Chapter 71 Redemption (3)

"21, do you remember what I said when I saved Shi Mingyue?" Yun Zhan withdrew his gaze, his melodious voice fading into the horizon...

"You said you were tired." 21 remembered it; it still had a pretty deep impression of that.

"Yes, I said I was tired."

Yun Zhan nodded, and after exhaling, it seemed as if the thing he had been suppressing in his heart had suddenly collapsed at that moment.

“Throughout my life, I’ve always been completing missions, and it seems like I’ve never lived a life of my own.” Yun Zhan casually found a place to sit down. “Actually, I’ve been very happy since I came to this world. I can feel the love they give me.”

It's pure and clean.

Pei Yanxi, Wen Sixue, and Shi Mingyue all gave her a lot of selfless love. She was surrounded by their love every day, and there wasn't a single day when she was unhappy.

Even when she is sick, sad, or disappointed, there are still people by her side.

"I never admitted they liked me before because I didn't understand them from an emotional perspective, but now I don't need to be emotional anymore... Their love is straightforward and obvious; I don't need to feel it at all..."

For the first time, Yun Zhan felt the warmth of "home" through the female lead.

"I think I suddenly understand why some people miss home."

"Whether from a logical analysis, an emotional perception, or in the mundane aspects of life or in the moment of life and death, they... never dislike me for a single moment."

This is the first time I've ever felt this way, being cared for.

Yun Zhan sighed, "I shouldn't have done this. I should have done better and lived up to their affection."

Seeing Yun Zhan's emotions piling up, 21 hurriedly tried to comfort him, saying, "Oh dear, this is your first time dating, you don't know much about these things... Don't blame yourself too much, you can make it up to them later. But... by the way, do you have someone you like?"

21 thinks it's impossible for Yun Zhan to be with three girls at the same time; he's not that much of a jerk.

"The person I like? Once I find my heart again, it will tell me the answer."

Yun Zhan stood up and called out into the distance, "Bai Jichen, come out."

The echo rolled over the towering cliff, causing the sea of ​​clouds to ripple with silver waves.

The wind suddenly stopped, the birds folded their wings, and the icicles on the pine needles fell down in unison.

The next instant, a very soft laugh came from high above.

The fog slowly split open from the center line, and a figure in white descended from the clouds, his toes touching the air, but making a "plop" sound as he fell into the water.

Bai Jichen stopped in front of Yun Zhan, three feet off the ground, and leaned slightly forward, his voice carrying the lightness and disdain of falling snow: "Yun Zhan, what do you need me for?"

Every word and phrase seemed like ice and jade striking each other, causing the mountain steps to tremble slightly.

"You're a transmigrator too, right? And your transmigration story is the same as mine. You went to the cultivation world first, and then came here. It's just that you can't leave here like other transmigrators."

Yun Zhan crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked Bai Jichen up and down.

“This world is a modern script, and there is no way a fox demon could exist except for me, so... you can only be an outsider. In addition, you know about the female lead, so I guess you should be one of the first transmigrators to come here.”

Yun Zhan didn't say it directly when she was in the basement; she was sorting out the timeline at the time.

"So many time travelers have come and gone, yet you've remained here all this time. This means you can't return on your own, so you can only wait for other time travelers to end this world."

She lost her heart, but her mind is still working perfectly.

The notes in "The Book of the Future" were written with a brush, so they couldn't have been written by the Pei family. The Pei family rose to prominence in the modern era, so they were most likely written by Bai Jichen himself.

“You deliberately brought me to this world. You know I’m a somewhat rigid mission executor. You wanted me to end the world and let you go back.”

Yun Zhan gritted his teeth, glanced at her, and thought, "What a clever scheme."

No wonder when Su Jue died, 21 said there was only one yuri world to go to. At the time, she was thinking, how could there only be one?

"Interesting." Bai Jichen chuckled lightly, and after a moment, she nodded.

“You’re right, I sent you here on purpose. However, I don’t think you’ll stay at Minton School because of love.”

Bai Jichen looked down at Yun Zhan. She chose Yun Zhan because he had a righteous heart, and he didn't talk about feelings or love. Such a person would never give up his beliefs for love.

"Stop talking nonsense and let Wen Sixue go. I don't know why you brought her here. If you make things difficult for her again, I definitely won't help you. As for the heart... I'll take it myself."

Bai Jichen lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over her empty chest, a faint, ambiguous smile curving his lips.

"Do you know that this breaks the rules?"

Yun Zhan raised his eyes, and for the first time, an unyielding flame ignited in them.

"You set the rules, that's true, but... we're talking about cooperation. If you don't cooperate with me, of course I won't obey you. At worst, I'll just die and that's it, and you can forget about going back."

The white-robed deity chuckled softly, and with a flick of his wide sleeves, the frost and snow transformed into countless white butterflies, fluttering around the two of them.

"Fine, kneel if you want. This girl likes you a lot, and you're not happy that she's kneeling for you?"

"I'm here to protect her, not to torment her."

...

The mountain wind swirled up the snowflakes, like countless thin blades scraping across the stone steps.

Wen Sixue's vision went black for a moment, her knees slipped on the rock surface, and she fell backward, but the expected cold and fall did not come.

A slender figure suddenly emerged from the mist and stood steadily behind her.

Yun Zhan spread his arms and pulled the person into his embrace from behind. His robes still carried the damp chill of the basement, but in that instant, they blocked out the wind and snow.

The bloodstains, warm and delicate, stained her collar like cinnabar blooming in the snow, warming her skin.

"Yun...Zhan?"

The person in his arms murmured very softly, their bloodstained lips slightly upturned, their voice scattering in the wind.

