Chapter 263 I Have Already Died

Chapter 263: I Have Already Died

Is that Mr. Jing?

The pale, emaciated hand emerging from the gray mist should have been a terrifying sight. Yet, as the skeletal Eerie Entity knelt there, and that hand gently stroked the top of his head before caressing his half-bone cheek, Su Bai could almost sense how gentle Mr. Jing must have been in life.

Perhaps only someone so gentle could compel a member of the Longlived Race, now reduced to bones, to choose to wait alone in this desolate mirror world for such an endless span of time.

This time, both Su Bai and Feng Ling heard a strange sound—not in their minds, but like the low murmur of a newborn beast trying to articulate, filled with both sorrow and joy, much like the weeping cry emanating from the skeletal figure before them.

"I knew you were still alive."

Somehow, even though the Eerie Entity wasn't communicating directly with Su Bai and the others, the voice still echoed in their minds, as if some profound connection between them remained unbroken.

"Don't be foolish. Who would be so naive as to wait in this cursed place for so long just for a promise?"

"But the mirror shattered because of me. It was I who brought those madmen to you. Everything is my fault."

"So, until you return, I will keep waiting here."

"Welcome back."

"But I might... not be able to hold on much longer."

Over the long years, the Eerie Entity had prayed for a miracle while simultaneously being eroded by the despair of knowing how slim the chances were, all the while hypnotizing himself into believing a miracle would happen. Such contradictory thoughts are hard for ordinary people to comprehend. Yet, it was these conflicting emotions, pulling him in opposing directions, that sustained him, allowing him to continue waiting in this lonely mirror world, maintaining his clarity of mind and undying hope.

However, the Longlived Race, now reduced to bones, clearly had not yet realized he had already died. At this moment, he was merely a posthumous Eerie Entity transformed after death—a being that would neither feel hunger, lose control, nor dissipate on its own.

Feng Ling stood nearby and gave Su Bai a meaningful glance, seemingly hesitant about how to tell the Eerie Entity that he had already died once. But as that pale, skeletal hand gently stroked the Eerie Entity, the scene, though peculiar, was not frightening, making Su Bai and Feng Ling reluctant to shatter the tranquil sorrow.

It was at this moment that the Eerie Entity in Su Bai and Feng Ling's vision suddenly stirred, and the hand that had been comforting him stopped moving. The "voice" of the Eerie Entity no longer echoed in their minds. Instead, the skeletal figure kneeling before the mirror seemed to let out an indistinct, agitated murmuring.

The hand in the mirror seemed to convey a message to the Eerie Entity.

Then, the Eerie Entity began to struggle. The low murmurs emerging from his bony frame seemed to carry inner anguish, but the sounds he truly wished to make were swallowed by the skeletal body.

The hand in the mirror resumed comforting the Eerie Entity, soothing his struggles.

Su Bai wasn't sure exactly what Mr. Jing had said, but they saw the Eerie Entity gradually calm down under the hand's reassurance. His struggles ceased, and the suppressed murmurs now carried not just sorrow but also a hint of relief.

"So... I will die too?"

Though they couldn't hear Mr. Jing's voice, when the Eerie Entity's "voice" reappeared in Su Bai's mind, he knew that the hand in the mirror had just revealed the truth of his death to him.

"Even the Longlived Race can die for various reasons." Su Bai recalled Luolimasi's withered, aged body and scarred fishtail in her final moments, and her eventual dissolution into bubbles.

Compared to Luolimasi, Su Bai found it even harder to imagine what kind of prolonged, profound hunger and loneliness this unnamed Eerie Entity had endured before silently dying. After transforming into an Eerie Entity and reawakening, how had he endured the illusion of hunger and loss of control through endless self-deception, quietly waiting as his body gradually turned to bones over the long years...

It was a suffering even with his rebirth, Su Bai could scarcely imagine.

That despair and loneliness seemed to transcend time, infiltrating the puzzle pieces in Su Bai's mind, tingeing the now-complete picture of the mirror world with a bloody hue of sorrow.

"However, in this nightmare world, life and death might not be so important," Feng Ling said with her usual detachment. "If I could become an Eerie Entity after death, I might accept this continuation of life and continue doing what I want."

Su Bai could tell that Feng Ling truly meant it, but he wondered if the Eerie Entity with his back to them shared the same sentiment.

The hand in the mirror's ability to reveal the truth of the Eerie Entity's death was undoubtedly a good thing for Su Bai and Feng Ling. After all, if they—strangers and weak short-lived beings—were to deliver this truth... the Eerie Entity, shrouded in pain and despair, might erupt with an unprecedented "loss of control," possibly even a collapse that the mirror world couldn't withstand.

In such circumstances, perhaps only the hand in the mirror could soothe the near-collapsing Eerie Entity.

This space emerged from the Eerie Entity's encounter with Mr. Jing, persisted due to the Eerie Entity's obsession with Mr. Jing, and would inevitably find peace through their reunion.

"So, I have already died."

The Eerie Entity's "voice" seemed calm.

"Strange, after realizing this, the feeling of hunger disappeared almost instantly."

"Human, you are right."

"In this world, death is merely a continuation of life."

"Mr. Jing will need a very, very long time to nurture himself with the power of the Void Sea. If I were to dissipate now, such a missed opportunity would be even more painful and despairing."

"So, thank you for bringing him home."

The Eerie Entity's final words did not appear directly in Su Bai's mind but were instead a hoarse, indistinct voice heard with his ears—the real voice of the Eerie Entity, who had not spoken for countless years.

When Su Bai looked over, the skeletal figure that had been kneeling had risen with the support of the mirror frame, turned toward them, revealing his pale bones and ghastly half-face.

"Human, Mr. Jing also wishes to thank you." The skeletal Eerie Entity's hollow gaze fixed on Su Bai, and he extended an arm, inviting Su Bai to step forward.