"Sister, A'Yue, are you alright?" Xing Yuan asked, her face full of worry as she looked at Qing Su Yue, who had been lost in thought since finishing her story.
She cautiously glanced left and right, wondering if she had been ambushed. However, she didn't sense any ill will.
"I'm fine," Qing Su Yue softly shook her head, her fair hand suddenly gripping Xing Yuan's arm.
"Help me up, I'm a little tired," she said softly.
"Oh! Alright." Xing Yuan instantly handed her staff to a nearby guard and used both hands to support Qing Su Yue.
A faint warmth flickered in Qing Su Yue's eyes. Perhaps she wasn't so useless after all; at least she could help some people now.
However, she lost the desire to wander around Hui Cheng and returned directly to the Temple of Light.
Soon, night fell.
Qing Su Yue, carrying a few bottles of wine, knocked on Xing Yuan's door for the first time, "A'Yuan, accompany me for a couple of drinks!"
"Okay! But A'Yue, I've never drunk before, so I don't know if I have a good tolerance," Xing Yuan reminded her.
"It doesn't matter, it's my first time drinking too," she said dismissively, her gaze fixed intently on Xing Yuan.
In her eyes, this was a disrespectful act.
But today, she suddenly wanted to be unrestrained. What did it matter if she was the Saintess of Light? Why should she, a prisoner, maintain such a dignified image?
Xing Yuan took a bottle of wine and took a direct sip from it. She frowned slightly, seemingly displeased with the taste, but she said nothing.
She simply looked at Qing Su Yue and said, "Let's go! I know a good place to enjoy the scenery."
On the rooftop of the pavilion, Qing Su Yue was somewhat surprised. "This is the good place you mentioned for enjoying the scenery?"
"Yes! When you look up at the night sky and see the twinkling stars, don't you think, Sister, that this is already the most beautiful sight in the world?"
Qing Su Yue didn't speak. She just sat down, took a large gulp of wine, and then said, "Actually, we can look not only at the sky but also at the ground."
"Do you see it? Below is what they call the 'myriad of lights.' They say that if not for our constant protection, these lights would have long been extinguished. It was precisely their words that moved me, which is why I served as the Saintess for so many years."
"But... I don't want to at all!" Qing Su Yue said, as if venting her anger, she kept pouring the unpalatable wine into her mouth.
Perhaps she had drunk too much. Qing Su Yue hugged Xing Yuan and began to talk about things she had never said but had always kept in her heart.
"A'Yuan, do you know? The first time I came to the Temple of Light, I thought it was so grand! I liked it a lot back then, even though I was brought here by force.
But later... I started to miss home. They wouldn't let me go back. Whenever I had such thoughts, they would find all sorts of excuses to dismiss me. And then... my family died, killed by those magical beasts.
But that was just the external cause. Do you know the internal cause?"
Xing Yuan shook her head, playing the role of a loyal listener.
"It was me!" Qing Su Yue pointed to herself, a bitter smile appearing on her face.
"They knew I missed home, so they simply made sure I had no home left. They deliberately led people to lure the magical beasts, and then they ignored the distress signals sent by my relatives, only arriving to collect the bodies when everyone was dead.
They thought I didn't know, but I saw it!" Qing Su Yue pointed to her eyes and abruptly threw the empty wine bottle on the ground.
"That was the first time I hated myself for having such high talent. Because I missed home, I painstakingly learned how to trace back! But I never expected that what I would trace back to were their corpses and the ugly faces of those people in the Temple of Light."
Qing Su Yue began to cry softly, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Do you know? Although I hate them, I hate myself even more."
If I were just an ordinary girl, without any talent, perhaps I would still be living happily with my parents now!
"Sister! You are wonderful, and you did nothing wrong. They are the ones who are wrong," Xing Yuan gently wiped away Qing Su Yue's tears with her fingertips and said solemnly,
"Sister, you don't like it here. Shall I take you away?"
"Okay! Take me away!" Qing Su Yue murmured.
Having received permission, Xing Yuan no longer concealed her divine power of darkness. Boundless darkness directly enveloped the entire city.
A portion of the powerful divine power of darkness transformed into huge wings, while the other portion relentlessly assaulted the Temple of Light.
The God of Light, who had been slumbering in the divine realm, suddenly opened his eyes. This aura... it was the God of Darkness. She had actually set foot on his territory, breaking their original agreement first.
Xing Yuan gently flapped her wings and flew up. Then, the holy light, said to be inextinguishable, was extinguished.
Everyone in Hui Cheng was plunged into unspeakable panic.
Sister didn't like it here, but she compromised because of the people here. Xing Yuan never wanted to do things that Sister disliked, except, of course, for the matter of Sister wanting to leave her. After all, she was never a good person.
Therefore, Xing Yuan didn't harm anyone. She simply cast a light glance at the Temple of Light. The supposedly extremely sturdy divine temple gradually shattered under the onslaught of the divine power of darkness.
Although the God of Light wanted to leave the divine realm, the price of doing so without external help was too great, and she was unwilling. Therefore, she could only settle the score later.
"Who are you?" Several elders, crawling out of the ruins, glared at the person radiating divine power of darkness, their appearance obscured, and asked warily.
This person's control over power was extremely strong. Not only did she destroy the massive structure of the Temple of Light, but she also deliberately left them space to crawl out, as if playing with a mouse.
Xing Yuan chuckled, her voice utterly arrogant, "You are not qualified to know."
"We don't need to know. Your divine power of darkness already reveals your identity, doesn't it? God of Darkness!" A scholarly-looking elder stepped forward.
Among these people, he was clearly considered intelligent.
"It seems you're not all idiots!" Xing Yuan mocked.
"Naturally. It's just... where is Your Excellency the God of Darkness taking our Saintess?" His gaze fixed on Qing Su Yue in Xing Yuan's arms, his face full of vigilance.
The two divine powers were diametrically opposed, so Qing Su Yue's presence stood out exceptionally. From afar, she appeared like a glimmer of light amidst the overwhelming darkness.
It was the light of hope, the only light in a desolate land.