The moment Hairuo’s divine essence became a seal, all of Cangzhou fell silent.
Outside Yunmeng City.
The black tide that had already surged onto the city walls suddenly froze.
The next moment, the tide line slowly began to recede.
The colossal waves battering the walls lost their force, dissolving into countless thin streams that slipped back into the sea through the cracks between the bluestones.
In the depths of the Eastern Sea, the rampaging sea beasts ceased their howling.
As though they had sensed something, they lowered their heads one after another and sank back into the dark seabed.
The black clouds blanketing the heavens began to disperse as well.
A faint ray of dawn broke through a fissure in the clouds, illuminating the seawater stains that had yet to dry along Cangzhou’s coast.
Outside Luoxia Village, the seawater that had flooded back into the village retreated toward the shallows.
A battered fishing boat rocked softly with the tide.
The two graves in the bamboo grove still stood in silence, untouched by the waves.
Upon the main sacrificial platform of the Cangming Divine Palace.
The ritual markings, which had been continuously cracking apart, finally stopped breaking.
Several hundred leaning Sea-Suppressing Pillars slowly returned to their proper positions.
The remaining black tide was forced back into the depths of the Sea Eye. The final fissure slowly sealed beneath the ritual markings formed from the complete Sea Moon.
The sea returned to calm.
Yet there was not the slightest joy on the faces of the priests of the Ten Offices.
High Priest Cang Xuanzi stood at the center of the shattered altar.
His robes were soaked through by seawater, his face pale.
He gazed at the now-sealed Sea Eye for a long time without speaking.
The current Sea Goddess had stabilized Cangzhou.
But she had also been left forever in the depths of the Sea Eye.
Zhu Changli was the first to kneel.
Then came Ling Chaosheng, Shui Guanlan, Luo Chenbi, and the rest of the priests from the Ten Offices.
All the Divine Palace’s clerics and disciples, scattered across the long bridges, ritual towers, and hanging palaces, knelt one after another.
At last, Cang Xuanzi slowly bent his knees.
He lowered his head until his forehead nearly touched the ground.
“Farewell, Hairuo.”
His low voice carried across the main sacrificial platform.
Then, from every corner of the Divine Palace, thousands of voices rose in answer.
“Farewell, Hairuo!”
Once.
Then again.
The cry passed through the Divine Palace and spread across the entire Eastern Sea.
But the goddess who had guarded Cangzhou for hundreds of years would never answer again.
Even as everyone remained kneeling upon the sacrificial platform, a ripple suddenly spread across the surface of the sealed Sea Eye.
Two streaks of watery light slowly rose from its depths.
Cang Xuanzi abruptly lifted his head.
At the same time, every gaze turned toward the center of the Sea Eye.
The waters gently parted.
Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua were borne to the surface by a soft current.
Both had fallen unconscious.
Their ritual robes were badly torn, and their faces were pale enough to seem almost translucent.
Yet Shui Hua still clutched Tantai Jingyue’s hand tightly.
Tantai Jingyue’s fingers were locked around her palm as well.
Though they had lost consciousness, the two sisters had not let go of each other.
“Yueyue!”
“Huahua!”
Old Jiang practically threw himself forward.
Jiang Qingwan, Xie Bugui, and Yun Zhuo also leaped onto the sacrificial platform at the same instant.
Several Divine Palace priests moved to catch the two women, only for Old Jiang to raise his Tide-Subduing Staff and shove them aside with a single sweep.
“Get lost!”
He dropped to his knees on the cold, wet altar.
His hands were shaking violently.
He checked Shui Hua’s breathing first.
It was faint, but she was still alive.
Old Jiang’s eyes instantly reddened.
Then he hurriedly turned to Tantai Jingyue.
When he placed his fingers against her neck, he was so tense that he missed the spot several times.
Xie Bugui crouched beside her and took Tantai Jingyue’s wrist.
After several breaths, he said quietly,
“Her pulse is still there.”
Old Jiang seemed not to have heard him.
“What did you say?”
“She’s still alive, too.”
Xie Bugui repeated himself.
“She’s just seriously injured.”
Old Jiang’s body, which had been taut for who knew how long, finally relaxed all at once.
He sat on the altar, surrounded by seawater and rubble, staring at the two children lying side by side before him. His lips trembled incessantly.
“As long as they’re alive. As long as they’re both alive.”
Jiang Qingwan crouched down.
The violet lightning split into two fine arcs of radiance, each one shielding the sisters’ heart meridians.
Yun Zhuo stood to one side, looking down at the Sea Eye, which had already sealed shut.
