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Reborn：Bound to the Peerless White Fox Full Episode | DramaRush
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00:00I took my sister's white fox during the bonding rite.
00:03Your power is exceptional.
00:05This fox barely registers on the scale.
00:09Give it to your sister.
00:10In my past life, I chose the powerful white tiger.
00:14When the demon horde came, he left me to die.
00:17I was badly wounded.
00:19I begged him for the last healing elixir.
00:22He gave it to my sister instead.
00:24So this time around, I choose to let them be together.
00:28I was reborn right before the bonding ceremony.
00:31I am the most powerful one in our clan and have the right to choose first.
00:36The creatures gathered from across the land were all exceptional.
00:40But the white tiger stood above the rest.
00:43He wore a collar, never bowing to me, even in chains.
00:47Then my sister Luna came bouncing in, cradling a limp white fox.
00:52Luna had barely started her training.
00:54She could have skipped this ceremony entirely.
00:57Luna hugged the white fox and cried.
01:00Because he was dissatisfied with the fox he'd been assigned.
01:04The white tiger's heart ached for her deeply.
01:07Saying he only wanted to form a pact with Luna, the elder cleared his throat.
01:11Luna, you've barely trained.
01:15Even if the tiger chose you, you wouldn't be able to handle him.
01:18That was when I stood up and said,
01:20Elder, I appreciate your consideration.
01:24I find I'm fonder of this white fox.
01:27The white tiger clearly favors Luna too.
01:30How about we swap instead?
01:32They pulled me aside.
01:34Clara, this tiger is far more powerful than the fox.
01:37My name is Clara Ashvale, one of the four great families of the Eastern Reaches.
01:43I was ten years old when the demon horde first came.
01:46My parents died holding the line.
01:48I watched it happen.
01:49If the clan elders hadn't arrived when they did,
01:52Luna and I would have died with them.
01:54After that, the elders raised us, taught us cultivation.
01:58For I possess stronger spiritual power,
02:01and them more beloved within the clan.
02:03But the tiger ignored me.
02:05I'd never been rejected before.
02:07Not once in my life.
02:08I threw everything I had at him.
02:11So I took mission.
02:12Hunted rogue demons.
02:14Came back injured almost every time.
02:16The tiger noticed nothing.
02:18He only appeared when I brought out elixirs.
02:21Took what he wanted, and walked away.
02:23I spent 20 years on him.
02:25And eventually, he took human form.
02:28Tall and striking.
02:30Yet he still refuses to speak much to me.
02:32Only coming when he needs something.
02:34I told myself it was normal.
02:36Strong creatures had pride.
02:38He'd come around eventually.
02:39Then one evening, I came home exhausted,
02:42and saw him watching my sister's profile with something like reverence.
02:47I was still reeling when an elder walked past,
02:50and caught sight of them in the distance.
02:52Clara, when you go out on contracts,
02:54stop sending your sister to look after the tiger.
02:57He's clearly more attached to her now.
02:59You need to be careful.
03:03I never ask Luna to look after the tiger.
03:05She comes every time you leave.
03:07Says you asked her to.
03:08Doesn't she have her own bonded creature?
03:11That fox?
03:12It passed away in its second year.
03:13You didn't know?
03:14I hadn't known.
03:15I'd spent 20 years building someone else's happiness.
03:18I began targeting Luna.
03:20I hated her.
03:21That enraged the white tiger.
03:24He colluded with the demon,
03:25opened our clan's protective wards from the inside,
03:29left me to face the invasion alone.
03:31When I was badly wounded,
03:33and begged him for the only healing elixir we had left,
03:36he gave it to Luna,
03:37who had a scratch.
03:39This time,
03:40I want to see how long it will take him to take human form without me.
03:44The elder was unwilling to grant the mighty white tiger to an inexperienced young woman,
03:49yet the tiger would only bow before Luna.
03:52He sighed and ordered the ceremony begin.
03:56The ceremony startled the white fox.
03:58The white fox in my arms fainted the moment the ceremony ended.
04:02Luna completed her bond with the tiger.
