Chapter 70 Redemption (2)

After Yun Zhan fell into a coma, her consciousness gradually dissipated. The moment she opened her eyes again, she was back in Pei Yanxi's basement.

"Have we traveled back in time?" 21 looked around; it was the first time it had ever had such a strange experience.

I inexplicably traveled to a certain place, and then inexplicably returned. It all felt like a dream, so unreal.

"It must be that my soul has returned." Yun Zhan looked down and saw himself lying on the ground.

She reached out, her transparent arm passing through her flesh; it seemed there was no way to go back for the time being...

With a loud crash, a heavy book suddenly fell from the bookshelf. The cover was crimson red and had the words "The Book of the Future" written on it. When it was opened after hitting the ground, it was covered with densely packed words.

"The Book of the Future?"

Yun Zhan frowned. She tried to reach out and touch the book, and surprisingly, even though she was only a soul, she was able to open it.

"There is a destiny at play..."

This doesn't seem like a coincidence.

Yun Zhan leaned against the bookshelf, squatted down, placed the book on his lap, and began reading from the first line of the first page, examining each page very carefully.

The lamplight flickered gently on the paper, as if afraid of disturbing someone's old dreams.

Yun Zhan turned the page, and a damp, cool scent of ink wafted out. It wasn't printed; it was handwritten ink. Someone had used an extremely fine wolf-hair brush to write down each and every event from the past, making it seem like a mysterious chapter from a storybook.

In 1645 AD, Shi Muqi, the daughter of the Left Chancellor, encountered a woman named Bai Yi while out and about. Bai Yi claimed to be a time traveler who could speak of the future, and every word she spoke came true. The two spent their days together, united in heart and soul, living in perfect harmony.

In 1926, the Pei family encountered a tsunami while trading at sea. Pei Qianxue was rescued by a woman named Tong Xi, who was exceptionally learned and unlike anyone of her time. After three years together, Pei Qianxue fell in love with Tong Xi. On the eve of Tong Xi's passing, Pei Qianxue swore an oath with her heart's blood: she would never marry anyone but Tong Xi for all eternity.

In 1968, Wen Ran, the eldest daughter of the Wen family, sang at the Songhelou Restaurant. A wealthy young lady, dressed in luxurious attire, frequently came to patronize her. This young lady, named Song Yuan, spent lavishly on Wen Ran, and the two lived together as husband and wife. Afterward, they renounced worldly life and lived in seclusion in the mountains, enjoying a peaceful and tranquil existence.

The handwriting was delicate, yet it was stained with tear stains, and the wrinkled parts of the paper looked as if it had been wet by the night rain.

Yun Zhan's gaze traveled downwards, and his heart suddenly felt unsteady—the last page, the Xuan paper still fresh, the ink not yet dry, contained only a few short lines:

This year, the Shi family's Bright Moon, the Wen family's Snow-like Beauty, and the Pei family's Beauty, Yan Xi, all encounter Yun Zhan. A heartless demon, with bloodshot eyes. The old pact between the three families is renewed, the ending unknown.

At the bottom of the signature is a small vermilion seal, with overlapping fox tails and plum blossoms, which is the Pei family's private seal.

Yun Zhan's body trembled violently, and the book fell uncontrollably to the ground.

She thought her arrival was quiet and unnoticed, but she never expected that a hundred years ago, someone had already written "visitor from another world" into the dark pages of the family genealogy.

What she thought were emotional turmoil, entanglements, and life and death was nothing more than an old drama passed down from generation to generation by others.

Shock washed over me like a tide, rising inch by inch.

"So, Pei Yanxi already knew..." For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared in Yun Zhan's usually calm eyes.

It turns out she wasn't infiltrating, but was being waited for;

It wasn't an accident, but rather a rehearsal.

Those laughs, tears, and kisses were all written into the script, just waiting for her, the "twenty-first," to take the stage.

The lamplight flickered softly, and the pages closed silently.

The veins on the back of Yun Zhan's fingers were faintly visible, but he hesitated to move them again.

