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Chapter 1595 Final Chapter: Crossing the Sea [55] "Who Killed the Mockingbird (Final)"

Shi Ying.

Her singing overwhelmed Phoenix; her singing caused Ming to collapse.

She swallowed a white stone for her own selfish desires, claiming that she was different from her noble ancestors.

Having been shrouded in mud for so long, she eked out a living, she forced a smile, she rolled into the slums, she bent over and begged for smiles, she was covered in mud, she clung to her legs to survive—having suffered so much in this world, never having enjoyed a single day of the nightingale's nobility, why should she, born from the mud, still maintain a noble heart!?

Why should she remain pure white?

"【Tears of a young man, silently tapping against the window; his beloved, loves only the fiery red flames】"

Shi Ying threw her head back and laughed loudly, her laughter sharp and piercing. Su Ming'an's body could not withstand it and he kept vomiting blood.

He conjured an ice sword and walked step by step toward Shi Ying.

Phoenix was pinned to the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices. Only he could end this bloodthirsty song; if he didn't stop, he feared he would suffer irreparable damage to his soul.

“She has awakened the sinful bloodline of her ancestors; she has been corrupted by the filthy ancestors and is in a state of mental confusion!” Phoenix shouted.

Shi Ying laughed wildly, her face flushed, her eyes crazed, she had lost herself.

They gained immense power, but were also harmed by that power...

Su Ming'an has seen many greedy people like this.

Last time, after she went mad, who killed her and took away the white stone?

He needed to be wary of this person in the shadows; it could be a player secretly watching, or even Tianyu himself, or perhaps the elusive Noel...

"Ha, hahahahaha—hahahaha!!"

The shrill singing pierced his ears, causing Su Ming'an's mind to buzz. His eyes stung, and blood began to flow from his seven orifices. A strong sense of nausea and fullness churned in his chest, as if the singing were about to burst his blood vessels.

After killing her, he must immediately take the white stone from her heart and summon the cards Qi Zhou and Hui Zi for protection, to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him...

He raised his sword.

His spasmodic fingers trembled, and his body ached terribly, as if it were covered with thorny, bloody brambles. He could only move forward with almost all his willpower.

"The garden is full of white roses, but not the one she wanted."

"【The nightingale thought, I would exchange my voice for its brilliance…】" Her expression grew increasingly frantic, her eyes bloodshot as she sang at the top of her lungs, like a madwoman.

As he drew nearer, he heard her innermost thoughts, only hearing—

(Kill you all, kill you all, kill you all, kill you all, kill kill kill kill kill—)
A chaotic, sharp, frenzied, and demonic sound.

She has indeed lost herself.

Her life was so dark that it turned her into an evil nightingale. She couldn't be blamed; after all, the world had never treated her kindly.

Those blood-red eyes burned with a destructive, all-consuming light.

The humiliation of wallowing in the mud, forcing a smile in poverty, and clinging to someone's legs to survive in despair has now all become fuel for her resentment.

Leaning on his ice sword, Su Ming'an stepped on the trembling ruins, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, his vision blurred by bloodshot veins, and his eardrums throbbing with pain, as if countless red-hot steel needles were churning inside his skull.

"Sizzle—Sizzle—"

The cold blade dragged across the gravel, making a grating scraping sound. He stared at the figure before him, a mad, blood-soaked, demonic figure, the cold sword light reflecting off her blood-stained, maniacally laughing face.

Suddenly, he noticed that she was rummaging through her clothes, seemingly trying to retrieve some prop.

...Don't hesitate any longer. She has already betrayed him twice. Hesitating any longer would be irresponsible to the bigger picture.

Fearing she might pull out some threatening weapon, Su Ming'an decisively drew his sword and thrust it towards her chest—

"Dawn was breaking, and the roses were ablaze with fiery red."

"The young man, with delight, plucked the flower."

Blood flowed from his seven orifices. The intense singing had nearly made him faint. His senses were confused again, and his vision was blurred. He saw her as if she were a pink-haired person.

He couldn't see her expression—whether it was crying or laughing, anger or hatred. His sword strike ended her future as a realm lord, ended her dream of endless wealth, and ended her life. She must hate him.

The mask concealed her face, so he couldn't see her expression.

The sword tip pointed forward, piercing her heart in that instant, blood splattering onto his face—

In that instant, he saw that what she pulled out was not any lethal weapon or tool, but—

……

A heart made of tin.

