Jun Beiyue simply smiled without a word, gently cradling her foot as he carefully fastened the jade anklet into place.
Against her pale, fair skin, the colorful jade beads stood out beautifully, complementing each other perfectly.
“Do you like it?” Jun Beiyue asked.
Ziqing, clearly delighted, smiled warmly and nodded.
But in the next instant, Jun Beiyue suddenly cradled her jade foot in both hands and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of it.
Ziqing hadn’t expected this at all—for a moment, she nearly cried out in shock, and everyone around them, without exception, clapped their hands over their mouths!
Who was Jun Beiyue, after all? He was universally acknowledged as the sovereign emperor of Longyuan—and yet here he was, kneeling before a woman, kissing her foot, formally seeking her hand!
Even Xuanyuan Lige couldn’t hide his shock at this. He had only arranged this wedding scene; he had only shaped Ziqing’s emotions. This particular moment was not something he had planned at all—it came purely from Jun Beiyue’s own true nature.
“Forgive my selfishness. Forgive me this one last dream,” Xuanyuan Lige murmured softly to himself. Perhaps this dream wasn’t truly meant for Ziqing at all, but for himself.
Jun Beiyue’s kiss lingered on the top of Ziqing’s foot for a long, long moment—so long that tears very nearly spilled from her eyes. It seemed as though he wished to leave the mark of his kiss there forever.
And indeed, when his lips finally lifted away, a mark truly remained imprinted upon her foot—a mark that belonged only to him!
This gentle, domineering man!
Ziqing blushed furiously, laughing so hard she didn’t know what to say to him anymore. Jun Beiyue, meanwhile, was quite serious about the matter, taking the shoes Hongyi handed him and carefully slipping them onto Ziqing’s feet, gently arranging the hem of her skirt before rising to his feet, and with graceful poise, extending his hand toward her. “Come with me, woman.”
Ziqing nodded shyly, reaching out her hand and slowly rising to her feet. At that moment, Xuanyuan Lige seemed to sense something, his entire body trembling.
Watching Jun Beiyue lead Ziqing forward, he instinctively stepped back to make way.
The moment Jun Beiyue and Ziqing walked out the door, everyone followed after them in joyous celebration, cheering and calling out behind them—only Xuanyuan Lige remained standing exactly where he was, watching everyone’s retreating figures grow gradually blurred, listening as the sounds of festive joy around him drifted further and further away.
Xuanyuan Lige clenched both fists tightly, as though he could somehow will everything back into sharp focus—but it was, sadly, beyond his power.
At last, with a sharp ting, the sound of his familiar blood zither rang out, cutting through all the ceremonial music, and in an instant, the entire world fell silent.
Xuanyuan Lige froze for a moment, then a light, unburdened smile spread across his lips, a smile of release. He gritted his teeth, and resolutely raised his hand, waving it gently toward Ziqing and the others, waving softly, softly…
And at that very moment, Xiong Xiaobao, the isolated island’s clan members, Guxi, Situ Haonan, Yelu Qianqian—all of them—vanished in an instant. At the same time, the grand fleet of warships upon the sea, the wedding garments worn by Ziqing and Jun Beiyue—everything, absolutely everything—vanished as well, leaving only Jun Beiyue, Ziqing, and Baili Weisheng, the three of them alone.
The three of them, seemingly just as stunned by everything around them, slowly turned to look toward Xuanyuan Lige.
And at that moment, another sharp ting shattered the silence once more, and immediately after, the climactic peak of Lishang began to play—Ziqing could tell at once this was a duet, the blood zither and the demon zither playing together!
What was happening to them? What were they doing, and where were they?
Weren’t they supposed to be waiting at the mouth of the cave for dawn to break?
Weren’t they waiting for Bai Zili to tell them how to leave the Lishang illusion realm? Weren’t they waiting for Bai Zili to tell them whether Ali could come back with them?
What was going on here?
Why—why was Ali standing so far behind them, so distant?
Why—why was Ali’s figure growing thinner and thinner, more and more transparent!
Why, at this very moment, was Ali waving toward them? As if… saying goodbye?
Ziqing seemed to sense something at once, crying out in alarm, “No!”
The moment those words left her lips, everything around them vanished in an instant. They seemed to snap fully awake, finding themselves lying right at the mouth of the cave, the sound of Lishang flowing out from within—but Xuanyuan Lige was nowhere to be seen!
“Xuanyuan Lige, that liar!” Baili Weisheng suddenly exploded with fury, finally understanding what had happened.
Jun Beiyue, faster than either of them, was already rushing toward the cave—but it was too late. Just as Jun Beiyue’s foot was about to step inside, the earth suddenly shook violently, the ground beneath their feet collapsing all at once!
Jun Beiyue barely managed to grab hold of Ziqing, with no way to account for Baili Weisheng at all, as they plunged downward with the collapsing earth. Everything around them was crumbling, being destroyed—the entire world seemed on the verge of total annihilation, heaven and earth splitting apart!
Ziqing, held tightly in Jun Beiyue’s grip, watched everything around her continually collapse and vanish, watched the cave itself crumble and disintegrate over and over, and let out a furious, anguished cry. “Xuanyuan Lige, you broke your promise—you liar!”
“Xuanyuan Lige, you liar—where are you!”
“Xuanyuan Lige, if you meant to leave, why did you even show yourself at all—why?”
“Xuanyuan Lige, let’s meet again in our next lives, alright? Alright?! Answer me! Promise me!”
…
No matter how Ziqing cried out, the only answer that came back was the roaring sound of the world crumbling apart, mingled with the tragic, sorrowful strains of Lishang.
And as Ziqing and the others plummeted faster and faster, everything around them grew dark, grew silent…
Ziqing and the others had left. The Lishang illusion realm continued to be destroyed even still.
At that same moment, within the half-collapsed cave, Xinyun stared at Nangong Jun before her in disbelief, shaking her head over and over, even raising a hand to slap herself hard—only for Nangong Jun to catch her hand just in time.
Amid this collapsing sky and crumbling earth, Xinyun of course understood that Bai Zili was destroying Lishang. In truth, she had heard Bai Zili say as much back then—Lishang’s exit had already been permanently sealed, beyond his power to reopen. To send people out, the only way was to destroy the Lishang illusion realm entirely, destroying everything within it that wasn’t truly alive.
She knew that once the Lishang illusion realm was destroyed, she herself couldn’t possibly escape this fate either!
Yet never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Nangong Jun would still be standing right here before her.
“Silly girl, that’ll hurt,” Nangong Jun said, taking her hand and gently pressing it to his own chest, his voice full of doting affection.
Xinyun burst into tears all at once. “I must be dreaming, aren’t I!”
Only then did Nangong Jun reach out and pinch her cheek, laughing. “Silly girl, didn’t you say you were afraid to die? I didn’t want you to be afraid, so… I stayed to keep you company. It’s just a pity… all I can do now is accompany you into death.”
At these words, Xinyun’s sobs grew even louder. “So I really was dreaming after all, boo hoo…”
Helpless, Nangong Jun realized for the first time just how truly foolish this woman could be. He suddenly pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly—and in that instant, Xinyun’s heart stopped short, her eyes widening in disbelief as she stared up at him. “You…?”
The embrace felt so real—real enough that she was absolutely certain, beyond any doubt, that this was no dream!
Just then, a massive boulder came crashing down, striking directly at his head—yet it passed straight through him, his body still standing there untouched! Xinyun, terrified, tried to push him away, but he simply smiled, holding her close as the great stone passed harmlessly through them both.
Spirits were growing ever more fragile, ever more transparent—the Lishang illusion realm’s destruction was surely imminent.