Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation

"I don't have much time left," Long Jinshu said calmly, unbothered by Jin Shu's fury. "But I will explain why I had to do what I did."

Jin Shu's fists clenched. He wanted to keep beating the dead man, even if it accomplished nothing. But the voices of Gold and Shuang echoed in his mind, restraining him.

"It's frustrating, but we need to hear him out," Gold said evenly.

"I'm sure he had his reasons… and he's one of us, so he wouldn't intentionally harm us… I think," Shuang added, less confident.

"Fine," Jin Shu growled. "Talk. But it better be good—or I'll hit you again."

Long Jinshu didn't acknowledge the threat. He just gave a weary shake of his head and began.

"When my mother died, I spent centuries building a plan to save her. That path led me to the Time Rune, which I used to turn back time. I always knew the price—I would die horribly. My soul torn to shreds by the heavens' will. So I needed an escape. That's when I learned how to split my soul and strip those fragments of karma, saving them from divine punishment."

"Me and Gold?" Jin Shu asked.

"Yes," Long Jinshu nodded. "You two were cast into different times and places for a reason. If I simply wanted to be reborn, I could've placed my karma-free soul fragment into an infant and started over. But while researching the Time Rune, I uncovered a method to glimpse heavenly secrets—to see the future."

"Divination? Like Bing Hou's mother?" Jin Shu asked.

"No. Divination only offers fragments of another person's fate," Long Jinshu said with a shake of his head. "What I found… was our entire future. I can't tell you what I saw—if I did, it would undo everything I've done to erase your destined fate."

Jin Shu furrowed his brow, both confused and intrigued.

"My destined fate?"

Long Jinshu nodded solemnly. "It's why I killed you."

"Killing me removes it?"

"No," he said again. "But guiding you to this moment—with these people around you, and that rune carved into your heart—that was how I removed it."

Jin Shu's eyes narrowed. "The Unity Rune? Stop talking in riddles. Speak plainly."

"The rune you call the Unity Rune has no real name," Long Jinshu said. "Its true function is to shield you from heavenly interference. But to activate its full power, I had to kill you—and then revive you."

"But you just said killing and reviving me alone wouldn't be enough," Jin Shu argued.

"Normally, it wouldn't," Long Jinshu agreed. "But I bound your karma to others—those who willingly shared it with you. And with their help, along with a precise infusion of Dao force, I wove a veil around your fate."

He paused, locking eyes with Jin Shu.

"You now control your own destiny. Every decision you make from here on out will truly be yours. No heaven, no fate, no prophecy will bind you anymore."

Jin Shu stared at him, struggling to process. "I… still don't understand…"

"You—ahh!" Long Jinshu suddenly doubled over, clutching his head. A scream tore from his throat, his face contorting with pain.

"I'm out of time," he ground out. "I used up most of my remaining lifetime for this. I need to enter a deep slumber to preserve what little I have left. Just… do me one favor."

He looked up at Jin Shu, eyes pleading.

"Let me see our family one more time. That's all I ask."

"How long do you have left?" Jin Shu asked quietly.

"A year," Long Jinshu answered, just before his form dissolved into light. The glowing essence drifted into Jin Shu's soul space, settling quietly within.

Jin Shu stared off into space for several moments, unable to make sense of his own thoughts, let alone the avalanche of revelations he'd just received. Eventually, he turned and walked back to the boulder he'd been sitting on earlier.

"FUCK!" he screamed, hurling a punch into the stone. It exploded into dust. "Ahh!!"

His voice echoed violently through the mountain range. Fortunately, Chen Ai Yun had already sent everyone away, so no one was around to witness his meltdown.

He panted, shoulders heaving. Then, after a moment to calm his breathing, he muttered bitterly, "What does this even mean? Were all the stupid things I've done just the result of Long Jinshu's meddling?"

"No," two voices said at once. "You're just stupid."

"Haha. Very funny," Jin Shu replied flatly, not amused in the slightest. "Seriously, though. He said he led us to this exact moment. Does… does that mean all my feelings have been fake…?"

He closed his eyes and sank into his soul space to confront Gold and Shuang directly. Both wore equally solemn expressions. They probably didn't have more answers than he did—but he needed to hear what they thought.

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"It's possible," Shuang said slowly. "But don't turn your back on your—our—feelings just because of that. We have people who love us, and people we love in return. Isn't that what we've always wanted? So embrace it."

