When the world was still fighting over that one thing, a piece of news made all countries temporarily stop the battle.
Simply put, the thing they were fighting over was gone.
The treasure they had placed in Flightless Bird was missing.
After investigation, it was discovered that the warden of Flightless Bird had released Shen Yue and several other prisoners. The warden was immediately dismissed and locked up.
After further in-depth investigation, the person behind the former warden was also found, and that person was Si Chengyou.
Si Chengyou was also locked up.
This time, it was a real prison.
There are many ways to make people talk, and there are many ways to torture. No matter how those people tortured Si Chengyou, even using mental torture, they couldn’t make Si Chengyou lose his mind and spit out the truth.
After all, Si Chengyou was already used to despair.
But Si Chengyou was still human after all.
After being tortured relentlessly for five days and nights, he too had reached his limit, and even had hallucinations, seeing his father, elder sister, and elder brother.
"Elder brother, what happened to your hand?"
"Oh this? My body was blown into many pieces back then. Now it occasionally falls apart. Don't worry, just piece it back together and it'll be fine."
Si Chengyou watched as his elder brother took his severed hand with his one good hand, placed it on the severed wound, and soon, the hand was restored to its original state.
"See, good as new now."
Si Chengyou laughed softly. His elder brother hadn't changed one bit, still so carefree.
He looked towards another, more aged figure, and spoke.
"Father, I'm sorry. I failed to complete the task you gave me. No matter how many times, how many times, I still couldn't save you all. I'm really sorry."
"Even though I'm of the Si family, I'm still so weak even now, longing for these illusory hallucinations. I'm really sorry."
"Not only did I not complete the mission, I even got innocent people involved. I'm really sorry."
Si Chengyou thought of Shen Yue.
At first, he got close to Shen Yue because he saw vulnerabilities in her that he wanted to take advantage of and make a deal with her to get another chance to start over.
But Shen Yue's growth exceeded his imagination.
When he saw that she fully understood and comprehended in one week what had taken him ten years, when he saw Shen Yue accept everyone even though she had nothing, when he saw Shen Yue walk over in the moonlight and bandage his wounds, Si Chengyou realized something.
Someone like Shen Yue was the real hero.
Shen Yue was very powerful. Even without a heart, she could give strength to those around her, the power of the heart.
And once Shen Yue obtained a heart, she would be able to reach any destination she wanted.
Si Chengyou had long known that he no longer had a chance to start over.
From when he still couldn't kill Shen Hui this time and was instead sent to Flightless Bird, he knew he had already entered the finale of failure.
What kept him from giving up was a vague, uncertain belief. He wanted to see what meaning there was in his 26 repetitions.
Then he waited for Shen Yue.
The only variable not present in any of his previous lives.
At first he just carefully got close, unsure if this was really the dawn he was waiting for, until Shen Yue made a splash at the group battle, until Shen Yue single-handedly manipulated Tang Yi, and Si Chengyou was certain.
Shen Yue was the sun he had been waiting for.
Even if the sun only had faint light, it was still an irreplaceable existence.
Si Chengyou woke abruptly from the hallucination. He felt the pain in his body, and remembered everything he had planned.
He was a man heavy with sin. He wanted to use himself as fertilizer for the sun to shine again, but was infatuated with the sun's color and warmth.
Now, he had to personally take everything away again.
Just as Shen Yue said, Space-time Medium had to have regret to activate, but Shen Yue had no regrets now.
So as not to let Shen Hui have regrets.
So the last thing he could do was...make Shen Yue regret him.
But what right did he have to make Shen Yue feel regret? He was just someone Shen Yue met in prison with ulterior motives. They hadn't even opened their hearts to each other. What right did he, Si Chengyou, have?
Si Chengyou didn't even know himself. He had no bottom line. This was a gamble. He was betting his life on a possibility, betting that there was a chance Shen Yue would regret this.
What if Shen Yue didn't regret it?
Then all he could hope was that at the very end, Shen Yue could enjoy a moment of happiness with those people by her side.
【I can't become a hero】
【I can't protect the land that raised me】
【I can't find a way out of this】
【The last thing I can do is bet my life on that faint possibility】
【I'm sorry, Father】
【I'm sorry, Shen Yue】
I love the sun. I can burn myself up for it, but I can't embrace it.
