The second book in the Samsara series follows Ayin as she journeys through the Netherworld in search of the truth behind her own death. Yet as history unfolds, she is forced to confront her many identities and the forces that seek her for different reasons. Unbeknownst to her, Yeqing is alive and embarks on a path to bring her back. Along the way, he meets Nilaya, a lowly concubine from a snowy world where mortals are treated no better than cattle. An unlikely bond forms amidst judgement and calculation. And in the shadows, an ancient deity has been waiting for them all.
Ayin
- "I know who you are. You're what cultivators call the Way, you're what governs this universe, you dictate life and death, fate and destiny...Why is it everyone's dream to become immortal? Just for you to test if their will lives up to your expectations? Who are you to pass judgment upon my existence? Perhaps you've seen too much and for too long to care anymore. But if you don't care, you shouldn't get to decide!"
Yeqing
- "The universe was never about fairness. It never promised anyone equality. It simply upholds balance. The world itself is a balance of light and dark, yin and yang, male and female. How can you expect it to be fair to you when it itself is simply a balance of inequalities?"
- "Desire is not a bad attribute. But...not knowing your place is inexcusable."
- "I will repay you in the next lifetime. A heart for a heart..."
Nilaya:
- "Bargaining is for people with more than just their life to put on the table."
- "You're telling me to just forget everything that has happened to me. Just accept that life has been so unfair to me. You talk about it like it's no big deal...which it isn't to you."
- "You made me who I am today. Years ago, in the tunnels underneath the Snow Palace, I had already chosen death. But no, you stopped me. You offered me a false hope and I accepted it without second thought. The only way for me to live up to your grand talk is by becoming a demonic cultivator and now you act as though I could have chosen a different path!"
Shaohua
- "There are things in the world that can even override what you consider to be common knowledge. Some people are born knowing who they are, what they want, and where they are going. Others, like yourself, don't even remember your past. So how would you know your future?"
- "Sometimes, knowledge is a burden. It shackles you, weighs you down."
- "My soul can always be pieced back together. The universe can stay broken. But some things, once gone, can never come back again."