After Tantai Jingyue and Zhu Changli departed, the area outside Luoxia Village fell quiet once more.
Shui Hua leaned against a reef.
She was still drenched, her face deathly pale.
Seven-tenths of the Hairuo godhead had just awakened, and the power it contained was far too immense for her to control in her current state.
A dim blue divine light flickered within her body. Each surge tugged painfully at her meridians.
Jiang Qingwan crouched in front of her, one hand pressed against her shoulder.
Purple lightning helped stabilize the tidal force raging wildly through her body.
Not far away, Xie Bugui was examining Old Jiang's injuries.
Old Jiang's former wounds had yet to heal. After forcibly clashing with Tantai Jingyue just now, his qi and blood had been thrown into complete disarray.
Yun Zhuo stood by the sea.
He gazed at the tide line in the distance, which had yet to fully settle, his thoughts unknown.
Shui Hua continued staring in the direction Tantai Jingyue had left.
That white-robed figure had long since vanished into the night fog.
Yet Shui Hua's gaze never shifted.
After a long while, she finally asked in a quiet voice:
“Big Sister Jiang.”
Jiang Qingwan looked at her.
Shui Hua's eyes were still red.
“What should I do?”
She wanted her sister to remember her.
She also wanted to know what the seven-tenths of the Hairuo godhead within her truly meant.
But these questions were far too vast.
So vast that she had no idea where to begin.
Jiang Qingwan answered calmly:
“I don't know.”
Shui Hua froze for a moment.
Then she lowered her head.
The sea breeze swept through her soaked hair, droplets falling one by one from its tips.
Jiang Qingwan continued:
“But not knowing doesn't mean we do nothing.”
“First, keep yourself alive.”
“We'll figure out the rest, little by little.”
Shui Hua nodded softly.
Yet the confusion in her eyes did not disappear.
Just then, Old Jiang suddenly spoke:
“Go back and pack your things.”
Shui Hua raised her head.
“Pack what?”
Old Jiang leaned on his old staff, his expression grim.
“Leave Luoxia Village.”
“The Divine Palace will be here soon.”
“Let's go before they arrive.”
He understood better than anyone how immense the phenomenon just now had been.
The entire sea region had responded to Shui Hua.
The aura of seven-tenths of the Hairuo godhead had been completely exposed.
There was no way the Cangming Divine Palace could remain unaware.
Once the Divine Palace confirmed that Shui Hua carried seven-tenths of the godhead, it would never allow her to remain in Luoxia Village.
Shui Hua did not agree immediately.
She asked in a low voice:
“What about my sister if we leave?”
Old Jiang's expression stiffened.
“She is the Divine Palace's Divine Maiden.”
“It isn't your place to worry about her.”
Shui Hua lifted her head.
“But she's my sister.”
Old Jiang opened and closed his mouth.
Yet not a single word came out.
Now that the seal had been broken, all the memories of their childhood together had returned to Shui Hua's mind.
There was no way she could leave with him as she had before, knowing nothing of the truth.
Jiang Qingwan looked toward Old Jiang.
“I'm afraid it's already too late to leave now.”
Old Jiang abruptly raised his head.
At the same moment, Yun Zhuo turned toward the distant sea fog.
“They're already here.”
In the depths of the night, several beams of deep-blue sacrificial light pierced through the fog-shrouded sea.
One Divine Palace ritual vessel after another emerged into view.
The vessels resembled colossal deep-sea whales, their hulls carved with countless tide patterns, transparent water bells hanging from the corners of their eaves.
They broke through the night fog and slowly came to a halt on the sea outside Luoxia Village.
A heavy pressure descended with them.
Old Jiang gripped the Tide-Quelling Staff tightly, standing in front of Shui Hua.
Several figures descended from the sacrificial vessel one after another.
At their head was Cang Xuanzi, the High Priest of the Azure Abyss Divine Palace.
Tantai Jingyue stood at his side.
Zhu Changli followed half a step behind.
Also present were the Sea Minister Priest Ling Chaosheng, the Rite Minister Priest Shui Guanlan, and the Mirror Minister Priest Luo Chenbi.
Cang Xuanzi landed upon the rocky shore and first glanced over the lingering traces of dark-blue tidal marks around them.
Then his gaze settled on Old Jiang.
“Jiang Huaichao.”
Old Jiang looked at him coldly.
Cang Xuanzi did not waste time on pleasantries. He spoke directly.
“The seal on the Sea Eye is about to break.”
“The Sea-Quelling Rite must be held ahead of schedule.”
