ruler of the Shang Dynasty of which Wei and his family resided; however, Wei’s father was the prince of Anyang. Wei was still considered royalty and grew up with privilege before he ascended to the heavenly realm, but he was by no means snobbish.

Bai interjected, “Emperor Di Xin is quickly retaliating with the help of Daji.”

“Forget about him, then,” Wei warned, taking a few steps to the table and sitting down, “Daji is the one burning down my temples. If Emperor Di Xin tries to enter Anyang, hold him back. Make sure he never enters. The same goes for Daji.”

“Your Highness, you want us to keep the Emperor and Daji out?” Tian Gang clarified, brushing a loose strand of hair out of his face.

Wei nodded, lowering his head onto his two hands while letting out a deep sigh at the table. “Yes. Just trust me on this.”

Daji and Emperor Di Xin were intimately familiar with one another, but both slowly became known for their cruelty. Daji kept it hidden far better, however, and still managed to build up countless worshippers and ascend into the heavenly realm.*

That being said, she was still less popular than Wei for the times she did slip up and for her association with such a tyrannical ruler.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Gah, did you have to make this sooo political? Can I fast forward? Where’s Chang at?

As the conversation continued, Socrates sent another annoyed message—even though he’d willingly read all of this in Surviving my First Run. Maybe Feiyu made it more interesting.

Observer ‘Socrates’: I’m actually going crazy. Why were you a nerd when you were younger? You still failed the college entrance exam anyway.

…

An older woman wearing a bun and countless hairpins peeked her head into the room and suddenly darted forward, leaping at Wei and tightly wrapping her arms around him. Her chest heaved with every shaky breath—fat tears glistened along her lash line before they fell down her sloping, flushed cheeks.

“Wei…!” She quickly choked up before pressing a kiss on his forehead. “My son, look at you! How could this happen? I’ll bring in a change of clothes immediately.”

I rolled my eyes at the cheesy sight and kneeled down beside Yue, poking her cheek with my index finger and causing her to scowl at me angrily.

“I’m alright, Mom,” Wei said softly, looking guilty for making his mom cry. “Make sure you and Dad are safe. We’ll have to deal with the Zhou and Daji now.”

Wei’s two guards quickly updated her on the situation as they began brainstorming what to do. Meihua sighed, still tending to Peijin’s World Dominion.

After a few moments, Meihua turned over and looked at me. Her hesitation was rather apparent, and even though she was far superior than I, her nervousness was apparent.

I quickly shook my head and slapped my cheek. This was just a ghost. A ghost that really should’ve pursued acting.

“Peijin, if I may ask,” Meihua began, her large, light brown eyes blinking at me, “How much do you know about all this? Is the future set? Our futures?”

My chest swelled at the almost genuine sparkle in her eyes. This was indeed a very convincing ghost. It would’ve done very well in a CDrama.

“It’s not set, but I don’t know much, either,” I tried to say convincingly, “I only know what I have to change.”

“Then are we on the right track?” she asked politely, her hands folded on her knees.

“Having Bai and Gang here is different from the future I foresaw. We shouldn’t stay at the palace for too long, though. It’ll be invaded soon.”

Yang stared silently at the badly beaten Yue, chewing on his lower lip with worry before he rested his chin on his knees.

Yang: But, Peijin, how do we actually get out of this room?

Peijin: Wei needs to awaken.

Yang: So remember his past? Can’t you just tell him?

Peijin: It’s more… more complicated than that. He’ll begin slipping up and misremembering things the longer we stay here. If we dump it on him, he’ll go crazy and probably kill one of us.

I could feel Yang’s gentle stare bearing into me from my side. Ignoring it, I continued to prod Yue’s face with my finger.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Suddenly, she whipped her head around and bit my finger.

Hard.

I yelped and quickly jumped back as she glared at me with murderous intent.

“Can you not fucking poke me?! I’m an injured woman!”

“I’m trying to wake you up!” I lied.

Meihua gave both of us an intimidating smile, and we quickly stopped our bickering.

She stood up and gently brushed off her skirt as she turned toward Wei. “Then, Peijin, let’s leave for a different temple in Anyang. I’m sure His Highness will want to bring his parents, though, if he knows his childhood home will be invaded soon.”

I cocked my head. “He’ll leave so simply?”

She gave me a cheeky smile. “If I ask nicely enough, he’ll comply. Besides, I’d like to believe we both trust you a bit more than we did earlier,” she whispered softly before adjusting the gold and pink flowers in her hair. “You all get a good rest tonight. We’ll leave in the morning.”

I quickly slapped my flushed cheeks to get back on track.

Yue croaked out, “Can we each get our own rooms?”

After being treated by Meihua, Yue seemed much better already. She gently rolled her wrist, worked out the kinks, and slowly sat up.

Meihua let out a small, “Mhm.”

Yue’s arms shot up into the air like a cheer as she fell back, virtually passing out from relief at that very moment. After Meihua’s delicate care, it was obvious that Yue would make a full recovery physically.

She was probably pissed off like hell, though. Yue always was.

“Yang, can you help me bring everyone to a room? It’s getting a bit late.” My arms were hooked under Yue’s as I lifted her up, throwing her over my pointy shoulder. I wasn’t used to having long hair, and it quickly covered my entire face.

Observer ‘Socrates’: You look like the girl from that one horror movie. The Ring, I think.