04:04You and that little fox really do suit each other, Clara.
04:08Luna,
04:09if your sister hadn't yielded to you,
04:11how could you have gotten this white tiger?
04:13You should be on your knees thanking her.
04:15Oh, she's crying again.
04:17Always with the tears,
04:19like she's the one who suffered.
04:20The white tiger wanted to stand up for Luna,
04:22yet he possessed no power right after bonding with her.
04:26The elders had built my residence himself,
04:29ringed with good cultivation energy.
04:31Luna had once tried to move in.
04:33He'd turned her away.
04:34Citing my training as the reason.
04:36As soon as we entered the room,
04:38I began to observe the white fox.
04:41He looked different from any I had seen before,
04:44with a wisp of red fur on his head
04:46and an unusually large tail.
04:49My courtyard had a natural spring,
04:51warm with cultivation energy.
04:53I set him in it and watched him wake up instantly,
04:56floating on his back, drinking in the warmth.
05:00I laughed.
05:01Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?
05:03The fox stared at me,
05:04then gave his small head a solemn shake.
05:07All right, rest here and recover.
05:11You're not going anywhere.
05:13I can handle you.
05:14The next morning, something woke me wrong.
05:18I opened my eyes and saw a handsome face,
05:21pale skin, dark lashes.
05:24He was also asleep, arms around me.
05:27He had gotten in without waking me,
05:29which meant his power was well above mine.
05:32Who are you?
05:32How did you get in here?
05:33I scrambled to the edge of the bed.
05:35He sat up slowly, noticed the clothes he was wearing,
05:39and looked faintly amused.
05:41Before I could react, he pulled me into his arms.
05:44He said,
05:45I have a name.
05:47His eyes drifting down to meet mine.
05:49It's Ash.
05:50Like he was about to kiss me any second.
05:54It turned out Ash met the Elder when he was severely injured and was taken back by him.
05:59I stared at him.
06:00Please tell me whoever hurt you isn't coming here looking for revenge.
06:04We're bonded now, Master.
06:05I suggest you train hard and do your best to keep up.
06:09Ash laughed.
06:10He was genuinely useful, as it turned out.
06:13I had a fire affinity.
06:15He complemented it perfectly.
06:17He produced a cultivation manual from somewhere,
06:20fire techniques, and good ones.
06:23Two days of work and I could already feel the difference.
06:26Every time Ash practiced cultivation with me,
06:29he took off his top.
06:31His fair skin always made me lose focus.
06:33One afternoon, Luna called my name from outside the gate.
06:38I dragged my attention away from Ash and went out.
06:41Luna stepped into the courtyard without waiting
06:43and stopped dead when she saw him.
06:46She stared him.
06:48Ash stood, dressed properly in seconds,
06:51and settled a robe around my shoulders without being asked.
06:54Who is this?
06:55Luna's gaze didn't move.
06:56You don't recognize him?
06:58The fox.
06:59From the bonding ceremony.
07:01You said yourself we were suited for each other.
07:03I think you were right.
07:05I smiled pleasantly.
07:06What do you want?
07:08We're in the middle of training.
07:12I was hoping we could raise the tiger together.
07:14I can't afford to keep up with his needs on my own.
07:17If we shared the work,
07:18what exactly makes this my problem?
07:20You're the one who gave him to me.
07:22You could have kept him.
07:23You chose not to.
07:24That means you owe me.
07:25I owe you nothing.
07:27Yeah.
07:28Half a year and every LXMR I had is gone.
07:30There's nothing left for my own training.
07:32I'm at the bottom ranks.
07:39No!
07:40You can't!
07:41Little sister,
07:42don't mistake me for a fool.
07:44I'm not funding your creature for you.
07:46If you can't afford him,
07:47bring it to the elder.
07:49Let someone else take the tiger.
07:50I'm sure he'd prefer a partner
07:51who could actually keep pace.
07:53She'd never do that.
07:55Where were we?
07:57Weeks passed.
07:58I broke through to a new cultivation stage.