“Tantai Jingyue possesses only thirty percent of Hairuo’s divine spark. She cannot stabilize the sea alone.”
“Shui Hua bears the remaining seventy percent. She must return to the Divine Palace.”
Old Jiang’s expression darkened at once.
Jiang Qingwan stepped to Shui Hua’s side.
“What are you taking her back for?”
Cang Xuanzi looked at her.
Naturally, he recognized the Dao Scion of the Tianyuan Sect, who had just claimed first place in the Grand Ceremony of Myriad Visions of the Great Void.
“To attempt to have the twin divine sparks jointly preside over the Sea-Quelling Rite.”
Jiang Qingwan pressed on.
“And if it fails?”
Cang Xuanzi fell silent for a moment.
“No one knows.”
Jiang Qingwan did not let the answer pass.
“Will Shui Hua die?”
Cang Xuanzi did not evade the question.
“It is possible.”
Shui Hua’s fingertips trembled slightly.
Jiang Qingwan asked again,
“What about Tantai Jingyue?”
“She may die as well.”
Cang Xuanzi’s voice remained steady.
“But if the Sea-Quelling Rite fails, they will not be the only ones to die.”
“If the Sea Eye ruptures, seawater will surge back along the waterways of Cangzhou.”
“All the coastal cities will be swallowed.”
“Falling Sunset Village will be no exception.”
The shore fell utterly silent.
Shui Hua instinctively looked toward the back of the village.
There stood the courtyard where she had lived since childhood.
There was the wooden rack where Old Jiang dried his fishing nets.
And in the bamboo grove stood two graves, side by side.
Tantai Jingyue stepped out from Cang Xuanzi’s side.
Shui Hua’s eyes gradually reddened again.
She wanted to call her sister. Yet the word reached her lips and would not immediately emerge.
Tantai Jingyue did not call her little sister first.
Her memories had yet to fully return.
But she could no longer regard Shui Hua as a stranger.
She looked at Old Jiang and Jiang Qingwan.
“The Divine Palace has already confirmed it.”
“From the moment Shui Hua was born, she bore seventy percent of Hairuo’s divine spark.”
Tantai Jingyue paused.
Then, as though it took all her strength to say the words that followed, she spoke.
“She and I...”
“...are indeed twin sisters.”
When those last four words fell, her voice was noticeably softer.
Tears immediately spilled from Shui Hua’s eyes.
“You believe it now?”
Tantai Jingyue looked at her.
“I believe that you did not lie to me.”
Shui Hua pressed her lips together.
Zhu Changli also stepped out from among the priests.
He came before Shui Hua and slowly bowed.
In a low voice, Zhu Changli said,
“I was the one who misled Her Highness the Divine Maiden.”
“I was also the one who brought her to Falling Sunset Village.”
“The fault is entirely mine.”
Shui Hua looked at him.
That bow did not make her anger fade.
She only asked,
“You knew she might kill me, and you still brought her here?”
Zhu Changli was silent for a moment.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed that only by restoring the divine spark could Her Highness the Divine Maiden suppress the Sea Eye.”
Anger rose in Shui Hua’s eyes.
"So in your eyes, it doesn't matter even if I die?"
Zhu Changli's lips moved, but no words came out.
Shui Hua understood.
She looked away.
"I will never forgive you."
Zhu Changli lowered his head.
"That's only right. When this is over, I am willing to atone for my sins."
Yet Old Jiang had not relaxed in the slightest.
He stood in front of Shui Hua, staring coldly at Cang Xuanzi.
"Huahua is not going to the Divine Palace."
"If the Sea Eye truly cannot be contained, Lord Hai Ruo promised me she would come and take her away."
Cang Xuanzi frowned slightly.
"Lord Hai Ruo has still not responded."
Old Jiang's expression changed abruptly.
"What do you mean, no response?"
Tantai Jingyue answered,
"The doors of the Tidewatch Hall remain shut."
"I sought an audience with my master, but received no answer."
Old Jiang's face grew increasingly grim.
He understood the present condition of Hairuo better than anyone.
Many years ago, when Hairuo had come to Sunset Village, she had already shown signs of decline.
She had personally said that her time was running out.
After all these years, Hairuo's strength could only have weakened further.
Now that the Sea Eye was stirring, she still had not acted.
That could mean only one thing: her condition was far worse than anyone had imagined.
Old Jiang gripped his Tide-Subduing Staff tightly.
"Even so, you cannot take her away."
Ling Chaosheng frowned.
"Jiang Huaichao, if the Sea Eye breaks, all of Cangzhou—"
"Shut up!"
Old Jiang roared.
