So cold… The bone-deep chill reluctantly dragged Yueye’s eyes open…
“Where am I…?” All around her stretched an endless expanse of blue… She seemed to be standing on a broad avenue running through this blue space. Blue crystals lined both sides, leading all the way to a towering palace in the distance…
She slowly got to her feet… A gentle breeze lifted the hem of her thin skirt, exposing a great deal of skin. Yueye instinctively hugged herself, trying to bring some warmth to her freezing body…
“Come in…” The soft, delicate voice seemed to hold a kind of magic. Without thinking, Yueye began walking step by step toward the towering palace…
As the palace gradually filled Yueye’s vision… the enormous blue crystal by the entrance already revealed its name…
“The Land of Inheritance…” The writing on the crystal was unlike anything Yueye had ever seen. Its intricate patterns gave the script a touch of beauty. And yet, strangely enough, Yueye could read it…
With a thousand questions swirling in her mind, Yueye finally pushed open the doors and entered the palace, built entirely of blue crystal.
“Uh…” Yueye had barely taken a step into the main hall when she froze… The sight before her was simply too shocking…
Before her sat two dragons, far larger than the blue dragon Yueye had seen earlier. One was deep blue, the other pale blue. They sat there in silence, staring at Yueye… and making a chill run down her spine.
Just as Yueye was at a loss for what to do, the pale-blue dragon spoke… “Welcome, our inheritor…”
“Huh?” Yueye thought she’d misheard. Her mind had already taken in so many emotions and so much information today that she felt like it was about to short-circuit.
“That’s right… After creating the body you have now, another lord created the two of us… to pass down the Blue Dragon Clan’s inherited memories to this body…”
“I still don’t understand… I know I’m not human, but from what you’re saying, I’m not even simply a blue dragon?” Yueye asked, puzzled. She could more or less guess a few things from what she knew… but now she was certain that some far more powerful being was controlling all of this.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t reveal too much… Just think of us as the inheritance memories left behind by your so-called blue dragon ancestors. These memories will teach you some of this world’s Dragon Clan history and how the Blue Dragon Clan survives. That’s where our mission ends. As for what that one just said, pretend you never heard it…” The pale-blue dragon glared at the deep-blue one, signaling that it had said too much…
As it spoke, the pale-blue dragon walked up to Yueye… and gently tapped her on the head with one claw…
“…Get ready to learn from us… Even though this body doesn’t have its original memories… there are still things every member of the Dragon Clan needs to know.”
“You’ve had a hard time over these past hundred thousand years… The Creator has just been so busy… But they should be able to take it easy soon…” The dragon didn’t finish that last thought aloud. It kept the words to itself. As a being that had been asleep inside Yueye’s body ever since it was created, it could understand some of the Creator’s feelings for the one who owned this body…
“Are you ready?” the two dragons asked together.
“…What about you two? Where will you go after passing on the inheritance?” Yueye hesitated… For just a moment, she thought she’d seen a look of resolve in the dragons’ eyes…
“This is our mission… Don’t worry about us. Just think of us as programs that have already been written. Once we complete the final step, we’ll wither away on our own.” The dragon’s words sounded faintly mournful to Yueye… After all, who wouldn’t feel that way, waking up after a hundred thousand years only to die…
“Ugh…” Yueye didn’t have time to react. Pale-blue light flashed before her eyes… Countless memories poured into her mind. A sudden burst of cold froze her whole body stiff again. The agony brought her to the brink of passing out, making her feel as if she wanted to die… As the two dragons transformed into energy and entered Yueye’s small body, the inheritance drew close to completion.
“Su Lin, you’re a bastard!” In the woods, Liu Huiying wrenched her hand out of Su Lin’s grasp…
“…” Su Lin stopped and, with their back to Liu Huiying, let out a heavy breath…
“I see what you’re all like now! A bunch of cowards who’d rather save your own skins! Trusting you with my life was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made!” Liu Huiying shouted. No one around her dared to meet her eyes.
“If you want to run, then run! Go by yourselves! Leave me out of it!” Liu Huiying ignored Su Lin and turned to walk away.
“She’s already dead. Going back won’t do any good…” Su Lin turned their face slightly. Their cold voice seemed determined to crush every last bit of hope Liu Huiying held on to…
“I don’t care! She’s my sister! I decide what happens to her… How could she just be gone like that…?” Liu Huiying faltered… then sank down helplessly. At Su Lin’s words, her legs felt as if they’d turned to lead. The words coming out of her mouth no longer seemed to match what her body could do…
Su Lin was just as torn. They looked up at the sky helplessly, searching for some way to ease the turmoil inside… only to see a blue dragon glide across the sky, flying away from them…
“All right… Let’s go back and take a look. If she’s still alive… I’ll apologize to her.” Su Lin bit their lip… They finally managed to overcome their fear of death and decided to go back and see…
“Su Lin, have you lost your mind?!” As soon as Su Lin finished speaking, a voice of dissent rose from the group.
Those words didn’t shake Su Lin’s resolve. They’d made up their mind… Their conscience had won out, decisively. Su Lin knew they owed Yueye their life… They all owed Yueye their lives.
“The dragon’s already gone… I don’t know if Yueye’s still alive, but everything she did for us is worth going back for. No matter how badly we wronged her… we have to face what happened. If she’s alive, we bring her back. If she’s dead, we bring back her body!” Their words left no room for argument…
“What do we owe her? Every time we get into trouble, it’s because of her! From crossing the river to that dragon just now—when have we ever gotten into trouble if she wasn’t the one who started it?” Wang Qian argued… Even though she knew who was really at fault, she didn’t want to face Yueye. As far as she was concerned, leaving Yueye behind had been the best choice…
“We owe her our lives. Let’s go…” Du Shengjie had kept quiet the whole way, but now he spoke plainly. His conscience had been battling his fear of death all along, and it had made him miserable…
Du Shengjie took the lead. The other members of the group followed without another word… With the dragon no longer a threat, they chose to face the weight on their consciences… leaving Wang Qian standing there by herself, dumbfounded.
“Idiots, the lot of them.” Watching the others grow smaller in the distance, Wang Qian flared up. She stamped her foot in frustration, then reluctantly followed after them…
