God's Gift

"Ke Ming".

Yu Youyou lifted Lu Keming's face with both hands, her flowing hair constantly brushing against Lu Keming's cheeks, like a gentle caress.

"You can't die."

Lu Keming forced a smile, but bright red blood kept dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"You know... I won't survive."

A red line extended to the corner of his eye, making him look like a fully bloomed red camellia, striving to bloom in the last moment of his life, leaving the most gorgeous beauty in the world.

"I can no longer maintain my human form..." He swallowed a mouthful of blood, which tasted sweet and metallic, and continued panting, "Killing me... that was... my end."

He looked at Yu Youyou, his gaze filled with deep affection, tracing every inch of her memories, as if he wanted to remember her with all his might.

He almost got to be with her forever.

"I'm sorry, Youyou."

I'm sorry, he can no longer be with her.

"Ke Ming, if you die, I will die too." Yu Youyou wiped the blood from Lu Ke Ming's mouth, took his hand, and stroked the fish-shaped markings on his palm.

"This contract will not only allow me to return to my origin."

"It is also connected to our lives."

These words struck Lu Keming like a thunderclap. His pupils trembled violently, his face remained blank for a long time, and his voice disappeared into his throat.

The world faded and fell silent behind Yu Youyou. All of Lu Keming's senses were shut down at this moment. He could only see Yu Youyou's lips moving, but he could not hear any of her voice.

After a long while, Lu Keming suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He gripped Yu Youyou's hand tightly and forced out a syllable:

"Do not……"

His knuckles turned white from the force, and his voice was as dry as if he were rubbing sandpaper.

"How could this be...why?"

His eyes widened, tears welling up, as he stared intently at the dragon pattern on his hand, feeling an intense hatred for its existence for the first time.

"Terminate the contract...we want to terminate the contract..."

His mind raced, trying to find a way to break the contract.

Finally, he raised his hand and forcefully opened his mouth to bite the piece of flesh, as if he wanted to tear it off.

“It’s no use, Ke Ming.” Yu Youyou stopped Lu Ke Ming’s frantic actions. “Once the contract is established, it can never be broken.”

"Cannot be resolved?" Lu Keming seemed to have lost all his strength. He slumped down to his knees, large tears suddenly rolling down his face. His face was distorted by crying and was no longer as delicate and beautiful as before.

"sorry Sorry……"

His body trembled incessantly, curled up in pain, his chest heaved violently, his crying turned into a physiological spasm, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably, making a soft, clattering sound.

Why would she be implicated?

He was merely a lowly human being, already fortunate enough to receive the love of a god, unworthy of her sharing life and death with him.

As Lu Keming sobbed uncontrollably, Yu Youyou cupped his face in her hands, gazing intently at him, her radiant glow shining upon him: "Keming, do you know..."

"I used to be very scared."

Her voice struck Lu Keming's heart like a stone thrown into a lake, soaring high and falling heavily, instantly stirring up countless ripples.

"I was not yet an adult when the Dark Star descended."

"All the other gods are dead, leaving me here all alone."

"I don't have the power to defeat it. I don't know if I can save the world. I don't know if I'll let the efforts of the other gods be in vain..."

Yu Youyou paused for a long time, then placed her hand on Lu Keming's lips, wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth with her fingertips. Her voice sounded somewhat distant.

"I really want to... I really want to call for help."

"Just like when I was a child, just like when my parents and other gods were still around, I cried for help without thinking of anything else."

"But I can't." Yu Youyou lowered her eyes, her thick, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes trembling slightly, obscuring the light in her eyes.

"Because I know that no one will come."

"I am the last god in this world, and I am all alone here."

At this moment, Yu Youyou seemed extremely far away from Lu Keming. He wanted to get closer to her, but his stiff body couldn't move an inch.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed his slightly sour saliva.

"But you came."

Yu Youyou looked up at Lu Keming, her bright eyes fixed on him intently, which made Lu Keming feel momentarily dazed.

"Throughout four thousand years of darkness, I have been longing for your arrival."

“After a long wait, you have finally come to my side.” She stroked Lu Keming’s cheek and whispered, “You saved me.”

"You rescued me from the darkness, allowing me to return to this beautiful world, where I met Ali, Minghua, Fang Ziang, and Anthony..."

Her gaze swept over everyone present, noticing their tearful eyes, and she smiled before turning to Lu Keming:

“When you come, I will no longer be as powerless as I was then, and I will no longer be able to watch them perish without being able to do anything.”

"And finally, I'm not alone anymore."

Yu Youyou gently stroked Lu Keming's eyebrows and eyes, her gaze tender:

"But saving this world is my responsibility, not yours."

She looked at the desolate cliffs around her and said softly:

"This used to be the most beautiful cliff in the world, covered with tender green grass, where countless little lives were born and grew up."

"It's not just here, it's the whole world."

"But they all vanished because of my anger."

"Now I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do and turn this place back to normal."

Yu Youyou took out the divine essence of all the gods from her chest and sent it into Lu Keming's body: "They will remain in your body and purify the Dark Star."

"You will never become an evil dragon again, Ke Ming."

The divine energy entered Lu Keming's body, suppressing the restless spiritual power within him and causing the red lines on his skin to gradually fade away.

Lu Keming felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing and twisting his heart. He watched the divine energy continuously entering his body and retreated in terror: "No...where are you going?"

"Yu Youyou! What are you doing?"

The flames around him went out, and the red patterns on his body disappeared, but Yu Youyou's body gradually became transparent.

"Yu Youyou!" Lu Keming gripped Yu Youyou's hand tightly, watching her increasingly translucent fingers, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed until he was almost suffocating.

"If you want to leave, kill me first."

"You must live, Ke Ming."

Yu Youyou slipped her fingers between Lu Keming's, their fingers meeting. "I'm not with you forever yet."

"I can only come back if you live."

"I will come back," Yu Youyou comforted Lu Keming. "As long as you live well."

"When..." Lu Keming could no longer hold her, "When..."

Yu Youyou gazed into Lu Keming's tearful eyes, then leaned down and placed a final kiss on his forehead: "Tomorrow, some tomorrow."

"So you should look forward to each tomorrow."

Her figure, along with her body, transformed into countless fireflies, weaving together to form a giant fish above the ocean.

As the last of the tide receded, revealing the bare land, the giant fish's body slowly sank onto the land.

“Yu Youyou…” Ye Li stood there, his fingertips digging deep into his palm, his face pale as he stared at the light.

The giant fish's body rapidly withered and rotted, and countless tiny points of light emerged from its decaying body. They opened their bewildered eyes, curiously looking at the world before them, and hopped and skipped away from the giant fish's body.

They whispered among themselves, filled with the joy of new life, and happily walked into this world.

Then it turned into flowers, grass, trees, butterflies, birds, deer, and humans...

Fang Ziang stared blankly at the life forms that were growing from Yu Youyou's body, his gaze unfocused, and he murmured to himself:

"life……"

When a whale falls, all things are born.

The "Notes of the Old Gods" slipped silently from his hands, its pages turning in the wind, finally settling on the last page:

[After extinction comes rebirth.]

—From "The Old Gods' Notebook: Extinction"

The flesh and blood of the gods gave birth to new life.

The humans who were turned into monsters by the Dark Star gradually lost their manes and sharp claws, and returned to their human form.

They joyfully embraced their long-separated relatives and loved ones.

In this grand feast of life, everyone on the cliff edge looked in the direction of Lu Keming.

He stood there, like a statue whose soul had been taken away.

Those eyes that once held Yu-Yu's presence are now just endless emptiness, silently reflecting the new world she created with her own hands.