"You can't hold back the Sea Eye, so you mean to force two children to their deaths?"
"Is this the Divine Palace's method for keeping the sea at bay?"
Ling Chaosheng's expression darkened.
The tension between the two sides immediately tightened once more.
Just then, Shui Hua stepped out from behind Old Jiang.
"Grandfather."
At that long-lost form of address, Old Jiang went completely still.
Ever since her memories had been sealed, Shui Hua had never called him that again.
Old Jiang's eyes reddened at once.
"Huahua..."
Shui Hua's eyes were red as well, though she forced a small smile.
"I'm no longer that little girl who knew nothing."
"I know you want to protect me."
"But I want to protect you too."
Old Jiang said urgently,
"You don't understand anything!"
"Then I have to go and understand."
Shui Hua looked toward Sunset Village behind her.
"If the Sea Eye breaks, Sunset Village will be destroyed too."
"All of Cangzhou will suffer."
Her voice softened.
"Father and Mother are here too."
"I can't let this place be swallowed by the sea."
Old Jiang's lips trembled, but he could find no words to refute her.
Shui Hua turned back to Tantai Jingyue.
"Besides, I want to go to the Divine Palace."
A faint tremor passed through Tantai Jingyue's eyes.
Shui Hua drew a deep breath, then looked toward Cang Xuanzi.
"I'll go with you."
Cang Xuanzi was just about to speak when Shui Hua cut him off.
"But let me make one thing clear first."
"I'm going not because you ordered me to."
Her gaze swept across the Divine Palace priests present.
"Nor because I possess what you call seventy percent divine essence."
"This sea is my home."
"Sunset Village is my home too."
"I can help hold back the sea."
"But I am not a prisoner for you to drag back."
The sea wind swept across the rocky shore.
The young girl was bedraggled from head to toe, her face pale. She still needed Jiang Qingwan's support just to remain standing.
Cang Xuanzi fell silent for a moment.
"The Divine Palace can agree to that."
Yet Old Jiang remained unwilling.
"Huahua!"
Shui Hua turned back.
"Grandfather."
"This time, let me make my own choice."
Old Jiang could only stare at her in a daze.
For a moment, it seemed as though that little girl who used to cry whenever she failed to catch a fish had truly grown up.
Jiang Qingwan spoke then.
“I’m going too.”
One of the accompanying priests immediately objected.
“The Sea-Quelling Rite is an internal matter of the Divine Palace. Outsiders are not permitted—”
Cang Xuanzi raised a hand, cutting him off.
He looked at Jiang Qingwan.
Jiang Qingwan was the leader of the Great Void Mirror Sea.
More importantly, Shui Hua clearly trusted her.
To refuse forcefully at this moment would only aggravate the conflict between the two sides once more.
Cang Xuanzi nodded.
“Very well.”
Xie Bugui put away the vial of medicine in his hand and straightened.
“Then I’m going too.”
Naturally, he would not allow Jiang Qingwan to enter the Divine Palace alone.
Yun Zhuo remained standing by the shore. Hearing this, he let out a soft laugh.
“Since I’m already here, I may as well join in.”
Ling Chaosheng frowned.
“The Divine Palace is not a place for people to casually join in.”
Yun Zhuo glanced at him.
“The seawater does not drown only the Divine Palace. I am a man of Cangzhou. At a time when Cangzhou’s survival hangs in the balance, how could I possibly stand by and do nothing?”
Ling Chaosheng was left speechless for a moment.
As for Old Jiang, there was even less need to ask. He headed straight for the ritual vessel.
“No one’s going to convince me to stay behind.”
No one tried to stop him.
The ritual vessel lit up once more with a deep-blue glow.
Supported by Jiang Qingwan, Shui Hua boarded the vessel.
Only after she had found her footing did Jiang Qingwan let go of her hand.
Tantai Jingyue stood at the front of the ritual vessel.
After hesitating for a moment, Shui Hua slowly walked over to stand beside her.
Only a few steps separated them.
The ritual vessel rose slowly, and Luoxia Village grew smaller and smaller below them.
Shui Hua lowered her head and saw that dilapidated little courtyard.
Her fingers gradually curled into a tight fist.
After a moment, she turned to Tantai Jingyue.
“Big Sister.”
Tantai Jingyue looked back at her.
Shui Hua’s eyes reddened, her voice so soft it nearly scattered into the wind.
“This time… will you leave me behind all alone again?”
Tantai Jingyue was silent for a long time.
So long that Shui Hua thought she would not answer.
At last, Tantai Jingyue said softly,
“I won’t.”
