CHAPTER 1053: CHAPTER 1050: "THUS, THERE ARE THINGS MORE DESIRED THAN LIFE

The mechanical chariot moved forward, almost silent.

Su Ming’an looked out the window, with Alice humming a song in his ear.

This car was her vehicle. The cabin was a bit narrow. A dim light swayed by the window, almost swinging to his forehead.

He once thought, maybe he could find another method, so that Alice wouldn’t have to become the vessel for the rebirth of the Exotic Species King. But how could that be possible to find? How could one find another person in the world with a vivid red snake on them? Su Ming’an knew long ago — the Eye of the Old Days chose Alice, Alice was the past life of Chao Yan, if one traces back to the past life of the past life... Perhaps the "Alice" from a thousand years ago was already prepared for the rebirth of the Exotic Species King.

— But why must the mission of the "Alice" from a thousand years ago be completed by the future generations?

— Why must nineteen-year-old Alice be forced to sacrifice in her generation for the responsibility of her dozens of past lives?

"You once said I was as beautiful as the stars." Su Ming’an’s voice was very low.

Alice once gazed at the lamb burned to death, now he seemed to also be staring at Alice becoming the lamb in the flames.

...Why?

[Destiny]?

Alice’s purple eyes reflected him.

"Don’t you look at the stars anymore?" he said.

"I read the ancient texts. Even if the Exotic Species King is reborn, I won’t die." Alice held Su Ming’an’s hand tightly: "What I might lose is just myself."

"If I’m lucky, I might be able to maintain my rationality for a while, until the Exotic Species King completely replaces me. Then, we could still go to the beach to watch the waves." Alice smiled with her eyes: "By then, let’s call Diff, call Mei Mi, and we... go see it together. Okay?"

The rain outside the window became dense.

"[Fate]... is, what?" His voice was dry.

"Maybe, it’s that... even before we are born, the past lives of the past lives... have already arranged the outcome of this life." The girl answered him like this. Her eyes were bright and innocent, yet this was just the pure innocence after experiencing countless journeys. The nineteen-year-old girl, willing to put on the heavy crystal crown for everyone, willing to walk into the pure white Divine Tower.

She studied, worked, and pushed herself, just to protect the "her" of the past, to protect those civilians, those children.

When she suddenly turned around, she was already in the shadow of fate. Even though she worked hard all her life, it was still a sacrificial ending for the world.

Is this the Savior?

Is this... the [Protagonist]?

She tentatively reached out, he didn’t dodge, her hands slowly embraced his neck, in the narrow cabin, her chin resting on his shoulder as if this would hold back the tears in her eyes.

The mechanical car had already set its automatic program, its destination was the second tower — the rebirth location of the Exotic Species King, the Nine Serenities.

...

[My old friend, Old God.]

[Blessed be with the Immortal’s Talisman, my flesh becomes the Sword of Destiny. My soul is that of the Eye of the Old Days, presented with the person resembling the red snake, I may be reborn. To the bottom of the Nine Serenities within the tower, in my name chant, with death as the count, my will covers the earth, seeking the ideal nation to ascend to the firmament.]

[— "Classics: Millennium Mythology"]

...

This is the condition for the rebirth of the Exotic Species King — the Sword of Destiny, Immortal’s Talisman, Eye of the Old Days, the vessel of the vivid red snake. These Su Ming’an had already perfectly met, only the location remained.

Deep within the Black Mist are many yet to be discovered relics. With Dieying’s guidance, Su Ming’an could find the designated location for the rebirth of the Exotic Species King — the bottom of the Nine Serenities.

...

[The good will enter the Heavenly Valley after death, enjoying endless joy. The evil will fall into the Nine Serenities after death, suffering the pain of Purgatory. After one’s death, good and evil are judged by the Angel, therefore recording one’s life achievements with papyrus. Thus, the next life can undertake the responsibility of the previous life, Life, Light and Peace, following the eternal, in cycle eternally, Eternal Life enduring endlessly.]

[— "Classics: Old God Doctrine"]

...

Su Ming’an never imagined that the "Old God Doctrine" he casually made up on a live stream three years ago, some parts actually existed.

"Therefore, recording one’s life achievements with papyrus" — papyrus being like the hard disk of everyone. The past lives parasitically exist on everyone, just like how Xiao Jingsan has Xiao Ying.