"I agree," Gold added with a nod.

Jin Shu sighed. "You're both right… It doesn't matter how it happened. What matters is what I choose to do next." He paused, a flicker of defiance crossing his face. "Apparently, we're immune to fate now."

The three of them fell silent for a while.

Then Gold spoke.

"Nano's dead."

The words hit like a quiet bell—something they all knew, but hadn't wanted to say.

Shuang opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again, shaking his head sadly.

"Um… I'm not dead…"

All three jolted upright, turning their heads instinctively, though they knew the voice hadn't come from within the soul space.

"Nano? You're alive?!" Jin Shu exclaimed. "But… how? My core exploded…"

"It did. And I died along with you," Nano replied, his voice almost wistful. "If a non-living being like me can truly die, that is…"

"You have intelligence," Shuang said softly. "Artificial or not—you're just as alive as we are."

"Hmm… well, regardless, I'm sorry it took me so long to speak. It took a while to adjust to… this new form."

"New form?" Jin Shu echoed, frowning.

"Yes. I appear to have fused with your DNA," Nano said cryptically. "I now exist within both your blood and your qi."

"What?" Jin Shu blinked. "How is that even possible?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But I've begun to understand that I can operate your qi like a neural network… and your blood… it has become my body."

Neither Jin Shu, Gold, nor Shuang could formulate a response. They stood in the soul space with blank looks on their faces.

"W-what…? Huh…?"

"Additionally—"

"There's more?!" Jin Shu interrupted.

"…Yes," Nano replied after a pause. "Due to your rebirth, it appears your blood and qi have fused. You no longer have a core. It's as if your entire body has become one."

All three blinked, stunned into silence.

Jin Shu withdrew his consciousness from the soul space and turned his attention inward, trying to sense the changes. He flexed his hands, arms, and legs, testing his body. Everything felt… similar, yet subtly stronger. Then, he directed his focus deeper, attempting to move his qi.

But as his qi flowed, so did his blood—perfectly synchronized. He tried guiding it toward his lower dantian where his core should have been, but his blood rushed with it, sending a wave of dizziness through him. He collapsed, unable to stay upright.

The lightheadedness hit hard. His mind blanked, and for a few moments, he forgot to return his blood to its natural circulation. The symptoms only worsened.

"Ahem," a voice called out behind him.

Jin Shu flinched, hastily letting his blood settle. He turned… and froze. His stepmother stood over him.

"Uh… stepmom?"

Chen Ai Yun raised a brow, a bemused expression on her face.

"What exactly are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm… not sure," he muttered. "But it seems my blood and qi have merged. Also… my core is gone."

"And that explains… that?" She gestured pointedly toward his lower body.

He looked down and turned crimson. Scrambling to cover himself, he pushed down the unexpected reaction that had resulted from all the redirected blood earlier.

"I-I-I… I was trying to find my core! The blood just rushed there! I wasn't doing anything weird!" he stammered, desperately trying to change the subject. "W-why are you back, anyway?"

She paused before answering. "I felt uneasy leaving you alone. You just came back from… the dead. I was worried."

She offered her hand and helped him back to his feet. Thankfully, by then, the reaction had passed, sparing him further humiliation.

"So, your qi and blood have merged, and your core is… gone?" she asked, continuing without waiting for a response. "That sounds similar to a forbidden technique within our sect. One originally created by the phoenixes who founded our sect, before they left and humans took control."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "When you visit the sect's library, look up a technique called the Fire Spiritization Method. You're not to cultivate it under any circumstance. Just study it to compare with your current condition. And go see Xi Yue while you're at it—she has far more medical knowledge than I do and might be able to help."

"Sure, I'll see her," he nodded. "But… why can't I cultivate it? Is it like that technique you showed me before—the one only women can use?"

"No… well, sort of," she said with a conflicted look. "Have you heard of the Sunflower Manual?"

"The one used by palace eunuchs? The one that requires cutting off your…" He trailed off, glancing down at himself. A visible shudder ran through him.

It had already been bad enough when he used a transformation technique to smooth things down below—just to avoid accidental exposure during movement. Not that it helped in the end, since his internal yang energy gave him away anyway.

But cutting it off entirely? Getting rid of the goods for… good? Absolutely not. Under no circumstance.

Never!