Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 113

The supposed tranquility that night was shattered by the sounds of fighting.

No one came to investigate, as the residents here were all too accustomed to such noises. Devoid of any sympathy, pity, reluctance, or love, these were just two ruthless intelligences, each seeking to claim the right to survival by killing the other.

Ling Qi collapsed heavily, and immediately after, Ye Zheng’s dagger pierced into his chest. Judging merely by their positions, one might think it was simply one overpowering the other, but a cruel reality was unfolding.

A cold breeze awakened Ye Zheng, who came back to his senses from his moment of loss of control. Ling Qi lay motionless beneath him; the weapon that pierced his chest was in his own hand. Although only the tip of the dagger had entered, it was enough to reach Ling Qi’s heart. The words of that mysterious person during the day still echoed in his ears; he had once again killed his lover by his own hand. They had found each other life after life, yet every time, they met the same fate.

Was such a destiny truly unchangeable? In agony, Ye Zheng pulled out the dagger, and a gush of crimson liquid flowed out. He bent down to lick the wound on Ling Qi’s chest in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Don’t leave me again.”

Such events had occurred too many times, and he could no longer bear to go through them again.

He kissed from the chest up to the lips. Ling Qi’s eyes were lifelessly open, the melanin within them fading gradually. When the color finally turned transparent, it marked the end of his life.

“I don’t want to lose you ever again.”

His tears dropped one by one, falling into Ling Qi’s lifeless eyes, as if causing ripples.

After a while, Ling Qi’s eyes moved slightly, the fading of the black halted, leaving behind a barely perceptible layer of gray.

This faint movement sent Ye Zheng into an ecstasy of joy.

“Ling Qi?” he called out tentatively.

The person beneath him took a moment to respond to this call. Focus returned to his vacant eyes, and Ye Zheng was sure that focus was on himself.

“Ling Qi,” he called out excitedly several times, finally eliciting a further response from the other.

“…Ye Zheng?”

Ling Qi’s voice was very weak. “What’s happened to us?”

“You’ve survived,” Ye Zheng said in disbelief, cradling his face. “You really survived.”

He held the regained person tightly in his arms, wishing to crush him into his marrow, not wanting to let go even if it were an illusion. After dreaming for so long, a moment finally came true.

Ling Xiao jumped down from the tree, facing Ling Qi’s light gray eyes. He was taken aback.

It was like seeing the past him, them, the color shared by all the Qizis’ eyes.

How long had it been since he had seen these gray eyes? Ever since returning to the past, the eyes of the Tianxiu people were only black and dark gray, more monotonous than in their era.

“What happened to us?” Ling Qi asked. “Is this the resolution you spoke of, the one that would satisfy most people?”

“I…”

Before Ling Xiao could speak, Ye Zheng eagerly interjected, “We can go to the Genetic Center. The expert the government has brought in is there. Perhaps this is the chance to change the coming-of-age ceremony.”

The expert mentioned by Ye Zheng was the very person who had added an active trigger condition to today’s coming-of-age ceremony. However, upon seeing this person, Ling Xiao realized that he wasn’t of the Tianxiu people—at least not of the contemporary Tianxiu.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“I come from Huoxiu,” the person answered. “My ancestors were Tianxiu, the race that you people annihilated. My great-great-great-grandfather was named Tai Duo, once a scientist of this nation. Our family migrated to Huoxiu a long time ago, and I grew up there. This is my first visit to this planet.”

The three of them were surprised to hear that he was from Tianxiu. The staff of the Genetic Center quickly explained, “Although Tai Shao is from Tianxiu, this time he has come to help us.”

“You? Come to help us?”

The Lone Star bore a genocidal grudge against the people of Tianxiu. It was unimaginable that there were still survivors among them in the world, but even so, they had only reasons for revenge, so how could they possibly lend a helping hand to the Lone Star.

Tai Shao saw their doubts. “It’s true that we are descendants of the Tianxiu people, but my ancestors were always against genetic transplantation. The fate that the people of Tianxiu had suffered was also predicted long ago.”

“My ancestor left a will saying that our brethren have only themselves to blame for ending up this way. They created you and gave you human intelligence, so they should have treated you as independent entities with equality. Before he left, he secretly copied the code of the Tianxiu people, but allowed only us to possess it, not to create, so that one day when it is needed, we could offer you some help.”

Seeing Ling Xiao and the others wanting to speak, he hurriedly continued, “You don’t need to feel too grateful or anything else. He ordered us to do this for our own sakes too. If you continue in the current mode, things will only become more and more terrible.”

“The Lone Star Project was also proposed by our ancestors, and we don’t want the artificial warriors we created to become a threat to the entire galaxy.”

“If possible, he still hopes that you can enjoy the emotions brought by human intelligence, and as long as you are willing to live as ordinary humans, I will do my best to help you perfect the code. Of course, for the core program that can only be modified by royal authority, I am helpless.”

After explaining his reason for coming here, Tai Shao turned to Ling Qi, who had miraculously survived the coming-of-age ceremony but was still seriously injured. After being brought here by Ye Zheng, he was always weakly half lying and half sitting, his pale face and light gray eyes achieving a startling unity in tone.

“You say you survived from the coming-of-age ceremony?” Tai Shao asked.