"The next life can undertake the responsibility of the previous life" — just like the fate Alice was forced to undertake, she must bear the responsibility from thousands of years ago from past generations.

Thus, Life, Light, and Peace, Living Brightly and Peacefully, Eternally Smooth.

Thus, life is bright, health, and eternal harmony, cycling through life and ages, Eternally Enduring Life.

The Old God Doctrine he composed on camera almost completely became reality. But maybe it was not because of his words that they became reality. Perhaps they existed on their own, and he would, guided by destiny, speak these fabricated words to resist the doctrines of the deities. Just like a Mobius ring with no start or end.

[Cycling through life and ages, Eternally Enduring Life] — like a curse.

Even if Alice dies in this rebirth of the Exotic Species King, if there is another opportunity for the Exotic Species King to be reborn, it will be her future alone to be the vessel of the Exotic Species King — that is, Chao Yan.

As Chao Yan dies, the next descendant of Chao Yan will become the vessel.

It is simply like... a curse cycling through life and ages, no matter how one reincarnates, one cannot escape the "destiny" that was engraved thousands of years ago.

...

The detective gazed into the black night outside the window.

The dense [sense of fate] felt like a flood of epic proportions, merging heaven and earth. Battlefields were distant and vast, with blades and banners everywhere.

Alice’s arms wrapped around him. Her arms were soaked with rain, yet the body temperature was warm.

Her eyes watched him constantly until he turned his head also, gazing back at her.

Initially, the detective didn’t understand what the girl was looking at, until a slight light seemed to appear in her pupils, as if there was some flame in his eyes, quietly igniting in hers at the moment of their gaze.

"Live on..." she murmured. It shouldn’t have been spoken to herself.

The night he took her in, the snow was heavy.

But when the girl stepped into the detective’s home, dressed in warm clothes, the moment she lay on the sofa pillow — she suddenly felt, that the swirling snowflakes outside the window, were actually hexagonal and so beautiful. In the past, she only feared its coldness, never having the heart to admire its beauty.

Just like that evening’s heavy rain, Goddess Taslyche’s hair was completely severed, having discarded the strict admonitions of the priests.

She suddenly realized at that moment... that the rain could also be praised as "beautiful."

The small light in the cabin flickered, shadows falling on her hair. The light in her eyes became increasingly bright, completely reflecting him.

— Those past moments were already like a brand, eternally existing in her every move, she remembered as if with her own body being a photograph. He chose her life every year in summer and winter, and she filled each twelve hours of his dedication until they both shaped each other.

The game could not become a shield separating their lives, in the silence of the rainy night, on the desolate battlefield, the mechanical chariot creaked and swayed forward, as if about to fall into the endless Nine Serenities, and their story had already embraced at the start.

The beginning of the story, the detective held the girl’s hand on a snowy night.

"Detective... Sir." the girl said.

"Mm." the detective responded.

"What do you think life is?"

"Life is the death that can be freely chosen."

"Then are you willing to believe me?"

"Of course, I always have... believed you. I am still wondering now if I can break the fate of your sacrifice, to stop this cyclic reincarnation. Because... this is my... [task]." Speaking of the word "task," he couldn’t suppress the pain on his face.

"But if I become the Exotic Species King, will I personally kill you?"

"Impossible. Destiny cannot kill me, even if the Exotic Species King has other intentions, I will return again and again... until victory."

"I have another question."

"Ask."

"Are you warmer?" the girl asked softly.

The detective suddenly became very quiet.

The girl knew he was afraid of the cold, especially on rainy nights. Every year, after buying supplies on the street, the detective would immediately open his umbrella if it rained. But on the battlefield, there were no umbrellas, and no one to help the detective hold one.

So the girl always helped him wipe the raindrops from his hair. Her eyes held gentle emotions.

"Are you cold too?" the detective saw she was also shivering.

"Cold." The girl said:

"But being by your side... it doesn’t seem as cold..."

The sheen flickered in her pupils, her voice was calm and gentle.

...Because you pulled me back from the snow. Ever since I met you, I haven’t been cold anymore.

At this moment, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably, his fist resting against his lips as if that could stop the trembling throughout his body.

