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Chapter 1546 Final Chapter - Guarding the Shore [32] - "Go back, go back, go back."

That day, Lü Shu had a prolonged high fever.

He lay in a room in the "small space," a replica of the villa in the main god's world, his mind clouded by the burnings.

This high fever completely robbed Lu Shu of his last bit of life force. He wasn't a high-dimensional being; the lifespan of his soul was finite. Even if he lived for a long time, it was still finite—his hair began to dry, his face began to age, and he could no longer get up.

Like an irreversible collapse, at the moment when his soul's lifespan was about to run out, his weakness made it impossible for him to maintain his youthful appearance, and he went from a young man to an old man overnight.

“I…like…snow.” On the bed, Lu Shu looked at the heavy snow outside the window—the God of Peace could no longer maintain even autumn, and now only the cold winter withered everything.

Lu Shu stretched out his thin, bony hand—the hand of an old man covered in spots—and touched the falling snow outside the window: "So beautiful..."

Shenming stood silently in front of the bed, trying his best to hide his expression.

...How could Lu Shu possibly like snow? He used to be most afraid of freezing under bridges. Snow was a deadly thing for him, something that would break his pride. How could he possibly like it?

However, he never learned to be greedy, rarely considering his own true feelings, only whether the gods would be saddened by it. He wanted very little, and thus learned to like things he didn't like.

"Do you regret it?" asked the god An.

Regret... Will you regret spending your life in this empty cage after staying with someone like me until the end?

If you were to return to the small world, how many people would venerate you as a savior? How many would worship and follow you?
“I used to… always watch you from afar…” Lu Shu grasped Shen Ming’an’s hand. The aged hand and the still young, fair hand seemed separated by an insurmountable barrier; he held it tightly, his eyes reddening.
“Very, very far away… You are in the sky, and I am watching from the ground. You fall from a tall building, and I am watching from the top of that building. You crash through the glass, and I am watching from inside the window… You, Noel, Su Lin, and the others… are like kites, flying so high, and I am chasing the string on the ground, but I can’t hold onto it…”

"I... ran and ran, no matter how hard I ran, no matter how many panes of glass I smashed, no matter how many times I broke my head and bled, I still couldn't catch up with you..."

“But now…it’s wonderful…” He gently rested his head on the back of his hand, his hands clenched tightly with tears.

"I finally... got it... ah."

"We're finally very close..."

His hair was still white, but it looked dry and withered. Shenmingan remembered that it used to be a beautiful white hair, but now it looked like an old man's, lifeless, like a swaying reed.

He had forgotten many emotions and many things, but Lu Shu, this anchor point, remained, preventing Him from forgetting. His eyes could clearly see how much life Lu Shu had left... in the next few days.

He began to frequently visit this room, bringing all sorts of new things, including toys that Lu Shu had never seen before, sheet music that Lu Shu was interested in... Although they had already discussed these things over a long period of time, He knew that now was the time when Lu Shu needed companionship the most.

...Yes, this is the last chance.

In His perception, the person on the bed grew weaker day by day, and it was not only his body that withered away, but also his soul.

Every time they met, Lü Shu would deliberately talk about happy things from the past, especially mentioning Lin Yin and Yamada, those few cheerful people.

"...These things have been said to death," Shenming An thought. It was something that had been said a thousand times; he could practically recite Lu Shu's next line. He was just like a nagging old man...

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The coughing became more frequent, the voice grew increasingly hoarse, and that wrinkled face—it was definitely the old man…

Ten days.

He could almost count down the last days of Lu Shu's life.

Nine days.

Lu Shu began to bring up the past more and more frequently.

Eight days.

For the 197th time, Lü Shu recounted the story of how he and Lin Yin fought in the bamboo forest when they were children.

Seven days.

"...There's a dog in the bamboo grove named Little Gray. Little Gray is very nice to me, but it's only mean to Lin Yin."

six days.

