Chapter 42: Yaoxing Academy 42 (End) Part 3

“With Lu Zhou’s Blackening Value cleared, leave this world now,” Xun Ji had no time for jokes and commanded gravely. “Don’t waste more Points lingering. Go immediately.”

“Is Brother so eager because he’s afraid Lu Zhou might not make it, collapsing the Small World and trapping me?” Lin Yule asked.

Silence lasted a few seconds on the other end.

“If you know, then stop delaying.”

“What about you, Brother?” Lin Yule said softly. “The Blackening Value isn’t maxed out, so Brother can’t leave. Will Brother die here with Lu Zhou?”

Xun Ji didn’t answer. They both knew deep down that any comforting words now would just be self-deception.

Lin Yule stared unblinkingly at Lu Zhou, who sat pale like a withered statue, and said into the phone, “Brother, I have a way for you to leave safely. As long as…”

He held the phone in front of Lu Zhou. “Before Lu Zhou dies, the Blackening Value reaches 100%.”

“What are you saying? Lu Zhou is in the hospital getting emergency treatment right now. How…” The voice suddenly stopped as Xun Ji seemed to realize something.

After a long pause, he softly called out a name.

“Lu Zhou?”

“…Xun Ji.” Lu Zhou seemed too weak to speak, his voice barely audible. “I have something to ask you.”

The voice from the receiver sounded slightly distorted. Xun Ji tightened his grip on the phone, his heart pounding uneasily.

“Lu Zhou, don’t talk first,” Xun Ji tried to soften his voice. “I’ll have Lin Yule take you to the hospital right now.”

For the first time, Lu Zhou didn’t obey him.

“Xun Ji, tell me…” With the knife still in his chest, every word felt like carving out his heart. “What is a ‘Protagonist’?”

Lin Yule’s lingering in this world, calling him at this moment—Xun Ji finally understood.

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” he said. “Lu Zhou, you promised me earlier that you wouldn’t die.”

“Yeah, I promised you…” Lu Zhou murmured. “But Xun Ji, I really can’t tell anymore. Tell me, okay?”

“You approaching me, helping me, hurting me, indulging my feelings for you, even… marrying me, it was all because…”

Though the voice in the receiver was flat, Xun Ji’s chest inexplicably tightened.

“…I’m the ‘Protagonist,’ aren’t I?”

Xun Ji had seen Lu Zhou sad before. On the fishing boat, Lu Zhou had endured the entire winter night alone but cried all his grievances on his back.

But this time, no one would carry him or let him cry.

“Yes.” Xun Ji answered. “Lu Zhou, you are this world’s Protagonist. I’m a Tasker. Everything I did to you was for Tasks.”

The last glimmer in those dark pupils finally extinguished, and Lu Zhou wearily closed his eyes.

“…But what I said to you in the Rose Garden was also true.” Xun Ji’s voice was calm and gentle. “Lu Zhou, live on.”

He was always like this. No one else in the world could bring him back from death to life with just one sentence.

From life to death.

Blood gushed from Lu Zhou’s mouth. He reached up to clutch his heart.

The fruit knife was gone, leaving only a deep bloody hole. Thick crimson blood surged endlessly from between his fingers. His white suit was soaked through, unrecognizable. Lu Zhou clearly felt his life rapidly slipping away.

He was about to die.

Lin Yule expressionlessly tossed the fruit knife out the car window. His mind’s System issued shrill warnings, alerting him that his Points were exhausted and he would be forcibly sent away from this world.

“Lu Zhou, I’ve already told you how to save him,” he said, curling his lips for his final words. “You know what to do.”

Lin Yule’s body suddenly slumped limply, as if his soul had been extracted in an instant.

“Lu Zhou? Lu Zhou? What happened?” From the phone dropped to the side, Xun Ji’s voice faintly sounded.

Lu Zhou used his last bit of strength to tilt his body sideways, drawing closer to the small screen.

Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the phone screen, blurring his vision so he couldn’t see the button he wanted to press.

If only Lin Yule had called with video, he could at least see him one last time. Lu Zhou thought with some regret.

How absurd this world was. Everything was a scripted plot; he was just a puppet with a predetermined fate. And the man he loved was a gentle executioner, skillfully leading him to accept the torment of destiny.

Lu Zhou laughed lowly. The hole in his heart seemed to stop bleeding—he had no blood left to lose.

“Xun Ji…” He called his name.

“I’m here.” Xun Ji responded patiently. “Lu Zhou, an ambulance is heading your way. Hold on.”

“Xun Ji…” Lu Zhou recalled that night on the fishing boat, the beautiful sunrise on the sea after Xun Ji appeared.

He didn’t know if he had any chance to escape the fate of being the “Protagonist.” But if playing the executioner was Xun Ji’s destiny, then at least this time, he could fulfill it for him.

“Xun Ji, I hate you.” Lu Zhou said. “No matter which world you go to next, or what Protagonist you meet, you must firmly remember…”

“I hate you. I’ll hate you forever.”

【Ding! Protagonist’s current Blackening Value: 100%.】

【Congratulations, Host! The Protagonist has fully blackened!】

【Current world Task completed. Preparing teleportation for you to the next world.】

【Wish you happy Tasking.】

-Yaoxing Academy Arc End-