This night, Lin Muci slept soundly.
The young man held her tightly. He seemed afraid to let go, lest she disappear if he did.
She knew there were many hidden dangers. After all, his detached affection, and the two lunatics she’d berated until they fled, might reappear. She knew Helian Lan Yan and Xuanyuan Yu Ting would not give up on her.
But for now, she didn't think about such problems.
She looked into his eyes. The young man’s eyelashes trembled slightly. Although he was a demon that defied both heaven and earth, he had sworn to give her the entire universe. This was not laughable; it was the solemn, heartfelt sincerity of youth.
She sighed at the small system.
“He’s had a hard life, hasn’t he?”
The small system rolled its eyes dramatically.
“Host, you still have the mind to worry about others?”
“You think others have it hard? I think you should worry about yourself.”
The small system let out a cold laugh.
“He’s a demon, what hardship could he possibly have… He doesn’t know love or hate… His difficult days are still to come.”
Lin Muci was silent for a moment, then she said.
“Perhaps it’s because he looks exactly like Ling Qian He, so sometimes I subconsciously treat him as Ling Qian He. I also think they are very similar, their temperaments and personalities… If it were Qian He, he would react like this when encountering similar situations.”
“But I know that although he is paranoid and cunning, his obsession has always been directed only at me.”
“Helian Lan Yan hurt me for Qing Que. Xuanyuan Yu Ting wants to use my magic treasure for a human emperor blood sacrifice, but he wouldn’t do that – he would only give his all.”
“Everything he possesses, he would give to me.”
The small system sighed, then delivered some rather unfortunate news to Lin Muci.
“Host… Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. This script in the acting space is becoming difficult to continue… because it has deviated from the original plot.”
Hearing the small system say this, Lin Muci felt a moment of foreboding.
“Deviated from the original plot…?”
“What does that mean?”
The small system was actually very, very guilty, but since a stab to the head was still a stab to the head, it had to push forward.
“It means, as you saw in the synopsis, you were supposed to kill him.”
“Even though it was meant to cleanse his demonic energy through Nirvana, allowing him to be reborn, it was still equivalent to killing him with your own hands. He trusted you completely, and you stabbed him –”
“And what’s worse, he misunderstood that you chose to kill him because of Helian Lan Yan and Xuanyuan Yu Ting.”
“He doesn’t know that you killed him to save him, to allow him to be reborn and cleanse his demonic energy, thus preventing a catastrophe and him from falling into demonic ways again.”
The small system trembled as it explained the subsequent plot.
“For the sake of the world, you sacrificed yourself, and you sacrificed him.”
To the small system’s surprise, Lin Muci was extremely calm. Upon hearing the small system’s words, she was silent for a moment and said.
“If you needed to kill him, you wouldn’t have needed to eject me.”
“I’ll just do it.”
The small system was stunned.
“But Host… are you really willing? I asked you before, didn’t you say you didn’t want to harm him, and that you absolutely didn’t want to kill this demon?”
“Why… did you suddenly change your mind?”
The small system couldn't believe it!
It stared blankly at Lin Muci, wondering if it had misheard.
“Host, you really want to kill him? With your own hands?”
Lin Muci hummed in affirmation.
“He won’t die anyway. It’s just a misunderstanding, come on. I can follow the plot – since he has to die, he might as well die by my hand. Not by some damned Heavenly Dao.”
Even the small system found it difficult to fathom her thoughts now. What was the host thinking? Didn't she already pity that demon?
And yet, she wanted to kill him?
This woman’s heart was truly unfathomable, the small system thought foolishly. What was the host planning? Lin Muci was silent for a moment, then she said.
“So now can you tell me, what is the final outcome of this script?”
“Is it a HE ending? A BE ending?”
The small system mumbled.
“Superficially BE… but actually, it’s an open ending.”
