Yetao's eyes wavered at Yuchen's revelation. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, squinting in disbelief.
Yuchen gulped hard, the words catching in his throat. Yetao's confusion quickly transformed into distrust.
"You know something, don't you?" Yetao pressed, his voice edged with desperation.
Yuchen lowered his head, guilt evident in his posture.
"Yuchen... my head is already ringing from stress. I have too many things to confirm," Yetao pleaded, his voice trembling. "Can you please tell me? I feel like I might die if I don't know."
Yuchen flinched at Yetao's mention of death, clenching his fist tightly before finally speaking the truth.
"Bambam... is the demon lord."
The statement froze Yetao in place as memories flashed through his mind—that massive creature battling the five lords, the one that had transformed into Bambam.
"Don't all clans get notified when a demon lord appears?" Yetao's mind raced. "He said he's in his 900th cultivation year. Does it mean we'll face the calamity in 100 years?"
Lost in thought, Yetao suddenly focused back on Yuchen. "I don't think we got notified about his birth. Why is that?"
"No one knew about it, gege. It was kept a secret even from us," Yuchen admitted.
Yetao's eyes narrowed. "Then why did you say you knew him from before?"
Yuchen's eyes wavered with guilt, unable to meet Yetao's gaze.
Taking a deep breath, Yetao fixed Yuchen with an expressionless stare. "Yuchen... spill everything you know before I go insane." His face remained impassive—nothing could faze him anymore. He was too exhausted by the revelations and only wanted to find Bambam.
Yuchen sighed heavily. "There's no more reason to hide it from you, gege." He proceeded to reveal everything—about the curse placed on his family and the demon lord's duty.
Yetao felt his throat constrict as the implications sank in. "So... in my previous life, everything happened because of me? What could've happened after that? To Lu and the otther lords? What happened to.....Zihao?" Tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his face uncontrollably.
Thio watched with fear, knowing his mommy's life was in danger. Yuchen clenched his fist, frustrated by his inability to console Yetao.
After allowing himself a brief cry, Yetao wiped away his tears with determination. "Where did he go now?" he asked, his tone serious.
Yuchen remained silent, avoiding the question.
Suspicion growing, Yetao stood up and summoned all nine of his fox tails. "I did not want to do this. But you leave me with no choice."
His ninth tail wrapped around Yuchen, immobilizing him despite his struggles. Yetao's eyes glowed purple as energy passed through his tail to Yuchen, compelling him to speak only the truth.
"Now tell me, Yuchen. Where is Bambam?" Yetao asked, his eyes gleaming with supernatural purplish light.
Unable to resist the power forcing truth from his lips, Yuchen answered, "The curse started to take effect earlier than expected. So he went to take care of the calamity."
Panic surged through Yetao as he rushed his next question. "And where is the place?"
"Northeast," Yuchen replied, the magic leaving him no choice.
"Now tell me. Did the artifact really break?" Yetao tightened his tail's grip.
Yuchen tried desperately to resist but couldn't withstand the binding spell. He coughed blood as he was forced to reveal, "Bambam... sealed it."
Yetao considered this information, quickly formulating a plan. He retrieved the artifact from Yuchen's garment despite his struggle and handed it to Thio.
"Thio, release the seal," Yetao commanded firmly.
No... Since Thio has the demon lord's blood, he could remove it, Yuchen thought in horror, frantically shaking his head at Thio.
The child, terrified at the thought of losing his mommy, clutched the artifact tightly, trembling like a leaf caught in the wind.
Yetao crouched to Thio's height and gently caressed the child's cheek, offering a reassuring smile. "Thio, I promise that I won't die, no matter what. Can you trust mommy just this once?"
Thio's resolve wavered as he looked between Yetao's gentle expression and Yuchen's desperate head-shaking. Finally, he spoke, surprising Yetao.
"I go too," Thio said firmly.
"You want to come with me?" Yetao asked, surprised to hear Thio speaking words other than "mommy."
Thio nodded solemnly.
Yetao kissed Thio's forehead tenderly. "Alright then," he agreed with a smile.
Relieved, Thio trusted Yetao's word and removed the seal on the artifact, placing it in Yetao's outstretched hand.