She looked up at the deep dome of the basement, as if she could see three distant figures through the thick stone walls: Shi Mingyue, Wen Sixue, and Pei Yanxi... all being pulled toward the same ending by some unseen thread.

In the dimly lit basement, a white figure slowly emerged, her steps light and almost silent.

As the shadows faded, Bai Jichen walked up to Yun Zhan: "Before you, many transmigrators have already come here."

She looked down at Yun Zhan, who was sitting on the ground, and began to tell her story.

"Your mission is to unravel the secrets of Mington School. Do you know the origins of Mington School?" Bai Jichen paced back and forth beside Yun Zhan. "Mington School was not established by the upper-class nobles, but... by the transmigrators."

!

Yun Zhan looked up, her eardrums ringing, the world suddenly silenced. She unconsciously pursed her lips, biting her lower lip until it formed a pale crescent shape, which quickly turned back to crimson.

"I understand. And then what...?" Yun Zhan chuckled and slumped onto the floor, exhausted.

Surprisingly, it was all predetermined from the beginning...

21 was also stunned. No wonder... When Pei Yanxi was in the grove, the moment she grabbed Yun Zhan's chin and stared at him, there was a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Yun Zhan didn't pay attention to this at the time, but 21 keenly sensed it.

A bold guess popped into 21's mind: ...Could it be that the former headmaster of Mington School knew something and was ultimately silenced by Pei Yanxi...?

"This little system guessed correctly; Minton School was established to protect the female lead."

Bai Jichen continued, "Because of the existence of Mington School, Pei Yanxi can continuously develop her own power; Shi Mingyue can have the best learning resources and indulge in refined tastes; Wen Sixue is oppressed on the surface, but in reality, she retains the last bit of dignity as a noblewoman, making it unattainable for ordinary people."

"However, after the school was established, heinous incidents occurred frequently, and the exchange of money and power never ceased. Later time travelers all thought of destroying the school, but they all inevitably fell in love with the heroines' ancestors and eventually became the ones who protected the school..."

"So, Yun Zhan, what will you choose?"

"Choose to stick to your principles, investigate thoroughly, destroy this academy, return to your hometown, end your time-travel journey, and completely end this world."

"Or abandon the investigation, continue to protect the female lead... become a time traveler exclusively for the female lead, and a hundred years later, let the next time traveler repeat your story."

Whether you stay or leave, live or die, it's all up to you.

"You can consider it, but... your time is running out. The day your heart returns will be the day you make a decision."

Bai Jichen chuckled softly, waved his hand, and his figure disappeared into the twilight.

...

After a dizzying moment, Yun Zhan fainted again.

This time, her soul drifted to Wen Sixue's side.

The cliffs, hidden in the mist, resembled the gaping black mouth of a giant beast, emitting a low roar as the wind swept by.

Wen Sixue knelt on the three thousand and first stone step. The cloth around her knees was worn through, and blood and flesh mixed with sand were stuck together in a dark red mud.

She braced her hands on the steps, the backs of her fingers cut by the icy rocks, blood beads meandering along the cracks in the stone like plum blossoms bursting forth in the snow.

With each kowtow, the forehead struck the mountain steps, causing a slight tremor. The echo was swallowed by the abyss, then expelled, becoming an even colder and emptier reverberation.

Her face was so pale it was almost transparent, her lips were covered with fine frost, and her breath was so hot it created white mist in the air.

Her hair had long since come undone, and her black hair was stuck to the side of her neck with sweat. The mountain wind blew it cold and made it stick to her skin, making her shiver.

Beneath my feet, the sea of ​​fog surged and rolled, its bottom invisible, with only occasional pebbles tumbling down, their landing sound lingering for a long time.

"Enough! Wen Sixue... Stop! Stop right now!" Yun Zhan shouted, but his voice was carried away by the cold wind and he couldn't even hear it himself.

