Rather than waste her spiritual energy on keeping the border to Anyang sealed, Meihua finally relaxed the pink sword as it slid down from the gap, finally opening the border to anyone who wanted to enter.

It wasn’t revenge that Meihua wanted. Despite all the feelings of regret and spite that consumed her, she wasn’t going to stoop so low as to make her last move be one to end everyone’s life. She didn't want Wei to hate her—that would have been true death.

Meihua only hoped that they would go into Anyang, maybe uninfected, and leave Wei be. That was her only wish. And that there were three more people she had to save.

Wei’s pained screams could no longer be heard, but it wasn’t because of the rag that had been shoved into his mouth. So many people had picked up their swords by now and stabbed it through his heart, killing him over and over, that his entire abdomen had been reduced to no more than a bloody pile of gore and slush.

More and more people also missed—no longer able to even detect where Wei's heart, some people stabbed into his stomach, his neck, or his nearly amputated arms and legs.

Yang desperately tried to move his hand and leg toward Yue beside him, but he couldn’t reach her no matter how hard he strained. She was still hanging limply, the massive hole just to the right of her swaying head and blood splattered all over her face.

Amelia wailed and desperately scanned the crowd for a glimpse of me, but she couldn’t find me by the treeline, crouched down and pathetic.

I looked down at my left hand; it had been completely sliced through from my palm down to the space between my middle and ring finger. My fingers hung loosely, barely bending. The wound on my abdomen was no longer bleeding thanks to Gang’s healing, but I could still place my hand into the wound and feel around my own flesh and muscle.

“Gang, you fucker,” I cursed under my breath, glaring at him as he simply seemed to vanish into the nearby surroundings, not any more noticeable than he had been when he was still with the group.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Li, you have to get up.

My blue robes tugged me back onto my feet but couldn’t stop me from stumbling forward as I held onto Zhige, trying to steady myself. Daji’s plan was, of course, to replace Wei, murder all of his people, and get him banished from the heavenly realm.

Although a cure now existed and I had altered the previous storyline, everything seemed to result in the exact same progression. For the self-proclaimed god of fate, I totally fucked up my job. This was an indirect battle between Karma and me, and it was serving as a bad omen for my upcoming fate.

Wei’s injuries would take intensive healing to improve. As a divinity, he still had enough worshippers to survive, and by enough I really only meant his dying and diseased parents, but it wasn’t going to make the process fast or painless.

With a deep breath, Meihua brought the pink sword into her hand and immediately whipped it all around the wall, freeing everyone in my party from their restraints. Amelia screamed but Ailun quickly wrapped his small arms around her, shielding her fall; just to their left, Yang stretched out his arms to catch Yue as he desperately tried to wake her, grabbing her cheek and chin and shaking her head.

Wei, however, remained lifeless on the side. One of his eyes was lying beside his entrails on the ground, already regenerating. It desperately looked around, speaking for a mute Wei. It locked eyes with me for a moment before spinning around, frantic and pitiful.

Meihua? Ailun? Gang? Bai? Help me, it hurts. It hurts.

The eye asked all of those things with an innocent sense of loss.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Li, get up! Meihua is leaving!.You're so lucky that Archangel Michael isn't watching this play out. You'd be on his next hit list.

“Shut up! You don’t think I’m trying to get up?!”

Blue screens were lit up all around me as I was trying to level up whatever stats I could. Physique? Agility? Strength? God damnit, was there anything I could even do?!

Meihua landed on the ground and dust flew all around her. A look of determination had crossed her once-delicate face, and though her lower lip trembled, she looked at me with a kind smile. Her pink lips curled up slightly at the ends, and her eyes closed into thin crescent lines. Her long lashes glistened in the smokey light before she opened those ink colored eyes.

“Thank. You,” she mouthed slowly, “I. Leave. The. Rest. To. You.”

Knowing that Wei would have stopped her if he could, Meihua quickly pried Ailun off of Amelia and ran through the wall, the serpent’s eye clutched close to her body. People, now mostly cured, had already begun to flood into Anyang.

"Move over! Let me in!"

"Thank God! This is what we needed, and that twisted divinity was keeping us from this!"

"We should've stabbed him more times. If it's His Highness, it's deserved!"

My eyes widened with realization. Meihua was headed for Wei’s parents—she planned on curing them with the serpent’s eye before running off to live her life alone with Wei and their family. Entrusting me with Wei’s current body, she knew I would eventually reunite them.

“Amelia!” I shouted, limping toward her as Zhige and my robes still dragged me forward, “Amelia!”