08:01The great elder dispatched me
08:03on an assignment alongside elder Margaret
08:05to handle a demon outbreak in the lowlands.
08:08I handled them all before Margaret to intervene.
08:11On the way back,
08:12she suddenly laughed.
08:14Clara,
08:15you should hurry home.
08:16Your little fox is waiting for you.
08:20She vanished.
08:21I hadn't finished processing what she'd said
08:24before Ash appeared in front of me.
08:26I reached out and touched his cheek.
08:29What's wrong?
08:32Clara Ashvale,
08:33why are you trying to get rid of me?
08:36Is it something I did?
08:38Or have you found someone new?
08:40What are you talking about?
08:42Your sister came by yesterday.
08:44Said you sent her to look after me.
08:47He started to show teeth.
08:48I flicked his forehead.
08:51He recoiled,
08:52then immediately looked betrayed.
08:54You betray me first,
08:56and then hit me?
08:57I'm going to say this once.
08:59I am not reconsidering anything.
09:01And I have no idea why Luna told you that.
09:04What I do know
09:05is that I never asked her to come near you.
09:09Understood?
09:13We ran into a group of younger clan members on the way.
09:16I asked why they'd turned back.
09:19Luna cleared everyone out.
09:23Let's go.
09:25You're going to lecture me about picking fights
09:27and then drag me directly into one?
09:29We found them mid-argument.
09:31Or rather,
09:32Luna was arguing.
09:33The tiger couldn't speak.
09:35He'd never broken through to human form.
09:37So he was expressing himself
09:39through sheer body language.
09:41And none of it was agreeable.
09:43What is wrong with you?
09:45I didn't force you to come here.
09:47You said this place would help you advance.
09:50I've given you every elixir I have
09:52and you still can't even talk to me.
09:54You want me to go hunting rogue demons?
09:56I just started training.
09:58You'd be sending me to die.
10:00Clara's fox has been in human form for months
10:02and you can't even answer a question.
10:05What exactly are you doing with yourself?
10:08I heard the tiger's version of a response.
10:11A low rumble.
10:12In my past life,
10:14he'd never once spoken to me
10:16with anything resembling patience.
10:18Watching him endure Luna's outburst
10:20without walking away
10:21was a strange thing.
10:25Luna, there you are.
10:28Lyra, what brings you out here?
10:30I patted Ash's arm.
10:32He gave a small, resigned sigh and crouched.
10:35He held me in his arms.
10:37Luna's gaze locked onto him and didn't move.
10:39Nothing specific.
10:41I just wanted to know
10:42why you visited my companion
10:44without my permission.
10:45Luna hadn't expected me to know so quickly.
10:47She started backpedaling.
10:49No, you misunderstood.
10:50I was looking for you.
10:54She told me I was supposed to be hers.
10:56That you'd stolen me away.
10:58She was very convincing.
11:00And what did you do?
11:01I removed her from the property.
11:04She's not strong enough to argue back,
11:06so she left fairly quickly.
11:07I stood and faced Luna directly.
11:09If I remember correctly,
11:10you didn't want the fox.
11:11He was badly hurt.
11:13If you'd taken him,
11:14he wouldn't have survived.
11:15That's not true.
11:16I would have cared for him.
11:18The tiger's crest stood fully upright.
11:21You're doing this deliberately.
11:23You're trying to cause trouble
11:24between me and the tiger.
11:26If you try this again,
11:28there will be consequences.
11:31On the way back,
11:31my mood was good.
11:33Ash was quiet, though.
11:34He wouldn't shift and carry me,
11:36even when I asked.
11:37When we reached home,
11:39he caught my arm.
11:40You and the tiger.
11:41There's something there.
11:43I didn't hide it.
11:44We have a history.
11:45It ended badly.
11:48Do you want to know?
11:50He turned,
11:51shifted into fox form,
11:53and wrapped his enormous tail around me.
11:56No.
11:56I'm better than that by every measure.
11:59And you promised me
12:00you wouldn't seek out
12:01another bonded creature.
12:03I ran my fingers
12:04through the fur at the back of his ears.