After a moment, he said softly,
“She hasn’t vanished completely.”
Cang Xuanzi’s expression shifted.
He immediately walked to the front of the Sea Eye.
The three priests—Priest of the Sea, Priest of Fate, and Priest of the Mirror—also activated their respective ritual artifacts and began probing the depths of the Sea Eye.
After a long while, a faint sea moon emerged in the Sea Mirror.
That sea moon was no longer the divine core itself.
Instead, it had transformed into countless overlapping ancient chains, intertwining with the Sea Eye’s very lifeline.
Luo Chenbi murmured,
“Lady Hairuo’s divine core and destiny essence have completely transformed into a new seal.”
Ling Chaosheng closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment.
“As long as the seal remains, she will continue guarding Cangzhou.”
Old Jiang looked up.
“How long can it hold?”
No one answered immediately.
Cang Xuanzi gazed into the depths of the Sea Eye, at the sea moon that was gradually fading away.
“Perhaps several decades.”
“Perhaps even longer.”
“But it won’t last forever.”
The current Sea Goddess had burned away her complete destiny essence, merely buying the Twin Sea Gods more time.
Before the new seal completely weakened, Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua had to truly find a way to jointly suppress the sea.
It might be a path no one before them had ever taken.
No one knew whether they could succeed.
But at least, they finally had time to search.
…
Within the Listening Tide Hall.
The divine throne stood empty.
Yet just as the High Priest led his people into the hall, a point of pale-blue light slowly emerged from the extinguished lampwick.
The light condensed into a water talisman.
Cang Xuanzi reached out and caught it.
The instant the water talisman touched his palm, the current Sea Goddess’s final divine thought rang out throughout the entire divine palace.
“First.”
“Tantai Jingyue and Tantai Shui Hua are both vessels of the Sea Goddess’s divine core.”
“Neither is superior to the other.”
Outside the Listening Tide Hall, all the priests lowered their heads at once.
The divine thought continued.
“Second.”
“The responsibility of suppressing the sea shall be borne jointly by the two Sea Goddesses.”
“The Ten Offices must do everything in their power to assist them in mastering the art of joint suppression.”
Several priests’ expressions changed slightly.
The final divine thought rang out.
“Third.”
“Once the Twin Sea Gods have truly mastered the art of joint suppression, Shui Hua may decide for herself whether she wishes to remain in the divine palace.”
“No one may force her.”
The three final commands spread throughout the Listening Tide Hall.
They also spread throughout the entire Cangming Divine Palace.
The priests wore various expressions.
Some were shocked. Some hesitated.
Others clearly found the words “neither is superior to the other” difficult to accept.
But these were the final divine edicts of the current Sea Goddess.
No one had the right to defy them.
Cang Xuanzi stood before the extinguished sea lantern and remained silent for a long time.
At last, he held the water talisman in both hands and bowed solemnly.
“We respectfully obey the final command of the Sea Goddess.”
The priests within the hall followed suit and bowed.
“We respectfully obey the final command of the Sea Goddess.”
…
Tantai Jingyue and Shui Hua were carried into the inner palace of the divine palace to recover from their injuries.
Their two quiet chambers stood side by side.
Old Jiang remained guarding the doors outside, without taking a single step away.
When Zhu Changli arrived, Old Jiang was sitting on the steps, still holding the old smoking pipe in his hand.
Zhu Changli stopped before him.
“Jiang Huaichao.”
“What happened was my fault.”
Old Jiang did not look up.
“And now you know you were wrong?”
Zhu Changli remained bowed.
“I’ve always known.”
Old Jiang gave a cold laugh.
“Then why did you do it?”
Zhu Changli was silent for a moment.
“Because at the time, I thought the Divine Palace and Cangzhou mattered more than one person’s life.”
“I also thought that as long as the Sea Eye could be kept in check, it didn’t matter how it was done.”
At last, Old Jiang raised his eyes to look at him.
His gaze was as cold as ever.
Zhu Changli said quietly,
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Nor am I asking Shui Hua or Her Highness the Divine Maiden to forgive me.”
“But from this day on, I’ll search every ancient text I can find.”
“I’ll discover the true way for the Twin Sea Gods to hold the Sea Eye in check together.”
Old Jiang stared at him for a long time.
In the end, he said coldly,
“Find it first. Then we’ll talk.”
Zhu Changli lowered his head.
“All right.”
…
Shui Hua slept for an entire day.
When she woke again, daylight was streaming in through the window.
The room was quiet.
