The sky of Ye Lin's inner world cracked like a giant egg. From the fractures, dozens of red-kebaya-clad hands reached down, each clutching a wooden baby doll with the exact face of young Ye Lin. His sister's voice echoed from all directions:
"Look, little brother... these are our children who never made it to birth."
Ye Lin stood before his magical sprout, now as tall as a man, its heart-shaped fruit pulsing and glowing gold. The butterfly tattoo on his arm melted into scalding metal, dripping onto the soil and forming ancient letters:
[CHOICE: EAT THE FRUIT OR BECOME MY NEW WOMB]
In the real world:
Ye Lin's physical body, lying in the ruins of the Venom Leaf Sect, suddenly burst into green flames. The fire did not consume flesh—it purified. From each wound, golden worms screamed as they were expelled and died.
A young cultivator approached with his sword drawn. "What the"
Before he could finish his sentence, a blood root from Ye Lin's body lashed like a serpent, piercing his forehead and flooding Ye Lin's mind with visions:
A delivery room, 25 years ago: Their mother died giving birth, but before her last breath, she drew the Boundary Keeper's symbol on the floor in her own blood.
The baby girl (the sister) was taken immediately by the Sect, while Ye Lin deemed "ordinary"was left alive.
That blood symbol was a legacy a "curse" ensuring that every female descendant in their bloodline would serve as an incubator for gods.
Back in the inner world:
The heart-fruit suddenly fell into Ye Lin's hands. Its skin cracked open, revealing a pair of human eyes inside. They blinked, then spoke in his mother's voice:
"Lin'er... you must eat me before she comes..."
From within the fruit, a small bone knife emerged, its surface inscribed with glowing text:
"To Sever the Umbilical Cord of Fate"
Meanwhile:
The wooden babies in his sister's hands began to wail—their cries like nails scraping across glass.
The inner world's soil birthed miniature versions of Ye Lin at various childhood ages, rising like memories from the ground.
The family photo on the hut's wall now had the sister's face blotted out by a black stain.
Then the sister stepped through the dimensional crack. Half of her face was now living wood, the other half still looked like Ye Lin.
"You think you can fight destiny?" she whispered, placing a hand on the fruit in Ye Lin's grip.
The touch triggered an explosion of memory:
It was revealed that all three of them mother, sister, and Ye Lin were fragments of the First Boundary Keeper, shattered and reincarnated.
The Venom Leaf Sect was merely a tool the true war was between three souls within one bloodline.
The heart-fruit screamed in Ye Lin's hands:
"Cut the cord now!"
Ye Lin raised the bone knife
just as his sister embraced them both.
"Welcome to the second womb, little brother."
Everything turned white.
The whiteness that veiled Ye Lin's vision slowly faded, leaving behind the sensation of floating in a void without gravity. One by one, her senses began to return:
Hearing: Two heartbeats. One fast and panicked, her own. One slow and echoing, belonging to something far larger.Smell: The metallic tang of blood mixed with the scent of rain-soaked earth.Touch: Warm fluid surrounding her body, as if she were back inside a womb.
As her vision sharpened, Ye Lin became aware of three simultaneous truths:
She was floating in a bubble of red liquid, suspended at the center of an immense, womb-shaped space made of flesh and roots.The bone knife remained in her grasp, now glowing with a faint, pale light.Her final shadow, once a fragment, now clung to her chest like a second unborn child, its eyes shut tight.
"This place..."
The voice of the iron butterfly — once just a tattoo — was cut off as the walls of the womb pulsed. From the mucus-covered ceiling, countless small hands descended. They were miniature replicas of her sister's red-kebaya-clad hands. They danced in the air, spelling out a message:
I have waited for you for so long
From below, a massive bubble rose, carrying her sister curled in the fetal position. Her red kebaya had become a lattice of blood vessels, and her bark-like skin had turned translucent, revealing god-infants nestled inside her womb like fruit on a tree.
"You have finally returned," her voice held two tones, one human and one that rumbled like the earth."This is the place we were meant to be born together."
