But there was a touch of regret.
The World Tree had just saved her, and now she was dying. What about the people of Shadow? They relied on her so much, could they really take over properly? She hadn't had time to tell them not to be bound by tradition and to pursue their own paths.
And Lucifer, he would be sad, wouldn't he?
Bai Cha vaguely remembered Lucifer rushing towards her like he was going mad, wanting to take her away before she lost consciousness.
She hadn't even managed to see him one last time. If only she could see him again...
"Dragon Soars Across the Seas!"
A cold voice, somewhat deep, like the sound of deep ocean currents Bai Cha heard when she was dozing at the bottom of the sea, mysterious and indifferent.
A blue figure suddenly appeared before her, causing Bai Cha to exclaim in surprise.
"Cang Liu!"
Bai Cha looked into the distance. In the distance, fire, lightning, holy light, and darkness intertwined and fought, making it difficult to distinguish. She could vaguely see the figures of Meng Qinghuan and the others. However, Lucifer's dense darkness led the charge, suppressing anyone who tried to break through.
Bai Cha suddenly understood. These people probably thought Cang Liu was the fastest, so they were holding back the others to let Cang Liu come for her alone.
The moment Cang Liu entered, these cannonballs were already within striking distance. Bai Cha's face changed drastically, and she cried out to stop him, "Cang Liu! Go back quickly!"
However, this time, Cang Liu, who always obeyed her words, did not comply. Instead, under Bai Cha's stunned gaze, Cang Liu began to melt, transforming into a mass of seawater that formed a sea-blue eggshell, tightly enclosing Bai Cha.
"Cang Liu, are you crazy! I order you to leave quickly!" Bai Cha became anxious. She could die, but how could she implicate others? With that thought, she tried to push her own body to its absolute limit to send Cang Liu away.
Unexpectedly, the sea-blue eggshell was extremely firm and incredibly cold. As it enclosed Bai Cha and locked her within the shell, Bai Cha felt her limbs stiffen and her blood flow slow down. This unknown power had temporarily immobilized Bai Cha.
Following that, accompanied by a series of booming sounds, Bai Cha's brain almost ceased to function.
It wasn't just because Cang Liu had taken these fatal cannonballs for her, but also because of the ethereal words that echoed in her ears.
"I like you."
What?
Bai Cha's mind went blank, her thinking almost stopped. She only knew that the eggshell had confined her and made her lie down, but it didn't have a hard touch. Instead, it gave Bai Cha the feeling of being held in someone's arms.
It was as if a mass of seawater had turned into a person, holding her within. Although it was a little cold, it was surprisingly comfortable, like sleeping on a waterbed.
The booming sounds continued one after another. It was unclear how long it took before they finally stopped. The sea-blue eggshell was already covered in cracks, and finally, as the cannon fire subsided, it turned into a stream of light, transforming back into Cang Liu.
Before, Cang Liu had turned into an eggshell, holding Bai Cha in his arms. Now, Cang Liu was covered in wounds, his body almost shattered, lying in Bai Cha's embrace.
It was painful, but it felt beautiful.
This was what he had dreamed of but never dared to express.
"What did you say?" Bai Cha hugged Cang Liu tightly. Cang Liu's body temperature was very low, and the blood flowing out was even colder. Under the night sky, it emitted a faint chill.
But Bai Cha's heart grew colder, even colder than when she had learned that the neutral faction had abandoned her. Her ears were buzzing, making her dizzy.
"Cang Liu, what did you say?" Bai Cha stared blankly at Cang Liu's usually stoic, ice-cold face, which now revealed a gentle and relieved smile. This smile pierced her eyes.
"I like you."
"..."
The stars of the night finally appeared, and the starlight looked down upon the earth. The melodious sound was like the murmur of the sea waves, stirring emotions with every flow.
Bai Cha desperately covered Cang Liu's chest, her heart in a turmoil, but the life seed in her palm could not function no matter what.
The pale green light could only slow down the loss of Cang Liu's life. Bai Cha touched it – Cang Liu's heart, half-shattered in his chest.
"Cang Liu, hold on, I'll wait for you to tell me yourself when you're better." Bai Cha suppressed the dizziness in her head and frantically took out all the syringes from her storage bracelet, injecting them one by one. Cang Liu's hands, which had been steady even in the face of death, were now trembling slightly.
Indeed, no matter who died in front of her, she would be sad.
So, she would be sad for him too, right?
"You don't need to do this, Bai. Life seeds are useless for someone destined to die." Cang Liu smiled weakly. Perhaps because he had lived in the sea for so long, Cang Liu's complexion had an unhealthy, almost greenish pallor. Now, with the loss of his life force, he looked a bit more human.
"Do you know, the first time I saw you was in the arena. You announced that you would select a group of seed members as reserve forces for the Flood Dragons." Cang Liu held Bai Cha's small hand. Her hand was too thin. Even now, Cang Liu's half-shattered heart ached faintly. "At that time, Yun He had already made some progress and stood beside you. You noticed me and personally guided me several times."
Bai Cha's vision began to blur. Cang Liu's eyes saw her face clearly and then indistinctly. In a daze, Cang Liu seemed to return to a long, long time ago.
"At that time, I asked you why you chose me, because my ranking among so many candidates was not high, even in the bottom twenty. You, like now, didn't talk much, but casually replied, 'You caught my eye.'"
