Yetao broke the tense silence.
"I'll get the heart by myself," he declared, his voice barely above a whisper yet filled with resolve.
Lucas whipped around, disbelief etched across his features. "Are you crazy? Do you even understand what you're saying?"
Yetao turned to face him, shoulders squared despite his weakened state. "If there is no other way, then I should be the one to do it, Lu." His eyes held a resolute sadness. "I'm responsible for everything that's happened. I must be the one to end it."
"Responsible?" Lucas's hand shot out, gripping Yetao's arm with barely contained fury. "For what? For entering this cursed game? Give me a break!" His voice echoed against the chamber walls. "You can't possibly blame yourself for everything happening around you. You've suffered enough, Taotao."
His grip softened, but his determination didn't waver. "If doing this is what gets us out of the game, then I'll do it."
Yetao's eyes widened in shock, his lips parting without sound.
"Don't worry," Lucas continued with forced confidence. "I know how to perform the elemental cultivation. I learned it in the illusion realm." He glanced away, a hint of color touching his cheeks. "I can complete it without... physical contact."
Confusion flickered across Yetao's face, quickly replaced by determination. "Then teach me. I'll do it myself."
"You can't," Xiong interjected from where he lounged against the window frame, moonlight casting half his face in shadow.
"Why not?" Desperation laced Yetao's question.
Xiong sighed, pushing himself away from the window. "Do you even understand what elemental cultivation is?"
Yetao blinked rapidly, his silence answer enough.
"Listen carefully," Xiong approached, his tone softening slightly. "In elemental cultivation, two cultivators release their energies simultaneously, allowing them to intermingle and neutralize each other. It's a method of purifying one's aura and strengthening one's spiritual core."
He held up one finger. "First issue: your life force is dangerously depleted. His energy would overwhelm and crush you." A second finger joined the first. "Second and more critical: you're half-immortal. Accepting demonic energy in your current state would be equal to accepting death itself."
Stress etched deeper lines into Yetao's already drawn face as the implications sank in.
Barcode and Lucas exchanged startled glances at the revelation.
"Taotao is... an immortal?" Barcode thought. "Is that how he pulled my soul from the illusion? I've always wondered how he accomplished that, when demons are solely destined to destroy, not save." A soft smile curved his lips, pieces of the puzzle finally sliding into place.
"Stop thinking too much," Barcode said aloud, breaking the heavy silence. His expression shifted to one of cunning confidence. "I know the perfect person to retrieve the heart."
The next morning....
Jeff stared at Barcode with an expression caught between horror and disbelief.
"You want me to do what?" His voice cracked on the last word.
Barcode clasped his hands together, unleashing the full power of his pleading gaze. "Gege, please... just this once. Elemental cultivation isn't so difficult for someone of your skill, is it?" He edged closer, voice dropping to a gentle murmur. "Taotao has already lost so much life force in the illusion realm. He's cultivating day and night just to maintain his existence. Don't you think he deserves our help?"
Jeff swallowed hard, sweat beading at his temple. "But that's—"
"You know I might never have seen you again if not for him, right?" Barcode's words struck with precision, lodging directly in Jeff's heart like a well-aimed arrow.
Jeff's protest died in his throat.
"He's already exhausted himself beyond measure," Barcode continued, pressing his advantage. "When there's no other solution, shouldn't we help him obtain the heart? You're skilled in elemental cultivation—he isn't. His only option would be direct contact." Barcode's eyes shimmered with emotion. "How could we force him through something like that after all he's endured?"
Another arrow, another direct hit. Jeff remained silent for a long moment before releasing a defeated sigh.
"Fine," he conceded. "I'll do it."
Barcode's solemn expression instantly transformed into radiant joy. He launched himself at Jeff, wrapping him in a tight embrace and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
"I'll go draw for a while then!" he announced brightly, and darted away, leaving Jeff standing in stunned silence.
"This idiot..." Jeff mumbled, running a hand through his hair as his face became flushed.
Barcode slipped into Xiong's chambers with the stealth of a shadow, flashing a triumphant thumbs-up and a broad smile to the room's occupants.
Yetao, who had reverted to his fox form to conserve what little energy remained, stirred from his slumber. His tiny paws carried him across the silken sheets to where Barcode stood.
Barcode crouched down, and Yetao brushed his tail gently against Barcode's hand—a simple touch conveying profound gratitude. Thank you.
With gentle hands, Barcode scooped up the small fox, cradling him carefully as he rose to his feet.
"I encountered Lord Jackson on my way here," he reported. "He's keeping close watch on the false Yetao. Jeff gege has agreed to approach Lord Bambam tonight."
Xiong exhaled slowly, tension visibly draining from his shoulders. "Then we wait patiently."