……

"The only time I ever did crafts was when I was little, before my dad became an alcoholic. He took me out to do crafts." Tianying smiled, her head bowed, a rare happiness on her face. "I'm clumsy, I could only make such a rough heart. I don't like this design, it's too naive, as if I have so much love in it."

……

Su Ming'an's expression went blank for a moment.

The clamor of the crowd raged in his ears, a sound transmitted through the camera lens—"Nightingales are all traitors!" "Disobedient to the Mother Goddess!" "The backstabbing Nightingale!"—like a gale raging and tearing around them.

No.

wrong.

Her ancestors were not evil.

Therefore, she may not lose herself or become insane just because she awakened the blood of her ancestors.

So, she is...

"Click!"

At the moment the needle pierced her chest, he was almost touching her, his eyelashes extremely close to her mask.

In that instant, her mask shattered, revealing a clear and soft face, and a pair of bright, watery eyes.

"...Wow, Xiaoshanzhu is so clever."

She was conscious.

……

Shi Ying did indeed deceive Su Ming'an.

She knew from the beginning that the white stone could not be detonated.

Detonating a portion of the energy would leave the white stone unharmed... There's no way it's that easy. If that were possible, she wouldn't have been kidnapped by Phoenix all the way here.

The only solution, she racked her brains for a long time, and could only think of one.

The only solution that can defeat the pink-haired man, Phoenix, and Ming simultaneously.

Su Ming'an was constrained by Tian Yu's body and could at most be on par with Phoenix. His apparent combat strength was simply insufficient, and the only outcome was defeat.

However, there is a solution that can break this deadlock...

……

Beneath the ruins, after Su Ming'an fell asleep, Shi Ying quietly gazed at his sleeping face, gently counting his eyelashes.

[(Hmph...this guy is really good-looking, but I have to leave...) Shi Ying sighed, squeezed out from the gap in the ruins, and picked up the white stone.]

[“Gungung, I’m going to do something super awesome, are you willing to cooperate with me?” Shi Ying gestured roughly.]

[(What's "GunGun"?... Fine, I'll listen to you.) The white stone flattened itself.]

[Shi Ying, carrying the white stone and limping, walked towards Phoenix.]

"Lord Phoenix, I surrender!" she said with a fawning smile.

……

There is only one way to defeat all three at the same time.

She feigned surrender, and while the three were gathered, she immediately swallowed the white stone, awakening her ancestral nightingale bloodline. In this way, as a nightingale, she could naturally suppress Phoenix, the phoenix, and the nightingale's song would naturally suppress the mentally unstable Ming, ensuring victory without fierce combat. The only variable was the pink-haired man.

……

The idea that Shi Ying swallowed the white stone for her own selfish desires, sang loudly to suppress everyone, and then ran away with the money... was simply impossible.

because.

……

"Because this is the 'song of finality,' we nightingales die after singing it." Tian Tian flew high into the sky, laughing.

"Sister Sisi, I can no longer stop singing, but I can shield you from the final swords... May you no longer be anyone's story, no longer the 'fan fiction' used by the Radiant Mother Goddess as a test case, may you have fresh air and a real future, may you become free nightingales...!"

Siber's eyes flickered, unable to help but be moved by the scene before her. She had reincarnated countless times, her heart frozen, yet before her was death from which there was no turning back.

The warmth from her fingertips slipped away; she reached out, but only grasped the sleeve that had slipped away.

The scorching heat of the white stone in her arms forced her to stop, watching the slender nightingale soar high and fly towards the blazing altar—

Like moths drawn to a flame, it's nothing more than that.

In a daze, she seemed to return to the past, to that dark, suffocating place, to the long, agonizing pain. The song made blood rush to her eyes and choke her throat.

"day by day……!"

The timid red-haired girl from the Nightingale Clan raised her hands high, singing the final song that Feng Chang hadn't finished, her head held high like a queen—

People! This finale need not be mourned, but crowned with cheers!
The two nightingales sing again with smiles, waiting for new branches to pierce the darkness of the long night—at that time, there will be no more fake smiles or thunderous applause!

In the next life, when the nightingale's descendants are born, they will no longer fear power—
We are determined to become proud and dazzling nightingales!
No longer is it the monotonous name "Tian Tian". I am not yet an adult, and my clan has not yet given me a full name.

I will be called "Sky Nightingale"! I will have that clan name engraved on my name!

