Chapter 1461: I Owe You
Yun Che took a small step back, trembling with fear: "This junior won't disturb your reunion. I'll... I'll just wait outside."
Before he finished speaking, Yun Che had already flashed away with lightning speed, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Jie Yuan did not seal him off. Hong'er blinked her eyes repeatedly, glanced at Jie Yuan, and surprisingly didn't chase after him.
"Big sister, who are you?" Hong'er asked with great curiosity. "Master seems very afraid of you. Also, your body... gives off a very, very strange feeling. It's like... like... hmm..."
She suddenly turned her head and said somewhat inexplicably to You'er: "You'er, am I right?"
"..." You'er's lips parted slightly, but her gaze was fixed on the direction Yun Che had fled.
Jie Yuan smiled, her expression and eyes completely devoid of any trace of the dark gloom and ferocity from before, replaced only by a softness that even she found hard to believe: "Your name is... Hong'er?"
"Exactly!" Hong'er's brows curved: "Master gave me that name! Oh, and You'er's name was also given by Master. Both are super cute, right... Ah! I have to go after Master now! Off I go!"
With that, her body spun around in a "swoosh," her red hair flying, ready to chase after him—after all, she had never left Yun Che's side before.
Jie Yuan quickly reached out and grabbed Hong'er's small hand: "Hong'er, stay with me... and You'er for a while longer, alright?"
"Huh?" Hong'er looked at her, then at You'er, hesitating: "But Master suddenly ran off. I can't leave Master's side."
Looking at Hong'er, Jie Yuan's brows twitched slightly at that moment, and she murmured softly: "A Star God's... Soul Fate Star Shift?"
"Soul Fate Star Shift? What's that? Big sister, the things you say are so strange." Hong'er's face showed confusion: "Is that big sister's name?"
"You don't know?" Jie Yuan was slightly startled.
"Of course not! Such an ugly name, I wouldn't want to know it." As she spoke, Hong'er turned her head again to glance in the direction Yun Che had run off, her expression growing increasingly uneasy.
Although only a dozen or so breaths had passed since she left Yun Che, she was already very unaccustomed to it.
"Hong'er, you... really like that boy?" Jie Yuan asked.
"Big sister is asking about Master? Of course I do!" When asked this question, Hong'er's eyes lit up brilliantly.
"But he used a Star God's Soul Fate Star Shift technique to hijack your life and soul, forcing you to depend on him, to live and die with him, and never leave his side. Don't you... hate him for that at all?"
Hearing Jie Yuan's words, Hong'er's eyes widened. She stared at Jie Yuan for a long time before saying with great confusion: "Big sister, your words are so strange. Master is the best person in the world to Hong'er... although sometimes he's really annoying too, but I never want to leave Master!"
Jie Yuan: "..."
"Being away from Master for so long feels really weird." Hong'er kept looking back: "I'm going after Master now. Bye-bye, big sister."
With that, she transformed into a streak of vermillion light and vanished instantly into the darkness.
This time, Jie Yuan didn't stop her. Her hand lingered in midair, her expression indescribably complex.
Before her, You'er was also looking in the direction Yun Che had left. Her emotional expression was very faint, but Jie Yuan could see at a glance that it was a feeling of reluctance.
Her hand dropped. In the darkness, she closed her eyes, sensing her daughter's presence. In the depths of her soul, every moment, turbulent waves of chaos surged.
All the people, the loved ones, the hated ones, the clan members, the enemies... all dead.
That era had long since ended. Everything had turned to dust, and even the entire chaos had undergone drastic changes.
Only... our home, our daughter, still remains in this world.
She placed her hand over her heart, and in her eyes, a warm current she had never known trembled... In her chest and soul, the resentment and hatred that had accumulated for millions of years had actually vanished—completely vanished. She couldn't even feel a trace of it herself.
I once thought that hatred was etched into my bones, that I would never forget even a fraction of it until death. It turns out it was so insignificant and fragile.
Everything is gone, leaving only our star, our daughter...
What else do I have to resent? What else do I have to hate?
...
At the edge of Jueyun Cliff, Yun Che leaped out, landing on the ground by the cliff. He panted several times, then reached up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
What must come will come!
My own daughter has become someone else's contracted sword... Any parent would go crazy!
And Hong'er is the daughter of Jie Tian Mo Di and Xie Shen, for crying out loud!
Thinking back to the look in Jie Yuan's eyes when she murmured the word "Master," Yun Che shuddered violently... Too impulsive! Too impulsive! I should have prepared enough buffer and groundwork before telling her! Or maybe I should have figured out a way to break the "contract" first. Now things are going to be terrible.
The goodwill I just built up might turn negative in no time!
While Yun Che's heart was filled with anxiety, a flash of red light appeared before him. Hong'er had "swoosh" returned to his side, her red eyes wide open as she glared at him angrily.
Yun Che, who was about to sit down, sprang up as if his backside had hit a spring. He was about to speak when Hong'er said angrily: "Master! Why did you run off and leave Hong'er behind!"
"Uh..." This question was hard for Yun Che to answer. He stammered: "That big sister... oh no, that auntie, didn't you feel very close to her? So I thought you could play with her a little longer."
