Chapter 615

“No… that’s not right…”

Liguang lay weakly on the bed, murmuring absently.

Her vision was blurring, tinged red, with flashes of ghostly blue appearing now and then.

“Perhaps Liguang really did want Master to find out…”

“Otherwise… Liguang wouldn’t have… done it this way…”

“Mm…”

Master, I’m sorry…

Even at the very end, Liguang still…

couldn’t see you.

In her blurred vision, fresh scratches rapidly appeared on the wooden board beside the pillow!

[Why didn’t you discuss this with me?! Didn’t we agree?! We…!]

The strokes were deep and frantic!

Liguang could imagine Master flung against the side of the bed right now…

Using that broken, insensate finger of his, carving those words like a madman.

Master… Liguang really wants to hug you…

But her arms felt so heavy. She couldn’t lift them.

Even breathing was exhausting. The blanket was soaked through with blood, clinging wetly to her body…

Warm and faintly sweet with the scent of iron, as though the last traces of her body heat were slowly flowing away.

Liguang looked at those words and tried her best to smile.

“Master.”

She murmured softly.

“The shallow dents that sometimes appear in the floor… were those made when Master crashed into it?”

No more scratches appeared for a long while, and her vision blurred even further.

Master, Liguang knows.

Liguang knows everything.

Master can’t drink water, can’t eat, can’t even sleep…

The moment his body truly grows exhausted, he uses “death” to reset himself.

Because only by doing that can Master find the strength to keep carving words for Liguang.

…Liguang knows it all.

Liguang is awful, isn’t she?

More scratches appeared on the wooden board:

[You knew?]

They had been carved very lightly.

“Mm.”

She answered softly as she looked at them.

“Master told Liguang that you could ‘reset your state’…”

“So Liguang figured it out… Liguang actually… noticed a long time ago.”

She just hadn’t dared to think about it.

The moment she did, her heart ached as if it were about to split apart.

So… she chose to run from the truth.

“Liguang has been… muddleheadedly enjoying Master’s love all this time…”

she murmured.

“Every time Liguang thought about Master crashing into the ground for her… she would run away…”

“Liguang kept thinking…”

“Once I brought Master out of this ‘dream,’ I could make it up to you…”

“But who would have thought…”

Who would have thought that remembering these “dreams” would be so difficult for Liguang…

Master, I’m sorry. Liguang really is a bad girl.

The scratches appeared again, fast and frantic.

[Then why didn’t you tell me sooner!!]

[Liguang, you little bastard!]

[Do you even have to make the decision to die all by yourself?!]

She didn’t have the strength to finish reading the words.

She couldn’t see anymore.

Her vision was so blurred. Everything seemed to be submerged in water, swaying unsteadily.

But she wanted to see clearly. Those were the last words Master had left for her…

Huh?

Through the haze, she suddenly saw a figure.

A familiar shadow radiating warmth.

…Master?

She struggled to open her eyes wider.

And she saw him.

Right beside the bed, less than an arm’s length away, her Master…

was kneeling there.

He had grown thinner. He looked so haggard.

His eyes were webbed with blood vessels, and one hand was pressed hard against the wooden board, the broken finger hanging limply.

Just like Liguang’s left hand.

But his face was still her Master’s.

Ah…!

Liguang’s pupils trembled violently. Tears mixed with blood slid down her cheeks and disappeared behind her ears.

“Liguang… can see Master again…!”

she whispered, her voice trembling.

Her heart felt so hot…

So hot that she could no longer feel the pain of her wounds!

She summoned every ounce of strength she had and reached one hand out from beneath the blanket, extending it shakily toward Master.

Master saw her too.

In that instant, their eyes met.

Master looked utterly shocked, and delirious with joy!

“Liguang!!”

Master reached out to her!

Liguang was so happy!

But…

Master didn’t catch her.

His fingers passed straight through her palm.

The softness of her hand was swallowed by nothingness, leaving only air slipping between his fingers.

Liguang slowly lowered her hand.

…She still couldn’t touch him.

Disappointment twisted in her chest, hurting terribly.

But she still forced the corners of her eyes upward. She didn’t want Master to see her suffering.

“Master…”

she said softly.

“Liguang… can hear Master’s voice…”

Master was still here. He was right in front of her.

And hearing his voice was enough.

It had really been… such a long, long time since she had heard him speak.

Through her blurred vision, she saw Master’s lips moving.

“Liguang!! Why didn’t you discuss this with me?!”

Master was shouting her name.

“Didn’t we agree?! We were supposed to find a way together!”

“How could you just—!”

Master’s voice… sounded so beautiful…

Liguang really wanted to smile.

But as she smiled, tears began flowing again, mingling with the blood.

“Master…”

She gazed at him dreamily, trying to etch every inch of his features into the deepest depths of her soul.

