Mrs. Shao
The ancient ship "Guixu" hovered in the void left by the annihilation of the "God's Skeleton," like an iceberg that had suddenly lost its purpose. Outside the observation window, the turbulent energy flow had not yet completely subsided, and occasionally, fragments of torn space flickered like phosphorescent fire, casting a mottled light and shadow on the bridge and reflecting the deep, icy coldness on Shao Wei's face.
The "divine skeleton" was destroyed, the core of the Elder Council was annihilated, and the "Original Blood" curse that had haunted the Si family for millennia seemed to have been broken. Hong Jian began inspecting the damage to the spacecraft, while Ahmet attempted to reestablish a tenuous connection to the external network. Gu Zhixing was busy sorting through the massive amount of information downloaded from the "Guixu" database, attempting to tease out more clues about the "Elder Council" and the network behind it.
The fruits of victory were within reach, yet no one felt joy. The atmosphere within the bridge was even more stagnant than during the fierce battle. The absolute, emotionless coldness emanating from Shao Wei was more suffocating than any violent pheromone.
He stood alone in front of the main console, in front of him was a holographic star map, marking the final coordinates of the "God's Remains" and the fleeting energy signature of the "Thread of Life" captured by "Guixu".
"The Thread of Life"...why is it there?
Is it a coincidence?
Within the "Garden of Pride," the concepts of time and space became blurred and distorted. Shao Wei walked through a maze of countless mirrors, his footsteps swallowed by silence, his own increasingly heavy heartbeat and breathing echoing in his ears.
Each mirror is a frozen memory, reflecting the truth of their three-year marriage, shrouded in arrogance and indifference. He saw Siqi in the mirror, frowning at the already cold coffee he brought her in the study late at night, but eventually picking it up and taking a sip; after seeing Susceptible Qi, Siqi stood at the bathroom door, watching him clean up the mess, his fingers tightening imperceptibly, but eventually turning away; when he diagnosed her with a terminal illness, Siqi turned her back to him, her shoulders trembling ever so slightly, and uttered the cold words, "Marriage is just a formality"...
It turns out that those details he ignored, those interactions he defined as "forms", after removing the arrogant filter, actually concealed so much struggle and... insincerity.
Shao Wei's heart felt like it was being tortured by these mirrored images, each one slicing through it brought a sharp pang of pain. But he didn't stop, nor did he look away. He forced himself to watch, to feel, to peel those misunderstood moments, those betrayed silent loves, bit by bit from the dust of memory, like plucking bloody flowers from a thorn bush.
The platinum cufflinks in my hand grew hotter and hotter, and the ice-blue light pointed steadily into the depths of the maze.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the mirrors ahead shifted. They were no longer scattered randomly, but began to circle and converge, eventually forming a vast, dome-like circular mirror hall. In the center of the hall, there was no throne, only a dim silver halo that seemed poised to fade at any moment.
In the halo, a translucent figure sitting with knees hugged was vaguely outlined.
This is the period.
It wasn't the perfect body that served as a replica of the "key," nor was it the "vessel" in the laboratory, determined to die. This figure was more ethereal, more fragile, as if barely condensed from the finest stardust and lingering tears. He lowered his head, his silver hair falling, obscuring his features. A thick, icy feeling of self-loathing lingered around him... stripped of all pretense, leaving him bare, exhausted.
Shao Wei stopped at the entrance of the Hall of Mirrors.
He looked at him, the person whom he had hated and resented, but in the end found that he had been deeply trapped in it without knowing it. The person appeared before him in such a nearly broken posture.
My heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an ice-cold hand, and a suffocating pain spread.
He walked forward slowly, each step he took on the mirror condensed by countless arrogance and prejudice, making a crisp shattering sound, as if he was trampling on the ridiculous persistence of the past.
He squatted down in front of the dim silver halo, his eyes falling on Siqi's lowered head.
"Siqi." He spoke, his voice was very hoarse, with a cautious tremor that he himself did not even notice.
The figure hugging his knees moved imperceptibly, but did not look up. An extremely faint voice, as if coming from a crevices of the soul, slowly rang out with a heavy dose of self-mockery:
"Come to see my joke, Shao Wei?"
"Look at this... a poor wretch who has been self-righteous and arrogant his entire life, only to find in the end that he can't even see his own heart clearly and dares not even speak a word of truth."
His voice no longer had the coldness and hardness of the past, leaving only endless desolation.
Shao Wei remained silent and didn't answer. He simply reached out his hand, not to touch the illusory figure, but to gently place the platinum cufflink, which he had been holding tightly and emitting an icy blue luster, on the mirror in front of Si Qi's figure.
The ice-blue light on the cufflinks resonated faintly with the dim silver glow surrounding Si Qi.
Si Qi seemed to sense something, his body stiffened for a moment, and finally... he raised his head extremely slowly.
When Shao Wei saw his face clearly, his breathing suddenly stopped.
His face remained the same impassive, perfect one, but those dark eyes, always deep and unfathomable, now seemed washed repeatedly by tears, shedding all their disguised coldness, leaving only a fragmented clarity tinged with confusion and pain. Without the barrier of arrogance, he looked vulnerable and vulnerable.
