The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

Immediately, the player popped up, the screen went black, there was no sound, and nothing was played.

"Tsk, it really is just a pretty face."

Su Qi sighed softly, leaned back in his chair, and suddenly his expression turned cold. He turned his head and glanced behind him, coldly saying, "The Shikon Jewel! You're watching me, aren't you?"

Chapter 115 You Know Too Much

"why?"

A human face formed from will-o'-the-wisps appeared behind Su Qi, its tone full of surprise and doubt: "Why is your soul so strong? Why can't I see any flaws in your heart? Why can you detect my presence?"

"This is all thanks to you."

Su Qi rested his arm on his head, sat sideways in the chair, and chuckled, "If it weren't for your hard work in training, my spiritual power wouldn't have grown to this level."

"What did you say? I don't recall ever helping you!"

"That's not important. What's important is... the Shikon Jewel. Now I want to make a wish to you."

"Wait!" Qu Ling exclaimed in panic. "I know what you're trying to do, but I've already pulled you all inside the Shikon Jewel. If you make that wish, you'll disappear with me! Is that alright?"

As he spoke, everything in the bedroom, including the chair Su Qi was sitting on, suddenly vanished like smoke, replaced by complete darkness and the presence of hundreds of monsters watching from within.

"That's utter bullshit!" Su Qi sneered. "We're still standing on top of Inu no Taisho's skeleton. What we see is all an illusion. Do you think I can't see through it? Besides, I've been inside the Shikon Jewel before. How could I not recognize it?"

He cultivated the Immovable View, which was particularly effective against illusions, and his soul was so strong that even the numerous evil spirits within the Shikon Jewel could not distort it. Therefore, he actually saw through the illusion from the very beginning. He just wanted to see if he could take the opportunity to have some fun, so he played along with Qu Ling in a play.

However, precisely because his soul was too solid, even Qu Ling's illusion couldn't reach his deep memories. Therefore, the illusion was merely a facade and couldn't satisfy him at all. So he simply overturned the table and pulled out Qu Ling, whom he thought was hiding.

Furthermore, unless a wish is made, the Shikon Jewel doesn't have the power to directly absorb people into its interior. In the original story, it was the Meido Zangetsuha that was used to pull Kagome directly into the darkness, so Kyūryō is simply bluffing.

"Impossible! Once someone is pulled into the Shikon Jewel, no one can escape! Just like Naraku and Midoriko, their souls will be imprisoned in the Shikon Jewel forever!"

"Oh, so Naraku's soul was also devoured by the Shikon Jewel?"

"He made a wish! He wants to drag you all down with him to be buried with the Shikon Jewel, and I'm about to fulfill his wish!"

"But you can't do it."

"..."

"Enough with the nonsense. Shikon Jewel, I want to make a wish upon you..."

"Do not!!!"

As Qu Ling roared in shock and anger, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly like a revolving lantern. One second it was a battlefield littered with corpses, the next it was a volcano spewing molten lava, followed by earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, high altitudes, ghost caves, hell and other terrifying scenes.

But Su Qi remained unmoved, coldly uttering the second half of his words.

Meanwhile, in the illusion on the other side, Kikyo also happens to give her answer.

"Disappear, Shikon Jewel!" *2

The moment the words left his mouth, the surrounding illusion shattered like a soap bubble.

In the next instant, the scenery before them transformed back into the massive summit of the dead. Kikyo's Shikon Jewel trembled and hummed, its light flickering incessantly, as if in a death throes. But within seconds, cracks rapidly appeared, and finally, with a bang, it exploded into countless points of light, gradually dissolving into the void.

"This time it's really over."

Su Qi let out a long breath and gazed into the distance. Countless white rocks stretched to the horizon, with huge skeletons, like small mountains, standing among them. A vast expanse of white mist stretched out, with no end in sight.

"Yes, it's finally over."

Kikyo stood beside him, her sleeves fluttering in the wind, her eyes flashing with a mix of emotions before settling into a calm as still water. "Our journey has come to an end."

Su Qi turned around, extended his right hand to Kikyo, and smiled, "Fellow traveler, it's a pleasure to work with you."

Kikyo tilted her head slightly and glanced at him. Although she found it a little strange, she still reached out her palm and gently shook his hand. A very rare, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her lips. "Although the journey with you was short, it was not unpleasant."

……

Afterwards, the two passed through the gates of the underworld again and returned to the other side of the world.

"Kikyo, I still have some things to do, you go ahead."

Before leaving the cave containing the Gate to the Underworld, Su Qi suddenly said this.

Kikyo glanced at him, said nothing, but nodded to show she understood, then sat on her shikigami and left first.

"Alright, now there's only one last thing left."

Su Qi let out a soft breath, put his hands behind his back, hummed a little tune, and walked with light steps to the back of a huge rock, where he found the Wind-Following Ear that was sealed away.

"My lord, you're back."

Having been constantly bossed around and looking rather pathetic, Shunfeng'er immediately put on a fawning smile upon hearing of his return.

However, what she was thinking was: Damn humans, just you wait! I've almost found a weakness in the spell that sealed me. Just give me a little more time, just a little more time, and I'll escape successfully and make sure you all die without a burial place!

For him, who could hear everything, there was almost nothing he couldn't know if he wanted to. Recently, he had been secretly learning human sealing techniques using his abilities. If he could successfully break the seal between Su Qi and Kikyo even once, he could escape and never be caught again. Then... he could use all the information he knew to avenge the humiliation he had suffered during this time!

But what he didn't know was that he was running out of time.

puff! !

Without any further ado, Su Qi went up and stabbed Shunfeng'er through the body with his knife.

