“Let him go! That would be your reply when you see this scene right? However, in your heart, you know that even if you say that, I would not comply, which is why you are currently silent. Am I correct?” The Heavenly Empress Ma Zu talked down to Zhi Nu with absolute authority and some defying grace mixed in.
“Zhi Nu now knows she is in the wrong, please pardon that particular mister and Zhi Nu will listen to Heavenly Empress Ma Zu’s instructions.” Zhi Nu immediately knelt down with her head against the floor.
“Kill him and your sins will be dissolved completely and everything will merely be water under the bridge.” Ma Zu ordered the guards to throw Niu Lang in front of her. “Oh, and those mercenary immortals, do not even think or dare to come near. Else I will have you killed instantly too.”
“Darling…” Zhi Nu teared as the guard lobbed a sword to her and Niu Lang was so badly bruised that he could barely talk. However, he used all the strength he had left and said. “Do it… I’d rather die in your hands than by the hands of these guards.”
Zhi Nu trembled as her hand reluctantly picked the sword up. Her tears were like a waterfall and she was gasping for breath from all the silent crying. “For the rest of my life, I will never regret liking you. I will never regret loving you. I will never regret having you be a huge part of my life.”
“But I will regret killing you…” Zhi Nu did not even dare to wipe her tears away as she did not want to close her eyes and forget her raison d’etre. Her one and only love. The memories of spending time with him flashed through her mind, only to be cruelly interrupted by the Heavenly Empress Ma Zu’s orders. “Hurry up and finish him, do not waste my time.”
At that moment, Jia Le was too afraid to do anything but Bin Yong, who was still coughing up blood, tried his best to stand up. “DO NOT KILL HIM!” Bin Yong shouted with a slight hoarseness in his voice.
Zhi Nu turned her head as if suddenly broken out of a trance. “Do not do it! Who was the one who tried to bring you out of the Heavenly Palace? How did he do it? How many risks did he have to take just to come here and bring you away? Who was the one who begged to try and hire us so you that you could remain safe regardless of his safety? Who did you risk yourself for against the D–cough cough! Against the Door Gods? Was the fight against the door gods just for show? If you already decided to defy the Heavenly Empress and live the life you wanted, why are you stopping right now? Are you that selfish?!” Bin Yong words made both Zhi Nu and Jia Le equally stunned.
“Tsk, Mercenary immortals! I told you not to interrupt!” The Heavenly Empress immediately summoned an energy bolt and wanted to kill Niu Lang. However, the skies turned black all of a sudden and a flock of magpies swooped down from above, causing Niu Lang to disappear right before their eyes.
Bin Yong then realised that Niu Lang had suddenly appeared in front of him. He quickly took out his small, pathetic shield and pushed his body forward to protect Niu Lang. It was then that a beautiful lady with a terrific figure wearing a black feathered dress appeared right in front of Bin Yong to shield Niu Lang too.
“Queen of Magpies, Que Er. Why are you here?” Heavenly Empress Ma Zu was annoyed by the change of events but her guards were quick to restrain Zhi Nu from moving away. “A compromise. I am here for a compromise. You owe me something but clearly, you do not intend to return it to its rightful owner. Therefore, I will compromise, but you have to compensate me.”
“That silver hairpin? Why should I give you that? It was mine to begin with!” Heavenly Empress Ma Zu took the silver hairpin out and gazed lovingly at it.
“Then you have to compensate me. You are not allowed to kill the mercenary immortals and the mortal boy.”
“Hah! And why should I listen to you? You are just a minor queen of the magpies whereas I am the Empress of the High Heavens. However, I still don’t like owing people.” The Heavenly Empress took one last look at the silver hairpin and chanted some words before she threw it towards the Queen of Magpies and the rest of the group.
The silver hairpin suddenly changed shape and a magical river appeared right in front of them, splitting the heavens. The river stream was raging with the Heavenly Empress Ma Zu’s anger. It was so fierce that none of them from either side of the river would have any chance to cross the river.
“Then let this river be the means to forget the past.” The Heavenly Empress walked away with her guards, leaving Zhi Nu to suffer right in front of the raging river. Before Ma Zu walked away, she turned around and said, “If you wish to meet him, it will be at your own peril. I am warning you right now. Forget about him and start afresh.”