"...Every time I come to practice my knife skills, Little Grey will bark wildly at Lin Yin who is watching, which makes her bring all kinds of dog treats every time. However, Little Grey still doesn't like her."

Five days
"So I thought of tying Little Grey up. It's so fierce, what if it bites someone? But Lin Yin shrugged and said, this is its territory, so it can just stay away."

Four days.

"...Later, we discovered that it was because Lin Yin would pass through a place with many dogs every time she came, picking up the scents of other dogs, which made Xiao Hui so fierce. It wasn't that it disliked her, but rather that it was protecting its owner, afraid that I would be harmed by other enemies..."

Three days.

"...And I, for this reason, disciplined it... Well, it's a very boring thing, I know you're not interested, but it's one of the few experiences I can talk about... Oh right, later, to make it up to Little Gray, I took it to the hillside I often went to."

Two days.

"...Xiao Bi told me that Taihua Mountain wasn't a mountain a long time ago, but a lake under the starry sky. It was filled in by a collision and became a mountain. After I went up there, I fell asleep on the hillside with Xiao Hui. I dreamed that I was floating in the lake and scooped up a handful of stars. It was so beautiful... Because I haven't watched much TV, that was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen when I was a child... But when I woke up, I realized, haha, what I touched wasn't a handful of stars, but Xiao Hui's fur... As for that lake with the starry sky, it was actually... cough, cough cough cough!"

one day.

"...Childhood fantasies almost always end in disillusionment. Thankfully, even after experiencing that disillusionment, I still hope that I will one day find the real starry sky on a hillside...because that kind of dream is just too beautiful..."

Zero days.

This was the last time that the god An stepped into this room.

Lu Shu's voice was already broken and intermittent, unable to form complete sentences.

He listened to Lu Shu tell countless old, worn-out stories, many of which he could recite by heart. It is said that old people really love to ramble and repeat stories, and it seems to be true.

Before my grandmother passed away, she loved to tell the same stories over and over again, and Lü Shu was just like her...

After he turned four, he never heard his grandmother's nagging again, and he never heard Lü Shu's voice again.

He sat by the bedside one last time, intending to hold Lu Shu's hand. During this time, Lu Shu always felt very cold, his senses were weak, and he needed to hold onto something to feel at ease.

Just as He reached out, Lu Shu's hand suddenly trembled, making a grabbing motion as if he were trying to catch something.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand, glanced at his palm, and gave a wistful smile:
"what."

"I finally got it..."

In the palm of his hand was a dark blue starry sky.

"Was it you who showed me the starry sky?" Lu Shu opened his palm, revealing his hand.

Shenming An lowered his gaze and sat quietly on the floor below the bed, feeling as if he were sitting in a dark blue lake, with stars drifting across the water, and he could reach out and scoop up the starry sky...

This is His world, so of course He can let him retrieve a non-existent starry sky.

They sat there from morning till night, the wind and snow outside the window growing heavier and heavier, as if threatening to bury the villa. Lu Shu recounted countless stories of the past, and Shen Ming'an listened attentively. They tried to reach out and touch the surrounding starry sky.

In those final seconds, as if sensing something, Lu Shu cupped the starry sky in his right hand and gripped Shenming An's hand tightly with his left for the last time:

"do not be afraid……"

"I believe...you can definitely defeat Noel..."

"If... I could live a little longer, I could give you more companionship and courage... I told you so many old stories about the past, about Lin Yin and Yamada... the past that I know so well..."

"You... can create them... to keep you company..."

“In my place...become your anchor point.”

"In that case...you should be able to last longer...you will definitely win..."

Shenming An's eyelashes trembled.

That's it.

So you kept repeating those old, tired stories, even though you knew I could recite them by heart, you still went out of your way to describe the details... just to give me more anchors... to replace you?
You know you are going to die, but your fear, dread, and sadness about death are all based on your fear of the impact on me, not on your own death.