She tried to rush over to help, but her soul passed through Wen Sixue's shoulder, grasping only a handful of cold mist. Her fingers futilely closed, her palm empty, even the wind slipped through her fingers.

Her knees slammed into the ground again, and Yun Zhan's soul trembled violently, as if the kneeling had struck her heart directly. Where there should have been a heartbeat, only a draft remained.

Yun Zhan bent over in pain, but could not offer any real protection. She could only watch helplessly as the blood splattered, like cinnabar scattered on the snow, burning her eyes.

The fog thickened, and Wen Sixue's figure swayed on the edge of the cliff, like a snowflake that could be torn away by the wind at any moment.

Yun Zhan's soul chased after him, but hung futilely outside the steps, unable to even grab a piece of clothing.

She could only press her forehead against the cold, empty air, silently pleading over and over again against that ever-shrinking figure: "Enough... stop kneeling..."

The mountain wind carried her voice, scattering it like wisps of smoke, and sending it back into the abyss.

Wen Sixue tried to stand up and continue upwards, but as soon as she put pressure on her knees, she swayed violently and almost fell to the bottom of the cliff.

She hurriedly reached out and grabbed the edge of the steps, her fingernails scraping the rock surface with a harsh "squeak." After regaining her balance, she continued to kneel, her pale lips murmuring, "Gods above. I, Wen Sixue, am but a mortal with a lowly life. Today, I offer my blood as incense and my bones as pillars, begging you to give her my heart."

The wind seized the opportunity to sneak into her tattered skirt, fluttering loudly like a death knell.

She bit her lower lip hard, swallowing back a cry of pain, the taste of blood instantly filling her mouth.

Once again, Wen Sixue nearly fell off the cliff. Using the strength of her arms, she pulled herself back onto the steps, lying face down on the cold stone slab, her chest heaving violently, like a butterfly with torn wings, still stubbornly crawling towards the firelight.

"It's still early..." Wen Sixue encouraged herself in a hoarse voice, her words shattered by the wind, "Only three thousand..."

After saying that, she propped herself up again, moved her knees to the next step, and kowtowed heavily.

"Thump!"

Blood splattered, like cinnabar exploding in the snow, dazzlingly bright. She didn't look up, letting the red stain slide down her brow to the tip of her nose, dripping down, only to be instantly cooled by the mountain breeze.

"Stop kneeling, Wen Sixue..."

Yun Zhan pleaded silently, his voice carried away by the wind, leaving only the trembling of his lips.

Yun Zhan knelt beside Wen Sixue, leaning forward, his fingers repeatedly passing through Wen Sixue's shoulder before withdrawing in vain.

That face, usually so calm it was almost indifferent, finally cracked; a deep furrow appeared between his brows, and his eyes were red-rimmed...

The inability to act was Yun Zhan's biggest mistake in life.

The mountain steps end in a sea of ​​clouds, and the palace eaves, like hooks, are out of reach.

Wen Sixue seemed to see neither the end nor the pain, only repeating in her heart, "Kneel one more step, take one more step closer..."

The fog thickened, and her figure swayed precariously on the cliff edge, like a snowflake that could be torn away by the wind at any moment, yet she stubbornly clung to the rock surface, refusing to fall.

Yun Zhan suddenly remembered what Bai Jichen had said...

It's about becoming a time traveler exclusively for the female lead.

Still, stick to your principles and end the world.

Yun Zhan closed her eyes, and in that instant, the wind suddenly stopped. The distant mountain ridges were dark and layered like waves, and the fog and thousands of peaks and valleys slowly blurred in her vision.

"Make a choice...?"

Yun Zhan raised her hand, and a thin mist passed through her fingers. The air was thin, but it carried a crispness that was a mixture of snow cold and pine resin. Taking a breath was like swallowing a whole block of ice, which then overflowed from her throat.

Yun Zhan blinked; it seemed she knew which choice to make.

The stone steps beneath my feet seem to float above a sea of ​​clouds. An unknown bird flies by, its dark silhouette cutting through the white mist, the distant sound of its wings almost inaudible...