“After he died once, though reborn, he became completely black-hearted, no longer trusting anyone. The world fell into chaos, and he clashed with Helian Lan Yan and Xuanyuan Yu Ting. Neither of those men was his match. Demonic energy erupted from the ground, turning the human world into a virtual hell. Demons and monsters ran rampant, and he controlled countless demons, intending to plunge the entire world into everlasting darkness.”
“You dispersed your phoenix blood to save all living beings, making him promise never to become a demon again.”
“He promised…”
“And then…”
“Your soul scattered before him.”
“But you didn’t actually die.”
“He also found clues that could lead him to you.”
“This is… the end. An open-ended conclusion, it doesn't say if you ended up together.”
The small system’s voice was a little hesitant – after all, everything depended on its host.
Upon hearing this ending, Lin Muci, as expected, complained.
“What kind of ending is this?”
“If this were a TV drama, it would be considered a rushed ending – giving the audience a vague hope. At the very least, the demon should have found the Phoenix Maiden, had a bunch of kids, and sweetly called out for Mommy and Daddy. Then the audience would be satisfied.”
“And wouldn’t send razor blades to the TV station.”
“Why is your ending like this? It’s not sweet at all!”
The small system coughed loudly.
“Host, if you want to… you can change the ending yourself. You can be with him, and if you want children, that’s also possible… *cough cough*, he would probably be overjoyed.”
These were his most heartfelt words.
That guy would definitely be very satisfied.
But Lin Muci sighed, then said slowly.
“Let’s follow the plot first.”
“How much longer until his detached affection acts up?”
“When his detached affection acts up, when he’s most vulnerable, I kill him, and that will allow him to be reborn and cleanse his demonic energy, right?”
“Speaking of which, if I cleansed his demonic energy, why would he fall into demonic ways later?”
The small system also sighed and fretted.
“You only cleansed the demonic energy he was born with. But by killing him, his second fall into demonic ways is a heart demon, more terrifying and overwhelming than his demonic form.”
“Unstoppable. Honestly, if it weren’t for you killing him to save him… he might not have fallen so deeply into demonic ways.”
“You understand, it’s all melodrama, it’s always like this.”
“Although it’s unavoidable, he still has to experience love and hate, partings and reunions. Otherwise, he, this demon, wouldn't learn, and in the end, he wouldn’t promise you, for the sake of all beings, to never become a demon, almost sacrificing himself…”
“His love and hate from beginning to end all originated from you.”
“You taught him to love, taught him to care about the world’s people – but he doesn’t truly care. His so-called caring is only because he knows you care.”
Lin Muci listened to the small system’s words in silence. Deep within her eyes, some faint emotion seemed to surge, then she said.
“I understand.”
“Let me complete the plot.”
The small system felt that the host was acting a bit strange.
But the host seemed to have blocked her emotions, and even it couldn’t quite guess what the host was thinking. However, with the host’s reaction, could it be…
The small system’s heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that the host already knew the truth?
Knew… that Ling Qian He was Ling Qian He, that this was their past, that it was the obsession of Qian He’s younger brother, and his first life searching for her?
If that were the case.
Did the host’s insistence on following the original plot, on killing the demon Ling Qian He once, perhaps… want to retrieve her memories?
The small system was a little uncertain.
But when it had retrieved the host’s memories back then, it only took a glance, and found the process to be extremely painful… In fact, according to the original regulations, not every, every mission executor needed to have their memories sealed.
After all, the memories from each mission, including acquired skills and some experience, would be very troublesome if completely extracted.
But Lin Muci had no choice but to have her memories removed.
Ling Qian He, that demon, back then… back then, while dual cultivating with her, he had actually imprinted his mark on her divine soul.
For all lifetimes, he would pursue her.
To the death.
Her past with him was too profound. If she didn’t extract them, she wouldn’t be able to complete any mission – thinking of this, the small system sighed deeply.
Who could have imagined that the other party’s obsession could be so powerful? A demon destined to have no emotions, yet willing to…
Reincarnate time and time again, searching for her trace.
The small system was plagued by headaches.
However – since the host wanted to experience the past love and hate… the main system couldn’t control it now anyway, so what was wrong with letting the host experience it?
