On this side of the glass wall, Wei Jingzhuo knelt beside Su Wan, holding her hand, and softly told her about their past. Su Wan occasionally whispered a few words in response.
On the other side of the glass wall, Zhang Ying was leisurely strolling around the room with a glass of water in her hand, glancing occasionally at the rapidly decreasing numbers on the life factor extraction screen.
As the numbers dwindled, Wei Jingzhuo's voice trembled, and Su Wan's responses became sluggish.
When the number was down to four digits, Zhang Ying became even more restless. Before, she had been pacing around the room, but now she moved her chair to the control panel and began to stare intently at the numbers on the screen.
"Five more minutes, just five more minutes!" Zhang Ying excitedly muttered to herself.
“Ah Wan, knowing you were taken away by the giant eagle, I can’t eat a single bite,” Wei Jingzhuo said in a low voice. “My reason tells me to eat properly, but the thought of you suffering…”
Su Wan's voice had become barely audible; her helmet covered her eyes, and only her lips could be seen moving slightly.
Wei Jingzhuo put his ear close to Su Wan's mouth and finally heard what Su Wan said clearly.
"Ah Jin, take good care of yourself."
Wei Jingzhuo held Su Wan's hand and said, "It's my fault, I couldn't protect you."
"fool."
Su Wan's hand trembled as she tried to raise it, but Wei Jingzhuo held her hand and gently placed her palm against his face.
Su Wan's hands were icy cold, completely devoid of warmth. Wei Jingzhuo touched her arm again; it was equally cold.
"Ah Jin, if there is an afterlife," Su Wan gently touched his tear-streaked cheeks, "if there is..."
Her voice trailed off as Su Wan's hands lost their strength, and her entire body seemed to go limp. If it weren't for the metal arm helmet supporting her head, she might have collapsed.
“Ah Wan, Ah Wan.”
Wei Jingzhuo gripped Su Wan's arm and called out anxiously, but Su Wan did not respond. He then pinched Su Wan's wrist and could not feel her pulse at all.
"No, don't leave me." He pressed his cheek against Su Wan's chest.
There was no heartbeat.
Wei Jingzhuo stopped calling out, gently placed Su Wan's hands in his place, and stood up unsteadily, saying, "Ah Wan, slow down, I'll catch up with you right away."
He turned to the glass wall and looked at Zhang Ying inside.
Zhang Ying was in a state of excitement and didn't pay any attention to him. She stared at the numbers on the screen and let out a nervous laugh.
"Five hundred years, a full five hundred years... After enduring for so long, I have finally succeeded."
"Zhang Ying," Wei Jingzhuo stared at Zhang Ying with heartbreaking grief, then raised his voice and called out again, "Zhang Ying."
Zhang Ying seemed to be completely possessed, and without turning her head, she said, "She's not completely dead yet. There are still three minutes left. She'll be truly dead when the brainwaves disappear."
Wei Jingzhuo said, "You are a demon."
Just then, he saw the rectangular metal box next to him. Su Wan had told him that it was called a hibernation pod, and inside lay Chu Ming, the founding emperor of the Southern Chu Kingdom. The hatch suddenly opened.
Thick white fog spilled from the edge of the hibernation pod, slowly sinking and spreading along the pod's body, and a slender hand reached out to hold onto the edge.
Wei Jingzhuo's pupils suddenly contracted.
That hand looked familiar.
A young girl with a face that could captivate all living beings sat up from the white mist and leaped lightly and silently out of the hibernation pod.
She put her left index finger to her lips as a shushing gesture, then crept toward Zhang Ying, who was gesturing wildly in front of the control panel. The girl held a deep blue dagger in her right hand.
Wei Jingzhuo's eyes widened; he recognized Bai Zhiyi.
Zhang Ying was in a state of extreme excitement when she heard the sound of the hibernation pod opening, but she mistakenly thought that Chu Ming had woken up.
Without turning her head, she called out, "Chu Ming, you're awake? Perfect timing! Come over and celebrate with me!"
In the time it takes to say a word, Bai Zhiyi had already crept up to her, stood up, and raised the dagger, pointing it at the back of her neck.
Wei Jingzhuo pressed his left fist against the glass wall, almost stopping his breathing. He knew that making even the slightest sound at this moment would be fatal.
Zhang Ying received no response from Chu Ming, and turned around in confusion, saying, "You..."
What she saw was Bai Zhiyi, and the short knife that Bai Zhiyi was holding high.
Zhang Ying was shocked and was about to get up to resist when Bai Zhiyi's knife was already plunged into her right neck, like a red-hot knife piercing into butter.
Zhang Ying screamed and punched Bai Zhiyi in the chest, causing Bai Zhiyi to fall to the ground. As Bai Zhiyi fell, she pulled out a short knife, and a spurt of blood immediately gushed from Zhang Ying's neck.
"Impossible, impossible." Zhang Ying clutched the wound on her neck, watching in panic as blood gushed from between her fingers, spraying more than two feet away onto the ground.
Bai Zhiyi's knife pierced her carotid artery deeply. Without immediate medical attention, she would die within minutes.
"I can't die, I can't die!" Zhang Ying screamed, her voice cracking. Ignoring Bai Zhiyi who had fallen to the ground, she stumbled to the door, clutched her wound, and rushed out, leaving a trail of blood and several bloody footprints on the floor.
"Miss Bai, please save A-Wan!" Wei Jingzhuo pointed to the life factor extraction device. "Stop that thing immediately!"
Bai Zhiyi clutched her chest and stood up in pain, rushing to the control panel and saying, "Your Majesty, I don't know how to stop it. I'll try to sabotage it."
She gripped the dagger with both hands and stabbed it into the control panel with all her might.
The dagger was incredibly sharp; its tip pierced the sturdy metal control panel. Bai Zhiyi then pulled the blade downwards with force, cutting a narrow gash more than two feet long into the control panel.
The numbers on the screen remained unaffected and continued to decrease rapidly, with only one minute left.
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