Qi Yu was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, putting away what she was holding and turning to look at An Nuo:
"This is... a barrier Father set up himself."
She hesitated for a moment, then finally told the truth.
An Nuo found it strange. It was broad daylight, why would anyone set up a barrier in their own room?
She gently knocked on Shao Feng's door: "Shao Feng, what's wrong? Why did you set up a barrier in your room? Did something happen? Or are you crafting a magical artifact?"
An Nuo asked while knocking forcefully on the door.
The noise was so loud that Si Qing, who was hiding in the room feeling distressed, was startled out.
Si Qing didn't understand what was happening at first, but when he saw An Nuo constantly knocking on Shao Feng's door, and a very strong barrier erected outside Shao Feng's room, he instantly understood everything.
An Nuo originally intended to forcefully break open the barrier, but considering that barriers were related to one's spiritual power, forcefully breaking one might harm Shao Feng. An Nuo dared not act rashly and could only keep calling Shao Feng's name from outside.
Qi Yu stood by, wanting to speak several times but stopping herself.
She had a rough idea why Father had set up a barrier in his room.
Because what he had just said was merely to comfort them, but in reality, after being cursed, both humans and other races would experience unbearable pain.
She felt that Shao Feng probably didn't want to show his fragile and ugly side in front of his family, so he locked himself away.
In the final moments of his life, Shao Feng chose to embrace her and Si Qing, comforting them not to dwell too much on his departure.
Si Qing on the side felt increasingly guilty.
"Mother, listen to me," Qi Yu stood by for a long time. Finally, she felt that this matter should not be kept from An Nuo alone. So, she stepped forward, took An Nuo's hand, and explained the matter of the Nightmare Demon from beginning to end.
When An Nuo heard that Shao Feng had been scratched by a Nightmare Demon carrying its own curse and had been affected by the curse, her head buzzed.
"I'm sorry, it's all because of me," Si Qing dared not look into An Nuo's eyes. "If Father hadn't protected me, things wouldn't have gotten to this point. I shouldn't have used my cultivation in that situation..."
As Si Qing spoke, he couldn't help but feel his nose sting.
An Nuo couldn't bear to blame him. She just tightly held Si Qing's cold, slightly sweaty hand, and then looked at Qi Yu: "Can you use the Yan Zhen Mirror to take me through the barrier?"
Her eyes were red. "I know your father doesn't want us to see him in pain, but things have come to this point, how can we let him hide alone."
"Master just input spiritual power into Father earlier," Si Qing suddenly said. "Father seemed a little better then. Let's continue to help him by inputting spiritual power. We can delay it for a day."
An Nuo nodded.
An Nuo wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
She saw Qi Yu and Si Qing's frantic and helpless state, so no matter how much grief she felt now, she couldn't show it too obviously. She could only try to make her tone sound calm.
Qi Yu nodded.
She opened the Yan Zhen Mirror and placed it on the barrier.
The next moment, a path was indeed opened in Shao Feng's barrier.
An Nuo, holding Qi Yu and Si Qing's hands, strode directly in.
As the three of them walked in, Shao Feng was lying unconscious on the couch, with black patterns already spreading around his neck and wrists.
The curse of the laws was continuously spreading.
Shao Feng had clearly fainted from this piercing pain.
An Nuo's fingertips trembled, and she didn't know when it started, but tears began to fall in large drops.
Qi Yu and Si Qing helped Shao Feng up.
After steadying him, they sat down, meditated, and tried their best to channel their spiritual power into him.
Once, twice.
Shao Feng's spiritual power was completely devoured by the curse of the laws, leaving him spiritually empty.
So, the spiritual power that the siblings channeled in was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no effect at all.
It wasn't until Qi Yu had almost completely channeled all her spiritual power that Shao Feng gradually regained consciousness.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw the white ceiling. He felt dizzy for a moment, and when he stabilized, An Nuo embraced him tightly.
"An Nuo..." Shao Feng softly called her name, his hands resting on An Nuo's shoulders, not daring to move for a moment.
"...How could you do this?" An Nuo said with some reproach. "Why didn't you tell me about the Nightmare Demon incident? Why didn't you say you were injured? You, did you expect me to find out myself when you completely lost your mind?"
As An Nuo spoke, she couldn't help but want to cry, and tears fell one after another, pattering down.
Shao Feng involuntarily hugged her back into his arms, speechless for a long time.
Seeing the black patterns on Shao Feng's arm spreading again, Si Qing immediately sat behind Shao Feng, flipped his palm, and channeled spiritual power into him.
If his own spiritual power was exhausted, he would find a way to use spirit stones.
Qi Yu watched silently for a while, then suddenly turned and walked out of the room.
As she left, she took the Yan Zhen Mirror with her and leaned against the long corridor, playing with the Heavenly Dao's dagger with her head down.
"There is only one way to break the curse: let the new Heavenly Dao be infected by the curse. But then the Three Realms will enter a period of vacancy without a Heavenly Dao or laws."
"Or you can choose the second path, to bear all the responsibility yourself."
Qi Yu recalled the words of the Heavenly Dao repeatedly, and as she thought, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.
The Heavenly Dao only said that if she chose the second path, she would bear all the responsibility, but didn't say what would happen to her afterward.
She actually didn't care much about the Three Realms. What did it matter to her if the Three Realms entered a period of vacancy without a Heavenly Dao or laws?
However, no, she couldn't let the Three Realms enter a vacancy period.
Because without the constraints of Heavenly Dao and laws, the Three Realms would descend into chaos. At that time, the Four Ancestral Dragons protecting the four seas would have a very hard time. What about her father and mother? What about Si Qing?
And Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Sister, Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother.
And Feng Mingqi, Feng Yunzui, Feng Siqian.
And Sang Yunji, Chu Xian, Wu Jin.
And Wang Lanqing, Chi Shangming.
Upon careful counting, Qi Yu realized there were quite a few people she couldn't bear to part with.
But she glanced back in the direction of Shao Feng's room.
In the end, she raised the dagger.