Suddenly, a knee shoved me to the ground and I landed with a shout, dirt and dust coating my tongue. People were still stampeding forward, desperate to finally make it into Anyang, and I was being trampled beneath their feet.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Are you stupid?! Get up! Jia Li, you’re so frustrating to watch! I’m about to tank your ratings even more, but you’re already at 1.8 stars!

“Shut the fuck—!” My face was crushed into the ground once more as I ate dirt. I toggled my ratings and reviews so they wouldn’t pop up constantly, so who did this asshole think he was to bring it up?!

Amelia’s dire wolf came bounding forward as it snarled and snapped in a circle around me, driving everybody back. Amelia was riding on top of it, clutching her bruised and red wrists while trying to wipe the snot off her face before I saw it.

“P-Peijin!” She wailed, trying to grab onto me but deeply frightened by the extent of my injuries. She hovered a foot or two away from me, her hands trembling and held up before her as she wept. “Peij—”

I quickly cut her off. “You can talk to Ailun with ‘Continuous Convoy’ right? You two exchanged your IDs?”

She promptly nodded.

A temporary seed of pride bloomed in my heart. Amelia already got her first contact. She was definitely taking after me, and very well, too!

“Where is Meihua going?” I asked.

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Amelia paused for a moment, navigating through blue screens. Ailun was a master of communication, but he was also cursed with complete social incompetence, so it wasn’t very useful unless he was familiar or friendly with the person on the other end. Even though Ailun could instantly contact me, he was far too frightened to do so.

“They’re going to Wei-shushu’s parents.”

With my suspicions confirmed, I quickly scooped her up in my arms, and a searing pain shot through me. Even though I was the one feeling all of it, Amelia winced from the mere thought of causing me harm and quickly tried to wriggle out of my tight grasp.

I firmly held on. “I’ll get us there quickly," I swore.

“You’re hurting yourself, Peijin!” Amelia protested, looking increasingly distraught as she pulled her arm away from me; my fingers had left red indents on her arm, but Amelia didn’t notice them.

I immediately froze at the sight and guilt flooded through me. She brought the dire wolf beside me, and it quickly threw me onto its back with Amelia as it ran toward Yang and Yue.

With some surprise, Yang didn’t seem scared of Yue anymore. Instead, he seemed scared for her. He was gently cupping the back and side of her head, wrapping a dirtied cloth around her head. Blood had seeped out and covered her head, leaving it caked and a sickening red color.

He looked up at me with a terrified expression, but only for a moment, since he quickly turned back to tending to Yue.

“She’s not responding,” he wheezed, seeming to have sustained injuries to himself as well.

I exhaled sharply and gestured for him to stand. “Huh? She’s too stubborn to die,” I remarked bluntly, losing patience.

Not wanting to argue, he gently lifted her into his arms and got onto the wolf. It seemed to sag from our combined weight before it jolted up again, Amelia sweating bullets from concentration.

She suddenly perked up, grabbing onto my sleeve and shaking it. “Peijin, Ailun is saying that Daji already got to Wei’s parents! She’s intercepted his communication network. Meihua won’t make it there in time because Daji blocked off all seals to the area!”

“Daji got there already?” I exclaimed in alarm, quickly reaching Wei’s mutilated, but surviving, body. But, what about Bai? He was there, too, so there was still hope. Bai wouldn't have let Daji in so easily.

I hopped off the wolf and down to the muddied pool of guts and limbs that greeted me. He was still chained to the wall—more accurately, his feet and hands were still there, but the rest of his body was missing.

I picked up what I thought resembled his head. His lips and mouth were barely visible, but it would have to be good enough.

As I scurried through my bag, I turned around and ordered the rest of the party.

“Buy whatever is left in the Azure Dragon Store and worship Meihua and His Highness. Make it count.”

“It’s all sold out,” Yang quickly called back, looking utterly defeated. His orange eyes had dimmed significantly, and it looked like at any moment, he would descend into some unforeseen emotion.

God damnit. “Chang!” I screamed, pulling out all of the elixirs from the dungeon rounds. I was going to use them all on Wei now—if anyone could stop Daji, it would be him. I wasn’t stupid enough to take on battles I couldn’t win.

I would have to severely skew karma in my favor to do that, and karma would probably only be pleased if I died.

Chang hesitantly appeared before me, clinging onto his tail and rocking back and forth anxiously. “Are you going to blackmail me again?”

“No!” I instantly retorted, “I need something to worship Meihua and His Highness with.”

“I told you earlier. I don’t have anything! You bought it all!”

“...”

Observer ‘Socrates’: Do it, Jia Li.

“Chang, give me your scales.”

“Huh?! No way! These are precious, sacred treasures!” He quickly refuted, his voice shrill and more annoying than usual.

