The female anchor turned into the dean of an ancient academy

"Why don't you answer?" Xia Chenghao pressed on, a hint of hurt and anger in his tone. "Are you so unwilling to face me? Can't you be honest with yourself?"

"I..." Cen Jiexiao was speechless. She didn't know how to answer Xia Chenghao's question. Did he want her to admit that she didn't have no feelings for him? Did he want her to admit that his gentleness and thoughtfulness, his domineering and strong will, had stirred ripples in her heart?

But, so what?

"I just... I just can't betray my country, my family, my friends..." Cen Jiexiao's voice became lower and lower, as if she was trying to convince herself, and as if she was explaining to Xia Chenghao.

"Just for those illusory things, those ideas that will never be realized, you are going to give up a better status and power?" Xia Chenghao's voice was a little excited. He could not understand Cen Jiexiao's thoughts, and he could not accept her rejection.

"I know my ideas may be naive, and my ideals may never be realized." Cen Jiexiao's voice was soft but resolute. "But I cannot watch my country engulfed in war, my family and friends displaced, or my students lose their chance to receive an education."

"You..." Xia Chenghao wanted to say something but was interrupted by Cen Jiexiao.

"Xia Chenghao, go away! Leave here and go back to your Xixiang!" Cen Jiexiao turned around, not looking at Xia Chenghao's hurt eyes, "We are not the same kind of people, and there can be no future between us."

"Jie Xiao, do you know that these thoughts and wishes of yours may not be realized even after thousands or even tens of thousands of years, because where there are people, there are fights, where there are fights, there is the Jianghu, where there is the Jianghu, there is killing, and where there is killing, there is a place full of bestiality!"

"Cheng Hao, stop talking!" Cen Jiexiao suddenly raised her head, looking at him with tearful eyes, her tone filled with pleading. "You know it's impossible for us, so why are you still pestering me? Why are you so stubborn?" Her voice trembled, like a fragile leaf, ready to be torn apart by the wind. "Go away, return to your Xixiang, return to your battlefield, return to your world! That's where you belong, not here, not with me..."

Xia Chenghao didn't say anything, only gripping her shoulders even more firmly, his gaze piercing her, as if he could see through her. "Cen Jiexiao!" His voice was low and hoarse, tinged with barely suppressed anger and despair. "Do you think I want this? Do you think I want to see this end? You forced all this upon me. You created the possibility between us, then strangled it in the cradle bit by bit!"

Cen Jiexiao was startled by his sudden outburst and instinctively tried to retreat, but he held her firmly in place. "I... I didn't..." She protested feebly, but found she couldn't find any excuse at all.

"No?" Xia Chenghao sneered, his tone filled with self-mockery and bitterness. "Then tell me, why do you reject me again and again? Why do you push me away again and again? Why can't you give me a chance, let's work together to create a future that belongs to us?"

Cen Jiexiao was speechless under his questioning. She could only turn her head to the side, not looking at his eyes filled with pain and despair. She was afraid that if she looked into his eyes, she would soften her heart and want to agree to his request.

"Cen Jiexiao, don't you think you can be cruel sometimes?" Xia Chenghao's voice gradually deepened, a hint of indescribable sadness in his tone. "You've broken the rules and order that once kept everything in place. Most people will likely be the remnants left behind by this change, and these remnants will lose much, perhaps even their only lives."

Cen Jiexiao felt dizzy from his shaking. She closed her eyes weakly and let the tears slide down her cheeks.

"Xia Chenghao, please go away, please..." She pushed him away powerlessly, her voice as weak as a mosquito, "It's impossible between us. No matter how hard you try, it's all in vain..."

Xia Chenghao looked at her pale face and tear-filled eyes, and it felt as if his heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand. The pain was so severe that he could hardly breathe. He knew that this time, he had truly lost her, the woman who had once made his heart flutter and whom he wanted to protect his whole life.

"Okay, I'm leaving." He let go of Cen Jiexiao weakly, his voice terribly hoarse, as if two pieces of rusty iron were rubbing against each other. "But you must remember, one day, when my Xixiang army invades the capital of the Great Zhou and opens the seal, I can only guarantee the safety of you and your Zhaoyin Academy. Everything else... wishful thinking!"

After saying this, he didn't even look at Cen Jiexiao, turned around and left, staggering like a body without a soul, leaving behind only a desolate and lonely back, which looked particularly lonely in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Cen Jiexiao collapsed weakly on the ground, tears blurring her vision.

The setting sun, like a red-hot iron, slowly sank behind the mountaintops, leaving a last glimmer of blood-red light on the horizon. Xia Chenghao's words, like sharp, poisoned blades, pierced her heart, piercing her softest, most vulnerable spot, leaving her in agony, almost unable to breathe. She knew she had hurt him once again, completely and irreparably, like a torn piece of brocade, never to be restored.

"Why? There are so many things between people?" Cen Jiexiao slumped weakly on the stone steps, tears blurring her eyes once again. The world before her was blurry, like a shattered mirror that could never be put back together again. Xia Chenghao's dominance was like a fire, hot and intense, wanting to melt her; Xia Chenghao's gentleness was like a pool of spring water, clear and warm, wanting to surround her; Xia Chenghao's deep affection was like a poem, lingering and sad, wanting to move her. It wasn't that she hadn't been moved, and it wasn't that she hadn't thought about throwing everything away and responding to his feelings at all costs.

But every time she tried to reciprocate his feelings, the righteousness of her country and the hatred of her people would weigh her down like mountains, suffocating her, leaving her unable to move, forcing her to push him away again and again, hurting him. Does loving someone mean giving up one's responsibilities? Does protecting one's country mean sacrificing one's love? Is loyalty and love truly incompatible?

"Am I really wrong?" Cen Jiexiao clutched her chest in agony, feeling as if her heart were about to break, shattered into pieces, never to be put back together again. As the night deepened, darkness surged in like a tide, engulfing the entire world. Cen Jiexiao dragged her tired steps out of the study and arrived at the work area of Zhaoyin Academy. However, the solemn atmosphere in the academy made her heart sink, like the calm before the storm, making her feel uneasy and depressed.