So you never thought about yourself, you were always thinking about others until your last breath, right? Lü Shu.

Beneath the endless white snow.

The white-haired companion wore the most contented smile of his life.

He couldn't even explain why he was so content with this life, this monotonous and tasteless life, this life that felt like a prison...

"Being able to save this world with you... is the happiest thing for me... a former homeless man." The white-haired old man clenched his fist tightly, and hot tears fell onto the back of his hand.

"Being able to become... the anchor point for the savior... is my... the proudest achievement of this guy who has always been a burden..."

"what……"

In that instant, he seemed to see countless people... Lin Yin, Yueyue, Yamada, Lu... holding his aged hand together, smiling as they stood by the bedside looking at him.

...So you guys have always been by my side all along.

Their faces, still youthful, were bright and beautiful.

In that instant, he seemed to see himself regain his youthful appearance, transforming into a still proud and cold white-haired swordsman, rushing towards them.

He transformed into a free kite, no longer confined to the ground, but soaring high into the vast sky—

……

"Finally, I've got my hands on that string."

“I… I never left you… that’s so good…”

……

That face, that smile.

That was... the happiest smile God had ever seen on his face.

This guy... turns out he really was happy, and wasn't just trying to comfort Him.

……

After Lü Shu passed away, Shenming An sealed up the villa.

The snowstorm has not stopped.

He buried Lü Shu on a replica of Mount Taihua, the hillside Lü Shu frequented in his childhood, a hillside that used to be a lake.

"...Today is not a farewell. He stands beside our clamor, he stands behind our joy, like a lonely but resilient tree in winter."

"...His life was silent, yet it surpassed the clamor of the world. Though he is gone, he has not vanished; he lives on in every inch of time he silently protected..."

The pastor, created by the god An, stood blankly before the tombstone, reciting a eulogy. The development of the "small space" was insufficient; even the artificial life was dull and lifeless, and even the eulogy was written by An alone.

The deity lay peacefully on the hillside, listening to a eulogy read aloud like a robot. He wanted to participate in this sorrowful ritual, but He had been a higher dimension for too long; He had forgotten too many things, including how to shed tears.

No one in the world but Him will grieve for this sacrifice.

His right hand kept waving, making a scooping motion. He repeatedly looked into his palm, which was empty.

“Where is it, the starry sky you speak of?” He murmured, “Where is it, Lü Shu?”

He closed his eyes, trying to dream, to see if he could dream of the dream Lu Shu had described—the dream of scooping up the starry sky. If he woke up, he would see Lin Yin, Yamada, Lu, and the others waiting for him. When he woke up, he would see himself still standing in that villa, watching the steaming New Year's Eve dinner being served, seeing Noel, unchanged, making those few dumplings that had spilled filling…

However, when He awoke, the sky before Him remained unchanged.

The solitary god lay on the silent hillside, with no other sounds around him.

"Are you alright? Do you still remember who you are..." The words that Lu Shu was used to saying were no longer in His ears.

Only silence remains; only He is withering away.

Clumps of wild daisies swayed in the breeze, and a few petals fell into the palm of the deity.

Soft, smooth, like starlight.

At that moment, He was stunned.

"..."

I see, I see.

So this was the starlight Lu Shu dreamed of when he was young? As Lu Shu slept on the hillside, daisy petals drifted into his palm, and in his half-awake state, he felt as if he had caught starlight...

Lu Shu never understood why he could dream of such beautiful starlight, and why there was actually starlight in his palm...

Shenming An raised his palm, looked at the flower petals in his hand, and his lips trembled:

"...So, starlight is such an ordinary thing."

"If it had been a little later, Lü Shu, you would have finally known the answer from your childhood."

As He spoke these words, He felt a warmth on His cheek. He touched it and realized it was tears.

It turns out He still remembers to shed tears.