12:06I won't.
12:07I promise.
12:09Sometime later,
12:10Ash decided I wasn't advancing fast enough.
12:14Get up.
12:15I refuse to share energy
12:16with someone who progresses this slowly.
12:18The Great Elder said
12:19I'm the most talented
12:20concultator of my generation.
12:22Unlike my past life,
12:24all the elixirs I earned this time
12:26went into me.
12:27Five years.
12:28I moved from the early stages
12:30into the middle tier
12:31of my cultivation rank.
12:33When I returned to the clan,
12:35the Great Elder was close
12:36to a breakthrough of his own.
12:37The younger members
12:38had grown considerably.
12:40Only one thing hadn't changed.
12:42The tiger still hadn't taken human form.
12:46We expected the tiger
12:48to elevate the entire clan.
12:50Ten years in
12:51and he's no closer
12:52to breaking through.
12:53We sent an elder
12:54to assess him quietly.
12:56The gap is too large.
12:58Even with assistance,
12:59he can't make the crossing.
13:01Luna had barely enough power
13:02to sustain herself,
13:04let alone a creature
13:05of the tiger's requirements.
13:07But honestly,
13:08his not breaking through
13:09was the best outcome.
13:11I wasn't strong enough
13:12to kill him.
13:13So control was the only option.
13:16I threw myself
13:17into building up the clan.
13:19I trained with the younger members daily.
13:21If something went wrong,
13:22I wanted them to be able
13:24to protect themselves.
13:26Ash gave me space for it.
13:27He knew what I was doing.
13:29One evening,
13:30I came home exhausted
13:31and he was waiting for me.
13:33He picked me up,
13:35threw me over his shoulder,
13:36and started walking.
13:38You look terrible.
13:40I'm taking you
13:40to see something entertaining.
13:42His idea of entertainment
13:43was crouching at the edge
13:45of the back valley
13:46and listening to Luna
13:47and the tiger fight.
13:49The tiger couldn't speak,
13:51so the entire argument
13:52was one-sided.
13:54Don't look at me like that.
13:55I didn't force you
13:56to bond with me.
13:58You came to me.
13:59You told me to wait.
14:01You told me once you took human form,
14:03we'd leave together.
14:05You're the one who picked the fight
14:06with Clara at the ceremony.
14:11And now what?
14:12You're stuck.
14:13I'm stuck.
14:14And it's all your fault,
14:16you useless.
14:17So they'd known each other before.
14:19The tiger had come to Luna deliberately.
14:21He'd made her promises.
14:23But that still didn't explain
14:25why they'd opened the wards.
14:27Why involved the demon horde at all?
14:29Unless they'd already been working
14:31with the demons.
14:32The one that killed my parents.
14:35My parents,
14:36who were also Luna's parents.
14:38How could she?
14:40I needed to find out.
14:42And when I did,
14:43there would be a reckoning.
14:45Back at the residence,
14:46I was working through
14:47what I needed to investigate
14:48when a visitor appeared at the gate.
14:50The tiger.
14:51He was staring at Ash,
14:53who was soaking in the spring
14:55and determinedly ignoring him.
14:57What do you want?
14:58Shouldn't you be with Luna?
15:00Ash emerged from the water
15:01and immediately positioned himself
15:03between us.
15:04Master,
15:05you promised.
15:07No, no other bonded creatures.
15:09Don't even talk to him.
15:10I just want to know why he's here.
15:12That's all.
15:13He's regretting his choices,
15:15obviously.
15:17He chose a dead end
15:18and he knows it.
15:20I started to look at the tiger.
15:22The gate was empty.
15:24This life,
15:25I'd kept my distance.
15:26I hadn't interfered with him.
15:28If the tiger genuinely wanted
15:30a different bond,
15:31the elders would have been glad to help.
15:33There was no reason
15:34to come to me specifically.
15:36Unless the tiger
15:37had also been reborn.
15:39I didn't say anything to Ash.
15:41I went straight to the clan's
15:43protective wards.
15:45Intact.
15:46I breathed.
