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Clearly.
All the past neglect and disregard of the young man finally came to light, no longer able to hide in the dark, forgotten corners.
All of this was because of her disregard!
When did it start, that even the young man's height was forgotten in the corners of her memory?
When did it start, that even though a birthday was specifically held for the young man, her interaction with him was less than her conversations with others?
When did it start, that her interactions with the young man, her entire day's life, became so dull and insipid, like building a cage to shackle him, using the name of freedom to trap a truly free bird in loneliness until it died?
How despicable, how shameless... [At the young man's birthday banquet, you, who always acted as if you were the true host, the center of attention, the organizer, fled in disarray. You fled the hall, fled the corridor, fled from the young man.]
[You fled from the young man whom you dared not face after tearing away the thin veil that had covered your eyes, a veil that could not conceal or restrain anything.]
[The young woman, who should have faced everything flawlessly, was actually crushed by the truth.]
[Is there anything more ridiculous than this?]
[No.]
[The young man would not do anything to you, absolutely would not do anything to you, he wouldn't even scold you for your deplorable actions.]
[The only one you couldn't face was yourself!]
[You are so foolish, so incompetent. You chose to ignore him when you were together, and then chose to flee when it was the only time you could rewrite things.]
[On this point alone, don't you feel that you are a bit too human?]
[Weak like a human, evasive like a human.]
[Disheveled and deplorable like a human.]
The beautiful skirt was torn with small slits in the first step, the fabric emitting a crisp wail.
Aili Xiya, however, only ran faster.
As if she wanted to escape this world.
Her self-restrained body had never exerted itself so much. Her full thighs moved at high speed, completely unconcerned whether her abnormality would be discovered by others.
The corridor twisted and turned repeatedly, she didn't know where she was going, but she just ran like mad.
People she encountered along the way showed surprised expressions, and many even started to express concern. Those words of comfort seemed meaningless at this moment.
She didn't know how much time had passed, until her senses gradually numbed, and the burning intensity of her emotions seemed to subside.
Aili Xiya stopped.
In front of her was a covered walkway that led in two directions. Signs on the walls indicated male and female on the left and right, respectively.
Clearly, these were restrooms, but this garden was no ordinary creation; the restrooms were also high-tech, without any trace of impurity.
Without hesitation, she fled into the restroom, closing the cubicle door. As if she had finally found her own private space, the young woman finally sat down, her hands falling limply, looking up at the ceiling, her eyes downcast.
If this posture were in a different place, a vast grassland or a specially constructed sky-gazing tower, perhaps looking up would reveal an endless sky.
During the day, breathtaking clouds would change into countless shapes; at night, countless stars would hang in the firmament, like millions of lamps lit up.
But this was a restroom, a place considered impure.
Looking up, she could only see a ceiling made of some unknown material.
It was neither tall nor wide; one could see its end at a glance, not even as good as the well of a frog at the bottom of a well—at least... one could see the real sky.
Oppressive.
Like a bird in a cage.
Not only from a physical level, but also a certain sensation, as if her heart was tightly squeezed, an unspeakable suppression and discomfort.
The flawless young woman, whose every move could stir the hearts of countless people, sat half-leaning against the corner, slumped by the door, her eyes vacant as she stared at the dim yellow light tube, cold, emitting an unreal glow.
"Drip, drip, drip—"
The water in the sink was overflowing. Someone had been impolite enough not to turn off the faucet.
The crystal-clear water droplets were first pushed to the edge, then slid down along the curved grooves, dripping onto the floor, where a small puddle had already formed. The tiny splashes just barely reached Aili Xiya's hand, offering a hint of coolness.
—Still a drop in the bucket, meaningless. It could neither reduce the overflowing water in the sink nor bring spiritual relief.
The blue patterns covering the deep pink, curved sink were futuristic in style, but even so, they couldn't solve the simple problem of a leak.
The simplest reason was that when this matter was reported layer by layer, the young woman felt that her energy shouldn't be spent on it; merely designing the birthday banquet itself had already consumed a large amount of her energy.
Now, the young woman was still not in the mood.
There's an image here, visible after updating the version.
There's an image here, visible after updating the version.
There's an image here, visible after updating the version.
There's an image here, visible after updating the version.
28. Why did it come to this?
Her vision began to sway, and her thoughts became chaotic. Aili Xiya supported her drooping head, looking at the small puddle on the ground, seeing her own dejected face and empty pupils reflected in the clear water.
