The intersection was still in a clamorous uproar.
The gasps of pedestrians, the honking of car horns, and the hurried murmurs of conversation interwove, painting the final trace that the shifty, rat-faced man left upon this world.
“Another death. Another jaywalker. How many has it been this month?”
“Exactly. These young people are always in such a rush, not caring about traffic rules at all. Now look what happened—he lost his life.”
“I don't know about that. Maybe there's some dirty thing at work. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?”
“Let me tell you, the very first person who died at this intersection had a horrible death. Not a single piece of him was intact. It's incredibly ominous.”
The onlookers offered all kinds of sighs and speculations regarding the accident.
The breath had already left the man lying in the pool of blood, while the Foetal Feeder suspended from the traffic light crossbar hung in silence, quietly waiting for its next prey.
Rather than lamenting the transience of life and death over a living person dying just like that, Bai Ci thought somewhat cold-bloodedly that she was more regretful of the terrible timing of his death.
A crucial clue had been severed completely.
From the depths of her consciousness came Ming Yi's subdued voice. “Hand control of the body back to me for now.”
“I need to investigate this man's background.”
Hearing this, Bai Ci nodded subconsciously, even though the gesture had no practical meaning for two souls sharing one body.
She pushed down the stray thoughts in her heart and asked, “Is this person the reincarnation of our former enemy?”
“Our.” Bai Ci deliberately used this word to place herself within the circle of Ming Yi's trusted allies.
Her consciousness fell silent for a moment before Ming Yi's voice slowly drifted out, deep and laced with an inexplicable, distorted emotion.
“You still have the memories of when we were killed back then, don't you?”
“Yes,” Bai Ci answered cleanly. This was part of the persona she had established during her initial responses, and she hadn't forgotten it.
Besides, why shouldn't text-based memories count as memories?
Who could say she didn't know what had happened back then?
“I have a general recollection of it...”
Bai Ci's voice softened. However, the drawback of a text-based, highly summarized version of memories was obvious—it could not evoke any genuine empathy.
After all, she was his benevolent soul in name. If she coldly stated that she felt absolutely nothing, it would be stomping all over his sincerity.
If even his benevolent soul—a split soul that was part of himself—could not understand his pain, Bai Ci felt that from Ming Yi's perspective, it would feel as suffocating as being betrayed.
But her acting skills weren't polished enough to fully convey those emotions through her voice, so she decided to speak a bit of truth.
Moreover, she truly felt quite sorry. She was not his real other half, so she could not completely empathize with him.
As she replied, her tone carried a trace of genuine guilt and apology.
“I'm sorry, Ming Yi. My feelings regarding those memories are very hazy.”
“I only saw what happened back then, but I can't feel the pain you endured. Leaving you to bear those emotions alone, letting you be trapped in that dark past by yourself... I feel like I've failed you.”
Upon hearing these words, Ming Yi fell into a daze deep within her consciousness.
What was Ming Ci?
She was an existence to whom he had given half of his name, his inseparable other half.
She was the benevolent soul born from his divine soul. She shared his memories, yet she alone had been spared of all his negative pain and suffering.
He had always been keenly aware of this injustice.
Yet he had never harbored any negative feelings because of this unfairness. He was by no means a good-tempered ghost, which made this truly remarkable.
Hearing her unusual apology, the hostility and anger swirling within his divine soul seemed to plunge into warm water.
It was a perfectly comfortable temperature, a water that could embrace everything, causing those heavy emotions to slowly melt away bit by bit.
The hatred that had just surged up from a century-old grudge—the heavy darkness and violence accumulated over hundreds of years in the depths of his heart—quietly loosened at her apology.
Ming Yi silently felt this pure acceptance and gentleness. For the first time, a completely new, unprecedented realization dawned in his heart.
So this was what a benevolent soul was.
Free of evil, devoid of resentment, and untainted by hostility, she could contain all his darkness and heal all his scars.
An extremely faint, fleeting thought quietly sprouted.
If he were to completely devour this benevolent soul and merge with it like other Ghost Immortals, would he be able to entirely strip away all his pain and resentment, attaining true, eternal peace?
But the moment this thought arose, he immediately cast it aside.
That was too cruel, and far too despicable.
He did not want to replicate his own suffering onto this sole benevolent soul that he had nurtured.
Bai Ci had no idea how many twists and turns Ming Yi's thoughts were taking deep in her consciousness. She only knew that after she spoke those words, a brief silence fell over her mind.
Soon, the silence vanished. A very soft chuckle echoed in her mind, stripped of all its coldness and sharp edges, carrying a rare, faint trace of warmth.
“It matters not.”
“That you have never experienced it is your good fortune.”
Ming Yi's voice was gentle yet firm, carrying a protectiveness unique to him.
“Though you were born of me, the purpose of your existence should not be to retrace my old steps. You shouldn't be born bearing blood feuds and soaked in agony. If that were the case, it would be far too pitiful.”
Without giving Bai Ci a chance to speak further, he cleanly brought the topic to an end and pulled his thoughts back to the business at hand. His tone grew serious once more.
“That man was the reincarnation of the bandit leader from back then.”
“No... the aura on him is so strong that it almost makes me think that the man never died at all, but somehow managed to cling to life for hundreds of years.”
“Yet his soul is indeed young, showing no signs of senility.”
Bai Ci listened, utterly bewildered.
She had still read too few books. Her understanding of these mystical matters—ghosts, spirits, reincarnation, and the like—was superficial at best. She couldn't comprehend the subtle differences, nor could she grasp the possible entanglements involved.
Thus, after a brief moment of thought, she decided that if she couldn't understand it, she simply wouldn't think about it. She might as well set her mind at ease, leave everything entirely to Ming Yi, and just ask him for the results later.
Sometimes, the process wasn't that important.
For example, you only need to know how to use a phone; you don't necessarily have to know how to build one yourself.
Having adjusted her mindset, Bai Ci resolved to take a back seat and leave everything to him. Yet at that moment, a very practical question suddenly occurred to her.
How was she supposed to return control of the body to Ming Yi?
She had no idea how.
Rate on N.U.
