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Chapter 555 - 552 · TE · Day of Blossoming (Part Two)

Chapter 555: Chapter 552 · TE · Day of Blossoming (Part Two)

[You must remember those who silently hold you tight in the darkness, those who make you laugh, those who stay up all night chatting with you, those who travel by car to visit you, those who wander around with you, those who say they miss you.]

[—It is these people who form every bit of warmth in your life, it is this warmth that keeps the gloom at bay,]

[It is this warmth that makes you a kind person.]

[—(Haruki Murakami)]

...

"Su Ming’an." She suddenly smiled faintly.

She stood just beneath the canopy’s barrier, appearing blurry and ethereal. A white halo of light rained down, filtering through the smoke like a veil draped over a frameless painting.

"—My memory was so chaotic, I almost broke down outside the Black Wall during the apocalypse, thinking there was no way out," she said. "Thank you for helping me hold on until now, for remembering these things, for achieving this ninety-ninth victory."

When a person stands alone against the world, bearing misunderstandings and hostility just to save the world.

Chilled to the bone, struggling over and over, dying time and again, enduring the rejection and incomprehension of all.

The Savior, endlessly reincarnating, constantly killed by those she sought to save, her memory so disordered she nearly forgets her purpose and misses the final triumph due to despair.

... If he and she are alike.

... Does he also forget something now?

"Ha, hahaha, hahahaha." She chuckled lightly: "... What’s this, I thought it was the end of the world outside and there was no hope. It turns out, I’m only one step away from ascending to godhood by myself... I had actually forgotten."

"To achieve this moment of luck," she said, "I drove myself mad countless times."

She dragged her heavy body all the way here.

At her feet,

lay her own bones and those of her loved ones.

...

[I will wait for you here, you must come in the future.]

...

[Feng Qiqi, get up! Are you so bewitched by that damn faith!!]

[Ha, haha, you will die too, you will die too...]

...

[This is the best outcome I can manage.]

...

[Ha, haha, hahahaha... The sky—the sky—the sky—]

[I just wanted to let everyone stand in the sunlight—what did I do wrong—! Why do you all want to kill me—]

...

[I don’t want to, I don’t want to do it all over again, let me die, just let me die—!]

[Su Ming’an! It hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much—save me, save me save me save me—!]

...

[Qiqi, you always die so ungracefully.]

[... I have no more family.]

...

[The ocean.]

[Gone.]

...

"Su Ming’an, I suddenly find it marvelous just being alive," she said:

"No matter what I’ve gone through, I somehow kept going on as usual. Even though those beautiful moments, one after another, keep piercing through me.

"I am the ’child who was never loved’, my every display was too obvious.

—"If I were a clear candy that could reflect light, then I would never fear the darkness again.

"I’m not candy, but beside the river of time... I found my ’candy’.

"Turns out,

"I’ve always had a future."

...

She extended her hand and held his.

...

[Xiber imparts to you the ultimate teachings of faith (top-level)]

[Your affinity with "faith" is 100%, learning successful!]

...

[*Acquired Passive (Faith)]

[Passive Skill—Faith:

At the dawn of the rebuilding of civilized society, deities represented a culture of social relations rooted deeply in people’s subconscious, thus becoming a firm and stalwart faith.

Perhaps, your faith could achieve the impossible, things beyond human reach.]

...

[Adventurers in the Eighth World can receive teachings from no more than three Guides, current number acquired: 3/3]

...

"This is your gift," she withdrew her hand.

He could hardly see through her anymore.

He couldn’t distinguish, in her words and revealed emotions, how much was real and how much was fake.

He couldn’t tell whether each version of her, when at her wit’s end, was truly in despair or calmly waiting for the next reincarnation.

Suddenly, she turned around, facing the tribespeople below with a face shrouded in black mist, and burst into loud laughter.

Her laughter was crisp and pleasant, spreading throughout the silent forest. People couldn’t see the scene here; they could only hear her vague but carefree laughter from the sky.

Alone against the world, chilled to the bone in solitude—she had grown accustomed to this through her battles along the way.

Yet now—now she remembered the bright path for the future to pluck a blooming flower; the path was still there, even close at hand.

"—Just one last time, just 100 points short—come on, no matter how many reincarnations—let me win that last time—!"

Su Ming’an watched her as she laughed loudly in midair, glowing with a radiance she had never possessed before.

He saw an isolated island near him, deceiving everyone with lies, unyieldingly reincarnating, just to push the key to 10,000 points.