She didn't know how much time had passed.
Aili Xiya tugged at her clothes; the exquisite long dress was always worn by her.
It was very exquisite; she had spent a long time altering it.
Because no matter what kind of clothes, they didn't match her ideas, she felt that no combination could match the formal attire she had prepared for the young man.
In the very end, the desperate young woman could only choose to alter it herself.
Using her own imagination to envision clothes that would perfectly match the young man, clothes that would allow her to stand beside the young man dressed in that formal attire.
Did it really still have any meaning?
Or rather, did this behavior really have any meaning?
She would rather waste time altering clothes than pay a little more attention to the young man beside her.
The young woman fell into a violent emotion, unable to utter any words. Her body went limp, her heart felt empty, and she raised her head in a daze. That pitiful face, in the eyes of others, must have seemed exceptionally tiny.
Why did it come to this?
Why did Jiang Cheng leave her?
Why did she make the wrong choice at every turning point!
...Meaningless questions. The actual answers already existed in every corner of the past; it was just that the young woman instinctively didn't want to accept them.
—The current outcome was entirely of her own making.
No matter the reason, no matter the excuse, ignoring Jiang Cheng himself was the biggest problem, so there was no point in any sophistry.
Her past neglect of the young man was a complete and utter fact.
Irrefutable.
Unarguable.
Undeniable.
There was no longer any point in thinking. Thought itself appeared to solve problems, but if a problem was completely unsolvable, then using thought itself might be a worthless endeavor.
Because she deeply realized that she had never forgotten this point, the young woman, who seemed omnipotent and should be omnipotent, ultimately chose to escape.
Having done such a thing, what courage, what qualification did she have left to see the young man again?
She was merely... a coward who didn't even dare to offer a blessing.
Just as her thoughts found a tiny bit of calm, almost giving up on thinking, the young woman's mind began to wander involuntarily.
Buried deep in her memory, some things that she had almost forgotten resurfaced before her eyes like a revolving lantern or flashbacks.
—The young woman recalled the past.
That was a time before she had started traveling, even before she had left that small town, when she lived with the young man, even before they had separate rooms.
Her name came from a collector's edition book the young man gave her as a birthday present.
Aili Xiya—"ETERNAL PARADISE"
The book had two versions. The protagonists in both set out to seek Elysium, but in one version, they found they had unconsciously created Elysium while searching, and the other was a darker version.
—They had unconsciously strayed from Elysium; in reality, Elysium was right beside them.
There were no changes, and nothing darker.
It simply revealed some crueler things, just as some fairy tales, when deeply pondered, would also lead to some unpleasant effects.
The young man initially only gave her the first version, the one full of hope and love. The other version was discovered accidentally later when searching online, a darker, more acclaimed version of evil.
She hated this story, hated all tragic stories, especially this one.
If beauty was right beside you, then even if you wholeheartedly journeyed far away, it would be impossible to truly ignore everything until you fell into an bottomless abyss.
It was merely created for the ups and downs of the plot. How could a person be like this?
How could anyone not even realize what was important to them?
How could anyone only flee in disarray after losing something?
How could anyone choose to hide in a corner and cry after facing difficulties... Ah?
Ah... So that's how it is?
So I was always the other version?
..."This ending doesn't seem so bad."
Seeing Jiang Cheng successfully join the Spiral Workshop and become its master, he still couldn't help but feel a hint of joy.
Even though he didn't receive Aili Xiya's blessing.
Perhaps even giving a blessing was a troublesome matter in the young woman's heart.
He had just made a request, and the young woman casually threw out an excuse and ran off, unwilling to even give a verbal congratulation, which required no action, just opening her mouth and uttering a few characters.
After all, his status might not be as good as Paimon's strength.
The level of one-fifth of a wild boar.
But since the other party was unwilling, he wouldn't force it. If possible, they could be ordinary friends; if not, being strangers was fine too.
After all, the original reason for approaching the young woman was essentially to interact with her to change the world.
Vil-V could also do this, and even better.
Dividing herself into eight parts, with even one part occupying half of her intelligence, allowed any of her individual selves to maintain the level of a top genius.
Now, that young woman hadn't even reached the peak of self-loathing before she was saved by him.
Let alone self-division, she might not even have engaged in deception yet; the notorious deceiver who would later emerge had not yet appeared.