Zigui stared straight into her eyes: "Or do you know the reason that keeps you alive, but you dare not hope for it? For example, can Shen Fuguang still live?"
Chang Leping frowned almost imperceptibly, and said in a low, soft voice, "I don't know."
The cuckoo cried out in surprise, "You're not angry? You're not angry even when I talk like that?"
Chang Le rolled her eyes at him: "You're so annoying, so incredibly annoying."
The cuckoo cries: ...It seems she is angry.
“But I know Luo Xuan wants your help, and so do Bai Xie and Ling Ren.” Chang Le wrapped his arms around his knees. “I don’t really want this either. I don’t want to choose death again, because for me, death is just an escape, not a solution. But…”
She sighed softly, tilted her head to rest on her knees, half-closed her eyes, and looked gloomy: "I'm so tired, I can't walk anymore, I don't want to walk anymore."
Ziguiti suppressed her frivolous expression, sat down beside her, and looked at her while leaning against Mu Liangchao's stone tablet: "So, miracles are possible, but you are afraid of the expectations and disappointments that come with miracles."
Chang Le paused for a moment, then hummed in agreement.
Zigui Ti frowned: "You're lying. You're not that scared. There are other reasons."
Chang Le remained silent.
"It seems Luo Xuan doesn't know either," Zigui asked astutely. "What's wrong with you?"
He asked the question several times, and Chang Le, undeterred, turned his head and said, "I devoured the essence of Hades."
The cuckoo immediately realized what had happened: "Your transformation?!"
Chang Le sat up straight, took a deep breath, and with each inhale and exhale, hideous, inhuman dark purple and dark green patterns crawled up his neck, with wisps of black mist emanating from it. But upon closer inspection, one would realize that they were not patterns at all, but rather like wounds that looked like flesh and blood had been torn apart.
The cracks covering his skin resembled the winding abyss on the earth, almost identical to the cracks on Chang Le's spine, but they contained not only those violent tentacles, but something far more dangerous.
Chang Le's breathing was steady, but it seemed that if she took even the slightest breath, the crack would burst open, spilling out countless inhuman things, which would then devour their master and turn him into a monster.
This level of mutation, if it were applied to anyone other than Chang Le, would turn that person into a mindless mutant. But now it seems that even for Chang Le, the natural "unruly" component in his blood can no longer be suppressed.
Chang Le looked up and saw vines and tentacles spreading out from under her, wrapping around her layer by layer. Although they weren't violent, the scene was extremely eerie.
The cuckoo's cry made Chang Le's lower body almost invisible. He had only ever seen such a change in the King of the Underworld.
Does it hurt?
Zigui asked instinctively, then paused for a moment before adding, "Luo Xuan doesn't know, does he? Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't be so calm right now."
Chang Le shook his head: "I have a low pain threshold. I haven't told anyone yet, you're the only one who knows right now."
Ziguiti sighed deeply: "Now I finally understand. I was wrong, no, I should say that the vast majority of people were wrong."
You're not just tired or weak, you just can't move forward anymore.
Both he and Luo Xuan believed that Chang Le's current state was a result of the emptiness and loss that followed the sudden completion of his long-held obsession to welcome back Fu Guang's remains, and a loss of direction.
But now he realizes that's not the case. Chang Le clearly knows the direction, knows that there might be a way to find Fu Guang again, but she finds that she doesn't have enough energy and time to do it.
But some things and some people are etched into our very bones. Unable to obtain them, we live in constant anxiety.
Faced with this dilemma, Chang Le felt exhausted and even thought that perhaps this was the best outcome in his destiny.
So she stopped, letting herself remain in that moment, no longer wanting to go with the world.
She wasn't a walking corpse, nor was she lost; she was simply consciously afraid of expectations, choosing to stop and remain silent, until one day, before her body decayed, she went to some place where no one could find her, and died as a monster.
Before that, she will guard this magnificent yet desolate tomb, and protect all the people and things in her memory.
This was the ending she had chosen for herself.
This was also the deal that Chang Le made with Fu Jiu back then.
Ten years ago, on the night of Hua Anning's nineteenth birthday, Chang Le also remembered everything.
Chang Le met Fu Jiu for the first time.
"Lele, I am your last personality."
"Now, Lele, tell me... what you want as your destination."
"Let's make a deal."
...
"After we bring Fuguang home, no matter what I become, Ajiu, I'll leave all my remaining time to you."
"good."
...
“But your obsession remains,” Ziguiti suddenly said. “Shen Fuguang hasn’t returned yet, and you’re still not reconciled.”
Chang Le turned her head away: "I have no strength left."
"You can beat everyone."
"I don't have time."
You are wasting your time right now.
I'm tired.
"But you work every day."
Zigui yelped and spread her hands, meeting Chang Le's gritted teeth expression as she slowly turned back: "Don't look at me like that. I'm the only one who can say these things to you now. They either won't do it or they can't bear to. I can bear to, and I'm very willing to do it."
He grinned in an incredibly smug way: "That felt so good... Ah!"
The cuckoo's cry was kicked down by Chang Le, tumbling several times before finally stopping. He wasn't angry; he just lay on the ground laughing heartily. His laughter carried by the wind across the vast wilderness, each echo clearer than the last.
That laughter could not be contained; it was more liberating than death, brighter than the sun's rays.
The cuckoo's cry at this moment is like a bird taking flight again after its wings have been broken, every feather radiating the light of freedom.
Chang Le stared blankly for a long time as he watched him roll around laughing.
"Hey—look at me!" Ziguiti waved to her from the dust.
Chang Le subconsciously looked at him, a warm energy inexplicably rising in her heart, welcoming the anticipation that might come.
The cuckoo called out to her in a loud voice, "Want to roll around together?"
Chang Le: ...
I heard the sound of my expectations shattering.
"Hahaha...just kidding!" Zigui suddenly cried out, pointing to the sky. "Look, there are stars! How beautiful!"
Chang Le thought he was a complete madman. She thought to herself that she had known all along that the sky was full of stars, but when she looked up, she was stunned again.
Oh, stars...
The starry sky was a tapestry of wonder, each star, bright or dim, weaving a mysterious tapestry with its own unique radiance. As Chang Le gazed intently at this incredibly familiar star map, he felt as if he had seen this sky long, long ago, in a world seemingly far beyond.
"Are you happy, you little madman?"
Chang Le answered instinctively, "Happy!"
Looking down, she saw only the cuckoo standing below, smiling and watching her.
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