Chapter 836: The Bond That Death Could Not Sever

Chapter 836: Chapter 836: The Bond That Death Could Not Sever

Su Qinglan looked up at him in confusion. "An Mo?"

An Mo did not answer. His gaze remained locked on the shimmering, fading form of Teng Yunxiao. He reached down to Yue Yue’s tail and gently unwrapped the plum-sized crystal.

Yue Yue stirred slightly in her sleep, letting out a soft, tiny hiss, but didn’t wake up.

An Mo held the glowing green crystal between his fingers. It throbbed with life-giving spatial energy.

He turned straight toward Teng Yunxiao.

Xuan Long’s bloodshot eyes widened. "What are you doing?!"

An Mo didn’t pause to explain. He immediately leaned down beside Teng Yunxiao, and with one hand, he carefully pried open the unconscious man’s mouth. With the other, he pushed the small green crystal straight inside!

"An Mo!" Xuan Long gasped, his breath catching in horror.

Su Qinglan was equally stunned. "What did you just do?!"

Before either of them could pull An Mo away...

BOOM!

A blinding, magnificent surge of golden light erupted from An Mo’s body!

The divine spatial energy flared outward, forming a brilliant, towering pillar of light that completely enveloped both An Mo and Teng Yunxiao. The immense pressure pushed the dust away, illuminating the entire place in a warm, heavenly glow.

Xuan Long and Su Qinglan could only shield their eyes, staring in absolute awe.

Inside the radiant light, the ancient core of the mountain dissolved, its endless life force pouring directly into the hollow, fading spirit of the ancient Teng Snake progenitor!

Neither Su Qinglan nor Xuan Long fully understood what An Mo was doing, but Xuan Long’s heart suddenly began beating violently against his chest.

Because for the first time since he had dropped to his knees beside his father...

He saw a reaction.

The man’s pale, translucent fingers... twitched.

It was only a single, tiny movement. But Xuan Long saw it clearly.

His bloodshot eyes widened to their absolute limits, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks.

"Father..." His voice trembled with a mixture of raw terror and rising hope. "Father... you moved!"

***

Somewhere far away, in the Abyssal deep of the Upper Domain...

Inside a quiet, breathtakingly luxurious residence, a woman suddenly clutched her chest.

"Ah..."

A sharp, unbearable pain struck her heart without warning.

Liang Rou’s face instantly turned as pale as fresh snow. Her body staggered backward, her delicate robes fluttering frantically before she could even process what was happening.

"What..." she gasped, pressing one trembling hand tightly against her heart.

The pain spread through her veins like a burning poison, consuming her from the inside out. It was not an ordinary physical wound. It was deep, suffocating, and terrifyingly familiar, as if something buried deep within her soul had suddenly burst open, tearing her heart apart.

Liang Rou gritted her teeth, struggling desperately to catch her breath. "What... what happened to me?"

She looked around the quiet hall in utter confusion. There was no enemy attack. No assassin had breached the grand array. No one had entered her private room.

Yet this excruciating agony continued to wrench her soul.

Her eyes slowly lowered toward her chest. Beneath the soft silk of her tunic was the exact spot where a majestic Tang Snake totem mark had once burned bright and proud.

But now... there was nothing. Only smooth, bare skin.

The sacred mark that had once bound her life and soul to him had vanished centuries ago when the world believed he had perished.

Liang Rou slowly raised her trembling fingers, touching the empty space over her heart. The instant her skin made contact, her chest violently tightened, making her breath catch in her throat.

That feeling...

It was all coming back.

The overwhelming, soul-crushing bond she had tried so hard to bury beneath centuries of cold indifference. The sacred memories she had desperately tried to erase. The man she had spent countless agonizing years forcing herself not to think about.

Her dark eyes slowly brimmed with heavy, silent tears.

"Yunxiao..." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the soft rustle of her robes.

She closed her eyes tightly, but it did nothing to block out his face.

"Yunxiao..."

Just speaking his name sent a wave of excruciating ache straight up her throat. Tears finally spilled over her lashes, cascading down her pale cheeks like broken pearls.

"Even after all this..." Her voice broke into a trembling sob. "Even after all this time... you are still tormenting me!"

She pressed her palm harder against her bare chest, trying desperately to physically block the phantom pain. But the golden resonance echoing from the lower realm only grew stronger, pulsing directly in rhythm with her soul.

Liang Rou’s slender shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

"I thought..." She swallowed hard, choking on her own tears. "I thought I had finally forgotten you..."

A small, heartbroken sob escaped her lips.

"But why..." She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Why does my heart still bleed whenever your soul stirs? Why does my soul still cry out for you?

"Yunxiao..." she called his name once more, her tone filled with complete, agonizing helplessness.

She did not know where he was. She did not know if he was truly alive or if this was merely the final, fading embers of his spirit leaving the mortal realm forever. She had no idea why this dormant totem space had suddenly flared back to life after thousands of years of silence.

All she knew was that the second her fingers touched the place where his mark used to sit... her entire being had begun screaming his name.

Liang Rou slowly sank to the cold floor, her legs completely giving out beneath her. She wrapped her arms around herself, curling into a tight ball as her tears fell silently onto the polished stone.

"Yunxiao..." she wept softly into the empty room. "Why can’t you just leave me in peace?"

Her broken words were laced with deep, ancient resentment. But beneath that sharp layer of bitterness lay an eternal, unyielding love she could no longer hide from herself.

And somewhere deep inside the darkest corner of her heart... a faint, long-dead spark of hope suddenly began to burn once again.