Volume 7, Chapter 0-8 – Prologue (Part 3)

—”Ailiss.”—

The single word the girl born from Corruption knew.

It seemed to be her own name.

Where exactly she had gotten this name from, Ruoya wasn’t entirely sure. All she knew was that this dazed little Corruption Amalgamation held an unusual attachment to this particular name.

And so, Ruoya accepted the name, and brought Ailiss back to the temple.

She hoped that this time, through this special existence known as Ailiss, she might be able to change the endless vicious cycle currently plaguing the Earth.

…

After that, Ruoya discovered that caring for a Corruption Amalgamation was somewhat different from what she had imagined.

At first, Ailiss was like a blank sheet of paper, dazed and innocent.

She didn’t understand written language, couldn’t speak, and even basic walking came with a fair bit of clumsiness — she would often slip on the temple’s smooth jade floors, tumbling down with tear-filled eyes.

Whenever this happened, Ruoya would always set aside whatever she was doing, walk slowly over to her, crouch down, extend a slender jade hand, and with a gentle smile on her face, softly comfort her.

—”Don’t be afraid. Get up slowly, I’ll teach you.”—

Ruoya’s teaching was patient to the point of indulgence. She never seemed to treat Ailiss as a product of Corruption to be wary of, but genuinely regarded her as a newborn child.

Every morning, before dawn broke, Ruoya would take Ailiss’s hand and lead her to the temple’s terrace to watch the sunrise, letting her sense the flow of the world’s energy and, through it, feel the beauty of the world. During the day, she would hold Ailiss’s hand and teach her to write, stroke by stroke, starting from the simplest characters like “sun,” “moon,” and “star,” progressing to more complex ones like “Corruption,” “glory,” and “purification.” The warmth of her palm gradually brought a bit more light into Ailiss’s once-hollow golden eyes.

“This character is pronounced ‘Ruo.’ It’s part of my name.” ¹ The character that she is teachingis 诺 (nuò), different from the one in her name 偌 (ruò) a near-homophone of her name 偌娅 (Ruoya), which is just a phonetic name character with no standalone meanng

Ruoya held Ailiss’s hand and wrote the character “Ruo” on the jade tabletop, the brush-tip trailing a faint mark of golden spiritual power.

“It represents a promise, a vow that will never be broken.”

Ailiss blinked, her golden eyes reflecting the characters on the tabletop, then looked up at Ruoya’s gentle face, nodding her small head slightly and mimicking the shape of Ruoya’s mouth, producing a vague, garbled syllable:

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“Ruo… Ruoya…”

This was the first name she learned besides her own, and it became the word that appeared most often from her lips.

Whenever she called out “Ruoya” in that soft, sweet voice, the young Lord would always turn her head and give her a smile warm enough to melt ice and snow — a smile that seemed capable of thawing even the hardest frost.

Besides writing, Ruoya also taught Ailiss etiquette. She taught her how to walk gracefully, how to treat others with respect, and how to control the immense yet “docile” Corruption energy within her body.

Ailiss studied with remarkable diligence, and even when she occasionally made mistakes — bowing too hastily and nearly toppling over, or accidentally shattering a teacup on the table with a burst of energy — she would immediately lower her head, pout, and adopt a look of pure remorse, terrified that Ruoya might scold her.

But the young Lord almost never rebuked her. She would simply smile, help straighten Ailiss’s skirt, gently wipe away the spilled tea from her hands, and say softly:

“It’s alright, take your time. Ailiss has already done very well. Just try again next time.”

It was true — Ailiss was a bit dim-witted, and she didn’t learn especially quickly.

But for a Corruption Amalgamation, the fact that she was willing to learn at all was already enough to satisfy the young Lord.

And besides, that dazed, adorable manner of hers wasn’t unpleasant at all.

…

The temple’s guardians and the Lord’s apostles were, at first, filled with wariness toward Ailiss’s presence. They couldn’t forget the horrific scene at Lanyue Nation’s capital, nor could they easily accept a product born of Corruption.

But over time, watching Ailiss grow more docile and sensible under Ruoya’s teaching, watching her quietly follow behind Ruoya to help tidy scattered scrolls, watching her carefully place pretty stones she’d found on Ruoya’s desk, watching her effortlessly calm down herds of Corrupted Beasts and even order them to help with farm work — the wariness in their hearts gradually softened.

Watching the blue-haired girl interacting with a group of small animals on the lawn, Baomian, standing in the pavilion, couldn’t help but sigh with feeling:

“How to put it? Looking at her like this, it’s really hard to connect her with those monsters that only know how to destroy… hmm, don’t you think so too, Lord Xi?”

Behind Baomian, Xi, an apostle himself, also visibly showed signs of being moved, nothing like the hostility he’d shown at first.

“Perhaps the Lord is right. Winning over and properly guiding this ‘Outer God’ might really be the way to finally end the calamity plaguing our world.”

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“Mm, at the very least, thanks to Ailiss, the threat of Corrupted Beasts has nearly vanished. I hope it stays this way going forward.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“By the way…”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I keep feeling like… Ailiss and the Lord have gotten a bit too close?”

“Hm?”

“Bathing together, cultivating together, sleeping together all the time… isn’t that a bit too intimate?”

