"Ethan Zhang."
Rachel Lan called out urgently and hurried to my side, her face set with stubborn resolve.
"It's already come to this—how long are you going to keep being so stubborn?"
There was anger in Sylvia Blue's words.
"That's right, little girl. You're not like us—Ethan Zhang went through hell just to bring you back to life. If you stay here, there's nothing left for you. If you die, then it's all over. Whatever happens, we'll face it ourselves; you don't need to bear all this with us."
Entity 004 spoke earnestly. I stared at Rachel Lan, seeing unwavering determination in her eyes—she showed not a hint of surrender.
"Rachel Lan, what Entity 004 said is right, and so is Agent Two. You staying here won't help at all. Why not go back to the living world and wait for Ethan Zhang? Even if Ethan Zhang dies, he can still return to the living world without any loss. But you're different—if anything goes wrong for you here, then everything Ethan Zhang has done to get here will have been wasted."
Agent Seven smiled as he spoke. At that moment, anger surfaced on Sylvia Blue's face. Rachel Lan gazed quietly into the distance and spoke in a low voice.
"When I was very young, my father taught me about the existence of the Sacred Spirits and about faith. But back then, I couldn't understand—what was the point of believing in something so intangible, something that didn't exist before my eyes, only in books and pictures as the Four Symbols? Why put faith in them at all?"
I walked up to Rachel Lan, wanting to speak, but she turned to me, responding with a sorrowful yet blissful smile. The words I meant to say died in my throat.
"Just because I haven't seen it, I can't believe it. But what if I have seen it? When I was ten, my father came home less and less, sometimes not at all for a whole year. I could handle most things on my own, but I desperately wanted to talk to him—just a word would have been enough. For a while, I doubted everything he taught me about the Four Sacred Spirits, even resented it. Compared to him, all that meant nothing to me."
Rachel Lan grew emotional as she slowly walked to the edge of the city wall.
"Endless waiting only brought more waiting. In the end, I chose to believe in what my father taught me—and I held onto that faith, because I knew that at the end of this road, he would be there. I wanted to see him again, to feel his hand on my forehead, praising me, loving me. I wanted to know everything, so I had to believe. If I couldn't even trust what my father left me, maybe we'd never be reunited."
It was the first time I'd ever heard Rachel Lan speak so much. Yet, parts of her story were familiar to me, from my own memories and from others. Maybe I still know very little about her.
"Until the things I believed in appeared in my dreams—I believed. Every night, the four of them kept me company through those long, lonely nights, staying until dawn before quietly leaving, always watching over me. They told me how beautiful this world was, how wondrous everything here could be. I wanted to see it for myself, to see the world they'd described in my dreams—how beautiful, how vast it truly was."
No one spoke; they just watched Rachel Lan in silence. I stared, dumbfounded, as she seemed ready to pour out everything she'd kept bottled up for years—in this world she'd once dreamed of and believed in so deeply.
"That day, when everything should have ended, I couldn't bear to watch the person I loved die before my eyes. I heard their voices then, and made my decision—because I knew they'd never left my side. But now, when I open my eyes, that beautiful world is gone."
Tears spilled from Rachel Lan's eyes, sparkling as they danced in the wind alongside her flowing hair. I walked over quietly and took her hand.
"Don't joke about giving up what you believe in so easily. This world is real—even broken, it's still beneath my feet, never gone, never far away. If I had the pieces, I'd use my own hands to put this shattered world back together, restore its original beauty."
I tilted my head up, gazing at the distant, dim sun. Rachel Lan suddenly turned away, tears streaming down her face, and swept her eyes over all the Forsaken.
"Are you really content with this? Are you just going to stand here and die? You were abandoned, but you survived, you lived in this world—so why not protect it, protect your home? Even if there's no place left for you in the living world, this is your home now. Whether in sorrow or joy, you belong here."
"Hmph, easy for you to say. What can we do? Do you think we're happy about any of this? As the world's burial goods, this place once accepted us, nurtured us, let our broken faith survive here. But now, we're just being tossed out like trash, along with the world itself. What can we believe in? What is there left to trust? Nothing..."
Suddenly, Entity 001 screamed at the top of her lungs, then crouched down, burying her head in her hands as tears glimmered in her eyes. Every Forsaken wore an exhausted expression—their fatigue erupting all at once, the weariness long buried in their bodies. In this aimless, uncertain world, they were already drained to their core.
(Irrelevant passage: This chapter isn't over ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!)
But now, even their right to survive in this world is being stripped away—no reason, no excuse. Just as Entity 001 said, they're being treated like garbage.
"I'm not leaving, Ethan Zhang. If I go, this beautiful world will be nothing but the past. Then everything I've believed in all these years—what would it mean?"
Rachel Lan lifted her head and gazed at me in silence.
After a long moment, I sighed and pulled her into an embrace.
"I'm sorry, Rachel... I'm sorry... I will..."
"Never let you come to any harm."
Suddenly, Sylvia Blue, who had been furious, spoke. Tears shimmered in her deep blue eyes as she walked over, glancing at me before turning to Rachel Lan.
"Thank you, Sylvia..."
Sylvia Blue lifted her head, her silvery hair swirling as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. She looked visibly relieved.
"Alright, that's enough. It's time. Let's face the end together."
Agent Seven stood up, the sorrow in his eyes gone. In that moment, it was as if the wind had blown away all the Forsaken's exhaustion.
"Rachel Lan, if you want to protect your faith, we have no objection. But we have one condition."
Entity 001 also stood up; though she still looked lost, her expression had softened considerably.
"Go ahead."
"We must keep working on a way back to the living world, and we'll help you however we can. But if it doesn't work out by the very last moment, you must leave. Do you accept?"
Rachel Lan nodded slightly. I looked around at the Forsaken and thanked them.
At that moment, the dim sunlight slanted down through the black clouds. Except for the faint glow of sunset above us, the distant sky was nothing but darkness. Black streams of curse energy had already crossed the mountains and poured into the ravines; soon, this place would become an isolated island in a boundless black sea.
The Forsaken gradually returned to their rooms, leaving only Sylvia Blue, Rachel Lan, and me at the edge of the city wall, gazing into the distance.
"Sorry, Rachel. All this time, I never paid attention to how you felt."
Rachel Lan smiled and shook her head. I reached out and wiped the tears from her cheek.
"Get some rest. Night is falling soon."
Sylvia Blue muttered, and Rachel Lan stood up from beside me.
"Ethan Zhang, you..."
"Don't worry, I'll figure something out. Rachel, try calling out to Xiao Ai and the others in your dreams—restoring your connection with them is the only way to open a path. Tonight, I'll turn everything in the forest that can be used into robots."
Rachel Lan went inside. I leaned back, supporting myself on the ground, while Sylvia Blue lingered, as if savoring the moment.
"She'll be a good mother."
Sylvia Blue suddenly spoke. I was startled. She quickly tiptoed toward the house, and I smiled helplessly, feeling my cheeks flush.
In reality, I'm not even human anymore. But there will always be a way. I've vaguely sensed that the Heavenly Soul might be helping me.
But for now, I don't plan to think about it. Night falls, and the howls from the forest grow louder. There's not much time left—I have to create the robots as I've imagined.
I quickly flew down from the city wall. Spirit Snake was already waiting for me. I landed in the center of his coiled body and closed my eyes.
"I'm counting on you, Ghost Ancestor. We need to turn all these monsters into robots as soon as possible."