Then the memories flooded in.
Their mother had never been an ordinary farmer. She had been the last woman to bear the title Guardian of the Boundary, hiding in plain sight by pretending to be human.Her death during childbirth had been the final ritual, splitting her divine essence into three parts:One soul of creation, passed to the sister.One soul of destruction, given to Ye Lin.One soul of protection, planted inside the shadow.
The Poison Leaf Sect had found their mother's body and buried it beneath their main altar, using her blood to grow their divine worms.
Her sister extended both hands, and Ye Lin saw a cord of black light stretching from her own navel to the wall of flesh that enclosed them.
"You have two choices, my little sister.
You may consume the guardian soul resting on your chest and become a complete god.Or you may sever my umbilical cord with the bone knife, freeing us both, and ending the cycle forever."
The iron butterfly on Ye Lin's arm clawed at her skin, carving a bloody message into her flesh:
Warning. Severing the cycle means true death
The little shadow on her chest slowly opened its eyes for the first time. They were the same eyes as their mother's in the faded photograph back in the inner-world hut.
"Choose with your heart, not with fear," it whispered.
Outside the womb, the sound of explosions and screams reached them. The Poison Leaf Sect was coming. They were trying to stop the ritual.
Blood trickled from Ye Lin's nose, mixing with the red fluid inside the womb of the world. The bone knife in her hand pulsed in rhythm with the heartbeat of the small shadow pressed against her chest. Outside, the sound of explosions drew nearer. The Poison Leaf Sect was trying to carve into the world's flesh with blades of energy.
"You don't have much time," her sister hissed, the black umbilical cord trembling like a harp string pulled too tight."They'll destroy everything."
In the outer world
Ye Lin's physical body suddenly erupted into a thousand blood-red roots, piercing the walls and ceilings of the Sect's temple. The roots
Wrapped around cultivators, draining their energy
Formed a living bridge into the world-womb
Etched ancient symbols into the ground, a plea for help in the language of the First Guardians
Inside the womb
The small shadow crawled up toward Ye Lin's ear."Listen... the knife isn't meant to cut the cord..."
Her sister screamed in sudden pain. The black umbilical cord began to give birth to something new. An eighth god-child was emerging, this one with Ye Lin's perfect face.
"He lied to you!" the butterfly tattoo screamed."That wasn't a choice. It was a test."
Ye Lin looked closer
The bone knife was carved with microscopic script. It readTo cut lies, not fate
The black cord was not connected to her sister's body aloneIt was linked to the seven altars beneath the Sect
And the eighth infant was not a god-child at allIt was a perfect clone of herselfA vessel for her sister to inhabit
A final memory of their mother returned
"Lin'er... you must cut her words, not her cord..."
With one swift motion, Ye Lin turned the bone knifeNot toward the umbilical cordBut toward her sister's mouthJust as the spell was forming
Dimensional rupture
Everything twisted and spun
Ye Lin saw
Her sister split in twoThe wooden half shatteredThe human half collapsed
The seven god-infants screamedThen crumbled into golden seeds
Her broken inner world suddenly glowed
When her awareness returned, Ye Lin was lying in a field of golden corn.Above her, the sky was clear blue.Beside her, her sister's human form lay peacefullyGrown, unmarked, breathing slowly
"Congratulations," whispered the butterflyNow fully whole as a tattoo once more"You've killed the false god."
But far away, at the edge of the fieldA man stood
His golden mask was gone
Revealing Ye Lin's faceOlder. Weathered. Calm.
"The second phase begins," he saidThen vanished into dust
The golden seeds on the ground began to sprout
Blood trickled from Ye Lin's nose, mixing with the red fluid inside the womb of the world. The bone knife in her hand pulsed in rhythm with the heartbeat of the small shadow pressed against her chest. Outside, the sound of explosions drew nearer. The Poison Leaf Sect was trying to carve into the world's flesh with blades of energy.
"You don't have much time," her sister hissed, the black umbilical cord trembling like a harp string pulled too tight."They'll destroy everything."