……

—"When she stands high above, when she is fearless in the face of death, when she brandishes her gun against all injustice and humiliation, she is the nightingale! She is the nightingale! She is the nightingale soaring high in the sky!"

……

"Yuanyuan, that robot told me that if I eat you, I can become the Lord of the Realm," Shi Ying whispered to Bai Shitou as they walked across the ruins.

"It's a lie, that's just a robot trying to trick you into breaking through the defenses." White Stone shook his head. "Even if you eat me, at most I can help you awaken your ancestral bloodline. If you really want to become the realm lord, you have neither a background nor any helpers. Even if you sit on the throne, you'll die very quickly."

"Ancestral bloodline? What is that?" Shi Ying was taken aback.

"Hmm, it should help you defeat those three bad guys," said Shiraishi.

"So..." Shi Ying thought for a moment, then pursed her lips, "Then how do I get you out after I've eaten you?"

"Uh, no, I'll go into your heart and take me out. You'll die..." White Stone immediately shook his head: "That's too terrible. Even though you lied to me, I don't want to see you die. Please don't do that..."

Shi Ying walked away quietly for a long time.

She suddenly turned around and smiled at Bai Shitou.

"Yuanyuan, how about we make a promise?"

【"What?"】

"If I have to lie in the future to protect you, I'll wink at you twice, and you can cover for me."

"You'll still protect me? You liar, I'll never believe you again!"

"Hey, let's go out and meet up, it's not like we'll lose anything."

"Hmm... okay, okay, I'll believe you one last time. If you lie to me again, I'll really walk away like a mule..."

……

"[Yuanyuan has a lot of energy. Detonating a portion of it could cause a terrifying explosion, and it won't die. Combined with your combat strength, it's definitely worth a try!]" Shi Ying said to Su Ming'an. She smiled at Bai Shitou and winked twice.

Su Ming'an asked Bai Shitou if it was feasible, and Bai Shitou agreed.

……

—The white stone believed its "good friend" for the last time and gave false testimony for her.

—And “good friend”, for the last time, did not betray it.

……

The nightingale didn't actually think of herself as particularly noble, nor was she willing to sacrifice herself.

If she didn't have to die, of course she didn't want to. There were so many delicious foods she hadn't been able to enjoy, and so many handsome men and beautiful women she hadn't been able to meet.

However, surrounded by three tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves, she learned too much and knew she would not survive. Even if she surrendered, she would have no chance of survival; Phoenix would not let her go.

This is the only plan...

Only this plan can break the siege.

Deceiving Xiaoshanzhu was a last resort. If Phoenix found out that she and Xiaoshanzhu were in cahoots, he would definitely attack Xiaoshanzhu with all his might and would not allow Xiaoshanzhu to get close to retrieve the stone.

So, rather than die meaninglessly, she might as well swallow the white stone and take a gamble. At least, she can be guaranteed... a good reputation, and a lot of money after her death.

"Little Bamboo, after you take the white stone, you must compensate me with enough treasure..." The high-pitched melody in her mouth suddenly rose, tearing through the clouds in the sky!

Such a terrifying song bypassed him, waiting only for him to strike with his sword.

Without the influence of the singing, his senses gradually returned, and upon hearing her words, he couldn't smile.

Why is she still thinking about the treasure...?

"At least 10000 Shar coins are needed to buy a large estate, grow lots of wheat, and then there will be an endless supply of bread... Hmm, and lots and lots of firewood, then we'll never be cold again..."

The singing and maniacal laughter clashed violently. Shi Ying's smile was twisted and ferocious. A large amount of blood gushed wildly from her mouth, nostrils, and even the corners of her eyes, staining her pale face into a terrifying scarlet mask.

"Then build an orphanage to bring back all the girls from those taverns. Some of them are only thirteen or fourteen years old... They can even go to school. This will probably cost 5000 Shar coins..."

As she sang, her face contorted like a demon, bleeding like a monster, terrifying the children off-camera, who burst into tears.

"Bad nightingale! It's a bad nightingale!" the children cried. "Bad guy! Bad guy!"

"There's also a relief fund to help children like me... Just 80 Shar coins is enough to feed a family..."

The setting sun, like blood, stretched her slender figure extremely long.

Beneath her feet lay the crumbling skeletons of buildings, the shattered glory of the past, and the reflections of countless nightingales in the water.