Although the host was very pained back then, that demon would be a thousand times, ten thousand times more painful than the host.
Let the host experience how heartbreaking it was for him back then.
A little bit of suffering was good for the soul.
Thinking this, the small system felt comfortable again.
Hmph, a demon, it’s not a big deal for him to suffer a bit more!
…
After this exchange with the small system, Lin Muci woke up again, and saw Ling Qian He lying beside her. His sleeping posture was actually quite uncomfortable.
From her angle, she could see his slightly furrowed brow, as if it could never be smoothed.
Her heart let out a silent sigh.
She reached out, as if to caress his brow, but the young man opposite her seemed to sense the faint airflow from her fingers. Then, the young man slowly opened his eyes.
Like deep obsidian, capable of making one drown in the depths of his pupils in an instant. But there was no trace of coldness in his eyes.
Instead, he looked at her tenderly, then a faint smile appeared on his lips. Lin Muci was about to say something, but he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
Lin Muci was silent for a moment.
Facing his eyes, she suddenly began to waver.
She had clearly made up her mind… to follow this plot in one go.
But suddenly, she felt a pang of reluctance.
Her heart fluttered slightly. She looked into his eyes, was silent for a moment, and said.
“I don’t like my former fiancé at all.”
“And I don’t like my senior brother either.”
The demon youth opposite nodded. In his eyes, his smile was like fragments of stars falling into the primordial chaos, yet capable of drawing people into traversing ten thousand miles of primordial chaos just to seek those tiny fragments of stars.
“I know. Because you like me. Of course, you wouldn’t like them.”
Lin Muci glanced at him.
“Hmph, how shameless.”
“What do you like about me?”
“Are you perhaps better looking than others?”
The young emperor exuded a heroic spirit. He was indeed exceptionally handsome, especially his face, which even alluring demons couldn’t compare to. He leaned closer to her, so she could see him more clearly.
Her pupils reflected his features. Exquisitely beautiful, then Lin Muci heard him say.
“Yes. They are not as good as me.”
Such confidence.
Lin Muci was exasperated. With the youth speaking like this, she was suddenly unable to respond. She was silent for a moment and said.
“My identity is complicated. Neither the demon race nor the Heavenly Realm can accept me.”
The youth opposite continued to nod slowly.
“What a coincidence. Neither of those places can likely tolerate me either.”
“See, isn’t it a coincidence? We are a match made in heaven.”
“I’ve already made up my mind. The sixth day of next month is a good day. I had the Imperial Observatory calculate it, and that day is auspicious for all matters, exceptionally lucky. I think, on that day, we’ll have our wedding, and you’ll be my Empress, alright?”
He had clearly made up his mind, yet his tone remained sweet. But his eyes clearly expressed certainty, giving her no room to refuse.
Lin Muci looked at him. The youth playfully twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, then he said.
“Mortals often speak of married couples binding their hair, indeed, to be married with bound hair, love unshaken by doubt. No matter what happens, I will believe you.”
“I love you – more than anyone in this world.”
“What I fear most is you leaving me. Other than that, I fear nothing.”
The young man’s love confessions were always the most direct. Lin Muci fell into silence. She looked into his eyes, filled with anticipation and joy, and her reluctance deepened.
“You like me that much?”
He hummed in affirmation.
Lin Muci’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
“If, one day, I truly leave you –”
He directly covered her lips with his finger. As if this were not enough, he lowered his head and kissed her. The youth exuded a cool aura, yet this kiss was scorching, as if it could burn her, carrying his fresh, cool scent.
He kissed her until her lips hurt.
Then she heard him say.
“Forever and ever, there is no such possibility.”
“I will definitely find you.”
He bit her lip, as if this could meld her into his very flesh and blood. He embraced her, as if she were the only light in the world.
The youth’s features were like frost-covered winter snow, yet such a cold face could also hold such incredible depth of affection.
“I will definitely –”
“Love you forever.”