Hearing Lin Yueru say this, Li Xiaoyao quickly told her not to speak such ominous words.
Lin Yueru told him that if their positions were reversed, she would do exactly the same thing.
"No one wants the person they love to die before they do. For the sake of the one you love, no sacrifice is too great," Lin Yueru said.
Reading this, Yae Miko's brow furrowed. Something about this didn't seem simple...
Meanwhile, Paimon and the others were still mourning the passing of Cai Yi.
Afterward, the Drunken Sword Immortal told Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru about the jade pendant's power, and used it to save Tang Yu and A Nu.
Then Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru followed the Drunken Sword Immortal back to Mt. Shu.
Upon learning that the Sword Saint of Mt. Shu intended to imprison Zhao Ling'er in the Demon Locking Pagoda for seventy years, Li Xiaoyao resolved without hesitation to break in and save her.
At that moment, Baiyue barged into Liu Jinyuan's home, purged the lingering poison from his body, and demanded that Liu Jinyuan bring Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er to him.
When Liu Jinyuan refused, Baiyue moved to take back his life.
To atone for their son's debt, Liu Jinyuan's parents both took their own lives.
As for Li Xiaoyao, after entering the Demon Locking Pagoda, the effects of his Forget-Worry Gu gradually wore off. By the time he reached the Demon Transformation Pool and stood before Zhao Ling'er, his memories had fully returned—everything from their time on Fairy Island came rushing back.
He rushed forward and embraced her.
Zhao Ling'er had already resolved to let everything go, to step aside for Lin Yueru and Li Xiaoyao, and devote herself wholly to saving the Nanzhao Kingdom. But now, held in Li Xiaoyao's arms, hearing him say he remembered everything, she held him back just as tightly.
Lin Yueru stood off to the side, staring blankly at the man she loved embracing another woman.
An indescribable sorrow filled her chest, and the tears came without her willing them.
But she couldn't say a word.
Of course not.
Zhao Ling'er and Li Xiaoyao were the ones properly wed—they were the true husband and wife.
She was the third person who'd come between them.
In that moment, the vow Li Xiaoyao had made to her shattered along with her heart.
Alongside this part of the story, Fang Qiu had written a song.
Its title: "Always Quiet."
"The love I give you has always been quiet, trading it for the care you spare me now and then. Ours is a film starring three, yet I've never had a name in it."
"So this is what fate was for—to explain how you suddenly stopped loving me..."
Just as Lin Yueru was considering whether to step out of this love, Zhao Ling'er made up her mind and told her the three of them would stay together forever.
Lin Yueru's thoughts were in turmoil.
She thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all—she could already picture what their life together would look like.
But the situation was urgent, so they agreed to sort it out once they got outside.
Along the way, they encountered the Heavenly Ghost King. To leave the Demon Locking Pagoda, they had to destroy the coiling dragon pillars within the Demon Transformation Pool.
None of the other demons dared go down there—only the three of them could make the attempt.
They entered the pool, destroyed all seven coiling dragon pillars, and the Demon Locking Pagoda came crashing down.
They hurried to swim out of the pool, but the moment they reached the shore, Lin Yueru noticed a massive boulder collapsing above them.
She rushed forward and shoved both Zhao Ling'er and Li Xiaoyao back into the Demon Transformation Pool.
As he fell back into the water, Li Xiaoyao looked back and saw Lin Yueru give him a radiant smile.
That smile brought his tears streaming out.
"I love..."
Before the last word—"you"—could leave her lips, the massive boulder crushed down on Lin Yueru, and Li Xiaoyao was swallowed once more by the Demon Transformation water.
When they finally climbed out of the pool and tried to dig Lin Yueru out from the rubble, all they found was her pendant.
That pendant was a matched pair with the one Li Xiaoyao wore.
The instant they unearthed it, the pendant on Li Xiaoyao's own body clattered to the ground.
Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er, overcome with grief and their wounds too severe, both fainted.
"It is all fate," the Sword Saint murmured, watching the scene unfold, and let out a deep sigh.
He had long glimpsed the workings of heaven and tried to stop it all from happening—that was why he'd locked Zhao Ling'er in the Demon Locking Pagoda.
He never imagined it would end up costing Lin Yueru her life instead...
In his unconscious state, Li Xiaoyao had a dream.
He dreamed he was lying in bed asleep, and Lin Yueru appeared beside him, dressed in a long gown.
Lin Yueru said her mother wanted to see him, and asked if he'd come along with her.
Half asleep, Li Xiaoyao said he was too tired, and that they'd talk about it next time.
"All right," Lin Yueru said, her voice tinged with disappointment. Looking at him lying in bed, she said, "Take good care of yourself. I'll go on ahead."
In the darkness, Lin Yueru's figure grew fainter and fainter, until it vanished without a trace.
Fang Qiu left only four words beside this scene.
Never forget, never forsake.
Reading this, Yae Miko looked up at the others and found that Paimon, Lumine, and Kano Nana had all frozen in place.
Tears kept spilling from their eyes, dropping onto the manuscript.
"Fang Qiu really doesn't hold back, does she," Yae Miko said, a dangerous glint flashing in her narrowed eyes.
This character, Lin Yueru—Fang Qiu had truly brought her to life. Bold in love, bold in hate. Though she'd been a bit willful before, after meeting Li Xiaoyao she'd shown a considerate, understanding side. Even after making a lifelong vow with him, when she saw that he still remembered Zhao Ling'er, she'd been willing to sacrifice herself, to let herself get hurt, just to bring the two of them together.