Without warning, Yetao swiftly released Yuchen and struck his acupoint, paralyzing him instantly. Using the artifact, he broke through the barrier that had imprisoned them on the island. Wings materialized on his back as he prepared to depart.
Thio was shocked and cried, "Mommy!!!!!', he screamed with all his might.
Before leaving, he created another barrier around the island, sacrificing one of his tails in the process. Both Yuchen and Thio realized they had been deceived, but could not even cry out in protest.
"This barrier costs 100 years of my cultivation. It won't be breached anytime soon," Yetao explained. "You'll be released in an hour. Yuchen, protect Thio."
Tears streamed down Thio's face as Yetao smiled at him one last time, then flew away toward where Bambam awaited—toward an uncertain fate and a confrontation long in the making.
Yetao pushed his wings to his limit, soaring through the skies for over two hours. His spiritual energy was nearly depleted—the price of experiencing his previous life's memories had drained his qi reserves dangerously low. Still, determination burned in his eyes.
"I must reach him... faster," he whispered through gritted teeth, forcing his exhausted body forward.
When he finally arrived at his destination, Yetao froze mid-air. The scene before him was identical to what he'd witnessed in his recovered memories—five clan lords maintaining a massive barrier in the middle of the vast ocean. But this time, Bambam stood at the center in his human form, struggling to suppress something dark above a jagged rock formation.
Yetao flew toward the barrier, only to be violently repelled by its energy field. All five lords turned in shock.
"Taotao... get away from here!" Lucas screamed, panic evident in his voice.
But Yetao wouldn't be deterred. "Let me in!" he shouted, repeatedly throwing himself against the shimmering barrier.
Bambam, who was channeling all his power to contain a writhing mass of dark energy, glanced back. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Yetao.
"Don't let him in!" Bambam commanded the other lords, his voice strained from exertion.
The lords immediately reinforced the barrier, their combined power creating an impenetrable wall of energy.
"Kid, go away! We've got this under control," Jeff called out firmly.
Minghao and Oscar offered Yetao a reassuring nod, but nothing could dissuade the determined phoenix.
Yetao locked eyes with Lucas and whispered, "I'm sorry, Lu."
In one swift motion, he plucked a gleaming feather from his wing and chanted a spell. With a gentle breath, he sent the feather floating toward Lucas. The moment it reached Lucas, it multiplied into a shimmering rope that wrapped tightly around him.
Lucas broke free from the childish trick in an instant, but that brief second of distraction was all Yetao needed. With the barrier momentarily weakened, he slipped through the opening.
"TAOTAO!" Lucas roared in desperation, but he couldn't abandon his position. If the barrier collapsed completely, the dark energy would escape and corrupt the entire demon realm.
Yetao flew directly to Bambam and landed beside him, wrapping his arms tightly around him from the front. Bambam's eyes widened in panic, but he couldn't release his hold on the writhing darkness he was suppressing—the moment he did, Yetao would die.
"Taotao... please..." Bambam's voice cracked with emotion. "Please get away from me!"
Yetao only tightened his embrace, tears streaming down his face as he buried his head against Bambam's chest.
"Bambam... just tell me one thing," Yetao's voice trembled. "What happened to Zihao?"
The question made Bambam flinch visibly. His hands trembled as he maintained his grip on the cursed energy, but his silence was all the confirmation Yetao needed—Zihao was gone.
Yetao's body shook with sobs as he clutched Bambam's robes. "Why didn't you tell me? WHY?!"
Bambam could only cry with him, helpless to offer comfort while restraining the curse. "I'm sorry, Taotao. It's all my fault. So please go away... please!"
After a moment of heart-wrenching sobs, Yetao made his decision. He rose slightly and pressed his lips against Bambam's.
In that split second of surprise, Bambam's concentration faltered. A fragment of dark energy escaped his control and pierced through Yetao's chest, directly into his heart.
Yetao gasped sharply, his body seizing in pain as he collapsed into Bambam's arms. The cursed energy that Bambam had fought so desperately to contain began to dissipate—its purpose fulfilled at last.
Bambam's hands trembled uncontrollably as he held Yetao's dying form. He felt as though someone had ripped the air from his lungs, as though the world itself had shattered around him.
"Taotao..." Bambam's voice was barely audible as he stared at the blood spreading across Yetao's chest. He pressed his palm against the wound, desperately trying to stem the flow, but the crimson tide wouldn't stop.
