CHAPTER 116 – The Soul That Shouldn't Exist
Gu's soul flickered like a firefly caught in a merciless winter gale.
He was fragile.
He was cold.
He was moments from extinguishing entirely, the golden light of his essence struggling against the creeping gray of final deletion.
Xiao Xi held him with trembling hands, her chaos, usually a violent, life-giving force, now wrapping around him desperately, trying to mend the irreparable tear in his soul.
"Yanzhou… Yanzhou, look at me—stay with me—please—don't leave me!"
Gu tried to smile, the effort fracturing his edges, breaking him apart like ash.
"…I'm here… Xi… I told you…"
"No—no, you're not! You're fading! Hold tighter! Don't let the gold go out!"
The Root Protagonist knelt beside them, his silver eyes filled with a deep, professional grimness.
"He overextended his soul to attack the First Root.
It was a heroic, irrational move.
A mortal soul—even a half-Root one—was never meant to collide with pure, primal chaos."
Xiao Xi's heart twisted violently, pain and fury merging.
"Then fix him! You're the stabilization principle! FIX.
HIM."
The Root Protagonist didn't flinch, but the answer came slowly, painfully, tinged with regret.
"There is… one method to anchor him permanently."
Xiao Xi froze, the hope and dread battling fiercely inside her.
Gu's dim gold eyes lifted weakly, understanding the terrible implications instantly.
"Don't… Xi.
Don't listen.
It's a lie."
The Root Protagonist continued anyway, his voice solemn.
"To save Gu Yanzhou's soul, to prevent it from fading now that the deletion is active, you must anchor him to a permanent vessel."
Xiao Xi trembled, her voice barely a whisper.
"What vessel? What else is permanent in this collapsing world?"
He looked at her, his eyes full of something like sorrow for the future he was about to impose.
"Yours.
Your Core."
Xiao Xi's breath caught, realization a cold, hard stone in her stomach.
"You mean… fully integrating him?"
The Root Protagonist nodded, the confirmation a condemnation.
"You would have to bind his soul entirely into your Core, accepting him as a co-pilot, a necessary, inextricable part of your existence."
Gu whispered, anger and protectiveness overriding his pain:
"No—Xiao Xi—don't—that will destroy you! It will ruin your chance at freedom!"
The Root Protagonist shook his head, looking down at the ground.
"No.
It will do worse than ruin her freedom."
Xiao Xi whispered, dreading the next words:
"…What worse?"
He closed his eyes, unable to look at her final decision.
"You will no longer be able to separate your existence from his.
The bond will be perfect, complete.
One existence shared between two.
One injury affects both.
If he dies, you die.
If you are sealed, he is sealed."
Gu's eyes widened in horror.
Xiao Xi whispered, the decision already forming in her heart.
"…A shared Core.
A shared fate."
"Yes," the Root Protagonist said.
"A shared life.
Shared suffering.
Shared death."
Gu tried weakly to push away from her, tears of fear blurring his vision.
"NO! I won't let her chain herself to me! She deserves to live! She's the Root!"
Xiao Xi wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight, the violet and gold light surging around them.
"I'm not chaining myself, Yanzhou."
Her voice shook with the weight of her promise.
"I'm choosing you.
If I'm the Root, I decide what is essential to this world, and that is you."