Meanwhile, Zhi Nu cried in front of the river even more, which caused the river stream to become even more turbulent. She regretted not being strong enough to stand against Ma Zu and be with Niu Lang. She knew that no matter how high she could jump or how far she was willing to travel to see the end of the river, it would be impossible because it was technically a magic spell by Ma Zu to prevent her and only her from meetingNiu Lang. It was a curse and mercy at the same time. The compromise Ma Zu had given to the Queen of Magpies for borrowing her silver hairpin and not returning it on time.
Separately, the bruised Niu Lang move closer to the river despite his wounds. “What are you doing?” Que Er was a little annoyed that this mortal which Taurus asked her to take care of decided to throw his life away by going into this magical river.
“Sir Taurus said that his tail fur would provide protection, so I will use all of it to meet Zhi Nu on the other side of the river.” Niu Lang wanted to die trying just to meet Zhi Nu one last time.
“If it could protect you, you would not be in this state right now!” Jia Le tried to reason with him and tried to pull him away from the river but he was refusing to budge.
“Wait, you said you have Taurus’s tail?” the Queen of Magpie questioned him with a certain degree of seriousness,
“Yes…” He took out a bunch of the tail fur and showed it to Que Er. “I even gave some of it to Zhi Nu, hoping Taurus would take care of her too.” Niu Lang coughed.
“HA HA HA HA! Oh Taurus, Oh Taurus. The mortal you chose. So Interesting, so pitiful and yet so admirable. Like you, he is so stubborn and loyal. For you, my old friend, and your caretaker’s undying love, I will do him a service.” Que Er took a strand of the tail fur and demanded him to hold on to the rest securely.
Facing the river, She threw the tail fur and the river temporarily split apart and that was when Zhi Nu finally saw Niu Lang. “Stop! Do not move yet!” Qu Er shouted and she commanded her flock of magpies to appear and create a bridge right in front of them, spanning across the width of the river.
“You two may now meet. The time limit is just 30 minutes before Taurus’s magical fur dissipates. My bridge of magpies can hide both of your presence from Empress Ma Zu if you stand right in the middle of it. After which you have to part ways or else Ma Zu will not spare either of you. Now go, your 30 minutes are ticking away.” Qu Er said and Niu Lang dragged himself towards the middle of the Magpie bridge.
Zhi Nu immediately ran towards him and hugged him tightly. “Niu Lang!! I am sorry! I am sorry I ever thought of killing you.”
“I do not blame you a single bit. Who even dares to defy the Heavenly Empress so openly?” Both of them looked at the mercenary immortals and both knelt and bowed their heads towards Bin Yong and Jia Le.
There was a slight warmth in both of the couples. “It was interesting to see this story from a new perspective.” Bin Yong said. He really felt like he was part of the folktale legend so much that he had nearly forgotten that this was just a dungeon instance.
“You were very brave….to stand up to the Heavenly Empress” Jia Le looked at Bin Yong with much affection and crept closer towards him. “Argh, my hand” Bin Yong wanted to embrace the moment but Jia Le accidentally sat on his hand, which was still recovering from the pain.
“Sorry! Are you okay dear?” Jia Le moved away a little and wanted to see his hand but Bin Yong did not care right now. He used his other hand to bring her forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. His first kiss. It was also Jia Le’s first genuine one, and Jia Le then wrapped her arms around Bin Yong and gave him an even more passionate one.
“Awwww.” The Beetle and Bellflower couple had totally forgotten about the cameras that were constantly streaming their actions to the crowd, which caused the customers waiting for their turn to cheer extremely loudly at their success. Jin also felt a little embarrassed but he felt proud that someone had actually managed to find the true ending of the Qixi Festival Dungeon Instance even though it was only the first day, according to Yun at least.
He was surprised by the system’s decision to include things like the player’s interaction and choice along with the need for charisma skills instead of just fighting skills. Maybe the system really did learn from Jin’s method of creating dungeons and refined its own. However, Jin also felt like the system was making fun of him through the use of the death issue between Zhi Nu and Empress Ma Zu. Or maybe he was thinking a little too much.
“In any case, kudos to the BxB couple.” Jin bitterly smiled to himself, thinking about when he too could become as brave as Bin Yong. On that though, he started to print out the medals for the couple.
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