After delivering his message, Barcode departed with a respectful nod. Lucas was absent, having gone to prepare spiritual boosters for both Yetao and Xiong—a necessity given their depleted states.
Left alone, Yetao curled into a tight ball on the bed, his small form barely making an impression on the vast expanse of silk. Sadness clouded his bright eyes, the usual sparkle noticeably absent as he lost himself in troubled thoughts.
Xiong observed the little fox from across the room, noting the melancholy that seemed to weigh down even his tiny whiskers. Something deeper than their current state troubled the creature—something that had stolen all joy from his spirit.
Rather than pry, Xiong remained silent, waiting for the right moment to broach whatever shadow haunted Yetao. Some wounds required time before they could be tended to.
The soft glow of afternoon light filtered through the window as Lucas returned with a tray of medicinal herbs. Steam rose from two ceramic bowls, carrying the pungent scent of spiritual remedies.
"Oscar prepared these to help restore Xiong and Taotao's spiritual cores," Lucas announced, setting the tray down on the side table. He cast a disdainful glance toward the door. "I'm certainly not wasting this on an impostor. Here, eat and absorb it well."
He handed one bowl to Xiong, then carefully approached the small fox curled into a tight ball at the edge of the bed. "What's troubling our little kitty, hmm?" Lucas asked softly, scooping Yetao up with one hand while cradling the bowl in the other.
With gentle patience, he coaxed Yetao to drink the medicine drop by drop. Though the fox's energy visibly brightened as the spiritual essence flowed through him, his ears remained drooped, his eyes downcast.
Lucas lifted him to eye level, concern etched across his features. "What's wrong, Taotao?"
The fox avoided his gaze. "I just need some sleep," Yetao murmured, his voice barely audible before he squirmed free and returned to the bed, curling into an even tighter ball than before.
"Leave him be," Xiong advised, setting his own empty bowl aside. "His core has nearly vanished. He needs complete rest to recover even half its former strength."
Lucas watched the sleeping fox with a troubled expression before sighing. "You should rest too. I'll return later."
As he walked through the silent corridors, unease gnawed at him. Something had shifted—Yetao was pulling away, building walls between them. Lucas clenched his fist, trying to silence his mounting anxiety.
"It's alright," he told himself. "Everything will return to normal once we escape this game." The words felt hollow, but he clung to them like a lifeline as he disappeared down the corridor.
Back in the chamber, Xiong glanced at the sleeping fox and shook his head. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate, focusing inward to rebuild his depleted spiritual core.
....
Evening fell, draping the palace in shadow and starlight. Xiong's eyes finally opened as his cultivation session reached completion, his spiritual core now fully restored and humming with power. He stretched, feeling refreshed, and turned his attention to Yetao, who remained curled in the same position, seemingly undisturbed for hours.
Channeling a gentle stream of spiritual energy, Xiong directed it toward the small fox.
The energy enveloped Yetao in a soft golden light, transforming him back to his human form—though he remained stubbornly asleep, or at least pretending to be.
"Hey, vessel boy," Xiong prodded with a mischievous smirk. "Are you moping because you can't perform dual cultivation with your lover?"
The effect was instantaneous. Yetao bolted upright, eyes flashing with indignation. "Don't spout nonsense!" Yetao's face turned red really quick.
"Ah, finally awake!" Xiong's grin widened. "So why the long face?"
Yetao's anger faded as quickly as it had sparked, replaced by the same melancholy that had haunted him all day. He hesitated, wrestling with thoughts too heavy to voice, before finally mustering his courage.
"If... if everything ends here," he began cautiously, "then the events of my second life will never happen, right?"
Understanding dawned in Xiong's eyes. "You're worried about Thio."
Yetao flinched at the name, confirming Xiong's suspicion.
"You fear Thio will cease to exist if your second life never comes to pass?," Xiong continued, his voice gentler now.
Yetao lowered his head, hands clenching the bed sheets so tightly his knuckles turned white. The gesture was answer enough.
Xiong sighed, weighing his words carefully. "Technically, what you fear is correct. If you and your partner don't have under the same circumstances, the soul could be different. Thio, as you know him, might never exist."
The words fell like blades. Tears spilled down Yetao's cheeks, escaping despite his efforts to contain them. "Thio..." His voice cracked, the name itself a prayer and a lament.
Xiong's composure crumbled at the sight of such raw grief. "Hey—don't flood the bedchambers! I said technically this would happen, but not in Thio's case."
Yetao looked up, confusion mingling with desperate hope in his tear-stained face.
"Do you know where Thio's egg is right now?" Xiong asked.
Yetao's expression fell as he realized he hadn't seen it since Thio's birth. Another wave of sadness threatened to overwhelm him.
"Don't look so dejected over everything," Xiong chided. "It's safe with your so-called lover."
Yetao's head snapped up in surprise.
