Chapter 74
The world seemed to stop.
Not because the battle had ended.
Not because the sky had cleared.
But because Zhuo Yichen’s heart had finally broken.
The Never-Ending Wood was burning.
Its roots screamed as flames consumed them.
Wen Zongyu’s furious roars echoed across Tiandu before gradually disappearing into the inferno.
Yet none of that mattered to Yichen anymore.
Because at the center of those flames-
stood Zhao Yuanzhou.
Alone.
The Bai Ze Token floated before him.
Cracked.
Poisoned.
Overflowing with thousands upon thousands of years of resentment.
Hatred.
Regret.
Sorrow.
Every negative emotion accumulated since ancient times.
Enough darkness to destroy the world.
Enough darkness to corrupt gods themselves.
And Zhao Yuanzhou was taking all of it.
Into himself.
Into his essence.
Into his soul.
“No…”
Yichen’s voice barely existed.
He stumbled forward.
His legs weak.
His vision blurred.
“No…”
The poison flowed into Zhao Yuanzhou like black rivers.
Wrapping around him.
Devouring him.
Burning him.
The great demon’s body trembled violently.
His face was pale.
His breathing ragged.
Yet he never stopped.
Not once.
Not for a single moment.
Because if he let go-
the world would perish.
And Zhao Yuanzhou had always been like this.
Always.
The first to carry the burden.
The first to step into the fire.
The first to sacrifice himself.
Yichen hated it.
He hated it so much.
“STOP!”
His scream echoed across the battlefield.
The sound was so desperate that even Wen Xiao began crying.
“Please stop…”
His voice cracked completely.
The commander of the Demon-Hunting Bureau.
The proud heir of Bing Yi.
The man who had never shown weakness.
Fell to his knees.
And wept.
Not elegant tears.
Not quiet tears.
Heartbreaking sobs.
The kind that came from somewhere deep inside the soul.
Because there was nothing he could do.
Nothing.
For all his strength.
For all his cultivation.
For all his power.
He still couldn’t protect the person he loved most.
Just like before.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The flames reflected in his tear-filled eyes.
And suddenly-
he understood Bing Yi.
He understood completely.
For years he had admired the ancient stories.
Admired the sacrifices.
Admired the heroes.
But now-
he hated them.
He hated Yinglong.
He hated Bing Yi.
He hated fate.
He hated the world.
Because only now did he understand what those stories truly meant.
Yinglong had willingly become a star.
Not because he wanted to.
Not because he was fearless.
But because there had been no other choice.
And Bing Yi-
left behind beneath that endless sky-
had spent eternity carrying the grief.
The guilt.
The loneliness.
The unbearable knowledge that love was not enough to save someone.
And now…
it was happening again.
To him.
The absurd cycle of cause and effect.
The cruel balance of the world.
Someone always had to pay.
Someone always had to be sacrificed.
Someone always had to stay behind and remember.
Yichen laughed.
A broken laugh.
A hopeless one.
Tears continued falling.
“What kind of world is this…”
His voice trembled.
“What kind of justice is this…”
No one answered.
Because there wasn’t an answer.
Only silence.
Only loss.
Only grief.
The flames grew brighter.
And Zhao Yuanzhou’s figure became harder to see.
The poison was consuming him.
The resentment was consuming him.
Yet somehow-
through the fire-
he was still looking at Yichen.
Still smiling.
Still trying to comfort him.
As though he were the one being left behind.
That smile destroyed him completely.
Yichen crawled forward.
Ignoring the pain.
Ignoring everyone calling his name.
Reaching desperately toward the flames.
Toward the person disappearing before his eyes.
“Come back…”
His voice was barely audible.
“Please…”
The bracelet around his wrist trembled softly.
A final gift.
A final promise.
A final memory.
Yichen pressed it against his chest.
As though doing so could keep Zhao Yuanzhou here.
As though love alone could stop death.
But it couldn’t.
Love could wait.
Love could endure.
Love could survive twenty thousand years.
But in that moment-
it could not stop the flames.
And as the great demon disappeared into the light-
Zhuo Yichen felt as though the entire world had gone with him.
The sky still existed.
The earth still existed.
People still breathed.
Life continued.
Yet none of it mattered.
Because the person who had become his home-
was gone.
And for the first time in twenty thousand years-
Zhuo Yichen truly understood what it meant to be left behind.