Chapter 173 - 172: Crossing Through

Words : 943 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 173: Chapter 172: Crossing Through ... Yan Xiaobao floated endlessly in the blue ocean, as though trapped in an eternity. At first, he was frantic, but the boundless blue expanse swayed through his mind, quickly washing away the lingering and despairing thoughts that haunted him. At present, Yan Xiaobao found himself submerged in an unprecedented calm. His body was weightless, drifting in the sea. He felt no anxiety as he absentmindedly observed the flickering blue embers formed by the ocean around him. He was acutely aware that he was dead. Though the blue sea did all it could to cleanse grief away, there lingered an irreparable void of loss. Yan Xiaobao often thought about his life with her, knowing with certainty he could never return to how things had been. Yet death didn’t seem as dire as he had once feared. There was no darkness. No monsters. No long staircase descending into nothingness. There was only this endless, warm blue ocean and nothing else. The calm blue flames eased his unrest into something intangible—a subtle assurance that everything would eventually be okay. Suddenly, Yan Xiaobao heard a faint humming noise, startling him. A murmur coming from far away. His soul instinctively became alert, and he tried desperately to respond to the sound. Unfortunately, all he could hear was an indistinct blur; despite his efforts, he couldn’t decipher the words being spoken. For what felt like ages, Yan Xiaobao remained tense as a drawn bowstring. Fear and panic threatened to overwhelm him; yet even if he wanted to leave, doing so would be impossible. His consciousness was utterly trapped within the blue flames. Fixing his focus on the sound, it took him time to notice how the once glowing, blue flames began flashing towards the sky above. The transformation in the sea forced the already alert Yan Xiaobao to calm himself down, focusing on observing the changes unfolding around him. The flames swelled, consuming more space, while the ocean shrank, and an inexplicable pull began dragging Yan Xiaobao toward the deep blue abyss. As the pull strengthened, Yan Xiaobao realized the earlier murmuring stemmed from the abyss itself—the very destination pulling him in. Yan Xiaobao felt his consciousness flicker slightly. His soul plunged downward along a dark blue tunnel, spiraling toward an unknown place. His initial fear had long dissipated, as these occurrences seemed to span years to complete. Every stage, every journey remained vividly laid out before his keen senses. As Yan Xiaobao took note of his descent through the dim tunnel into an unfamiliar void, his speed rapidly increased. It moved from a few meters a year to breakneck rates until he felt certain the end was near, accelerating ever faster. Though uncertain of what awaited him, a faint trace of fear settled in his heart. He couldn’t comprehend how this blue sea and black tunnel manipulated time—or at least his perception of it. Still, he steadied himself with the thought that he was already dead, that he no longer had a physical form, convincing himself he shouldn’t feel pain or anguish anymore. Yan Xiaobao concentrated further to suppress his fear, determined not to trace back into fragility. He intently observed everything happening around him. Soon, he came to a halt—not abruptly, but as his movements slowed almost imperceptibly until they fully ceased. Yan Xiaobao began noticing subtle changes in his surroundings, but for the moment, he remained incapable of understanding what was happening. Nevertheless, his heightened senses remained vigilant, as though braced for something imminent. Silence enveloped him for a time, as Yan Xiaobao arrived—wherever he was. However, not long after, he heard the humming noise again. This time, it wasn’t the soft murmur from before but instead a hurried cry that seemed to echo loudly beside him. The darkness transitioned from the black void of the tunnel into a lighter shadow, one that felt strangely familiar to Yan Xiaobao. Yan Xiaobao took time to comprehend his surroundings. Once he gathered some semblance of understanding, he realized he was no longer just a consciousness but had once again been enveloped in a physical body. Shock coursed through his heart, quickening its pace. The encroaching darkness was revealed to be the result of him closing his eyes, and opening them suddenly felt like an impossible task. Yan Xiaobao froze, grappling with fear mingled with curiosity. He knew he was dead, yet now he found himself inexplicably housed within another body. He couldn’t move within this vessel, as if even opening his eyes posed a monumental challenge. As he thought of her and her face etched with fear, his terror dissipated. With the hope of possibly being reunited with her, gratitude welled up within, filling him like a far-off prayer to the heavens. Perhaps he could even manage to move within this body. Yan Xiaobao resolved to test his limbs, attempting to prod them into action. When he noticed they partially obeyed his commands, a wave of relief surged through him. Yet even so, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. His entire body felt foreign, drastically different from the sensations he was accustomed to before his death. But Yan Xiaobao decided such details could wait for later examination. What mattered most was the thought of seeing her radiant smile once more. The realization he possessed control over a physical body again calmed him. He gathered his resolve, focusing everything toward the effort of prying open his weary, sealed eyes. As his eyes finally opened, Yan Xiaobao let out a piercing scream. His heart seemed on the verge of bursting from his chest, while fear blazed wildly through his gaze.

Chapter 173 - 172: Crossing Through

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