He slowly lay down, surrounded by clusters of wild daisies in silence. He gazed at the sky and softly spoke:
"The pages of happiness, those lily-like hands, gripping my life with deadly force..."

This is a poem that Lin Wang'an read to him when he was a child.

—At the same time, another soft voice rang out, as if recalling the same lines of poetry:

"The verses of happiness, those bright eyes,"

"It will always look down upon you like starlight, to visit you, to explore the sorrow of my dying soul..."

……

The sorrow in my heart is written in tears in this book.

O rhythm of happiness, you are steeped in the beauty of Mount Helicon.
In the sacred stream, where she came from,
You will see that angelic, joyful gaze.
The nourishment my heart has long lacked, the greatest blessing in my heavenly kingdom...

……

He had long suspected that this would be the best time for Noel to strike. Having endured the grief of separation, He was at his most mentally unstable.

However, Noel simply recited poetry with Him, and the two seemed to fall into a long-lost peace, reciting eulogies together for the passing of a loved one.

If you are truly determined to plunder everything, if you are truly going to reveal the sharpness of an aggressor, then why show a sliver of softness as an old friend at this moment, like a seashell shedding its shell and revealing itself to me?

The mourning lasted for a whole day, and the next day, as if nothing had happened, the two resumed their contest.

However, Shenming An realized that although his consciousness was becoming increasingly chaotic, it was gradually gaining the upper hand.

The first to disappear was Eurydilora's soul. Before vanishing, she suddenly realized and said, "I see... because Su Ming'an's lifespan was much shorter than yours, so he won..."

This statement puzzled Shenming An greatly.

He and Noel are not much different in age, and their soul experiences should be the same, so why do I say that his experience was much shorter than Noel's?

He did not receive an answer.

One day, He and Yueyue finally found an opportunity. With Xiaona's help, they used the authority of "devouring" and "faith" to escape the world game and escape this long prison.

In order to overcome Noel in the struggle of consciousness, He had to constantly strengthen Himself, so He used the power of "devouring" to devour all visible nutrients.

His consciousness grew increasingly blurred, yet he never relinquished complete control. In this protracted torment... one day, Noel's voice suddenly disappeared.

When the god An came to his senses, he opened his eyes and saw Noel sitting on a tall white tower, looking up at the sky.

“…You won.” Noel, dressed in a pure white robe without a single blemish, like a white feather, said, “This time, you won.”

"This time?"

“This time,” Noel repeated.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve reached the end, is it?” said the god An.

Noel didn't answer, but instead revealed a relieved smile that God An had never seen since their falling out. He stood atop the highest point of the White Tower, arms outstretched, and leaped.

That pure white figure fell swiftly in the eyes of the god An, disappearing into the wind.

When the image disappeared, the god An opened his eyes, looked at the deep and silent universe, and realized that the consciousness of Noel in his mind had completely vanished into nothingness.

—He won.

It's unbelievable that He could defeat the combined forces of Noel and Eurydilora... Was it because of His willpower? Was it because of the Lu Tree as an anchor point? Intuition tells Him that it shouldn't be just these emotional reasons, but because of Eurydilora's last words:

"Because Su Ming'an's lifespan was much shorter than Noel's, Su Ming'an won."

He couldn't understand the words, but He truly won.

He finally regained his full consciousness, became lucid again, and wanted to share his joy with his only old friend.

—And when He turned around, His eyes were empty, only the vast universe remained, utterly silent.

Where is Yueyue?
Su Lin left, Lu Shu passed away, Noel's consciousness dissipated, Yueyue was now his only companion, but where did she go?

At some point, He realized that His physical form had become incredibly powerful, so powerful that it inspired fear, far surpassing even His power when He first became a higher dimension, and even exceeding the power of all the organizers He remembered...

"……what."

He seemed to sense something and lowered his head, looking at his collarbone—a tongue mark that radiated a dazzling and intense light.

He seemed to sense something and lowered his head, looking at his own form—why was there an aura of a blue planet wandering within his body?