With the immediate threat gone, the five lords dissolved the barrier and rushed toward them. Lucas flew to Yetao's side, his face paled with shock.
"Bambam..." Yetao whispered, his voice growing fainter with each syllable.
"Don't speak," Bambam said frantically, gathering Yetao in his arms. "I'll take you to Thio. He can heal you!" He attempted to teleport them to the island, but Yetao weakly gripped his robes.
"Bambam... a curse cannot be healed," Yetao murmured. "Please... hear my last words."
"Don't say such nonsense!" Bambam shouted, unable to control the tears cascading down his face.
Yetao's grip tightened with surprising strength. "Please..."
Bambam let out an anguished cry, the sound of a man facing the one thing he couldn't fight.
"I love you, Bambam," Yetao whispered, a serene smile appearing on his pale lips. "This is my answer for your confession the other day."
Bambam pulled him closer, holding him as though he could somehow keep Yetao's soul from departing through sheer force of will.
"Take care of Thio well and... tell him that Mommy's sorry," Yetao's final words came as his eyes drifted closed, his body going limp in Bambam's embrace.
Bambam, no longer able to sense Yetao's life energy, cupped his cold cheek.
"Taotao?" he called softly, then more urgently. "Taotao!"
But deep down, he knew. Yetao was gone.
Lucas collapsed to his knees, tears falling freely as grief overwhelmed him. The other four lords stood in solemn silence, their own eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Bambam threw his head back and released a primal scream of anguish that seemed to shake the very heavens. But as his cry echoed across the sea, Yetao's physical form began to dissolve into motes of light.
Bambam desperately tried to catch the particles, but they slipped through his fingers like stardust. Everything—the lords, Lucas, the entire scene—began to fade into nothingness.
Confusion replaced grief as Bambam himself felt his consciousness dissolving...
Bambam's eyes snapped open. He was lying on a bed within the Black Dragon Palace. Jackson and Jeff hovered over him with concerned expressions.
"Bambam!!!" Jackson exclaimed with relief.
Lucas burst through the doorway, his eyes wild with confusion. "Where is Taotao?" they both asked simultaneously.
Jeff's expression darkened. "After you three disappeared, we couldn't find any trace of you. Then yesterday, after ten days of searching, you suddenly materialized out of thin air—all three of you unconscious."
"Then where's Taotao?" Bambam demanded, his patience wearing thin.
Jeff silently led them to a nearby chamber where Yetao lay motionless on a bed of silk. Bambam rushed to his side, shaking him gently.
"Unlike you two," Jeff said hesitantly, "Yetao returned with only the faintest trace of life force."
Shock rippled through Bambam and Lucas. Bambam immediately tried to transfer his own life energy into Yetao, but to his horror, Yetao's body rejected it completely.
As panic spread through Bambam's heart, Yetao's consciousness drifted in a mysterious subspace—a void containing nothing but a solitary throne. He glanced around in confusion until a voice broke the silence.
"How are you doing, player?"
Yetao remembered that a glowing mark on his hand that had pulled the three into this realm, where he experienced memories of two whole lives. He turned toward the voice and found a figure whose face was concealed behind a red veil, only their lips visible.
"Who are you?" Yetao asked warily.
The figure's lips curled into a smirk. "Your rival? You want to protect Bambam, and I want to kill him. So... we're rivals, right?"
Fury rose within Yetao. "Before making such declarations, why not be a man and show me your face?"
"You're so me at all times," the figure said cryptically before removing his veil.
Yetao gasped. He was staring at himself—or rather, a version of himself with cold, calculating eyes and an expression darker than any he'd ever worn.
"Why are you impersonating me?" Yetao demanded.
The doppelganger laughed as he settled onto the throne, revealing nine magnificent tails and a cracked pearl pendant hanging from his neck.
Yetao's breath caught. "That is..."
"Zihao's egg. Am I right?" the other Yetao finished with a sinister smile, leaving Yetao frozen in shock.
When Bambam was trapped in fear that Yetao might never wave up, Yetao was trapped by his own other version, sinking in confusion, suspicion and recognition. If that is a doppleganger of Yetao, then where did he get Zihao's egg?