The setting sun, hanging precariously above the shattered building skeleton, resembled a huge, solidified drop of blood, about to be exhausted.

Su Ming'an gripped the sword hilt tightly, pointing it at the white stone in her heart.

He knew that his mental state had deteriorated and his senses had become confused again. The person in front of him was Shi Ying, but he could no longer see her expression.

Even her voice became inverted and distorted.

"Foolish little mangosteen."

His ears were filled with inverted and contradictory sounds, like countless errors, yet he was translating them himself—

—Clever little mangosteen.

Her body trembled and convulsed violently as she sang, as if every bone and every muscle was mourning for this power.

"Get out of my way!"

—Take that white stone.

……

"Don't think you can kill me by piercing my heart and burning my wings!"

—The Nightingale Clan can only die by having their hearts pierced and their wings scorched by flames.

……

"Get out of here! I won't die, and the white stone is mine too. Don't even think about taking it away. It's my private property, not an independent life!"

—I have sung the 'Sound of Resolute Determination' to suppress everyone for you. After you take the white stone, I will still be able to survive for a while. I will stop suppressing you, and you can take the opportunity to escape with Yuanyuan.

……

"I will become the Lord of the Realm, I will embrace countless riches and honors, I will become a super rich woman—!" Her eyes were greedy and selfish.

……

--No.

Through his confused senses, Su Ming'an looked ahead and saw a pair of tearful eyes.

You are lying.

You are not an evil pink-haired person at all.

My hearing, my sight, my touch—all of them deceived me.

They made me think you were a hateful pursuer, and made me think the nightingale was an evil nightingale.

My five senses will be reversed, and your feelings for me will be reversed. Our meeting and getting to know each other are composed of countless inverted mistakes.

But in fact, human hearing can be diseased, human touch can be biased, human touch can deceive, and my... my brain is blinded, deceived, and reversed by them.

Just as history can be altered, statues can be destroyed, and heroes can be vilified.

Just as the nightingale became a nightingale that could not sing.

The bird that used to tell the time was killed, and from then on, the forest was never lit at the appointed time again.

But my heart tells me,

You are a kind nightingale.

"Foolish world destroyer, die! Don't even think about taking my treasure! Die now!"

—Kind savior, Su Ming'an, I know your reputation, I know your kindness. This is the only way to ensure our safety now.

"Let me go! Get away from me! Forget about my treasure!"

She smiled.

—Don't abandon me, and don't forget to give me a considerable treasure after I die.

……

The setting sun dipped even lower in the sky, as if it had already melted the boundary between heaven and earth, about to extinguish itself in the deep pool of twilight.

She was falling, she finished her last song, and her vision gradually darkened:

“Back in our clan… my grandparents said it felt like the days would never end…”

She watched the hot air balloon disappear into the distance, and gazed into Siber's tearful eyes:

"Later I realized that loved ones will grow old, houses will collapse, bread will mold, and even my parents, whom I once thought were invincible, will die..."

"So, the world has changed so much. So, it's possible to leap over black walls..."

With her last bit of strength, she took out a golden sunflower hair tie and tossed it to Siber:

“Sister Sisi…cough cough! This is the last thing the clan leader gave me…a legacy item. He told me…to give it to you when the time is right…”

"Go out and bury this hair tie in the ground... Its essence is a golden gem, and long, long afterward, in an era when nightingales are allowed to sing... it will emerge from the earth and be found by future generations..."

She closed her eyes, tears of blood streaming down her cheeks, her red hair fluttering gently as it drifted across the sky.

An excruciating pain shot through her chest, her heartbeat grew fainter, and she seemed to hear Feng Chang's last words echoing in her ears:

"In the future, there will be an ideal era, with one or more ideal world lords who are radiant and righteous. They will allow us to sing, to chant bold songs, and to loudly praise freedom."

"Fairness and justice can be achieved without the need for blood and fire."

"When that day comes, you can sing your hearts out. As for us, we will dye the roses red with our blood. Sooner or later, someone will turn the page of history, witness our story, and vindicate us."

……

—Shi Ying, she did not inherit her ancestors' hatred for the extermination of their clan, nor their hatred and despair for the Mother Goddess and the Empress.

— Rather, it is "inheritance".

What she inherited was the rationality and clarity of her predecessors.

Therefore, she will not lose her mind because of the awakening of her bloodline. Phoenix misjudged her determination and also misjudged the good and evil of the Nightingale Clan.

