Watching Meng Ruji and Mu Sui’s figures being swept into the Nai River like grains of sand in the wind, Mo Yi immediately understood Mo Li’s intentions. She looked at Mo Li standing opposite her.

Behind Mo Li, protected by him, was Madam Lin, whom she wanted to kill.

Mo Yi showed no emotional fluctuation on her face. She merely lowered her eyes slightly, contemplated for a moment, then spoke two words: “Very well.”

As her words fell, she waved her hand, and a streak of black malicious energy followed the two figures.

Mo Li saw it but was already powerless to stop it.

Mo Yi said, “You sent them to the Nai River, which is perfect for letting Qianshan Jun relive his past hatred as well. Miss Meng can also witness the war between immortals and gods.”

Mo Li glanced at the sky: “What did you do?”

“The Nai River water naturally brings memories of the past. I merely made them experience it more clearly.” Mo Yi thought for a moment, then looked directly at Mo Li. “You used to always like making bets with me—betting on whether it would rain today, whether there was a lake ahead, and even betting on whether fate would change. Why don’t we make a wager today as well?”

Hearing this, Mo Li’s fists clenched tightly behind him, not relaxing his vigilance in the slightest, but he smiled: “Alright, what do you want to bet on?”

“Qianshan Jun can bring Miss Meng out of the Nai River alive. However…” Mo Yi lightly turned her hand holding the thousand gold, “I’m certain that after seeing the past, they can never return to how they are now. Miss Meng will become suspicious of Qianshan Jun, and Qianshan Jun will no longer be able to escape his past.”

“Betting on human hearts.” Mo Li’s eyes darkened, his smile remaining but inevitably tinged with bitterness. “Mo Yi, this is an open conspiracy.”

“Don’t dare to bet?” Mo Yi asked.

The moist mist from the soft-tailed grass slowly rose from their feet again. Mo Li gazed at Mo Yi through the layers of mist:

“I’ll bet,” he said. “I still firmly believe that fate can be changed.”

There was no hesitation in his words.

Behind Mo Li, Madam Lin looked at his back with some surprise.

In front of Mo Li, Mo Yi also fell silent because of his firm belief.

Then Mo Yi’s lips moved slightly, the subtle curve enough to dissolve some of the coldness in her expression: “You’re also beyond my expectations. You haven’t changed.”

“Mo Yi.” Her softening gave Mo Li hope. “There’s still time. Let’s try again… Perhaps we don’t need to go to that final step…”

The curve at Mo Yi’s lips remained, but she shook her head: “I told you, I’m very clear-headed. The path I’m on now is one I chose myself. It has nothing to do with fate.”

“Perhaps there’s another path…” Mo Li seemed unable to contain his emotions. He stepped forward, seeming to plead and trying to hold her back. “Do you remember when we first came to the Land of No Departure? In a wasteland, I erected a stone statue for you. I said I would worship you in the future, be your believer, and stay with you. Do you remember what you said then…”

“I said…” Mo Yi took over Mo Li’s words, her tone clear, with not the slightest bit of forgotten memory about that time. “I ascended to become a deity, no longer human race. In a certain sense, becoming a deity meant that I, as a human, had already died halfway in this mortal world. The other half of me remained alive because…”

Mo Yi looked at Mo Li, seeing the wavering light in his eyes, and calmly recounted: “You held onto me.”

“A half-dead person and a life-sustaining object. The rules of the Land of No Departure were established then.” Mo Li said, taking another step forward. He slightly extended his hand toward Mo Yi. “I haven’t given up yet, so are you willing to let me pull you back once more?”

Mo Yi’s overly clean black pupils were like a mirror, clearly reflecting Mo Li’s figure. But after a moment, behind Mo Li’s reflection, a burst of firelight suddenly leaped up!

The firelight illuminated Mo Li’s profile, and the heat from the flames directly froze the expectant expression on his face.

Mo Li turned around in stunned confusion, shocked to discover that beneath Madam Lin, whom he had been protecting, a circle of flame formation had somehow appeared. Orange flames were rising from within the formation.

