The group remained there, with nothing to accompany them but the rambling of the Evil Spirit that's currently possessing Shen Bao's body. Unable to coordinate or utter a single bit of concrete words and reasoning, it was nothing but a soulless body.
Though it had a soul, it was severed from the main body, a soul with only its existence, without its memories or experiences, without anything but the feelings of pain, agony, frustration, disrespect, condone, and more vile and evil feelings.
Shen Bao had been exerting and extracting all of the vile emotions inside him and stuffing them inside this puppet to save his sanity from being corroded while he was trapped by servant Mao.
And this thing was the result, while Shen Bao was present, it was still linked to him, and he could easily possess and control it. But now, unfettered and unable to think for itself, it acts only upon the vileness that ha happened to it, and thus it went for Master Rain's throat.
Master Rain then unceremoniously grabbed the body as if it was a toddler trying fight a grown up.
"What are we going to do…" Asked Yuyu. "We have to figure out a way to save him, we can't just give up on him, not like this," she said.
No one replied.
She looked at everyone's face and tried desperately to think of a solution, but deep down she knew. That no one here could do anything. They couldn't seek the serpent since it had dove between the endless sheets of space.
Even if by some miracle they could, how were they supposed to fight a creature that eats planets for breakfast.
Denial.
It is the first of the seven emotions of grief, and she was experiencing them hard.
The others however also felt remorse, sadness and great deal of anguish to the loss of Shen Bao, and also the futility and cruelty of fate itself.
Suddenly, space itself seemed to warp as a woman appeared from inside it.
Wearing a full set of black robes, the woman looked around. Then back at Zhang Tian the immortal scholar.
"Mother…" Zhang Tian spoke.
"I couldn't do anything… once again. He was taken without me being able to do anything…" her words sounded as if they weighed the weight of the world itself. Her sadness was so clear that the stars themselves seemed to dim alongside her.
"You can bring him back, like you did for me!" Yuyu said as she got closer to the woman.
The queen shook her head, "I cannot, your soul was whole… but that," she said as she pointed at the Shen Mo's body, "That is not a soul. It is a culmination of pain and agony that is fitted and needled together to function as a Soul. It has nothing to do with Shen Bao. It is a dead soul…"
"Then track Shen Bao's Soul! That's something you can do! You could track him through your domain, he is still in your domain!" Yuyu shouted back.
"I lost connection to him, he… is no longer with us…" the words she spoke were as clear as a confirmation of certain death.
Inescapable death that couldn't be thwarted or overcome.
With the queen's words, it finally downed on them.
Realization.
"Shen Bao… is dead…" Liang Yu spoke.
She looked up, wiped her eyes and said, "I'll head back, to the Academy," as stoically as possible.
Yuyu on the other hand, enraged shouted back, "That's it! this is how you'll treat him, after all he did for you?! You'll just go back?!"
Liang Yu's fiery nature was about to burst out, but she calmed down and said, "We're cultivators, in case you forgot. Death accompanies us, we defy the heavens by merely existing. Death is a final inevitable part of this cycle, immortality is not omnipotence, we seek it to live longer and experience longer, but all we do, is seek immortality, never achieve it… Shen Bao is lucky, his journey had ended… and he deserves to rest…"
Yuyu couldn't accept those words, "You never loved him, you only accompanied him because he was there and helped you. Only out of need, never out of love."
"Don't speak what you don't know, you've been blessed with the company of a man who went against the Fire Lord's army to save you, yet still you acted as cold as ice when he was around. You're the one who does not deserve to even feel sad for him, since you never treated him as someone who will one day be gone. You always took him for granted…and never acted upon the fact that one day he too will be gone… Don't you dare judge my feelings since you yourself never realized how selfish yours were!" Liang Yu replied in a colder tone than ice itself.
Her words were harsh, but for Yuyu they felt true, making her feel like she was about to breakdown.
"Let's calm down for now… everyone treats grief differently, Mother, I wanted to head back home, but I have something I need to do…"
"What do you wish for?" she asked.
"I'll be heading to the Fire Lord's domain…" he said.
The Queen was about to argue, but then Zhang Tian added.
"There is something that Shen Bao was going to do there, and since he pass-… this happened. I need to take care of it personally, since he is my sworn brother…"
"If it's about Saving Yan'er, I'll figure something out, there is no need for you to help," Meng Hao stated, his face darker than black just from the mere fact of mentioning going in to face the Fire Lord.
"I have given Shen Bao my word, and it's the least I could do for him, don't worry…" Zhang Tian said.
"Then, I'll prepare somethings to help you in your journey," the queen said.
"I'll also be going," Master Rain said as he was still grabbing the fidgeting body of Shen Mo.
"But what are we going to do with this?" he added.
Zhang Tian looked at it and said,"Seal it somewhere, there is no reason to kill it, and dispose of it. it's weak, and useless, but perhaps we'll figure a way to use this… maybe, I can't figure a way right now, but if by some chance there is a way to either cleanse or repair this thing… maybe we can bring him back…" the final sentence was spoken lightly for no one to hear.
***
The group soon split up, the two women left for the heavenly academy as Master Rain pulled out the Thunder Bull Chariot for them. As for Master Rain and Meng Hao they went to a nearby planet, to rest up, waiting for Zhang Tian to come back so they can finish up on rescuing Yan Er.
"Where is this?" asked Master Rain.
"It's an inn I used to go to while waiting for the trial to open, they serve good drinks," Meng Hao said.
"Interesting," Master Rain said, "Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd find you here," said Master Rain.
Meng Hao, confused tracked Master Rain's eyes and saw him looking at the old bartender.
This bartender was the same person who was accompanying Meng Hao while he drank and waited for the opening of the Trial.
"Old Blue… never have I thought I'd meet you either… I suppose that if we live long enough we're bound to meet…" he said.
"Old Blue? what's that, you know him?" asked Meng Hao.
"Yes, that's the title I used to go by, back in the day... also why wouldn't I know him, especially since he's the one who took my Key away…"
The bartender smiled, "You lost it to someone better," he shrugged, "Not my problem," the bartender replied.
"Want to go at it again? The last time you cheated," said Master Rain.
"Nope, I'm the kind of guy who'll leave the betting table when he is up in winnings, you can cry all about it if you want, but you're not getting your Water Key back." the bartender grinned.
'Water Key? Does this bartender possess the water Key? how? when did that happen, also he took it from Master Rain. the infamous, and one of the strongest of this Vast Expanse... a bartender took it from him?' Meng Hao couldn't believe his ears..
"Damn cowardly bastard, pour us a drink! I really need one…" Master Rain said as he sat down.
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