"Later, your power was completely depleted, and you came to me..."

No wonder... Heroine Yan spoke up for me.

"I'm sorry... I didn't realize you two had that kind of relationship," Ying said with a smile. "After you've recovered, just leave."

Mother said that not a single word from men outside is to be trusted.

Mother wasn't wrong.

"I'll guard this place..." Ying raised the Shadow Hong Saber and handed it to Wang Mu. "No trouble will occur; it's my responsibility, now that I'm awake."

Although... it wasn't just responsibility that woke me...

Wang Mu took the Shadow Hong Saber, somewhat silent.

"I want to change my name," Ying said. "I suddenly feel that the name Ying doesn't sound good anymore."

Wang Mu looked at her.

"To what name?"

"Wuxin," she said, her voice deep and haunting. "Father and mother said I was a heartless person, born only to guard this dark place, incapable of any emotion... I always believed it to be so."

"A person can't live without a heart," Wang Mu said. "You have a heart. Your heart is incredibly resolute and pure, stronger than the heart of anyone else in this world."

"I don't believe what you say," Ying said. "Miss Yan told me not to believe your pleasant-sounding words, saying they're all lies."

"..." Wang Mu.

"You should go," Ying said. "Besides, you've also lost the thing I gave you. Miss Yan is probably waiting for you outside... You've come here as well, so you haven't broken your promise to me."

Wang Mu sighed inwardly.

He remembered the storyline about Ying in the game.

Although it wasn't long, nor complicated, and even somewhat plain, it was nevertheless exceptionally memorable.

Even if he didn't know her specific appearance, and there were no full CGs. But perhaps, it was this unknown that made him more curious and filled with anticipation.

"That thing..." Wang Mu thought for a moment. "Is it very important to you?"

The Fiendish Ghost's Buddha Heart, used in making Immortal Sorrow, was created with the protagonist's blood, and that item was never handed over. To be precise, it couldn't be handed over. Besides, that thing should have merged with the protagonist back then. Where could one even go to find it now? And it wasn't an ordinary item either.

"It's not important. You helped me back then, so I gave it to you. It became yours."

Seeing this, Wang Mu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what.

He had thought about staying here for a few more days to ask about her situation.

Looks like that opportunity wasn't there anymore.

That year...

"Then... I'm leaving." Wang Mu got up.

Wang Mu had gradually grown accustomed to the darkness, as if he had returned to the game.

He was even quite familiar with the small stone house where Ying had lived for so long.

"Mhm..."

Ying held no resentment towards him.

Or rather, with her personality, she wouldn't harbor such emotions.

Constantly guarding this place, she had long since developed such a unique character.

A thousand-year promise—whether he came or not—probably held little significance to her.

Stepping outside the stone house, Wang Mu turned back to look at Ying.

"This place isn't as exciting as the outside world," Ying said. "What's so good to look at? I've changed my name, so from now on you can't call me Ying."

Wang Mu, holding the Shadow Hong Saber, said,

"In the future..."

"In the future, you don't need to come here."

"Shall I make you some more food?" Wang Mu thought for a moment. "With your current Cultivation..."

"I don't need it anymore," Ying shook her head. "After waking up this time, I feel like I don't really need to eat anymore..."

Her Realm... Wang Mu thought. It's probably extraordinary.

With Ying's talent, if she were in the outside world, she would only be stronger than Heroine Yan and the others. Moreover, the rules within the Dark Border are different from the outside world. Ying's strength, after a thousand years of accumulation, might be...

Wang Mu turned away, feeling that Ying was missing something, yet he could only leave...

The door of the stone house gradually closed.

Ying watched the fading figure, the faint light in her eyes dwindling with it...

She returned to the stone house and squatted down in a corner.

"Mother..." Ying felt somewhat lost. "Do you think the name Wuxin sounds nice?"

The empty stone house had long been filled with a thousand years of silence. It was profoundly empty and still.

"Wuxin, Wuxin..."

"Actually... I quite like the name Ying..."

"If only... I could have a surname as well..."

"Mother... you once told me that when I had both a name and a surname, I would be able to leave this place, to see the true light within the darkness..."

"I had thought... when he came again, I would ask him to give me a surname..."

"But it seems... there's no chance for that anymore..."

Low murmurs echoed in the room.

Childhood memories kept flooding back.

Her clan was born in darkness, destined to never see the light within that darkness in their entire lives.

Like shadows, they were not quite real—neither as existing people nor as existing lives.

Nameless and without a surname.

She recalled the light in the boy's eyes when they first met...

Ying buried her head in her hands, sinking down.

At that moment...

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

Suddenly, the door of the stone house sounded.

Ying was startled and got up to open it.

A thousand years had passed, yet it was as if she once again saw that light from a millennium ago—the light in his eyes.

"That..."

"I still feel that Wuxin doesn't quite suit you," Wang Mu said thoughtfully. "Ying doesn't sound good... How about adding a surname? Back then, I only thought it should fit you well..."

"What?" Ying asked blankly.

"How about Dongfang Ying?" Wang Mu said. "The Dark Border's location, if you think about it, is roughly at the world's easternmost edge. Coincidentally, that was my surname at the time too..."

"..." Ying.

"It doesn't sound good," she said.

"..." Wang Mu.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it.

Wang Mu always felt that the name Wuxin was not very auspicious for her.

"Giving me this surname, won't your Miss Yan be upset?" Ying suddenly asked.

"Whether she gets angry or not has nothing to do with me," Wang Mu said. "It's just a name."

Heroine Yan was outside and had no idea.

"You... you really like to act recklessly," she said, closing the stone door. "You should go."

"Then you...?"

"I'll think about it. I'll give you an answer when you come next time."

Next time? Didn't she say I didn't need to come again? Uh...

Wang Mu was silent for a moment, then he understood.

"...Then I'll come again next time," Wang Mu nodded.

This time, he left feeling relieved.

Through the crack in the stone house door, she watched his figure recede into the distance. Within the darkness... a faint glimmer remained...

---

Wang Mu walked out of the Dark Border, greatly relieved. Upon exiting, he discovered the seal was almost completely repaired.

"Not bad, it's getting better."

The moment he stepped out of the Dark Border, Wang Mu closed his eyes, allowing the warm light to once again wash over him.

Among the myriad lights, the first to descend was a strand of Green Frost's cold glint.

It landed right on Wang Mu's neck.

Wang Mu opened his eyes to see the Green Frost Sword suspended at his throat. Perfectly positioned.

The killing intent of an Ascension Expert... so simple and unadorned...

Heroine Yan's eyes were indifferent.

"The name Dongfang Ying sounds terrible," she said.

"Brother Mu, what do you think?"