15:47Then I looked at the ground
15:49near the barrier edge.
15:50White tiger fur.
15:52A handful of strands.
15:54He'd been here.
15:55He hadn't broken through.
15:57His power wasn't there yet.
15:59But he knew what was sealed here.
16:01He knew my parents had died here.
16:04I'd told him that myself
16:05in my last life.
16:07I had to watch him.
16:09Carefully.
16:09All the time.
16:11The gossip started circulating
16:12through the clan
16:13not long after.
16:14Luna and the tiger
16:15were fighting constantly.
16:17He refused her commands.
16:19Ignored her in training sessions.
16:24Made her look incompetent
16:25in front of the whole yard.
16:28And every time I appeared,
16:30he drifted toward me.
16:32Elder Margaret found
16:33the entire situation delightful.
16:35Her owl sat on her shoulder.
16:36You know what this reminds me of?
16:38Every story where someone realizes
16:39too late what they had,
16:41freezes the other person out,
16:43spends the rest of it chasing after her.
16:44She said it directly in front of Ash.
16:46He moved.
16:47I caught him before he could do
16:48anything irreversible.
16:49Margaret clutched her owl and said,
16:51Oh my!
16:52I could have a conversation with Luna.
16:53Offer her a different creature,
16:54something she can actually sustain.
16:56Transfer the tiger formally, quietly.
16:58Please, no more.
17:00No, I'm not touching the clan council over this.
17:01Besides, I have Ash.
17:03That's enough.
17:03Margaret looked genuinely mournful.
17:05A bonded creature in open conflict
17:06with its partner is a problem for all of us.
17:08And Luna hasn't advanced in ten years.
17:10The elders have been discussing
17:12a field assignment.
17:13Practical training away from the clan
17:15for a year or two.
17:16I understood what she wasn't saying.
17:18They'd given up on the tiger as a resource.
17:20Ash's presence had changed the calculations.
17:23What we accomplished together
17:24had raised the bar considerably.
17:26If Luna left with the tiger,
17:28I had time.
17:30Time to reinforce the war.
17:36In the clan hall, Luna cried.
17:38She accused me.
17:39You killed him.
17:39Then, in front of every elder,
17:42she made her counteroffer.
17:43Clara wants the tiger so badly,
17:44she can have him.
17:45I won't fight her.
17:46But if she takes him,
17:47she gives me Ash.
17:48A mixed lindage fox for a pureblood tiger.
17:51Honestly, Clara comes out ahead.
17:52The great elder shut it down
17:54before anyone else could speak.
17:56Who?
17:57Luna.
17:57Focus on your own creature
17:59and stop coming up with ideas like that.
18:01I heard this from Ash,
18:02who had apparently been listening
18:03from outside the hall.
18:05While the elders dealt with Luna,
18:06I was in the creature registry
18:07with the keeper,
18:08looking into a disappearance.
18:10Three creatures had vanished overnight.
18:12Two small rabbits,
18:13a young deer.
18:14The keeper was beside himself.
18:16I checked the seals myself
18:17before I left.
18:18Any disturbance at all,
18:20and I'd have felt it.
18:21There was nothing.
18:22Not a demon.
18:22No trace of that kind of energy.
18:24I looked around.
18:25The registry was carved
18:27into the cliffside,
18:28warded stone on all sides.
18:30The only way in or out
18:31used the clan seal.
18:33To remove three creatures cleanly,
18:35whoever did it
18:35knew this place intimately,
18:37or had always been inside.
18:39Go to the big brother.
18:40We don't need you.
18:41Big brother fox is perfectly safe.
18:42Keeper, can creatures turn on each other?
18:43They have consciousness.
18:44They would never do something so barbaric.
18:46Don't listen to her.
18:46She was just being strange.
18:48People do terrible things
18:49when they want to advance.
18:51Creatures aren't different.
18:53There's a method,
18:54old and dark,
18:56not talked about,
18:58where one creature
18:59absorbs the power of another.
19:01Want to know how it works?
19:02The fastest shortcut was this.