His eyes first fell on the cufflink, his pupils shrinking slightly as he seemed to recognize this insignificant item that had accompanied him for many years. Then, his gaze slowly moved upwards and met Shao Wei's eyes.
Their eyes met.
There are no words, yet it seems as if thousands of words are colliding and pouring out in silence.
Shao Wei looked at his broken eyes, and saw his own face reflected in them, which was no longer cold, but full of complex pain.
All the resentment, all the unwillingness, all the questioning, at this moment, have lost their meaning.
He saw his arrogance, and also saw beneath the arrogance, the same unspeakable love and cowardice as his own.
"It's not a joke."
Shao Wei finally spoke again. His voice was soft, but it carried a determination to break all shackles.
"I came to see you."
These four simple words were like a key that suddenly inserted into the rusty lock on Siqi's heart.
He stared blankly at Shao Wei, looking into his ice-blue eyes, which no longer contained forced calmness or the flame of revenge, but a kind of... tenderness and determination that had settled down after going through hardships, which was painful but extremely real.
A faint, silver light, like a young sprout breaking through the thick ice, struggled to light up from the depths of his dim eyes.
"...Why?" he asked, his voice still weak, but with a hint of imperceptible hope.
Shao Wei did not answer directly. He looked at him and said clearly, word by word:
"That coffee was bitter, but you drank it."
“Those problems were difficult, but you solved them.”
"The mess left after the susceptible period...actually, you don't have to clean it up yourself."
"Also...the study door can actually be closed."
He spread out the overlooked details he saw in the mirror in front of him one by one.
Every word was like a heavy hammer, hitting Siqi's heart, which was frozen by arrogance but longed for warmth.
His eyes quickly turned red, a layer of mist filled up, blurring his vision. He turned his head away abruptly, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if trying to suppress the surging vulnerability.
But this time, Shao Wei did not allow him to escape.
He stretched out his hand—this time, it was a real hand with body temperature—through the dim silver light, gently but unquestionably held Si Qi's cold and illusory cheek, forcing him to turn back and look at him.
"Look at me, Siqi." Shao Wei's voice was low and powerful. "The show is over."
"Now, there are no experiments, no plans, no damn 'Original Blood', and no... damn arrogance."
His thumb gently brushed across the silver tear marks that were about to slide down the corner of Siqi's eye.
"Just you and me."
These words are like the final release from the curse.
The string Si Qi had been holding tight, the string he had been holding tight to maintain his dignity, suddenly snapped! He closed his eyes, and the scorching tears finally broke through the dam, silently sliding down. The tears were no longer silver, but transparent with body temperature, dripping onto the back of Shao Wei's hand, burning his skin and his heart.
He didn't make any sound, but the trembling that was suppressed to the extreme, as if even his soul was crying, was more heartbreaking than any wailing.
Shao Wei didn't comfort him, nor did he stop him. He simply held his face quietly, letting his tears soak his fingertips, accepting all his fragility, pain, and... relief with an almost pious attitude.
The hall of mirrors surrounding them began to emit a delicate cracking sound, like melting ice in spring. Cracks spread across the mirrors reflecting Pride and Prejudice, and finally shattered and dissipated, transforming into shimmering silver dust all over the sky.
The rules of the "Court of Pride" are collapsing.
The dim silver light surrounding Si Qi slowly but surely began to brighten and solidify again. Although still illusory, it was no longer a candle that could be extinguished at any moment, but like a star that had been wiped clean of dust, it once again glowed with its inner light.
He slowly raised his hand and placed it over Shao Wei's hand that was holding his cheek. His fingertips were cold, yet there was a hint of real touch.
He opened his eyes, and his tear-washed eyes were as clear and deep as the night sky after the rain, reflecting Shao Wei's figure and nothing else.
"...I'm sorry." He said in a hoarse voice. These three words carried too much weight.
Shao Wei shook his head.
"It's all over."
He looked at the light that had rekindled in his eyes, and felt the faint but real touch from his fingertips. It seemed as if something in his frozen heart had quietly melted at this moment.
He knew this was just the beginning. Siqi's consciousness remained fragile, and the road back to reality was long and uncertain. The IGEC, the possible remnants of the Presbyterian Church, the mystery of the "Threads of Life"... the outside world was still full of dangers.
But at least he found him.
Not as a target of revenge, not as an anomaly that needs to be purified, but as... a period.
He leaned over, gently pressed his forehead against Si Qi's cold forehead, and closed his eyes.
In the silver dust transformed by countless shattered mirrors, two souls that transcended life and death, arrogance and prejudice, for the first time, clung to each other in the most genuine and unreserved manner.
"Let's go home." Shao Wei said softly.
Si Qi didn't answer, but just held his hand tighter.
The silver light dust enveloped them like gentle snow.
The fragments of the "Garden of Pride" began to slowly merge into the main database of "Guixu", becoming a past that was completely understood and accepted.
And the new journey seems to have just begun.
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