Abide With Me

Nemesis Unfolds

The terror of a child abandoned on the streets. The agony of a broken heart, a lost love. The yearning of an unfulfilled dream. The shock of failure. The thirst for unreachable goals. The hunger for recognition and acceptance. The hatred against wrongdoers. The fire of separation. The gnawing of anxiety. The uncertainty of life, the certainty of death! Each of these feelings, at fever pitch, stormed the Gryphon's mind. The pain became blinding and physical. The Gryphon shook his head violently from side to side.

The voices were insidious. They insulted him, castigated, ridiculed and shunned him. Then they grew angry, louder, more vocal, clamouring. The Gryphon screamed aloud, trying to drown the babel within.

Lori spoke in Wei Ying's mind, "Now! Master Wei, look for a locked box!"

Wei Ying bade Chenqing hold the fort and closing his eyes, he plunged into the Gryphon's mind. It was a wild journey; for there wasn't just one mind there. Multiple personae, jarring thoughts, wildly see-sawing emotions. Fragmented identities, unfinished stories, narratives that ended abruptly! Wei Ying was thrown into confusion, then his eyes blazed red and it all made perfect sense.

These was souls, rather, fragments of souls, sucked dry by Linghun Qiezei over centuries. The life-spirit, joy and everything that made life worth living had been squeezed out and consumed by Linghun Qiezei. These then, were the remnants, dried husks, carrying only the miasma of pain and negativity.

When the burden of the captured soul's negative emotions became unbearable, Linghun Qiezei must have transmigrated to yet another body and soul!

Just then, An-Nengliang drew closer and its rumbling increased. This triggered another realisation in Wei Ying's mind. Wei Ying saw Linghun Qiezei's memories: how he'd experimented for years and finally discovered that in this Realm, if his victim underwent a lot of suffering, all negative emotions were converted into An-Nengliang. Then, when the soul was absorbed, he would not get the pain and memories it carried, just the longevity!

Wei Ying realised that this was precisely the factor he could use to defeat this Being of limitless power. With renewed zeal, Wei Ying narrowed his focus, shutting out all the chaos, zeroing in on some sturdy walls in the Gryphon's mind. Rather than waste precious moments trying to bring down the walls, Wei Ying decided to entice whatever was behind them to emerge into the Gryphon's conscious mind. The Chenqing aided his probing and told him, "Resentful energy trapped there!"

Wei Ying laughed aloud in delight and the red eyes blazed forth, their authority undeniable. The Yiling Laozu played Chenqing, summoning every last vestige of resentful energy in the Gryphon's mind to come forth and be heard!

If there was one lesson We Ying had learnt in his time in the Burial Mounds, it was this: the denial of opportunity to be heard was the very basis of formation of resentment! So with this powerful enticement, the Pandora's box deep in the recesses of Linghun Qiezei's subconscious mind began trembling and vibrating.

Lori's spiritual strength was ebbing gradually and she shook herself fiercely, determined not to let Wei Ying down. In that moment, Linghun Qiezei was able to pluck his eyes off her, and he turned to the other person next to her.

The Yiling Laozu smiled and the very air turned chill. The blazing red eyes, softly curved lips and the floating red ribbon; these were magnets and Linghun Qiezei could not look away.

The unease at the back of Linghun Qiezei's mind grew and strengthened. The lid of the box, weighted with the Gryphon's intent to survive at any cost, wasn't easy to breach, but the determination of a hundred or more souls to be heard was more than a match! The lid shuddered, hinges creaked and finally cracked asunder. The angst of a hundred souls tore into Linghun Qiezei's mind.