That feeling evoked a sense of familiarity, longing, and deep affection, bringing tears to one's eyes...

At that moment, He suddenly understood something.

At that moment, He suddenly revealed a trembling smile.

He touched his tongue with his finger, paused for a moment, then cut it off, and blood gushed out.

A numb pain came, but He stood still, silent.

A moment later, a near-tragic laugh echoed from his lips, which were filled with blood.

……

"I won...I won...I won...?"

"I won... I won..."

……

The god An had a very long dream.

In his dream, he grasped the starry sky and lay in a dark blue lake, swaying gently in the waves, feeling an unprecedented lightness.

When He awoke, He was lying on a hillside, surrounded by white wild daisies, with the morning sun hanging overhead.

He stared blankly at the sky, stretched out his palm, and slowly clenched it.

Sunlight slipped through his fingers and fell into his dry eyes.

"...Su Ming'an, get up! You have class this afternoon!"

a voice sounded.

Shenming An turned his head blankly and saw a girl with a white bow tie standing to one side, hands on her hips, looking at him. The black-haired youth in a white shirt next to her looked helpless.

“…Lesson.” God An opened his mouth, only then realizing that his voice was extremely hoarse.

"Were you under too much pressure editing videos last night? Why did you end up sleeping on the hillside? Quick, thank goodness I found you..." Lin Yin pulled him up.

They walked down the hillside, past the white wild daisies, and through the stream by the roadside, God An saw that he had short black hair, black eyes, and was wearing a plain white long-sleeved shirt, the one he often wore in college.

Wasn't He just wandering in the universe? Why did He open His eyes and find Him back on Zhai Star? And in the luckiest and happiest kind of future?
He immediately checked his senses; it wasn't a revolving lantern, it wasn't a dream, it was real reality... Could it be time travel?

No, that's impossible.

Right, it should be a death rollback.

Although He hasn't triggered death since becoming a higher dimension, this authority shouldn't have disappeared. Could it be that He just triggered a death rollback, and it was able to rewind so far, taking Him to the happiest timeline?
Is there any other explanation besides this?
"Lu Shu, you're not dead! That's great..." He hugged Lu Shu beside him, then quickly let go, and gently squeezed Lin Yin's hand.

Lu Shu, whose hair had been dyed black, opened his eyes wide in surprise and smiled: "I'm not dead... You're having another nightmare. The World Game has been over for several years, and universities have already reopened."

“If you hadn’t temporarily shielded yourself from people’s impressions of us in order to experience what it’s like to go to university, you really wouldn’t be able to enjoy this kind of life, Su Ming’an.” Lin Yin crossed her arms and said, “Hurry up and recover! The sooner you heal your injuries, the sooner we can go help Lu and the others. They are very busy managing the various ‘towers’, and it is very difficult without the Realm Lord in charge.”

"Anyway, the power will eventually be returned to the public, and the road should get used to life without a ruler," said Lü Shu.

"Let's go." The deity paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Let's go."

They arrived at the university, and God An returned to his familiar dormitory—in fact, He had only stayed in this dormitory for about a month, but every part of it felt incredibly familiar.

The buzzing game laptop on the table, the anime figurines on the counter, the mystery books on the bookshelf, the photo of him and Uncle Zhao on the wall...

He touched these familiar things with his hands and was once again certain that this was not a dream, but reality.

He truly came to the reality of happiness.

University life was ordinary yet joyful. Thanks to her exceptional abilities, Shen Ming'an easily won first place in all subjects, first place in physical fitness tests, first place in the New Year's Day performance, and first place in science and technology innovation competitions...

Gradually, his reputation spread, and students would jokingly say that there was a "campus heartthrob who got perfect scores in all subjects" here, and that students often confessed their love to him.

Like a second voyage in life, He gradually emerged from the shadows of the past and began to view the world before him with tolerance and peace.