“Tch, so what? That girl was raised and taught by the Lord herself. What’s wrong with her being a bit more dependent on the Lord? If anything, it’s probably for the best — that way the Lord can keep better control over her.”

“I suppose.”

…

The days flew by one after another.

Several years passed quickly, and the changes in Ailiss became more and more apparent.

She was no longer that dazed girl who could only cry and make “uwahm” sounds. She could speak in halting but coherent sentences, write fluently (though her handwriting wasn’t particularly pretty), and bow and greet the guardians properly. The hollowness in her golden eyes had gradually faded, replaced by liveliness and clarity. Only the pair of ice-blue snowflake markings at the center of her pupils, and the curse power that occasionally leaked from her body, still bore any trace of her origin.

But even toward that lingering trace of curse power, everyone within the temple had come to fully accept it.

Partly out of respect for the Lord’s decision, and partly because Ailiss’s harmless, gentle demeanor genuinely made it difficult for anyone to feel hostility toward her again.

…

Then, one day, after everyone had accepted Ailiss and this “Outer God” had fully integrated into the temple.

That night, the temple was unusually quiet.

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Starlight filtered through the transparent crystal atop the temple, casting a soft silver glow that made the entire hall look like something out of a dream. The guardians had long since retired for the night, and Ruoya, having finished with her mountain of pending affairs, had also returned to her own chambers.

Though she was the most exalted Lord, her chambers were simple and unadorned — aside from a large bed draped in soft velvet, there was only a desk holding scrolls and crystals. Ruoya shed her white sacred robe embroidered with cloud patterns, changed into a plain sleeping gown, and lay down on the bed, exhausted, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

The days of continuous toil had made her sleep unusually soundly, her breathing even and steady.

Even a Lord, after expending too much of her soul’s power, needed rest to recover.

However, she hadn’t been resting with her eyes closed for very long when Ruoya sensed a familiar presence, and something pressed down on top of her.

???

Hm?

“This presence… it’s…”

The young Lord slowly opened her eyes, and as the sight before her came into focus, Ruoya’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Ai… Ailiss?? You… what is this?”

For the first time ever, a note of panic crept into Ruoya’s voice.

For there, sitting atop her, was the blue-haired girl, her usual plain cotton nightgown shed, replaced instead with a pale-purple lace lingerie set utterly unlike her usual demeanor. The lace was of the most exquisite openwork craftsmanship, its edges trimmed with fine silver-threaded tassels, catching a faint shimmer in the moonlight, like stardust wrapped around her skin.

The bra was a half-cup design, cradling her full, snow-white curves just so, the lace pattern winding along the neckline, both concealing the essential parts and tracing the soft curves to full effect, her exposed shoulders and neck slender as jade, a faint shadow pooling in the hollow of her collarbone, adding a hazy, alluring quality.

The lace hem barely covered down to the top of her thighs, revealing a stretch of pale, slender legs, her skin nearly glowing white in the moonlight, forming a striking, tender contrast with the pale-purple lace.

Her long ice-blue hair was no longer left loose and carelessly draped. A few strands had been clumsily tucked behind her ears, revealing her smooth, full forehead and delicate earlobes, while the rest cascaded down over her shoulders — some resting against her chest, some hanging at her waist — the cool touch of her hair intertwining with the softness of the lace, making her skin appear all the more lustrous.

Her cheeks were tinted with a faint blush, like a perfectly ripened peach. The dazed innocence that once filled her golden eyes had faded, replaced instead by a misty sheen, the ice-blue snowflake markings at the center of her pupils shifting gently in the soft light, adding a captivating, hazy allure.

Moonlight spilled over her, tracing her slender figure with ever-greater clarity, every curve carrying an untouched, natural beauty — at once bearing the innocence of a young girl and a heart-fluttering seductiveness, utterly shattering the image of the dazed, adorable girl she’d once been, like a spirit born beneath the moon, radiating a fatal allure.

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“Ailiss? You…”

Ruoya’s voice carried a note of bewilderment.

She instinctively tried to sit up, but Ailiss gently pressed down on her shoulders.

Ailiss’s hands trembled faintly, yet her gaze remained unusually resolute.

She looked at Ruoya’s bewildered face, her lips moving, her eyes narrowing slightly, her stunningly beautiful face flushing more deeply than ever before.

“Ma… Master… I… like…”

The sudden declaration made Ruoya’s eyes contract sharply, her mind momentarily grinding to a halt.

“You silly girl, what are you saying—”

Before she could finish, and without waiting for Ruoya’s response, Ailiss shed her own nightgown, leaned her body down, and pressed her small lips directly against Ruoya’s, sealing them shut.

Since Ruoya always slept nude, in that instant, the two beautiful, bare bodies became entangled together.

And the moment Ailiss’s lips touched hers, the Lord, who had never once lost her composure, felt her face flush red for the very first time, her heart suddenly racing.

…

…

“Hah, hah, hah!!!!”

Amid a burst of ragged gasping, Ailiya, deep in sleep, suddenly snapped her eyes open, shoved away the chibi Lianyue plushie pillow in her arms, and abruptly sat up in bed.

Gasping for breath, the silver-haired girl slowly raised a hand and gently touched her own lips.

—”Lian… Lianyue…”—