But the viewers off-screen believed it all. They believed the Nightingales were a corrupt race, that the Time Nightingales had been corrupted by their ancestors and lost their minds, that Phoenix was superior to the Time Nightingales, and that the Radiant Mother was superior to the Nightingales. Just as… some people believed the Eighth Seat was superior to Su Ming'an.

—Who killed the robin?
"Kill Lu Shu, then kill Lu, destroy the tower... then there will be no more gods in this world! No god can suppress us anymore! Hahahaha!"

……

“Grandmother…” Shi Ying looked up, blood flowing from her chest.

The sunflower hair tie on her head was something her grandmother found when she was a child and left to her.

She held the hair tie, as if responding to a voice from a distant time and space:
“Grandmother, generation after generation, century after century… I have waited for that era, I have met such a world lord.”

“A small world.” She looked at Su Ming’an.

“From the Garden of Eden.” He looked at the white stone again.

"In the future, they will surely be people of glory and justice. They will allow us to sing, allow us to sing bold songs, and allow us to loudly praise freedom."

"Even if I am no longer noble, even if I am filthy. Even if I am a...bad nightingale."

Three hundred people sang with noble pride before the world.

A little nightingale sang an ugly and ferocious song in front of four people.

Greatness and humility.

Animals that roll in the mud smear themselves with black mud in order to survive.

"Shh!"

The sword blade was pulled from her chest, and Shi Ying rolled into the mud, losing all her strength. She coughed up blood, her whole body was cold and she shivered, but she felt someone hold her in their arms, catching the white stone in her chest.

One drop, two drops...

Warm, scalding hot... is it rainwater? It's raining...?
She felt as if she had returned to her childhood, to that slum filled with mud and rain. The adults would pinch her ears and yell at her, and stray dogs would bully her. She was hungry all year round and could only drink dirty water and eat grass roots to fill her stomach. Whenever it got cold and rain fell, the small shed at home could not keep her out of the rain, and her parents would kick her out to stand in the rain, making her joints ache all over from the cold...

But the rainwater was warm, and my body no longer ached.

A gentle hand stroked her forehead, followed by a low, compassionate voice:

"...I will fix everything, I will redeem you."

I won't let you die. I misunderstood you. Your betrayal was glorious, and your deception wasn't deception at all.

"No." She gasped, her hand vaguely touching his head, soft and yielding, like touching a small bamboo shoot.
“You know, even if we did it again, we wouldn’t find a better way… I might die an even more gruesome death, and no one might even know why I died…”

Su Ming'an pursed her lips as she recalled her previous death.

"At least this way, I have a lot of fame, a lot of money, and a lot of love..."

Her voice was barely audible, almost carried away by the wind, yet it carried a familiar, habitual hint of reproach:
"You don't know, do you, Xiaoshanzhu... your inner voice can also lie. As long as you keep hypnotizing yourself and keep repeating a concept, those noises will disappear... just like you kept repeating the rescue, you hypnotized yourself, and so did I."

"So, just now, I kept repeating the concept of 'kill you all, kill you all'... so you couldn't hear my true feelings, and you didn't have to hesitate to stab me..."

"I'm so glad I met you, it's just so unlucky..."

"I don't know why I blush when you hear my thoughts... I don't know why I think you look beautiful when I see you sleeping..."

"I don't understand what love is... I didn't feel any love when I was trying to win over those people..."

Her gaze lingered on his face with difficulty, her lips moving slightly as if trying to bring a smile to her lips: "But seeing you... makes me especially happy..."

"It's like seeing one of my pet owls, I'm so happy, so incredibly happy..."

"If I hadn't given the white stone to the lab in the first place, none of this would have happened... It was such a waste of time and effort to turn back and snatch it back."

“I was a ‘bad thief,’ but in the end, I was a… ‘good liar.’”

She gazed at him slowly and carefully, her eyes filled with his tiny form, as if afraid of mistaking or missing anything.

It was as if her eyes reflected so many things.

"I did this only for my own selfish desires, to become a nobleman, to be adored by thousands, not for any selfless or humiliating reasons..."

"I wouldn't do this if I could just survive..."

"I am a...not at all noble...nightingale..."

“I heard…you…are Oliver…to be remembered by you means eternal life…”

The wind had long since died down, and even the dust had settled.

She narrowed her eyes and saw a face with red-rimmed eyes.