Tens of thousands of times.

Even though she had spent her journey in blood and dirt, mired in filth, he could only see the brilliance in her eyes and heart for this world—a clarity that permeated from her soul to her very bones.

—This person was, after all, shining with light through and through.

Her and him.

It seemed, ah.

Darkness fell completely; midnight struck.

Their figures began to fade slowly.

The time regression granted by Jiu Shen was only temporary; just as the Raven had done before, once the time arrived, they had to return to the original point in time.

The fifteenth day had ended, and reincarnation was about to restart; thus, they would probably go straight back to the first day the war began.

Of course, Xiber would be the one retracing to the first day, while Su Ming’an would be directly transported out of this world.

As if to confirm something, she raised a hand towards him, without touching, and then gently let it float away.

"You can go," she said. "Don’t come back."

She always liked to urge him to leave, to dissuade him from saving her; she didn’t want to drag him down.

But now, she had remembered the path to light.

So she let him leave with peace of mind.

Like a wolf on high alert, she showed him a smile as soft as that of a lamb.

Su Ming’an looked at her: "You and your Fantasy Creations have made it to the end ninety-eight times, and I am with you on the ninety-ninth.

But even after succeeding ninety-nine times, your final victory might still cost hundreds or even thousands of failed reincarnations."

"You just had to remind me," Xiber smirked. "You know full well how much I despise reincarnation. Once it restarts, my memory will be a mess, and I might even forget you."

Su Ming’an said, "If I will be forgotten, it would be best to forget me."

"..." Her eyes blinked and she didn’t continue, suddenly lifting her head.

"They say that the sea reflects the color of the sky," she said. "Look, the sky... seems to have gotten a bit bluer."

Su Ming’an looked up.

—At that moment, he finally saw the sea that Xiber often spoke of.

The deep blue, endless sea, hanging upside down over his head, with fish seemingly leaping inside it.

He knew that was not the sea but just a shield against the Canopy Curse; it was impossible to be the sea.

He saw the sea because he was hallucinating. Having stayed in this world for too long, his mental state wasn’t good, producing some temporary illusions.

But it didn’t matter.

The end had come.

He averted his gaze, then suddenly saw, floating beside the ethereal Xiber, blossoming, radiant flowers.

Layers upon layers of red, they were roses. Gathered like stars, tiny, they were baby’s breath. Cup-shaped and bright yellow, they were tulips.

—In a momentary illusion.

He saw her standing among a sea of flowers.

"Huh—" Su Ming’an faded away, nearing complete disappearance.

Time began to revert, pulling everything back to the proper timeline.

He was about to leave this world.

And she would return to the first day of the war, vying for her hundredth victory.

"Su Ming’an."

He heard her gentle, soothing voice.

In those clear and pure pupils, reflected was his shadow tinged with light.

She said—

"We all have the right to live for a [future]."

"You were the only one who understood me when I stood against the world, my body chilled to the bone, the only one who always stood by my side."

"Although I desperately want you to stay... I know that you are a Lone Awakener like me. You, like me, are reluctant... to stay in each other’s worlds for one another."

"So, don’t worry, even if I might have to go through reincarnations thousands and tens of thousands of times for that final victory, even if my memories become a jumbled mess again..."

"...I will, always remember you."

"Even if, from now on..." Her voice seemed to choke up a bit:

"...we never see each other again."

She looked up slightly, her gaze hazy.

The edges of her pale eyes frayed like watercolor, ethereal enough to make one feel as if the soul were being drawn out, strand by strand. Just as at dusk, hastily passing by the night-blooming jasmines, one catches a glimpse of the pure white petals’ golden edges through the corner of one’s eyes.

Her divinity, inherent in her human form, was at this moment stark clear.

A moment later, her lips parted slightly, murmuring:

"Su Ming’an, is this an illusion?"

"...I think, I see the blossoms."

...

At the next moment, time swiftly returned before Su Ming’an’s eyes.

The figure standing amidst the sea of flowers was pulled back into the past and gradually faded away.

He didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye to her.

Reincarnation reset once more, returning to the first day of the war—

Chang Sheng, who picked up stones, followed the hunched-back old woman, his body unmarred by blood.

Teacher Fang, who read books to children, shouldered the bamboo basket to deliver sweet potatoes to Cici, a smile on his face.

The Young Tribe Leader of the First Tribe, clad in a sacrificial robe and wielding the Black Blade, clenched the colored candy in his hand.

