"Dead?" Lin Suqing's eyes widened, tongue-tied, his entire body stiffened, and it took him a long while before he slowly leaned back into the chair, then took another long while.
How could he... be dead?
...How could he die?
But he was a Phoenix, the proud child of the heavens, Master Ziyin... How could he, how could he possibly die?
"Because Master Ziyin is the reincarnation of the Ancestral Phoenix, he has only one life, one chance in life, and he probably knew it himself," she said solemnly, sitting upright and looking deeply at the lost Lin Suqing. "As to why he insisted on doing so, I don't know. Perhaps you could ask God Shancang."
There's probably no need to ask...
Lin Suqing sat there woodenly for a long time, then another long time. He felt very tired, wearied from the inside out, as if nothing mattered, yet everything did, as if he had let go of everything, yet everything still tethered him.