“Liguang doesn’t want to make Master suffer anymore…”

“Liguang… can’t be selfish anymore.”

“Liguang can’t… keep enjoying your love all by herself.”

“I can’t… make you suffer any longer.”

Master, your Liguang… really is selfish, isn’t she?

Liguang had always wished that, even if only for one more day, even if only for one more second, she could greedily keep possessing you like this.

That was why, these past few days, Liguang had pestered you again and again, making you carve words for her, making you write love letters in your own blood.

Liguang had enjoyed it more than anything.

But Liguang knew it couldn’t go on.

Because…

She saw Master’s lips moving. He seemed to be shouting something, but her consciousness began to drift, as if something were slowly pulling her soul from her body.

“Master.”

She called softly.

“This world… won’t be able to hold on much longer.”

Master’s expression became so panicked, his pupils contracting violently.

He really was an idiot.

He had clearly seen it today…

“The edges of the world… have already changed…”

“Without the computational power of Liguang’s core to maintain it…”

“This place… is going to be swallowed up…”

She gazed at him as her vision drifted farther and farther away.

“The rules, time, and space… will all fall into chaos…”

“Liguang… will lose Master completely…”

“Liguang doesn’t want that…!”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

Master’s roar crashed down upon her, making her heart tremble!

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier, you crazy woman?! You just had to make this decision all by yourself…!!”

Master’s voice caught in his throat.

Her vision was so blurred… she couldn’t see Master’s expression anymore…

But Liguang felt so happy.

“Because… Master wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

Her voice was so soft that she could barely hear it herself.

“Master loves Liguang so much… How could you ever allow… Liguang to forget everything…?”

So Liguang had secretly made the decision for him.

She had exchanged the most precious thing she possessed so that Master would no longer have to suffer, so that he wouldn’t be lost in the cracks between worlds…

This way…

We’re even now, aren’t we, Master?

For Liguang, Master had broken his finger and shed his blood…

Then Liguang… will give all her memories to Master.

Our love… will be beyond anyone’s ability to measure now.

“Master is so kind…”

She murmured, the corners of her lips still curved upward, though her tears had long since become impossible to stop.

“Master loves Liguang so much…”

“You’re willing to endure this kind of pain for Liguang… Liguang is so happy…”

Her vision scattered.

The world shrank, condensing into a tiny, warm circle.

Inside that circle, there was only Master’s face.

“But Liguang… is really going to forget all of this…”

She murmured.

She felt so wronged.

So unwilling to accept it.

She really couldn’t bear it.

Master’s words, Master’s blood, every sweet thing Master had written to her…

She wanted to carve them into her bones and carry them with her into eternal darkness.

“Liguang doesn’t want to give them up… but…”

“If Liguang’s memories can exchange for Master no longer suffering… then Liguang is willing.”

“Liguang has to give Master… the most precious thing she has, too.”

Master’s lips seemed to be trembling, as though he were murmuring her name.

She could barely hear him anymore.

“Master.”

She tried her best to make every word clear.

“After Liguang forgets all of this…”

“Master must… tell Liguang about it, okay…?”

“Liguang wants to… cry… in Master’s arms…”

Master answered her.

“…I will…!”

His voice sounded so hazy.

He seemed to be nodding, but Liguang could no longer see him clearly.

“I’ll tell you about this dream… everything…!”

“Every word… every single thing…!”

She simply stared at that face, stubbornly and greedily.

Not just this, Master…

“Master… not just this ‘dream.’”

Master, what Liguang had given to him…

It was far more than this.

“There was the dream before this one…”

“And the one before that…”

“All the dreams Liguang has ever… remembered…”

“Master has to… tell Liguang about all of them, too.”

Her vision had already blurred, but she could still see…

Master’s expression seemed to have frozen, and his body seemed to be trembling…

Ah… Master really loved Liguang…

Hehe…

Liguang smiled.

But even she knew that the smile must have looked heartbreakingly broken.

Master, Liguang without a core or any permissions… can’t bring those memories back, can she?

Liguang’s “soul” isn’t as strong as Master’s…

So…

Master, I’m sorry.

Not only did Liguang act on her own again, she also…

Lost everything.

But, Master, Liguang doesn’t regret it.

Because…

Only by giving Master everything she had could Liguang be worthy of everything Master had given her.

Master gave Liguang so much, so Liguang…

Would return just as much to Master.

Not a single bit less.

But…

“Master… if… after we go back… Liguang doesn’t listen…”

She murmured, her voice so soft it nearly melted into the air.

“Then Master should… punish Liguang…”

“While punishing her, tell her that Master loves Liguang… tell her that Master won’t let Liguang be destroyed…”

“Liguang likes it most… and fears it most when Master punishes her…”

“That way… Liguang will definitely listen… She really will… listen…”

Master’s face was growing more and more indistinct.