The "small world" is developing very well, just like the original Zhai Xing, and it will surely find a new home in the future. With Him, with the road, with Isabella and the others, with the original wise men of Zhai Xing, it is a bright and promising future that can be seen with the naked eye.

On the last day of her freshman year, Shenming Andi dialed Yueyue's number countless times.

"The number you dialed is not in service..."

He slowly put down his phone and stared at the screen, lost in thought.

The only pity is that He did not see these three people in this perfect future.

Su Lin, Yueyue, and Nuoer.

Su Lin should have successfully returned home, which is good. Noel has probably flown into space; it's none of his business. But Yueyue, hasn't she broken free from the world game's constraints yet? Logically speaking, she should have been able to escape during the chaos…

Because she was in a small world, Shenming An dared not contact her rashly, otherwise she might be discovered by the world game.

On the last day of his freshman year, he and his friends Yamada Machiichi, Lin Yin, Lu Shu, Mo Yan, Lin Jiang, and others who had come to school with him while concealing their identities went to karaoke and had a good time drinking.

They sang loudly, laughed joyfully, dreamed about the future, played rock-paper-scissors, rolled dice, played truth or dare, and drank low-alcohol cocktails...

With just one bite, he collapsed onto the sofa amidst the gasps of his classmates.

In a hazy state, He heard countless joyful sounds.

Lin Yin sang a heroic song that echoed the westward sinking of my soul.

Mo Yan talks about laughter in the future.

Lu Shu whispered as she poured him some tea to help him sober up.

Lin Jiang's loud shout after winning the mini-game.

Su Wensheng's voice speaking the truth.

The students' lively and playful laughter.

The sound of wine glasses clinking together.

The sound of dice rattling.

And then there were... countless colorful lights, countless bursts of laughter—this night of celebration seemed to never end...

This youth that seems to never end.

In a daze, while drunk and hazy, He lay on the sofa and seemed to see a blurry figure walking towards Him.

—It was a teenager, standing at the other end of the river of time, quietly gazing at Him.

The young man, dressed in a long, raven-black robe, looked up at Him.

They stared at each other for a long time, but neither of them spoke.

"...That's fine too." In the end, the young man murmured and turned to leave.

The young man was nowhere to be seen.

After sobering up, Shenming lay on the sofa, with his classmates still laughing and the celebration still going on.

...After waking up, I realized it was an illusion. Such a terrifying thing would never happen.

He sat up with a smile and continued the night of celebration with orange juice.

As the event was nearing its end, Mo Yan moved closer to Shenming An.

"Big brother." Mo Yan's eyes lit up.

...It's Mo Yan. Shenming An, still somewhat drunk, subconsciously thought this.

Mo Yan will probably say something like he admires me a lot... He hasn't seen me in a long time...

"Big brother! I really admire you!" Mo Yan leaned closer: "You really saved Zhai Xing, and everyone is alive. You're amazing!"

Sure enough, Mo Yan likes to say things like that... Shenming An looked at Lü Shu, who also seemed to have something to say.

Lu Shu would probably want to send him back; it's getting late...

"I'll take you back." Sure enough, Lu Shu said that. Even his words and tone were exactly the same as what Shen Ming'an had in mind. Lu Shu helped Shen Ming'an and Mo Yan up and said seriously, "Su Ming'an, you will be attending the Top 100 YouTubers Awards Ceremony in a while. Although Lu really bought the website, you will still keep streaming, right?"

“Yes…” Shenming An slowly stood up: “After the ceremony, I will… go back… to be… the Realm Lord…”

“But…I don’t want to go back to the dorm…” He said, gripping their hands tightly, as if afraid of leaving something behind: “Going back…it’s too dark, too cold…”

"I like... lively places, places with lots of people..."

"This lets me know... that you are still alive, and living happily..."

"I don't want... a place without sound, without people... a deep... distant... place..."