After confirming that the scent was the familiar Song Ye and Wei Yu, her eyelids drooped, her strength finally gave way, and she fainted in Yun Zhan's arms.

Yun Zhan laid her flat on the narrow stone platform, took off his outer robe, and carefully covered Wen Sixue's body with it.

The moment her clothes closed, she pointed her fingers like a knife and without hesitation slashed her palm. Blood gushed out, but it had a faint silver glow; it was the essence blood of a demon.

She pried open Wen Sixue's bloodless lips, feeding her drop by drop of blood, and gently pressed her chin with her fingertips, forcing the warm, demonic liquid down her throat.

As his essence and blood left his body, Yun Zhan's face turned ashen, and cold sweat beaded on his temples.

She simply raised her hand to wipe it away, stood up, and looked up at the palace that was faintly visible above the sea of ​​mist. Her voice was not loud, but every word was carried away by the wind.

"Gods, please come again."

"I would give up the remaining twenty years of my life to exchange for Wen Sixue's wealth, peace, and good health in this life and the next."

As soon as she finished speaking, she pointed to her brow, and a faint blue demonic mark lit up, thus establishing the contract.

The blue light transformed into tiny stardust fragments, scattering across the cliffs like a reverse meteor shower, silently disappearing into the sea of ​​mist.

After finishing his prayer, Yun Zhan knelt beside Wen Sixue, solemnly took her hand, which was covered in blood and ice, pressed his palm against hers, and gently touched the cold back of her fingers with his forehead.

"Thank you so much."

Yun Zhan's voice was low and hoarse. She gripped Wen Sixue's palm tightly and said, word by word, "Wen Sixue, thank you for being so good to me, for liking me so much, for caring about me so much, and for staying by my side every night when I was sick and in pain."

"You always put me first in everything. Your love is too heavy for me to repay."

A drop of sweat mixed with blood fell between their clasped fingers, spreading a dark floral pattern.

Yun Zhan raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the mist, looking towards the distant mountain peaks and the unknowable future.

She took a deep breath, as if trying to imprint all the warmth into her lungs. "Before coming into this world, I had never felt so much love, whether it was you, Pei Yanxi, or Shi Mingyue. So, I can't let you all sacrifice for me anymore. I will walk the road ahead on my own."

Yun Zhan released her hand, tucked Wen Sixue's hair, which had been blown about by the cold wind, behind her ear, and ran his fingertips one last time across her pale but serene forehead, softly bidding her farewell:

"Wen Sixue, I wish you wealth and prosperity in every life, and peace for all eternity."

"I'm leaving now. You've taken 4,999 steps for me. I'll take the remaining 5,000 steps myself."

The mountain wind whipped up the hem of her blood-stained clothes. Yun Zhan stood up, his back silhouetted against the mist as a cold, sharp line.

She took a step and walked alone toward the remaining five thousand steps toward the palace where the heart awaited.

The temple doors closed behind us, like the clenched teeth of a giant beast, shutting out the mountain winds and the stone steps.

Yun Zhan looked up.

The dome was extremely high, but no roof beams were visible; only a swirling cloud of gray-white mist hung above it.

Beneath her feet was a solid black mirror, reflecting her blurry image, but the only thing visible was the hole in her left breast.

Two paths branch off at the heart of the palace; one is dark and cold, as if filled with wandering ghosts.

A bright, dazzling light, like molten gold flowing with fire.

Both roads stretched into the fog, their ends invisible.

Bai Jichen floated in mid-air, his robes blending into the mist, his voice descending from all directions, carrying the chill of colliding snowflakes: "Two paths, one of life, one of death. Choose wrong and you will be lost. Not only will you not be able to get your heart back, but you will also be lost here forever, unable to leave."

Yun Zhan stood at the crossroads, his fingertips tightening silently.

In the gloom, whispers seemed to entice her forward, while in the light, sharp blades seemed to be hidden; a single step could mean life or death.

For the first time, she let her hesitation stop at the center of her brow; that usually calm line trembled slightly under the weight of the two beams of blue light.

At the same moment, outside the illusion.

Shi Mingyue suddenly sat up on the couch, her inner garment soaked with cold sweat, which clung to her back like a layer of ice.

"Yun Zhan?!"

The scene from her dream still lingered in her eyelashes. She saw Yun Zhan step into a gray, black passageway. With one step, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shattered, and he plunged into a starless, moonless abyss.

She tried to grab it, but only grasped a handful of cold mist; she tried to shout, but no sound came out. She could only watch helplessly as that figure was swallowed by the darkness, leaving not even an echo.

Her heart was pounding wildly, like a drumstick going out of control. She covered her mouth, swallowing back the scream that was already on her lips, but she couldn't stop the trembling all over her body.

The rain outside the window continued to fall, and the flickering lamplight cast a distorted shadow on the bed, as if she were still trapped in a dream.

Cold sweat trickled down my neck and into my collar, everything I touched was icy cold, exactly the same temperature as the last look in my dream.

She was unaware that the illusion had reached a turning point; all she knew was that the palpitation in that instant was so real that even breathing hurt.

Her knuckles gripped the corner of the blanket tightly, revealing her white bones. Shi Mingyue called out in a hoarse voice, "Yun Zhan... am I really dreaming? Or has something happened to you?"

Deep within the illusion, Yun Zhan looked up as if sensing something. His gaze pierced through the misty wall, but he couldn't see the face soaked with nightmares.

Yun Zhan took a deep breath, suppressing the sudden palpitation in his chest. He took a small step, but did not land.

Between gray and light, life and death are equally intertwined.