Alice...

He remembered when the girl first learned to practice swordsmanship, she learned very slowly, even by the end of the term she was not doing well. She would practice tirelessly, from morning until night.

He used to wonder back then, with her mediocre talent, how would she ultimately protect the world.

["Detective sir, am I a bit stupid? Other kids can easily learn to wield a sword. Grandpa Morgan also said I’m not good at learning swordsmanship."]

["But I will work hard, because you said that one day I will protect the entire world."]

...

He remembered when the girl became an Honorary Knight, her efforts finally came to fruition.

She jumped around in front of him, showing off her medal, golden and sparkling, reflecting the light in her eyes.

["Detective sir, Princess Avetina made me her knight! This is my first step in protecting the world!"]

...

He recalled her spinning among the lilies, her smile like a white dove flying over the chapel.

["Detective sir... once the war is over, let’s go see the ocean together!"]

He thought of her every time she brewed red tea and made Spring Heart Cookies, flour hovering in the kitchen, she said she liked drinking his congee.

["Detective sir. If there’s a chance... I want to teach you how to make Spring Heart Cookies. I’m sure you can make delicious things... it’s just, no one has ever taught you, no one ever has."]

He recalled her waving from across the lakeside, her purple eyes reflecting the fireworks.

["I feel like you’re very tired, every time I see you, I think you’re very tired. So, I want you to feel only joy and ease when you’re with me."]

["In this way... maybe you won’t regret adopting a girl named ’Alice’. She’s very silly, compared to other kids, she’s so ordinary there’s nothing special about her. But she’s always thought that maybe, if she worked a little harder, a little harder... she could protect more people."]

["For an ordinary girl to become the protagonist, there must be something special about her. So, she’s always thought she must make herself strong enough to break free from this ’specialness’."]

["She’s always wanted, desperately wanted... to break free from destiny."]

...

Su Ming’an’s chin was slightly lifted.

Inches apart, Alice’s hands full of Sword Cocoons raised his gaze, meeting the tears in her eyes.

"Detective sir."

And she just gently called out to him.

"I want to ask you a question."

"Mm." Su Ming’an responded.

"Am I your pride? If my life were a development game, in the end, did I become... a child worth a perfect score?"

"Of course." he said firmly.

Your life is not a game.

Alice let out a trembling laugh, she smiled gently.

Outside the window, time began to accelerate.

Su Ming’an didn’t know how long this acceleration would take, maybe by the time he blinked, Alice would no longer be there.

He is an Old God, not affected by this time acceleration, because the "future" cannot simulate his actions. Others would follow the acceleration of time and make predetermined actions, but he would remain still, as if he had slept through two years.

"Wait for me, let’s go together." He held onto Alice.

Even if it means going to the Nine Serenities, it must be together, he wants to witness the resurrection of the Exotic Species King firsthand. There might still be a turnaround... he still does not want to give up cutting off destiny.

He worked hard to hide his expression, his trembling, he did not want to see another line of a name added to the Ring of Time.

"Are you really... willing?" In the last moment of the obscured vision by the heavy rain, Su Ming’an asked her.

Willing to go to the Nine Serenities... willing to lose yourself...?

The answer could never be yes.

And Alice cradled a white dried flower in her arms, slowly closing her eyes in the depth of time.

She didn’t give a clear answer, the last thing she whispered in his ear was the words he once read to her before sleep.

"[...therefore, if there is something more desirable than life, if there is something more detestable than death. Not only the wise have such a heart...] "

Even though there was only a torrential rain covering the world and a long night gazing at the sea and mountains, it felt as if a mountainous field of orange-red twilight light lovingly lingered on her shoulders. The girl’s face, already mature, spread with an indescribable smile.

Therefore, there is life without using it; therefore, one can avoid calamity and not act upon it.

Not only the wise have this heart.

——Everyone has it.

...

The mechanical speaker played the tune of "To Alice", this was the last violin piece the girl performed on the White Tower before meeting the detective.

Mi re mi re mi xi re do la...

...

That was the first and also the last time the girl did not break the high pitch string of the violin.

This was the year 830 of the Old Days, after a rain passed, the girl reached twenty-one, while he was still nineteen.

Alice’s age finally surpassed her detective sir.