"I'm really... scared... I hate... quiet, dark places..."

"Don't leave me there, just let me stay here... let me..."

Let me know that you are happy.

Don't leave me alone in that kind of place again, for a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years...

His hand slowly slid off Lu Shu's shoulder, and he passed out drunk once more. He could actually expel the alcohol, but he felt very relaxed and comfortable this way.

After all, He no longer had to be afraid... no longer had to worry about opening His eyes and finding it was all an illusion...

This is reality, in its very essence.

Great……

He awoke from his daze once more, carried by Mo Yan back home. The event had ended, and a dozen or so classmates strolled leisurely nearby. Under the streetlights, sparse moonlight fell on the ground, like salt scattered on the ground.

Their young and tall shadows stretched long, as if representing a long and promising future.

As far as the eye can see, the entire street resembles a winding, flowing, silent frosty river.

“…Su Ming’an, this is truly a happy world,” Lu Shu said.

In his drunken haze, Shenming An gave a vague response.

“Here, there will be no more sorrow, pain, separation, or betrayal…” Lu Shu said, “A world where no one will be sad, how wonderful…”

"I will not die of old age; I will stay here forever."

"Lin Yin and the others will not die of old age; they will live on forever."

“A tragedy like Akto's won't happen, because with just one thought from you, no one will start a conflict or rebellion. With just one thought from you, the dead will rise again, and time will turn back. Because this place completely belongs to you, how wonderful…”

“We are all in a sea of ​​stars that can never be retrieved, and that lake... has replaced the hillside forever. How wonderful.”

The deity An opened his eyes groggily.

—The pages of happiness, those delicate hands like lilies.

The streetlights along the road were dim and yellow, their glow floating in the thick darkness of the night, as if diluted by the hazy moonlight, casting only a few blurry spots of light.

A dozen or so young figures were embedded at the edge of these halos of light, their outlines melting into the junction of light and night, their footsteps landing on the moonlit ground.

Before God's eyes, His companions were gazing at Him with deep, tender, and compassionate eyes.

It wasn't just ordinary concern or greeting; it contained a complex and pure emotion, an almost silent prayer. A longing so intense it couldn't be concealed, yet made all the more solemn by restraint.

It was silent, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds.

They looked at Him.

May you be safe, may you be joyful, and may you be free from all suffering and sorrow.

Behind them were long shadows cast by the streetlights.

The warm streetlights seemed to flicker for a moment.

As light and shadow intertwine, all the shadows appear the same—regardless of height, weight, gender, age, or gender, they all become identical shadows.

Standing at about 1.76 meters tall, with a well-proportioned figure weighing around 60 kilograms, smooth black hair, and soft facial features... everyone became an identical shadow, an identical shadow to the god An.

But only for a moment.

The next moment, the warm streetlights flickered, and everyone's shadows became different again.

The deity An closed his eyes and fell asleep in a daze.

In a daze, some kind of stress-induced trauma was revealed, and the corners of His mouth curled up, vaguely remembering why He had come to this world.

……ah.

Speaking of which, why do I still call myself "Shenming An" instead of "Suming An"?
Come to think of it, why have I always referred to myself as "He" instead of "He"?
Could it be that some things simply haven't changed...?
under the moonlight,
Seeing that the god was fast asleep, the blurry figures of his companions moved slightly at the boundary between light and shadow, and a few whispers, slightly hoarse from being soaked in the night air, were heard, but the voices were then swallowed up by the great silence.

The streetlights still cast a dim, ambiguous glow, and the salt-covered road beneath our feet still gleamed coldly, stretching into the unknown darkness.

Extending towards the unreachable distance.

“Lu Shu, news came from the other side of the road that they observed the universe again and found only endless darkness beyond the sky, nothing at all. What’s going on… Should we ask Su Ming’an about this?” Mo Yan said softly.

“Yes, it’s not just dark, there isn’t a single star, it’s like… it’s been wrapped up by something,” Lin Yin said.

