Chapter 30

Rin drags the poisoned Pipaji toward her forces, desperate for Lianhua’s help as the Great Tortoise begins to overtake Pipaji’s mind. Opium fails, and Lianhua can only mend a rib while warning of deeper harm. Jiuto breaks through to embrace her sister, briefly snapping Pipaji to lucidity before the god surges again.

Recognizing the final choice—death or immurement—Pipaji begs for release while she still has control. Rin steadies herself as commander and snaps Pipaji’s neck, ending her suffering and preventing a divine takeover. Exhausted, Rin wanders through ruined Arlong as reports confirm a pyrrhic victory: the Dragon devastated the city; the Hesperians and Nezha’s government fled.

Refusing public acclaim, Rin seeks a hidden children’s graveyard to bury Pipaji’s ashes. Haunted by a vision of Altan, she confronts the cost of command—leaders must cull—and performs the lonely labor of digging, framing her grief as penance and duty. She longs to mourn Dulin as well but cannot find his body.

That night, Kitay compels her to keep vigil like Qingmingjie. Amid the silent dead, Nezha arrives alone, unarmed. The three share incense and wine, holding hands in a suspended moment that recalls the Trifecta’s shattered bond. When Nezha breaks the spell with regret, Rin warns that tomorrow brings no mercy. At dawn, they part—Nezha disappearing into the ruins, while Rin and Kitay return to a drowned city they must now rule.