The brilliant rays of the setting sun shone down from the side, outlining her pale silhouette.

In that instant, Su Ming'an clearly saw a trembling smile slowly bloom on her blood-stained lips. That smile was like a flower bud finally unfolding all its petals in the morning dew.

"then you……"

...Do you remember me?

Her expression was one of fear, lacking the relief and liberation of Su Ming'an's companions.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, the bitter tears quickly soaking his clothes. Her eyes trembled with fear, her whole body shook with fear, and she covered the back of his head with her hands in terror.

She bit her lip tightly, gasping for breath, and clung to him, but the blood kept flowing.

Unlike those great people, she was clearly afraid.

and so--

……

[Qi Zhou continued to observe: "Her expression was one of terror... What a pity. With the stone piercing her chest like that, she must have struggled for a while before dying. Possessing a treasure is a crime; if she hadn't been greedy and swallowed the white stone, this wouldn't have happened."]

……

—The last time, her expression of fear was not because she was afraid of punishment, but simply because she was afraid of death.

He had seen too many great people, so he overlooked—

How can an ordinary person not feel fear of death?

……

"The other side of the rebar was firmly fixed to the wall, so she must have been thrown over there, impaled on the rebar, and then fell with the force of the impact, the rebar piercing through her from back to front," Qi Zhou analyzed.

……

Therefore, she knew from the beginning that the white stone could not be detonated, and the only solution was for her to swallow the white stone herself to awaken her bloodline and defeat the three people.

Therefore, the death scene that Su Ming'an saw last time was not because someone threw her onto the steel bars, but because Su Ming'an was not there at the time, and Tian Yu was too weak to do it. After swallowing the white stone, Shi Ying faced the steel bars with her back and stabbed herself from back to front, forcibly killing herself. She then took out the white stone and handed it to Tian Yu to take away.

—Who killed the robin?
Not anyone.

In the story of "The Nightingale and the Rose," it is never anyone who kills the nightingale, but rather the nightingale that stains the "branches" red with its own breast.

……

It was the robin himself who killed the robin.

……

Under the moonlight, the nightingale whispers softly, "Young man, don't let true love slip away."

The reddest rose you desire is hard to find even in the dead of winter; only the hottest song can change its color.

Tears of youth silently tap against the window; the beloved only loves the fiery red flames.

The garden is full of white roses, but none are the one she desires. The nightingale thinks, "I'll trade my voice for its brilliance."

Fly to the thorny branches, and warm the fiery thorns with your chest.

……

She knew she would be reborn in the new world's story, even if it wasn't her, the Nightingale Clan could be vindicated because of it—she didn't need to sit on the throne of the world lord and use power to forcibly vindicate the Nightingale, what difference would that make from the robin being killed?
She must do something truly vindicating, so that people will sing for her from the branches.

If this incident is remembered by Su Ming'an, her savior, she will become an incredibly great person.

What she wanted was fame, wealth, and the praise of posterity.

She will become a singer whose voice resounds throughout the future world, and will be sincerely praised by the savior.

“Phoenix did something stupid. If it weren’t for this camera recording, I might not have wanted to sacrifice myself. But with this camera, I don’t want to be criticized after I become the world lord. Being criticized by those netizens is really painful…” she cried as she said, “Don’t forget… don’t forget to spread my story…”

Her reasoning was both laughable and pathetic.

It wasn't for reasons of pure nobility, but mostly out of selfishness.

Driven by selfish motives... he committed a noble act.

She pushed him away again and again, mentioning the chase, the times she deliberately coaxed him to sleep... Yet, he walked towards her again and again, turning into a white ball, turning into Tianyu.

Fortunately, she was a nightingale.

Fortunately, she had the Cursed Spark; fortunately, she was willing.

Fortunately, she was a selfish "petty person".

She tilted her head slightly, as if dreaming of a dream where she was immersed in gold coins. The last glimmer of light in the depths of her pupils began to dim, and her voice became so low as to be barely audible.

She raised her hand and covered the back of his head, whispering tremblingly.

So... Su Ming'an, take the stone out of my heart.

Then, vindicate me and my people.

Let my father's rare kindness surge through my heart like an electric current.

Let's send away that naive, clumsy white stone.

May the reborn, "kind" nightingale find happiness...

……

"Shi Ying, Shi Ying, you thief, liar, fraudster, aren't you the bad nightingale? What kind of good person are you pretending to be?" In a daze, she heard a voice in her ear, a red-haired girl with the same face as her.