"Moreover, I vaguely remember that I have lived for a very long time, and even died of old age... Why am I still alive now... Who am I..." Lin Jiang scratched his head and said softly.

"Shh..." Lu Shu gently waved his finger:

"Isn't this better? If the truth is destined to be a tragedy, then let's never end these days."

"I hope……"

He turned back and looked at the moonlight that had accompanied him:

"He will not suffer because he remembers what happened in the past..."

"Although I know that I am not Lu Shu, who has already died of old age, but rather..."

O rhythm of happiness, you are steeped in the Helicon Mountains.

In the sacred stream, where she came from,
You will see that angelic, joyful gaze.
The nourishment my heart has long lacked, the greatest blessing in my heavenly kingdom...

……

"Although I also know that I am not the Lu Shu who has already died of old age, but rather... a cell created by the 'Devouring' authority, a cell within Su Ming'an's body..."

……

……

【TE19 · "The Last Communion"】

(Using the power of "devouring," you devoured angels, demons, gods, higher dimensions... You gradually evolved into the overlord of the universe, devouring everything that threatened your homeland. But when you look back, where has your homeland gone? Why does the aura of your homeland linger within you?)

……

The power of 'devouring', combined with the ability to ferry souls and the wish-fulfilling power of 'faith,' can reshape everything that has been devoured by the main body within the body.

This includes people, events, things, and even... the world.

Are they the real people? Nobody knows.

Is this my hometown? Nobody knows.

But at least, that clear blue planet is quietly rotating within Him, changing at will according to His will, and the people living there are forever in harmony and forever happy...

No one will suffer anymore.

No one will grieve anymore.

……

Are you satisfied with this ending?
……

……

The year is 7328 AD.

After waking up from his drunken stupor, Shenming committed suicide.

Before His death, He was incredibly powerful, having touched upon the highest concept in the universe—the cosmic Poincaré return (cosmic reincarnation). He also obtained the method for the "Awakened Ones" to retain fragmented memories within the cosmic reincarnation.

He also understood that "Su Ming'an" is unique, so "crossing the cycle of reincarnation" is impossible. He cannot cross the cycle of reincarnation alive to find himself in the next cycle.

Learning from the methods of the "Awakened One," He used His immense power to leave behind a segment of His genes. This gene will remain after the next cosmic return, gradually growing over time to resemble Him.

Then, this gene will subconsciously approach life forms similar to Him—His in the next cosmic cycle.

Before He died, He suddenly remembered Noel Agnes's last words. That guy... that guy who had been bothering Him for so long, had said something...

……

"Does staying here mean we can finally end this endless cycle?!"

……

That guy is probably one of the "awake ones." Noel must remember something from the cycle of the universe, which is why he did so many abnormal things.

Did Noel want to seize His body in order to leave something special for the next cycle, thus breaking the cycle?

But it's too late; that guy is dead.

Honestly, can't you understand if you just say it clearly? But that guy did say "I'm sincere" at the end... I guess there are limitations to saying these things.

Moreover, in the end, one can't be sure whether that guy is still lying or not. Who would dare to completely entrust the future of the universe to that person? The chain of suspicion has become too stubborn and too clear...

He closed his eyes and slightly curled his lips.

In a daze, He saw, just as Lu Shu had before his death, countless hands of his companions reaching out to him.

"The verses of happiness, those bright eyes,"
"It will always look down upon you like starlight."

"Come and explore the sorrow of my dying soul."

"The sorrow I wrote in my heart's book with tears..."

……

Yes.

Don't linger here.

Do not repeat this cycle.

If I had another chance, even if every step of the way repeated the tragedy I had suffered, at the moment of devouring Noel, at the moment of seeing Su Bread for the last time, I would still...

"Clap."

The universe is silent.

On the hillside.

The stars were scooped up from the sea of ​​stars, scattered, and left silently.

……