"After you died," Xiong continued, "we went to purify and protect the remaining spiritual energy in the land. That man was already guarding everything as if his life depended on it." His voice softened. "When the elder questioned him, he simply said, 'I want to fulfill Taotao's last words.'"
The memory washed over Yetao—his final moments, his final request: "Take care of Thio well."
"He vowed to protect Thio at all costs," Xiong explained. "He split three-quarters of his own soul and fused it into that pearl, preserving Thio's life essence. You know how an egg retains a fragment of the living soul? His soul now safeguards Thio's. Your son will exist—or reincarnate—even if this world ends. So cease your worrying."
Meanwhile, in another wing of the palace, Bambam gazed thoughtfully at the cracked pearl pendant hanging from his neck. The cracked surface gleamed faintly in the candlelight before he tucked it beneath his robes at the sound of approaching footsteps.
The door slid open to reveal Jeff, his expression tight with uncomfortable determination.
"Bambam... I need your help," Jeff began, his voice strained.
Bambam raised an eyebrow, waiting.
"I... need your heart."
Bambam's face went utterly blank, the silence stretching between them awkwardly.
"Gege, I'm sorry," Bambam finally replied, deadpan. "I like someone else."
Bambam made the situation more awkward.
Jeff nearly lost his composure, frustration flashing across his features before he managed to regain control. "I meant the heart scale," he clarified, running an agitated hand through his hair. "Yetao needs it. He's already obtained Oscar's, but yours... well, the method is unusual. Since I can perform elemental cultivation, I volunteered."
Bambam's fist clenched involuntarily, a thought burning through him. So he visited Oscar immediately upon returning, but not me? A bitter cocktail of hurt and anger surged through him before he forced himself to calm.
This is how it should be, he reminded himself. He should avoid me and return safely to his world. After all, I've been nothing but a plague at his side through two lifetimes.
Unshed tears stung his eyes, but Bambam offered a practiced smile instead. "Fine. Let's do it."
He settled into a meditation position on the floor. Jeff hesitated, noting the sadness lurking behind Bambam's facade, but joined him without comment, focused on his task.
As they both began to manifest their spiritual energy—spheres of light encircling them, tendrils reaching toward one another—the door burst open with a resounding crash.
"Gege!!!" Barcode's urgent voice shattered their concentration.
Jeff's eyes flew open as Barcode rushed forward, seizing his arm. "I'm sorry, but I need you elsewhere immediately," Barcode insisted, already dragging Jeff toward the door. He flashed an apologetic smile at the bewildered Bambam. "Forgive me, Lord Bambam. It's an emergency."
The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Bambam alone in the suddenly silent room. He sighed deeply, shoulders sagging as he rose to his feet and turned toward his bed.
The soft rustle of fabric was his only warning before he realized he was no longer alone. As he turned, a sharp slap connected with his cheek.
"Taotao?" Stunned, Bambam found himself staring into Yetao's face—tear-stained and swollen from hours of crying, yet blazing with determination. Concern immediately overwhelmed his shock, his trembling hands instinctively rising to cup Yetao's face, thumbs brushing away the lingering tears.
Yetao's expression hardened at the sight of those gentle, shaking hands. With a growl of frustration, he grabbed Bambam's upper robes and yanked, nearly tearing the fabric in his urgency to expose what lay beneath.
"Taotao—what—" Bambam's flustered protest died on his lips as the cracked pearl pendant was revealed, gleaming in the moonlight that spilled through the window.
"Why do you hide so much from me?" Yetao demanded, his voice raw with emotion. "If you value my life so greatly, don't you understand I feel the same about yours? Did you think sacrificing yourself would make me happy?"
Bambam closed his eyes tightly, unable to meet that piercing gaze. He deserved this anger, this hatred—it was the rightful consequence of his actions.
The sudden press of soft lips against his own sent a jolt of shock through his entire body. Yetao was kissing him, desperate and fierce. Though everything in him yearned to respond, Bambam forced himself to push Yetao away—he deserved hatred, not affection.
Undeterred, Yetao grabbed his collar, bringing their faces close once more.
"Listen to me," he whispered, his breath warm against Bambam's lips. "I don't want to risk a fifty percent chance with your heart. Let's take the certain path."
The determination in Yetao's eyes burned away the last of Bambam's resistance. As Yetao pressed forward to kiss him again, Bambam finally surrendered, arms wrapping tightly around the smaller man, lifting him off his feet and Yetao wrapped his legs around Bambam's waist.
Their breaths mingled, heartbeats synchronizing as centuries of separation and longing dissolved in the heat between them. Yetao's arms encircled Bambam's neck, holding on as if afraid he might disappear.
Outside, even the moon seemed to blush at their reunion, hiding behind passing clouds as if drawing a veil of privacy around the lovers who had finally, after lifetimes of searching, found their way back to each other's arms.