19:04Take the core of another creature.
19:06Consume it.
19:07The higher the cultivation
19:08of the creature you took from,
19:09the greater the gain.
19:10Ash had nearly been killed
19:12by exactly this method.
19:13Years ago,
19:14before we met.
19:15Once it works,
19:18it will come back for more.
19:20We staked out the registry that night.
19:22Nothing.
19:23Quiet all the way to dawn.
19:25I reassured the keeper.
19:26Don't worry.
19:29And headed out.
19:30And immediately ran into
19:32a young clan member
19:33sprinting toward me.
19:34Guardian!
19:34Something happened at the residences.
19:36What's wrong?
19:37Ash!
19:39Ash shifted form and moved.
19:42When we landed,
19:43I knew from the sound.
19:45One of the younger students,
19:46a girl who'd bonded
19:48at her first ceremony,
19:49was sitting on the ground
19:50in her courtyard,
19:51holding what remained
19:52of her rabbit.
19:54Elder Margaret was already there.
19:56She caught my eye
19:57and gave a small, grim nod.
20:00Your guess was right.
20:02The core was taken.
20:03Clean, precise, one strike.
20:05She didn't feel it happen.
20:06The bond broke
20:07and that's when she knew.
20:10Without thinking,
20:11I turned and looked for the tiger.
20:13He was standing near the edge
20:14of the crowd,
20:15perfectly still.
20:17Don't stare.
20:18It's him.
20:19You're sure?
20:20I've seen this method used before.
20:22His signature reads the same.
20:24I went to the Great Elder
20:25and told him everything.
20:26Don't move yet.
20:26You need proof.
20:27Catch him in the act.
20:28Behind him,
20:29his courtyard had descended
20:31into complete chaos.
20:33All of them trying to interrogate Ash
20:35about his parents' bloodlines.
20:37I keep them close.
20:39Your firehound just destroyed
20:40the garden path.
20:42You could clean it up
20:43for your Elder.
20:43No.
20:45Still,
20:46with subtle pressure,
20:48I got the senior elders
20:49watching the tiger
20:50more carefully.
20:52Weeks passed.
20:53No more disappearances.
20:55But two weeks later,
20:56the girl who had lost her rabbit
20:58still hadn't recovered.
21:00She stopped coming to training.
21:02Ate less.
21:03Barely spoke.
21:04The other students
21:05let it drift into rumor
21:07and then into story.
21:09Ashes sat with me every day.
21:11Then, one night,
21:12something moved past my window.
21:14Floating on the water's surface
21:16was a single white tiger feather.
21:18I reached through the bond
21:19and found him.
21:21I arrived at the ward boundary
21:22and walked straight
21:24into a shockwave.
21:26Ash and the tiger
21:27were already fighting.
21:28No preamble.
21:30Fully committed.
21:31He moved through the trees
21:32in pale clothing,
21:33fast and fluid,
21:35redirecting Ash's attacks
21:36with the ease of someone
21:38who'd been preparing
21:38for exactly this fight.
21:40Near the ward boundary,
21:42Luna sat perfectly still.
21:44When I got close enough
21:45to see her clearly,
21:46my stomach dropped.
21:48Luna was dead.
21:49I hadn't even processed it
21:50before the sky began to darken.
21:52The ward clumps.
21:54Harm your bonded partner
21:55and the consequence
21:56falls from the sky.
21:58You ran this exact plan
22:00in another life.
22:01You used everyone here
22:02as scaffolding
22:03and then kicked it out
22:04and now this life
22:05you had the chance
22:05to choose differently
22:06and instead you took her core.
22:08The sky is watching.
22:10It ends today.
22:12Almost.
22:14One more step.
22:15He was breaking
22:16the ward seal behind his back.
22:18The creatures sealed
22:19in the valley
22:20felt the loosening.
22:21Thunder gathered
22:22directly above him.
22:24The great elder arrived
22:25in a flash of light
22:26from the peak.
22:27Clara!
22:28Hold the creatures back.
22:29I'll reseal from outside.
22:31Clara!