Cang Liu recalled that he was just an unknown nobody back then, looking up at Bai Cha's back like everyone else.
He envied her and secretly vowed to stand by her side.
To stand beside that majestic figure who could be called a hero.
One day, he was secretly training at night when Bai Cha suddenly appeared.
"If you train like this, even until the next life, you won't escape your current predicament."
The voice was slightly immature, but the tone was extremely seasoned. To Cang Liu's ears, it was like heavenly music. He had heard this voice from afar countless times, but this was the first time he was so close to it.
"I can teach you a method, but next time you have to get first place, okay?" Bai Cha at that time spoke carelessly, with a playful look in her eyes as she looked at Cang Liu. Lucifer followed behind her, as if watching a game about to begin.
"Why did you notice me?" Cang Liu lowered his head at that time. He was just an ordinary person working hard among the masses, never expecting to receive divine favor.
"You caught my eye." Bai Cha gave a reason that was almost no reason at all. "If you want to thank me, just get first place. It will save others from saying my judgment is flawed."
Later, Cang Liu learned that out of a hundred candidates, the Light faction alone had sent in more than sixty people.
It was also later that Cang Liu accidentally overheard Bai Cha complaining about the Light faction sending in so many people who were weak, unattractive, and not good-looking. It was at that time that Cang Liu realized Bai Cha was a "face-con" (someone who judges based on appearance), which was why she had noticed him at first glance.
To be precise, it was because Bai Cha found him good-looking that she learned he was a merman, estimated his potential, and decided to cultivate him.
After that day, Bai Cha often came to guide him.
And in that competition, as expected, Cang Liu took first place. He fought his way through and even managed to draw with Yun He, who had already made some progress. At that time, everyone was praising Bai Cha's discerning eye.
Bai Cha paid no attention and turned to leave. Only he breathed a sigh of relief.
Great, he hadn't disappointed her.
Countless encounters, countless passing moments. She was indifferent and calm, and he was not good at talking. Even standing beside Bai Cha with his heart pounding, he couldn't say a word to ease the awkward atmosphere.
"When I want to talk to you, there's Mo Ziye. When I want to take care of you, there's Lucifer. It seems like there's no place for me to intervene in any situation, but I really like you. I can only execute every command of yours well." Cang Liu smiled, surprisingly somewhat relieved. "I reversed time and arrived by your side in advance, and used my experience from my previous life to gain your recognition quickly. But I still couldn't insert myself into your life."
"You should have told me, you could have told me, I didn't know, I really didn't know." Bai Cha lowered her head, placing Cang Liu's hand on her forehead, tears falling. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Cang Liu, endure it. We know all the Holy Dragons, we have the Merman Pearl, I'll take you to see the World Tree." Bai Cha choked back tears. "You said you liked me, I'll listen to you when you get better..."
Back then, when Freya was severely injured, two Holy Dragons could sustain her life. At worst, she would ask the Seven Holy Dragons. When she recovered some strength, she could go see the World Tree. In any case, there had to be a way, right?
"If I had truly told you, whether you liked me or not, you would have been with me." Cang Liu's voice was soft, so gentle it was almost unbelievable. "That's just how you are. Whoever treats you well, you will definitely repay with equal value. But I don't like that. I don't want a relationship that is almost like a transaction."
"You shouldn't have gambled on me." Bai Cha hugged Cang Liu in her arms. The body she held was unnaturally cold before, but now it was gradually warming up. However, this only made Bai Cha's heart sink to the bottom.
"I saw the report you submitted. You have already arranged the specific plans and schemes for how mermen would live on land, haven't you?" Cang Liu chuckled softly.
Bai Cha was speechless. She hadn't expected that out of the piles of miscellaneous reports she had submitted, such an inconspicuous one would be brought up.
"I always knew that following you would be the right choice, because you care about everyone, except yourself." Cang Liu's voice grew fainter and fainter. Compared to the murmur of the sea before, it was now more like the faint stars in the night sky, gradually dissipating as the sky grew brighter.
Bai Cha was stunned to find that Cang Liu's limbs were beginning to crystallize, gradually shattering and scattering into sparkling dust carried away by the wind.
"Cang Liu, Cang Liu! You can't die, don't scare me." For the first time, Bai Cha truly understood what helplessness meant.
She had led Shadow to this day, and no one under her command had ever died. This was the first time she had failed to protect one of her people, and he had even died right in front of her.
"Cang Liu, you can't die. Even if not for me, you are a Flood Dragon, you can't die." Bai Cha panicked, not knowing how to cope. But the sorrow, despair, and anger that had subsided due to the World Tree's suppression surged up within her heart again.
Would she be next? Who would be next?
The sea of blood almost instantly formed a domain, turning a large area of ground into blood, enclosing a vast area of living beings and buildings. Bai Cha didn't even realize it herself. Because of her negative emotions, the power of her blood became increasingly strong.
"Bai, I believe you will succeed. Don't give up on yourself easily." Cang Liu's cheeks also began to crystallize, gradually disappearing. "I like you."
"Bai, I like you."
"I really like you."
"I told you I loved you a very, very long time ago, hundreds of years ago, no, thousands of years ago."
He repeated his liking, murmuring in Bai Cha's ear. It seemed that because this word he dared not speak had been suppressed for too long, at this moment, he wanted to express all the emotions he had wanted to convey in both lifetimes in one go.