By the time they came out of the forest, the time it takes to burn two incense sticks had already passed.
The group of people, clearly tired, walked toward the dining room, secretly blaming Lingyu for the delay. But Wei Yunhe didn't seem tired at all. He quietly carried Lingyu to his small cabin on the hillside. Once inside, he gently placed Lingyu on the couch and quickly shut the door behind him, making sure no one else followed.
Lingyu nervously pulled off the robe that had been covering his head and looked at Wei Yunhe with uncertain eyes. Did Wei Yunhe already know he wasn't the real Yu Lingyu?
Wei Yunhe took a step forward and sat at the edge of the bed, leaning in to take a closer look at his little Shidi's forehead. "Is something wrong, Da Shixiong?" Lingyu asked, noticing how nervous Wei Yunhe looked. The corner of Yunhe's mouth twitched.
"Shidi, did something happen in the forest?" he asked. He clearly hadn't noticed the problem with Lingyu's forehead yet, but Lingyu chose his words carefully.
"Nothing much. I just chased some rabbits and got lost," he replied.
Wei Yunhe stared blankly, like his soul had left his body.
Lingyu quickly got off the couch and rushed to the mirror on the wall. He needed to understand why Wei Yunhe looked so shocked. The mirror showed a small but handsome face, and at first, Lingyu didn't see anything wrong. But when he brushed his hair back and looked at his forehead, his expression changed.
Right in the center of his forehead was a red mark. Looking closer, it wasn't just a simple mark, it looked like a flame mixed with a gust of wind. A red shape that shifted like fire and wind. No wonder Wei Yunhe was so disturbed. Lingyu now had what people called a "devil mark."
Whether someone was a demon or a deity, these red marks were known as Devil Marks by most people. It was the main way to tell demons apart from humans. Even if strong demons managed to hide theirs, mystics had many ways to reveal the truth.
If anyone else saw Lingyu like this, he would be beaten to death without question. He placed his hand over the mark, trying to wipe it away, but it didn't disappear.
"Yu Shidi, don't go anywhere until I come back. Stay here," Wei Yunhe said, and rushed out of the room.
Even though he had seen the devil mark, Wei Yunhe still protected Lingyu. Lingyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. After all, the one who put that mark on Yu Lingyu… was himself.
Once the room was quiet, Lingyu felt strangely complete, more than ever before. He slowly raised his hand and formed a hand seal. He felt a flow of spirit energy inside him. That surprised him. Wasn't Yu Lingyu just an ordinary person before? Why was his spirit energy so strong now?
Lingyu folded all his fingers except his index and middle ones and aimed the seal at the red mark. A light blue glow, the color of his soul energy, flowed into the mark. Suddenly, pain exploded in his head, like hundreds of rats biting into his scalp.
Even after he dropped the hand seal, the pain didn't stop. Lingyu dropped to the floor, clutching his head, twisting and gasping for air.
Memories, ones he had never seen before, came flooding into him like blades slicing into his mind. "Da Shixiong!" Lingyu cried out without thinking. These weren't just random memories. They belonged to the real Yu Lingyu. He needed Wei Yunhe to help him, he couldn't take it alone. "Da Shixiong, please…"
But suddenly, Lingyu stopped moving. His eyes were open, but his mind was far away. A tear slid down his cheek, his face red from pain.
And then, the truth hit him.
From the beginning, Yu Lingyu and he weren't two different people. They were one broken soul, split into two pieces.
The real Yu Lingyu must have waited for a long time, reincarnating again and again, spreading pieces of his soul. He had lived many lives. As a fish, as a bird, even as a lowly goblin. And during all that time, hadn't he, the rabbit spirit, been searching for Yu Lingyu, too? Even though he didn't know who he was actually searching for. Those memories he didn't have were all inside Yu Lingyu this whole time.
He only knew he was a rabbit spirit back then, not his real name or who he was.
Now that he was whole again, with a complete soul and a new body, there was no joy. Just sadness. The truth of who he really was brought no peace.
The memories were worse than being stabbed. As his head burned with pain, Lingyu slowly raised his hand and touched the red mark again with trembling fingers. His lips were dry, his skin pale. Lying on the floor with tears in his eyes, he stared at the ceiling in silence.
Then, the door opened, and a soft wind brushed across his body.
Wei Yunhe stood in the doorway, frozen. Something was glowing faintly in his right hand. Lingyu turned his head toward him and whispered weakly, "Da Shixiong…"
That woke Wei Yunhe from his shock. He rushed toward Lingyu and knelt beside him, dropping the object he was holding. Lingyu caught a glimpse of it just before his vision faded completely.
It was a mask shaped like a pair of bird wings that could mask half of his face.