"Who are you?" Shi Ying asked.

"I am Tianying, the evil possibility within you, and also you who has awakened a part of your ancestral memories," said the illusory red-haired girl.

“No, you are definitely not evil either.” Shi Ying laughed: “I seem to have recalled many memories, about my ancestors… How many times did Rovasa reset? I can’t remember anymore, but I remember that in some resets, I was called ‘Sky Nightingale’ and did many bad things… What exactly made me become ‘Shi Ying’?”

“Ah, I remember now, Su Ming’an is my online friend, and he gave me the origami star… He told me that if I ever wanted to change myself, I should change my name. I heard that in the Rovas language, ‘shi’ means ‘kindness’, so I’m glad I still have that name.”

"Actually, I can't tell whether I'm a bad guy or a good guy, noble or selfish. I'm so confused, so confused in the end."

"You idiot!" Tianying stared at her bleeding heart and her pale face, then pouted.
"You idiot!!!"

“I’m not stupid, I’m a bad nightingale…” For a moment, Shi Ying saw Su Ming’an’s sad expression.

Her words trailed off, and she smiled.

……

"...Perhaps I am a good nightingale."

"On stage, I played a bad nightingale."

……

"Ding dong!"

[National Day Story - "The Kind Nightingale" Completion Rate: 100%]

……

The girl said that jewelry was better suited to new silk, and the roses were carelessly tossed into the alleyway.

The faded petals drifted in the wind, like the unheard voice that night.

……

Su Ming'an doesn't remember what happened after that.

His consciousness was hazy, his mind was distorted, and his five senses were in disarray. When he finally stopped, all that was left in his arms was a blood-stained white stone.

Like the blood-red embers of a primordial sunset, the sky was burned away, leaving only a dark crimson that stained a few wisps of drifting clouds on the horizon.

In his arms, besides the white stone, there was also a wisp of warmth.

He opened it and saw a beautiful tin core and a photograph.

The photo is quite old. It shows an elderly woman with white hair and a white stone standing under the blazing sun over a mountainside, their faces covered in sweat but still smiling. Next to it is a line of small print: "Grandma Masalia's first time having her picture taken, hehe, luckily I brought a film jelly, so I could take pictures anytime."

He flipped the photo over; on the back was written: "10 Val coins for one photo? That's outrageous! When I become a rich woman, I'll buy all the jelly fairies in Rovasa!"

He subconsciously smiled slightly, and a moment later, a drop of water suddenly appeared on the photo.

He clutched the photo, stunned for a moment.

Suddenly, he heard a sound.

It's the sound of some kind of wings flapping.

Filled with a certain emotion, he immediately turned around, expecting to see something—

On the ground, I saw an owl lying on the verge of death from dehydration.

It's an ordinary owl.

He stopped smiling, squatted down, and fed the owl some water. The owl, however, seemed to cling to him, refusing to leave his shoulder.

In a daze, he remembered that Shi Ying seemed to have mentioned that she had kept an owl as a pet...

"What are you following me for?"

He walked under the setting sun, holding a white stone, and asked it a question.

"Caw—" the owl made a strange sound.

"Is that how owls call? This is the first time I've heard that."

"Gurgle—"

"Did your master ask you to acknowledge me as your master?"

“Guga——!”

"Okay, don't worry, I'll provide meals here... if I remember to feed you."

"Gurgle—"

A person and a bird walked, one in the deep water and the other in the shallow water, towards the end of the sunset.

"Hmm? You said you have something on your foot?"

He looked down and saw a note tied to the owl's leg.

...Could it be that Shi Ying has a backup plan, that she is not actually dead, and that he needs to do something to save her?

He held his breath, took down the note, unfolded it, and looked at it—

The note contained only one line of crooked, illegible handwriting, clearly written by someone who hadn't read or written anything:

……

Wishing you a springtime journey into a new world, Little Mangosteen.

【—The Kind-Hearted Bad Nightingale】

……

[—The Book Left Behind by "The Nightingale"]

"Dad?" Thirteen-year-old Shi Ying gently pushed open the door.

[“Ying…the medicine is in the cabinet…please help me…get it…” an old man’s voice rang out.]

"Are you having a heart attack?" Shi Ying asked.

"You... move... hurry up and get me the medicine... you good-for-nothing!" the old man cursed.

[“…” Shi Ying did not move.]