“... Why do you think I’m asking for them? I'm not looking for a souvenir.”

Chang clung onto his tail and pulled it even closer to his body.

I sighed in annoyance before barking, “Yang, get a few of Chang’s scales and offer them to Meihua and His Highness. I’ll pay generously or something.”

Chang shouted in a mixture of protest and anxiety. “No! I seriously won’t fall for your schemes this time, Peijin! There’s a hierarchy, and you’re below me. Know your place, junior!”

Yang’s stormy eyes locked with Chang’s, and his scales immediately stood up.

I was gently pouring the regeneration elixirs into Wei’s mouth, but most of it seemed to spill out since he resembled an anatomical figure in a biology textbook more than an actual human.

The skin around his mouth was missing, and I could see the contours of his facial muscles. But, as more of the elixir made contact with him, it immediately began to heal his wounds as healthy skin returned.

I stared at the sight with incredible interest and intent. I had written about these very same injuries in Surviving My First Run, but seeing them in person was an entirely different experience. I wonder if I were to rewrite this scene, how much better my descriptions could be?

Scathing Reviewer activated!

“Your Highness, when we make it out of this, you’re really going to owe me a lot,” I grumbled, “Do you know how expensive these elixirs are? And here you are, using all of it. Just one man, too!” My voice trembled slightly. I was sure it was the result of my adrenaline.

I unwaveringly poured more of the elixirs into his mouth, and he began to gulp it down greedily as his body seemed to recreate itself. He looked like a feral dog lapping up water for the first time in days.

“Slow down. I’m not taking it from you. If you choke right now, you’ll probably drop dead.”

Wei grabbed onto my hand firmly and pushed it back as he sat up, chugging the elixir as fat, color beads dripped down his face. When his eyes met mine... how could I describe them?

Wei was broken—no, he had been a broken man. He was a man who just realized that he could sacrifice his entire being for those around him, and they would still be cowards. There was no greater monster than his worshippers, and what did that mean for a god so righteous and moral as Wei was?

But, just before him, were people nurturing him. Specifically, a woman who spat cruel words at him and didn't seem to care about him at all if it weren't for the fact she was wiping the elixir off his face with utmost tenderness.

Wei's eyes welled with tears, and I quickly pulled back, unsure of where my sudden attentiveness came from.

Wei's demeanor instantly changed in a moment, as if he was suddenly deeply preoccupied. Getting up, he searched for his sword and wielded it confidently, grabbing onto the hilt with fresh hands.

“Peijin, I’ll properly thank you after,” he said with complete anxiety.

Did Ailun just tell him about his parents and Meihua?

“Wait, let us help you,” I blurted out, “If you’re confronting Daji right now, you’ll need all the help you can get.”

His face twisted into an unreadable expression. His entire sense of morality had just been completely destroyed, yet standing before him was an odd group of people who shared an innate bond but also seemed like they sometimes hated each other. The sight felt familiar to him, but he didn't know any of these people.

Keeping my eyes glued on his face, I added awkwardly, “And you also need a set of clothes, Your Highness.” I was already extending the new white cultivator robes out to him.

Wei didn’t have the energy for any embarrassed reaction as he took the robes from my hand and quickly tied the belt around his thin waist.

I heard Chang yelp behind me and smack Yang firmly on the back of his head—now, Yang was holding two scales in his hands. He quickly whispered into his hands and sent the spiritual offering to Wei and Meihua. Instantly, Wei seemed to grow taller as a glowing aura resembling a halo appeared all around him.

Chang’s scales were technically divine objects as they belonged to an Azure Dragon, one of the four guardian deities of China.

“Peijin, there are no words I can use to thank you enough,” Wei’s voice cracked, and I could’ve sworn I saw tears beneath his fluttering lashes, “But if you hadn’t… if you hadn’t helped me, I think I really would’ve lost it, ha ha ha...

When I was out, for some reason, you appeared in my memories. You had short hair. I don’t know what I saw, Peijin, but I can feel that you’re important to me.”

He paused, and I could only stare at him with a flummoxed expression. His Highness was nothing like Wei, however.... No, it wasn’t time to get side tracked. More importantly, Wei was recalling his current memories.

The tips of my ears were a slight red as I awkwardly tried to thank him, avoiding his gaze and turning to the side. “W-Well, um… it’s just how things should be?”

He spared me a curt smile before, with utmost sincerity, adding onto his previous statement.

“So, I’m really sorry. I hope you all live for a long, long time.”

Wei lifted his sword, and with a clean, horizontal cut, knocked all of us out as the air that curved over the tip of his blade slammed into our throbbing heads.