parentshiftbook Chapter 6: The Living Dead After Four Years, Sunflowers in the Abyss
Chapter 6: The Living Dead After Four Years, Sunflowers in the Abyss
Deep within the Assassin's Temple, in an absolutely secret chamber where the sun never rises.
Seven-year-old Cai'er lay quietly on a bed of ancient ice that exuded a chilling aura.
Her eyes were tightly closed, her breathing was so weak it was almost stopped, and her once fair skin now had a lifeless, ashen look.
There is no sense of touch, no sensation, and even the most basic conditioned reflexes of the muscles are completely lost.
If it weren't for the extremely faint rise and fall of her chest, she would be no different from a cold corpse at this moment.
"Squeak—"
The heavy stone door was pushed open, and three figures walked in quietly.
It was her great-grandfather Sheng Yue, and Cai'er's parents, Sheng Lingxin and Lan Yanyu.
Looking at her daughter lying on the ice bed like a "living dead," Lan Yanyu's eyes instantly reddened, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
She reached out her trembling hand, wanting to touch Cai'er's cold little face, but stopped in mid-air.
"My Cai'er... she's only seven years old! This is like falling into an endless hell. How scared and desperate she must be in this endless darkness..." Lan Yanyu covered her mouth, suppressing her desperate sobs.
Holy Spirit stood beside his wife, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh, his eyes filled with pain and struggle.
"What's the use of crying? Wipe your tears away!"
Saint Moon snorted coldly, her majestic face unwavering, like a block of ice that had never melted. "This is the destiny of the Saintess of Reincarnation! For the rise of the Assassin's Temple, for humanity's survival in this dark age, this is the price she must pay! Even if it's ten thousand times more painful, she must endure it!"
Lan Yanyu trembled and leaned against her husband's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Does it hurt? Of course it hurts, that's flesh that she lost after ten months of pregnancy.
However, if time could be reversed and the couple were given another chance to choose, for the greater good of humanity and for the glory of their family, they would still harden their hearts and send three-year-old Cai'er down this path of sacrifice where life is worse than death.
This is the tragedy and cruelty of the Temple Alliance's higher-ups.
Unbeknownst to them, at this moment, within Cai'er's spiritual sea, the girl's spiritual body was coldly observing everything that was happening in the outside world.
Hearing her parents' weeping and her great-grandfather's coldness, Cai'er felt no ripples in her heart, only endless mockery.
hypocritical.
Since you can sacrifice her without hesitation for the so-called "greater good," why shed these cheap tears now?
From the moment she lost her sense of touch and was trapped in this body, the "home" outside was completely dead to her.
"Have you seen enough? If you have, it's time to train."
Bai Ye's gentle voice rang out from behind, instantly dispelling the gloom in Cai'er's heart.
Cai'er turned around, and her previously icy face instantly blossomed into an extremely rare, even somewhat dependent, radiant smile.
"Yes! I'm ready, Brother Baiye!"
……
If the locked room in reality is a maddening hell, then the spiritual sea where Bai Ye resides is Cai'er's only Eden in this world.
The trial of losing sensation and touch is the longest and most torturous of the six realms of reincarnation. It lasts for a full four years.
For over 1,400 days and nights, a normal person, even a mentally strong adult, would go completely insane and die within three months if locked in a "black box" without any sensory feedback.
But Cai'er survived and, under Bai Ye's tutelage, underwent a true transformation.
The first year was a painful process of forced growth, a process of rebuilding.
Although the damage inflicted on the spiritual body in the simulated training arena does not manifest in the physical body, the pain and exhaustion that strikes the soul are far more unbearable than the tearing of the body.
Cai'er's spirit was torn apart countless times by the high-level demons simulated by Bai Ye, and she rolled on the ground in pain countless times, on the verge of collapse.
But each time, just when she thought she was about to completely dissipate, Bai Ye would use his warm and powerful divine sense to piece her shattered soul back together little by little, gently soothing her fear.
Cai'er gradually understood that Bai Ye's strictness towards her was to give her the means to survive; while Bai Ye's gentleness towards her was the only pure emotion in the world that was not mixed with any self-interest.
The second year marked a qualitative shift from cooperation to absolute trust.
Byakuya began to teach her the true "Death Codex" step by step.
In the sea of spirit, Bai Ye would embrace her from behind, hold her small hand, and correct every angle at which she swung the dagger.
"Death's slaughter is not a savage hacking, but a stripping away in accordance with the laws of nature." Bai Ye's chin rested gently on Cai'er's head, his voice deep and magnetic. "Feel the pulse of the soul, and then sever it."
Through daily, close guidance, Cai'er's wariness of Bai Ye completely melted away.
She began to resemble a sunflower growing in an abyss, frantically absorbing the light and warmth given by the white night.
She no longer fights for humanity, nor for revenge; her sole motivation for wielding the dagger is to earn a compliment from Bai Ye.
The third year is the pinnacle of honing the art of killing.
Cai'er's spiritual body has grown into the appearance of a ten-year-old girl.
Her gaze grew increasingly profound, and her demeanor increasingly icy, yet when she looked at Bai Ye, there was always an unyielding passion and infatuation hidden within.
She began to fight simulated fourth- and even fifth-tier demons one-on-one in the training ground.
She danced on the edge of a knife like an elegant ghost, wielding the power of death taught to her by Bai Ye with unparalleled skill.
Even if her spiritual body is pierced by the demons, she won't even flinch; she will only use the most ruthless methods to shatter the enemy's soul.
The fourth year is also the final year of deprivation of sensation and touch.
Inside the training grounds of the Sea of Spirit.
Eleven-year-old Cai'er, dressed in a black outfit, wielded the Grim Reaper's Scythe, which transformed into a dark crescent moon, instantly severing the head of a simulated eighth-tier demon lord.
Amidst the dissipating light and shadow, Cai'er turned around and lightly leaped into Bai Ye's arms, nuzzling his chest like a kitten eager for praise.
"Bai Ye, I won. A fifth-tier demon, and I only needed three moves." The girl's voice was clear and melodious, filled with undisguised pride.
Bai Ye smiled and ruffled her long hair, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.
Over the past four years, he has watched helplessly as this scarred little hedgehog has transformed into a deadly weapon capable of killing gods.
Her understanding of the laws of death even surpassed that of all the geniuses Bai Ye had ever seen.
"You did very well, Cai'er," Bai Ye said softly, his gaze piercing through the sea of consciousness to the cold, secret room outside. "Get ready, the long night is about to end. Your body... is about to awaken."
Upon hearing this, Cai'er's body stiffened slightly.
She raised her head, and a hint of morbid resistance flashed in her clear, cold eyes.
I don't want to wake up.
Cai'er clung tightly to Bai Ye's arm, her strength astonishing, as if afraid he would suddenly disappear. "The outside world is too cold, and those people are too hypocritical. I just want to stay in the Sea of Spirit, with only you, okay?"
Bai Ye was slightly taken aback.
Looking into the girl's eyes, where there was an almost obsessive attachment, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
These four years of companionship, relying on each other for survival, while helping her reshape her soul, also seem to have... made this reincarnated saintess's personality somewhat dangerous.