"You...unfilial daughter...save, save..."

"I don't want to save you," Shi Ying said. "You sold me into that kind of place, sending me to hell. I hate you."

"Cough... Ah... Ah..."

Shi Ying watched helplessly as he died.

After that, she should have completely abandoned her weakness and become an invincible villain. However, perhaps it was a stroke of luck, but a breeze blew past the window, and she smelled the fragrance of flowers.

[As if by some strange twist of fate, she picked up the book that the old drunkard had transformed into after his death and saw a fragment of his past memories.]

"Please... spare my daughter... take it all out on me! Take it out on me!" the old man pleaded, kneeling on the ground.

"You old drunkard, you sell your daughter and you have the nerve to say such things? She's on the next street, right? If you don't pay your debts today, we'll take your daughter away!" one of the thugs yelled.

"I...I have no choice...My whole family is starving...The loans you're charging are so high, we can't survive without selling our children...She's the only one who can earn money, if she doesn't go, our whole family, including herself, will starve to death...How about this, you take my organs to pay off the debt! My organs can be sold for money!" the old man pleaded.

"Your organs? What's the value of organs from a lower race? There are organ sellers everywhere on the streets now, and the prices are getting increasingly outrageous. Even if you sold all your organs, it wouldn't be enough to pay off your debts!"

“Ah…Ah…”

"Damn it! This old drunkard's had a heart attack! Brothers, let's get out of here! Don't let him pin the blame on us!"

After a series of quick footsteps, a clear female voice called out, "Dad?"

"Ying...the medicine is in the cabinet...quickly...get it for me..."

[...Only then did Shi Ying realize that before she coldly watched her father die from his illness, he was begging to sell his organs to pay off debts and bring her back.]

This cannot wash away his sins; she will never forgive him for pushing her into that hell. However, for a fleeting moment, she realized that someone she found utterly repulsive, evil, and disgusting could also have this side to him.

She began to feel lost.

[Can becoming a purely evil person truly make you powerful? Or, to put it another way, are there truly purely evil people in this world?]

Having abandoned all her kindness, will she become unrecognizable? Even worse than her old, drunken father?

She wrote this memory down, constantly reminding herself not to forget the sound of that day. It turned out that even the most wicked scoundrel could unleash a perplexing kindness. Just like she and Bai Bai had discussed—in this world, is it better to be kind and foolish, or intelligent and wicked?

Kind and foolish people, though their conscience is clear, will always be bullied. Intelligent and wicked people, though they become stronger, will eventually face condemnation.

【…】

So, she thought.

She wanted to be both kind and wicked, both foolish and clever.

She needed to maintain a clear conscience while also avoiding being bullied.

If the family had had enough money, would this tragedy have been avoided? Dad wouldn't have become such a ruthless jerk, and Mom wouldn't have pinched and yelled at her...?

Therefore, she wants to make lots and lots of money, so that tragedies will never happen again in this world...

……

Su Ming'an stood there for a moment.

After a moment, he concealed his expression and continued walking forward.

Suddenly, a hot air balloon floated out of the shadows in the sky.

Siber stood on the hot air balloon, holding a blood-stained sleeve, her head bowed, as if she had just emerged from a nightmare.

Two pairs of blue eyes stared at each other.

"Yuanyuan, where are you going?" Su Ming'an asked the white stone in his arms.

“I remember now.” White Stone’s voice was deep: “There’s something I haven’t told you. Actually, I’m not White Stone, but a pure white heart.”

...the heart?

Indeed, the stone resembles the nascent form of a heart.

“My best friend risked his life to send me out,” White Stone said. “I want to see my true self… to see the person to whom my heart belongs, the boy named Su Liujin.”

Just then, the owl on his shoulder hooted, and Su Ming'an suddenly remembered that he didn't know the owl's name.

Just as he was about to ask, the owl cawed.

“It says it doesn’t have a name. Shi Ying didn’t give it a name. You can name it,” said Bai Shitou.

Its emoticons are no longer visible; it seems it no longer has the inclination to display them.

"Then let's call it—"

Su Ming'an pondered for a moment, then raised his shoulders.

The owl soared into the sky, flying towards the distant storm, towards the vast, silvery-blue firmament, towards the boundless, sunlit heavens.

I give you my feather.

I give you my eyes.

Take my bone gun and aim it at the night.

You will see that even the proud Klitschko is afraid of you...

……