"Liar!" Hong'er grew even angrier: "From now on, you can't just run off and leave me behind! That feeling is really bad, you know! If you do it again, I'll... I'll..."
She thought for a while but couldn't come up with any way to threaten him. She stomped her foot hard and fumed: "I won't talk to you until the next meal!"
"Hmph! I'm going to sleep!"
Without waiting for Yun Che to say a single word in response, she transformed into a vermillion sword light and returned to Yun Che's body, leaving him standing there dumbfounded.
What's... going on now?
Just as he was barely collecting himself, the scenery before Yun Che suddenly darkened, and Jie Yuan's voice appeared.
She stood directly in front of Yun Che, her eyes fixed on him, a dark light flickering in her pupils.
"Senior." Yun Che's body instinctively shrank back as he braced himself.
Not seeing Hong'er, evidently because Yun Che had "retracted" her, a trace of deep disappointment flashed across Jie Yuan's face. She said coldly: "You actually used 'Soul Fate Star Shift' to hijack my daughter!"
"Ah?" Yun Che was startled: "Soul Fate Star Shift? What's that?"
The surprise and confusion that naturally showed on Yun Che's face couldn't be faked. Jie Yuan's brows twitched: "You don't know?"
Yun Che shook his head.
"Hmph!" Jie Yuan said coldly: "Soul Fate Star Shift is a technique that hijacks fate and soul, originating from the power of the Star Gods! Each Star God can only use it once in their lifetime. Once successfully applied, the recipient will forever become an attachment of another person, living and dying with them!"
"It is an extremely cruel contract! It can be applied to any living being and is incredibly overbearing. Even a true god cannot undo it!"
"..." Yun Che stood there dumbfounded.
Back on the Primordial Mystic Ark, when he "acquired" Hong'er, he had followed Mo Li's guidance to complete the master-servant contract with her. At the time, he had found it particularly strange because such a contract, as far as he knew, could only be used on profound beasts, and Hong'er, though a very bizarre "species," was by no means a profound beast, was she?
But it had succeeded.
Hong'er had never cared about this contract, nor had she ever thought of leaving him. Every day, she ate and slept by his side, perfectly content. She probably wouldn't leave even if chased away. It felt like the contract made little difference.
Instead, it added a very strange restriction...
That is, as the master, he couldn't dissolve it even if he wanted to. Just like back in the Star God Realm, when he was about to die, he couldn't even make Hong'er leave; he could only let her die with him.
As a contract, this was a very peculiar and tyrannical aspect.
Recalling the scene back then, Jie Yuan's words, and the many oddities of this "contract," Yun Che's heart suddenly tightened.
Could it be that back then, Mo Li...
Seeing Yun Che's constantly changing expression, Jie Yuan furrowed her brows and said: "Hmph, it seems you've recalled something. Soul Fate Star Shift can only be performed by Star Gods. You can't not know which mortal inheriting the Star God's power it was!"
"..." Yun Che would never speak of Mo Li.
"And since it only comes from a mortal who inherited the power of a Star God, undoing it would be quite easy!"
Jie Yuan said this with unusual harshness, but then she said something that surprised Yun Che greatly: "But it seems there's no need."
Yun Che momentarily doubted his hearing: "Senior, what do you mean?"
Jie Yuan glanced at him, her gaze complicated: "I can see that you treat Hong'er well. Otherwise, she wouldn't cling to you to such an extent."
Yun Che: "..."
"You'er also likes you very much. When you left, her reluctance lasted for a very long time." Jie Yuan sighed softly: "It seems you often come here to visit her."
The shift in Jie Yuan's tone greatly relieved Yun Che's heart. He said slowly: "Hong'er is my most important companion. It's only right that I treat her well. As for You'er... she saved my life back then. Taking care of her is only natural."
Looking down at the dark abyss beneath her feet, Jie Yuan's gaze flickered slightly. She suddenly said softly: "This... I owe you."
Yun Che's eyes widened, and he quickly waved his hands: "Senior, this junior is deeply indebted to the Evil God. These are all..."
"I said I owe you, so I owe you!" Jie Yuan's voice suddenly turned several degrees harder. Then, she abruptly changed the subject: "Yun Che, tell me... should I re-fuse their souls?"
Without thinking, Yun Che directly shook his head: "Senior, although Hong'er and You'er were created from the split of your daughter, at the moment of the split, her memories all scattered and her past completely disappeared. Now, Hong'er is a complete existence. She likes and enjoys everything about her current life. As for You'er, though she is only an incomplete remnant soul, she has her own personality and memories over the years... even if they are bad memories."
Jie Yuan: "..."
"So, whether it's Hong'er or You'er, regardless of their state, they have long since become two different, independent existences. If they were fused, while it would create a complete 'daughter,' it would also mean... erasing Hong'er and You'er, making them disappear forever."
"Therefore, I don't agree. I think Hong'er and You'er would not want that either."
A mountain breeze blew, stirring Jie Yuan's tattered gray robes. She looked into the distance and said softly: "You're right. I'll just think of this as heaven's compensation, giving me an extra daughter."