…Its done.
Wang Xiao exhaled, like a blacksmith finally pulling the blade from the fire.
The girl stood before him, wrapped tight in white bands like a gift someone had forgotten to label. He nodded, oddly satisfied, as if unwrapping her wasnt the point, wrapping her was.
Splash!
He turned at the sudden noise.
Xue Hanqin was flailing gracelessly, soaked to the bone, standing on a half-rotted wooden plank in water barely ten centimeters deep.
…Um. He blinked at her. Have you lost your mind?
Her dark bangs stuck to her forehead, golden U-shaped earrings dripping. The water plastered her clothes to her body until they were practically translucent. She tilted her head, lips curving in a smile far too charming for the mess she looked like. No.
??
A visible question mark might as well have floated above Wang Xiaos head. The water doesnt even reach your ankles. And if you hate dipping your feet so much… why not just fly?
She ran a hand back through her wet hair, ignoring his logic. Is it so easy? Then why dont you cut the chase and bring back the actual soul youre trying to revive, instead of carving one out of scraps and nearly giving me a heart attack?
…
His lips stiffened. Wait… Was she… sulking? Because he pulled off something she, Lady Reincarnation, couldnt?
I am not jealous, she said flatly, as though reading his eyes and stamping out the thought before it grew. Still, her gaze slid back to the girl hed just made, pale-skinned, hair silver-gray, body wrapped tight in bandages. Her brows rose at the sudden fullness beneath the cloth.
Wang Xiao ignored her judgmental stare, still admiring his work. She is Eternity. Once she was Yin Yue, a hell spirit. Now… His tone sharpened. …As for your question, I did try to find her soul. Couldnt, something ate it.
With a flick of his finger, he projected the image: a tornado-like abomination swirling in the Graveyard of Gods.
I can track that, Xue Hanqin said quickly, eyes narrowing as she shut them.
A second later, her face twisted.
You cant. Wang Xiaos reply was flat, already certain.
Her eyes opened, annoyed.
Ive tried to replicate her as best as I could, he said, glancing back at the figure wrapped in bandages. Maybe its her. Maybe not. Maybe its just Yang Yuhuan in new skin. I dont know.
He sighed.
The girl twitched, as if hearing fragments she couldnt quite grasp. Her slender fingers reached up and tugged at the bandage over her eyes.
The strip peeled away…
A ruby eye blinked into the world, glimmering like crystallized blood, whole another covered under her bangs, confused as if an headache, she moved her hand behind her head, half-hidden in her silver-gray hair, as if scratching her head confusion.
Her lips moved and trembled, words fighting their way out of emptiness.
She stared at the two figures before her, two blinks, slow, consecutive, then a tilt of her head, mechanical yet strangely graceful.
… .
Wang Xiao didnt speak.
Xue Hanqins breath halted, caught in her throat as if even exhaling might break the scene.
The girl raised her hands. The movement was stiff, deliberate. Pale fingers stretched open, trembling as she held them up to the starlight. For a moment she studied her own skin, then turned her gaze back to theirs, comparing, measuring, as though trying to understand what similar even meant.
Her mouth opened. A faint rasp, fragile and uneven, spilled out like cracks forming in thin ice.
…s…ame?
The single word echoed.
Not a question.
Not an answer.
Just raw curiosity, unpolished, unowned.
Like a newborn tasting sound for the first time.
Xue Hanqins lips quivered. Her eyes darted to Wang Xiao. …She… doesnt know you?
Wang Xiaos lips twitched, a faint smile curved, almost imperceptible. He said nothing. He only stared at the being he had shaped, not with disappointment, but with the same curiosity she mirrored back.
Creator and creation, both studying each other as strangers.
He sighed, shoulders dropping. This girl, this Eternity, would have to learn everything from scratch. How to walk, how to speak, how to even exist. Right now, she didnt even seem to realize she had power at all.
He stared at Eternitys ruby eye, wondering if shed ever recognize him.
A sigh slipped out. Recognition… escape… freedom?
His mind drifted, somewhere else, another woman was trying to die?
Time slipped by… backwards.
Earth, the Wang family villa.
Right before the moment, Eveline closed her eyes, arms spread wide, as if embracing the end. For once she looked… free. The tension gone, her face glowed with a strange smile, fragile, beautiful, like someone ready to let go of chains shed carried her whole life.
Stupid!
Splash!
Cold water hit her across the face, followed by a voice.
Eh?! Evelines lashes snapped open, blinking furiously.
Her eyes darted up. Yue had vaulted past her, water scattering as she landed in front of Zhenxi. She caught the little girls hand, shaking her hard, snapping her free from whatever haze Eveline had woven.
The others just stared, confused, at Eveline, at Yue.
…? Eveline touched her cheek, fingertips brushing wetness. She turned, nothing above her but a perfect blue sky.
No explosion, no asteroid… Just sky.
…Have you lost it?
The voice slapped cold.
Mary stood beside her, silent as death, her dark eyes shining. Eveline hadnt even felt her approach.
A shiver rippled down her spine. Since when… did this woman scare me? The thought was bitter, unwelcome, but worse than that was the question hammering her skull.
What just happened?
Because she knew what shed felt, something barreling toward her, unstoppable, like the sky itself had leapt to crush her… and then, nothing.
Nothing but a splash of water.
…
…
The awkward clash had killed the pool party before it even started.
Up above, from the window of his villa, Wang Xiao gazed down at the courtyard. Evelines face was drawn, deflated, the expression of someone who thought shed finally escaped, only to be yanked back into chains.
Not so soon…
A quiet chuckle rolled from his throat. He shook his head, amused.
Behind him, fabric strained and snapped.
Ah, Dad! Yanyans voice pitched with frustration. They… they really got bigger!
He turned slightly, eyebrow raised. She stood in front of the mirror, dark hair loose around her pale smooth shoulders, flushed cheeks glowing as she tried to stuff her swollen chest into a dark blouse that clearly wasnt designed for it. Pale skin spilled out of the gap, the buttons straining as her smooth hands pressed her breasts down, sighing in defeat.
Her eyes narrowed, accusatory. You… you made them bigger on purpose, didnt you?
Wang Xiao blinked innocently. Its not your body, the clothes shrank. Hanqins prank.
Silly woman, she didnt even bother to stay, just vanished back to the Netherworld. Something about being hunted, about needing to strike before being cornered. Guerrilla warfare in the underworld? Whatever game she was playing, he wasnt losing sleep over it.
Not his problem… Yet.
His eyes slid back to Yanyan.
Her body was freshly reconstructed, waist tighter, smoother than before, and the sight of her squirming, chest nearly spilling free, only made his smile widen.
Though, he drawled, leaning back against the wall, if you keep bouncing like that, I might start taking credit.
Yanyans face burned red, her hands fumbled at the buttons, the swell of her breasts nearly bursting free. This is too tight!
You look better without clothes anyway, Wang Xiao said casually, as if he were commenting on the weather.
He chuckled, pushing off the wall and brushing past her, Leave them like that. Looks good on you. Besides… His gaze drifted deliberately down her straining chest, …I dont mind if they break.
Yanyans heart skipped, whether in anger or heat, she didnt even know.
Wang Xiao ignored her fluster, his mind already drifting to other matters. Yin Yue. Or rather, the girl he had made , not Yin Yue, not anyone he knew, just something new.
The experiment was a failure. Yet the result… promising.
A creation tied to him, bound by soul, controllable. Maybe not the spirit he wanted, but a fighter he could train.
A messenger for him?
Or a weapon?