Madam Lin sat in the center of the formation, neither struggling nor moving. She only gazed steadily at Mo Yi ahead.

In her expression, countless emotions and words transformed into slight trembling at her lips and faint moisture in her eyes.

This time, still in this courtyard, separated by the same distance—just a few steps away—yet those few steps seemed to span thousands of mountains and rivers, thousands of years. Whether distance or time, they could no longer cross either.

Mo Yi truly intended to kill Madam Lin.

This time, there were tears in Madam Lin’s eyes, but not in Mo Yi’s.

She was personally severing her final “obsession.”

“Mo Yi!” Mo Li lunged toward Mo Yi, wanting to stop her, but was bound by black malicious energy. He was violently pulled aside, the malicious energy pressing him onto a stone bench, making him sit properly and watch as Madam Lin’s figure slowly disappeared in the firelight on the ground.

Madam Lin didn’t cry out once. As her figure turned to flying ash, Mo Li seemed to hear her sigh.

“I had a good child, but failed to be a good mother. However…”

The flames carried the flying ash upward, and between Madam Lin and Mo Yi, the most insurmountable distance in the world finally separated them—life and death.

“My apology has been heard, so I have no regrets.”

Mo Li watched with an open mouth as the flying ash drifted toward the Nai River, merging with the backflowing river water into the horizon. Mo Li’s eyes reddened slightly as he looked at Mo Yi.

But he saw that Mo Yi’s expression remained as indifferent as before.

She watched the flying ash scatter and disappear, only then letting the flames fade away.

“Next…” Mo Yi said, “Let’s quietly await the outcome of our earlier wager.”

She walked toward Mo Li and sat across from him. She raised her hand and picked up Madam Lin’s teapot, wanting to pour herself a cup of tea. But when she grasped the teapot handle, it suddenly broke.

The teapot fell on the table, shattering into pieces, and the tea water spilled everywhere.

Mo Yi hadn’t paid attention at first. She gathered the teapot fragments from the table, and when she grasped the third piece, her fingertip paused slightly. Inside the fragment was carved a line of words—”To Mother, Little Yi.”

It was the teapot she had made in her childhood…

Madam Lin never let her call her Mother, so she always called her Madam Lin. Only once, when Madam Lin’s old friend came to visit, did Mo Yi learn that it was Madam Lin’s birthday.

Though Mo Yi was young at the time, she knew that Madam Lin often drank tea, so she molded a clay teapot for her. She didn’t say it was a gift for Madam Lin, fearing she would refuse it. So she said she was learning pottery and planned to make her magical artifacts in the future.

Even to maintain this lie, she later truly learned to make magical artifacts…

At that time, when giving the clay teapot to Madam Lin, she had selfish intentions and secretly carved these five characters inside the teapot.

She thought she had hidden her little thoughts well, that Madam Lin hadn’t noticed.

But it turned out she had known all along.

She had been killed by her in the mortal world, came to the Land of No Departure as a soul, recreated the courtyard from back then in the soft-tailed grass shade, and even recreated this teapot.

This Madam Lin knew everything.

With a “drip,” a water droplet fell onto the table surface, dampened by tea water.

Mo Yi looked up, searching the sky for traces of rain, but only saw the same mist as before.

She looked down at Mo Li across from her, seeing him watching her with reddened eyes, saying nothing.

Mo Yi seemed to sense something and touched her cheek.

It turned out she was crying.

For many years, she had long ceased to perceive human emotions. This crying now left her somewhat puzzled, and she mechanically wiped away the tears on her face.

She didn’t feel sad, but for some reason, Mo Li, across from her, also began to cry.

“Mo Yi… Mo Yi…” He wept, losing the smile that usually graced his lips no matter what. “Let me hold onto you. The you who is human is calling for help. How can you… How can you not hear…”

After wiping away that tear, Mo Yi showed no further emotion: “I no longer need anyone or anything to hold onto me.”