Only the soft rustle of turning pages broke the silence.
She opened her eyes. The first person she saw was Jiang Qingwan, seated by the window.
Jiang Qingwan was flipping through a book titled *Wonders and Beasts of Cangzhou*.
She looked up at the movement from the bed.
Shui Hua’s voice was hoarse.
“Sister Qingwan.”
“Where’s my sister?”
Jiang Qingwan closed the book.
“In the next room.”
Shui Hua stared at her intently, as if afraid of hearing an answer she could not bear.
Jiang Qingwan met her gaze.
“She’s still alive.”
The last three words fell, and tears welled up in Shui Hua’s eyes.
She flung off the covers and tried to get out of bed.
Jiang Qingwan did not stop her.
She only reminded her,
“Your shoes.”
Shui Hua looked down.
Only then did she realize she was barefoot.
In a panic, she put on her shoes, even getting them on the wrong feet.
She had taken only two steps when her legs suddenly gave way.
Jiang Qingwan rose and caught her.
“I’m fine,” Shui Hua sniffed.
Jiang Qingwan helped her toward the next room.
As the door to the quiet chamber swung open, Tantai Jingyue had just opened her eyes.
She lay on the bed, the wound on her back already treated, though her face was still pale.
At the sound of the door, she slowly turned her head.
The sisters looked at each other across the small room.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Shui Hua’s eyes quickly reddened, and she hurried to the bedside.
Tantai Jingyue was just about to speak when Shui Hua raised a hand and struck her on the shoulder.
“You lied to me again.”
Shui Hua’s voice trembled.
Tantai Jingyue offered no defense.
She only looked into Shui Hua’s reddened eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
Tears streamed down Shui Hua’s face.
“You say you’re sorry every time.”
Tantai Jingyue was silent for a moment.
“I won’t do it again.”
Shui Hua sniffed. “Really?”
Tantai Jingyue nodded solemnly.
“Really.”
Shui Hua watched her for a long time.
In the end, she couldn’t hold back any longer and threw herself into Tantai Jingyue’s arms.
There was a wound on Tantai Jingyue’s back.
The impact drew a soft, muffled groan from her.
Shui Hua instantly tried to pull away.
But Tantai Jingyue had already lifted a hand and drawn her close again.
Shui Hua buried her face against her sister’s chest.
Her tears soon soaked the front of her sister’s robe.
“I missed you so much.”
Tantai Jingyue’s eyes gradually reddened as well.
She gently patted Shui Hua’s back.
It was exactly as it had been all those years ago.
“I know.”
“Big Sister knows.”
Outside the door,
Old Jiang had been standing there the entire time.
He did not go in right away.
Through the half-closed door, he listened to Shui Hua’s broken sobs from inside.
He had thought
that he would never again see the two girls sitting together in this lifetime.
But now, they had finally both returned.
Old Jiang raised a hand and fiercely wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.
Yet all he did was mutter under his breath:
“You two really are nothing but trouble.”
Inside, Shui Hua’s ears twitched.
She immediately lifted her head from Tantai Jingyue’s arms and shouted:
“Old Jiang!”
“What are you doing hiding outside?”
The figure outside stiffened noticeably.
A moment later, Old Jiang pushed open the door with a stern expression.
“Who’s hiding?”
“This old man was merely passing by.”
Shui Hua, her eyes still red, gave a sniff.
“Passing by the doorway for that long?”
Old Jiang’s face darkened.
“You’ve only just woken up, and you’re already talking back.”
“Looks like there’s nothing wrong with you after all.”
As he spoke, he walked over to Shui Hua and tapped her on the head.
“Running around the moment you woke up.”
“Are you tired of living?”
Shui Hua covered her head and immediately looked at Tantai Jingyue with an aggrieved expression.
“Big Sister!”
“He hit me again!”
Tantai Jingyue watched the scene unfold.
Everything was so familiar, as if she had never left Sunset Village.
The old days that had been sealed away for so many years finally overlapped with the present once more.
Tantai Jingyue fell silent for a moment.
Then she spoke softly:
“Grandpa.”
Old Jiang’s raised hand stopped in midair.
His back stiffened as well.
He did not turn around, as though he had not heard her.
Tantai Jingyue looked at him and called out again.
“Grandpa.”
Old Jiang’s shoulders trembled faintly.
After a long while, he finally replied in a rough voice:
“I heard you.”
“I heard you.”
“Why are you shouting so loudly?”
He slowly turned around.
His face still wore that same impatient expression.
But his eyes had long since turned red.
