The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"But it's all a misunderstanding!" Kagome couldn't help but shout, "Inuyasha didn't betray Kikyo. What happened fifty years ago was all done by that villain Naraku."

“I know that, but Kikyo doesn’t believe it, or rather, she seems to care more about something else. So I’m sorry, I can’t let you through here.”

"There's no other way but to take action."

Seeing this, Maitreya decisively pulled out a stack of talismans from his robes. "Time is of the essence. We must rush in and save them immediately. If you absolutely refuse to move aside, then please forgive us."

Recommendations, monthly tickets... I beg you, dear readers passing by, please have some mercy and give me something (stretching out a broken bowl)...

Chapter Sixty-Six: I'll Go Easy on You

Should we fight?

As Su Qi spoke, he glanced at Kagome behind Miroku, then at Shippo who was clinging to her shoulders, and shook his head slightly. "You're the only one here who can be considered a qualified fighter, so I don't recommend you take action."

"What did you say?" Qibao bared his teeth indignantly. "You look down on monsters? I, Qibao, am a respectable monster. I'll show you what's what in a moment."

Then Su Qi glared at it, and a weakened version of his sword intent shot out in the direction of his gaze, scaring it so much that it cried out in fright and rolled down at Kagome's feet, hugging its tail and trembling.

"Seven Treasures!"

"Don't worry, it just startled it a little."

After Su Qi finished speaking, he looked at Maitreya and said, "So, why don't we just wait here for the outcome?"

The latter's face grew even more solemn, but he still said, "I'm sorry, we can't just watch our comrades die and do nothing."

Even if you are likely to lose? Even if you die?

"We'll only know the outcome after the fight. Don't worry, we're very strong too."

"Is that so..." Su Qi drew his sword. "Then come on, I'll hold back. Fight me seriously!"

……

Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, the branches and leaves are lush and bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

Dressed in white with black hair, Kikyo stood quietly in the twilight, her ethereal and serene profile radiating a subtle light, a picture of serene beauty.

Led by the Soul-Dead Insects, Inuyasha, who had just arrived, saw this scene and subconsciously slowed his pace, as if afraid that if he exerted any force, the figure in front of him would disappear like a dream in the blink of an eye.

"Inuyasha..."

After a moment of silence, Kikyo slowly turned around and spoke first.

"Platycodon grandiflorus..."

Inuyasha stared at the person opposite him, his eyes filled with melancholy and pity.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kikyo walked over slowly and said coldly, "Don't you hate me? Don't you wish I were dead?"

"How could that be!? I... no matter what you become, I could never hate you."

"Then why?" She walked up to him, her eyes suddenly turning sharp. "Why were you able to lay a hand on me fifty years ago?! I trusted you so much, yet you betrayed me! Didn't you?!"

"No!" Inuyasha quickly denied, exclaiming excitedly, "That's not true! It wasn't me who injured you fifty years ago, it was Naraku! We were all deceived by him! Kikyo, we were all deceived by him!!"

"Naraku?"

"It's Onigumo, the bandit you saved. To get you, that man offered his body and soul to a demon, and the monster born from that sacrificed himself!"

Even Inuyasha said that, so is everything he said true? No, we can't be sure yet. What if Inuyasha is lying to me too...?

Kikyo pondered this, carefully observing Inuyasha's expression and eyes, but she couldn't find a single trace of deception. Reconsidering the many doubts that had lingered, she was beginning to accept this explanation, but… none of it mattered anymore…

"Inuyasha, are you telling the truth?"

"Of course! Kagome, Miroku, Shippo, Granny Kaede... they can all testify for me! We just fought that bastard a few days ago!"

"So, do you still love me now?"

Inuyasha paused, looked down at Kikyo with a firm and sincere gaze, and said without hesitation, "Kikyo, I have never forgotten you for a single day."

"Is that so..." Kikyo smiled, her eyes like water, and gently stroked his cheek. "Then Inuyasha, are you willing to die with me?"

"Platycodon grandiflorus..."

He was about to speak when the person in his arms hugged him tightly, causing him to freeze and his mind to go blank.

Hold me.

Kikyo whispered, and Inuyasha's heartstrings trembled. He felt completely enveloped by her scent, unable to think, and could only subconsciously obey, pulling her into his arms.

"Don't move, just hold me like this... We can't go back to the past, so at least for this moment, let's stay like this, okay?"

Her gentle voice completely softened Inuyasha's defenses. At that moment, he forgot all about Su Qi's earlier reminder and Su Qi himself, his mind filled only with Kikyo... and Kikyo's nostalgic, sorrowful scent.

It was a success...

The immense spiritual power emanated from Kikyo, gently enveloping the two of them, as she performed rituals to pacify and guide them to the afterlife.

Guided by the spirits of the dead and aided by the power of magic, she gradually opened the gates of hell. Instantly, the ground beneath her feet cracked open, and crimson light, like blood, spilled out. The two were surrounded by spirits of the dead, sinking deeper and deeper as if into a swamp.

Its momentum was considerable, but Inuyasha, whose soul and consciousness were temporarily suppressed by Kikyo, was completely unaware of it, and simply let his body and Kikyo gradually slide into hell together.

Feel sorry……

Just before she was completely plunged into the afterlife, Kikyo saw the image of Su Qi in her mind.

She understood that Su Qi had indeed not deceived her, and had indeed been helping her during this time. So, in principle, she should give back. However... she was too tired.

Fifty years ago, she was bound by the "witch"; fifty years later, she is bound by resentment. Throughout her life, she has almost never lived a single day entirely for herself, and even after being resurrected with a body made from grave soil, she is constantly tormented.