A slight confusion surfaced on his stern face, as if he vaguely remembered something.

"...Why does this war feel familiar." He said, "Strange, I couldn’t have experienced it before..."

...

Seeing Qiongdi below returning to the first day of the war, Su Ming’an’s floating form faded, achieving a perfect pass at one hundred percent; he was about to leave the World.

He could no longer hold the rusty key in his hand; as the key fell, it clinked, landing below.

He saw a young man below, pushing open the door of the wooden house.

The young man, puzzled, picked up the key that had fallen at the front door.

[9900/10000]

"Whose key is this, how did it end up at the front door..."

The young man muttered to himself and continued forward, looking towards the front of the wooden house—

There stood a figure as red as fire.

In the vast, deep black sky behind the figure in the red robe, he appeared frail and thin.

As if silently struggling against this dark world alone.

"The Battle of a Hundred has begun, are you my Guide?" the young man asked.

Silver hair fluttered in front of the red-robed person, exposing a pair of particularly bright eyes.

Upon seeing the young man’s features, the red-robed person was momentarily stunned and didn’t speak for a good while.

The night wind blew through the bright red hood, revealing eyes that seemed a bit red, as if welling up with a sudden sheen of tears.

"Yes, I am your Guide," the red-robed person said: "Strange, I seem to have forgotten many things..."

"Forgotten what?" the young man asked, confused.

"Ah." The red-robed person blinked slightly.

In an instant, she revealed a smile.

That smile was more radiant and pure than the most beautiful flower.

She looked up, as if she could see the disappearing Su Ming’an.

And Su Ming’an was looking back at her, too.

They gazed at each other through the river of time fifteen days long, through the World’s barriers, like flowers and birds looking at one another.

Xiber withdrew her gaze.

She turned to look at the young man.

"...No, this time I surprisingly didn’t forget, my memory isn’t even in chaos. I remember, you are my fantasy creation," she said softly:

"The hundredth time.

[Long time no see].

Hello, I am the Guide, the hundredth — ’Prophet’ Xiber."

The end of the story was not devoid of people.

—Thus,

a perfect closure.

Su Ming’an laughed, completely enveloped by the returning white light.

Before he vanished, he gazed into Xiber’s eyes, as if he could see her dancing soul, flying freely toward the distance.

He saw the wild dance of peoples’ souls in freedom.

They were not in pursuit of nobility, nor did they need virtue.

Virtue is something bestowed upon the ordinary. It’s the medal on a knight’s shoulder, the gold leaf on their sword, the lilies in the garden.

But their survival.

It’s more legitimate than anything else.

—Nothing could tame their wildly free souls.

And he had done everything, and turned to leave.

He and the girl, who was so much like her, achieved their mutually exhaustive "Perfection."

As he left, he seemed to see her slightly parted lips, to hear her faint farewell.

It was a soft, gentle sound that brought to mind the swaying of flower stems.

She was saying—

"Goodbye."

"My dear traveler."

...

[Humans belong to the noun called "meaning."]

[As for its correctness, it holds no significance to them.]

[They are bewildered, ignorant, selfish...]

[...respectable.]

...

"Ding Dong!"

[Congratulations on a Perfect Pass!]

[Achieved Perfect Pass route·(TE) Day of Blossoming]

[Route evaluation: SSS (Perfect!)]

[（TE·Day of Blossoming）:

[When the birds in the sky burst through the clouds, they look down at the earth burying flowers.]

[Carrying the fireseed through long nights, they tread across traps and thorns laid everywhere.]

[Their awe of the higher, their longing for happiness, their wisdom of morality, their collective consciousness of unity... make them immeasurably strong beneath the elevated ignorance.]

[In an age where light cannot be seen, the ’Lone Awakener’ deceives the world with lies, chasing the best ’tomorrow’.]

[Beneath that abyss where countless selves lie buried,]

[—Do you see the real light and freedom after that ’Black Wall’ collapses?]

[—Without fear of the end, unafraid of barrenness, not scared of desolation.]

[—Dance with the alien, sing with monsters, discuss the unreachable with the delusional.]

[—Coexist with the unknown, walk with the ridiculous, for the glory and wisdom of thousands of years—remain ignorant and mad.]

[If madness is the theme of humanity.]

[Come,]

[...]

[—Come and become a deity among madmen with me.]

...

[The ending has been recorded and will be accounted for in the final evaluation]

...

...

[Deity,]

[The flowers have bloomed.]

...