And such a vivid, living character—Fang Qiu had actually gone and killed her off.
It felt as if a real girl had died right in front of them.
And there was nothing they could do about it.
It really didn't sit well with them.
In the conference room, the atmosphere stayed frozen for a very long time.
Until, outside the window, the sun began to slant westward.
Only when Yae Miko prompted them did they continue reading.
The first thing Li Xiaoyao did upon waking was ask after Zhao Ling'er's injuries. Hearing that she was gravely wounded and needed several items to be healed, his first instinct was to call for Lin Yueru to go help him fetch them.
Then he remembered—Lin Yueru had been crushed by the boulder while saving him and Zhao Ling'er.
He hurried to ask the Holy Maiden how Lin Yueru was.
The Holy Maiden glanced at the corpse covered in white cloth, and told him the truth.
Lin Yueru... had already stopped breathing.
Li Xiaoyao lifted the white cloth, and there was her body...
In an instant, the memories he'd shared with Lin Yueru flooded back like a tide—those once-warm moments now stabbing into his heart like blades.
The Holy Maiden didn't disturb him. Instead, she stepped outside and told the Sword Saint that although she couldn't bring Lin Yueru back to life, she could keep her body from decaying.
Afterward, to save Zhao Ling'er, Li Xiaoyao set off to find the items the Holy Maiden had asked for.
But during his search, the power of Nüwa sent him back into the past.
He wanted to change everything.
He escorted Zhao Ling'er away in the opposite direction from Fairy Island, told the Drunken Sword Immortal not to teach him magic, and traded that wooden sword for the Water Spirit Orb he'd owned as a child.
But when he returned to the present, he found that nothing had changed at all.
After saving Zhao Ling'er, she gave birth to their child.
They named the child Li Yiru.
Remembering Yueru.
Afterward, A Nu, under Baiyue's control, came and slashed Tang Yu's hand, and Tang Yu lost both arms.
Around this time, Liu Jinyuan sent another challenge letter, demanding a duel with Li Xiaoyao.
Knowing Liu Jinyuan had joined the Moon Worship Cult, Li Xiaoyao went to the appointed meeting anyway.
But Liu Jinyuan ambushed him, stabbing him through the heart.
Yet Li Xiaoyao did not die.
Because Liu Jinyuan had faked his own death to win Baiyue's trust, hoping to find a way to defeat Baiyue from within the cult itself.
But when he finally found it, he was discovered.
Gravely wounded, Liu Jinyuan sought out Li Xiaoyao, told him the way to defeat Baiyue, and then died.
A truly gentle, gracious man, warm as jade.
Another death.
The atmosphere in the conference room grew even heavier.
Too many people around Li Xiaoyao had already died.
None of them dared to imagine who would die next—Li Xiaoyao, or Zhao Ling'er.
Then Baiyue set his plan to destroy the world into motion.
A great flood submerged the Nanzhao Kingdom, and water demons ran rampant.
Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er went together to the Moon Worship Cult, determined to stop him.
But Baiyue didn't rush to attack. Instead, he told Li Xiaoyao that the earth, in fact, was round.
Li Xiaoyao scoffed—ignorant people really were terrifying.
But after Baiyue's explanation, Li Xiaoyao finally understood why nothing had ever changed.
Everything had been fated from the start.
This was destiny.
Reading this, they finally understood too.
Why Zhao Ling'er and her grandmother had known Li Xiaoyao all along, why the Drunken Sword Immortal had appeared in Yuhang Town, and why that oddly out-of-place wooden sword had ever existed...
Li Xiaoyao had no time for regret. Once they agreed that neither of them would die, they struck at once.
But the gap between their strength and that of Baiyue and the water demon was simply too vast.
Within a few exchanges, Li Xiaoyao was beaten down, gravely wounded.
Zhao Ling'er, too, was overwhelmed by the water demon.
At that moment, Tang Yu found the pendant. Together with A Nu, they made a wish for the earth's power to return to the earth, and the two of them turned into a pair of birds in flight.
Watching this, Baiyue couldn't understand it.
He couldn't comprehend why true love could exist in this world at all.
So Li Xiaoyao rose to his feet, and using the Wine God's Incantation the Drunken Sword Immortal had taught him, struck Baiyue down.
As he died, Baiyue's mind drifted back to the moments he'd spent with Elder Shi, and then he crumbled into ash.
Li Xiaoyao's strength was spent.
Meanwhile, Zhao Ling'er was locked in fierce combat with the water demon, and in the fighting, she was swallowed whole.
Inside its belly, she killed the water demon from within.
But she, too, sank into the lake below, and fell silent.
Watching this scene, they felt a violent tremor run through their hearts.
Fang Qiu had really gone after Zhao Ling'er too!
Li Xiaoyao struggled to his feet, staring at the still surface of the lake, despair overtaking him.
He howled in anguish.
"Li Xiaoyao, you're useless! Why? Why does everyone around you have to die!"
"Ling'er, didn't you promise me you wouldn't die! You promised!"
Tears streamed down his face.
Reading the tense, despairing words on the page, they felt a suffocating weight settle over their hearts.
Just as they thought the outcome had been sealed, Zhao Ling'er suddenly burst up out of the lake.
Seeing this, their eyes lit up at once. Even Yae Miko couldn't help raising an eyebrow, a flicker of delighted surprise crossing her fox-like eyes.
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