Her resentment towards Inuyasha, her guilt towards the dead souls within her, her body always so cold and lifeless, as if wrapped in a thick layer of ice, she couldn't even sleep, and could only silently endure loneliness and pain alone in the dead of night... She was too tired, too tired, her soul could no longer bear such weight, so she wanted to escape her responsibility for the Shikon Jewel, to escape her hatred for Naraku, and to die with Inuyasha to obtain eternal peace.

And so, please allow me not to die as a priestess, but simply as an ordinary woman...

With a final thought flashing through her mind, Kikyo embraced Inuyasha's warm body and sank into the earth, finally finding eternal peace.

……

Soon after, Su Qi, Ge Wei, and the others arrived at this place.

As for the outcome of the battle, Su Qi, who knew himself and his enemy better and was inherently stronger, naturally came out on top. However, he didn't make things difficult for Kagome and the others. He simply waited for a while, estimated that the result was in, and then they all ran over.

"The aura of death is so strong."

Miroku stood at the edge of the suddenly appeared crater, his face extremely grim. "What on earth happened here? Did someone open the gates to the underworld? Where is Inuyasha?"

Knowing the original plot, Su Qi immediately realized what had happened and couldn't help but cover his face. "It's over, we've messed up! Kikyo, who was just resurrected, is not so easy to persuade. Now, we can only reload the save."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Sorry, I'm a Traitor

"Inuyasha..."

Seeing this scene, Kagome was filled with worry and a sense of foreboding.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Where are you, Inuyasha!"

She looked around anxiously and called out loudly, but received no response. Her worry and anxiety gradually turned into panic.

“Master Miroku…” Turning to look at Miroku, her eyes filled with intense fear and anticipation, she said in a slightly trembling voice, “Inuyasha… he should be alright, right?”

"Don't worry, it's not certain yet."

Miroku observed the cracks in the ground, his heart sinking to the bottom, but he didn't show it on his face. He turned to Su Qi and asked, "Mr. Kenshin, are you sure Kikyo and Inuyasha are here?"

"That's right, but don't panic too much, there's still room to salvage the situation."

Despite having a save/load tool, Su Qi remained remarkably calm, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the crater as he spoke.

"Is there still a chance to salvage the situation? What should we do then?"

"You don't need to do anything, just watch my performance."

After saying that, he drew his sword and pointed the tip at himself.

For my first suicide attempt, where should I go? A plug? Or a heart? A plug would be faster, but it still feels a bit creepy... Oh well, I'll stick it in my heart.

Su Qi hesitated for a moment, then plunged the knife into his own heart, so fast that Kagome and the others didn't even have time to react.

Then, the familiar pain and emptiness quickly enveloped and overwhelmed his consciousness, but now he could endure such pain without changing his expression, although... it was still very uncomfortable.

And so, amidst Kagome and the others' exclamations, he returned once again to that incredibly familiar pure white space.

……

"Tsk, even if you can bear it, it still hurts and is very uncomfortable."

Su Qi sat up on the white earth, his brows furrowed. "This can't go on forever. Besides, my ability is based on death. Although the chance is small, it's best to plan ahead and consider what to do if I can't die or don't have time to die in certain special circumstances. Hmm, I guess I should find a way to develop an efficient and painless suicide technique."

He acted on his idea immediately, and thus, taking advantage of the infinite time in the pure white space, he began to develop suicide techniques based on his existing knowledge.

Single-minded and oblivious to the passage of time, Su Qi finally devised the most reliable suicide technique.

Based on the concepts of stillness and stillness, and drawing inspiration from the methods of high-ranking monks who attained nirvana through meditation, he developed a sophisticated suicide technique he named "Instant Death." Its basic principle involves reversing the use of the concepts of stillness and stillness, first actively dispersing one's conscious defenses, then using the concept of stillness and stillness to sever the connection between one's soul and body in a single thought, subsequently leading to the annihilation of the spirit and the collapse of consciousness.

Because it only requires consciousness and spiritual power to function normally, one can be freed from pain in an instant, the name "dying on the spot" is quite fitting.

However, Su Qi dared not commit suicide in the pure white space to see if he could be resurrected on the spot, so this technology is still just a theory and needs to be verified.

"Once we get out, let's find a monster to test it out in battle. That way, even if we fail to commit suicide, we'll still be killed. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to become a vegetable."

As he pondered the experimental plan, he pressed the save/load button.

After that, Su Qi died more than ten times in reality before he could correct the various flaws in the skill and improve it to a great extent.

Meanwhile, the conclusion drawn in this process is that, in the current state, the system's criteria for determining death are not the disintegration of the soul or the annihilation of consciousness, but merely the severing of the soul's connection with the body.

This conclusion can be reached because, through tempering, he can now maintain a clear consciousness even after his soul separates from his body and his living soul becomes a dead soul. However, it is unknown how long that state can be maintained, because as soon as his soul separates from his body, it returns to the pure white space, and his state is no different from that after death.

After mastering the skill of "dying on the spot," he once again immersed himself in conquering the world of "Inuyasha."

……

The time was the afternoon of the day the Mirror Demon was defeated, and the location was an abandoned house in the forest.

After lunch, Su Qi suddenly said, "When I went out to look for food just now, I encountered a monster."

Half of the side wall of the house had collapsed, and warm, bright sunlight shone through the gap. Kikyo sat quietly inside, her eyes closed, saying nothing.

Su Qi was already used to the other party's taciturnity. With a hint of worry on his face, he continued, "I learned from it that something happened at the place where I used to cultivate."

Kikyo opened her eyes and said calmly, "What do you want to say?"