Yang quickly gestured over at Amelia who had been eavesdropping in on the entire conversation. Before he could say anything, Amelia quickly commented, “I want to sleep in the same room as Peijin.”

We awkwardly stood for a moment before I shrugged, gesturing for Amelia to follow behind me.

Groggily, Yue lifted her fist and punched it against my back. “No way… I want to room with Peijin so I can finally kill her in her sleep…”

“Ha ha… you have a really funny sense of humor, Yue,” I laughed awkwardly, jerking her body harshly and causing her stomach to hit my jutting shoulder.

Amelia tugged on my blue robe, and it quickly pulled back before flapping at her in a scolding manner. “Can Sidang come, too?” Amelia asked, pouting and giving me very obvious puppy eyes.

Who taught her to be so manipulative?

“No,” I answered, “Wei probably needs to talk to Ailun.”

“But Sidang is scared of the dark.”

“... Are we just having a group sleepover now? Why don’t you just invite everyone, Amelia? Let’s all just sleep on the floor together.”

Amelia’s entire face lit up as she jumped up and down. “Can we? I’ve never been in such a pretty house!”

“...”

I pursed my lips and let out a sigh. “That’s because this is a palace for a Prince.”

My eyes met Yang’s pleadingly, but he merely shrugged before saying, “Amelia, I think that’s a great idea.”

Pushover.

“Fine, go ask His Highness,” I waved my hand in the air and dismissed her as I walked up the stairs with Yue in tow.

Soon after, to my surprise, Wei and Meihua had both agreed. Both of them continued speaking to Wei’s Mom, Dad, Bai, and Gang, but a few hours later, the two of them slunk into the shared room.

The rest of us were already deep asleep. It must have been days since the last time any of us slept, but time was already so convoluted that it was difficult to determine how long we’d been trapped in this arc for.

All of us were splayed on the floor of a massive guest room. It looked much more like a high school sleepover than anything with dozens of blankets and pillows strewn all over the ground.

Wei and Meihua strode in, having changed into a new set of robes but still looking ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

“Your Highness,” Meihua whispered, gently tip-toeing around the room and looking at everyone, “Are you sure everything will be fine?”

Wei turned away for a moment, looking down sweetly at the sleeping Ailun. “There’s no use worrying over it right now. Let’s get a good rest first. Who knows when we’ll be able to sleep peacefully again.”

In an elegant movement, Meihua kneeled down just beside Ailun and Amelia. Both of the kids were clinging tightly to my abdomen, Amelia’s mouth open as she drooled.

“We need to protect the kids first,” Meihua whispered, pulling up the blanket to better cover them. The back of her fingers grace against Ailun’s forehead, brushing back loose strands of hair that had fallen. A delicate smile graced her soft face.

Wei knelt down beside her and sighed, leaning his head on her shoulder before pouting. “You know I’m going to take care of them…” he whined, “Shouldn’t you be taking care of me more? I feel so neglected…”

Meihua chuckled and brought her hand up to playfully rub and smack his cheek before she stood up, grabbed a large blanket and pillows, and the two of them soon joined the rest of the party.

After a few moments, a blue notification appeared.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Li, Jia Li, are you up?

No response.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Liiiiiiiiiiiiii

…

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Li, someone is in the room.

A tall, dark, and lanky figure lurked in the corner of the room. Occasional bright yellow sparks burst out of its skin.

It took a heavy step forward, and sparks exploded from its feet.

Divinity ‘Spirit of the Jade Moon’ is covering her mouth in horror.

Real spiritual energy—not the ghosts’ fabricated one—oozed out of the figure.

Divinity ‘The One Who Fights in Front’ cannot comprehend what she’s seeing!

All observers are shouting for Chang!

All gods are shouting for Chang!

While walking past Wei, the figure seemed to slow for just a moment, its head turning to face him, before it walked forward once more, heading straight for Peijin.

It finally reached Peijin, cocking its head just over hers. It loomed over her sleeping body before it seemed like thousands of sparks erupted from its body from Karma’s anger.

[Gah, what is it now? I swear, it’s always Peijin that makes me work overtim—]

Chang complained, scratching the back of his spiny head before he froze, his scales standing up. His eyes widened at the sight of the figure, and he swallowed loudly. A hiccup tore through his small body, but he quickly tried to quiet down by putting his clawed hands over his mouth.

The figure jerked its head up toward Chang before freezing, its glowing eyes staring straight at him.

BEGINNING COMPLETE INTEGRATION OF ALL 'Peijin's World Dominion' PARTY MEMBERS.

Karmic sparks erupted all over the room, practically blinding Chang with their abundance. But even still, Peijin’s party seemed completely untouched by the light, the figure blocking them.

The amount of spiritual energy required to smother a karmic flurry like that was unimaginable. It was an ocean’s worth of spiritual energy.

[W-Wait! What are you doing?]

Chang frantically pulled up his blue screen and his claws tapped against hundreds of buttons in what seemed like seconds, but nothing changed.

1%... 8..% 39%... 50%... 78%... 99%...

Another being that looked identical to Peijin seemed to flash in the corner just for a moment. Its eyes were wide and furious as it glared straight at the dark figure before vanishing.

[Wait! Stop!]

Chang desperately cried out, hiding behind a pillar instead of confronting the mysterious figure.

[Who are you?!]

At the last moment, a band wrapped around Chang’s body and gagged him, dragging him straight toward the figure.

DESCENT COMPLETE.