Ling Qi nodded with difficulty.

“How do you feel now?”

“I feel like the soul inside me is not my own.”

Ye Zheng clenched his hand; his eyes were now completely black, and even the slight gray that was distinguishable was imperceptible.

Tai Shao used an instrument to read Ling Qi’s data.

“How strange. Many of his codes are different from ordinary people’s. Can bio-humans also experience genetic mutations? Judging from the current reaction, I guess that the victor of the coming-of-age ceremony showed mercy, which conflicts with your instincts. It’s really rare to overcome your instincts.”

Tai Shao shook his head. Science couldn’t clearly explain everything, which was why there were religion and superstition.

But the people at the Genetic Center didn’t care how it came about; they were more concerned about whether this kind of case could be applied.

“So, this code that allows him to survive, can it be copied to others?”

“It’s possible.” Tai Shao stroked his chin. “But various signs indicate that the life he continues to live did not come out of nowhere but is entirely taken from another person.”

Tai Shao turned to Ye Zheng. “If I’m not mistaken, it is you who extended his life, and the price paid is your own lifespan.”

He pointed to the complex data on the instrument. “Even artificial life ages, and when the system determines that you can no longer bear more information, it will automatically recycle and clear, then cultivate anew. Of course, this process is relatively long, and many do not reach it before they die accidentally, so it seems like you have an infinite life.”

“If everyone were like him, giving part of their own lifespan to the other party who lost in the coming-of-age ceremony, then the lifespan of both parties would decrease, not just by half, but perhaps even more.”

“If just giving part of my lifespan can make him live, of course, I am willing to do so,” Ye Zheng interjected quickly.

“I haven’t finished speaking. The reality isn’t so simple.”

“Let me give you a simple example. Now, there are two computers in front of you. One’s CPU is damaged, but its memory, hard drive, graphics card, etc., are all normal. If you want it to continue to work, you can only plug these parts into the motherboard of the other computer, which is equivalent to one host connecting to two displays.”

Tai Shao pointed to two screens placed side by side. “On the surface, it seems to have two windows, but in reality, one window is controlled by the other. The second computer can control everything of the first one, even,” he paused, “the behavior.”

“That is to say, if you want to continue such a relationship, your identities will no longer be equal. One person will be able to control everything about the other person except for their thoughts. Their speech, their behavior, any action—they can easily dominate.”

“And the other person will become an accessory to this person, living in dependence on them forever. If they leave this person, they are likely to suffer the pain of being ripped away from their roots.”

“I cannot simplify such a complex program into a multiple-choice question that allows every pair participating in the coming-of-age ceremony to choose independently, and moreover, the mainframe cannot handle such lengthy code. So you only have one decision to make, and this decision will affect every one of your brethren. Either accept it together or reject it together.”

Tai Shao carefully checked Ling Qi’s condition. “You don’t have much time left. You have only temporarily extended his life. If it is not solidified now, he will be reincarnated just the same. The chance of such a mutation occurring is extremely small, and if it is not seized now, there may never be another opportunity.”

Ye Zheng was holding Ling Qi’s hand tightly, and from the end of the coming-of-age ceremony to now, he had never let go, as if letting go would allow the other to turn into a soul and fly away.

However, at this moment, he had to make a choice: whether to let this person’s hand continue to stay in his palm or to let him go.

They looked at each other for a long time. It was the love accumulated over seven lifetimes that allowed them to have a moment longer than others to be together.

“I used to think that losing you was the ultimate pain, until today I realized that giving up after regaining you is truly having nothing at all.”

Ye Zheng choked up. “I am willing to give all my life to bring you back, but I cannot bear to see you pay a price more important than life. I hope you are always free and happy and not a vassal of anyone, even if it’s me.”

“If it costs your freedom and dignity to live,” he paused for a long time, tears falling like rain, “I choose to let go.”

His grip became stronger, yet it was slowly slipping away. Ling Qi’s hand was gradually withdrawing from the palm of his hand.

This was the most difficult decision made for the longest of times. The two hands were holding each other tightly, yet slowly drifting apart.

“Wait!” Ling Qi suddenly grasped his hand in return.

“I can’t give an answer now because when one has nothing, they desperately desire to possess, but once they have everything, they will never be satisfied and always picky.”

“Now, we are the ones with nothing, happy to drink even a drop of water found in the desert. But when this drop of water turns into poison, will our descendants accept everything left by their ancestors?”

“They might resent and hate us because of our selfishness, which brewed the roots of their inequality.”

He turned to Ling Xiao. “Every one of us here is a stakeholder unable to make an objective decision. Only you come from a future where both parties of the coming-of-age ceremony will survive, and only you know best whether this decision will bring happiness or misfortune.”

“So please forgive me for irresponsibly passing this difficult choice on to you. Your decision today might affect the future of all of Tianxiu and might even rewrite the world where you exist, so please choose carefully…”

He gazed deeply at Ye Zheng. “…Whether to give up status, dignity, and everything to be with the one you love, or to live on alone and free forever.”

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The author has something to say:

When this novel was first published, there were countless opponents of the Tianxiu spouse system. I wonder if you are still there now. There is a multiple-choice question at the end of this chapter. Everyone is welcome to participate in deciding the future of Tianxiu.

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