22:31You can't stop this.
22:33Come die with me!
22:35I'll do better by you
22:36this time!
22:38In my past life
22:39I had died
22:39in this exact valley.
22:41Alone.
22:42Then a hand
22:43closed on my shoulder.
22:44It is Ash.
22:46You want to take her
22:47down with you?
22:49You'd have to go
22:50through me first.
22:51You're nobody.
22:52This time
22:53I wasn't alone.
22:54In my past life
22:55I'd never had
22:56a real partner.
22:57Just me and whatever
22:58I could manage alone.
22:59Now I understood
23:00the difference.
23:00Ash pushed forward
23:01and I covered it.
23:02He never checked
23:03over his shoulder.
23:04I never asked him
23:05to sleep.
23:06A hundred exchanges
23:07and the tiger's
23:08composure was cracking.
23:09He couldn't find
23:10a way past Ash.
23:11He couldn't land
23:12a hit on me.
23:12He broke.
23:14This isn't right.
23:15You're supposed to die!
23:16We're supposed
23:17to go back together!
23:19Goodbye.
23:20I raised one hand
23:21and pointed at the sky.
23:22The lightning came down
23:24like a collar
23:24dropped from the sky
23:26itself.
23:28He would not
23:29be coming back.
23:30The tiger was gone.
23:32He would not
23:33be coming back.
23:35The tiger was dealt
23:37with.
23:38The harder problem
23:39remained.
23:39The creatures sealed
23:41in the valley
23:41were old and powerful.
23:43They couldn't be killed
23:45cleanly.
23:45Only re-contained.
23:47And the oldest
23:48among them,
23:49the one they called
23:50the Abyss Serpent,
23:52had been dormant
23:53for a century.
23:54Sealed originally
23:55by the previous
23:56great elder,
23:57who had given
23:58his life to do it.
23:59Ash had been leaning
24:00against a tree.
24:02Expression of someone
24:03waiting for his reward.
24:04When he went still,
24:06he stared into the dark
24:08between the trees.
24:09What's in there?
24:12The Abyss Serpent.
24:15Wait here.
24:16I need to go in.
24:17Something shifted
24:18in his expression.
24:19Something I hadn't seen
24:21from him before.
24:22He started moving.
24:23I caught his hand.
24:24It's not safe.
24:26I know.
24:28Clara.
24:29He tried carefully
24:30to explain the situation
24:31to me.
24:32In my past life,
24:33I died in this valley.
24:35I watched the tiger
24:36take Luna and leave.
24:38I was alone
24:38when it happened.
24:40I'm not leaving you behind.
24:41We went in together.
24:43Behind us...
24:44Who just walked
24:45into the sealed valley?
24:46Elder,
24:47that's your student.
24:49My student
24:50is extraordinary.
24:51The valley was wrong
24:52the moment we crossed
24:53the boundary.
24:54Eyes in the dark.
24:55Dozens of them.
24:57They didn't move.
24:58Some instinct in them
24:59recognized Ash.
25:00He'd shifted
25:01to his true form.
25:02Large enough now
25:03that I rode
25:03at the back of his neck.
25:05I asked him before.
25:06What are you looking for?
25:08The Abyss Serpent.
25:09Tell me why.
25:10My mother is in there.
25:11I had always assumed
25:13Ash was the product
25:14of some unusual
25:15crossing of bloodlines.
25:16He'd never corrected me.
25:18Now I found out.
25:19He did have fox blood.
25:21But his mother
25:22was the Abyss Serpent.
25:23One of the creatures
25:24from the oldest records.
25:26Vast in form.
25:27Ancient in power.
25:29Her cultivation
25:29predating the current era
25:31by centuries.
25:32She hadn't always been this.
25:34Two hundred years ago
25:35someone had used
25:36the dark method
25:37on the creature
25:37she'd loved.
25:39Consumed his core.
25:40She hadn't recovered.
25:42I reached up
25:42and put my hand
25:43against the side
25:44of Ash's head.
25:45I had nothing to say.
25:46She had nothing to say.
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