In the outer world
Ye Lin's physical body suddenly erupted into a thousand blood-red roots, piercing the walls and ceilings of the Sect's temple. The roots
Wrapped around cultivators, draining their energy
Formed a living bridge into the world-womb
Etched ancient symbols into the ground, a plea for help in the language of the First Guardians
Inside the womb
The small shadow crawled up toward Ye Lin's ear."Listen... the knife isn't meant to cut the cord..."
Her sister screamed in sudden pain. The black umbilical cord began to give birth to something new. An eighth god-child was emerging, this one with Ye Lin's perfect face.
"He lied to you!" the butterfly tattoo screamed."That wasn't a choice. It was a test."
Ye Lin looked closer
The bone knife was carved with microscopic script. It readTo cut lies, not fate
The black cord was not connected to her sister's body aloneIt was linked to the seven altars beneath the Sect
And the eighth infant was not a god-child at allIt was a perfect clone of herselfA vessel for her sister to inhabit
A final memory of their mother returned
"Lin'er... you must cut her words, not her cord..."
With one swift motion, Ye Lin turned the bone knifeNot toward the umbilical cordBut toward her sister's mouthJust as the spell was forming
Dimensional rupture
Everything twisted and spun
Ye Lin saw
Her sister split in twoThe wooden half shatteredThe human half collapsed
The seven god-infants screamedThen crumbled into golden seeds
Her broken inner world suddenly glowed
When her awareness returned, Ye Lin was lying in a field of golden corn.Above her, the sky was clear blue.Beside her, her sister's human form lay peacefullyGrown, unmarked, breathing slowly
"Congratulations," whispered the butterflyNow fully whole as a tattoo once more"You've killed the false god."
But far away, at the edge of the fieldA man stood
His golden mask was gone
Revealing Ye Lin's faceOlder. Weathered. Calm.
"The second phase begins," he saidThen vanished into dust
The golden seeds on the ground began to sprout
The golden cornfield stretched endlessly, stalks rustling gently in a wind that shouldn't exist. Ye Lin stood at its center, her fingers brushing the corn's golden kernels, which whispered like voices when touched.
Beside her, her sister now just a woman with long hair and eyes no longer pitch black sat weakly, her breath shallow and trembling.
"You... succeeded," she whispered, her voice cracking. "But he won't stop."
Ye Lin turned toward the edge of the field, where the man with the golden mask had vanished."Who is he, really?"
Her sister shook her head."We called him the Collector. He's the one who gathers the broken shards of failed Guardians."
Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled. The golden corn began to wither, disintegrating into dust before their eyes.
In the real world
The Poison Leaf Sect had fallen. Cultivators' corpses lay scattered, their bodies like insect-hollowed husks. Amid the wreckage, a small hand emerged from the soil a bark-skinned infant, dead before it could become whole.
But something stirred beneath it.
Back in the cornfield
The blue sky above them cracked. Through the fractures, black droplets fell, searing every golden stalk they touched.
"He's coming," her sister hissed, eyes wide with terror. "He knows we're still alive."
Ye Lin raised her hand, reaching for her world's power but instead of black blood or roots, golden light shimmered forth, like sunlight trapped in glass.
"You're not the same anymore," whispered the small shadow at her chest, now fully fused into her. "You are the true Guardian now."
The man with the golden mask appeared again, this time closer. His mask began to crack, revealing—
Ye Lin's own aged face, but with hollow eyes, like a lifeless doll.
"At last," he said, his voice echoing, "we can end this game."
From behind him, dozens of shadows crept forward each with Ye Lin's face, but with different expressions: some angry, some afraid, some empty.
"Your lost fragments," her sister said, trembling. "He gathered them."
Ye Lin felt a pull within her, as if invisible threads were being plucked one by one.
"You think you've won?" the man laughed. "You've only started the next chapter."
The cornfield caught fire.
And in the middle of the flames, Ye Lin heard her small shadow's final whisper:
"Remember, Lin'er… this corn was the seed of life."
Then everything went dark.