"Wh...what!?" The latter looked at him in disbelief, her face full of resentment, and said, "Why!?"

Su Ji, with the expressionless face of a killer, said coldly, "Sorry, you know too much."

The person with the keen hearing indeed knew far too much. Su Qi didn't know how the world would change after he completed his mission and left, but in order to help others eliminate potential threats, he naturally had to kill him to silence him before leaving.

"I...you...I'm going to kill you..."

Blood gushed from Shunfeng'er's mouth as he tried to curse Su Qi, but before he could finish speaking, he was beheaded.

So why didn't Su Qi simply cut off his head with a single stroke at the beginning?

The answer is... he just wanted to say the line "You know too much" in a cool way. Well, sometimes, this guy's personality is quite awful.

……

Several days later, in Maple Village, Su Qi and Kikyo returned once again to the place where the story of Inuyasha began and ended.

The main storyline of Volume 1 is basically complete, with only three or four chapters left to wrap things up... I'm a bit clumsy with my writing, and I've been working overtime lately, so I haven't even finished outlining Volume 2 yet. Therefore, I'm requesting a break for a while. Starting tomorrow, I'll temporarily resume two updates a day, and once I'm ready, I'll return to a regular schedule of 6,000 words a day. Please forgive me, dear readers.

Chapter 116 Departure

Not far from the village, there is a small hill where you can take in both Maple Village and Bone-Eater's Well.

It was early morning, the sky was a clear blue, and the sunlight shone through the gaps in the white clouds, illuminating the earth. The hillsides were covered with lush green grass, and wildflowers of all colors were thriving. The air was fresh, as if it still carried a hint of dew.

Is this all?

Su Qi and Kikyo stood side by side on the hilltop, gazing at Maple Village not far away.

Quite by chance, I happened to see Inuyasha and his group talking to Kagome by the Well of Bones, seemingly bidding her farewell.

"That's enough." Looking at the group of people enjoying themselves, Kikyo's expression remained calm and composed. "I'm already a dead person. If I were to enter the village again, it would probably frighten quite a few people."

"Are you really not going to reconsider? You should know yourself that your problem isn't necessarily unsolvable. If you look for other ways, you might find other ways to get physical sex."

Throughout the journey back to the village, Su Qi tried to persuade Kikyo to change her mind, but her mind was made up and she showed no sign of wavering. Now, he had actually given up much hope, but he didn't want to give up easily, so he was just making a final effort.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I'm tired and don't want to waste other people's souls on pointless things. Death is not hell for me, but a release."

"So, in the very end, aren't you going to see Inuyasha one last time?"

"There's no room for me to get involved between those two, and any lingering attachments wouldn't be good for any of the three of us, so... this is fine."

The two remained silent, watching as Inuyasha and the others below sent Kagome into the Bone Eater's Well, then laughed and joked as they returned to the village side by side.

"It's time to leave."

Kikyo turned and left first, with Su Qi following behind. Bathed in the morning light, the two walked down the hill and came to a beautiful flower field growing on the edge of the forest, full of unknown white wildflowers.

“When I was very young, Ah Feng and I were playing here with the village children when we encountered a little monster that came out of the forest. We were saved by a passing shrine maiden. Since then, I have been training and fighting as a shrine maiden.”

With a touch of nostalgia, she walked into the flower field and sat down on the ground.

"Now, I can finally put down my bow and arrows."

The bright sunlight bathed the flower field in a pure, pale gold hue. Kikyo removed her bow and arrows and placed them beside her. She slowly turned her head, looking at the tranquil flower field, unchanged from decades ago, and a serene smile appeared on her lips. "Looking back now, that was the most carefree time of my life."

As he spoke, a pure white light gradually shone from his body, and tiny white orbs of light seeped out and rose from his body, surrounded by the dead soul worms that slowly swirled around him.

Su Qi didn't speak, but stood quietly beside Kikyo, watching her body gradually blur in a gentle, pure white light.

"Kenshin, thank you for walking with me to the very end."

As the last ethereal words faded, in the warm sunlight and beautiful flower field, Kikyo's body finally disintegrated, turning into countless points of light that merged into the light. Guided by the dead soul insects, she flew towards the clear blue sky.

"Thank you too, Kikyo."

Su Qi responded softly, watching the light gradually disappear into the clouds before picking up the bow and arrow left by the bellflower, and then turning to leave the flower field.

Afterwards, he took the opportunity to avoid Inuyasha and the others, quietly entered the village, found Granny Kaede, briefly explained the situation, and handed her the bow and arrows.

"These are the bow and arrows left by Kikyo. You, her younger sister, should keep them safe for her."

"The bow and arrow left behind by Sister Kikyo..." Granny Feng knelt on the mat, took the bow with both hands, gently stroking the bow while looking at Su Qi opposite her, her expression complicated, and said: "In the very end, did Sister Kikyo leave with resentment and unwillingness?"

"No, she was very calm, and it seems she left with a smile."

"Is that so? That's good... That's good... Kikyo-neechan... can finally... finally be released peacefully..."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, her voice choked with sobs, and she began wiping them away.

"Now that the belongings have been delivered, I shall take my leave."

Seeing the old woman lose her composure, Su Qi got up to say goodbye. As he walked to the door, Grandma Feng's voice suddenly rang out, "Oh, right, there's one last thing I'd like to ask you."

He stopped in his tracks. "What is it?"

"Naraku, is that man dead?"

"That's right, Naraku is dead, the Shikon Jewel has been purified, and everything is over."

After saying that, Su Qi lifted the curtain and went out.

What's next? Is there anything else in this world that needs to be settled?

Leaving the village, Su Qi put his hands in his sleeves and strolled aimlessly along the quiet country path, pondering to himself.