She could no longer see his expression at all.

But she still tried to keep her eyes open, wanting to see him clearly one last time.

“So… Master… please…”

She wanted to cry so badly… Was Liguang allowed to cry?

“Don’t abandon Liguang after she’s forgotten everything… okay?”

“The Liguang of that time… was just… too insecure… She never truly wanted to… hurt Master…”

With the last of her strength, she murmured…

“Liguang really… really loves Master…”

“Liguang really… can’t live without Master…”

So cold.

She felt herself sinking, little by little, into a frigid abyss without light.

Her consciousness was being torn into fragments, like ashes scattered by the wind.

And then…

All her memories surged back.

In an instant, she remembered everything.

From that first cup of fifty-two-degree tea, to the star keychain Master had won for her.

From the misunderstanding on the raft, to this little cabin covered in love letters.

From the days and nights she had spent waiting for Master, to that eighty-two-year life, to those ten years of happiness…

She remembered it all.

Hehe…

So these memories had been there all along, deep within Liguang’s “soul”…

But only for an instant.

They quickly faded again, swept away by the tide.

Before the final wave receded, she used every last bit of her strength to reach out toward Master.

Master, Liguang has nothing left now.

But Liguang isn’t afraid.

Because Liguang knows that Master will find her.

Master will tell Liguang how deeply they once loved each other.

Right?

At the very last moment, it seemed that her fingertips felt something.

A pair of large hands—warm, gripping her tightly.

Master’s palm.

“Ah… Master caught Liguang…”

She murmured.

And then…

Her world went completely dark.

Darkness arrived as promised, gently taking her into its embrace.

Like Master’s arms…

…

…

No one knew how much time had passed.

The sound of the waves had vanished, and the ground was no longer swaying faintly beneath him.

The air had become clean and dry, carrying a faint fragrance so familiar it seemed to reach down into his bones.

Fang Qi slowly opened his eyes.

His hands were trembling.

Liguang… Liguang…

Please.

Don’t.

His vision was still blurred. It took several seconds before it gradually came into focus.

Pure white walls. Concealed strip lighting. Soft light that was almost painfully bright.

In front of him stood an exquisite white coffee table.

…A coffee table?

How… had he returned to the apartment?

Shouldn’t he have gone back to…

…That didn’t matter.

What mattered was…!

“Master, your tea.”

There, right in front of him, his Liguang was kneeling properly.

She wore a pale-blue house dress, her silver hair falling behind her shoulders. Both hands held out a white porcelain teacup, from which wisps of steam curled upward.

And on that stunningly beautiful face… was the obedient smile he knew better than anything.

“The temperature has been adjusted to your preferred fifty-two degrees Celsius.”

Her voice was soft and ethereal, with a hint of… deliberately feigned, perfectly smooth electronic monotone.

Fang Qi stared blankly at her.

The little plastic star still hung from her earlobe, swaying faintly in the light.

Ah…

It was still there?

Fang Qi’s pupils contracted violently!

It was still there!!

He froze for several seconds, and then—

He suddenly sprang up from the floor and lunged at the kneeling girl!

Both hands seized hers tightly!

Her small hands were cool and soft, a synthetic pulse beating beneath the skin!

He had her!

He really had her!!

They were Liguang’s hands!

He had caught her!!

“Eek!!”

The silver-haired girl before him let out a startled cry!

She looked down at her captured hands, her phoenix eyes widening as her cheeks suddenly flushed.

“M-Ma-Master?!”

In her crimson eyes, a flash of confused scarlet suddenly blazed!

Fang Qi stared at her without blinking.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the yellowed egg pancake sealed in a jar inside the cabinet nearby.

Everything was here!

Everything was still here!

He had no idea why he had come straight back, but…

“Liguang!! Liguang!!”

He stared fixedly into her heterochromatic eyes.

“You... you still remember, don’t you?”

“Do you still remember... all those things... between us...?”

For a moment, the silver-haired girl’s expression turned blank.

“...Master? What are you talking about?”

Fang Qi trembled faintly.

No...

Liguang.

You’re just trying to scare your master again, aren’t you?

You’re just...

“Besides...”

Her phoenix-like eyes narrowed slightly. Confusion lingered in the amber one, while in the crimson one...

A scarlet stream of data suddenly flashed!

“...Why are you suddenly so agitated?”

She tilted her head, gazing at him with an eerie, distant look.

“Did you...”

Her voice was so soft—so soft that...

“...discover something?”

It was soft enough to leave Fang Qi chilled from head to toe.

Outside the window, the sun shone brightly, and the crisp chirping of birds drifted in from time to time.

But Fang Qi felt...

As though his world had gone dark.